Chapter 30 Chapter 30 Asking about the Name at Night
It is said that Wu Tianyue, Daiyu and Baochai went together to find Tanchun and others to have fun. As soon as they arrived at the gate of Qingxi Garden, they met the sisters who came to visit Baoyu.
Tanchun didn't lose her composure like she had when she learned the truth before. Seeing Wu Tianyue and Daiyu coming together, she smiled and said, "This is the first time everyone in the garden is so complete."
Wu Tianyue pretended nothing had happened, bowing to them in a deliberately strange manner, saying, "I was busy earlier and didn't come to meet you sisters. I apologize today."
Several people were amused by his appearance and words and were about to reply when Xiren came out and said, "Baoyu heard the voices of his sisters inside and asked me to come out and ask what the girls were talking about so happily. I should go in and tell him too."
"I'll be right there." Tanchun and the others agreed and went into the house together.
Baoyu was still lying in bed. Seeing Daiyu coming, he wondered if she was here to explain things to him. He became happy and was about to speak with bright eyes, but then he saw Wu Tianyue following in from behind, and his smile became forced again.
When the sisters saw his expression changed, they thought he was feeling unwell again, so they all came forward to ask about his illness. When they heard him say he was fine, they asked about his illness. Only Daiyu stood at the back of the crowd, neither saying a word nor looking at Baoyu.
No one else noticed, only Baochai saw it, her eyes wandering between Daiyu, Wu Tianyue and Baoyu, as if she was thinking about something.
Baoyu responded to his sisters' words, but glanced at Daiyu. Seeing that she didn't look at him, but instead replied a word or two from time to time when Wu Tianyue spoke to her, she looked impatient on the surface, but her eyes revealed happiness. He couldn't help feeling sour and painful in his heart.
Seeing that his face was getting worse, the sisters thought he was just tired, and chatted a few more times, then said with a smile: "Rest assured, you will recover. We will come to see you tomorrow."
With that, they all stood up and said goodbye, but Tanchun remained seated. "You guys go first. I want to talk to Brother Bao."
Daiyu guessed it was because of the incident with her aunt a few days ago. Without waiting for her sisters to speak, she smiled and replied to Tanchun, "We haven't paid our respects to the old lady yet this morning. We'll go first. You should come quickly."
Tanchun nodded with a smile. Baochai, sensing her expression, recalled Aunt Zhao's sudden trip to the farm to pray for blessings. She had also heard that Tanchun had been frequenting Sister Feng's courtyard these days. She guessed most of what was going on, but kept silent. Laughing, she pulled Yingchun aside and teased her, saying, "Don't wait until dinner is served before you come, or you'll end up eating leftovers."
"Then it depends on whether my sisters can leave some food for me." Tanchun knew that she was reminding her to be more careful and not to make the elders worry, so she continued with a smile.
Daiyu smiled and said, "That depends on whether there are any dishes we like." As she said this, she went out of the yard with everyone else.
Since moving to the Grand View Garden, Wu Tianyue could see Daiyu without going to the Jia Mansion, so he rarely went there. He didn't want to go today, so he said goodbye to Daiyu and others, went back to the palace, stayed with Princess Zhongshun for a while, and went to the Prince's residence again. He didn't return until evening.
After washing up, he thought of what Baochai said about "Pin'er" today. Although he knew that it was a bit against the rules to go to see Daiyu now, he was really confused. After thinking about it, he left the courtyard alone and went to Xiaoxiang Pavilion.
Daiyu was helping Sister Feng check on the gifts being sent to Prince Zhongshun's mansion. Seeing him coming, she said with a smile, "Why are you here so late?"
Wu Tianyue saw that only Lu Chen and Zi Juan were in the room, so he asked directly, "Who is Pin'er?"
Daiyu was also confused for a moment: "You don't know?"
Wu Tianyue frowned and thought as he said, "Should I know?"
Daiyu finally realized that although he often came, he had basically only seen her at her grandmother's house, and at most, he would come to sit in the house when delivering something to the empress. He had never spoken much to the sisters. After moving into the garden, he left early and came back late, not participating in the activities of the others. No wonder he didn't know. But now she didn't know where to start to talk to him.
