Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Chapter 697 Lin Daiyu, who is not good with words

In order to rush back to see the Second Madam, Jia Lian traveled light and made no prior announcement.

Therefore, it wasn't until his fast horse reached Ningrong Street and entered the east courtyard that the servants of the Rongguo Mansion belatedly realized that Jia Lian had returned to the mansion.

Jia Lianyuan.

When Jia Lian walked in, he didn't see anyone, only the clear and distinct laughter of his daughter coming from the west wing.

Jia Lian followed the sound and entered, and sure enough, he saw his daughter, dressed in a red dress, standing by the low kang (a heated brick bed), being amused by a little girl of eight or nine years old, who was making her giggle.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the little girl was not a maid in the courtyard, but Jia Yucun and Jiao Xing's daughter, Jia Yuchai.

When Jia Yucun was down on his luck, he wrote a poem expressing his determination:

"Jade in its box awaits a good price, hairpin in its case awaits its time to fly."

This poem must have held significant meaning for him.

Jia Yucun, whose given name was Hua, courtesy name Shifei, and sobriquet Yucun, is a poetic name. It's unclear whether he had his courtesy name first and then wrote this poem, or whether he wrote the poem first and then adopted the courtesy name Shifei to express his aspirations.

But it is clear that the "jade hairpin" in her daughter's name must have come from this poem.

Coincidentally, the name "Yu Chai" (玉钗) also happens to correspond to the names of Daiyu and Baochai. Therefore, even though Jia Lian harbored ill intentions towards Jia Yucun, he couldn't help but feel a little more affection for this little girl every time he saw her.

"Oh, it's Daddy!"

Jia Qiao, who was playing a candy-guessing game with Jia Yuchai, realized that the person who walked in was Jia Lian and immediately pounced on him.

When Jia Yuchai, who was originally sitting, saw Jia Lian, she immediately stood up, walked up to him, and obediently called out, "Second Uncle Lian..."

Jia Lian smiled and picked up his daughter, kissing her sweet little face. Then, looking down at Jia Yuchai, who was standing on the ground, gazing up at him expectantly, he bent down slightly and picked her up with one arm as well.

He walked to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and sat down, looking at the eldest girl in his arms, and asked with a smile, "What are you doing here? Did you come with your mother?"

Jia Yuchai didn't seem too embarrassed being held by Jia Lian. Aside from the fact that she also liked Jia Lian, he had often held her when they returned to the capital from the south.

Especially when she went shopping with Senior Sister Lin and Second Uncle Lian, Jia Lian would carry her in one arm and hold Senior Sister Lin's hand with the other when she got tired from running.

Her mother saw it but didn't say anything. She could tell that both her father and mother were happy to see her close to Uncle Lian and Sister Lin.

"Yes, we arrived this morning. My mother is in the back, talking to my great-aunt."

The "aunt" mentioned by Jia Yuchai refers to Feng, Xiangling's mother.

Perhaps it was out of gratitude for the kindness that Lady Feng had shown her as the mistress of the house that Jiao Xing was willing to humble herself and treat Lady Feng as her mistress and mother, even though their identities had now been completely reversed.

He even had his own daughter, the legitimate daughter of a high-ranking official of the third rank, address Madam Feng as his great-aunt.

This certainly made Lady Feng feel extremely apprehensive, and it also made everyone who saw or heard about it praise Jia Yucun and his wife for their kindness, righteousness, and gratitude.

However, in Jia Lian's eyes, that was naturally the case.

Leaving aside Jia Yucun, who is a born ingrate, if Jiao Xing really cares so much about the Zhen family's kindness and the favor of Feng Shi in giving her to Jia Yucun, why didn't she repay the kindness in the previous years?

She knew perfectly well that Madam Feng was not doing well in the old Feng family.

Of course, Jia Lian could understand. Women in this era had many inconveniences after marriage, as they were expected to follow their husbands.

It's quite a difficult situation for them. Feng Shi is now nominally a servant of the Jia family, yet Jia Yucun is willing to let his wife and daughter acknowledge a servant of the Jia family as their elder.

This shows that Jia Yucun, having experienced the ups and downs of officialdom, had completely lost the pride of a scholar and had become unscrupulous in his actions.

The evaluation of Jia Yucun and his wife was not brought up with the children. After Jia Lian played around with the two little maids in the west wing, receiving countless sweet kisses from his beloved daughter and a shy kiss from the envious little maid Jia Yuchai, Jia Lian put them down, prepared to take a bath and change into ordinary clothes, and then went to the garden to find Daiyu and the others to play.

While waiting inside for the maids and servants to prepare the hot water, a woman's voice, subtle yet alluring, rang out.

"This humble servant greets Your Excellency."

Jia Lian looked up and saw Jiao Xing, dressed as an official's wife, walking towards him.

Jia Lian straightened up slightly and nodded in response, "Greetings, Sister-in-law. Please sit down. Qing'er, bring some tea."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xinqing, who was sitting sideways on the footstool massaging Jia Lian's legs, got up and went to serve tea.

