King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 630 Lin Family Father and Daughter
Seeing that Zhu Jinghong did not answer, Baochai looked at Wen Xing and said, "Bring the box here!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jinghong became alert again and turned to look at Wen Xing who was getting something.

Wen Xing took a box from the cabinet and put it on the couch at Baochai's signal.

"what?"

Seeing Zhu Jinghong's dazed look, Baochai covered her mouth and laughed, "Although I didn't care about you in the letter, I didn't forget to send you something!"

"Girl Lin gave it to you?"

"Who else!"

Zhu Jinghong immediately showed a look of joy, then quickly reached out and opened the box.

There was a layer of fine brocade wrapped inside the box, so Zhu Jinghong had no idea what was inside.

Just as he was about to lift up the brocade, he suddenly stopped and looked at Baochai in front of him and asked, "Is it just for me, or for all of you sisters?"

Hearing his unique focus, Baochai laughed out loud and for a moment didn't even bother to reply to him.

"When did you start caring about these things? Sister Lin hasn't even entered your house yet, do you really want to control her?"

Feeling that he cared too much, Zhu Jinghong smiled and replied, "It's just a casual question!"

The answer was self-evident, so Zhu Jinghong threw away his messy thoughts and directly lifted the brocade to see the object inside.

"Do you like it?" Baochai smiled.

There are four things in the box: pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

"Haha... I like it!" Zhu Jinghong accepted it calmly.

The things were all excellent, but Zhu Jinghong had no interest in them. Strictly speaking, Daiyu had made a mistake.

In order to choose these things, she selected and looked again and again, and finally decided on the set in front of her after paying attention to every aspect.

"Do you know what kind of pen this is? What kind of ink? What kind of inkstone? What kind of paper is this?"

"Do you know what the combination of these four means?"

Seeing Zhu Jinghong smiling awkwardly, Baochai picked up the inkstone and said, "This inkstone..."

Baochai listened to all these words after hearing them, and then laughed, "Why am I telling you all this? It's like playing the lute to a cow... It's not advisable!"

"presumptuous!"

Zhu Jinghong frowned, but unfortunately he failed to scare Baochai. However, in order to save his face, the latter stood up and said, "I am sorry for what I said."

Then Baochai walked away with a smile.

Soon a few hours passed and when night fell, Zhu Jinghong sat alone in his bedroom, staring at the things Daiyu had sent him.

In fact, his behavior was quite excessive because Baochai was dressing up not far away.

"I haven't seen enough... If it really doesn't work, you shouldn't sleep here tonight. How about rushing to Suzhou overnight?" Baochai turned her head and said.

Even though he is very magnanimous, he has not yet reached the level of becoming a Buddha or a patriarch, and there are always some small grudges in his heart.

"I was wondering... should I go archery or hunting tomorrow!"

"is it?"

Baochai stood up. She had taken off her hairpins, her hair fell down behind her, and she was only wearing a close-fitting white inner garment. However, she was still incredibly beautiful under the candlelight.

After approaching, Baochai sat down beside Zhu Jinghong, lifted up her hair and asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Look at the beauty!"

"Beauty? Who is a beauty? Where is her beauty?" Baochai raised her head and asked with a little pride.

In fact, she doesn't care much about her appearance, but as the saying goes, women dress up to please themselves. Now she loves Zhu Jinghong deeply, and the latter just likes beautiful women, so she will naturally change her mind.

"Beauty is of course ..."

Zhu Jinghong hesitated and didn't say anything. At this moment, Baochai was really worried that this guy would say something like "far away in the horizon".

Reaching out and tapping Baochai's chin, Zhu Jinghong said with a smile: "She is the princess!"

Pushing his dirty hands away, Baochai turned away and said, "As the saying goes, we share the same bed but have different dreams. Who knows if the prince is thinking about someone else in his heart?"

Taking Baochai into his arms, Zhu Jinghong said with a smile: "What are you saying, Princess? I love you deeply!"

Shrinking in Zhu Jinghong's arms, Baochai asked disdainfully: "Deep love? How deep can it be?"

"You'll know soon!"

Then Baochai exclaimed "Ah", and everything was said without words.

The bright moon carries my longing for you across thousands of miles. In Tongxin Hall, there is boundless spring scenery. Far away in the Lin Mansion in Suzhou, Daiyu is sitting by the window, looking up at the moon.

"I think those things should have arrived in the capital by now!" Daiyu muttered softly.

"Girl, the master asked you to come over!"

Hearing Zijuan's reminder, Daiyu was surprised and asked, "Father is awake again?"

