Chapter 87 "Why don't we go and urge His Majesty again?" "Go!"

Xi Ren was almost furious, but she didn't dare to speak loudly. She lowered her voice and said, "Second Master, quickly have some snacks so that Master won't see you."

Hearing this, Jia Baoyu felt a little uneasy, but he still tried to reassure himself: "Master is taking a nap, he won't be here so soon."

Despite saying that, Jia Baoyu still quickly ate a plate of snacks and drank half a pot of tea, finally feeling less hungry.

Xiren tidied up the table for him, dusted off the crumbs of pastries from her clothes, and then swept the floor clean. After checking that there were no flaws, she was relieved and said, "What would you like to eat tonight, Second Master? I'll go and tell the kitchen in a bit."

"There's not much to say about the old lady's meals... Since it's spring, tell them to fry some spring rolls, with thin wrappers, and make sure they're crispy to taste good. Don't use lard."

Xiren nodded in agreement, and after she left, Jia Baoyu sat down at his desk again.

He hadn't even finished reading the Four Books, let alone practice more advanced exercises like solving the eight-legged essay. Jia Zheng's homework for him was to copy the Four Books and their commentaries in the mornings.

In the afternoon, when I wasn't as alert, I copied the Book of Songs. It was a good way to practice calligraphy and memorize texts.

The Four Books were required for the imperial examinations, and students had to choose one of the Five Classics to study. Jia Zheng knew that Jia Baoyu was very talented in poetry and lyrics, so he naturally wouldn't ask him to study something else.

Jia Baoyu listlessly took out the Book of Poetry to copy. Originally, he didn't consider it homework. He would read two poems a day and try to write one poem, which made him quite happy. But now that copying the Book of Poetry had become a daily task, he felt that the Book of Poetry was not as attractive as before.

After lunch, some of the older people left first, including the retired emperor.

Mu Chuan originally intended to escort the retired emperor back, and he added, "I am also a skilled driver; I originally specialized in driving war chariots."

The retired emperor felt increasingly regretful. He laughed and said, "I don't believe it. With your build, how can a chariot run fast?"

"How can the chariots of my Great Wei be moved by running? The enemy is terrified at the mere sight of them, and I also have a reputation for stopping children from crying at night."

The Emperor Emeritus chuckled at his words: "I'll go back myself. This banquet is for you young talents to find your ladies. You should go back and spend time with your Miss Lin. I don't need you to accompany me."

Lin Daiyu was listening to jokes with the Empress when a female official came in to report: "The Marquis of Zhongyong pays his respects to Your Majesty."

Upon hearing this, Lin Daiyu blushed again. The Empress laughed and said, "Why are you blushing when he pays his respects to me?"

How was she supposed to answer that? Lin Daiyu, enduring the smiling gazes of the crowd, forced herself to remain calm and said, "I just finished eating, it's a bit hot. Is Your Highness feeling restless? Perhaps we could accompany you for a walk outside?"

The Empress chuckled twice. Just then, Mu Chuan entered. After he had paid his respects, the Empress said, "Miss Lin said it was a bit stuffy in the room. Since you're here, accompany her out for some fresh air."

The two went outside together. There was indeed a gentle breeze, but the afternoon sun was quite intense.

"They were teasing me," Lin Daiyu complained, half-jokingly.

Mu Chuan laughed and said, "What are you joking about?"

Lin Daiyu glared at him, and after a long while said, "If someone asks you why you blush when you hear the name Miss Lin, what will you say?"

"Because I'm going to marry Miss Lin," Mu Chuan said frankly. "Sincerity is the ultimate weapon."

Lin Daiyu savored the taste, then laughed again, but remained silent.

Mu Chuan asked her, "What are you laughing at?"

“I laugh—” Lin Daiyu glanced at him sideways, her round fan covering half her face and also the two dimples that Mu Chuan liked so much. “I laugh at Third Brother for saying he is sincere.”

Just as Mu Chuan was about to press further, Lin Daiyu suddenly said, "What if I don't agree? I was just chatting with Miss Song, and from what they said, Third Brother had already set his sights on it before the New Year."

"It wasn't before the New Year," Mu Chuan said frankly. "It started from the first time I met you. I didn't like Jia Baoyu back then, didn't you notice?"

That's obvious; Lin Daiyu looked at Mu Chuan without saying a word.

Mu Chuan said, "If you really don't want to, then I will hold a banquet and formally recognize you as my sister."

Lin Daiyu chuckled again.

"I'm heartbroken," Mu Chuan said irritably.

"What are you sad about?" Lin Daiyu laughed. "I don't want to be your sister." She paused deliberately. "You've already called me Third Uncle. If you're going to acknowledge someone, it should be your niece."

She laughed as she darted forward a few steps, then turned back to see if Mu Chuan was annoyed.

"Come here quickly, there are bugs in the tree."

"I don't believe it—ah!"