"No need for such trouble. I have come to your residence simply to visit you, Madam, and to see Lin and Xiangling."

I was just about to go back when I heard that the Marquis had returned to his residence, so I came to pay my respects.

As Jiao Xing spoke, her eyes were fixed on "Qing'er" who had gotten up from the ground. She secretly sighed that Jia Lian was indeed surrounded by beautiful wives and concubines.

She was familiar with Qingwen and Xiangling, but she never imagined that a leg-massaging maid she had never met before, who was clearly of low status, could be so delicate and charming, with shy eyes and a pitiful appearance.

With so many beautiful women to enjoy, it's no wonder he has little interest in himself!

As Jiao Xing thought to herself, her gaze toward Jia Lian was tinged with a hint of sorrow.

While the maid went to the next room, Jiao Xing took two steps to Jia Lian and said with a smile, "Just now I saw that Yu Chai had an extra hairpin in her hair. When I asked her, I found out that it was a gift from the Marquis."

The Marquis spoils her too much. How can he give such expensive things to a mere maid like her so easily?

Looking at Jiao Xing, who was slender, beautiful, and seemed genuine, Jia Lian smiled slightly.

Although Jia Yucun had a weak foundation, he was once unable to even afford the money needed for bribes to be reinstated.

However, as the saying goes, "A clean prefect for three years can amass a fortune of 100,000 taels of silver."

Jia Yucun served as the prefect of Jinling, a wealthy city, for several years, and now he has become the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, holding a high position and great power. How could a hairpin worth only a few taels of silver possibly catch the eye of a dignified third-rank noblewoman?

Because he had many younger sisters and beauties in his family, Jia Lian had long since developed the habit of always carrying some valuable trinkets with him in case he needed to give them as rewards.

Just now, under Qiao Jie'er's repeated coaxing, the little maid Yuchai kissed him on the cheek. Jia Lian was pleased and naturally gave her a small hairpin as a reward, which was originally a trivial matter.

Jia Lian knew perfectly well what the wealthy young woman was thinking when she tried to get close to him with such a trivial matter.

He casually slapped her shapely buttocks beneath her long dress, and, meeting the shy yet coy gaze of the young noblewoman, Jia Lian said indifferently, "Just a little trinket, nothing special."

My sister-in-law is so beautiful. She's been away for so long. I'm afraid Brother Yucun must have been worried about her a long time ago.

"If my sister-in-law isn't worried about Brother Yucun, why don't you stay for lunch? It just so happens that I have some official business to discuss with Brother Yucun; having my sister-in-law convey my message will surely be the same."

Jiao Xing was slapped, and her heart skipped a beat. She thought Jia Lian was going to do something to her again.

Upon hearing Jia Lian's words, she realized that she had been tricked by him again.

On the ship, she was aroused by Jia Lian's advances and wanted to try something exciting. She was about to succeed when her naive daughter ruined the whole thing.

Later, although there were similar opportunities, both Jia Lian and she seemed to exercise more restraint, at most engaging in ambiguous relationships without actually taking action.

Although she rationally knew that this was the right thing to do, the feeling of unease she felt intensified.

But she was, after all, Jia Yucun's wife, and she had risen from humble beginnings; Jia Yucun had treated her well. Therefore, although she was bewitched by Jia Lian, she was far from being so reckless as to try every means to have an affair.

Throughout, she maintained only this alluring, coy, and seductive demeanor. Anything that could tempt Jia Lian to make a move, even just a touch or a caress, would send her into a frenzy, leaving her feeling blissful for days…

Therefore, even though she longed to meet with Jia Lian in secret so often, in order to avoid being discovered, she rarely came to the Jia mansion when Jia Lian was at home, even though Jia Yucun had instructed her to maintain good relations with the Jia family.

Unexpectedly, after learning that Jia Lian had gone to Tianjin, she came to the Jia family mansion to deepen her relationship with Daiyu and others, only to run into Jia Lian returning home.

Under such circumstances, she had no choice but to come and try to see if there was any trickery involved.

Therefore, she sent her daughter to find Xiangling, while she herself came to pay her respects to Jia Lian alone.

Sure enough, under these circumstances, Jia Lian made a move against her again, but he didn't completely attack her.

He jokingly invited me to stay for lunch, but the true meaning of this "lunch" was very likely something I had been longing for but hadn't dared to do...

It seems that, in an instant, the power of choice is completely in one's own hands.

That's true. Jia Lian is a man; he's unlikely to suffer a loss or take any risks. Even if Jia Yucun found out, he probably wouldn't dare to turn against Jia Lian.

Just as Jiao Xing's expression changed and she was about to say something, she suddenly heard the maids' voices outside: "Miss Lin has arrived."

Jiao Xing's heart skipped a beat. She looked at Jia Lian, who had a mocking expression on his face, and her mind suddenly cleared.

Straightening herself up, Jiao Xing said, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Excellency. However, I have been away from the manor for quite some time and it is inconvenient for me to linger outside any longer."