"Xiao He said that the master slept for less than half an hour and then woke up... He just dozed off for a while, but couldn't fall asleep so he got up. Now he's in the study!"

"Okay...I'll be right there!"

Daiyu tidied up briefly and then hurried to the study.

Lin Ruhai is very thin now, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is just skin and bones. If he appears in front of his colleagues in the officialdom, these people may not be able to recognize him.

After getting through the winter, the Lin family thought his condition would improve, but Lin Ruhai himself knew very well that his health was getting worse day by day.

In the past two days, he often felt chest tightness and shortness of breath when he slept, and he almost suffocated to death several times.

After enduring for so long, Lin Ruhai has actually let it go. He knows that matters of life and death are determined by heaven and cannot be changed by human power.

There are very few things in this world that he cannot let go of, and his only daughter Daiyu is one of them.

Especially her marriage, which has always made Lin Ruhai extremely worried and has become a thorn in his heart.

Thinking that Daiyu would have to observe mourning for another two or three years after his death, Lin Ruhai knew that he had to arrange Daiyu's marriage before he died.

He had thought about this over and over again and had preliminarily selected a few sons of old friends. Since he couldn't sleep tonight, he might as well talk to Daiyu about this.

Of course, this was just Lin Ruhai's unilateral idea. Whether the man was willing to marry into the Lin family was still unclear.

"The girl is here!"

Hearing the report from outside, Lin Ruhai raised his head and signaled the maids on both sides to go out, including Aunt Liu who served him closely.

When she entered the room, Daiyu happened to see Aunt Liu coming out, and she immediately cast a questioning look at her. Aunt Liu didn't know what Lin Ruhai was thinking, so she could only shake her head at Daiyu.

When she entered the study, Daiyu saw her haggard father and felt sad.

"Father……"

"Come... come and sit here, your father has something to tell you!"

"Yes!"

A stool had been placed on one side of the desk, so Daiyu walked straight over.

After he sat down, Lin Ruhai said, "My father has been ill for a long time. He might pass away that day..."

"Father, you..."

Seeing that Daiyu was about to persuade him, Lin Ruhai motioned her to stop talking, and then continued: "The only thing I am worried about is your marriage!"

"You are almost fifteen now, which is the right age for marriage. You must not delay because of your father's illness!"

"These past few days, every time I think about this, I can't sleep well!" "Father, I just want to serve you medicine, and I don't want to think about anything else!"

Hearing this, Lin Ruhai was obviously anxious and coughed several times in succession.

"Just listen to what I have to say..."

The old father was out of breath, and if things went wrong, something terrible would happen. How could Daiyu dare to argue at this moment?

She just stood up and admitted her mistake while trying to calm her father down.

Over the past year or so, she has indeed changed a lot, both mentally and physically.

After recovering, Lin Ruhai asked seriously, "Girl... do you already have someone in your heart, so you don't want me to worry about your marriage?"

"I……"

"Is it Prince Xiang?" Lin Ruhai asked again.

While speaking, Lin Ruhai carefully observed his daughter's reaction, and the next moment he realized that he was right.

In fact, before today, he had heard rumors that Prince Xiang was interested in Daiyu, but he didn't know what his daughter thought.

Now it seems that my daughter also has feelings for Prince Xiang, and the two are in love with each other. Then Daiyu's marriage will not be so simple.

The most important thing is that Lin Ruhai felt a little uncomfortable at the moment, as if his cabbages were being eaten by pigs.

It was a deeper rejection for him that his daughter, whom he had painstakingly taught and brought up, and who was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, actually fell in love with a military man like King Xiang.

While Lin Ruhai's heart was in turmoil, Daiyu lowered her head.

"King Xiang is reckless and notorious. Why do you fall in love with him?"

Even though it was her own father who was asking the question, Daiyu was still so ashamed that she lowered her head and could not utter a word.

Fortunately, there was no outsider in the study, otherwise Daiyu would have been embarrassed to death.

Who would have thought that the next moment, Lin Ruhai continued: "But the King of Xiang is brave and heroic, with outstanding military exploits and a great reputation... It is normal for you to admire him since you are young and ignorant!"

"But you must know that he already has a princess in his house. You can only be a concubine in his house. You are the daughter of my Lin family. Why do you have to suffer such injustice?"

"As the saying goes, it is better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix. I have some old friends who are talented and young. They are the right age to marry you..."

At this moment, Daiyu raised her head bravely and asked Lin Ruhai to stop.

"Father...I've said that I only want to serve you and heal you, and I don't want to think about anything else!"

Lin Ruhai's face was full of bitterness, so he didn't continue speaking.

