The Royal Merchant of the Red Chamber

When everyone heard that Baoyu was coming, they hurriedly turned their heads and looked outside the door.I saw the curtain at the door shaking for a while, and then a handsome boy of twelve or thirteen came in.Daiyu only saw the bright red robes and cape again, and immediately turned cold with some displeasure.

Seeing this, Jia's mother waited for the boy to greet him and said directly: "Go to see your mother, come back soon."

The young man answered simply, raised his head and smiled at Mother Jia, turned around and left.When I came back, I changed my clothes again.Daiyu looked up and down and saw that it was either Zhenghong or Yinhong. She sneered slightly and did not speak.

Jia Mu said with a smile: "The foreigner took off her clothes before seeing her, and she didn't go to see your sister."

Baochai and Daiyu got up quickly and went to meet Jia Baoyu.After seeing Baochai, Jia Baoyu only felt that she was charming and romantic, and her character was as good as her mother said.Now Le opened his mouth and gave Baochai a smirk.Baochai quickly lowered her head, bowed slightly, and avoided it.

Then Jia Baoyu began to look at Lin Daiyu again.Unexpectedly, at this glance, his eyes are straightened.After being dazed for a while, he pointed at Lin Daiyu blankly and said with a smile, "This younger sister—"

"Look, I've seen this brother before." Xue Pan said suddenly, then got up, took Baoyu's hand pointing at Daiyu in three steps at a time.

Jia's mother was taken aback by what he had done as a bluff, and said quickly, "This is nonsense, how could you have seen him?"

"Why haven't I seen it?" Xue Pan turned back to Jia Mu and Mrs. Xue and said with a smile: "Look at this face, which looks like the moon of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and looks like the flowers of the spring dawn. It's not in the same mold as Baoyu of the Zhen family. from?"

After listening to Xue Pan's words, everyone hurriedly looked at Jia Baoyu's description carefully.But as Xue Pan said, she was eight or nine percent similar to Baoyu from the Zhen family.It's just that the uncle of the Zhen family has been studying hard for the past few years, and he has become a little thinner, and he has a poetic and literary spirit in his stomach, which seems to be twice more magnanimous and graceful than this Jia Baoyu.

Daiyu, who was silent at the side, also felt suddenly enlightened.No wonder as soon as he entered the door, he felt that Jia Baoyu had a good face, but now that he thought about it, he didn't look the same as the uncle of the Zhen family who had seen him from a distance.The doubts in my heart were solved immediately.When he looked at Jia Baoyu again, he lost that curiosity.

As soon as Jia Baoyu saw the appearance of the crowd, he knew that there was someone who looked like him.Busily pestered Xue Pan and asked, "Really? The Zhen family uncle is exactly the same as me. If you are lucky one day, you can take me to have a look?"

"There is no problem with this." Xue Pan responded with a full mouth. "It just so happens that the uncle of the Zhen family is also called Baoyu. He was selected as a juren the year before last. This time, he happened to come to Beijing with us to prepare for the Spring Festival next year. He was going to come along to greet the old lady, but his sister was originally The side concubine of Andong County Prince's Mansion has been waiting for a long time with Andong County King in the Palace, so Baoyu from the Zhen family did not come. If you are fine, we will go to Andong County Prince's Mansion to find him tomorrow, and you will also Just follow along."

Jia Baoyu nodded with joy, and took Xue Pan to sit down and talk, forgetting about Daiyu for a while.

The mother of Jia was moved when she heard Xue Pan's words, and then she heard that he intended to introduce Baoyu to the Prince's Mansion of Andong County. She was so happy that she didn't care what they said.

And Xue Pan in this room pulled Baoyu down, and asked quietly: "I heard rumors outside that you can make rouge paste, and the color is better than outside, is it true?

When a word touched Baoyu's heart, he immediately hooked the corners of his mouth proudly, and said confidently: "That's natural."

Xue Pan asked again, "Have you heard of the rouge and gouache shop?"

Jia Baoyu said: "Why haven't I heard of it? Nowadays, the rouge of the famous girls and wives in the family all get in from that shop."

Only then did Xue Pan speak his mind, "Then how do you think the rouge paste you made is better than the rouge powder?"

Na Baoyu laughed softly: "If it's about luxury, I might not be as good as what they make in their shop. After all, many of the rouge raw materials in their shop are from the Western Regions, and I don't often see them often. But if it's about fineness... I'm not boasting, I just think I'm doing better."

Xue Pan nodded knowingly, put his lips close to Baoyu's ear, and whispered more and more: "When you have time, take me to see the rouge cream you made!"

Jia Baoyu's eyes lit up, and he immediately leaned over and whispered back: "Then you can go to my place tonight!"

The two chatted intimately and intimately.From the top, Jia Mu could only see the two whispering, but she couldn't hear what they were talking about, so she couldn't help laughing and said: "What are you guys talking about, and you are so secretive. Tell me too."

"It's nothing, we are discussing where to play tomorrow!" Baoyu replied with a smile.

"It's the first time your elder brother of the Xue family came to Beijing, and he's not familiar with the place, so you have to show him around." Mother Jia ordered casually.Jia Baoyu immediately responded, and turned to Xue Pan with another snicker.

In this room, Jia's mother left the two young brothers who had a good time with each other, and smiled at Lin Mozhi: "I heard your name mentioned by the men outside before, and I said why everyone in the world has the surname Lin. It's so powerful, let's not talk about the first Tanhua, but now there is another son of Sanyuan Jidi. I don't know whose family has cultivated such a great blessing, and can keep such a son and nephew who is a star of Wenqu to shine on the lintel. Now it seems that, Those who went around, turned out to be relatives again."

Lin Mozhi immediately bowed and said, "The old lady praised you so much, Ziyu is ashamed."

"Ziyu!" Mother Jia repeated Lin Mozhi's words, and then smiled and said, "Zhong Lingyuxiu really deserves to be the Sanyuan and No. Walk around more. My grandson is so stubborn that he doesn’t like reading. If Ziyu has time, it would be the best to teach him. I don’t ask him to learn anything, as long as he reads two times carefully. Yearbook, it would be good to have a little understanding of economics and worldly affairs."

Jia's mother said so because she was irritated by Lin Mozhi and Zhen Baoyu today.Needless to say, Lin Mozhi, she is not surprised whether it is a talented person born from a poor family or a well-educated Lin family.But she had also heard about the uncle of the Zhen family, and in the early years, he was also an inconsequential demon king.Who knew that after not seeing him for a few years, he was actually awarded Juren.Why didn't it make her feel emotional and become more anxious!

At the moment, he also asked himself faintly, whether he really spoiled Baoyu too much, which delayed Baoyu instead.

Not to mention how much Jia's mother loves her grandson in her heart, but she hesitates.The nurse in that box came to ask about Daiyu's house.He also called Jia's mother in a daze.When she suddenly heard the bad news about the white-haired man sending the black-haired man, all she wanted was to bring the poor granddaughter to her side to take care of her as soon as possible.There are also Mrs. Wang and Sister Feng who volunteered to take over the arrangement, let alone ask.But who knows that when things come, so much chaos will be added.

Thinking of this, Mother Jia didn't want to ask more questions, so she could only look at Daiyu beside her, and said with a smile: "In that case, let's move Baoyu out first—"

Mrs. Xue, who was at the side, saw Jiamu's hesitation, and immediately bowed and smiled: "Old lady, this Daiyu is also my goddaughter. It's fine if we don't bother us now. Now that we are here, we are warmly received by the old lady." I arranged a courtyard to live alone, why don't we let Daiyu live with our mother and son! Zuo Pan'er and Ziyu are both Miss Lin's elder brothers, and she came here with Baochai again, and the two sisters saw Tian'er together , so don't separate."

