After the rebellion was successful, I realized that this place was the Red Mansion

Chapter 8: Military Invasion of Grand View Garden

The next day, Daiyu was awakened by Zijuan.

When she opened her eyes, she felt a stinging pain and her head felt dizzy. She knew it was because she didn't get enough sleep last night.

Seeing her like this, Zijuan touched her pillow and found it slightly wet. She couldn't help but sigh, "Miss, did you cry for half the night again? Miss, you are really just like what Master Bao said, a girl made of water."

Daiyu had been lying on the bed, resting with her eyes closed. When she heard Jia Baoyu mentioned, she opened her moist eyes and asked, "Has Baoyu come yet?"

Xueyan just came in with a basin of hot water. Upon hearing this, she laughed and said, "Young lady, don't you know what time it is? You just woke up. How could Master Bao come so early?"

Zijuan smiled and said, "The young lady had an argument with the Second Master last night. According to previous custom, he would have come early."

Xueyan was not surprised, as the girl often quarreled with the second master.

The two of them helped Daiyu wash and change her clothes. After that, Xueyan stayed in the Xiaoxiang Pavilion, and Zijuan went out with her to pay her respects to the old lady.

"Lin girl."

Just after leaving Xiaoxiang Pavilion, Lin Daiyu heard someone calling. She turned around and saw her cousin Li Wan walking towards her with a unhappy expression.

After Daiyu paid her respects, they went to the old lady together.

On the way, the two talked about the enemy army besieging the city.

Li Wan sighed, "If the enemy army comes to attack me, I'm not afraid of death. I can preserve my reputation by dying, but I'm worried about Lan'er. If I die, Lan'er will have no one to take care of her. I won't be able to face your elder brother Xianzhu in the underworld."

Daiyu advised her, "Sister-in-law, please don't say such depressing things. Let's go to the old lady and discuss it later."

Li Wan stopped talking and went with her to the old lady's room.

The place was surrounded tightly with people, maids and old women were looking out, and inside were the housekeepers from various places.

When Li Wan entered the house, she saw Jia Zhen and Youshi from the East Palace had both arrived. It sounded like they were going to the ancestral temple to worship and ask the ancestors to bless the Jia family to survive this disaster.

She took Daiyu around and walked to the old lady's room, avoiding the sight of Jia Zhen and others, and sat with Jia Rong's wife Qin Keqing, Yingchun, Tanchun and other female relatives.

The old lady outside and Jia Zhen, Jia She, Mrs. Wang, Wang Xifeng and others were discussing organizing the servants to practice weapons and guard the mansion. More than 200 servants were transferred from various places. Because there were so many people, the training venue was set in the Grand View Garden.

Li Wan saw that Madam Rong called Yuanyang, the maidservant beside the old lady, and whispered a few words to her, and then Yuanyang walked out.

Li Wan came behind the door curtain and looked outside with Tanchun. She saw Yuanyang walk to Wang Xifeng and say something in her ear.

After waiting for a while, when the matter was finally discussed, Wang Xifeng finally spoke: "Old lady, Madam."

Everyone looked at her.

Wang Xifeng gritted her teeth and said, "As the saying goes, even on sunny days, we still have to be prepared for rain. We've made all the necessary preparations now, so the enemy army certainly can't easily break in. But if something goes wrong and the enemy army enters the city, what will we do in the mansion?"

This sentence made everyone present silent.

Li Wan heard Tanchun whisper, "Then let's have a good fight with these bandits. Are we just going to wait for our deaths?"

Yingchun, Xichun and others all looked at her.

Daiyu agreed, "Third sister, you have great ambitions, comparable to Daoyun and Zhaojun."

Outside, Grandmother Jia asked, "What ideas does Miss Feng have?"

Qin Keqing pricked up her ears and heard her aunt Wang Xifeng say, "In my opinion, if it really comes to that, I'm afraid we'll have to give up our wealth and splendor to save the lives of everyone in the mansion."

When Li Wan heard this, she knew that it was Qin Keqing who said this. Given Feng Lazi's greed for money and profit in the past, she would definitely not say such a thing.

Giving up wealth and glory is a euphemism for surrendering to the thief king.

