Uncle Lai in the Red Chamber

Chapter 185 Concubine
For some unknown reason, Xing Zhong and Xing's wife insisted on delaying until the evening of the second day of April before sending someone to pick up Xing Xiuyan and return to Huazhi Lane.

Before parting, the sisters said goodbye and sent congratulatory gifts in advance.

The two places are not far from each other, and it takes only a quarter of an hour to arrive at Huazhi Lane.

With the support of Yuanyang, Xing Xiuyan got off the carriage and entered the courtyard.

Looking at the elegant courtyard, with its bright red characters and lanterns hanging high, Xing Xiuyan felt filled with happiness.

"Mother! Father!"

Seeing her parents in the courtyard, Xing Xiuyan ran over and held her mother's hands tightly.

"Silly boy! Why are you crying!"

Xing's wife raised her hand to wipe away the tears falling on Xing Xiuyan's face, and pulled her to a wing in the backyard.

Pointing to the golden head on the table, he smiled and said: "Shang Rong bought these and delivered them himself!"

Xing Xiuyan glanced around the room and thought to herself: Is this the boudoir where she is getting married?

Unable to hide her shyness, she said, "Why don't you see Xifu?"

"Uh... Xifu was afraid it would get dirty, so he didn't bring it in!"

When Xing's wife saw that Xing Xiuyan had just turned from sadness to joy, she adopted an ostrich mentality, thinking that she could hide it for a while.

Then he pulled Xing Xiuyan to the dressing table, faced the mirror, and drew on the head and face jewelry sent by Lai Shangrong.

After dinner, he returned to the boudoir where he was to be married, sat his daughter down on the embroidered bed, and pulled out a blue-covered story book from somewhere. Holding the story book in his hands, he sat down next to her. .

As Mrs. Xing whispered next to her daughter, I saw Xing Xiuyan's cheeks blushing, and gradually, that blush spread all the way along the neck and deep down.

Xing Xiuyan lowered his head, unable to bear to look directly at the storybook in his mother's hand, but he did not dare to slack off at all in his mother's teachings. He could only glance at the key points with evasive eyes, and immediately collapsed at the first touch.

I thought secretly, is this the gift of husband and wife?
That night, whether it was the anxiety about getting married or the confusion of her mother's teachings, Xing Xiuyan couldn't sleep that night, and she didn't fall asleep until the fifth watch of the night.

Because Lai Shangrong planned to keep a low profile, he arranged for the sedan to come in at the wrong time, which made Xing Xiuyan sleep until midnight.

After waking up, I just pretended to have slept for an hour, and I couldn't help but panic. