Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Because it was the Lantern Festival, the entire Rongguo Mansion, young and old, men and women, came in early to pay their respects to Grandmother Jia.

The festive joy has finally dispelled much of the gloom that has been hanging over our home lately.

Lin Ruhai, taking a day off, also bathed and changed his clothes before visiting Grandmother Jia. He also took the opportunity to see Daiyu and brought her a bundle of books that he had sorted out the day before.

Daiyu was overjoyed. After her father left, she hid in her room and quietly counted the items.

Suddenly, Baochai walked in, and Daiyu got up to greet her: "Sister Bao, what brings you here?"

"I've come to see you."

Baochai, holding a handkerchief, walked to Daiyu's side, her gaze still fixed on the stacks of classical Chinese texts on Daiyu's table.

"Did Lord Lin send all of these to my sister?"

"Yes, Sister Bao, please sit down." Daiyu poured Baochai a cup of tea.

Baochai then sat down, thinking to herself that Daiyu's father held a high position, yet unlike the average old scholar, he not only did not oppose his daughter's studies but also supported them, which was quite rare.

Seeing that Baochai remained silent, Daiyu took the opportunity to scrutinize her closely.

Baochai was stunningly beautiful, with bright eyes and white teeth. Her every movement was graceful and poised; she was truly a rare and elegant woman. No wonder those blind men say she's better than me, humph.

Despite her resentment, Daiyu kept it to herself and smiled, saying, "Is Sister feeling much better? I heard you weren't feeling well before the New Year, and I originally wanted to visit you. But my father happened to be in the capital, so I went home with him for half a month. Therefore, I didn't have the chance to visit you. Please don't blame me."

"Not at all. Even if you had the time, you wouldn't dare to disturb them, let alone since there isn't one."

Taking the opportunity, Daiyu inquired about Baochai's illness, to which Baochai casually replied. Daiyu then asked with a smile, "You must have gotten better after taking that 'Cold Fragrance Pill'?"

Baochai was the most perceptive person. As soon as she saw the playful look on Daiyu's face, she knew that Daiyu had heard about her prescription for curing the disease. Because it was strange, complicated and difficult to make, she found it interesting, and might even think that she was deliberately making a mystery to attract attention.

Baochai didn't explain, but nodded and said, "The old lady's room is so lively today, why don't we see Brother Bao?"

Upon hearing this, Daiyu thought to herself, "How would I know if he is here or not?"

In the end, he just shook his head and didn't say anything.

Baochai laughed and said, "Could it be that you two had another fight, and he ran away in a huff? You two are always at home, inseparable."

Upon hearing this, Daiyu immediately knew that Baochai was teasing her about her and Jia Baoyu's frequent quarrels. Her face flushed, and she retorted angrily, "Who quarreled with him? Who is inseparable from him? I think he is the one who is closest to you, sister. You should ask your sister that question."

Baochai arrived in the capital last autumn, so she spent several months with Daiyu and others and became quite familiar with them.

Although Daiyu felt that Jia Baoyu had many flaws and was fickle, Baochai could still see that Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu, the two darlings of Grandmother Jia, were the most compatible, and they were often seen together.

Her mother even speculated that, judging from this, the Dowager Lady Jia intended to strengthen the family ties by arranging a marriage between the two cousins, which was why Baochai was teasing Daiyu like this.

However, seeing Daiyu's strong reaction, they realized that perhaps the two of them were too caught up in the situation to think clearly, or perhaps they were too young to have considered their own future. So they kept quiet to avoid angering the sharp-tongued girl.

"Hehe, Sister Bao, Sister Lin, what are you two talking about inside?"

Just as Baochai and Daiyu's friendly conversation was getting a little out of hand, Shi Xiangyun peeked in like a cat and casually started flipping through books on Daiyu's desk.

Seeing this, Daiyu was slightly displeased, but as her older sister, she couldn't say anything to her, otherwise the little girl would think she was petty.

Before Baochai arrived, this "dead" girl was closest to her. But after Baochai came, she constantly compared herself to Baochai, feeling that her Lin sister wasn't as good to her as her Baochai sister. Humph, then don't touch my things...

Neither Baochai nor Xiangyun noticed Daiyu's little thoughts. When Xiangyun heard Baochai say that she hadn't seen Jia Baoyu, she smiled and explained, "Rongge's wife came over and brought her younger brother, Qin Zhong, with her. So Baoge went out to play with him."

Xiangyun flipped through the book a few times and found it uninteresting, so she casually tossed it aside and went to bother Baochai, saying mysteriously with a smile, "Sister Bao, I've got a poem here. Sister Lin told me about it. Let me read it to you..."

Baochai became interested as soon as she heard that the name came from Daiyu.

Daiyu had just finished tidying up her books, preparing to put them in her box and lock them away, when she heard this and immediately knew what Xiangyun was going to say. She immediately reached out and slapped her: "Don't say it!"

Seeing this, Xiangyun became even more unrestrained. While dodging Daiyu's attacks, she smiled and said to Baochai, "Sister Bao, have you read Su Shi's poetry collection? Have you heard of Su Shi's saying, 'I'd rather go without meat than live without bamboo. Without meat, one becomes thin; without bamboo, one becomes vulgar'?"

