The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Ping'er and others had actually prepared meals for Jia Lian.

I just knew that the master and grandma were talking in the room, so I didn't disturb them for the time being.

Who knew, after waiting for a while, there was suddenly no movement inside.

Ping'er had some guesses, so she tiptoed to look over there. Sure enough, she saw curtains fluttering, shadows swaying, and a faint, suppressed humming.

Ping'er understood what she meant and walked back calmly, waving to the maid standing in the room to go out.

The maids who were able to enter the house to serve were not stupid. They all guessed something after seeing what was happening. With strange expressions and agitated emotions, they retreated outside the door and waited to be ordered.

……

In the Grand View Garden, all the beauties naturally knew that Jia Lian had returned home.

But they did not come out to see Jia Lian, not because they did not want to, but because they were afraid that their brother and sister-in-law would think they were ignorant.

Especially after seeing that Daiyu, who was most worried about Jia Lian, had no intention of leaving Xiaoxiang Pavilion, they completely gave up the idea.

However, it was still early, and the energetic sisters finally decided to go to Hengwu Garden to sit and chat with each other.

Hengwu Garden is naturally the most lively place in the Grand View Garden today.

Although Aunt Xue had moved back since Lady Jia and others returned from the imperial mausoleum, Baoqin and Xiangyun were still there.

Grandmother Jia was not an unkind person. She had held little Baoqin by her side and caressed her for so long before, and now that she saw the little maid and her sisters were having a good time in the garden, she felt embarrassed to hold her back again and enjoy her.

However, Baoqin was still very sensible. She would run to Grandmother Jia obediently every day to let the old lady look at her and kiss her.

Even if she forgot because of playing, her cousin would remind her.

In the small but spacious room, the six sisters Baochai, Baoqin, Yingchun, Xiuyan, Tanchun and Shi Xiangyun sat in staggered positions, each holding a fan.

"Second Brother Lian is finally home. The city was in a state of panic over the past few days. Although Sister Feng didn't say anything, we can all see that she is worried about Second Brother Lian."

"Yes. Not only Sister Feng, but also Sister Lin.

She is such a lonely person, but she goes to the mansion every day just to find out about the news of Second Brother Lian."

Although they were just chatting, the topic naturally turned to Jia Lian.

But that was all. After two sentences, the conversation suddenly fell silent.

Everyone seemed to have a lot to say, but didn't know how to say it.

Indeed, after the emperor returned to Beijing in the afternoon, some of the information sent back home was too exciting for them, and they didn't know how to talk about it.

Baochai is the host and also the elder sister, so naturally she would not let her sisters stare at each other all the time.

"Brother Lian has been through many storms and is a cautious and modest person, so naturally nothing will happen to him.

Sister Feng and Miss Lin are just too concerned and confused. "

Baoqin nodded frantically after hearing this.

She had witnessed with her own eyes Jia Lian, dressed in herdsman's clothes, escorting the princess of the time from outside the Great Wall back to the Han territory.

She used to think her father was very capable, traveling all over the world for business.

But every time his father traveled, he would gather many businesses together and hire many thugs to escort him. In this way, every time he went to a place or a country, he would build relationships and seek asylum to ensure his own safety.

But what about Jia Lian? It is said that he was a great man who, alone, crossed a thousand miles of Gobi Desert and escorted the princess back to her homeland under the pursuit of 100,000 foreign soldiers!
These deeds were legendary in history books, and she was filled with admiration every time she thought of them.

Not to mention, Jia Lian’s legendary deeds are far more than just this one.

"Yes, Second Brother Lian is very powerful. He is the commander of the Imperial Guards and has thousands of soldiers under his command. Naturally, nothing will happen to him."

Following Baochai's opening words, everyone started talking about the topic from the perspective of praise.

But when it comes to chatting, some people are good at it, and some are not so good at it.

Xiangyun suddenly asked, "So what do you think, is Second Brother Lian really the emperor's grandson?"

The scene fell silent again.

How could they answer this question? They themselves only heard fragments of it.

If they asked the servants, they definitely didn't know. If they asked the elders, they didn't dare to talk about such a topic. If they asked Jia Lian, they did want to go, but they wanted to wait until Jia Lian had a good rest tomorrow.

Baochai suddenly laughed, and after attracting everyone's attention, she glanced at Yingchun and said with a smile: "If that's the case, then we should all stand up and bow to her."

