Chapter 77 Lin Daiyu's Second Visit to the Palace: "I am Lord Jia, the head of the household."...
Lin Daiyu glanced around the table, then quickly ate a small steamed bun, which was in line with the palace maid's statement that she had eaten breakfast, but without being too slow.
"I'm all ready. Is there anything wrong with this outfit today?"
The palace maid looked her up and down and smiled, "Perfectly suited."
Although Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang dared to speculate about the palace's movements in private, they should have privately instructed Lin Daiyu to ask Yuan Chun about it. But in front of the palace maids in the Empress's palace, they dared not do anything.
Grandmother Jia merely gave a few instructions to be careful with their words and actions and to listen attentively, but Lady Wang didn't dare utter a single word. Xue Baochai didn't even raise her head, feigning shyness the entire time.
She had no other choice; many of the things she wore and the things she carried were not things that merchants could afford.
Although it is said that merchants cannot wear silk in public, this is not her home, and besides, she was caught red-handed by people from the palace.
Even if no one pointed this out, Xue Baochai dared not be negligent in the slightest.
After Lin Daiyu left with the palace staff, Xue Baochai finally raised her head and sighed softly. She knew she had to marry into the Rongguo Mansion.
In terms of looks and talent, how is she inferior to the young ladies of the Rongguo Mansion? And in what way is she inferior to Lin Daiyu? Why should she be forced to live such a life?
"Someone from the palace has come, and you dare to be so negligent? Didn't you even come back to report first?" Grandmother Jia said angrily.
The old woman who brought the news lowered her head and whispered in defense, "It's the Empress's maid. She's standing right there, so we dare not run back."
Of course, the most crucial thing is that last time Baoqin came with Grandpa Xia, Granny Qian ran back to report the news, almost out of breath, but what happened?
Forget about the reward money, even the monthly salary has been deducted for a month, so who would bother with that?
How could Grandmother Jia not know what she was thinking? Judging from the way her eyes were darting around, she knew that she was planning to slack off and cheat again.
"Everyone on duty at the second gate today will have a month's wages deducted." Grandmother Jia sneered, "You think I can't handle you?"
"I was lenient with you before, and now you bunch of unruly servants don't respect your master at all. If you dare to be negligent again, you'll all be sent to the estate to farm!"
The old woman hurriedly refused, and knelt down and kowtowed with practiced ease. Grandmother Jia snorted twice and then instructed Yuanyang: "Go and tell Lin Zhixiao that he has just become the head steward. I will not hold it against him. If he still cannot manage the household well, he should step down and let someone else take over."
The old woman returned to the second gate listlessly. After recounting what had happened, she vented her anger, saying, "They don't even know my surname, yet they're so quick to deduct my money. Next time, whoever wins the bet will get it."
There were four old women on duty at the second gate, along with four servants and male servants.
Another old woman said, "We weren't even deducted from our paylist."
"It's clear... it's really no good. This is the first time I've ever heard of deducting money since I started working here."
The old woman who went to report said again, "We'll have to find a different place to gamble tonight. When I came out, I heard the old lady telling Steward Lin to clean up the house. She might arrest two people."
While the old women were discussing where to gamble, Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai were also discussing something related to gambling.
"I never expected Baoyu would actually move out," Aunt Xue sighed.
Xue Baochai also sighed: "He now lives in the outer courtyard. Although he still has to pay his respects to his elder brother every morning and evening, it is still inconvenient. Moreover, it is not appropriate for him to go to the front courtyard of the Rongguo Mansion."
These are all euphemisms; in reality, Xue Pan always entered and exited through the side door, moving around in just that small area.
“He will eventually have to move back,” Aunt Xue said again. “I heard that he moved to the outer courtyard with four maids, and the rest of the maids stayed in the Grand View Garden.”
"Second Master can't stand those women keeping him company," Xue Baochai said thoughtfully. "Lin Yatou doesn't like him lately either, so he might..." Perhaps this is an opportunity.
However, when Lin Yatou was mentioned, Xue Baochai asked again, "Is the Marquis of Zhongyong still ignoring us?"
Aunt Xue gave a bitter smile and remained silent: "People say that sincerity can move mountains, so why can't he understand? He..." Aunt Xue recalled what the servants had said about the good things in Lin's room, and she finally admitted that the Earl of Zhongyong might not be so short of money.
“He spent so much, he must have made a profit, right? How much wealth could he possibly have? Those are things that even when your father was still alive, our family only ever had one or two of them.”
