Daiyu from the Red Mansion is also arguing with people today

Parting is always sad. Yingchun and her sisters stood at the corner gate behind Lixiangyuan and watched Daiyu get on the carriage.

Shi Xiangyun even specially put on the golden unicorn that Daiyu gave her. Her eyes were red from crying. She waved vigorously in the direction of the carriage and choked with sobs.

After all the carriages had turned the corner and were no longer visible, the four sisters slowly walked back to the inner courtyard.

Lixiangyuan at this moment looked no different from a quarter of an hour ago, but it was a lot quieter.

Yingchun was also a little uncomfortable, but she was much more mature than the other three sisters, and she quickly adjusted her mood.

She held her sisters' hands and comforted them, "It's okay, we will be together again one day, and I believe it won't take too long!"

Shi Xiangyun nodded vigorously and said with a sad face: "I will also go back to the Shi Mansion tomorrow. You must remind the old ancestor to ask her to send someone to pick me up often!"

Tanchun wiped her tears and assured her, "Don't worry! I will definitely not forget it!"

Unlike the sad and sorrowful girl in Lixiang Courtyard, Daiyu felt indescribably relaxed after leaving the Jia Mansion.

The carriage had been arranged in advance so that she could lie flat in it.

"Bai Shao, are you all ready?"

"We're ready. Our people are waiting at the inn at Tianjinwei Wharf. Once we check in, we can complete the swap!"

Daiyu lay on the mat as if she had no bones in her body, complaining lazily: "I'm really exhausted these past two days. I'm going to sleep for a while. Call me when we get there."

"Yes, young lady!" Bai Shao did not leave the carriage, but sat beside the ice basin and fanned Daiyu.

Daiyu complained silently in her heart: How extravagant!

She worked hard for the past two nights and finally completed the two bounty missions of the Jinyiwei.

As for the imperial palace, Daiyu did not dare to go deep into the inner palace.

After several careful attempts, she discovered that there was a powerful being hiding in the backyard of the palace. With her current strength, she was far from being his opponent.

Daiyu had just fallen asleep, and in a daze, she felt the carriage shake slightly, and then heard someone calling her.

She rubbed her sleepy eyes and asked, "What happened?"

Xueyan lifted the carriage curtain, poked her head in and said, "Miss, we are at the long pavilion outside the city. Madam Xu from the General's Mansion wants you to get off the carriage and have a chat."

Daiyu thought for a long time before she came to her senses: "Why is Aunt Xu here?"

As she said that, she jumped out of the car and saw Xu Zhilan standing at the pavilion not far away waiting for her.

She took a few steps forward, but didn't notice the strange looks from the maids behind her.

"Aunt Xu, why are you here?"

Xu Zhilan looked at her face for a long time, wiped it with a handkerchief, and then asked, "Why, I can't come to see you off? If I don't come, I don't know when I can see you again!"

"What you said is true. I haven't taken off my mourning clothes yet, so it's not convenient for me to go out! Besides, if the imperial censors saw the daughter of the salt inspector going out for fun during the mourning period, impeachment memorials would be sent to the emperor's desk like snowflakes!"

Xu Zhilan stretched out his finger and doted on Daiyu's forehead: "You are so clever!"

She held Daiyu in her arms and gently stroked her back: "When you come to Beijing again, I will definitely take you to the horse farm where your mother and I used to go. Have some fun!"

"Okay!" Daiyu's eyes lit up, and then she thought of Shi Xiangyun and the others and asked, "Can I bring my cousins ​​along?"

Xu Zhilan agreed with a smile: "Of course! I will definitely not forget the girls of the Jia family when the time comes!"

Afterwards, Xu Zhilan asked Daiyu to promise him many things, all of which were about going out to play together after she returned to Beijing. This made Daiyu happy but also a little puzzled.

She almost wanted to ask directly why Aunt Xu had to find her specially! Couldn't she do these things with Wang Tingyu's wife?

He had said everything he wanted to say, but the people in the carriage still didn't react at all. Xu Zhilan couldn't help but feel anxious.

Helplessly, she could only raise her voice and say, "Yu'er, I'll take you here! If you go any further, I'm afraid I can't get through!"

Daiyu was still wondering why Aunt Xu was so loud all of a sudden, when she saw a young man jumping down from the carriage waiting outside the pavilion.

He looked a few years older than Daiyu, just the right age for having rosy lips and white teeth.

But in Daiyu's view, it was still a little immature, and a scent of milk wafted towards her.

The young man straightened his robe, walked up to Xu Zhilan, and asked, "Mother, can you let me have a few words with Sister Lin?"

"Yeah! OK!"

Without waiting for Daiyu to answer, Xu Zhilan walked "calmly" towards the carriage, and considerately asked the coachman to drive the carriage away to leave space for the two to talk.