When Jia Mu saw this, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile: "Then I will trouble my aunt."

"The old lady is too polite, and that's what I should do." Madam Xue said, reaching out to greet Daiyu who was beside Jiamu, stood up and smiled, "It's getting late, the old lady should have a rest too. .Then we will go back first.”

"Not busy, not busy." Mother Jia said, but she also stood up and sent people to the door.

After a few more courteous gossips, they turned around and left Jia Mu's yard.Everyone walked in the direction of Rikain in silence.Mrs. Xue walked in the front holding the girl's hand, followed by Baochai with her arms around Daiyu, and brothers Xue Pan and Lin Mozhi at the back.Not far away, they heard someone's voice behind them. Everyone stopped in surprise and looked behind, but it turned out that Baoyu had chased him out.

"Brother Xue, didn't you say you were going to my house?" Baoyu ran up panting, and said, "My side is ready, so you can go with me! Why don't you wait a while Some women closed the gate of the courtyard, so it is inconvenient to move around."

Hearing this, Xue Pan looked at Mrs. Xue hesitantly.Then he said with a smile: "In that case, I'll go over with Brother Bao to have a look, if it's too late—"

"If it's too late, you can stay with me!" Jia Baoyu said with a smile: "Although there are many brothers in my family, they never talk about getting together. Now that I only see you once, I think we two get along very well. We are all real relatives, we should get close and close."

Xue Pan then changed his words and said, "That's fine! If it's too late, I'll stay with you for one night, as long as you don't feel bothered."

"Don't bother, don't bother. I'm glad you can come!" Jia Baoyu said, stretched out his hand to grab Xue Pan's hand, and saluted everyone: "Aunt Xue, Sister Xue, Sister Lin, Brother Lin, then Here we go."

When Jia Baoyu called Daolin Mozhi, he hesitated for a while.Without him, he has never tabooed meat and vegetables in his life, and what he fears most is a scholar like his father.In particular, Lin Mozhi is also an official outside, and he is in charge of such a force in private.Although he always has an elegant and gentle appearance on weekdays, there is a kind of nobility that is not angry and majestic in his surroundings.With what Jia's mother said before, Jia Baoyu only felt that his legs became weak and his whole body was awkward when he saw Lin Mozhi.

Now that the matter has come to an end, Mrs. Xue can only smile generously and say, "Go there quickly! It's dark and the road is slippery, so be careful when you walk."

"Hey!" Jia Baoyu nodded excitedly, pulled Xue Pan and left.

Not to mention how Xue Pan and Jia Baoyu studied Rouge Gaoliang.But when Mrs. Xue and her party slowly returned to Lixiangyuan, it was a good tidying up.They are members of two families, and there are many maids and wives together, so the total number is naturally quite a lot.Fortunately, this Pear Fragrance Courtyard was the resting place of Rong Guogong in his later years. Although it is small and exquisite, there are still more than ten houses, which is enough for them to share.

Now everyone divided the house.Madam Xue naturally lived in the main house, she arranged Baochai and Miss Lin in the two sets of wing rooms closest to her, although it was late and it was inconvenient to arrange the house.However, Mrs. Xue still took into account the preferences and habits of the two girls in a hurry, and tried her best to decorate the room in line with the temperament of the two, and tried her best to be comfortable.

As for Xue Pan and Lin Mozhi, since they are both men, it is inevitable that there will be some inconvenience.Although the two of the Lin family now recognize themselves as foster mothers, they don't have the same surname after all.In order to avoid suspicion, Mrs. Xue had to put the two gentlemen in the two houses farthest from the main house. Fortunately, this Lixiangyuan is a delicate place, even though it is far away from the main house, it looks more and more Quiet and clean, but also a good place to read.Mrs. Xue sat down in person again, and ordered the maids to tidy up the house, so there was no need for a few houses in the main house, so she nodded in satisfaction.