Xue Baochai remained silent. Even though she was confident that her looks and talent were second to none, it was still incredibly frustrating to not even see the person or exchange a single word with them.
Lin Daiyu had already entered Kunning Palace and was waiting in the side hall.
The palace maid went in to report, and soon came out again, leading her inside.
Besides the Empress, there were two princesses in the hall. Lin Daiyu stepped forward and bowed. The Empress smiled and said, "These are the teachers your father invited to teach you calligraphy."
The two princesses returned half of the greeting.
Although this wasn't Lin Daiyu's first time teaching someone, the previous one... let's not even mention it. She said, "I'm good at regular script, and I also have some experience with running script."
The younger Xining asked, "What characters did you teach the General?"
"It's taught according to the style of regular script, but we're still building the basics."
Luo Jia turned to look at the Empress, who smiled and said, "Let's go to the study and write a few words to see."
The group headed towards the side hall. As they walked out of the palace gate, Lin Daiyu hesitated for a moment. She wondered whether she should offer a hand for support, but to be honest, based on her experience, it would be inconvenient to offer support.
The Empress noticed this hesitation and smiled, saying, "No need to help me. You were a pampered young lady at home, so you must have been helped by others quite often."
Lin Daiyu breathed a sigh of relief: "It's actually harder to walk if you're being supported."
"Sigh." The Queen sighed with a smile, "That was all to show our majesty. Let's just walk properly."
Upon entering the study, the Empress was about to instruct the ink to be ground when Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "Let me do it. The ink concentration affects the handwriting quite a bit."
"Is this what they call subtle skill?" Luo Jia asked.
Xi Ning also said, "I know, this is like grinding an iron pestle into a needle."
Lin Daiyu didn't hesitate much before laughing and saying, "This story was actually made up. Princess, you must have already learned embroidery, right? Think about how thin an embroidery needle is. How much effort would it take to grind down such a thick iron pestle? And how much iron would be wasted? Embroidery needles aren't made like that. They're first drawn into wire and then ground to make a hole."
The two princesses looked at the queen.
The Empress was overjoyed. She thought that besides calligraphy, she could also teach other things: "Miss Lin is right."
"Then the story also includes the poet Li Bai. Could it be that he was also deceived?" Xining asked.
The Empress remained silent, only smiling as she watched Lin Daiyu, waiting to see how she would react.
Lin Daiyu said, "The poet Li Bai is famous. If it is said that he saw it, then the story can be spread, and people can naturally overlook the unreasonable parts. It's like... people outside the palace say that His Majesty is hoeing the ground with a golden hoe."
The Empress laughed, gave Lin Daiyu a very subtle look, and said, "You can ask the Marquis of Zhongyong about this later."
Lin Daiyu was unaware of what was going on, but fortunately the ink was ready, and there was no time for her to think it through in this situation. She dipped her brush in the ink and, following the inscription "Tranquility leads to far-reaching influence" hanging on the wall, first wrote in regular script, and then in semi-cursive script.
Although she said she was good at regular script, she could actually write other styles as well, just not as skillfully. Moreover, she had recently been practicing cursive script and had gained some insights, so the next column was cursive script, followed by clerical script, seal script, and running script.
After Lin Daiyu finished writing, she put down her pen with satisfaction and said, "Regular script, running script, cursive script, clerical script, and seal script are generally divided into these five styles."
After the Xuan paper dried, the Empress picked it up and examined it again and again, and was very satisfied.
Especially running script and cursive script, these two are not easy for ordinary people to master. Just by looking at the names, you can tell that one emphasizes fluency and the other emphasizes... well, if the Queen of Running Script can understand about 30% of it, then cursive script is completely incomprehensible. It can't just be chaotic, can it?
"If we're talking about the order in which they appeared, seal script came first, and regular script also developed from seal script. However, regular script is still the most widely used today. Once you've mastered regular script, it's much easier to move on to other scripts."
"Why don't you write a couple of words for your master to see?" The Empress had just been referring to Miss Lin, but now she was calling her master.
Lin Daiyu was a little excited, and her cheeks flushed.
The two princesses exchanged a glance, both looking a little embarrassed.
The Empress chuckled twice: "Then I'll be going. You all practice your calligraphy diligently."
