The Red Mansion in its bustling glory

Baoyu has always been easy to coax; the sisters would just come over and say a few nice words and that would be it.

As the saying goes, time flies like an arrow, never ceasing day or night.

Since Baochai arrived at the Rongguo Mansion, some time has passed.

By this time, winter had come and gone, and it was spring of the following year.

When Baochai arrived, her cleverness, gentleness, kindness, and generosity earned her high praise from the many maids and servants in the mansion.

Since both Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai were staying at the Rongguo Mansion, it's inevitable that people will compare them.

Of course, Baochai was more popular among the servants.

Inevitably, these rumors sometimes reached Daiyu's ears.

And what about Daiyu?

From a young age, he was sensitive and naturally unhappy. His interactions with Baochai were not natural, and there was a hint of picking fights in his relationship.

Baochai, however, did not care and treated all her sisters and brothers equally. She even looked up to Daiyu because of her talent and intelligence.

But we'll leave those aside for now.

Recently, a minor incident occurred at the Rongguo Mansion, causing a slight ripple in their peaceful life.

What's wrong?

Baochai is ill.

Actually, Baochai's bad health was a problem she had since childhood, just like Daiyu's, so it's not particularly strange.

However, during the time Baochai had been there, the old lady and the madam were quite satisfied with her. Moreover, Baochai's illness was so severe that she could not breathe properly, so the old lady and the madam came to visit her.

With both the old lady and the madam present, how could the servants not know what to do?

Therefore, the supplies provided to Baochai's family had to be more than those from other places.

That day, Baochai had just taken her medicine and was sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) with Aunt Xue, chatting.

At this moment, Ying'er, the maid who usually accompanied Baochai, came over. She was holding a box in her hands and said to Aunt Xue, "Madam, just now Miss asked me to take stock of the luggage our family brought from Jinling. I saw twelve palace flowers in this box, and I thought Miss might wear them, so I brought them over."

Upon hearing this, Aunt Xue took the brocade box from Ying'er's hand, opened it, and found twelve bright and beautiful palace flowers neatly arranged inside.

These flowers are not only woven to lifelike detail, but also made of the finest materials. Nowadays, some of the imperial concubines in the palace often wear such palace flowers.

Aunt Xue looked at them and said, "These flowers are indeed beautiful. Daughter, Ying'er is right. Why don't you wear them? They look pretty."

Baochai laughed and said, "Mother, you know me well; I never wear these kinds of things. I think these flowers are fine; why don't you have Ying'er give them to the young ladies in this household?"

Aunt Xue nodded in agreement, then said to Baochai, "Even though we're giving them away, why don't we keep two?"

Baochai smiled and said, "Mother, do the math. There are four young ladies in this household alone, plus Sister Feng and Sister-in-law Li Wan. Although they are already married, they are still young, only in their early twenties. It wouldn't be right not to give them some. There are twelve in total. If I keep two more, it won't look good if anyone takes more or less. If I only give away six—one for each person—it would seem stingy."

Aunt Xue agreed, saying, "Then I'll do as you say." She then turned to Ying'er and said, "Go ahead, Miss."

Just as Ying'er was about to leave, another maid ran over and said, "Madam, the lady of this household has arrived."

Aunt Xue was naturally delighted to hear this.

Although the old sisters had been reunited for several months, they seemed to have endless things to say. She quickly said, "Please come in!"

As he spoke, he stood up and walked out.

He then said to Ying'er, "You don't need to go see her off yet. Come and serve the young lady here first."

He left after saying that.

There must have been a lot to say between Madam Wang and Aunt Xue.

After the two men met, they sat down in another room and began to chat.

As the two were talking, they came to see Madam Wang's side room, where Zhou Rui's wife had come looking for them.

Seeing that Lady Wang and Aunt Xue were having a pleasant conversation, Zhou Rui's wife didn't want to disturb them, so she went to visit Baochai first.

When Baochai met her, she addressed her as "Sister Zhou," showing her great respect and courtesy.

Despite their significant age difference, the two got along very well, and Baochai's contribution was undoubtedly the main factor in this.

Zhou Rui's wife left only when Madam Wang called her over.

After finishing her business with Madam Wang, Zhou Rui's wife was about to leave when Aunt Xue stopped her. She said, "That's perfect. I have a few palace flowers here. Baochai doesn't like these things, so I thought I'd give them to the young ladies in the mansion, as well as Feng Jie and Li Wan."

Upon hearing this, Lady Wang couldn't help but say, "How could they possibly deserve such fine flowers? It would be better to leave them for Baochai."

Zhou Rui's wife responded and took the embroidered box containing twelve palace flowers from Ying'er, who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion, and left.

This week, Rui's family didn't have any bad intentions. They didn't look down on any of the girls or grandmothers, so when they sent flowers, they did so according to the distance.

So the last trip took them to Daiyu's place.

At that time, Daiyu was in Jia Jue's study, and the two of them were writing something.

Upon seeing Zhou Rui's wife arrive, the two women stopped writing and smiled, saying, "Sister Zhou is here."

Zhou Rui's wife agreed and took out the box, saying, "This is a fashionable palace flower that Aunt Xue gave to the young lady."

As she spoke, she handed the box to Xiren, who was standing nearby. Xiren then passed it to Daiyu.

As Daiyu looked into the box, she heard Jia Jue say, "Sister Zhou went to Aunt Xue's place, is she going back?"

Zhou Rui's wife said, "Of course. Putting aside everything else, we still have to return this box."

Jia Jue said, "I recently heard that Sister Bao is not feeling well, but I've been too busy to visit her. I would like to trouble Sister Zhou to tell Aunt and Sister Bao to give her my regards."

Just as Zhou Rui's wife was about to agree, she saw Daiyu pick up a flower and examine it closely, then ask, "Is this flower just for me, or do all the young ladies have it?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Jue's heart skipped a beat.

Zhou Rui's wife didn't think much of it and said, "The girls all have some."

Daiyu nodded and said softly, "That's true. How could someone as clever as her be given to me alone?" Then she added with a cold laugh, "That's true too. Other girls wouldn't give me anything unless they picked what was left!"

After saying that, he tossed the flower into the box and said, "I don't want it."

"This..." Zhou Rui's wife was in an awkward position when she saw Daiyu throw it like that. She didn't know whether to go forward or retreat, or whether to take it or not.

Jia Jue took the box and smiled at Zhou Rui's wife, saying, "These palace flowers are indeed beautiful. Sister Zhou, tell us when you get back that we'll be going to visit you in a couple of days."