A rather large ladybug flapped its wings and flew onto her shoulder. Lin Daiyu cried out in surprise and jumped towards Mu Chuan.

"I already told you there were bugs." Mu Chuan said helplessly.

Lin Daiyu was only startled by the initial splash on her face; as for being genuinely afraid of insects, that would be an act.

She laughed: "I didn't even remember this morning that it's not good to wear bright yellow and green in spring."

The two walked along the riverbank, and Lin Daiyu said again, "Her Majesty the Empress just asked me to write calligraphy samples, and to write several pages of the same style, and have the craftsmen carve the characters. I haven't thanked Third Brother yet."

"Are you just going to say thank you verbally?" Mu Chuan retorted.

Lin Daiyu thought for a moment, cleared her throat, and sang in the Kunqu opera tune she often heard, "Thank you, Third Brother."

Mu Chuan was stunned for a moment, but Lin Daiyu saw the expression on his face and burst out laughing again.

"I not only spoke, I also sang. Are you satisfied, Third Brother?"

Mu Chuan was naturally satisfied, and he decided to urge the emperor again.

"Third Brother?"

"Daiyu?"

Lin Daiyu chuckled: "I have serious business to discuss with you, not just playing around."

"Go on," Mu Chuan said, his face instantly becoming serious, his attitude very earnest.

Lin Daiyu could no longer be serious. She said, "The other day my maternal grandmother told me to persuade you to establish a kinship with the Mu family, the Prince of Dong'an. Actually, I thought about it and decided not to tell you about it. But the Prince of Dong'an's family has a distinguished lineage. What if there's some connection? Third Brother, you should be careful."

“No problem.” Mu Chuan thought about it carefully. “I’ve never even heard of this family. After you marry into the family, I’ll go to His Majesty and tell him that someone wants to be my ancestor.”

Lin Daiyu chuckled twice: "How come nothing is a problem for you? I was worried about it for two days."

"It's my fault for worrying, Miss Lao," Mu Chuan suddenly said in a affected tone.

Lin Daiyu immediately followed up: "Then how are you going to make up for this?"

Mu Chuan thought for a moment and said, "Why not repay him with my body?"

Lin Daiyu's dimples were practically permanent: "You're willing to give yourself to someone for such a small thing? Find someone else."

As the evening approached, the banquet ended. Mu Chuan first greeted Li Chengwu, and then personally escorted Lin Daiyu back to the Rongguo Mansion.

"Since Her Majesty the Empress has asked you to write calligraphy models, then will she stop teaching me calligraphy for the time being?"

Lin Daiyu actually wanted to teach him, but the calligraphy copybooks needed to be engraved, and each copy needed to be written in five identical copies, which wasn't easy.

"Alright," Lin Daiyu instructed, "Don't be lazy, bring the writing to me when you're done, I need to check it."

"This is your homework?" Jia Zheng's hands were trembling. "What have you been doing all afternoon?!"

Jia Baoyu lowered his head, his voice trembling as he said, "I usually take a nap, but today... I didn't eat lunch. I was really tired, so I slapped the table and took a nap for a while."

"Do you know about the stories of hanging one's head from the rafters and pricking one's thigh with an awl, and stealing light by chiseling a hole in the wall? What have others done to pursue their studies, and what have you done!"

Jia Baoyu didn't dare to argue, but he genuinely felt that if it came to the point of hanging his head from the rafters and pricking his thigh with an awl, how could he possibly learn anything? It would just be a waste of time.

"Get out!" Jia Zheng shouted angrily, but Jia Baoyu didn't dare to actually leave.

After a brief standoff between father and son, Jia Zheng said, "Since that's the case, starting tomorrow, you'll have to rest for an hour every noon. If you still don't study well, I'll beat you to death!"

Jia Baoyu agreed. Jia Zheng had been teaching him for several days and had long lost patience, but if he wanted to bring honor to his ancestors, studying was the only way out.

Jia Huan and Jia Lan are both bookworms; they might pass the exams, but to do well, we still need to look to Jia Baoyu, who has some talent.

Seeing that Jia Baoyu still hadn't left, Jia Zheng became increasingly annoyed: "Why aren't you getting out of here! Do you want your grandmother to wait for you to eat?!"

Jia Baoyu then replied with a "Yes," and respectfully backed out.

He had just come out of the house and was walking normally when he stepped through the second gate. Then, like a monkey that had just come out of the Five Finger Mountain, he hopped and skipped all the way to Grandmother Jia's room.

As soon as he entered, Grandmother Jia smiled at him: "Did your master scold you again this afternoon?"

Jia Baoyu didn't speak, but his silence was a very clear attitude.

Grandmother Jia was displeased and said with a stern face, "Your father received his share of scoldings from his father back in the day, but I think he's completely forgotten. And you too—"

Grandmother Jia then scolded Lady Wang: "Don't you know how to take good care of the child? What good will it do you if you make him sick? Or can you have another one?"

Lady Wang dared not refute it. She even felt that Grandmother Jia's recent harassment of her was all because of the sickly child's dowry.

