The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 453 Inseparable

Jia Huan had a good impression of Caixia. When he had not yet "made it big", this girl had been nice to him. She was not like Jin Chuan'er and Amber, who only had eyes for Jia Baoyu and looked down on him, a bastard's son.

I remember that when Big Face Bao broke the spiritual jade in his room, it was obviously not his fault, but these people helped him and wanted to step on him to vent his anger for Big Face Bao. However, Caixia always treated him well, and even when Mrs. Wang tortured him by copying Buddhist scriptures, she helped him secretly.

Now, after several years, Caixia has obviously grown taller, and is now taller and more slender, with a fair and pretty face and more obvious body curves. When she walked with the lunch box, her youthful and slender waist twisted. She probably noticed that Jia Huan was looking at her, and her originally brisk steps became a little shy.

It is said that Caixia had been "coveting" Jia Huan back then. She was a smart maid and had a clear understanding of herself. She knew that in terms of appearance, she was just above average and could not compare to Jin Chuan'er and Qingwen. It was not her turn to get involved with Master Bao, and she could not compete with Xiren and others, so she set her target on the illegitimate son Jia Huan.

Although Jia Huan at that time even disliked dogs, he was still the master after all, and the key was that there was no competition. If one could become Jia Huan's householder, he would naturally be able to turn over a new leaf and escape the status of a slave.

Unfortunately, just when Jia Huan won the top three places in the boy's examination and was beginning to show his talent, the tragedy of Aunt Zhao happened. Jia Huan was then "exiled" to Jinling to fend for himself. Caixia felt sorry for this for a long time, thinking that Jia Huan would never be able to turn things around.

However, this summer, news about Jia Huan, who was almost forgotten by the entire Jia family, came back one after another. Now he has returned to the mansion as a juren. Even the old lady looks at him with admiration and even lets Jia Huan live in the garden. This shows how much she values ​​him.

Caixia was naturally extremely surprised, but unfortunately Jia Huan now lived in the garden, and she had no chance to get close to him. Now she finally got the chance.

Jia Huan vaguely saw through Caixia's thoughts, and he remembered that in the original novel of Red Mansions, Caixia and Jia Huan were indeed secretly in love, so he felt a little strange at this moment.

At this time, Caixia suddenly slowed down her pace and asked, "Was the white begonia given to Third Master by Master Dongfu Rong?"

Jia Huan couldn't help but wonder, "How did Sister Caixia know that?"

Caixia smiled proudly and said, "If I say I figured it out by counting on my fingers, would you believe me, Third Master?"

Jia Huan shook his head and said, "If Sister Caixia can figure out what I had for breakfast this morning, I will believe it."

Caixia chuckled and said, "Forget it, I don't have that ability. In fact, before the Third Master came, the Second Madam was talking to the Madam in the room, but when the Second Madam heard that the Third Master was coming, she immediately went to the inner room to take shelter."

Jia Huan's mind was moved. In other words, when he was talking to Mrs. Wang just now, Wang Xifeng was hiding in the inner room. Was she guilty? Or was she hiding something? However, given Wang Xifeng's aggressive personality, she was hiding from him now, which showed that she was afraid of him and didn't dare to be as arrogant as before.

Caixia glanced at Jia Huan meaningfully and whispered, "Second Madam learned from somewhere that the white begonia was given to Third Madam Huan by Master Rong. When she told Madam, I happened to be serving by the side and heard it."

Jia Huan suddenly realized, "So that's how it is. Thank you, Sister Caixia, for reminding me."

Caixia smiled sweetly and whispered, "Third Master, you are too polite, but it's good that you know about this matter. Don't tell anyone else, otherwise I'm afraid I won't be able to stay with Madam anymore."

"Don't worry, I won't even tell Ping'er." Jia Huan promised.

Caixia felt relieved upon hearing this, and walked forward happily again, twisting her slender waist. Jia Huan couldn't help but laugh secretly, what a scheming maid, but it would be good to have an eyeliner next to Mrs. Wang in the future, so that if the other party did anything unfavorable to him, he would be able to receive the news in advance.

The two of them chatted as they walked towards the west gate of the garden. Caixia asked Jia Huan enthusiastically about his experiences in the south in recent years. Jia Huan answered patiently and occasionally made a few jokes, which made the maid secretly happy and she chattered even more.

At this time, the two finally entered the garden. When they passed Xiaoxiang Pavilion, Jia Huan stopped and said, "I will go in to see Sister Lin. Sister Caixia, please take the fresh lychees to Yuewei Residence."

Caixia nodded and said, "Thank you for your courtesy, Third Master. You can go and get busy." After that, she picked up the food box and walked around the bamboo forest.

Smart, sensible, scheming but knowing when to advance and retreat, and not entangled, this is Jia Huan's evaluation of Caixia. She is also good-looking and has a good figure, so it is not impossible to bring her into the house in the future.

Jia Huan watched Caixia go away, then he walked through the bamboo forest and entered the Xiaoxiang Pavilion, where he saw that several white plum trees in the courtyard were already in full bloom.

Zijuan was standing under a tree holding a pair of scissors and looking around. When she saw Jia Huan coming in, she bowed and said, "Master Huan."

Jia Huan asked, "What is Sister Zijuan doing?"

