Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

"Alright, Lin sister, Zijuan has already gone out. If you don't get up, I'm going to tickle you!"

Holding Daiyu's petite and slender body, Jia Lian said with both affection and amusement.

Since his trip to Jiangnan, he had held Daiyu countless times. With Daiyu's fairy-like beauty, even a glance from her would make an ordinary man weak in the knees, let alone when they were so close, it was inevitable that his mind would wander at times.

He didn't believe that Daiyu hadn't felt anything before, and that her strong reaction today was probably due to the incident with Xiangling.

Seeing that Daiyu didn't react to his words, Jia Lian pretended to scratch her ribs. Startled, Daiyu finally mustered her strength and broke free from Jia Lian's control. She knelt on the couch, flipped over, and pounded her fists on Jia Lian's chest like drums, letting out a coquettish voice: "You're bad, you're bad, you're so bad!"

"Ha ha ha ha."

Jia Lian let out a series of hearty laughs and then swept his hand down to pin Daiyu's fists.

Admittedly, Daiyu's small fists were like a massage on his body, but Jia Lian was afraid of tiring her out because he noticed that Daiyu's face, neck, and all the visible skin were now flushed red like blood.

This girl is indeed more and more captivating the more you look at her. Even with her skin flushed like this, she still exudes a delicate beauty reminiscent of a sickly beauty.

Jia Lian was so engrossed in watching that he became completely absorbed.

When Daiyu met Jia Lian's gaze, she initially frowned and glared back, but after only a moment, she gave in, lowered her eyes, and tried to escape with her hands tugged at the last minute.

Jia Lian smiled slightly, released Daiyu's hands, and with lightning speed, cupped Daiyu's delicate face in his hands, and kissed her as she looked on with a mixture of wariness and panic.

"Mmm~~"

Daiyu had never anticipated such a situation. Their lips met, and the sensation, which seemed to touch her soul, left her stunned for a long time before she came to her senses. She then resumed her fighting mode, punching and kicking Jia Lian while making soft moaning sounds.

Perhaps knowing that her resistance was futile, or perhaps she was also immersed in the wonderful feeling... In any case, in a very short time, Daiyu closed her eyes tightly, and her hands and feet stopped fighting. A moment later, she even gently wrapped herself around Jia Lian's strong body.

All of this made Jia Lian, who was already excited about winning Daiyu's first kiss, burst into a hearty laugh after realizing what was happening.

But he became too complacent and inevitably forgot his own plan to proceed step by step.

He only realized his mistake after being kicked out of the room by an enraged Daiyu.

Watching Lin Daiyu push him out of the room and then slam the door shut, Jia Lian couldn't help but raise his right hand and give her a fierce look of contempt.

It's all your fault! What's so great about touching a little girl? You alerted her!

Losing interest, she glanced to the side and saw a beautiful young woman standing beside her, watching her with a half-smile, her eyes full of mockery.

Jia Lian immediately straightened his back, adopted the demeanor of a marquis, and looked down at her.

The maidservant was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and asked, "Why was Second Master kicked out by the young lady?"

Jia Lian didn't speak, just stared at her until Zijuan felt a little uneasy and wanted to leave. Then he grabbed her long arm, spun her around like a Thomas Flair, and gave her a hard kiss on her rosy lips.

"Tell your daughter I'll come see her again tomorrow."

After releasing Zijuan, Jia Lian didn't even look at her expression. He left with those words and strode away.

Zijuan was stunned, and she hadn't recovered until Jia Lian's figure disappeared from sight.

She wanted to say something, but hesitated. She knew there was a high chance her young mistress was behind the door, and if she overheard and became suspicious, things would get really bad.

Therefore, he only spat silently at Jia Lian's back, then quickly wiped his mouth with his embroidered handkerchief before calming himself down and pushing the inner door.

Based on my intuition, it didn't seem to be secured with a door wedge, but rather by a person's body.

"Girl, open it. The Second Master has already left."

Noticing no response from inside, Zijuan replied, "They're really gone. I didn't lie to you."

After a while, the door slowly opened, revealing Daiyu's stunningly beautiful face.

Daiyu seemed to glance behind Zijuan to make sure no one was there before she opened the door completely and let Zijuan in.

"Why did you kick the Second Master out, young lady?"

As soon as Zijuan entered the room, she asked this question.

Although Zijuan pretended to know nothing, Daiyu could tell from her playful expression that she definitely knew something.

Her pretty face flushed slightly, and instead of replying, she stared at Zijuan and asked, "What did he do to you outside the door just now?"

"It's nothing."

Zijuan blinked her eyes. "It's what Second Master told me: he'll come to see you again tomorrow and told me to take good care of you, Miss."

Daiyu scrutinized Zijuan for a few moments but couldn't detect any flaws, so she had no choice but to give up.

