Dream of the Red Chamber: My Daiyu Has Been Reborn

When Gu Jinhong returned to the princess's residence, Li Shulan was waiting for him. Upon seeing him return, she asked him something.

"Is Yu'er settled in?"

"Mother, rest assured, with your son personally overseeing things, what could possibly go wrong?" Gu Jinhong recounted how Daiyu had brought up the marriage agreement.

Li Shulan was taken aback for a moment, then smiled with satisfaction: "Since Yu'er took the initiative to say so, she must be willing. You brat, you can't let her down in the future, or I won't forgive you."

"Mother, is your son that kind of person?"

"Not the best."

Just then, an announcement came from outside.

"Your Highness, the Sixth Prince has arrived."

"Please come in." After saying that, Li Shulan looked at Gu Jinhong again, "He's probably here to drag you out to fool around again."

Before long, a young man dressed in a black brocade robe strode in. His features bore a resemblance to Emperor Yongxi. As soon as he entered, he greeted Li Shulan with a smile.

"Greetings, Aunt. Your nephew sends his greetings."

Li Shulan frowned slightly at Li Qi's carefree demeanor: "What brings you here today?"

"Aunt, what are you saying? I just missed you, so I came over to see you." Li Qi moved closer to Li Shulan, his eyes darting around, pretending to have just realized Gu Jinhong was there. "Oh, Cousin Jinhong is here too? Perfect!"

Gu Jinhong looked at his clumsy acting and helplessly rubbed his forehead.

Li Qi was the sixth son of Emperor Yongxi. Although he was not favored, he was of noble birth and had little ambition. He enjoyed cockfighting and dog racing and knew almost all the playboys in the capital.

Seeing Li Qi's winking and gesturing, Li Shulan shook her head helplessly: "I'll go rest now, you two brothers can chat by yourselves." With that, she led her maid to get up and leave.

As soon as Li Shulan left, Li Qi immediately revealed her true colors, grabbing Gu Jinhong's arm: "Hurry up, hurry up, we'll miss the start if we're any later!"

Gu Jinhong stumbled as he was pulled: "What opening?"

Li Qi's eyes lit up: "Today is a life-or-death battle between 'Invincible General' and 'Black Whirlwind.' I heard you went back to the Princess's residence, so I made a special detour to pick you up. Aren't you nice enough?"

Gu Jinhong was half-dragged, half-pulled into the carriage by Li Qi. As for the "Invincible General" and "Black Whirlwind" that Li Qi mentioned, they were not people, but the two fighting cocks that had recently become the most popular in the West City Cockfighting Arena.

About fifteen minutes later, the carriage arrived in front of a teahouse. The teahouse looked ordinary at first glance, but behind it was a completely different world: a large courtyard paved with blue bricks, surrounded by a viewing platform, with a wooden fence enclosing the center of the courtyard. Next to it was a row of bamboo sheds, inside which tea and snacks were prepared, and there were specially set up elegant seats.

As soon as the two entered the courtyard, someone they knew came up to greet them.

"Greetings, Sixth Prince!"

"Second Master Gu has arrived too!"

Gu Jinhong glanced around and found that there were quite a few people present today. Xie Jing from the Dingcheng Marquis's family, Jiang Zining from the Pingyuan Marquis's family, Qiu Liang from the Jingtian Marquis's family, and others were chatting in small groups.

Li Qi pulled Gu Jinhong toward the bamboo shed, afraid of missing the start of the performance. Before they even got there, they saw two people coming out of it.

Leading the group was a young man in his early twenties, dressed in moon-white robes, with a handsome face and a gentle demeanor. He was none other than Prince Bei Jing, Shui Rong. Beside him was a slightly younger man, about seventeen or eighteen years old, who was Li Yuan, the heir apparent of Prince Zhongshun.

Upon seeing the two, Shui Rong smiled and cupped his hands in greeting: "Sixth Prince, Second Young Master Gu, it's been a long time."

