Dream of the Red Chamber: Daiyu and I swapped clothes

Chapter 2 I came to the Rongguo Mansion to enjoy a life of luxury!

Marquis Zhenyuan, of course, was unaware that the son standing before him was no longer the modern-day Li Chen, but Lin Daiyu.

For Lin Daiyu, writing calligraphy was as simple as eating and drinking.

She was born precocious and began her early education at the age of four.

She had finished learning the Three Character Classic, the Hundred Family Surnames, and the Thousand Character Classic in less than a month.

She studied the classics in her youth, including the Dragon Pattern Whip and the Rhyming Couplets by Li Weng, but it only took her half a year to master them due to her naturally weak constitution.

Her father, Lin Ruhai, was delighted with her and hired Jia Yucun, a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations twice, to be her tutor so that she could continue to study the Four Books and Five Classics and be raised as a boy.

After her mother died young, she was left with no wife and eldest daughter. People at the time were prejudiced against her, forcing the young girl to go north to the capital and be raised by her maternal grandmother, Grandmother Jia.

Lin Daiyu's frail health remained unchanged, so she could only spend her days in her room with books.

But through this she read all the books, and became well-versed in both ancient and modern knowledge. She could speak fluently and write just a few words.
A long table was laid out in front of her, two maids spread out bamboo paper, and the lady personally ground the ink, all in preparation for Lin Daiyu to put pen to paper.

But all she saw was the lady grinding the ink carefully, her movements very gentle and slow. However, she dawdled for too long, and the ink stick had already broken into tiny pieces, yet she still didn't want to let go.

"Mother, leave it to me, okay?"

Lin Daiyu then realized that the lady in front of her was probably just stalling for time and didn't really believe that she could write. She was both amused and exasperated.

"No rush, no rush, let me grind it for you carefully."

Though she said it aloud, that wasn't what she really thought. Seeing Lin Daiyu's calm and composed demeanor, the woman was actually very anxious. "This silly child, I know your own limitations. How can you possibly write? Should I just knock over this inkstone and grind it a few more times? I wonder where Chen'er's uncle is."

"Hey."

Her hand went limp, and the woman deliberately knocked over the inkstone. But the Marquis of Zhenyuan had anticipated her move and had already appeared behind her, firmly grasping the inkstone in his hand.

Placing the inkstone on the table, Marquis Zhenyuan glared and said, "Don't try any more tricks! If he can't write anything today, I'll personally send him to the Tongzhou camp!"

"My lord, you are truly a rock in that cesspool!"

The lady was furious, which Lin Daiyu found quite amusing.

The father is strict and expects his son to establish himself and not waste his life, while the mother dotes on her child and is tolerant in every way. This kind of family atmosphere seems pretty good.
It's much better than being alone.

"Don't worry, Mother, I can really write."

After saying this, Lin Daiyu picked up a wolf-hair brush and lightly dipped it in ink.

"Can write? That's laughable."

Marquis Zhenyuan crossed his arms, looking utterly disdainful.

Seeing Lin Daiyu pause with her ink-stained hand, he couldn't help but urge her, "Hurry up, after you've made a fool of yourself at home today, go to the Tongzhou camp to do your work as soon as possible. Don't even think about conspiring with your mother to play tricks, you two are still too naive!"

Seeing this, the woman became even more anxious, her palms sweating slightly. She slowly closed her eyes, not daring to look any longer.

Lin Daiyu sighed and then picked up her pen.

She hesitated for a moment about what to write that would be appropriate for her current status as a man, and if she really did write beautifully, how would she explain it later?

The thought flashed through her mind, and Lin Daiyu wrote four large characters on the paper in a flowing style.

The maids and nannies around him watched intently, and the Marquis of Zhenyuan's gaze followed the twisting of the handwriting, his breathing gradually slowing down.

At this moment, heaven and earth fell silent.

"To be the sole, top, leader!"

"My son! You can actually write!"

As soon as Lin Daiyu put down her pen, the woman came over, blew on the ink, and eagerly picked up the calligraphy book.

"These characters are neat yet lively, with strong, powerful strokes and rich ink; they are truly excellent! How could you say you can't write? You're such a mediocre teacher; how dare you come out and teach? Husband, bring that old geezer back! I want to stand up for Chen'er!"

Marquis Zhenyuan was also taken aback and stood there stunned.

He thought he had a complete grasp of his son's abilities, but he never imagined the discrepancy would be so great.

He witnessed all of this firsthand, and there's no way to fake it.

But his instincts still compelled him to question, and he asked, "Chen'er, tell your father the truth. This character is powerful and has a strong structure, clearly indicating that you have reached a high level of skill. It would be impossible to write it without years of studying calligraphy models. Especially the character '鳌' (Ao), its structure is rigorous and quite difficult. Yet you were able to write it today. How is that possible?"

Lin Daiyu put down her pen, a grin spreading across her face. "Perhaps I have some talent?"

"that is!"

Seeing that things were going wrong, the woman hurriedly stepped in to help, "I've known Chen'er to be smart since he was little. Husband, quickly have someone bring that old man back to teach him a lesson, otherwise he'll be too far away to be caught!"

Marquis Zhenyuan shook his head with a wry smile, "Chen'er, why did you hide your talents at home? If you had written this earlier, you wouldn't have angered the Confucian scholar so much."

Lin Daiyu stammered softly, "I just wanted to test your patience, but who knew you would suddenly leave without saying goodbye."

It was the first time Lin Daiyu had ever lied, and she felt so guilty that she almost bit her tongue.