……

The next day, as usual, Jia Lian paid a brief visit to several important relatives and old friends in Jinling City, and then led his personal guards to Yangzhou to settle the final matters.

Three more days passed before he returned to pick up Daiyu and the Lin family's boats, and set off back to the capital with a much grander entourage than when he arrived.

Of course, along with them was Jia Yucun's family, who had already made preparations.

The reason for the grand scale of the operation was that the wealth, worth millions of taels of silver, needed to be escorted to the capital, and Jia Lian mobilized a large number of soldiers and officials to escort it along the way.

Jia Lian disliked taking risks. When he had nothing, he could go to the battlefield to try his luck, but now that he was in a position of power, he naturally prioritized stability.

Otherwise, if we accidentally capsize in a ditch, wouldn't that look incredibly stupid?

Just as he had come, when there was nothing to do, Jia Lian still lived on the Lin family's boat, and sat with Daiyu every day.

On this day, the boat docked at the bay for supplies. After arranging external affairs, Jia Lian returned to the Lin family's boat. As soon as he went up to the second floor, he saw Daiyu standing alone at the stern, leaning against the railing.

"The wind is so strong on the river, what are you doing standing here all by yourself?"

Jia Lian had only made a casual remark of concern, but as he walked over and followed Daiyu's gaze, his expression became somewhat unnatural.

Daiyu seemed to have known Jia Lian was coming all along. Without turning her head, she paused for a moment after hearing this before pointing to a medium-sized Fujian-style boat in front of her and asking, "Second Brother, what is that boat for?"

"Which one is it? Let me see."

Jia Lian pretended to look up, then suddenly realized, "That ship...that ship is inhabited by several masters of music."

"A master of music and art?"

Daiyu turned her head, her two willow-leaf eyebrows furrowed, and there seemed to be doubt in her eyes.

"Yes, it refers to people who are proficient in vocal music and dance, such as playing the qin, xiao, pipa, and so on."

Seeing that Daiyu remained silent, Jia Lian had no choice but to continue explaining: "Our family bought twelve young actors to learn opera for the Imperial Concubine's return home for a visit. I was thinking that we should also hire two truly talented and renowned teachers to instruct them."

Since these are actresses performing for the Empress, their teachers must naturally be women. Back in Yangzhou, someone recommended a few to me; they meant well. I thought it best to send them to the capital for a trial run. If they teach well, I'll pay them according to their performance…”

Daiyu's lips twitched, and her brows furrowed even deeper. "Is that so? I've heard people say they were all courtesans?"

"It's true that they came from brothels, but they were all 'pure courtesans,' meaning they sold their art but not their bodies. Otherwise, how could I dare to invite them back to teach the young actresses in my household?"

Besides, they have all redeemed themselves now, so they can be considered reformed.

Lin Daiyu was always a kind-hearted, elegant, and unconventional person. Would she, like others, slander and look down on them because of their past background?

Daiyu was taken aback by Jia Lian's praise, then said somewhat angrily, "Stop lying to me! You really did those things after all. And not only did you do them, but you're also taking them back to the capital. How are you going to explain this to Sister Feng then!"

Daiyu could tolerate Jia Lian taking Xiangling and others as his concubines, because they were originally Jia Lian's women. However, given her aloofness and purity, she certainly wouldn't want Jia Lian to frequent brothels like other men.

She was originally quite reassured about this, having known Jia Lian for so many years and never heard of him doing such a thing.

Even Wang Xifeng praised Jia Lian for this in front of outsiders, which made her feel that Jia Lian was indeed an extraordinary man.

Therefore, when someone overheard that several stunningly beautiful women were following the fleet, especially since these women were probably of questionable origin, Daiyu paid particular attention.

Seeing Daiyu's brows furrow and her intense gaze fixed on him, Jia Lian thought to himself, "As expected, Daiyu is not someone to be trifled with."

But he remained calm and even looked at Daiyu with a puzzled expression before saying as if he had just realized something: "I thought that Lin Daiyu and I were kindred spirits, but I didn't expect that you would not trust me!"

Lin Meimei, don't you think I need to do the things you're talking about? Xiangling is such a beautiful girl, she's been with me for so many years, and I've never done anything to her. If it weren't for this trip to Jiangnan to help her find her mother, and her gratitude leading her to try and throw herself at me, I wouldn't have paid her any attention.

Tell me, how could an upright person like your second brother do such a despicable thing as you described?

I was truly only attracted to their musical talents; I didn't do anything else. You can ask Ah Qin if you don't believe me. If she proves I'm lying, I'm willing to accept any punishment from Lin Daiyu!

Jia Lian spoke with such conviction and reason that even Daiyu couldn't help but believe him to some extent.