The father and daughter were silent for a while. Lin Ruhai sighed and asked, "Have you really chosen Prince Xiang?"

Daiyu didn't say anything, but Lin Ruhai knew that she agreed.

"Once you enter a marquis's house, it's like entering a deep sea, let alone an imperial family... If you really enter his house, I'm afraid you won't have a peaceful life. Why bother?" Lin Ruhai still tried his best to persuade her.

"and……"

The next words were very sensitive. Even though there was no one else around, Lin Ruhai still lowered his voice so that only Daiyu could hear it.

"Besides, he is already in the middle of a struggle for succession. If he is not careful, he will be doomed. If you follow him, won't you be putting yourself in danger?"

These words certainly made sense, and were filled with the old father's concern for his daughter, but Daiyu couldn't hear a word of them.

"Father, it's late...you should rest!" Daiyu said.

"Oh...you...you really make me worried!" Lin Ruhai was helpless.

He could have used his privilege as a father to arrange Daiyu's marriage directly, but he chose not to do so.

It can be seen that Lin Ruhai really loved his daughter to the point of ignoring moral principles.

"Forget it... Let's talk about it later!" Lin Ruhai could only end the conversation like this.

So he was supported by Daiyu and returned to the bedroom. At this time, the maids also appeared in time and helped Lin Ruhai lie back on the bed.

Daiyu left the room only after Lin Ruhai fell asleep. It was time for her to rest as well.

She was originally weak in constitution. Although she became strong-willed and her body became stronger, it was still limited in extent.

It was now late at night and she was extremely tired. She hurried back, washed up, and then lay down on the bed alone.

Although she was very tired, she just couldn't fall asleep, and her father's words were still on her mind.

In fact, most of the time, she didn't understand why she liked Zhu Jinghong. She thought she would stay away from such a reckless man.

But there is no logic to matters of the heart. After spending countless times with Zhu Jinghong, she didn't know when she began to admire the Thirteenth Master.

So much so that when this person came to the East Hall of Kunning Palace and did not speak to her immediately, she felt sad about it.

Why do I fall in love with him...

Daiyu has asked herself this question countless times, but she still can't answer it.

Because of this problem, Daiyu began to miss Zhu Jinghong again, and she couldn't sleep for a while.

So she quietly lit the lamp, got up, and came to the desk in front of the window.

Looking up at the bright moon in the sky, Daiyu ordered Zijuan to grind ink. Although the latter did not understand, she still did it.

After a few breaths, Daiyu picked up the pen and murmured: "Gazing at the night sky, the moon is like a hook, and my lonely shadow is leaning against the wall, tears are hard to stop..."

"Love turns into the spring breeze, blowing down peach blossoms all over the courtyard..."

A short poem was thus completed and written on paper by Daiyu.

Before Zijuan finished reading, Daiyu rolled up the paper and burned it over the candle flame.

"Girl, what are you..."

"It's not well written, so why keep it?" Daiyu said indifferently.

In fact, it’s not that the writing is bad, but when she thinks about her father being critically ill and herself still missing her lover who is thousands of miles away, Daiyu feels deeply guilty.

Driven by this sense of guilt, Daiyu chose to burn the manuscript and forced herself to abandon things like love and concentrate on taking care of her father.

"Okay, lights out, go to bed!"

Daiyu was still as arrogant as ever. She burned the manuscript and left without any hesitation.

Watching Daiyu leave, Zijuan whispered, "Girl, I know you're thinking of the Thirteenth Master!"

………………

Back in the capital, a few days passed in the blink of an eye and it was the fifth day of February.

This was an ordinary day, but it was a very important day for Jia Yun because he was going to marry his beloved wife today.

Before welcoming the bride, Jia Yun made a special detour to Prince Xiang's palace, dismounted his horse and kowtowed three times outside the palace gate to express his gratitude to Prince Xiang and his wife for their help in getting married.

If it weren't for Baochai's arrangement, there would be no possibility for Jia Yun and Lin Hongyu, simply because the difference in their status was too great.

"Master Jia, the prince already knows your intentions. Let's go pick up the bride quickly. Don't keep her waiting for too long!"

Zhu Jinghong would of course not show up, and it was the steward Deng An who came out to greet Jia Yun, which was already a great courtesy to Jia Yun.

"Yeah... don't miss the time, hurry up and go to welcome the bride!" Liu Xiang also reminded.

Liu Xiang was engaged in maritime trade in Jinling and was very familiar with Jia Yun, who was also in Jinling. As they both worked for the Prince Xiang's Palace, they had frequent interactions and now had become close friends.

"Okay... let's go!" Jia Yun replied with a smile.

(End of this chapter)