Everyone was stunned for a moment before they reacted.

Yes, since Second Brother Lian is the emperor’s grandson, then Second Sister is naturally the emperor’s granddaughter.

According to the status of the retired emperor’s grandchildren, the second sister should at least be a princess, right?

The gap in status suddenly became huge.

Tanchun and others also thought of Jia Cong, who lived in the East Courtyard and was not loved by his uncle and grandmother.

I heard that even the servants dared to bully him before, and it was only after Second Brother Lian warned him that his situation improved.

Now, those servants who have seen Cong'er's displeasure should be sweating profusely.

Yingchun didn't expect the fire to burn herself. She felt embarrassed and said awkwardly: "Why are you looking at me like this? I don't know anything..."

Yingchun's reaction made everyone feel relieved.

Everyone felt that given the Second Sister's (Ying Yatou) personality, even if she was the Emperor's granddaughter, she would not hold grudges, so they naturally did not have to worry too much about whether they had offended her in the past when they were with her.

While the five sisters were sitting in silence for a while, Ying'er's voice came from outside the corridor.

"How did you come."

"Oh, what is this, such a big bird?"

Then came the sound of birds flapping their wings and chirping, as if trying to drive away the bad guests.

Then Qingwen's voice came: "Is Miss Bao here?"

"The young lady and the third young lady are all inside, please go in."

All the girls in the room looked towards the door, and soon saw Qingwen, dressed in new clothes and looking so smart that she didn't look like a maid, walking in with a smile on her face.

Seeing the beauties in the room, the smile on her face became even brighter, "Hey, the girls are all here, say hello to them."

No one paid any attention to her because everyone's eyes were on Qingwen's right shoulder.

There, a bird was standing there with a sneaky look on its face, its head tilted, looking at them curiously with a pair of sparkling big eyes.

Almost instantly...

"Wow, what a beautiful bird!"

"It's so cute. What kind of bird is this? Why haven't I seen it before?" "It looks like a night owl."

The younger ones, Baoqin, Xiangyun and Tanchun, stood up almost at the same time and rushed towards Qingwen.

"Sister Xing, you just said 'night owl', is this a night owl?"

"I'm not sure. I've seen one that looks very similar in the countryside before. My mom said it was called Night Owl. But this one is too small. And she's really cute."

Xing Xiuyan was also captured and walked over directly.

However, seeing that they were all hiding behind Qingwen in anger, obviously afraid of their large numbers, she felt embarrassed to take action again.

"Is this still small? It feels much bigger than a parrot or a starling!"

Baochai looked at her sisters who were talking at once and patiently explained, "This is a mountain owl, also called a night owl in the countryside.

You all should be careful, it is a bird of prey and a carnivore. If you are accidentally pecked by it, it will be no joke. "

Upon hearing this, the women hurriedly retreated.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Qingwen said hurriedly, "Don't worry, Sister Aqi said it's just a young bird and won't hurt anyone."

The girls felt relieved again and looked at the little guy who had jumped out from behind Qingwen and stood on their shoulders again.

Then everyone saw that one of the little guy's feet had a thin rope tied to Qingwen's arm. No wonder it didn't run away.

Qingwen was still trying to prove that the bird would not hurt anyone by turning back and teasing it.

"Look, it really doesn't hurt anyone, and it's not afraid of strangers. It's very friendly. But Sister Qin was worried that it wouldn't fly away because it's not familiar with me, so she tied it to me with a rope."

Upon hearing this, Tanchun and others couldn't help but come forward to tease her again.

Sure enough, this time, the little guy was much more easy-going. Although there was still a hint of wariness in his eyes, he did not hide.

Baochai waited until everyone's enthusiasm had died down a little before she said to Qingwen, "You came to see me, but was it Sister Feng who asked you to come?"

Qingwen, who was still playing with the girls, suddenly remembered her business and said with a smile, "It wasn't the Second Madam who asked me to come, it was our Second Master.

The Second Master specifically told me to bring it to you, Miss Bao."

Ok?
what?
This is not Qingwen's bird, but the one given to Baochai by Second Brother Lian?

Facing the surprised gazes of her sisters, Baochai's eyes showed a rare hint of panic.

But Qingwen had no idea. As she untied the rope on her arm, she smiled and said, "When the Second Master first came back home, he told me that he had a gift for Miss Bao.

I didn't know it was this at first until I met Sister Aqi.