Besides, our master will be very happy to hear that the Marquis has returned to the capital. I must go back and tell him the good news first.

After speaking, she glanced at Jia Lian with a strangely complicated look in her eyes, gave a graceful bow, and then turned to take her leave.

Watching Jiao Xing's somewhat flustered figure, Jia Lian shook his head slightly.

Fortunately, I'm not too stupid.

To be honest, Jiao Xing is definitely a beauty, otherwise she wouldn't have received such preferential treatment from Jia Yucun.

However, she wasn't exceptionally beautiful. At least, in Jia Lian's eyes, she belonged to the type that he wouldn't be obsessed with if he couldn't have her, but wouldn't mind having a taste if he could.

It was only because she was the first beautiful maid to appear in the Dream of the Red Chamber, and also the second wife of Jia Yucun, that Jia Lian felt a little different.

If Jiao Xing had actually dared to stay for lunch, Jia Lian would definitely not have minded indulging in some intimate acts with her.

However, if that were the case, Jiao Xing would be incredibly foolish.

It was fine when Sister Feng was at home, but now that she's gone on a long trip, Jia Lian is the only male head of the Jia family at home. If Jiao Xing dares to stay in the mansion to dine with him, it won't be long before rumors start spreading.

Even if Jia Yucun still trusts her, he probably won't allow her to come and go from the Jia mansion anymore.

A noblewoman who loses her diplomatic qualifications is not much different from a bird in a cage.

Without giving Jiao Xing's question much, Jia Lian, upon hearing that Daiyu had come to visit, quickly stuffed his shoes in and left the room.

Sure enough, in the main courtyard, Daiyu, dressed in a light blue dress, was surrounded by Jiaoxing and Jia Yuchai.

Jiao Xing was still holding her hand, giving her some instructions with a loving expression. This made Daiyu, who already had some social anxiety, only able to respond to the concern of her teacher's wife, whom she didn't really know very well, with a shy but polite smile.

Especially when she caught a glimpse of Jia Lian coming out, realizing that he might have seen her embarrassing situation, she became even more embarrassed, and her face even turned a little red.

Seeing her appearance, Jiao Xing quickly recalled what Jia Yucun had said:

"Although Daiyu was precocious, she was melancholy by nature and not good at speaking. She was used to keeping her thoughts to herself and did not like to talk about them with others."

When she was my student, she would never ask me questions unless I tested her. I originally thought she was a student who disliked studying, but to my surprise, she always knew the answers to the assignments I gave her without any prompting, and she would be fully prepared for the test the next day, which made me secretly admire her.

Her intelligence was far beyond what one would expect from a child her age.

Lord Lin truly deserves his title of Third-Rank Scholar; his daughter must have inherited his literary talent as well.

So Jiao Xing stopped talking, patted her hand, bowed slightly to Jia Lian on the corridor, and then left with her daughter.

Daiyu watched Jiaoxing and the other girl leave, then turned back and found that Jia Lian had come down the steps and stood in front of her, looking down at her with a smile.

"What are you laughing at!"

Daiyu seemed a little embarrassed.

"Hahaha, I'm laughing! Our quick-witted Xiao Xiangzi is like a gourd with its mouth sawed off in front of her teacher's wife. She's completely different from how she acts when she's baring her teeth and brandishing her claws in front of us."

Upon hearing this, Daiyu blushed, glared at Jia Lian, and made as if to turn and leave.

Jia Lian quickly grabbed her hand and said with a smile, "You've come all this way to my place, why are you leaving so soon? If others see this, they'll think I've bullied you again."

"Pah, who's pulling and tugging at you? I'm here to see Qiao'er, let go of me."

Seeing that she couldn't leave and fearing that someone would see her "intimate" relationship with Jia Lian, Daiyu quickly glanced around the courtyard, forcefully shook off Jia Lian's hand, and hurried towards the east wing.

Seeing her expression, so clearly revealing her thoughts, Jia Lian couldn't help but chuckle. Hearing this, Consort Lin quickened her pace and disappeared behind the curtain in the blink of an eye.

This adorable demeanor made Jia Lian truly love her to the core.

In other words, Jia Lian was unaware of Jia Yucun's opinion of Daiyu. If he had known, he would have definitely ridiculed Jia Yucun.

It's a shame that he's a second-class Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), yet he can't even understand a little maid's thoughts, and he even says that Daiyu is not good at speaking.

He didn't see how, when Daiyu opened her mouth, her other friends were often speechless and gritted their teeth!

That makes sense. Back when Daiyu was a disciple of Jia Yucun, she probably already regarded him as a pretentious old scholar. Naturally, Daiyu would appear "not good with words" in front of such an old scholar.

It's not that I'm unfriendly, it's that I simply don't want to talk.

I once saw a statement that, based on the phrase "the hairpin awaits its time to fly in the box," it was deduced that Baochai eventually married Jia Yucun...

I was furious. According to this logic, based on the saying "a good price is sought for jade in its box," does that mean we should find someone called "good price" to match our otherworldly fairy, Lonely Forest?