Chapter 12 Invite the Earl of Zhongyong to his residence to discuss the matter. Only those who wronged you know who you are...
Jia Baoyu frowned and scolded, "Where did you hear this nonsense? You should be the one scolding her!"
There's no such thing as "her" or "her" in this story. It's just something Xiren made up because she took advantage of Jia Baoyu's naivety and gullibility.
Moreover, whenever something happens, they always push the blame onto Miss Lin. This applies not only to others but also to Master Bao.
Last time, the young actress was caught by the old woman for burning paper money in the garden. It was Bao Erye who said that it was Miss Lin who told her to burn it.
Xi Ren softened and said gently, "That's for the best. What exactly is going on between the Marquis of Zhongyong and Miss Lin? Tell me, Second Master, so that if anyone spreads rumors again, I can defend Miss Lin."
"It's nothing, I just have a past relationship with Uncle Lin and wanted to visit Sister Lin." Jia Baoyu reached out his hand, waiting for Xiren to help him change his clothes.
"Hey, since you're old friends, why did things escalate like this? I heard that even Grandpa Rong next door got beaten up."
"Nonsense!" Jia Baoyu's face darkened again: "Don't let this kind of nonsense reach my ears again."
Xiren was a little sad. Baoyu used to listen to her in everything, but after Miss Lin came, Baoyu stopped going back to his own room and stopped confiding in her. Sometimes he would even avoid her. Last time, when he asked Qingwen to deliver something to Miss Lin, he didn't let Xiren know.
If Master Bao really marries Miss Lin in the future, where will she have a place to stay in this house?
It would be better for the kind-hearted and generous Bao-guniang to be Bao-er's wife.
Jia Baoyu sat down and reached out for tea.
Xiren moved closer and sat down next to Jia Baoyu, gently patting his back as she spoke.
"Why don't you go and try to persuade Miss Lin? She's prone to crying, and who knows how heartbroken she'll be if she hears this?"
Jia Baoyu didn't think much of it. As soon as he heard that Lin Daiyu might be sad, he didn't care about anything else: "You're right, I have to go and persuade her."
Jia Baoyu hurriedly grabbed a thick robe, put it on haphazardly, and left.
Xiren was heartbroken, and when she turned her head, she saw Qingwen's ambiguous smile.
"Be careful at night. It's getting cold now, don't make me drink cold water."
Qingwen chuckled twice, then turned and left.
Jia Baoyu hadn't considered the consequences of his fabricated words of comfort, especially the possibility that if word got out, people would say, "These words came from Master Bao's mouth, how could they be false?"
Fortunately, Lin Daiyu had already washed and dressed and changed into her pajamas.
The old woman stopped Jia Baoyu, saying, "Second Master, the young lady is asleep. Come again tomorrow."
Jia Baoyu was still a little unwilling, but he knew that the two of them were too old to be suspicious of each other. In addition, he did have feelings for Lin Daiyu, so he had no choice but to give up and not say that he wanted to see Miss Lin. Instead, he called out Zijuan.
"Take good care of your girls. Don't take any gossip to heart. I'll take care of everything."
Zijuan agreed and, after seeing Jia Baoyu off, came in happily: "Miss, Second Master is concerned about you. He said he'll help deflect any rumors."
Lin Daiyu sighed softly. These words were indeed touching, but upon closer reflection, hadn't she heard enough rumors and gossip?
The more the old lady cared for her, and the more Baoyu spent with her, the more gossip she heard. But if... then she would end up like Yingchun.
Perhaps it's not as good as welcoming spring.
"Why are you unhappy again, Miss?" Zijuan advised, "With Second Master and Old Madam here, who would dare to let you suffer any grievances? If there is anything wrong, just say so."
"Go to sleep." Lin Daiyu blew out the candle and turned to get into bed.
In the palace, the emperor is staying at Kunning Palace tonight.
"We must find a suitable wife for Qiao Yue," the Emperor said thoughtfully. "Does your family have any suitable girls?"
The Empress counted them: "There are two women who are the right age, but they are both daughters of concubines, which is not enough to match them with a first-class earl."
"That's true. We should find a daughter from a prominent family for Qiao Yue." The emperor sighed and then asked, "Is she pretty? Qiao Yue likes pretty women. I can bestow upon her the title of Princess, which wouldn't be an insult to Qiao Yue."
The Empress had been listening to Qiao Yue all night, and her ears were starting to itch. She smiled and said, "They can only be described as average-looking, with decent appearances. I'll summon them to the palace in a couple of days so His Majesty can take a look. However, by the time these two girls grew up, I would have already become the Empress, and my family would have spoiled them a bit. My family's idea is to find someone from a lower-ranking family to marry them off to, so they won't suffer any mistreatment."
So this means she wants to suffer mistreatment from her in-laws. Even the emperor has his own preferences, and he decided he didn't understand.
The emperor turned over and sighed, "My fourth brother's youngest daughter is quite pretty, but it's a pity she's already married, just four months shy of her due date."
Whenever the Empress mentions Prince Chungshun's daughter, she has a lot to say. To put it mildly, Prince Chungshun is not bad in terms of personality or appearance, but all the children in his family, whether born to his wife or concubine, whether sons or daughters, are more beautiful than the last.
"They've all been kept until they're nineteen," the Empress said with a smile. "Besides, they're already engaged."
"We could discuss breaking off the engagement with the man," the emperor said. "I could also step in and offer some advice."
The Empress found it increasingly amusing; the Emperor hadn't shown such concern for his ministers in many years.
"The New Year is almost here," the Empress said. "There will be many people coming to the palace to pay their respects. I'll ask around later if there are any suitable candidates."
The emperor was somewhat relieved and said, "You must be tired too. Let's get settled in soon."
In the Daming Palace in the northeast corner, the retired emperor had already taken a nap.
The sleep patterns of the elderly are quite unpredictable; drowsiness can come suddenly and leave without warning.
The retired emperor tossed and turned, still unable to sleep, and asked, "Where is Dai Quan?"
Dai Quan made a mistake today. Although the Emperor Emeritus did not retaliate, Dai Quan knew that it was because the Emperor Emeritus had not yet gotten over his own hurdle. When the Emperor Emeritus felt better and could talk about the topic without feeling uncomfortable, that would be the time for Dai Quan to suffer.
However, Dai Quan was, after all, a powerful and knowledgeable eunuch. In other words, he was very good at shirking responsibility.
Upon hearing the Emperor Emeritus's call, Dai Quan emerged from the corner, knelt before the Emperor Emeritus's bed, and said, "Your Majesty, this servant is here."
The retired emperor sighed, "How many years have you served me? How did you manage to recruit these three hundred Imperial Guards?"
In truth, these three hundred Imperial Guards were just there to keep the retired emperor company, but Dai Quan's tears streamed down his face as he wept bitterly: "It was my fault. I originally thought I could recruit some sons of noble families who would be of some use, but I never imagined that after ten years, they would all be worse than the last."
The key point is that it took ten years. The Imperial Guard was established more than two years after the retired emperor abdicated.
When the retired emperor first abdicated, he was not in good health and did not think much about it. But who knew that after he stopped being emperor, his health improved day by day. Later, he got bored and was unwilling to relinquish power, so he thought of setting up his own guard.
Although the establishment of the retired emperor was only novel for a couple of months, it later became a tool for the emperor to amassed power and wealth.
The Emperor Emeritus thought about it and realized that this made sense. Ten years ago, he recruited young men from prominent families who were in their prime. Ten years have passed, and they are all getting old. Their bodies, weakened by wine and women, are no longer able to keep up with his generals.
"Hmm." This excuse is acceptable. The Emperor Emeritus said, "Find some more sons from good families, strong and healthy, worthy of my general."
Dai Quan thought to himself, "Isn't this a coincidence?"
From the time those people left at noon until the palace gates were locked at Shenshi (3-5 PM), he received a total of thirteen resignation letters.
They don't want to come either.
What a spoiled brat! He doesn't appreciate the sweet things in life, but insists on coming to the palace to suffer.
However, Dai Quan did not want to finish this job too quickly. As a eunuch, he would definitely take every opportunity to make money. Besides, the Emperor Emeritus was not as healthy as before, so he had to find some way out for himself.
If he were to find three hundred strong and robust young men from noble families to serve as bodyguards for the retired emperor, then the emperor would surely remember him.