The Empress returned to Kunning Palace and instructed the palace maids: "The original set of gifts is no longer suitable, so we need to prepare another set. The ten strips of dried meat remain the same, but we need to add more cloth, as well as two large jade rings, the kind that stand on a shelf. Also, prepare some snacks and the finest writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones."
The palace maids went to prepare, and in the study, Lin Daiyu's calligraphy lessons went very smoothly. She couldn't help but thank her third brother again. After all, she had already tested some of the tricks on him.
The only puzzling thing is that the 27-year-old third brother and the two princesses, who are only 20 years old combined, would laugh at the same joke.
Is this all you've done with your homework?
When Lady Lu, the wife of the Marquis of Baoling, looked at Shi Xiangyun's needlework and calligraphy practice, she was completely bewildered and couldn't believe it.
The title of Marquis of Baoling should have been inherited by Shi Xiangyun's father, but he died young, so the title fell to Shi Nai, and Shi Xiangyun was mainly raised by his family.
Madam Lu picked up the purse again and examined it from all angles. She even wondered if her eyesight had deteriorated due to the long journey.
"Why is it that after three years, your needlework isn't as good as it used to be?" She handed the purse to Granny Wang beside her. "Look, I feel like the stitches are uneven."
Madam Lu and Granny Wang turned all the purses inside out to see how they were sewn, but the more they looked, the more something seemed off.
Shi Xiangyun, standing below, dared not utter a word, feeling utterly miserable.
With a sullen face, Madam Lu put the purse aside, then looked at Shi Xiangyun's handwriting. After just one glance, she closed her eyes and said angrily and helplessly, "What did I tell you before I left? And what did you promise me?"
Shi Xiangyun hesitated for a long time before saying, "During the New Year, the ground was slippery after snowfall, and I accidentally fell and twisted my wrist. That's how I... I'll be able to get back to normal very quickly."
Madam Lu knew she was lying. Even if she included the needlework and gifts she had given people over the past three years, could she have only given them a dozen or so purses in three years? And the writing would only amount to a thin stack.
But... they're hard to manage.
The title of Marquis of Pauling should have belonged to her father, but he died before he could inherit the title, so it was passed on to their second wife.
Therefore, she has to be good to Shi Xiangyun, but this kind of "goodness" is difficult to manage.
Being too strict won't work, but being too lenient won't work either, especially when it comes to the four virtues of women. She knows all too well how difficult it is to practice them, but if Shi Xiangyun doesn't practice them well, people will gossip about their second branch of the family.
...They deliberately spoiled the only daughter of the first wife...
Madam Lu took a deep breath, put the stack of papers aside, and asked, "Let me see the return gifts from the Princess of Nan'an and the Wei family."
Shi Xiangyun's eyes widened, but then she suddenly realized something was wrong and lowered her head again.
Madam Lu gasped, "Don't tell me that in these three years, you haven't sent anything to the Princess of Nan'an, nor have you had any dealings with the Wei family?"
Shi Xiangyun lowered her head again, and Madam Lu slammed her hand on the table in anger: "What a mess you've made in the past three years! I bet you've forgotten how to be a housekeeper?"
There was only silence in the room.
"Fine! Fine! Fine! Did you really ignore my orders from that day? Go and take care of your uncle's family—"
Granny Wang quickly stopped her, preventing Madam Lu from saying, "Please bring the memorial tablet for my eldest brother."
"You must be tired from your journey. Madam, please rest first. Our daughter has just returned. Let's talk again in a couple of days."
After Wang Mama's persuasion, Madam Lu calmed down a bit. Wang Mama then called out loudly to the maid, "Take the eldest young lady back to her room."
After giving these instructions, Granny Wang turned around and noticed that Madam Lu's eyes were red.
“Being a stepmother probably isn’t this hard,” said Madam Lu, tears streaming down her face. “How can she be so heartless? Does she just ignore everything I say?”
Granny Wang quickly comforted her, saying, "The eldest young lady is innocent and carefree; everyone praises how well the madam has raised her."
"I did it for her own good!" Madam Lu wiped away her tears. "The Wei family is a prestigious and powerful family. The family I found for Yuanyuan is not as good as theirs. Yuanyuan is my own daughter. Is this how she treats me? Before I left, I told her to remember to send a congratulatory gift to the Princess of Nan'an and to send needles and thread to the Wei family during festivals. All she heard was that she could go to the Jia family to play."
"How much effort did I put into getting the Princess of Nan'an to remember her? And she just cut off all contact like that. The Wei family is a prestigious and powerful family, and she's such a fool!"