After a lot of tossing, it took several hours.At this time, the moon was already in the middle of the sky, and everything was silent.All the maids and women came from afar, and after cleaning and arranging for a whole day, they were all very tired.Mrs. Xue reckoned that this was the inner courtyard of the Rongguo Mansion, thinking that there would have been women who went to bed at night, so the word "safety" was safe.So he ordered all the servants to lock the doors of the courtyard, so as to rest for one night without mentioning it.

The moon is like a silver plate, and the silver light is sprinkled everywhere. It is already the time when the night is quiet and the cicadas are desolate.Under the maid's service, Daiyu took off her coat, untied her hair, and sat alone in front of the window with her black hair wrapped around her head.Looking at the red candle that was dripping wax, I felt sad for a while, and tears rolled down.

Xueyan, who was cleaning up the house at the side, saw it, and hurriedly came forward to persuade him softly: "Girl, don't cry, you hurt your eyes carefully."

Daiyu silently shook her head, but cried even harder.

Seeing this, Xueyan said indignantly: "This Rongguo Mansion is also the same. Babaer picked up the girl and ended up like this. It's been a few months, let alone tidying up the yard and making clothes, even now The house that was built has all the cloth weaving now. It’s just that when it’s in front of your eyes, you’re going to ‘drop in’ everywhere. How can there be such a reason for hospitality?”

"Woooo..." Daiyu couldn't help sobbing more and more after hearing this.

Seeing this, Jinse, who had just picked up the eldest girl, hurriedly reprimanded: "The girl has been wronged, you just don't rush to solve her, why did you provoke her even more sad?"

"I'm just doing this for the girl!" Xueyan said bitterly, "If I had known what their Rongguo Mansion was like, our girl wouldn't have come!"

After all, Jinse is older and knows more about the seriousness than Xueyan.Seeing that the two girls were wronged like something, he sighed softly: "At any rate, the girl came up with Mrs. Xue's family. At any rate, the lady loves the girl. Otherwise... I'm afraid the girl will not be alone. I can’t even live in a house!”

She was listening to the old lady in the flower hall just now, and she originally wanted the girl to live in her house.But she found out from the maid in Rongguo Mansion that the Second Master Bao is now living in the old lady's house.If it is really arranged like that...it would be a shame.

After hearing this, Daiyu closed her eyes even more disheartened.Everyone looked sad, and they all shut up in embarrassment, and stood blankly on the ground with sad expressions.In this world, maidservants and slaves follow their masters in a dignified way. Now that their girls are being treated with such contempt, although they are angry, they are inevitably worried about their own situation.

After a while, the curtain rattled, and a girl outside called for the door.Jinse suddenly regained her composure, quickly wiped her face with a sweat towel, and walked forward to open the door.

"Yo, what's the matter, you're wiping away tears." As soon as Baochai entered the door, she saw that the expressions of the people were not right, she made a light joke, and walked in with her skirt lifted.Behind him is Ying'er carrying a food box.

"Sister Bao!" Seeing that it was Baochai coming, Lin Daiyu put down the catkin holding her chin, wiped the tears from her cheeks, got up and greeted her, and said, "Why are you here?"

"The dinner in Rongguo Mansion is too greasy, I'm afraid you won't be used to it. Besides, the rules and habits of Rongguo Mansion are very different from ours, and we can't change it for a while. Fortunately, this Lixiangyuan is a separate courtyard. There is also a small kitchen. I asked Yinger to send someone to tidy up the small kitchen, and I made two southern dishes and sent them over." Baochai said, and ordered Yinger to open the food box in a low voice, and put a few small dishes into two bowls Bijing rice is placed on the table.

"Tomorrow, I'll talk to my mom. We'll try to eat in the small kitchen in the future. We really can't avoid the etiquette and go there to eat together. Besides, the weather in the capital is different from ours, and it's getting colder and colder." I was afraid that you wouldn't be able to get used to it for a while, so I asked Ying'er to boil a bowl of bird's nest, and you drank it while it was hot, so as not to cough again later." Baochai said, from the bottom of the food box He brought out a bowl of bird's nest, and there were jujubes and white fungus in it, which made him look more and more gratifying.