Firstly, since she had known Jia Lian, he had never had such a past. As for the occasional mentions by the servants of the Rongguo Mansion about how Jia Lian was frivolous and dissolute in the past, Daiyu did not believe them at all.

It was all because those people were jealous of my second brother's excellence that they deliberately made up stories about him.

Daiyu had great faith in her own judgment; Jia Lian was a man of both virtue and talent, insightful and idealistic!

Secondly, Jia Lian's words do make sense. Putting aside Wang Xifeng's appearance, which is like that of a fairy, Ping'er, Qingwen, and Xiangling around Jia Lian are all stunningly beautiful.

With such beauties by his side, Jia Lian really didn't need to care about ordinary, common women.

Indeed, in Daiyu's view, the women in brothels who served men with their beauty were mostly ordinary and vulgar.

Thinking about it this way, Daiyu even felt guilty for doubting Jia Lian. Facing Jia Lian's sincere gaze, she felt a pang of guilt and immediately spat, "How dare you say that? Before leaving the capital, you clearly said you'd give Xiangling to me as a maid, and yet you...you still did that..."

As Daiyu spoke, she couldn't help but recall the night Jia Lian kissed her, after which Xiangling walked awkwardly, which drew ridicule from Zijuan and others.

This confirmed to Daiyu and the others that Xiangling had indeed become Jia Lian's woman, and it was truly the first time!

Daiyu's shy demeanor delighted Jia Lian, who then embraced her and laughed, "It's all thanks to Lin Daiyu's generosity and care for her student. If you hadn't sent Xiangling to serve me in my room, she wouldn't have had the chance, would she? So, her success is largely due to you, her teacher."

"Pooh……!"

Daiyu would never accept such a division of credit, and her face turned bright red with embarrassment.

If she had known Jia Lian would say that, she would never have agreed to help him tutor Xiangling.

Seeing that Daiyu was so embarrassed by his words that she not only forgot to question him about being the courtesan, but also seemed to be out of her mind, Jia Lian wanted to repeat his old trick and kiss her, just like that night.

On this beautiful, sunny day, kissing Daiyu on this floating ship must feel even more extraordinary.

However, he underestimated Daiyu's alertness. As soon as he made a move, Daiyu noticed and pushed him away, turning her back to him.

Jia Lian gave an awkward smile and deliberately asked, "Sister Lin, what's wrong?"

Daiyu kept her head down and remained silent for a long time. Finally, she turned around and looked at Jia Lian earnestly: "Second Brother, how about we make a promise..."

"What?"

"That's right, before we get married, you're not allowed to kiss me again... and you can't bully me anymore, otherwise, I'll ignore you."

Seeing the girl's serious expression, Jia Lian thought that what happened that night must have been too much of a shock for Daiyu, making her think about the cause and effect very seriously afterward.

The agreement she's proposing now is probably the solution she's come up with.

If he doesn't agree, he's afraid this girl will really avoid him in the future.

So he smiled and nodded, indicating his approval.

But whether he was truly sincere in his heart, only he himself knows.

When Daiyu saw that Jia Lian had agreed, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as Jia Lian thought, she did feel it was too dangerous for her to stay by Jia Lian's side, because Jia Lian could always easily make her heart race and her emotions surge.

She worried that if she wasn't careful, she might do something inappropriate with Jia Lian.

She didn't want that to happen, but she also didn't want to distance herself from Jia Lian, so she could only come up with this compromise.

There was nothing to say for a moment. Just as Daiyu was about to take her leave and return to her room, she heard a child's clear and crisp voice coming from the top of the stairs.

"Senior Sister!"

It turned out that Jiao Xing had brought her daughter to talk to Madam Feng. Her daughter, Yu Chai, rushed upstairs first and ran over as soon as she saw Jia Lian and Daiyu.

"Hey, Senior Sister Lin, why is your face so red?"

Jia Yuchai glanced at Daiyu, then at Jia Lian, and looked back at Daiyu, asking curiously.

Daiyu didn't know how to answer, and her cheeks flushed even more, which puzzled Jia Yuchai.

At this crucial moment, Jia Lian smiled and said, "Your Senior Sister Lin isn't feeling well; she's ill. I was just about to take her to the market to buy medicine. Since you're here, would you like to come shopping with us?"

"Shopping? Yay! I love shopping! Uncle Lian, wait for me a moment, I'll go tell my mother first."

After Jia Yuchai finished speaking, she ran back.

Her lively and energetic nature made Jia Lian and Daiyu take a few more glances, both thinking that Jia Yucun and his wife must really love this youngest daughter very much, otherwise she wouldn't have developed such a personality.

When we first met, she was alright, with the quiet demeanor of a well-bred young lady. But as we got to know each other better, her true nature was revealed.