Chapter 28 Chapter 28 It's Over
Grandmother Jia had nothing to do today, so she had a few of her trusted maids come over for a chat. As they were talking, Daiyu and Tanchun hurried into the room. Without waiting for them to greet her, she smiled and pulled Daiyu into her arms, "Why are you here so soon? Have you had dinner yet?"
"Not yet." Daiyu leaned against Lady Jia and whispered, "There are things I want to tell Grandmother."
Seeing that her face looked a little off, and Tanchun's eyes were red, Jia's mother thought that there might be some quarrel between the sisters, so she said to Lai Ma and the others, "You must be tired after talking for so long. Go back and rest first."
The crowd had been with Lady Jia for decades, so they knew their limits and all withdrew as instructed.
After everyone in the room had left, without waiting for Daiyu to speak, Tanchun knelt down and cried, "Grandma, please punish me."
"What happened?" Grandmother Jia was startled and hurriedly asked Yuanyang to help him up.
Tanchun struggled to get up, kowtowed to Lady Jia again, and told Daiyu everything they had agreed on the way. She added, "Although this matter has nothing to do with me, she is my biological mother after all..."
"Your mother's surname is Wang. What's your connection to her?" Before she could finish her words, Grandmother Jia interrupted her with a frown and asked Daiyu, "How did you know this?"
Daiyu stepped forward and said, "Recently, the prince was ordered to investigate a case and discovered that a Taoist temple in the capital had committed many evil deeds. Your Majesty heard from the prince that among them..."
Having said this, he paused and handed the item to Lady Jia: "The Queen sent someone to deliver it to me. It just so happened that my third sister was with me. After hearing what the people in the palace said, she wanted to come and apologize to you."
Grandmother Jia took it and looked at it. Except for the matter with Aunt Zhao, the rest were all trivial matters. However, too many people from all levels of the mansion were involved, and Prince Zhongshun, who disliked the Rong and Ning mansions, knew about it. She couldn't help but feel frightened. Fortunately, Daiyu mediated.
Suppressing her panic, Grandmother Jia asked the two, "Have you seen all these things?"
"No." Daiyu shook her head. "We came here as soon as we got the things. Don't worry, no one else knows about it. The people in the palace have already gone back."
After hearing Daiyu's answer, Jia's mother didn't have time to ask her why the princess wanted to give this thing to the younger generation. She told Yuanyang, "Go and invite the second master and the second mistress."
He then ordered Daiyu and Tanchun to return to the garden, saying, "This matter has nothing to do with you. You know nothing today."
Tanchun wanted to say something else, but was glared back at by Lady Jia, so she had to nod and leave.
Daiyu had no idea what Grandmother Jia said to Jia Zheng and his wife. She only knew that Jia Zheng fell ill a few days later, and Aunt Zhao asked to go to the temple outside the city to chant scriptures and pray for him, but Grandmother Jia rejected her request and ordered people to build a small Buddhist temple on the farm for her to use for chanting scriptures.
After Tanchun knew about this, she asked Lady Jia to go to the farm together, but Lady Jia rejected her request and scolded her, which made her give up the idea.
Not long after, Feng Jieer and Mrs. Wang were punished by Lady Jia for lax supervision. Tanchun felt very guilty when she heard the news, but she couldn't let anyone know that she knew those things. She could only find excuses to chat with Feng Jieer from time to time, and often do some needlework for her and Baoyu.
Although Feng Jieer had never been to school, she was smart and capable. Seeing that Tanchun did not persuade her to study as usual, but was rather obedient to her, she guessed that her previous illness was related to Aunt Zhao.
She often came to the Jia Mansion before her marriage. It can be said that she watched Tanchun grow up, so she couldn't bear to blame Tanchun. However, she had disliked Aunt Zhao in the past, and now she hated her even more. She ordered the servant Wang'er to tell the people on the farm to deal with Aunt Zhao.
