Chapter 13 Her eyes held both dew and starlight. "Call me..."

At the second quarter of Chen Shi (7:45 AM), Jia Lian arrived at the gate of the Marquis of Zhongyong's residence.

The Rongguo Mansion and the Zhongyong Earl's Mansion are not far apart, both within the inner city, less than five li apart. Even walking, it would take less than half an hour.

Grandmother Jia asked Jia Lian to deliver a formal invitation, as she wanted his status as the heir to the Rongguo Mansion. A servant knocked on the door and delivered the invitation, while Jia Lian watched from behind him.

The gatekeeper of the Marquis of Zhongyong's residence was very polite: "Please wait a moment, someone from the palace has arrived, and the steward is receiving them."

Given Jia Lian's status, it was impossible for him to wait at the gatehouse. The steward led him to a side room in the front courtyard, served him tea, and had a servant attend to him before he left.

The servants of the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion were also strong and capable, which made Jia Lian a little uneasy.

Of course, it wasn't because he was afraid the servant would beat him.

The side rooms on both sides of the front yard were theoretically meant for guests to rest, but he was led to the west wing, which was not as prestigious as the east wing.

Surely the east wing isn't already full?

Jia Lian came out and strolled around the courtyard. When he saw a figure in the distance, he smiled and went over to exchange pleasantries.

The door wasn't closed, and Jia Lian went in and headed straight for the east side room. He wanted to see who the most distinguished guest, or rather, the first person to arrive, really was.

As he walked around the screen, he saw Jia Rong standing in the room, looking rather awkward.

"Uncle Lian," Jia Rong called out.

"How could you—" Jia Lian asked in surprise.

"My father sent me to deliver a letter, hoping to pay a visit to the Earl of Zhongyong." Jia Rong's lie came out without hesitation: "My second uncle knows me too. He couldn't get up this morning and was just dozing off. He only got up when he heard the noise."

Actually, I felt embarrassed.

Jia Lian didn't care about this; he had done even more shameful things with his friends and acquaintances.

Even though he was at someone else's home, Jia Lian still had to act like an elder: "It's appropriate to pay a visit, after all, he's your superior." He then lowered his voice and gave a wink, "You're here early, who's over there?"

Jia Rong leaned closer and whispered in his ear, "They seem to be from Shuntian Prefecture. I heard they're representing the prefect and two county magistrates from the capital. They want to host a banquet for the Earl of Zhongyong."

Jia Lian thought about it and realized that made sense. The Marquis of Zhongyong had been back in the capital for almost ten days. Almost all the information they could get had already spread.

For example, his family was in Wanping County, but the Marquis of Zhongyong's residence was in Daxing County. Neither of the two county magistrates could escape the situation.

The same principle applies to the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture.

It is customary to cultivate relationships with high-ranking officials within one's jurisdiction, in order to maintain stability and unity and prevent major disturbances.

Of course, for someone like the Earl of Zhongyong, it would be a banquet hosted by the local officials. But if someone only passed the imperial examination and became a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial civil service examination) or returned to his hometown without ever holding a high-ranking official position, it would be a banquet hosted by the local gentry to entertain the local officials.

Conversely, the process for local officials to take office is similar. In short, local officials must be familiar with people of high standing in the area.

Jia Lian inquired about the good news, saying, "I know, what about the palace?"

Jia Rong shook his head: "When I arrived, the palace staff were already inside."

Jia Lian asked once, and then made an appointment to drink together sometime before returning to the west wing.

Before long, he saw through the window that a steward was seeing a eunuch out. The eunuch was dressed in a red python robe and was obviously a powerful eunuch, but he was very polite and had a smile on his face.

Jia Lian couldn't help but sigh, thinking of the eunuchs who came to the Jia family every day to freeload, whose expenses alone amounted to several thousand taels a year.

The Marquis of Zhongyong's residence spent a long time entertaining the eunuchs, but when it was their turn, it was quick.

The steward went inside, accepted the invitation, and said a few polite words: "Sir, you are very busy. I will inquire and reply to you as soon as possible." That was the end of it.