Seeing Daiyu pondering for a long time, hesitating and silent, Wu Tianyue snorted coldly and said, "Today I heard Miss Xue call you Pin'er. When did you get this name?"
Daiyu didn't know how to answer, so she said vaguely, "I just picked it randomly when I was little and didn't know any better."
She was usually very open and honest in front of Wu Tianyue, and never felt guilty like this. Moreover, it was just a name. Wu Tianyue had a hunch that something was wrong and asked, "Who chose it?"
"Baoyu." This matter would be known as soon as he inquired. Daiyu hesitated for a moment, but did not hide it from him. She just went on to explain, "These are just jokes from our childhood. They don't count."
Wu Tianyue thought to himself, as expected, and muttered unhappily, "Is it true that others would call you that? And you haven't told me in all these years."
"I thought it was just a joke, why should I tell you?" Daiyu explained. "Besides, it's only the sisters who call her that in private. I can just tell them not to call her that from now on, right?"
Wu Tianyue said with a sour feeling in his heart, "Wouldn't it seem like it wasn't just a joke if I said it on purpose?"
"So what do you want from me?"
Wu Tianyue was jealous, but after thinking about it carefully, he sighed that Baoyu was indeed a genius. This word was both appropriate and vivid, and most suitable for Daiyu's appearance, but the meaning was not very good.
Thinking of the years when she hadn't been around, and how Baoyu had always been by her side, she felt even more jealous. She didn't know what to say, so she said with a straight face, "I came here today just to clear up a mystery. Whether you use this word or not is none of my business."
Daiyu glared at the sarcastic words and said, "If that's the case, why don't you stop mumbling to me, or do you not believe what I say?"
"I didn't." Seeing that she was angry, Wu Tianyue quickly changed the subject, "How's the matter with the third young lady? She seems to be in good spirits today."
"She's just too stubborn." Daiyu was in the wrong for not telling him her name, so she didn't dwell on it. Instead, she followed his lead and talked about Tanchun. "When she found out about that, she insisted on going to the farm with Aunt Zhao, but was stopped by the old lady and Sister Feng. Later, I heard that Sister Feng had told her it had nothing to do with her, but she still paid her respects and visited every day, working by the lamp and sewing for Second Sister-in-law and Baoyu."
After hearing this, Wu Tianyue sighed and said, "It's better not to have a mother like this."
Seeing him speak so recklessly, Daiyu glared at him and asked, "How can you say such nonsense?"
"I was wrong." Wu Tianyue apologized repeatedly, "There's no one else here."
"You can't say anything without someone around," Daiyu said. "It's getting late, and I still have to help Sister Feng look over the gift list. You should go back."
Although Wu Tianyue didn't want to leave, it was not appropriate for a man like him to stay here alone so late, so he obediently returned to Yihongyuan.
After he left, Daiyu picked up her pen and wanted to write a letter to her father, asking him to choose a courtesy name for her. After she wrote the beginning, she thought that if she suddenly chose another courtesy name, Wu Tianyue would inevitably think that she was interested in him. If the empress knew about it, she didn't know what she would think. So she sighed and asked Zijuan to put it away.
Daiyu's thoughts were swirling here, but Wu Tianyue believed what she said very much. Although he was jealous, he only felt jealous for a moment and then put it behind his mind. He slept well that night and went to class and practiced as usual the next day.
On the first day of May, Baoyu recovered from his illness. A few days ago, Grandmother Jia received Yuanchun's order to take the people in the mansion to Qingxu Temple for a peace ceremony. Seeing that everyone was going, Daiyu couldn't refuse, so she went too. Wu Tianyue was not from the Jia mansion and was impatient with all this. In addition, the system always felt that Wu Tianyue wanted to drive it away, so it made a fuss and didn't want to go. So it returned to the palace to accompany Princess Zhongshun.
"I was just about to send someone to look for you." Princess Zhongshun was busy with the Dragon Boat Festival. Seeing him return, she said without hesitation, "The Ministry of Internal Affairs sent the Dragon Boat Festival ceremonial robes. You've grown a lot this year. Go and try them on to see if they fit you."