Looking at the hot food and the bird's nest porridge specially made for her, Lin Daiyu felt more and more wronged, and couldn't help but her eyes turned red again.

"Alas!" Seeing this, Baochai shook her head and sighed softly.She is seeing the situation today. Although Mrs. Wang is an elder, she can't say anything.But people always have preconceived ideas, and Baochai only thinks that his poor sister has been wronged.

It's just that her personality is dignified and virtuous, and she won't speak easily.But looking at Lin Daiyu who kept wiping tears in front of her, she also felt distressed.

Rolling her eyes, Baochai suddenly chuckled, stuffed the bird's nest into Daiyu's hand, put her arms around Lin Daiyu and sat down at the table, said with a mysterious face, "Did you notice it today?"

"What?" Lin Daiyu was baffled by Baochai's words, and immediately asked with her head tilted.

"This Rongguo Mansion is really magnificent. Let's not talk about anything else, let's just look at the second grandma Lian who lives in that big house..." Baochai said, stretching out five fingers and shaking in front of Lin Daiyu: "Let's talk about her head The chayang five-phoenix hanging bead hairpin that I wear, the top one is a high-quality south bead, and only one is needed. In addition, the workmanship of the hairpin is exquisite, and the cost is quite a lot. At least this number..."

As Baochai said, she flipped her hand and raised a finger.Then he pretended to be weighing his eyes and said: "The red gold plate and jade ring around her neck is very pure in color, at least this number..."

Baochai frowned, raised three fingers and swayed back and forth in front of Daiyu's eyes.Clearing her throat, she shook her head like an old hand in a pawn shop and said, "In addition to her silk and satin and fine leather, and a dozen or so gold and jade bracelets on her left and right wrists..."

As Baochai said, she folded her hands together with a "snap", and said with a surprised expression: "My good fellow, she is wearing a few thousand taels of things by herself, and I don't know any business in the capital that has such a reputation. This Lian's second grandma wants to act as an 'advertising endorsement' for their family at the expense of her image!"

"Advertising endorsement?" Lin Daiyu's eyes flickered, and some did not understand Xue Baochai's words.

"That's what my brother said. It is to hire living people to wear the good clothes and jewelry in the shop and act on various occasions. If anyone asks, just say that this thing is made in our shop. Let others When people see it, they will know that our shop has the best products, and customers will come like a cloud." Xue Baochai explained with a smile.As he spoke, he kept winking at Lin Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu didn't have any thoughts at first, but she just listened to Baochai's explanation and saw her narrow behavior, and she realized it after a turn of her mind.I couldn't help laughing, thinking about it again and again, I felt more and more happy, and accidentally laughed out of breath, a mouthful of bird's nest popped out, and I fell on the table and beeped.A cavity of melancholy also disappeared.

After a long while, I laughed so hard that my tears flowed, I felt powerless lying on the table, and said to Baochai out of breath, "Good sister... you... ouch... "

Seeing this, Baochai shook her head helplessly, and said softly, "I'm not wronged this time! If I'm not wronged, let's eat!"

When Lin Daiyu heard this, she looked at Baochai moved.Leaning her body on Baochai's body and tilting her head on Baochai's neck, she said softly, "It's my sister who really loves me."

Hearing this, Baochai patted Daiyu's catkin lightly, and said with a smile: "You are my sister, I don't love you, who do you love? Stop talking, eat quickly, it's almost cold."

Lin Daiyu was so moved that she didn't need to elaborate, she sat up straight and had dinner with Xue Baochai.After such a short delay, the food was no longer steaming as before, but it was still warm after all.Daiyu was eating a familiar meal, only to feel that Wu Nei, who was cold due to being neglected this day, was gradually warming up.

