Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

"Miss Lin..."

Just as Daiyu was pondering a thousand thoughts and enduring Jia Lian's tenderness and care, a woman's voice came from the main room door.

Daiyu quickly took two steps back, not daring to let anyone see her closeness with Jia Lian.

Jia Lian folded the handkerchief in his hand, and seeing that Daiyu had already left, he casually put it into his sleeve.

Then, Jia Lian's gaze casually swept over Zhou Rui's wife, who was walking in through the door.

"What are you doing here?"

Jia Lian immediately recognized what Zhou Rui's wife was carrying and guessed her purpose, hence his somewhat unfriendly tone.

Zhou Rui's wife was surprised to find Jia Lian in the room. She quickly greeted him and then said with a smile, "This servant is here on Madam's orders to deliver something to Miss Lin."

This is a stone rat that my wife specially had someone buy from the West Market.

Madam said that Baoyu was ignorant and offended the young lady, and asked the young lady to be more tolerant.

This stone rat was bought by Madam on behalf of Baoyu as a compensation for Miss. Look how beautiful it is, Miss! Do you like it?

Zhou Rui's wife thought her words were perfectly reasonable, but to her surprise, Daiyu's tears, which had just subsided, welled up again.

She didn't look at the squirrel in the cage, but instead glanced at Jia Lian.

Daiyu was incredibly perceptive; she almost immediately grasped the deeper meaning behind Zhou Rui's words.

She felt wronged because she had just had a conflict with Jia Baoyu that morning, and then Lady Wang sent her a squirrel at noon.

As an elder, Madam Wang seemed to be saying: My son broke your things, so I'll buy them to compensate you. Is that alright?

Although Zhou Rui's wife did not say so, in the eyes of others, Madam Wang's actions were perfectly reasonable.

Others would even praise Madam Wang for being meticulous and fair in her actions, and for having the kindness of an elder.

Actually, there is another case here.

The year Baochai went to the capital, Zhou Rui's wife was delivering palace flowers to the young ladies and mistresses of the Rongguo Mansion on behalf of Aunt Xue.

When the last two were delivered to Daiyu's room, only two unattractive-looking ones remained. Daiyu felt slighted and refused them outright, even retorting to Zhou Rui's wife. This caused Zhou Rui's wife to have a less than favorable impression of Daiyu from then on.

Zhou Rui's wife was well aware of Madam Wang's thoughts.

Seeing that Daiyu was not favored by Lady Wang, she naturally felt a little schadenfreude, and her words inevitably revealed some of this emotion, which Daiyu keenly noticed.

Actually, if Jia Lian hadn't been sitting here, causing Zhou Rui's wife some concern, she wouldn't have spoken so subtly just now.

Meeting Daiyu's gaze, Jia Lian naturally knew what she was thinking.

Jia Lian sighed inwardly. In fact, on the surface, there was nothing wrong with what Madam Wang did.

However, the intelligent Daiyu knew Lady Wang's character and her bias towards Jia Baoyu, so she was able to immediately "misinterpret" her meaning.

In other words, if it were him, or even Grandmother Jia, who did the same thing today—meaning he or Grandmother Jia would send Daiyu another squirrel—Daiyu would definitely not have any wild thoughts.

言情

This is actually a matter of trust and closeness.

Daiyu guessed that Lady Wang didn't like her very much, which is why she overthought things. Knowing that Jia Lian and Grandmother Jia both doted on her, she took it all for granted.

There was no blame for Daiyu's wild thoughts; this was Daiyu's innate sensitivity and thoughtfulness.

Therefore, Jia Lian looked coldly at Zhou Rui's wife and said, "Put your things down and leave."

"Uh, yes, yes..."

How could Zhou Rui's wife know how she had offended Jia Lian? She was bombarded with questions, but dared not say a word, and awkwardly retreated.

Zijuan picked up the cage, intending to find a place to hang it, when she heard Jia Lian say to Daiyu, "If you don't like this squirrel, why don't you give it to me?"

"It looks pretty good. Take it back for your little niece to play with."

Upon hearing this, Daiyu was once again deeply moved.

Second Brother Lian really understands her too well. Because she could see through Madam Wang's favoritism, she naturally felt nothing for the squirrel that Madam Wang sent, which was more of a show of defiance than an apology.

However, she couldn't refuse the gifts that her elders had specially given her, otherwise people would say she was arrogant and rude.

If it were anyone else, they would certainly know how to handle such an ill-intentioned apology. For example, they could simply kill him…

Daiyu clearly couldn't possibly have such a thought. Looking at that clever little thing, she felt quite annoyed.

Now that Jia Lian has asked her for it, her worries are immediately relieved.