Seeing that he could write characters, the Marquis of Zhenyuan's anger completely subsided. He rolled up the Xuan paper, put it in his sleeve, and sighed, "Alright, since that's the case, then let him continue his studies at the manor. I'll send someone to invite the teacher back. Chen'er, go back and rest first."

"Yes."

Lin Daiyu agreed and left this place of trouble ahead of everyone else.

The woman behind her looked at Lin Daiyu's back and was overjoyed. "Our ancestors have blessed us! The Li family has a star of literature! One son is a scholar, the other a warrior. It is a great blessing that both sons are successful."

Marquis Zhenyuan's lips twitched. If his two sons were truly both exceptionally capable in both literature and martial arts, it wouldn't necessarily be a blessing.

But that's a matter for the future. Being able to write doesn't necessarily mean one can do much scholarship, so he didn't need to worry. "Alright. Although Chen'er has some talent, he's still young and not worth much. There are countless talented people in the world, and many have failed miserably. Let's see what the future holds."

The woman crossed her arms and complained angrily, "I don't know what your intentions are in treating Chen'er so harshly. He's fifteen years old now, and there's not even a maidservant in his room."

Marquis Zhenyuan waved his hand, but couldn't resist the woman's nagging, "Give him a larger monthly allowance, and get rid of the maidservants. He's only fifteen and shouldn't be causing trouble!"

Lin Daiyu, who had written the words, naturally breathed a sigh of relief.

Arriving in an unfamiliar environment for the first time, there are still many things to understand, especially figuring out what's going on with her body.

With the tension subsiding, bodily sensations gradually took over.

Since morning, before she had relieved herself, Lin Daiyu felt a tightness in her groin, a feeling of suffocation she had never experienced before, which made her freeze in place.

"Young Master? What's wrong?"

Lin Daiyu blushed and stammered, "Sister, I need to go to the toilet first."

……

At the same time, Li Chen got up from the toilet and comfortably took care of his morning bodily needs.

It turns out that having someone wait on your back for everything is the proper way of life for the sons of noble families—it's so comfortable.

Compared to the Zhenyuan Marquis's residence, it was like two completely different worlds.

Especially this morning's meal, braised ham and pork knuckle, the taste was absolutely delicious. It was the first time since Li Chen transmigrated that he had eaten meat so heartily.

According to the maid, this breakfast was half of the food that the cook had prepared for Wang Xifeng and given to him.

Wang Xifeng was the head housekeeper of the Rongguo Mansion. Apart from a few heads of the household, no one dared to offend her, let alone snatch food from her mouth.

But what is my identity, Li Chen?
I am Lin Daiyu now. My father is a Grand Master of the Imperial Academy, equivalent to an Imperial Censor, second only to the Nine Ministers. He also oversees the salt production and distribution of the Lianghuai Salt Circuit. Furthermore, he is a former third-ranked scholar in the imperial examinations and a favorite of the Emperor. What's wrong with me eating half a pork knuckle from your Rongguo Mansion?
My Lin family has been marquises for four generations, a truly noble and distinguished family, a clan of scholars and officials.

You Jia family, you've done so many bad things, I spit on you!

If this doesn't satisfy me, I'm going home!
After breakfast, the energetic Li Chen had made up his mind that he would not suffer any grievances in the Rongguo Mansion.

He's not like Lin Daiyu; he'll constantly cause internal strife.

If anything happened, the matriarch of the Jia family, Grandmother Jia, never gave him a satisfactory explanation. He went straight south back to his hometown of Yangzhou, lay down in the Salt Commissioner's mansion, and relied entirely on his father, Lin Ruhai, to take good care of his health.

Even if Lin Ruhai were to die due to a plot device, he would still leave behind a fortune of more than three million taels of silver.

Based on the purchasing power of one tael of silver equaling one thousand RMB, that's three billion RMB, making her a true little rich woman.

If you hold onto this wealth, you'll never run out of money, even in several lifetimes.

It's impossible to cause internal strife in Li Chen's household; he came to Rongguo Mansion to enjoy a life of luxury!

As for Lin Daiyu's naturally weak constitution.

Li Chen, a hopeless college student, has long passed his peak of intelligence and energy from his senior year of high school. Asking him to pick up his books again and take the imperial examinations to defy fate is an impossible task. But with some physical training and regular medication, isn't that a piece of cake?

Although he is currently very weak, with scientific exercise and rehabilitation, Li Chen is not convinced that he will not get better!

"Girl, are you done yet?"

"coming."

Li Chen wiped it with a cotton towel dampened with water.

Now, he really dared not touch this porcelain doll-like body any longer. His blood and qi were already weak, and if he had another nosebleed, he might faint on the spot.

Silently reciting the rule of not looking at what is improper, Li Chen re-fastened her belt, wrapped her skirt properly, and pushed open the door to come out.

Then two maids greeted him and went inside to tend to the chamber pot.

The room still smelled pleasantly as before.

Sure enough, even the toilet smells sweet to fairies.

"Miss, come quickly, Master Bao must be getting impatient."

"Okay, take me to meet that simp."

The happy life in the Rongguo Mansion will begin with distancing yourself from you, you troublemaker!
Zijuan was taken aback. "Lick...lick what?"

"nothing."

Li Chen took a long stride forward, but after only a few steps, his feet became unsteady, and he felt a wave of dizziness.

Zijuan hurriedly helped him up from behind.

"Young lady, how can your body withstand such torment? Your blood and energy are weak, and you can't stand the wind."

Li Chen leaned against Zijuan's chest and finally gained some understanding of Lin Daiyu's body.

Walking too fast, even her delicate body couldn't keep up.