Jia Lian had no complaints. The Earl of Zhongyong was a first-class earl, while he was only a fifth-rank official. If they were to eat together, his father would have a hard time even sitting at the same table as the Earl of Zhongyong.

After finishing his business, Jia Lian returned to the Jia family mansion to report to Grandmother Jia.

As soon as he entered the mansion, he spotted a familiar eunuch in the front courtyard—the eunuch in the red python robe who had just visited the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion.

Jia Lian found it absurd; it was truly a way to handle both official business and personal matters without neglecting either.

Since the eunuch had come to ask for money, he did have a smile on his face, but it was a forced smile. Jia Lian quickly hid, pretending not to see him, and went to inform Grandmother Jia first, then slowly walked back to his room.

As soon as Jia Lian lifted the curtain, he heard Feng Jie yelling, "A thousand taels of silver! What an outrageous demand! What do you mean you need to replace the furniture in the outer courtyard and are short on cash? Which eunuch in the palace has ever paid back silver?"

"Calm down," Jia Lian said. "The money comes from the public funds anyway."

As he spoke, he opened his arms, and Ping'er took a feather duster to brush off the dust for him.

Wang Xifeng snorted: "Put some effort into it, your master is dirty!"

Although it was a veiled insult, Jia Lian didn't care much, since Ping'er was still very gentle when dusting off the ashes.

"We can't be without even a thousand taels in the account. If we can get through this, then we can get through it."

Wang Xifeng couldn't stand it; she only wanted others to say good things about her and that she was capable. She even used her dowry to cover it up.

"Do you know what that eunuch said?" Wang Xifeng glared at Jia Lian: "He said that Eunuch Xia from Consort Xiande's palace said that your household is the most kind and gentle. Bah!"

Wang Xifeng wanted to curse Yuan Chun a bit more, saying that being a concubine like this was worse than being a palace maid.

But there are old ladies and wives above her, and her courtyard is always bustling with people. There's also a vixen in the courtyard who's hoping for her death. She has to be even more careful with her words.

A few years ago, Jia Lian always comforted Wang Xifeng, but now he seems to be looking for fun and deliberately trying to provoke her.

"Second Madam, you should think about the New Year. According to past practice, it will cost at least twenty or thirty thousand taels of silver, right? The other day, the old lady said she wanted to hire an opera troupe to celebrate the Second Master's birthday. The Second Master will be back next year, shouldn't his outer and inner study be renovated?"

Sure enough, a look of sorrow appeared on Wang Xifeng's face, and even her usual sharpness was somewhat diminished.

"The silver from the estate hasn't arrived yet, and there haven't been any reports of drought or flood this year, so we should have enough," Wang Xifeng reassured herself, then scolded Jia Lian, "Why aren't you going out to find more silver?"

"The old lady told me not to go out for the next two days, to wait for the Marquis of Zhongyong's reply, and to accompany Lin Daiyu when I meet her."

Wang Xifeng snorted coldly and stood up: "Ping'er, let's go!"

Jia Lian looked around the courtyard and then went into Qiu Tong's room.

Although the second sister is beautiful, she has been acting strangely for the past two months, always looking sad and tearful and needing to be comforted. Jia Lian liked it once or twice, but he can't keep doing it like this.

Jia Lian and Jia Rong left the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion one after the other, and returned home one after the other.

Jia Rong respectfully reported to Jia Zhen, and then recounted his encounter with Jia Lian.

Jia Zhen sneered: "Wouldn't it have been fine if we had done this earlier? What I can't stand the most is the pretentious attitude and affected manner of the West Mansion. They have to stir up trouble for a perfectly good matter, just so they can live a more comfortable life?"

Because of what had just been said about Jia Lian, Jia Zhen's thoughts inevitably turned to him, and then he thought of the You sisters.

He sighed, "What a pity. I wonder what Baoyu said that made Liu Xianglian break off the engagement, which led to the death of Third Sister, and Second Sister was taken as a concubine. Otherwise—"

Otherwise, if the three of them were used to entertain guests, they could easily win them over.