The head of the village was in a very difficult situation and dared not disobey, but he was also worried that Jia Zheng would send people to visit her from time to time, so he could not treat her badly in terms of food and clothing. So he had people restrain her and not allow her to leave the Buddhist hall, and no one except the person who brought her food was allowed to contact her.
Afterwards, he made up some random words to reply to Wang'er. Fortunately, the people in the mansion were lazy and stopped investigating as long as they could gain credit for it. The matter ended just like that.
On the other hand, Daiyu felt relieved to see that the situation had gradually calmed down, but she was still very angry at Wu Tianyue's reckless behavior. She didn't want to see him, so she wrote a letter and asked Zijuan to deliver it.
The letter told Wu Tianyue not to interfere in the affairs of the Jia family again. She had already gotten rid of the matter this time, but she might not be so lucky next time. If Wu Tianyue's reputation was ruined, how would she explain it to the princess?
Although Wu Tianyue felt a little guilty, he was very angry when he received the letter without even a word of thanks. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't bother with these things. He also thought that Daiyu had been distancing herself from him since Zijuan said that, and now she didn't even come in person to scold him, which made him even angrier.
Lan Ye didn't know what was written in the letter, but she could guess that it was about the girl's affairs. However, the two of them often quarreled like this, and maybe it would be fine in a few days, so she ignored him.
But after several days, Wu Tianyue didn't go to Xiaoxiang Pavilion out of spite, and no one came there.
Later, he heard that the matter had been resolved. Seeing that the two were still arguing, he couldn't help but feel a little anxious, so he found some time and went to Xiaoxiang Pavilion in person.
Daiyu was just about to take a nap when she saw her coming. She stood up and pulled her to sit down. "Sister, how come you have time to come today?"
"I have nothing to do today, so I came to see the young lady." Lan Ye smiled and sat on the stool. "Why hasn't the young lady been to the yard recently? I miss her so much."
The smile on Daiyu's face became forced: "I've been busy organizing books these days."
"The prince's master Wu has returned from suppressing bandits, and he's been busy lately." Lan Ye explained for Wu Tianyue with a smile, "otherwise he would have come to see the young lady earlier."
Daiyu's expression softened involuntarily, but she still said coldly, "I'd feel more relaxed if he hadn't come."
"Miss, you've wronged the prince." Lan Ye saw her expression relax, knowing there was hope, and continued to explain gently, "He's been thinking about you a lot these days. He just felt that he went too far to investigate that matter for you, and was misunderstood by you. He was angry for a while and couldn't bring himself to do it."
"He... went to investigate because of me?" Daiyu had never thought about this and was a little surprised.
"If it weren't for the young lady, he wouldn't care given his personality." Lan Ye smiled. "Every time the prince returns from the young lady's place, he always reminds us to come and visit her often. Last time, he saw that the young lady was still feeling guilty about that incident, and the people in the mansion were also... so he wanted to find out the reason and put her mind at ease."
Daiyu knew that he was very busy on weekdays, and she didn't expect that he would hear the rumors in the mansion and take the trouble to investigate these groundless rumors. She was inevitably shocked and didn't want to lose her composure in front of Lan Ye, so she pursed her lips, lowered her head and tried hard to hold back her tears.
Lan Ye saw her eyelashes trembling slightly, as if she was about to cry, and her fingers pinching the hem of her skirt had turned white. Knowing that she was suppressing herself, she quickly stood up and said, "I'm leaving first. No matter what happens, miss, remember to take care of yourself."
After saying that, he sighed and walked out without waiting for Daiyu to answer.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she lifted the curtain, she was bumped into by someone. Lan Ye quickly steadied herself and looked carefully. It was Baoyu.
He had been staying at Mrs. Wang's place for thirty-three days and had just moved back a few days ago. Seeing Wu Tianyue and Daiyu becoming increasingly intimate, he felt very uncomfortable, but he didn't know how to change the situation, so he stayed in the room all day.
