The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 438 Watching a Show (Part )

Since he had an appointment with Lin Daiyu to watch a play yesterday, Jia returned to Yueweiju after running around the garden and took a luxurious hot bath. Then, with the attentive service of Qiao Ping'er, he washed and dressed up and put on the long gown and gauze crown of a juren.

Classmate Jia originally had red lips, white teeth, sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes. Now that Ping'er had dressed him up carefully, he looked even more handsome and gentle like jade. Even Ping'er herself blushed and felt warmed when she saw him.

However, Jia looked at himself in the mirror and was not very satisfied. He frowned and said to himself, "The makeup is too heavy. It looks effeminate!"

Puff! Cluck...

A series of laughter came from behind, and everyone turned to look. It turned out to be Lin Daiyu and Jia Tanchun. The two girls were dressed up today, and they were as beautiful as fairies descending from the earth. Their maids Xueyan and Shishu were obviously dressed up as well, and they were laughing so hard that they were bent over.

However, when Jia Huan turned around, all the girls who were giggling in the last second were stunned, thinking, what a handsome and elegant young man!

Lin Daiyu's cheeks were slightly flushed, and Jia Tanchun's eyes were even more radiant. She blurted out, "My brother is more handsome than Pan An, and he is extremely handsome!"

Even though Jia Huan had always been thick-skinned, he couldn't help but feel ashamed when he heard this, and hurriedly said modestly: "No, no, my sister's praise of me is for my own good!"

Lin Daiyu covered her mouth and laughed, and asked, "What about me?"

"The beauty that Sister Lin praises about me must be real beauty!" Jia Huan said seriously.

Lin Daiyu scratched her face and said to him shamelessly: "I think you are conceited, your skin is thicker than the city wall, are you ashamed?"

Everyone couldn't help but laugh, as if the cold wind in the early morning was also filled with a happy atmosphere. However, Mandarin looked confused. The classical Chinese sentences gave her a headache. For her, a foreigner, it was too difficult to understand.

At this time, Jia Huan asked with a smile: "Did Sister Lin and Third Sister agree to come to my place together?"

Jia Tanchun shook her head and said, "That's not the case. I went to the Zhuijin Pavilion first, intending to ask my second sister to go to the theatre with me, but I didn't expect that the eldest lady had taken me away to the theatre early in the morning. It was really a strange thing. When I came out of the Zhuijin Pavilion, I happened to meet Sister Lin, and we came to Brother Huan together."

Jia Huan was secretly surprised when he heard this. The eldest wife, Mrs. Xing, had never cared much about her second sister, Jia Yingchun. Today, she actually took the initiative to come to the garden to pick her up to watch a play. It was indeed a bit unusual.

Lin Daiyu chuckled and said, "Although the second sister is not the eldest wife's daughter, shouldn't the eldest wife love her more? This is something you two should think about. Let's go and watch a play. I heard that the troupe came from outside the Great Wall. I'm afraid the singing style is different from the usual ones."

At that moment, everyone walked out of Yuewei Residence. Just as they reached the door, a maid came over, bowed and said with a smile: "Greetings to Third Master Huan and the two girls. I just met Third Master's servant Mu Ye at the door. I asked this maid to bring you a message saying that Master Lu is here to visit, and please go out to meet him."

Jia Huan was delighted to hear that Lu Xiangsheng was here. It had been nearly three months since they parted in Yangzhou in September. He said hurriedly, "I see. I'll go right away."

The maid bowed and left. Jia Huan turned to Lin Daiyu and Jia Tanchun and said apologetically, "Sister Lin, Third Sister, a friend of the same age has come to visit suddenly. I am afraid I cannot accompany you to watch the play today."

Jia Tanchun said hurriedly, "Since we are good friends of the same age, Brother Huan should go and attend the social event. The play will be performed tomorrow, so it won't be too late to watch it tomorrow."

Lin Daiyu naturally knew Lu Xiangsheng, one of her father's disciples and a close friend of Jia Huan. So even though she really wanted Jia Huan to accompany her to the play, she nodded and said softly, "Go ahead and say hello to Master Lu for me."