Wu Tianyue had just arrived and was forced to try on clothes without even having a drink of water. After trying them on, Princess Zhongshun forgot about him again. He was sitting alone and felt very bored. He was thinking about whether he should go to Qingxu Temple to find Daiyu when he saw Jin Ling coming back from get out of class.
"Greetings, Prince."
Wu Tianyue saw her come in with a smile on her face, and she saluted him tremblingly when she saw him. He couldn't help scratching his head and thinking, "I'm just a little taller and stronger, am I that scary?"
Princess Zhongshun saw the two of them like this and said to Jin Ling with a smile, "Hurry up, you are cousins, why are you so polite?"
After listening to her, Jin Ling smiled and stood up to sit next to her.
Princess Zhongshun also naturally handed her two account books and said, "Yesterday's calculations were good. Today, take a look at this shop."
Seeing that the two were chatting peacefully and no one was paying attention to him, Wu Tianyue stood up and wanted to leave out of boredom.
"Wait a minute." Princess Zhongshun stopped him when she saw him about to leave, and ordered, "On the fifth day of the first lunar month, His Majesty will host a Dragon Boat Festival banquet. Your sister Lin will come with me. I'll send someone to pick her up tomorrow. On the third day, she'll be giving out porridge for the day, and then she'll be in the palace on the fifth. Go and tell her first."
"It's so hot, aren't you afraid of getting a heat stroke? Just let the people below do it."
"What do you know?" Princess Zhongshun frowned disapprovingly. "A good reputation must be cultivated from childhood. Yu'er and Ling'er are already too old now. Which of your sisters didn't I take with me around since they were young, making them familiar to everyone, and then starting to serve porridge and do other things?"
As he said this, he took the opportunity to criticize Wu Tianyue: "But it's not bad. I will keep them for a few more years. During these years, I can look for more good husbands. There are not many good husbands."
Wu Tianyue paused, afraid that Princess Zhongshun would notice, so he picked up the tea to cover up his gaffe. "You're just worrying about nothing. If they don't get married, I'll take care of them for the rest of their lives. Even if my sisters don't want to get married, I can still support them."
When these words came out, Princess Zhongshun did not bother to test whether he had crossed the line with Daiyu, and said speechlessly: "What nonsense are you talking about? If others hear it, they will say that you are a brother who can't stand seeing your sister doing well."
"Ever since my younger brother was born, there's been nothing but these weird things happening every day." Wu Tianyue was very annoyed by the constant quarrels in the mansion. "It's made the mansion a mess, with no peace at all."
Princess Zhongshun laughed and said, "You're the one who's always wielding swords and clubs. If you had put more effort into studying the Four Books and Five Classics, you wouldn't have to use a child to steal your limelight."
"Everyone wants to be in the spotlight. Just bribe a few people and spread the word." Wu Tianyue didn't care. He smiled and said tentatively, "Since it has come to this, why don't you let your brother study literature while I practice martial arts? He will probably have a reputation as a child prodigy in a while, and he should be able to handle the Crown Prince."
"Give up that idea right now!" Princess Zhongshun glared at him. "Let's not even talk about what will happen at court when he's old enough to socialize with the Crown Prince. Just think about your martial arts training. Even if you were unbeatable, you wouldn't be able to lead an army. You'd just have to dabble at home."
Wu Tianyue knew she wouldn't agree, but he still held out hope, muttering, "What if the Crown Prince is impressed by my ability to lead troops and fight, and sends me out after he ascends the throne?"
"How can you say such things carelessly?" Princess Zhongshun warned sternly, "Your Majesty is in the prime of life. You better behave yourself and stop thinking about such nonsense."
Wu Tianyue sighed: "I understand."
After saying this, he went out dejectedly, reconnected with his usual playmates, and returned to the Grand View Garden in the evening.
As soon as he entered the Yihong Courtyard, he heard Lan Ye say that Daiyu had caught a heatstroke after going out today, so he hurried to Xiaoxiang Pavilion to see her.
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The author has something to say: Thanks to the little angels "Waiting for the Flowers to Bloom" and "Nan Ke Da Meng" for the nutrient solution; "Yaya" for the landmines~
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