I had to ask. I hadn't noticed Ning Hongze's strangeness before, but now that I think about it, it's full of flaws.

He disliked the people in the Jia family from the very beginning.

Everyone praises Baoyu for being intelligent and handsome, but he, who has never seen Baoyu, has no liking for him.

Everyone admires a delicate, graceful young lady from a respectable family, but he insists on raising his younger sister as a girl.

Watching Daiyu practice martial arts all morning, her face wasn't red and she wasn't out of breath.

When she was in Yangzhou, Jia Min only felt a headache coming on, but now she inexplicably felt a sense of security.

"Did you already know this?"

"Um?"

Ning Hong nodded.

He didn't intend to hide this from her.

After all, the more people dream about this, the more real it seems.

"In a dream...?"

"Without me, there would be no twin brother. My mother died early, and my father is gone too, leaving my sister alone to suffer bullying. And all of this happened in the Rongguo Duke's mansion."

Ning Hong lowered her eyes.

Over the years, Daiyu's appearance has become increasingly beautiful and delicate, and she looks even more slender and fragile. Moreover, she is still a little crybaby, and tears will stream down her face at the drop of a hat.

Just like in the book, I cried over fallen leaves, over withered flowers, and even over the starry sky.

However, his strength gradually increased.

Ning Hong originally wanted to exchange a Strength Pill for her, but he suddenly realized that the people in this world did not know any martial arts.

He taught Daiyu the martial arts he had learned from the world of martial arts novels. Even though Daiyu couldn't develop internal energy, her practice over ten years made her agile and even able to break bricks with her bare hands.

However, the biggest advantage is that Daiyu probably wouldn't be interested in a man like Jia Baoyu.

In this era, slenderness was considered beautiful, and both men and women preferred delicate, pale-faced scholars.

Otherwise, Jia Baoyu wouldn't have been so popular.

A pale-faced scholar who couldn't even lift a chicken probably couldn't even carry a sack of rice, yet he still managed to make so many women jealous of him.

His younger sister was one of them; it's unbelievable.

When did you find out?

“When I was seven years old.” Ning Hong closed her eyes, then opened them again. Truth and falsehood intertwined; her words contained seven parts truth and three parts lies, concealing the most important point while revealing most of the truth.

"My child, I'm so sorry you had to go through all this. Why didn't you tell your mother sooner?"

"Even if I told you, Mother wouldn't believe me."

That was Jia Min's maternal home. If one didn't experience it firsthand, who would believe that Grandmother Jia would treat Daiyu this way?

Jia Min fell silent.

Hong'er was right. If the dream hadn't been so real, so heartbreaking, and if Hong herself hadn't dreamt it, she wouldn't have believed it.

"Hong'er." Jia Min reached out and hugged Ning Hongze.

"mother?"

"Thank you." It must be because God took pity on her that He sent Hong'er to save her family.

In the dream, the Lin family was destroyed, their lineage ending after several generations. However, Hong Ze never appeared in the dream.

Clearly, all the changes in his life were because of Hong'er.

"Mom, I will protect you, and I will also protect my younger brother and sister."

Ning Hong then hugged Jia Min back.

He was seventeen years old and taller than Jia Min. With this hug, he pulled Jia Min into his arms.

"Mother believes in you."

Jia Min firmly believes that her eldest son is the turning point for their family.

Two days later, Jia Min tidied herself up and led Daiyu and Ning Hong to the Rongguo Duke's Mansion.

It is slightly different from the Jia family depicted on television.

The Rongguo Mansion here is not as magnificent as it appears on television.

There was even a sense of desolation.

The Grand View Garden never had one.

In the novel, the Jia family was able to build the Grand View Garden only after acquiring the Lin family's property.

Now that the Lin family is doing well, where would they get the money to build the Grand View Garden? When Yuan Chun visited her family, she only did a little renovation of the Duke's mansion.

As soon as Jia Min entered the room, she saw Grandmother Jia break free from the two maids beside her and pull Jia Min into her arms, crying out "My darling!" and bursting into tears. Her temples were gray, and the sight was heartbreaking. All the maids present covered their faces and wept softly, and even Jia Min couldn't help but have tears welling up in her eyes.

Not to mention Daiyu, who was standing to the side, whose eyes were already red and swollen from crying.

"Mother, please don't cry." Jia Min took out a handkerchief and wiped away the tears on Jia Mu's face.

"Yes, Madam, this is a joyous day, why are you crying like this all of a sudden?"

"Don't cry, don't cry, I'm just happy, that's all. This heartless man, he didn't come back for so long, and as soon as he returned, he went straight to the Lin residence without even coming to visit me first?"

"Mother, I'm here now, but there's just a lot of stuff going on at home."

"Hmph, I'll let you off this time. Come, let me see where these wonderful people came from." When Grandmother Jia saw Ning Hongze and Daiyu, she was immediately stunned.

"Hongze pays her respects to the Ancestor."

"Daiyu pays her respects to the matriarch."

The two of them knelt down at the same time and kowtowed to Jia Min.

"Get up, get up quickly." Jia Min pulled Daiyu's hand. "Is this your daughter?" Grandmother Jia asked. She had met Ning Hongze before. Ning Hongze was too stupid and was bullied badly by the children in their family.

Grandmother Jia looked down on it.

This younger sister, however, is unexpectedly beautiful and quite worthy of her Baoyu.

Just then, a hearty laugh came from outside, and with the laughter came Wang Xifeng.

“Grandmother, isn’t it Miss Lin who has come to the manor today? I’ve long heard that she is beautiful, and now that I see her, it is indeed true.” Wang Xifeng smiled and took Lin Daiyu’s hands.

"She's truly a celestial beauty," Wang Xifeng sighed softly.

“Who says otherwise?” Madam Wang chimed in.

She didn't like Jia Min at first. When Jia Min was still unmarried, she didn't get along well with her. Moreover, Jia Min had her father-in-law's support, so every time the two of them clashed, she was the one who got scolded.

Of course, because of her dislike for Daiyu, she also disliked her very much.

However, now that Daiyu's father, Lin Ruhai, is powerful, she has no choice but to flatter him. Of course, according to her own ideas, she hopes to marry Daiyu to Baoyu so that Lin Ruhai can also help Baoyu in the future.

But when she saw Daiyu's appearance, she regretted it. Such a beauty would only make Baoyu's heart be set on her, and he would not think of anything else.

She knew her son better than anyone; he loved beautiful women.

Upon hearing Madam Wang speak, Jia Min's hands clenched slightly.

Lady Wang glanced at Daiyu, then at Ning Hongze.

She disliked Daiyu, but had a good impression of Ning Hongze, who resembled Lin Ruhai more and possessed a gentlemanly demeanor. It would be better to marry her illegitimate daughter to him, thus avoiding the need for Baoyu to marry Daiyu, and still maintain a marriage alliance.

"I wonder if Hongze is engaged yet?" Madam Wang asked tentatively.