After cursing a couple of times and calming down a bit, Madam Lu said, "I originally wanted to take her with me, since she would be of marriageable age when I came back, but—"
Granny Wang whispered, "I always felt that our young lady was doing this on purpose. Perhaps the other things were just that the young lady was too playful to remember, or that she was too timid to socialize. But regarding the matter of housekeeping, when we sent the eldest young lady to the Rongguo Mansion, we seriously discussed it with that young lady, and she clearly agreed. This matter could only be arranged by those above us, and our eldest young lady couldn't do anything about it."
"What good does it do her to harm such a young woman?"
Granny Wang didn't dare to be so blunt, only saying, "Perhaps she's too old to remember."
"No!" Madam Lu stood up. "I have to go see the master. He needs to know about this. Besides, the eldest daughter's needlework is so bad. I have to put a lot of effort into managing her. I need to make things clear first, so the master won't blame me."
As she spoke, Madam Lu became fierce: "If she marries into the Wei family looking like this, the Wei family will definitely become enemies with our Shi family! Then she'll still be clueless and say: I don't know why."
Lin Daiyu has already come out of the palace.
Teaching two girls around ten years old, especially princesses, to practice calligraphy is impossible; it's not like teaching my third brother, where he can spend an entire morning writing.
Each of the two princesses' lessons lasts about fifteen minutes, with a short break in between, and two lessons are usually over.
The Empress sent a palace maid to escort her, saying, "I'm afraid you'll feel uncomfortable, so I won't keep you for dinner in the palace today. You'll get used to it next time."
The Empress chuckled twice as she spoke, saying, "Don't let my two nieces' lively and unruly nature fool you; when they first entered the palace, they didn't even dare to drink water."
"You really couldn't tell," Lin Daiyu added with a smile.
"So, I'll arrange meals for you next time. What do you like to eat? Or what don't you like to eat?" The Empress finished speaking and then joked, "Well, a young lady like you would probably be shy to talk about this. I'll ask His Majesty to ask the Marquis of Zhongyong."
Lin Daiyu's face flushed red instantly.
Lin Daiyu rode in a sedan chair all the way to the North Gate, and as soon as she came out, she saw a particularly tall and mighty horse that looked very familiar.
"Third Brother," Lin Daiyu called out.
Mu Chuan turned around, smiled at her, and walked over in two steps: "You're out? Did the teaching go smoothly?"
Lin Daiyu didn't answer that question, but instead asked, "Why is Third Brother here?"
Mu Chuan smiled and said, "When I went to the palace to meet the Emperor, His Majesty said you were here too, so I waited for you here."
It's not hard to guess when she'll enter the palace. Mu Chuan deliberately chose this day to come back, but saying it out loud might put pressure on her. Besides, wouldn't it be more appealing to explain everything as "fate" or "chance encounter"?
However, Mu Chuan glanced at the palace maids behind her, who were carrying gifts. Knowing that these were from the Empress, he knew it was inappropriate to continue.
Mu Chuan said, "Now that I've seen you, I'll return to the military camp. Be careful on your journey."
Lin Daiyu watched her third brother ride away on horseback, and even after the carriage had reached the Rongguo Mansion, her heart still couldn't find peace.
It was as if her third brother had only come back to see her and say a few words to her.
Lin Daiyu alighted from the carriage.
Lin Daiyu had already cultivated the initiative of the servants in the Jia family—especially those serving in the front courtyard.
Not only were sedan chairs arranged well in advance, but surprisingly no one was slacking off or going to eat; everyone was waiting here.
Even the maids in the Empress's palace were a little surprised. How could she be so good at serving people? She didn't seem to be from the same family as Consort Jia in the palace.
"Come and get your things," Auntie instructed, then accompanied Lin Daiyu to the Grand View Garden.
This time, they didn't go to Grandmother Jia's room, but the old women serving at the second gate only had a month's wages deducted, so they made a big show of it.
He first went to Grandmother Jia's room, then ran in quickly, still panting heavily.
"Grandma, Miss Lin has returned, accompanied by several palace maids, and is heading towards the Grand View Garden."
Madam Wang was consumed by jealousy and instinctively blurted out, "Why didn't you invite her to lunch? You brought her back on time!"
Around noon, everyone gathered in Grandmother Jia's room to wait for lunch, except for Jia Baoyu, who had moved to the front yard and ate lunch with his father.