Although Jia Zhen didn't say it aloud, Jia Rong was his son, so how could he not guess? He became even more breathless and dared not utter a word.

Jia Zhen waved his hand listlessly: "Go down and keep an eye on the reply from the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion."

Just after 9:00 AM, Mu Chuan received the invitation.

"The Emperor Emeritus gifted me a golden hoe?" Mu Chuan laughed. "I'll take it with me when I return to my hometown. Once the old house is repaired, I'll hang it in the center of the main room as a treasure to ward off evil spirits. I'll also have the strategist write a letter of thanks and send it to the Daming Palace."

Several invitations came down. Mu Chuan looked them over and said, "Let's go see Miss Lin first, and then attend the banquet hosted by the prefect and the magistrate tonight."

Miao Zhenchuan subconsciously glanced up.

"What's wrong?" Mu Chuan asked in return. "Meeting the chieftain, returning to my hometown 120 miles away, attending the banquet hosted by the prefect and the county magistrate, and meeting Miss Lin—by ​​the way, I've declined the invitation from Ningguo Mansion; I'll decline it after I've been to Rongguo Mansion. Which one do you choose?"

The words "divide and conquer" had barely left Miao Zhenchuan's mind when he heard his general say, "Let me remind you, Miss Lin's father is a third-ranked scholar, a third-ranked scholar."

Mu Chuan emphasized it again.

Even a martial artist knows that the third-ranked scholar is beautiful. Miao Zhenchuan said, "I also want to see Miss Lin."

"That settles it then." Mu Chuan strode out of the room: "Go to the Rongguo Mansion and tell them I'll be there at 1:45 PM."

After lunch, Mu Chuan instructed the Li family teenagers in practicing basic skills. Estimating that it was about time, he first went to the storeroom of the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion to find two toys and put them in a box before riding his horse to the Rongguo Mansion.

The gates of the Rongguo Mansion were wide open, and Jia Lian stood guard at the entrance. Seeing a group of people riding towards them in the distance, he hurriedly went to greet them.

There's no mistake, there's only one horse that tall and a man that strong in the entire capital.

Upon reaching the door, Mu Chuan reined in his horse, causing Jia Lian to gasp in shock.

This is different from when we saw him from the second floor of the restaurant last time. Last time, we could see from above that the Marquis of Zhongyong was tall and strong. Now, he's standing on the ground while the other man is on horseback. Jia Lian's neck looks like it's about to break.

Mu Chuan jumped off his horse and laughed with the hypocrisy typical of adults: "Why are you being so polite? You even opened the middle gate."

Do you dare not open the middle door?

Jia Lian glanced subconsciously at the side gate, worried that they might tear down their wall in a fit of anger.

"General, please."

Mu Chuan cupped his hands in greeting, tossed the reins to his subordinates behind him, and entered the Rongguo Mansion first.

Jia Lian originally wanted to lead the way, but even if he walked quickly, he couldn't catch up. He felt that jogging would be improper. The layout of the residences was similar, and unless done intentionally, it was impossible to go the wrong way. So he simply walked behind Mu Chuan.

Lin Daiyu, accompanied by Yuanyang and two old women, stood at the entrance of the main hall for almost the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Although Mu Chuan's reply said he would arrive at 1:45 PM, Grandmother Jia was very restless. Lin Daiyu simply said, "Lord Zhongyong is a guest, it's not good to keep him waiting. Would it be better if I went earlier?"

Grandmother Jia nodded in agreement and praised Daiyu for being sensible.

Not long after Daiyu left, Jia Baoyu also began to feel restless.

Unlike Jia Baoyu, the others were not entirely worried about Lin Daiyu; their curiosity accounted for at least half of their concern.

Xue Baochai saw everything clearly. She smiled gently and said to Shi Xiangyun, "I heard that the general is eighteen feet tall, with a blue face and fangs, and smells of blood all over his body. I don't know if it's true or not. When Daiyu comes back, we'll ask her about it."