Daiyu: Didn’t anyone ask for my opinion?

However, she soon saw the shadows of Wang Tingyu and Aunt Xu in the boy's face and guessed his identity.

However, the purpose of Wang Tingyao's visit was completely in Daiyu's blind spot.

Her understanding of Wang Tingyao was limited to a few words - in the past two years, Wang Tingyao entered a famous academy in the suburbs of Beijing to study and rarely went home on weekdays.

Daiyu calmly waited for Wang Tingyao's next words, but the young boy was extremely anxious.

He thought he was well prepared, but when he faced Daiyu, he completely forgot all the words he had prepared.

He slapped his head in embarrassment and asked, "Sister Lin, what kind of husband do you want to find in the future?"

Daiyu was stunned when she heard this.

She hadn't expected someone to ask her this question so early in the morning.

She answered subconsciously: "Shouldn't this kind of thing be decided by parents and matchmakers?"

A bright smile flashed across Wang Tingyao's face, and he quickly lowered the corners of his mouth and asked again, "I'm asking you, sister, what are your requirements for your future husband!"

Daiyu looked at his serious expression and couldn't help feeling a little funny.

Why is he so happy when it comes to his parents' orders? Thinking of the grudge between the two families, Daiyu couldn't help but complain in her heart: Will Lin Ruhai agree so easily?

She wanted to tease the young man, so she answered, "I want to find a husband who is good to me. I don't want him to be good at both civil and military affairs, but at least his martial arts skills cannot be worse than mine. He must also be able to protect me from the wind and rain and not put me in danger. Most importantly, he must not have any concubines in the room..."

Hearing this, Wang Tingyao interrupted Daiyu excitedly: "My father doesn't have any concubines, and I don't like them either!"

He also secretly vowed in his heart that he must work hard on his studies. He remembered his mother saying that Uncle Lin was a Jinshi and a top scholar, so he must have high expectations for his future son-in-law.

Although the dynasty did not restrict the imperial clan from taking the imperial examinations, they all had rice and salary provided to them, which was enough to meet their daily needs. Therefore, most of them would not put in the hard work to take the imperial examinations.

He also heard from his brother that Uncle Lin had found a lot of guards for Sister Lin.

In the past two years, Lin Daiyu has also learned kung fu and seems to be able to protect herself.

This further strengthened his determination to work hard on his martial arts. He absolutely could not fall behind Lin Daiyu!

However, Wang Tingyao didn't know that no matter how hard he studied and practiced martial arts, he was destined to be suppressed by Daiyu. Every time the two of them sparred, he would always be beaten to a pulp, but he never cried out in pain, only grinning foolishly.

Wang Tingyao thought so much in his mind, but it only took a moment.

But Daiyu's reaction was beyond his expectations.

Daiyu frowned slightly, with a hint of doubt in her tone: "What's going on with your family has nothing to do with me!"

Wang Tingyao got anxious when he heard this and blurted out: "Why doesn't it matter?"

But as soon as he said this, he started to become shy again, and a blush slowly appeared on his face, which was gradually revealing its handsome features.

Daiyu looked at him, her face showing no excessive expression, seeming very calm.

Xu Zhilan lifted a corner of the car curtain and secretly observed the progress of the two. Seeing Wang Tingyao's shy and coy look, she almost pulled the curtain down.

This useless guy! Xu Zhilan cursed in his heart.

Wang Tingyao threw all the carefully prepared lines and strategies behind his mind, and spoke out his inner thoughts based on the momentum in his heart.

"I asked my brother to investigate. Whether it's in the capital or other noble families, there are only a few families that can meet your conditions. You... you might as well choose me!"

Daiyu's tone was teasing: "You?"

"Yes!" Wang Tingyao patted his chest, as if this would make it more believable.

"You and my mother have a close relationship like mother and daughter. After you marry in, you don't have to worry about your mother-in-law setting rules for you. And since I'm the youngest son in the family, you don't have to worry about managing the household. If you want to go out and travel in the future, your brother will stay in the capital, and the emperor will not restrict us."

As he spoke last, Wang Tingyao's voice became increasingly faint, not much louder than a mosquito's hum, but Daiyu could hear it clearly.

"Mainly, I like you."

She pointed at her nose and repeated incredulously, "You like me?"

Wang Tingyao took a deep breath, straightened his back, and looked directly into Daiyu's clear eyes: "Yes! I like you!"

If it weren't for his earlobes, which were already red enough to bleed, Daiyu would have thought he was a lecher.

"Including this time, we have only met twice in total. The last time we only said one sentence. Do you think it is appropriate for you to say this?"

"Not twice, but three times!" Wang Tingyao argued, "Two years ago, I saw you at the Tianjin dock! Later, my brother told my mother about you, and then I slowly began to understand you."