Everyone in the room was silent. Grandmother Jia couldn't help but shed tears. "My ancestors followed Taizu in the uprising, and it's been less than a hundred years since then, but now our family is broken and our people are dead. That thief king wants to start killing the princes first. If he kills the dukes, he will drag me out and let them kill me. It won't be a pity for me to die at my age. I hope I can save your lives!" "Grandfather!"

Everyone in the Jia family hurried to comfort her. Grandmother Jia stopped crying and ordered Jia Zhen to go back and prepare to go to the Jia family ancestral hall to pay homage to the two ancestors Ning and Rong.

After the worship, it was almost noon. Li Wan returned to the Daoxiang Village in the Grand View Garden. After entering the house, she saw her son Jia Lan studying under the guidance of a maid, and she couldn't help but feel sad again.

Her husband Jia Zhu died early, and she raised her son alone. After moving to the quiet place of Grand View Garden, she could have devoted herself to teaching her son and urging him to study so that he could pass the imperial examinations in the future.

Now the city is under siege by enemy troops, and it is a matter of life and death!
Where will the mother and son go?

Just as Li Wan was feeling depressed, she suddenly heard a commotion outside. She ordered Suyun to go out and check. After a while, she came back and reported, "Grandma, the garden is being used as a martial arts arena, and the maids and servants are busy putting up fences."

Li Wan nodded and sighed, "You all should go and help, at least it can be of some use."

Suyun responded and called the other maids and servants to go out and help block the open space with cloth to prevent the servants from colliding with the girls in the garden.

Logically, the girls should move back to the mansion, but everyone is busy now and has no time to take care of this matter.

An hour later, the fence was completed.

The servants of the Ning and Rong mansions began to enter and practice with laughter in the open space inside.

The Grand View Garden was originally the palace used by the virtuous concubine when she came to visit her parents. The maids and servants had lived in the inner palace for a long time and had never seen such a scene. So they all peeked in from behind the curtains.

Suyun also took a few glances and saw that Master Bao, Master Lian, and Master Xiaorong were all there, all wearing armor and looking very tired.

"What are you looking at?"

Lin Daiyu suddenly appeared, startling Suyun. Seeing her, she hurriedly said with a smile, "Miss Lin, why are you here? I was looking at the people inside. The swordplay and stickplay are more spectacular than the opera. Master Bao and Master Lian have even changed into silver armor. It's really new to see!"

"That sounds interesting. I'll take a look too."

Lin Daiyu would not tell her that she came here just to take a look at Baoyu and see what he looked like in armor.

Suyun made way for Daiyu, who looked inside. In front of the group of servants holding sticks and spears, she did not see Jia Baoyu, but only saw her second brother Lian and Jia Rong from the East Palace.

After searching carefully, Daiyu finally found Jia Baoyu resting under a willow tree on the river bank.

Two servants were fanning him. Perhaps because the weather was too hot, Jia Baoyu took off his helmet and outer armor, looking very untidy.

"It's truly a silver-plated spearhead!"

Lin Daiyu said angrily that if the enemy army really attacked, he would not be able to even wield a sword, so how could he fight?

After watching for a while, Yuanyang, the old lady's maid, came in with a bowl of sugar water and said with a smile, "The old lady was worried that Baoyu was thirsty, so she asked me to bring it in."

As she said this, she ordered a maid to go in and call Mingyan, a servant beside Jia Baoyu. She originally wanted Mingyan to bring in the sugar water, but when Jia Baoyu learned that Lin Daiyu was also there, he could no longer contain his excitement and ran out.

Seeing her, he stopped again, sniffed himself, and stepped back repeatedly, saying, "I am covered in sweat and I dare not defile Sister Lin!"

The maids and servants outside the fence all laughed.

Lin Daiyu's face darkened. "You should practice your martial arts," she said. "The enemy army still has four days to attack the city, and I don't know how long the defenders can hold off the bandits."

After saying that, he turned and left.

What she didn't expect was that Jia Baoyu only practiced for one afternoon. The next day when everyone else was practicing again, he went to the Xiaoxiang Pavilion.

Zijuan asked and found out that it was the old lady who allowed him to stop practicing.

Daiyu heard his words in the room and was angry and annoyed. She lay on the bed and used the excuse of being sleepy to avoid seeing him!
(End of this chapter)