Chapter 64 The Xue Family Arrives in Beijing

As winter approaches, each day grows colder than the last.

Not long after Daiyu arrived, Lady Wang received a letter from the Xue family saying they were coming to the capital, but they haven't seen her yet.

It seems that the Xue family's lawsuit won't be resolved so quickly, which has delayed things.

The Xue family had originally set a date to go to the capital, but Madam Wang waited and waited and still didn't come.

In the end, Madam Wang sent someone to Jinling to find out the truth. She learned that Xue Pan had killed someone before going to the capital and was still dealing with the government. Xue Pan could not leave Jinling for the time being.

When Lady Wang received the letter, she wanted to discuss with Jia Zheng how to rescue her nephew. However, she thought that Jia Zheng was upright and rigid, and if he found out about this, she would probably be looked down upon by him and scolded, losing face.

Lady Wang then secretly took Jia She's invitation and wrote a letter to Jinling.

However, firstly, a distant official is not as powerful as a local one, and a distant water cannot quench a nearby fire; secondly, because Jia Yucun did not intervene, Xue Pan suffered in prison for several months. Due to his wealth, he eventually gave up a lot of his property to save his life.

Xue Pan originally had some affection for Xiang Ling, but because his suffering in prison was caused by Xiang Ling, he eventually came to hate her.

Fortunately, Xue Baochai was sensible and knew that Xiangling was the least to blame in this matter. Since her brother disliked her, Xue Baochai took Xiangling with her and treated her like Ying'er.

The family left Jinling in a sorry state and soon arrived in the capital.

Prince Teng had long been promoted to governor of nine provinces and was no longer in the capital, so Aunt Xue had no intention of seeking refuge with her brother.

She wasn't particularly close to her brother to begin with, and ever since Xue Pan's accident, she had written countless letters to Wang Ziteng, begging him to come to her rescue, but he hadn't replied to a single one.

Aunt Xue did not inform Madam Wang in advance when she would be going to the capital, and thus she took her children directly to the Rongguo Mansion.

When Madam Wang heard the announcement, she realized that Aunt Xue had arrived. She quickly led people to the main hall to welcome Aunt Xue in.

The two sisters were overjoyed to see each other, and afterwards the Xue family moved into the Pear Fragrance Courtyard.

Because the Xue family's arrival was so sudden, Sanchun and the others only learned about it after school.

These are relatives of the Second Madam's family. Logically speaking, it would be sufficient for Tan Chun to simply go and pay her a visit.

Yingchun was the eldest son's child, while Xichun was even further removed from the family.

As for Daiyu, she didn't attend class today.

This morning, the teacher taught the Four Books. She had already learned what the teacher was talking about, so she was too lazy to listen to it again.

Grandma is making treats for the cats today, and she wants to help make them.

This is so much more interesting than listening to books you've already heard countless times.

Yuan Hongqu minced chicken breast and dried shrimp into a paste, added some flour as a binder, mixed everything together, and rolled it out to a uniform thickness.

Then Daiyu took the fish-shaped mold and pressed them one by one. After the molds were pressed, the little fish lined up neatly, ready to go into the oven.

After a stick of incense had burned for a while, Xiangtao opened the oven door, put on special gloves, and took out the plates from inside.

"It smells so good, I want to eat one too." Daiyu's eyes sparkled, and the kitten in her arms seemed unable to resist, struggling to grab a small fish-shaped biscuit to eat.

"Meow, wait a minute, eat it when it gets cold." Daiyu gently stroked the cat's head soothingly. The kitten meowed like an impatient, greedy child.

Daiyu held the cat and stood a little further away, away from the source of the temptation, to let the cat have some peace and quiet.

But the smell of these cat biscuits is just too overpowering!

The aroma wafted into your nostrils with unbridled force, making you feel that it would be a real shame not to take a bite.

"Granny, may I try some? Baoyu ate some last time and he was fine." Daiyu looked at Yuan Hongqu with longing eyes.

Yuan Hongqu chuckled, "I'll bake you a tray of cookies later, so we won't fight with Miao'er for them."

Last time I made cat cookies, and I was leaving them in the yard to cool down when Baoyu suddenly came over, picked them up and ate them without knowing why.

Later, when she found out they were treats for the cat, she didn't think much of it. Instead, she noticed him staring at the cat's cookie jar from time to time. This startled Qiu Ling, the girl who took care of the cat, who quickly moved all the cat treats to a different place.

When Yuan Hongqu learned of this, she made a high-end version of the same fish-shaped biscuits as cat treats and had it sent to Baoyu.

Two savory cookies sandwiched with a syrup and jam filling, creating a very complex flavor profile.

After Baoyu took the biscuit, he stopped coveting cat treats.

However, Yuan Hongqu had heard Daiyu say that Baoyu privately said that the ones with fillings weren't as tasty as the ones without.

However, since he didn't come to Rongyue Courtyard to ask for fish-shaped cookies again, Yuan Hongqu was too lazy to make them herself.

Unexpectedly, Daiyu also had her eye on these fish-shaped cookies today. It's all Jia Baoyu's fault for setting such a bad example!

The fish-shaped biscuits cooled down, so the group put them into a jar. This big jar will last the cat a long time.

Just as I finished tidying up, a maid from Rongqing Hall came over to deliver a message.

"Miss Lin, the old lady has some guests from afar. They are the second wife's sister and she brought a girl with her. The old lady said that you are the only one who didn't go to school today, so she wants you to go and keep Miss Xue company, otherwise it would seem very impolite of our family!"

"I've washed my hands and changed my clothes, then I'll go over. Sister, please wait for me here." Since it was the old lady's order, Daiyu had no choice but to comply.

After class, Sanchun always went to visit the old lady for a while, and today was no exception.

Even if relatives come to visit, one cannot fail to pay respects to the old lady.

Before the three of them even entered the room, they heard Daiyu's laughter coming from inside. They looked at each other, nodded, and made a shushing gesture to the maid at the door. Then they tiptoed in, intending to give Daiyu a fright.

It's her own fault for not having any martial ethics; she skipped class without taking them with her!

As soon as I stepped through the curtain, I sensed something was wrong.

On either side of Grandmother Jia sat two young girls. One was Daiyu, who was covering her mouth with a handkerchief and laughing. The other was a girl of eleven or twelve years old. This girl was quite beautiful, with a face like a full moon and skin like solidified cream.

Sitting next to Daiyu, he wasn't much less impressive than Daiyu.

The three young ladies bowed to Grandmother Jia, who then said...

"This is your Aunt Xue, and this is Aunt Xue's daughter, Baochai. You should call her 'elder sister.' Get to know each other."

Sanchun then stepped forward to greet and recognize them one by one.

Baochai stood up and returned the greeting.

“From now on, Aunt Xue will live in Pear Fragrance Courtyard with Baochai. She can come over here more often and let Baochai come and play with the girls.”

Grandmother Jia said, and then specifically instructed Daiyu,

"Your sister Bao is gentle, but you love to be naughty, so don't bother her."

"Grandma, where did I misbehave or cause trouble? I'm very gentle." Daiyu covered her eyes with her handkerchief and began to pretend to sob.

"Sure enough, Grandma stopped doting on me after she got a new older sister. Sister Feng said the same thing, but I didn't believe her!"