Grandmother Jia glanced at Lady Wang, then hesitated and asked, "Could it be that she's here to see if Baoyu has moved out yet?"
This guess was quite reasonable. Madam Wang breathed a sigh of relief, but was also a little worried. "Baoyu has moved out, but he still left behind quite a few maids."
They moved to the outer courtyard next to Jia Zheng's study. Lady Wang didn't dare ask him to bring too many maids, so she only sent his two head maids, Xiren and Sheyue, along with two junior maids to serve tea and water.
"It's only been a few days?" Aunt Xue said with a smile, "You've moved quite quickly. Besides, Baoyu has already left, so it's normal to leave these maids to tidy up the house."
Madam Wang was still somewhat worried: "With Xiren gone, those maids are all inexperienced and might say something wrong."
A room full of people are worried here, but they dare not go after them, because that would be too obvious and would only arouse suspicion.
Despite their concerns, the palace maids didn't even bother to visit her, let alone inquire about the Yihong Courtyard. They simply escorted Lin Daiyu to the Xiaoxiang Pavilion, put down their belongings, and took their leave.
Lin Daiyu quickly washed up, glanced at the clock in the room, and calculated the time she had returned. She smiled and said, "The old lady must have prepared the meal, but she probably hasn't eaten yet. I just happened to arrive in time."
She guessed correctly; everyone was sitting in Grandmother Jia's room, exchanging only a few words.
Lin Daiyu smiled as she entered, saying, "I was afraid my grandmother would worry, so I came over without even changing my clothes."
Grandmother Jia smiled kindly and waved her hand, saying, "I was indeed a little worried at first, but then I thought, you are the apple of my eye, I have raised you very well, how could anything go wrong?"
Lin Daiyu sat down next to Grandmother Jia, who asked, "What does Her Majesty want with you?"
"It's nothing," Lin Daiyu said with a smile. "I'm just accompanying the two princesses to practice calligraphy."
Someone inside the room had red eyes.
"Presumably Baoyu also told his maternal grandmother that I taught the Earl of Zhongyong to write. His Majesty saw that he had made great progress and then told the Empress about me."
I refuse to believe I'm inferior to her in any way! Xue Baochai's eyes were red as if they were about to bleed. How many characters could the Marquis of Zhongyong know? Who couldn't teach him? Great progress? Anyone who taught him would make great progress.
"Is it accompanying the princess while she writes?" Xue Baochai tried to remain calm, but everyone in the room could tell that her tone was off.
No wonder, Tan Chun glanced at her. Back then, when this Miss Xue came to the capital, her pretext was to select a companion for the princess.
Although she never left the Jia family mansion after moving in, and didn't even attend the initial selection, for those few years, no matter who asked her, she would always say, "I came to select a companion for the princess."
Sometimes she would show a hint of sadness: "If it weren't for my brother... sigh."
"It can't be said that I was accompanying her," Lin Daiyu said hesitantly.
Xue Baochai smiled rather insincerely: "No matter what, it's all a favor. Even if you don't get the position of a talented woman or a magistrate, you'll still be a servant. I know you're proud and arrogant, but I still have to advise you not to cause trouble in the palace."
Upon hearing this, Tan Chun knew that Miss Xue was doomed. Her anger was stirred up, and she lost her composure. Moreover, judging from Sister Lin's expression, she was not a servant.
Besides, there's also the Marquis of Zhongyong.
Sure enough, Lin Daiyu said, "Do you remember when Baoyu said he was going to school, his servants were also his companions? But the real companion should be the younger brother of Qin Shi from the East Mansion next door."
After thinking for a moment, Xue Baochai nodded and asked, "You mean you're like Young Master Qin, a companion to a student?"
Lin Daiyu, who had been holding back, finally smiled, and her smile was particularly radiant.
"Of course not, I am Jia Gong, who is sitting up there."
"Pfft."
Tan Chun turned her head in surprise. She hadn't even laughed yet, so who had laughed before her?
"Don't disbelieve me," Lin Daiyu explained earnestly. "I still have ten strips of dried meat in my room, you should believe that, right?"
Tan Chun hurriedly said, "Keep this dried meat for yourself. It's a tuition fee from the palace. Teach the princess a good lesson after you eat it."
But Xue Baochai was no ordinary person. She quickly adjusted herself, though she couldn't quite control her tone, which was filled with clenched teeth: "The princess is, after all, the mistress. Don't put on such airs."
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