Jia Huan nodded and walked quickly towards the main gate of the Grand View Garden, while Lin Daiyu and others went to the west gate, which led directly to the Rongguo Mansion.

When Jia Huan arrived at the gate of the Grand View Garden, he saw Shitou, Muye and Jinbao waiting there with Lu Xiangsheng.

"Brother Jiandou!"

"Brother Ziming!"

Reunited in Beijing after more than two months, both were very happy and opened their arms to give each other a firm hug.

"When did Jiandou arrive in Beijing? Where does he live now?" Jia Huan patted Lu Xiangsheng on the back and asked with a smile.

Lu Xiangsheng replied cheerfully, "I arrived twenty days earlier than you, Ziming. I'm staying at the Jinling Guild Hall now. By the way, Zhang Pu, Wu Tingshu, Wu Changshi, Zhang Weiye and their group are also here. Most of the candidates from Nanzhili who came to Beijing for the imperial examination stayed at the Jinling Guild Hall. We discussed and exchanged ideas on weekdays, which was quite beneficial. Why don't you move to the Jinling Guild Hall temporarily, Ziming? Although it's not as comfortable as home, you can make friends through literature and build up a network of contacts. It's killing two birds with one stone. Why not?"

Jia Huan was greatly moved when he heard this, and nodded, saying, "Jiandou's suggestion is good, but I have to report it to my elders at home first."

Lu Xiangsheng also knew that the Duke's Mansion had many rules and regulations, unlike ordinary people's homes, so he smiled and said, "Then I will wait for good news from Ziming. By the way, I read the court newspaper today, congratulations to Brother Ziming for being promoted to uncle."

Jia Huan smiled calmly and said, "This actually has little to do with me, Jiandou, you know."

Of course, Lu Xiangsheng also knew that Jia Huan and his mother Wang were not on good terms, and that Concubine Jia was Wang's legitimate daughter. So strictly speaking, no matter how noble Concubine Jia was, she really had little to do with Jia Huan. So he did not mention it again and changed the subject, "Ziming, are you free today?"

Jia Huan smiled and said, "I didn't have time originally, but now that Jiandou is here, I have time now."

Lu Xiangsheng felt warm at the words and said with a smile: "In that case, I will take you to a place. It is a rare event like this and you should not miss it." Lu Xiangsheng did not say anything and took Jia Huan away. The latter asked hurriedly: "Where are you going?"

Lu Xiangsheng smiled and said, "Let me keep you in suspense for now. You will know when we get there. But the place is a bit far, outside the city, so we need to call a carriage."

Jia Huan hurriedly asked Mu Ye to call a carriage, while everyone waited on the roadside of Ningrong Street. Soon, a carriage arrived. It was a flatbed cart without a carriage. Five people rode in the cart and headed towards the city gate.

Let's not talk about where Lu Xiangsheng took Jia Huan for now. Let's just say that the opera troupe in Rongguo Mansion has already started performing and the guests have gathered. For example, the noble families such as Prince of Beijing, Prince of Nan'an, Prince of Xining, Duke of Zhenguo, Duke of Liguo, Duke of Qi, Duke of Zhiguo, Duke of Xiuguo, and Duke of Shanguo have all sent people to send gifts and congratulations. Prince of Beijing Shui Rong, who has a particularly good relationship with the Jia family, even came in person with his family, and the Princess of Nan'an also came.

There were so many distinguished guests, flowers and brocade, and the fire was boiling. It was so lively and prosperous that it was beyond description!

Lin Daiyu, Jia Tanchun and others first arrived at Grandmother Jia's room. After everyone was gathered, Grandmother Jia took them to the large flower hall in the middle of Rongguo Mansion.

The large flower hall in Rongguo Mansion is specially used for banqueting guests. It is very spacious and has doors on three sides. Now the stage is set up in the center of the flower hall, and the audience seats are divided into two sides by curtains. Male guests sit on the east side, and female guests sit on the west side. The distinction is clear and they do not disturb each other.

