Chapter 2 The Golden Cudgel and the Jade of Spirit Communication
Daiyu and Yuan Hongqu exchanged a glance; sure enough, they had arrived.
The two of them were just discussing that since it was their first night staying at the Rongguo Mansion, someone would definitely come over.
Daiyu guessed it was a maidservant from her maternal grandmother's side, while Yuan Hongqu said it definitely wasn't; it was the head maidservant from Bao Er Ye's side who would be coming later.
Upon seeing that it was Xiren from Baoyu's room, Daiyu thought to herself, "The old nanny guessed right; it really was her."
Yuan Hongqu gave Xueyan a wink, and Xueyan quickly brought over a stool:
"Sit here, sister."
She gestured for Xiren to sit on the stool. It wasn't that she hadn't seen Xiren walk towards the bedside; judging from her expression, she wanted to sit on the edge of the bed.
What a big mouth! Doesn't he know any manners at all?
Is it appropriate for someone who isn't very close to a young woman to sit on her bed?
They only arrived today and haven't gotten to know Xiren well enough to let her sit on the master's bed so casually, right?
Xiren paused for a moment, but without thinking too much, she sat down on the stool and asked with a smile:
"Why aren't you resting, young lady?"
It should have been the parrot's turn to speak here, but although Grandmother Jia did indeed give the maid Parrot to Daiyu today.
However, since Daiyu's own maids and servants were all well-equipped and there were no problems, Yingge served in the outer room and did not enter the Bisha Pavilion.
Daiyu quickly replied, "I'm not used to sleeping in unfamiliar beds, so I haven't gone to bed yet."
Yuan Hongqu laughed inwardly: Lin Daiyu's little lie is so serious. If she hadn't been by Lin Daiyu's side all this time, she might have been fooled by her too.
Xi Ren smiled gently and said, "Miss's problem is somewhat similar to our Miss Shi's. She is also picky about beds and can never sleep well in a new place."
Yuan Hongqu thought to herself: I forgot about this. Shi Xiangyun's problem has been transferred to Daiyu... But many people have the problem of being picky about beds, so it's not a big deal.
"My husband went to bed a long time ago. Before going to bed, he went to visit the old lady for a while and told her that he had met Miss Lin before."
Xiren smiled and spoke intimately, as if she were no outsider.
Yuan Hongqu thought to herself: So that's what was going to be said here. I thought I had missed it, but I didn't expect it to be said by Xiren.
Before she could speak, she heard Xiren say something else.
Baoyu said that Miss Lin looked very familiar, as if he had known her for hundreds of years, and seeing her today felt like a long-awaited reunion.
"He also said that although the two might have different interests, they would definitely get along well in the future, and he would definitely take good care of his younger sister... The old lady was overjoyed to hear this, and kept saying that Baoyu had grown up and become sensible..."
Daiyu was confused and didn't understand what Xiren meant, but when she heard Baoyu say something about taking care of her, she couldn't help but frown.
With Baoyu's weak and feeble physique, how could he possibly take care of himself?
She was about to say that there was no need for such formalities, that Brother Bao was being too polite.
"Master Bao truly has the demeanor of an elder brother," Yuan Hongqu praised first, then smiled.
"But if we're talking about it, our girl is the daughter of Master Bao's aunt, so naturally she looks like her mother."
“Our lady is the old lady’s own daughter, so she must look alike with her… Therefore, the young lady and the old lady must also have some similarities in their appearances…”
“Master Bao sees the old lady every day, so it’s perfectly normal that he would find the young lady familiar when he suddenly sees her.”
Xiren had been feeling uneasy ever since she heard Baoyu say those words, fearing that the Second Master might have some ulterior motives and suddenly become overly fond of Miss Lin...
She could tell today that the second wife was lukewarm towards her niece, Miss Lin, and probably didn't have a good impression of her.
Given Baoyu's temperament, if he were to pay too much attention to Miss Lin, it might displease his wife.
The mistress won't punish the second master, but those who serve him will all suffer the consequences.
But after listening to Granny Yuan's words, Xiren deeply agreed. That made perfect sense. The Second Master shouldn't be blinded by Miss Lin.
She originally said these things with a bit of a joke in mind, and also wanted to test the Lin family's thoughts, but unexpectedly, they didn't take the bait and had no intention of getting close to her at all.
Therefore, Xi Ren felt relieved and let the matter pass, then brought up another matter.
“Today, when our Baoyu and Miss mentioned that jade, it wasn’t a fish. That jade is the origin of our Baoyu’s name; it was taken out of his mouth when he was born.”
Xiren brought this up specifically to show off how much she knew and that she was the most capable head maid in Baoyu's room;
Secondly, she wanted to find out what kind of person the Lin family girl was and whether she was easy to get along with. She had been in the gauze-draped room for a while, but she hadn't heard the Lin family girl say much.
During the day, this girl appears to be an innocent and naive child to the old lady, but how could she not be a completely different person in private?
In this mansion, apart from their second master, who doesn't have two different faces in public and in private?
Xiren specifically mentioned the Spirit Jade because it was so famous.
Everyone in the capital knows that the Jia family has a young master named Bao, who was born with a jade in his mouth.
But this Miss Lin deliberately confused things, saying it was fish.
This made Baoyu unhappy, and he kept muttering about it before going to bed, even muttering in his sleep:
"This shouldn't be happening. This girl is so beautiful, how could she be so unbearably vulgar..."
He felt something was wrong, and it took the maids a lot of effort to coax him to sleep.
In order to find out what happened, Xiren waited until Baoyu was asleep and then came to Daiyu's room to find out the truth.
“Oh my, the mouth of a newborn baby is so small, and the jade pendant of Master Bao is so big… When Second Madam gave birth to Master Bao, it must have been extremely dangerous. What was the situation like? Tell us quickly.”
Yuan Hongqu didn't want Xiren to bring up anything about jade, so she casually changed the subject.
Xiren said awkwardly:
"The circumstances at the time? ... This is not something a servant like me should inquire about."
She thought about it carefully and realized that she had never heard of anything like the second wife's childbirth being extremely dangerous.
I've only ever heard stories about how when Master Bao was born, the room was filled with rosy light, the dark clouds outside suddenly dispersed, and the Second Madam seemed to hear celestial music in her trance.
"Granny, Sun Wukong has a golden cudgel. When it's inside his ear, it's as thin as an embroidery needle. When he takes it out, it can reach the sky and penetrate the earth."
Daiyu finally had a chance to speak. She fluttered her big eyes and her cute little expression instantly captivated Yuan Hongqu.
"Yes, that's it. It's probably not an ordinary thing, similar to the Golden Cudgel. The jade is small when it's in your mouth, but it gets bigger when you take it out."
Yuan Hongqu added, following Daiyu's words.
Upon hearing this, Daiyu's eyes immediately lit up.
"Sister Xiren, is Bao Er Ge's jade like this too? Has he ever tried putting it in his mouth and it shrinks? Could you ask him to make it shrink for me to see tomorrow?"
Daiyu asked three questions in a row, pressing her relentlessly.
"Uh, this...this..." Xi Ren stammered, she really didn't know.
Daiyu was somewhat disappointed.
“Young lady, since we’ll be living here from now on, we’ll definitely have the opportunity to witness the wonders of Master Bao’s jade.”
Yuan Hongqu tucked the corner of Daiyu's quilt in.
"But now, you should go to sleep. Early to bed and early to rise makes you healthy."
Daiyu covered her mouth and yawned at the opportune moment, making it very clear that the two women wanted to see her off. Xiren, feeling embarrassed, quickly took her leave.
None of the things she wanted to do tonight came to fruition.
The old nanny Yuan who's with Miss Lin is really something.
Xi Ren thought to herself.
Watching Xiren's departing figure, Yuan Hongqu's lips curled into a smile:
What about the preordained bond between wood and stone, what about dying with tears exhausted, what about nourishing life with ginseng?
I'll make you all vanish like a bubble!
Daiyu was just a seven-year-old girl, which would be equivalent to a first-grade student in modern times. It was the perfect age for her to grow up carefree, innocent, and happy.
Yuan Hongqu felt sorry for this little girl who had lost her mother at such a young age, and whose father was also in poor health and would soon pass away as well.
She couldn't change the course of events, but she would do everything in her power to take care of Daiyu.
She blew out the candle, and the green gauze curtains went dark. Seeing that Daiyu and Xueyan were both fast asleep, Yuan Hongqu turned over and disappeared.
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