Baochai nodded; she naturally knew this.

"Hehe, Sister Lin's poem is derived from this, and I think it's the ultimate interpretation and the most ingenious adaptation of Mr. Dongpo's insights..."

Seeing Xiangyun keeping her in suspense, Baochai couldn't help but laugh and say, "Just tell us already, or you'll be all smiles."

So Xiangyun made a face at Daiyu, who was glaring at her, and then loudly recited: "No meat makes one thin, no bamboo makes one vulgar. Neither vulgar nor thin, that's hahaha... Yes, it's bamboo shoots braised with pork, hahahaha..."

Xiangyun isn't good at telling jokes; she laughs incessantly before she even finishes speaking.

If Baochai hadn't had such strong comprehension skills, she probably wouldn't have been able to grasp the key point.

"You...did your sister Lin really do this?"

After smiling gently, Baochai looked at Daiyu in surprise. She couldn't understand how such an extraordinary girl like Daiyu could write such down-to-earth verses. Let's just call them verses for now.

Daiyu blushed slightly and had to explain, "No, it's not true. This is something Lian Er made up. I used it to fool her, but who knew she would believe it? She's such a silly girl."

Xiangyun raised her eyebrows smugly; in fact, she already knew the true origin of the story.

After Daiyu lied to her, she told Tanchun and others that it was Jia Lian's masterpiece, and she realized that she had been deceived by Daiyu.

Now that they were facing Baochai, they could use this opportunity to their advantage and make fun of Daiyu.

Upon hearing Daiyu's confession, she pressed on relentlessly, saying, "Hmm? Didn't you say you wrote it? How come it was Lian'ai who wrote it? Oh, so you, Sister Lin, also do this kind of 'deceiving the world and stealing fame' thing! Lian'ai's poem was so good, and you almost claimed it as your own!"

Xiangyun seems to enjoy antagonizing Daiyu.

There's a reason for this. Before Daiyu arrived, Jia Mu's grandniece was Jia Mu's most favored granddaughter. But after Daiyu's arrival, she had to take a backseat.

Xiangyun was naturally a little disappointed, but so be it. She was lively and cheerful by nature and didn't dwell on it. On the contrary, she found that Daiyu's appearance and character far surpassed those of others, so she felt a sense of closeness to her.

However, the closer the little girls are, the easier it is for rifts to develop between them. Xiangyun noticed that Daiyu always liked to argue with her, unlike Yingchun and Tanchun who were more tolerant of her. This led her to gradually shift from being close to Daiyu to enjoying contradicting her.

Daiyu both liked and disliked Xiangyun. Seeing that Xiangyun was deliberately trying to antagonize her, she immediately retorted sarcastically, "Hmph, how dare you talk like that? You always speak with a lisp, you can't even pronounce 'two' properly. You just keep saying 'Lian loves brother, Lian loves brother.' Tomorrow when you're counting stones in Go, you'll be saying 'one loves three, four, five.' Hmph, how ridiculous."

Xiangyun blushed at the comment, but fortunately, Daiyu wasn't the first to laugh at her, and she herself knew that she was prone to making mistakes when she spoke too quickly.

Seeing Baochai smiling in front of her, she immediately twisted Baochai's arm in protest, and then said to Daiyu with dissatisfaction: "You are a good person yourself, so there is no need to make fun of everyone you meet. I think you are not necessarily better than everyone else in the world."

I'll point out someone, and if you can find fault with her, I'll admire you.

As Xiangyun spoke, she pulled Baochai closer to her.

Daiyu didn't need to ask who it was, she just sneered: "I am certainly not as good as Sister Bao, so I won't point out her shortcomings, I'll just point out yours, so what?"

One sentence was enough to make Xiangyun so angry she almost fell over.

"Alright, alright, look at you all, you're becoming more and more like children as you get older. Each of you should say less."

Baochai, who was innocently caught in the crossfire, saw Daiyu and Xiangyun fighting like cats and dogs, and quickly got up to smooth things over.

Unexpectedly, Xiangyun's eyes lit up and she had already thought of a way to subdue Daiyu.

"I can't help it if you pick on me, anyway, I'll never be as good as you in this lifetime. I just pray that tomorrow I'll get a brother-in-law named Lin who also loves to bite his tongue, so you can hear all sorts of 'love' and 'uh' all the time, hahaha, that's what I care about now."

As Xiangyun spoke, she hid behind Baochai.

Sure enough, upon hearing her say this, Daiyu, filled with shame and anger, almost rolled up her sleeves and was about to rush over and teach her a lesson.

Fortunately, Baochai intervened, otherwise, judging from Daiyu's demeanor, she would have definitely given Xiangyun a beating.

Just as the three were making a ruckus, they suddenly heard the sound of people coming out from outside. The three then stopped playing around and came to the main room to see what was going on.

"The three young ladies should go out and take a look. What a grand display! Second Master Lian has received many rewards from the palace. When the old lady and the others heard about it, they all went out to see."

After hearing the maid's reply, Baochai and the other two exchanged glances, all of them seeing the surprise in each other's eyes.

Second brother, have you received another reward?

It's my cousin's husband again, he...

Lian Ai is amazing!

So the three of them walked out of the back room hand in hand and stood behind the crowd, peeking at the situation.