Gu Jinhong returned the greeting: "Greetings, Your Highness. Greetings, Prince."

Li Yuan glanced at Gu Jinhong and a smile played on his lips: "Young Master Gu has quite a reputation lately."

His tone was slightly teasing, but not malicious. The Prince Zhongshun's Mansion and the Jia Mansion had always been at odds, and Li Yuan was actually happy to see the Jia Mansion suffer a setback.

"Your Highness is too kind. These are just trivial matters."

Shui Rong laughed and said, "We're here to watch cockfighting today, let's not talk about that. Let's take our seats, it's about to begin."

The group entered the bamboo shed and took their seats.

As soon as Li Qi sat down, he turned to Gu Jinhong and said impatiently, "We've placed a big bet on this game. 'Invincible General' is a product of the Jinxiang Marquis's family and has won nine games in a row. 'Black Whirlwind' is also a formidable character; it's said that the Qi State Duke's family specially sought him out from Dengzhou."

After hearing what he said, Gu Jinhong became interested and his gaze fell on the two people in the room.

One was the steward of the Marquis of Jinxiang's mansion, holding a bright red fighting rooster. The rooster's eyes gleamed fiercely, truly giving it the air of a "great general." The man from the Duke of Qi's mansion was holding a fighting rooster with glossy black feathers, a sharp beak, and claws; just looking at it, one could feel its ruthless aura.

Li Yuan leaned closer to Gu Jinhong: "Gu Er, did Jia Baoyu really have an affair with a maid in the Princess's residence?"

Gu Jinhong glanced at him: "The young master's information network is quite impressive."

Li Yuan chuckled: "There are no secrets in this capital city. You don't know, my old man slapped the table and laughed for a long time after hearing about this, saying that Jia Daishan has been completely disgraced by that jade-wearing fellow."

Shui Rong listened from the side, his brows furrowing slightly. The Prince of Bei Jing's mansion and the Jia family had a good relationship, but Jia Baoyu's actions this time were indeed absurd, and he had no way to refute them.

As they were speaking, the sound of a gong rang out in the arena.

The people who had been chatting idly in the stands suddenly perked up, and Li Qi even stood up, clenched his fist, and shouted.

Caught up in the atmosphere, Gu Jinhong also turned his gaze over. The two fighting cocks were fiercer than the other, and their battle had barely begun when feathers flew everywhere and dust billowed in the arena.

In the stands, some people bet on the Great General, and some bet on the Black Whirlwind. At this moment, they were all shouting until their faces were red and their necks were thick.

Gu Jinhong didn't care much about the meager sums, and casually placed a bet of fifty taels on "Invincible General" just to join in the fun.

The fight in the arena grew increasingly fierce. Black Whirlwind, relying on its sharp beak and claws, launched a series of attacks, and several cuts had already appeared on the General's crimson fighting rooster comb.

Seeing the general's miserable state, Li Qi immediately became anxious and shouted at the top of his lungs, "I bet two hundred taels! General, fight back!"

Before the words were even finished, the situation on the field suddenly reversed.

Forced against the fence, with nowhere to retreat, the general spread its wings and flipped over Black Whirlwind's head, pecking hard at the back of Black Whirlwind's neck the moment it landed. In pain, Black Whirlwind turned to retaliate, but the general kicked it in the chest with a claw, sending it sprawling to the ground.

Black Whirlwind struggled to get up, but the Great General didn't give it a chance. He pounced on it and pecked it fiercely again. Black Whirlwind's feathers scattered all over the ground, and soon it lay motionless on the ground.

The surprise came so suddenly that Li Qi didn't react at first, then jumped three feet high.

"Good! Great General, you are mighty! Great General, ten thousand... um!"

Seeing that Li Qi was about to commit a heinous act, Gu Jinhong reacted quickly and covered him with his hand.

"Your punishment from last time is healed, right?"