Sister Aqi said that the Second Master called it an 'owl' and that he found it by chance in the wild this time, and it was still a young bird."

"owl?"

"Yes, its head really looks like a cat's, but it's dumber than a cat's."

"I like it so much, is this the only one..."

Looking at Qingwen handing the rope to her, Baochai resisted the urge to show her cowardice and said calmly, "Why did you... Second Brother Lian give this to me?"

"I don't know, anyway, it was Second Master who told me to do it. Why, Miss Bao doesn't like it? It's so beautiful."

Qingwen really likes these cute things, but unfortunately, she has already raised many pets in the West Wing of her and Xiangling's property, which has caused some dissatisfaction in Xiangling.

Besides, this was a gift Jia Lian specially gave to Baochai, so she didn't want to covet it.

"Sister Bao, since Second Brother gave it to you specially, please accept it quickly." Xiangyun shouted louder than anyone else.

Xiangyun used to live with her aunt, who was a dependent. She was afraid of making her aunt unhappy, so naturally she had no intention of keeping a pet.

When we arrived at the Grand View Garden, it was still someone else's home after all, so it was not appropriate to bring everything in.

The reason why she likes Baochai so much is because Baochai is generous. As long as it is Baochai's, she will take it.

She was afraid that Baochai would not like this thing and give it to someone else.

If it were Sister Tanchun and the others, it would be fine, but they are most afraid that it would fall into the hands of Daiyu, that stingy girl who hates others touching her things the most.

Facing the expectant eyes of her sisters, Baochai took a deep breath and bowed slightly to Qingwen: "Thank Second Brother Lian for me and tell him that his gift is very good and I like it very much."

The little thing seemed to be intelligent. When one end of the rope fell into Baochai's hand, the baby owl jumped off Qingwen's shoulder, stepped on Baochai's arm, hopped to Baochai's shoulder, and glanced at everyone.

Seeing this, Baochai couldn't help but smile and reached out to touch its shiny gray feathers.

Qingwen said goodbye and left, and the sisters returned to the center of the room.

Xiangyun and Baoqin always surrounded Baochai to admire the adorable pet. Although Yingchun and Xiuyan sat down, they would look over from time to time.

Only Tanchun looked different.

"Brother Lian is so thoughtful. He was away for so long, but he still remembered to bring a gift for Sister Bao when he came back."

Baochai showed a look of gratitude: "Second Brother Lian is always thoughtful. My mother said the other day that during the days of unrest in the city, thieves wanted to break into our house. Fortunately, the soldiers of the Military Affairs Department under Second Brother's command rescued us and avoided trouble.

I guess Brother Lian had told them to look after the family before he left Beijing, but I didn’t expect that our family would also benefit from it.”

Tanchun frowned. Aunt Xue had mentioned this matter before when she entered the mansion and chatted with the old lady and others, and everyone knew about it.

She just said it casually, but Sister Bao immediately brought it up, which made her even more suspicious.

"Yes, Brother Lian is really thoughtful and takes good care of us sisters.

But, I used to tease him for being partial, loving only the second sister and not us, but I never expected that now even the second sister is outshined by Bao-sister."

The implication of this sentence is too strong.

Even Xiangyun and others looked back in surprise, wondering what Baojie and Third Sister were talking about.

"Sister Bao, what are you talking about? What do you mean the second sister is outdone by you?"

Baochai laughed and said, "Your third sister is jealous. She saw that Second Brother Lian only gave me a gift and didn't give her any, so she is unhappy and is bullying me."

The sisters widened their eyes. If Baochai had not said this with a smile on her face and in a doting tone, they would have thought that Baochai and Tanchun had a falling out.

Tanchun was also speechless after hearing what Baochai said. Her cheeks turned slightly red and she felt too embarrassed to continue the conversation.

Xiangyun thought Tanchun was ashamed, so she came over and took Tanchun's hand to smooth things over. "Aren't you the most generous sister usually? Why do you suddenly care about this? Didn't Second Brother Lian give us enough gifts in the past? Among us, Sister Bao received the least gifts from Second Brother Lian.

Perhaps Second Brother Lian gave it only to Sister Bao because of this and there was only one thing.

If you like it, Third Sister, why don’t you come over and take a look when you have nothing to do? I feel bad not to let you take a look, hehe.”

What could Tanchun say? She could only nod helplessly and accept Xiangyun's advice. (End of this chapter)