Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Chapter 711 Daiyu Washes Her Handkerchief

Zijuan is a clever and intelligent girl.

Whenever Jia Lian came to see Daiyu, she would consciously stand guard outside, firstly so that her master could summon her if needed, and secondly to prevent the ignorant young maids from barging in.

Zijuan could roughly guess what Daiyu meant by playing the zither in the room. Later, when the music stopped, Zijuan guessed that Jia Lian had woken up and that he would come out soon.

Master Lian usually doesn't stay in the girls' rooms for very long.

But today seems a little different.

While feeding the birds on the veranda, Zijuan listened intently to the sounds coming from inside the room, but after feeding all the birds, she found the room eerily quiet.

The more suspicious she became, the more determined she finally decided to secretly take a look inside the room.

I peeked through the open window; there was no one on the tatami mat, at the desk, or beside the guqin…

With a bad feeling creeping into her heart, Zijuan quickly went inside, and sure enough, the outer room was empty. Her gaze almost instantly locked onto the tightly closed inner door.

It's obvious without even thinking that Master Lian and the young lady are in the inner room!

What are they doing in the inner room...?

Zijuan quietly surveyed the room, confirming that her two masters had definitely gone into the inner room and had probably locked the door.

She dared not push open the door, unsure of what Jia Lian and Daiyu were doing inside. If, as she suspected, she were to disturb them, it would do her no good.

Standing three steps away from the inner room door, I listened quietly for a while. Reassuringly, I didn't hear any unusual sounds...

Zijuan blushed slightly. Actually, she didn't know what kind of noise it would make if Master Lian and the young lady were really doing that kind of thing.

After hesitating for a long time and struggling with her thoughts, Zijuan finally decided to quietly leave and keep watch for her young lady outside.

"Zijuan".

The sudden sound snapped Zijuan out of her reverie. Upon seeing who it was, she was first startled, then relieved, and quickly greeted, "Mama Wang..."

Granny Wang glanced at Zijuan, then at Daiyu's room, and asked, "Is the young lady in her room?"

"They're here... Second Master Lian came to see the young lady, they're all inside..."

"The Marquis is here too. Just then, Steward Lin told me about something concerning several properties in Suzhou, and I'm having trouble deciding what to do..."

As Wang Mama spoke, she was about to go inside to find Jia Lian and Daiyu to report back.

As Daiyu's wet nurse, Granny Wang was also considered an elder to Daiyu.

Although Lin Ruhai entrusted Jia Lian to manage the Lin family's inheritance, Jia Lian did not have the energy, so the actual managers of the Lin family's inheritance were always the Lin family's old steward, Lin Zhong, and his family.

Of course, most of the most valuable and portable treasures, such as house deeds and land deeds, were taken back to the Jia family by Daiyu. These items were then entrusted to Granny Wang for safekeeping.

Lin Zhong was, after all, an outsider, and Daiyu disliked getting involved in mundane affairs, so minor matters were usually resolved by Lin Zhong and Granny Wang themselves.

Granny Wang was an honest woman. Although she noticed that Zijuan's mental state was off, she didn't think too much of it. After all, it was perfectly normal for Jia Lian to come and talk to Daiyu.

Unexpectedly, just as she took a step, Zijuan blocked her way, looking worried: "Well, if Mama has something to say, let's talk about it later... Second Master and Miss are discussing important matters, no, it's not convenient to disturb them..."

It was a difficult situation for Zijuan. Firstly, Wang Mama was a close friend of Daiyu, so it was inconvenient to deceive her. Secondly, everyone in Xiaoxiang Pavilion knew that Jia Lian was coming, so it couldn't be kept secret. Finally, from Wang Mama's perspective, Zijuan felt that even if she knew something, she probably wouldn't say it out loud.

Sure enough, no matter how dull-witted Wang Mama was, she was still an experienced woman. Hearing Zijuan's words and seeing her expression, she could easily guess what was going on.

She stopped abruptly, a glint of shrewdness flashing in her eyes. She glanced at the room and Zijuan, nodded silently, and turned to go to her own room.

Unlike Zijuan, who paid close attention to the sounds inside the room from beginning to end, she didn't think too much about it, assuming that Jia Lian and Daiyu were doing something intimate inside.

This is perfectly normal. Young men and women are engaged; as long as others don't say anything, what does it matter?

However, Xiaoyu lost her mother at a young age and has no one to teach her, so she may not understand matters between men and women. If she offends the Marquis because of this ignorance, it will be detrimental to her future status.

I suppose the responsibility of teaching should naturally fall on my shoulders as the wet nurse.

I had originally planned to give them a proper lesson when they finished their mourning period and were ready to get married. Now it seems I should probably start thinking about it sooner rather than later.

At the door, Zijuan watched as Granny Wang left without a word, and she breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, she also perked up her spirits.

If the second master and the young lady haven't done anything out of line, then it's fine. But if they have, and someone catches them, then it'll be a disaster. So, we absolutely must keep a close eye on the door and not let our minds wander again!

……

Daiyu's room was rather dim at this moment.

Jia Lian bent down and stood by the bed, looking at Daiyu, who was wrapped tightly in the quilt inside the bed, and his smile was heartwarming.

"Lin Daiyu, what's wrong?"

"..."

"Lin Daiyu?"

"You can leave now..."