Today, seeing that the weather was good, Xiren sent him out to relax. Baoyu wandered around in the garden for a while and unknowingly walked to the Xiaoxiang Pavilion. He wanted to come in to see Daiyu, and happened to bump into Lanye.
After Baoyu stood up, he found that it was Lan Ye and asked with concern, "Sister, are you okay?"
"It's okay." Lan Ye said with a smile, "What's this, Master Bao?"
"I'm here to see Sister Lin." Seeing that she was fine, Baoyu smiled and walked around her and went inside.
Outside the house, Daiyu's wet nurse saw Lan Ye come out and Baoyu enter the house, so she followed him in, calling Zijuan to serve her.
When Lan Ye saw Zijuan enter the house, she turned around and said goodbye to Lu Chen.
As soon as Baoyu entered the room, he saw Daiyu leaning against the bed and crying. He hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"
Daiyu shook her head and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Baoyu sensed her indifference and said with a wry smile, "When did we become so distant?"
The two maids left and Zijuan came in and said, "Zijuan, pour me a cup of tea."
Zijuan looked at Daiyu's expression, turned around and went out to pour tea.
"You should come here less often in the future." Daiyu had already wiped away her tears and said in a muffled voice, "Every day you grow up, you should have some sense of propriety."
"Why?" Although Baoyu had a premonition, he still refused to give up. "We grew up together, ate at the same table, slept in the same bed. I take care of your affairs more carefully than the maids. If there is anything I haven't done, just tell me directly. Why treat me like this?"
Daiyu felt guilty after hearing this, but she knew Baoyu's heart. She only had brotherly and sisterly feelings for him. She had rejected him several times before, both openly and covertly, but he never gave up. Moreover, she already had someone else in her heart. If she didn't forcefully stop his thoughts, wouldn't she be misleading him? She lowered her eyes and said, "I know how good you are to me, and I'm very grateful, but even siblings should have some sense of propriety."
Seeing her draw a line between them so ruthlessly, Baoyu suddenly remembered the sachet worn by Wu Tianyue and Daiyu's words to him that she was not feeling well and did not want to do needlework. He felt hopeless and dizzy, but he did not want to show his weakness in front of Daiyu, so he forced himself to get up and leave the room.
Lan Ye saw him coming out of the corridor in a daze, and he looked not quite right. After thinking for a moment, she said goodbye to Lu Chen and followed him towards Yihongyuan.
When Zijuan returned with the tea, she saw that Baoyu had already left. Daiyu was the only one leaning against the bed rail, lost in thought. She asked, "Miss, what's wrong? Master Bao has left just now?"
Daiyu had long noticed Zijuan's different treatment of Baoyu and Wu Tianyue, and sighed, "When Baoyu comes, just tell him I'm not here."
"What's going on?" Zijuan asked, "You haven't had a fight since we came back from Yangzhou. Why are you fighting again today?"
"To me, Baoyu is my cousin, a relative." Daiyu looked up and stared into Zijuan's eyes. "He can only be a relative, do you understand?"
Seeing her tears in her eyes but an unusually firm expression, Zijuan sighed and said, "Miss, with the old lady here, Baoyu and the people in the mansion can't possibly be disrespectful to you. But the Crown Prince... can only be the Crown Prince."
Daiyu was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "I know, but I never felt that status was the biggest gap between him and me."
Speaking of this, I remembered what Princess Zhongshun had said privately before about choosing a husband for me. She clearly didn't want me to marry into the palace, and her face was bitter again: "But he and I will only be brother and sister. The Queen treats me like her own daughter, so I am naturally her daughter."
"Girl..." Seeing that her expression became more depressed, Zijuan said worriedly.
Daiyu shook her head and was about to speak when she heard the little maid reply, "The prince is here."
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The author has something to say: Thanks to the little angel "45572230" for the nutrient solution~
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