Therefore, he quickly nodded, "In that case, Brother Lian, you can take it."

Jia Lian nodded and then instructed Zijuan to deliver the squirrel directly to his home.

After the trouble was resolved, Daiyu found a stool opposite Jia Lian and sat down. Just as she was about to ask Jia Lian where he came from and whether he was busy today, she heard Jia Lian ask her again where she had been.

Daiyu's mood, which had just begun to improve, immediately sombered. Meeting Jia Lian's gaze, she said softly, "I wanted to find a burial place for Anu, but I searched the entire vicinity and couldn't find one..."

Daiyu was someone who could imbue objects with her emotions.

The little squirrel she had carefully raised from its cubs was like a companion to her.

Now that the other person has passed away, in my grief, I naturally want to give them a proper burial.

However, according to the rules of the Jia family, once any cat, dog, or bird kept in any room or place died, its body had to be handed over to the servants to be disposed of.

Daiyu would never entrust Anu to those irresponsible servants. What if they just abandoned her somewhere and she ended up being carried off by wild dogs? How could she feel at ease?

Therefore, I wanted to find a suitable place to bury him myself.

But after going out for a while, she couldn't find such a place.

She lived in Rongqing Hall. The front and back courtyards belonged to Grandmother Jia. No one was allowed to touch even a single blade of grass or tree belonging to their elders; this was a rule of the Jia family.

So Daiyu returned empty-handed. She was also very disappointed. In the past, whether in her hometown of Suzhou or in her father's official residence in Yangzhou, she had her own territory that she could dispose of as she pleased.

But not here.

Seeing that Daiyu was about to cry again, Jia Lian laughed instead.

He put the squirrel's carcass back into the paper boat, handed it to Daiyu to hold, and said, "Let's go, I'll take you to a place. It's the perfect place to bury this little guy."

"Where?"

"You'll see when you come with me."

Upon hearing this, Daiyu quickly wiped away her tears with her sleeve and hurriedly followed Jia Lian.

She knew that if she cried, Jia Lian would definitely find a way to help her.

Although I felt it was a scheme against Lian Er Gege, it was really useful.

……

On the construction site behind the Ning and Rong mansions, countless servants and craftsmen of the Jia family were still busy at work.

Near the Rongguo Mansion, as someone looked up to wipe their sweat, they saw a group of people walking towards them in the distance.

They naturally recognized Jia Lian, who was in charge, but they were puzzled as to why Jia Lian would bring a group of women in.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that there were not only wives and maids, but also some exquisitely beautiful girls dressed like fairies.

It turns out to be the legendary young ladies from the Jia family traveling together; no wonder so many people are following them.

I just don't know what they're doing here.

"What are you staring at? Get your head down and get back to work!"

The butlers and stewards, having regained their senses, quickly reprimanded the eavesdroppers to prevent them from offending the distinguished guest.

Jia Lian originally only intended to bring Daiyu in, but somehow the news leaked out on the way, and the three sisters and Shi Xiangyun, along with their respective maids, all caught up with him.

With so many people, Jia Lian simply called over a few old women and daughters-in-law he saw along the way and had them lead the way.

The craftsmen who were able to work in the Jia family all knew the rules, and there was no instance of anyone deliberately breaking them.

So Jia Lian quickly led Daiyu and the others to a key construction site in the west.

Instead of entering the bustling construction site, they followed the stone path outside and stepped into a newly planted bamboo grove.

This is the future site of Xiaoxiang Pavilion.

"Ah, so many spotted bamboos have been planted here. When they grow into a lush bamboo forest, it will surely be very quiet and beautiful."

It's so good that Anu is buried here.

Shi Xiangyun was very active; if it weren't for the discipline nannies forbidding her, she would have already sneaked in here to play.

Now that she could openly follow Jia Lian in, she immediately widened her eyes and looked around in amazement.

Unfortunately, the Grand View Garden is still in its infancy and doesn't yet show much of its magnificent beauty.

Lin Daiyu hadn't expected Jia Lian to bring her to the still-unfinished construction site. She was a little worried: "Second Brother Lian, there's construction going on everywhere here. If we bury Anu here, won't it be...?"

It would be such a spoilsport if it were buried one moment and then dug up the next.

Jia Lian shook his head: "This bamboo grove has been completely planted and will basically not be touched again."

If you're worried, I'll just tell the managers to keep unrelated people out.

As he spoke, Jia Lian had Xueyan bring over the flower hoe and hand it to Daiyu.

"Go."

Daiyu hummed in agreement, handed Anu to Tanchun, and then personally moved to select an auspicious burial site...

Looking at the deep bamboo forest around me, I suddenly felt that this matter was even more meaningful.