A sound as faint as a mosquito's buzz escaped. Even through the blanket, Jia Lian could imagine how embarrassed the little girl's face must be.

"Didn't you say you had prepared a birthday present for me? How can I leave without giving it to me?"

There was no response. Jia Lian wasn't annoyed at all; instead, he plopped down on the edge of the bed and muttered to himself, "Alright, I understand. Consider what happened just now a birthday present from Lin Daiyu, hehehe, I really like Lin Daiyu's little hands..."

It's unclear whether Jia Lian's words triggered some incredible mechanism, but a soft cry of "Ah!" was heard, and then the quilt suddenly arched upright, repeatedly hitting Jia Lian's body. Faintly, one could hear angry words like "Don't say it!" and "Go away!" coming from inside.

Jia Lian was forced to leave the bed. Even though he was already sitting up, he still couldn't see any of Daiyu's face. But he couldn't stop smiling.

He had originally carried Daiyu into the inner room only to see if he could get closer to her. Unexpectedly, Daiyu, seemingly aloof, was actually quite easy to please.

Under his persuasive and reasoned arguments, and through his coaxing and deception, Daiyu reluctantly agreed to his "compromise."

Daiyu possessed a pair of slender, delicate, beautiful, and flawless hands, which Jia Lian adored. Whenever he had the chance, he loved to hold and play with them.

However, Daiyu was shy, so even such opportunities were rare.

Therefore, he could hardly imagine having Daiyu serve him as obediently as Qingwen. He hadn't even dared to mention it before, for fear that Daiyu would think he was a pervert, a lecher, a hooligan, and throw him out, and then not see him for a month!

He had just woken up and was watching Daiyu sitting by the window playing the zither, her ten delicate fingers dancing gracefully. He couldn't help but feel a strange thought stirring in his heart.

He had only thought about it at first, but Daiyu's reaction after he caressed her made him feel that there was a slight possibility that his dream might come true.

So, he painstakingly and cleverly created an opportunity to carry Daiyu to her most private and safest boudoir...

It actually worked! Although Daiyu's technique was nowhere near as good as Qingwen's, and in fact, Daiyu kept her head tilted and her eyes closed for almost the entire time.

However, just looking at the otherworldly beauty, Lin Daiyu, who seemed untouched by worldly affairs, kneeling by the bed, her face full of shyness, clearly ashamed, yet still obediently serving him as promised, the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction was indescribable.

Knowing that Daiyu was extremely embarrassed, if they stayed any longer to tease her, they were afraid that she would suffocate herself in bed.

Therefore, Jia Lian gave her one last instruction: "Don't forget to come to my courtyard for drinks that evening." Then, with an extremely smug smile, he lifted his leg and left this place that felt like paradise.

Today, Daiyu has made a huge breakthrough. Will the day when she unlocks more skills be far away?

Once outside, Jia Lian saw Zijuan, the gatekeeper, staring at him with a scrutinizing look. He didn't argue with her, but simply gave her an indescribable smile before walking away.

Zijuan originally wanted to question Jia Lian about whether he had bullied their young lady, but faced with Jia Lian's "dangerous" smile, she couldn't utter a single word.

Watching Jia Lian walk away so gracefully, she didn't care about anything else and immediately rushed into the house.

Upon entering the inner room, they immediately heard Daiyu's scolding voice: "Why aren't you leaving yet? If you don't leave, I'll call Zijuan to chase you away!"

Zijuan stared blankly at the "quilt" that had suddenly sat upright on the bed like a Buddha statue, and asked, "Miss?"

Silence. After a long while, the Buddha statue's cloak opened, revealing Daiyu's disheveled hair, messy yet undetractive in its beauty.

"He's gone?"

"Um."

They remained silent.

"girl……"

"You go out first, leave me alone for a while!"

Zijuan disobeyed: "Miss, you and Second Master...?"

It's no wonder Zijuan was suspicious. Looking at Daiyu's humiliated appearance, sitting blankly on the bed, and considering Jia Lian's demeanor when he left, it was clear that something had happened.

Daiyu, of course, understood Zijuan's little scheme, and said in embarrassment and annoyance, "You're not even listening to me anymore? You're not going out, are you? Then you can stay here!"

After saying that, Daiyu lay down with the blanket and ignored everyone.

Zijuan stood there awkwardly. Actually, it was her fault for being inexperienced. If it were Granny Wang, she would have only needed to look at Daiyu's current spirit and energy to immediately tell that nothing had happened.

After all, given Daiyu's age and physique, if she were to become ill, she would be delicate and weak, unable to be helped up by her maids.

After waiting for a while, seeing that Daiyu was indeed ignoring her, Zijuan had no choice but to leave with a heavy heart.

Zijuan was unaware that not long after she left, a small figure also slipped out of the room.

However, she did not follow Zijuan through the main entrance, but instead slipped quietly through the back door to the place where the maids usually washed clothes.

She looked around to make sure no one was there before blushing and pulling a crumpled handkerchief from her bosom. The handkerchief was clearly well-made, with white hibiscus flowers embroidered on it.

Moreover, this handkerchief seemed to possess some kind of magic; the delicate young woman, after just one glance, appeared unsteady on her feet, hastily grabbing a nearby pillar to steady herself. Then, she took a deep breath, clutched the handkerchief tightly in her small hand, and quietly took it to the pool to wash it…