"How could that be?" Shi Xiangyun said, "If someone were eighteen feet tall, they would have to bump their head to enter a room. Besides, they would have to be cleaned up before being seen by others, right? But I have also heard that he is very tall, a rare sight in the world."

Xue Baochai did it on purpose. Sure enough, upon hearing this, Jia Baoyu became even more worried. The general was a rough man, and Lin Daiyu was a delicate woman like water, with poor health. He was afraid she would be frightened.

Jia Baoyu glanced at the clock in the room, then glanced at it again. Worried that his grandmother would not allow him to go, he stood up and said a few words to this girl, then a few words to that girl, and slowly shuffled to the door. Suddenly he said, "I'm going to see the general's horse. Is that horse any good?"

With one person taking the lead, Shi Xiangyun also stood up and said, "Grandmother, I'll go take a look too. I'll hide in the back and won't make a sound."

She was naturally outspoken and very curious, and Xue Baochai's words not only provoked Jia Baoyu but also Shi Xiangyun.

Besides, she had seen many high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital. This Marquis Zhongyong was not the highest-ranking noble, so how could he be so intimidating?

"Sister Yun! Brother Bao!" Xue Baochai, who was already prepared, chased after them.

Grandmother Jia hadn't slept well last night, having a series of dreams and feeling groggy. By the time she came to her senses and reached out her hand, three people had already left the room.

Grandmother Jia's face darkened, and she instinctively wanted to have them all brought back. What would happen if this commotion reached outsiders?

But then I thought again, since the origins of the Marquis of Zhongyong are unknown, it would be a good opportunity to let these children try it out.

How could a first-class earl like Zhongyong argue with children?

But Xue Baochai went out...

Grandmother Jia smiled and patted Xue Baoqin's hand, who was sitting next to her: "You should all go out and take a look too. Hide behind the door and remember not to look at or listen to anything improper. Don't go too far."

As she spoke, she chuckled helplessly, "I was naughty when I was little. Once, I hid behind the door and suddenly jumped out, giving the guests my father had invited home a big fright."

Hearing her say that, Xue Baoqin also stood up, and Tan Chun pulled Ying Chun and Xi Chun: "Let's go and take a look too."

Grandmother Jia watched the girls leave, then glanced at Aunt Xue.

She naturally knew what the Xue family was planning, especially since Xue Baochai was already twenty and couldn't afford to waste a single day.

However, if we're talking about looks, Xue Baoqin is the prettiest of all the girls. If everyone else hides their beauty well, that's fine. But if someone accidentally sees her, with Xue Baoqin, the prettiest one, standing in front, then there'll be quite a show.

Grandmother Jia smiled and waved to Aunt Xue: "Well, they've all left. You two sit closer and let's have a good chat."

From afar, Lin Daiyu, standing at the entrance of the main hall, saw a man wearing an imperial red python robe and a waist-length armor walking towards her.

He was indeed tall and imposing, with a powerful stride, and just by looking at his figure one could imagine how fearsome he was to his enemies on the battlefield.

Lin Daiyu quickly lowered her head, then thought she might not have seen the face clearly.

Mu Chuan stopped in front of Lin Daiyu: "This must be Miss Lin?"

"General," Lin Daiyu bowed.

Although one of the etiquette requirements for women is that they should not look men directly in the eye when they see them, they should still look at them when bowing to show respect.

When their eyes met, Lin Daiyu's first impression was: he was indeed tall and sturdy.

My second impression is that the invincible generals I used to read about in storybooks now seem to have faces.

Mu Chuan was different. His first impression of Lin Daiyu was: a fairy, as if she could ascend to heaven at any moment.

Next, there were those bright eyes, sparkling as if they held starlight.

Starlight? What starlight? Those are tears. She's been wronged.

She suffered before I came, and she still suffers after I came. So what was the point of my trip?

Mu Chuan stretched out his hand: "Miss Lin, let's talk inside."

The two entered the inner room. After Lin Daiyu was seated, before Jia Lian could speak, Mu Chuan said first, "I am Mu Chuan, the third son. You can call me Third Brother."

A note from the author:

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Do you want to guess whether Lin Daiyu actually called him "Third Brother"?