Dai Quan advised, "Your Majesty, the General has only been back in the capital for five days and hasn't even returned home yet. With the New Year approaching, he should be summoned to pay respects to his ancestors. Besides, it would be a triumphant return home—"
Dai Quan left it at that, letting the retired emperor figure it out himself.
The retired emperor sighed; indeed, a whole host of things awaited him upon his return.
As a retired emperor, his power was originally less than that of the emperor, so he could not be harsh on his subordinates.
“I remember his family were farmers. Go and find the hoe that the emperor used during the annual spring sacrifice at the Imperial Ancestral Temple and send it to him.”
The emperor's hoe, though not a golden hoe as some claim—
It's not pure gold, but it has a lot of gold wire inlay and a few gemstones.
The retired emperor laughed, then suddenly felt sleepy again. He yawned, turned over, and went to sleep.
There are still people who haven't slept, such as Zhou Rui and his wife.
If we were to ask who among the nearly three thousand people in the Ning and Rong mansions was the most afraid, it would be Zhou Rui and his wife, who would compete for the position and take turns being in charge.
Within the entire Jia family, only the two of them knew that this matter had nothing to do with Miss Lin, absolutely nothing at all.
What was the origin of that saying?
Only those who have wronged you know how wronged you are.
Although rumors were flying around the manor, Zhou Rui and his wife made no attempt to clarify anything, and Miss Lin was probably used to it by now.
Everyone in the manor is using her as a shield; this is neither the first time nor the last.
"Why hasn't he dealt with Wang Gou'er's family yet?"
"It might happen soon. There's no reason to cause trouble for the Rongguo Mansion first. We should pick on the weakest one."
"we……"
"We can't say anything!" Zhou Rui suddenly gritted his teeth and said, "Tomorrow, find a reason to send away the old woman who saw Granny Liu that day. If they ask, just say that Wang Gou'er acted on his own initiative, abusing his power and using our name to his advantage, and that we know nothing about it!"
Zhou Rui's wife hummed in agreement, then suddenly said, "Madam has never liked Miss Lin. I'll have to say something to her tomorrow, otherwise people will notice something amiss."
Grandma Liu was old, and after rushing to the capital, she rested for a day before heading home the next day.
By the time she got home, it was already dark. Although everyone in the village kept dogs, they were all familiar with each other, so she wasn't attacked by any dogs.
"What's going on?" Granny Liu covered her nose. "Why does it smell so bad in front of our house?"
"Don't even mention it." Liu also covered her nose: "The old woman from the Mu family has gone mad. She dumped the composted fertilizer in front of our door. Gou'er shoveled the soil and even wiped the door panel with sand. Maybe something seeped in, because the smell hasn't dissipated yet."
Wang Gou'er put on his clothes and came out. His first question was, "How did it go? Did Zhou Rui agree to stand up for him?"
Although Granny Liu was exhausted, she couldn't hide her joy: "That's the Rongguo Mansion, but they didn't take it seriously at all, saying they'd take care of everything. We'll talk to the Empress in the palace on the fifteenth, and the Mu family won't dare to do anything."
With only two days left until the fifteenth, Wang Gou'er finally breathed a sigh of relief, welcomed Granny Liu into the house, and personally poured her hot water.
"These past two days, the village chief has started collecting land deeds from house to house," Wang Gou'er sighed.
How could Granny Liu not understand what this meant?
"From now on, all the fields in our village will be under the Mu family's name." Granny Liu sighed, "They didn't want ours?"
Wang Gou'er nodded.
For a moment, all three people in the room remained silent.
After a while, Granny Liu said, "Let's go to sleep first. We can talk about tomorrow's problems tomorrow! There's no hurdle we can't overcome!"
The night passed, and the first person to wake up in the morning was an elderly woman—Grandmother Jia.
Grandmother Jia was torn all night, even dreaming about the Earl of Zhongyong. The first thing she said when she opened her eyes was, "Tell Lian'er to send a letter, saying that Daiyu has recovered and thanking the Earl of Zhongyong for the charcoal, and inviting him to come to the mansion for a chat!"
A note from the author:
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Okay, we'll meet tomorrow.
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