But the money in her second wife's house was either her dowry or her savings accumulated over the years, which she intended to leave entirely to Baoyu. Why should it be given to that sickly man?

Besides, when a niece gets married, how can the uncle's family be expected to provide a dowry? Adding two loads of dowry is already quite generous.

Hearing his grandmother scolding his wife, Jia Baoyu said, "It has nothing to do with my wife. She has always taken great care in raising me. Grandmother, I'm hungry. Let's eat."

After the meal, everyone sat in the room. Everyone knew that Lin Daiyu had entered the palace today.

Jia Baoyu had been thinking about his past with Lin Daiyu that morning, and he was thinking of waiting for her to come over so he could tell her about burying the flowers. He also wanted to pretend to be sick for a couple of days and then go back to the garden to stay for one night.

"Why hasn't Lin Daiyu returned yet? It's already late afternoon," Jia Baoyu asked. "Should we send someone to fetch her?"

Madam Wang's eyelids twitched: "Entering the palace isn't something you can just do whenever you want. It depends on when the masters in the palace will release you."

Jia Baoyu sighed, "It's been several days since I last saw Lin Daiyu. I miss her terribly."

The three sisters dared not discuss such topics, and Xue Baochai dared even less so; the room fell silent for a moment.

Grandmother Jia said, "You should go back and rest. Your father has been watching you closely these days, and your studies are demanding. Get some rest. Yuanyang, tell the kitchen to make some ginseng chicken soup and send it to Baoyu."

After saying that, Grandmother Jia patted Jia Baoyu and said, "I see you've lost weight, you need to eat more nourishing food."

When Grandmother Jia spoke, Lady Wang also told Jia Baoyu to go back. Helpless, Jia Baoyu got up and left, looking back every few steps.

Tan Chun felt that the old lady might have something to say to the madam, or perhaps she wanted to say something to Sister Lin. Seeing that Bao Yu had left, she also stood up and said with a smile, "These days, with the changing seasons, I always feel like I can't get enough sleep. I'll go back first."

Grandmother Jia didn't mind, and simply said, "Young girls are like that," and that was the end of it.

After the three sisters and the Xue family mother and daughter had all left, Grandmother Jia instructed Yuanyang, "Call Yu'er here."

Lin Daiyu had just changed into her everyday clothes. She had walked quite a bit today, and her legs were a little sore. She lay on the couch with her legs elevated, thinking about how to write the calligraphy copybook.

Upon hearing Yuanyang say that the old lady wanted to see her, Lin Daiyu said, "Go and call a sedan chair. I don't want to walk anymore."

Upon hearing this, Yuanyang couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. Was this dissatisfaction? Did they want to show that they were not of ordinary status? Otherwise, why would they need to ride in a sedan chair to see the old lady?

Yuanyang frowned, thinking that she had to keep this a secret, otherwise the old lady would definitely be angry if she heard about it. She used the excuse of calling the sedan chair to go out and give her a good lecture.

But things are different on the other side, especially since they ran into Lady Wang's people as soon as they entered Grandmother Jia's courtyard.

Yuanyang stepped forward and pulled the person aside, saying that she would keep it a secret, and added, "If the news leaks out, I will come looking for you."

Lin Daiyu didn't need to worry about any of that. She got out of the sedan chair and went straight to Grandmother Jia's room.

"Grandmother?" she called out from outside, immediately silencing the slightly loud voices inside.

The maid lifted the curtain, and as soon as Lin Daiyu entered, she saw that only her maternal grandmother and her second aunt were in the room.

This configuration suggests that the person in question wanted to ask the Imperial Concubine.

Following Grandmother Jia's suggestion, Lin Daiyu sat down next to her, and then heard Lady Wang say with a smile, "Did you see your cousin today when you went to the palace?"

Lin Daiyu shook her head: "I didn't see it. I didn't dare to move around too much either, there are still insects on the tree."

Serves her right! Lady Wang thought to herself, but she hadn't heard from her daughter since she went to the palace on the first day of the Lunar New Year to wish Yuan Chun a happy birthday. She had to ask.

"Have you seen Her Majesty the Empress?" Grandmother Jia asked as well.

"I didn't even have a chance to pay my respects to Her Majesty the Empress at first." I was pulled away to have my clothes measured. "I didn't see Her Majesty the Empress until almost noon."

Lady Wang sighed, "With so many people, it's already quite an achievement to have the opportunity to pay our respects to Her Majesty the Empress."

Lin Daiyu added, "I did see the Princess of Nan'an. She invited me to visit her home, but I didn't agree because my grandmother taught us to be quiet and reserved."

ah?

Get out!

Not only Lady Wang, but also Grandmother Jia wanted to kick her out.

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A note from the author: I went for my last physical therapy session today. My hand is still a little hard to bend, but typing doesn't hurt as much anymore.

Starting tomorrow, I'll try adjusting the update time a little earlier.