Zijuan smiled and said, "Didn't the Third Master send a vase of white crabapple to the young lady? The white plum blossoms in the courtyard just happened to be in bloom, and the young lady thought it would look better mixed with the plum blossoms, so she asked the maid to cut a few branches and put them in the vase."

Jia Huan heard this and said, "Sister Lin has a brilliant idea. The one above looks good. I'll cut it."

Jia Huan took the scissors from Zijuan, stood on tiptoe and cut off a bunch of branches, then cut a few more. Zijuan reminded him, "Third Master, don't just pick those that are fully in bloom, but also pick some with buds. Don't pick branches that are too straight, but only those that are oddly curved, so that they look good when put in a vase."

Jia Qing exclaimed: "It seems that Sister Zijuan is an expert!"

Zijuan smiled and said, "I'm not an expert. I just learned a little bit from you." Jia Huan followed her instructions and cut some more branches with flower buds and strange shapes. Zijuan saw that she was almost done, so she said, "That's enough. Let's go in."

Jia Huan returned the scissors to Zijuan, but snatched the flower basket from her hand and whispered, "Sister Zijuan, please don't say anything!" After that, he walked into the house quietly.

Zijuan followed behind him with a smile, thinking that although Master Huan San is now a juren, he is still a little childish.

Jia Huan wanted to scare Lin Daiyu, but just as he walked to the door and was about to lift the curtain, the macaw hanging under the eaves flapped its wings and shouted, "Brother Huan is here, Xueyan, pour some tea!"

Jia Huan froze on the spot, and Zijuan couldn't help but smile.

After failing in his mischief, Xiao Jia had no choice but to carry the flower basket into the house. He suddenly felt warm and the charcoal in the charcoal stove was burning red. Lin Daiyu was sitting on the side of the bed with her legs covered by a quilt and a fox fur coat on her body. She looked lush and seemed to be in a bad mood.

Jia Huan quickly put down the flower basket, walked over and touched Lin Daiyu's forehead, and asked with concern: "Is Sister Lin sick?"

Lin Daiyu felt a little sweet in her heart, and slapped Jia Huan's hand away and said, "Don't touch me, it's cold. I'm fine, I just didn't sleep well last night. Go warm your hands quickly."

Jia Huan quickly put his hands over the stove to warm them. Lin Daiyu coughed lightly and asked, "How early did you come back, brother Huan? Have you seen the old lady and the lady?"

"I've been back for a while, just from the old lady and the mistress." Jia Huan said as he touched Lin Daiyu's forehead and found that she didn't have a fever. He was relieved and asked, "She seems to have a cough. Could it be that her old illness has come back?"

Xueyan brought a cup of hot tea and muttered, "The girl must have been frightened yesterday and didn't sleep well last night, which triggered her old illness."

Jia Huan asked hurriedly: "What happened?"

Zijuan said with a bit of guilt, "It's all my fault. After watching the play in the Grand Hall yesterday, the young lady wanted to go back to the garden. I thought it would be closer if I went through the master's house, but I met a rude and impolite guy on the way and scared the young lady."

Jia Huan raised his sword-like eyebrows and asked in a deep voice, "Who is it?"

"That guy was very ugly. He suddenly jumped out and blocked our way. He claimed to be the master's disciple and called himself Sun or something. He was very rude. My girl and I were so scared that we turned around and ran away, but he chased us and tried to stop us."

Jia Huan blurted out, "Sun Shaozu?"

"It seemed to be this name. I was so frightened at the time that I couldn't hear it clearly." Zijuan said with lingering fear.

Lin Daiyu asked curiously, "Brother Huan, do you know this person?"

Jia Huan nodded and said, "I met him once in the master's room that day. He is currently the commander of the East City Military Department. He is very familiar with the master and seems to be an old friend. He is almost thirty years old and has not yet married."

Lin Daiyu couldn't help but look thoughtful and said to herself, "That's right."

Jia Huan's heart moved, and he asked, "What's wrong?"

Lin Daiyu hesitated and said, "There is one thing. Maybe I am overthinking it. Brother Huan, just listen to it. Yesterday, Sun Shaozu suddenly flashed out from behind the ceremonial gate, bowed and greeted me. From what he said, it seemed that he thought I was his second sister. After Zijuan revealed her identity, this person did not pester me anymore.

Zijuan and I hurried back along the same route, and by chance, we ran into my aunt and my second sister. My aunt also told us not to tell anyone, saying that the man was my uncle's disciple and was invited by my uncle, so I suspected..."

"Sister Lin suspected that Sun Shaozu was arranged by the first wife to wait there, and her purpose was to take the second sister to meet this person?"

Lin Daiyu blushed and said, "This is just my guess. This concerns my second sister's reputation. Brother Huan must not tell anyone about it."

Zijuan whispered, "Master, are you planning to marry that guy to be your son-in-law? Ugly is not the problem, but he is too old. Master, you can't be so foolish, can you?"

Jia Huan said coldly: "I'm not that confused, but I'm afraid that money can make people's hearts sway."

Lin Daiyu and Zijuan looked at each other in surprise. The former whispered, "Could it be that my uncle really wants to marry my second sister to Sun Shaozu?"

Jia Huan nodded and said, "It's almost right."

Lin Daiyu sighed and said, "That second sister is so pitiful."

(End of this chapter)