After dinner, Ying'er tiptoedly collected the dishes and left.Baochai was worried that Daiyu's body was delicate, and if she lay down after eating, she might accumulate food and feel even more uncomfortable.I had no choice but to hold Daiyu's hand and chat with each other.In the gossip, we talked about having dinner at Rongqingtang.

"At that time, I saw that your expression was not right when you came in, but what happened?" Baochai asked with concern.

"Don't mention it." When Lin Daiyu heard Baochai's question, she became irritable again after recovering. "It's not the second aunt who is 'clumsy and dull', worried that I would spoil her baby bump, and told me to stay away from him in her words!"

"Him?" Baochai couldn't understand, and asked suspiciously.

"I don't know what's wrong with me. I just came out from my first aunt to say hello to my second aunt. I saw her indiscriminately holding my hand and giving orders." Lin Daiyu said, sitting up straight, with a serious expression on her face. Said: "I have a culprit, the devil in the family... You just don't pay attention to him in the future, and your brothers and sisters dare not mess with him."

"What is this talking about?" Baochai looked incredulous, "We female relatives live in the inner house, where are we going to get in touch with the men outside? If it is passed on, it will be too unpleasant."

"That's what I said too, but the second aunt said..." Lin Daiyu said here, and lowered her voice slightly: "She said that brother Bao is used to messing around with the inner circle, only playing with sisters, not going outside. "

"Then there's no need to say it so eagerly, what a nice thing to hear." Xue Baochai sneered, but couldn't help but say something.My impression of Mrs. Wang plummeted.

She is used to following the rules, even though there are occasional rebellious things because of her brother, it is only for a moment.Morality is the most important thing.Now Mrs. Wang's behavior only makes her feel unreasonable and crooked, and she thinks of Jia Baoyu who she saw in the flower hall before. A three-point bored.

Originally, Lin Daiyu was just depressed and wanted to find someone to confide in, but now she was filled with righteous indignation when she saw that Sister Bao, who was dignified in the past and never refused to speak ill, was filled with righteous indignation.I feel more and more that I have read the right person.Immediately moved Xue Baochai's hand, and persuaded softly: "Good sister, we don't need to be angry, we just keep away from him from now on."

When Xue Baochai saw that the wronged person turned to comfort herself, she immediately felt a weird feeling of not knowing whether to laugh or cry, but she also felt more and more for Lin Daiyu's purity and clarity.Immediately, he held Lin Daiyu's hand back and said, "What my sister said is true, no matter what she said, let's just ignore it."

So Daiyu suddenly thought about Xue Pan being forcibly dragged away by Jia Baoyu before, and she couldn't help asking: "Just now, this cousin dragged the elder brother away, and I don't know why."

"It seems to be tinkering with some rouge..." At that time, Baochai was sitting at the head of Mrs. Xue in the flower hall, and behind her were Xue Pan and Jia Baoyu.Therefore, she still listened to the whispers between the two of them.Therefore, I became more and more uncomfortable with Baoyu.

My elder brother made rouge cream for the sake of the rouge gouache business. Jia Baoyu, a man of good stature, didn't talk about studying economics and career, so what happened to spending every day in the house tinkering with rouge cream?It's really inexplicable that Sister Lin, who is now implicated, has lost her vigilance for no reason.

Xue Baochai thought indignantly, but completely forgot that Jia Baoyu didn't know what Mrs. Wang said to Lin Daiyu.And her double standard in judging things... Ahem.

From her point of view, it's right to be in her own family.They are all from other people's families who have no rules or dignity, are mean and indifferent, honest on the surface, but hide traitors on the inside.If such a person doesn't come to offend her, that's all. If...

Xue Baochai sneered in her heart, slightly lowered her eyes to hide the sharp light in them, but the smile on her lips became softer and she said: "My dear sister, it's getting late at night. I have to greet the old lady tomorrow morning, let's arrange it too!"