"So, all you know about me is from other people's descriptions?"

Wang Tingyao noticed the disapproval in Daiyu's eyes, and looked at his toes guiltily, tapping the ground with his toes nervously: "I want to get to know you personally, but it's impossible!"

Daiyu looked at the top of Wang Tingyao's head.

Maybe it was because he was going out today, he did not shave his head like other boys under the age of fifteen. Instead, he wore a sky-blue scarf, with half of his hair tied up and the other half loose.

When he lowered his head, his long eyelashes cast a faint shadow on his fair cheeks.

An inexplicable impulse surged in Daiyu's heart, and she actually wanted to reach out and cover Wang Tingyao's eyes.

She wanted to feel the sensation of such thick eyelashes brushing against her palms, and whether it was really as itchy as the rumors said.

But as soon as this thought came to her mind, she rejected it harshly. She reminded herself that although Wang Tingyao looked a few years older than her, they were both still children!

"how old are you?"

Wang Tingyao raised his head suddenly, thinking that Daiyu looked down on him, and answered loudly and unconvincedly: "I am twelve years old this year, more than two years older than you! I will soon take the examination for the title of Tongsheng!"

Daiyu was amused by his serious look.

She nodded and encouraged him, "Then I wish you can write like a god and pass the examination! By the way, my father is a former top scholar. If you have any questions about your studies, you can write to Yangzhou and let my father teach you something."

After saying that, Daiyu turned and walked towards the Wang family's carriage and said goodbye to Xu Zhilan.

Daiyu's convoy had gone a long way away, but Wang Tingyao was still standing there stupidly, watching her convoy go farther and farther and disappear into the distance.

Xu Zhilan waited in the carriage for a long time, but Wang Tingyao did not get in.

She couldn't help but lift the car curtain and shouted, "Silly son, what are you still looking at! Everyone has gone far away!"

Wang Tingyao came back to his senses and climbed onto the carriage with doubts. He told Xu Zhilan everything that he had been thinking about for a long time but couldn't figure out.

After hearing this, Xu Zhilan knocked his forehead in annoyance and secretly regretted in his heart: Why did he give birth to such two stupid sons.

One was cold and was busy with official duties all day long; the other was silly and could not understand even though Daiyu had explained it so clearly.

She sighed and looked at Wang Tingyao with an increasingly unfriendly gaze: It seems that we still have to send him to the academy to gain some experience.

Wang Tingyao's heart skipped a beat, and he had a bad feeling: "Did Sister Lin reject me?"

Xu Zhilan glared at him and said, "You idiot! Haven't you heard of 'the bond between a master and a disciple is like the bond between a father-in-law and a son-in-law'? Of course, Daiyu may not have that intention. But when you wrote to Lin Ruhai, didn't you also write a letter to Daiyu to ask about her recent situation?"

Wang Tingyao heard this and simply ignored the part about "Daiyu didn't mean that". He was so happy that he almost jumped up in the carriage, but was pulled back to his original position by Xu Zhilan.

"Look at you like this, let alone Yu Yatou, I don't even like you!" Xu Zhilan looked at Wang Tingyao, who was so excited that he could hardly control himself, and shook his head in disgust.

In her opinion, only her eldest son, in terms of appearance and official position, was worthy of Daiyu. Unfortunately, the age difference between them was too big, and the eldest son was already married, so they were really not worthy of each other!

Wang Tingyao was immersed in joy and didn't notice Xu Zhilan's disdainful look at all.

At this moment, his mind was full of thoughts about writing a letter to Lin Daiyu!

On the other hand, Daiyu didn't take the young man's confession to heart at all. After she got on the carriage, she closed her eyes and began to rest.

But he didn't expect that the big promise he made to Wang Tingyao would be remembered by the young boy for the rest of his life.

At the end of the You hour, Daiyu and her group finally arrived at Tongzhou Wharf after rushing all the way.

Although Jia Lian also rode in a carriage, the ride was so bumpy that it was worse than riding a horse!

When he thought of the glamorous world of Jiangnan, he became eager to try it out.

But Jia Lian didn't know that Lin Ruhai was already prepared to "torture" him.

But when Daiyu went upstairs, she went to the other side as the waiter had directed her.

On the second day, Jia Lian took his "cousin" and boarded a passenger ship heading south.

When Daiyu came, there were two boats, and when she left, there were still two boats.

Watching the two passenger ships slowly set off, she pulled the reins and turned the horse's head.

"Zhuiyun, let's go!"

The next moment, Zhuiyun rushed away with Daiyu in his arms like an arrow.

Behind her followed Lan Rui, Lin Ji and others who were in disguise.

Bathed in the morning sunshine, a group of people ran towards the unknown distance.

(End of text)