It is said that Grandmother Jia brought all the female members of the Jia family to the table and sat in the middle. The Princess of Beijing County and the Princess of Nan'an County sat at the same table with Grandmother Jia, while Lady Wang and Lady Xing brought Daiyu and Sanchun to a table next to them.

The table was filled with various fruits and snacks. It was the first time for Mandalin, a foreign maid, to attend such a grand event. She felt fresh and excited. She looked around and asked Ping'er questions.

Mandalin was originally very different in appearance, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and a tall and hot figure, which naturally made her particularly eye-catching. Therefore, Mrs. Wang noticed her presence at a glance, frowned and asked, "Is that blonde and blue-eyed woman the maid that Huan brought back from the south?"

Zhou Ruijia sneered and said, "That's right. Barbarian women from overseas have no manners and don't know any rules. They need to be properly disciplined. Otherwise, why not drive her out to avoid offending our distinguished guests here?"

A trace of disgust flashed in Mrs. Wang's eyes. As the saying goes, if you dislike someone, you will dislike his dog. She instinctively disliked anything related to Jia Huan. But since the distinguished guests were all here, it would be difficult to show it, lest it damage her image as a kind person. So she pretended to be generous and said, "No need. Just tell Ping'er to teach her some rules."

"Okay, I understand!" Zhou Ruijia left proudly.

Lin Daiyu and Jia Tanchun were sitting at the same table with Mrs. Wang, so they could hear everything clearly. When they saw Zhou Rui's wife walking towards Mandarin, they became worried, but it was not a good idea to remind her at this time, so they could only watch.

It is said that Zhou Rui's wife was outwitted by Jia Huan in public last time, forcing her to kowtow and admit her mistake. Now she took the opportunity to vent her anger on the people around Jia Huan.

Mandarin had no idea that someone was looking for trouble with her at this moment. She was still looking around excitedly and even reached out to pick two grapes from the fruit plate and put them into her mouth.

Zhou Rui's wife was secretly delighted when she saw this, as she now had caught the culprit red-handed. So she moved closer in two steps and glared at Mandarin with a cold face.

Ping'er was secretly surprised and said hurriedly, "Sister Zhou..."

Zhou Ruijia raised her hand to interrupt, "Ping'er, don't say anything for now. Madam asked me to set the rules for this barbarian Western woman. Just listen to me."

Mandarin asked in confusion, "Are you talking about me?"

Zhou Ruijia sneered and said, "Besides you, a Western barbarian, are there other Western barbarians here?"

Mandarin frowned and said, "Who are you? How rude!"

Zhou Ruijia almost rolled her eyes and said in a low voice, "How dare you! Come outside with me. I have to set some rules for you. Do you think you can eat the food on the table?"

After saying that, she turned around and walked out of the flower hall. After she walked a few steps, she found that Mandarin didn't follow her at all, so she had to turn back and said with anger, "Come outside with me. Are you deaf?"

Mandarin shrugged and said, "I still have to watch a play, I don't have time!"

The maids around all started to snicker. Mrs. Zhou was so angry that her face turned red, but she was afraid of disturbing the distinguished guest, so she didn't dare to shout loudly.

Ping'er didn't want to make a big deal out of it, so she whispered, "Good sister, let's go outside." She leaned over to her ear and whispered, "The Third Master is not here, let's not cause him any trouble."

Mandalin then reluctantly moved her feet. However, at this moment, Yuanyang came over and said with a smile, "Ping'er, bring Mandalin over here. The two princesses want to see her!"

Ping Er asked anxiously, "Is it serious?"

Yuanyang smiled and said, "Don't worry, I guess he just saw that Mandalin looks new, so he called her over to ask some questions. Maybe there will be a reward!"

Ping Er was secretly delighted when she heard this, and hurriedly pulled Mandalin to her side and whispered, "My dear sister, come with me. Don't talk nonsense later. Just answer whatever the noble asks you."

Zhou Ruijia originally wanted to show off her power and give Mandalin a good beating to vent her anger, but now she could only watch Yuanyang take her away.

(End of this chapter)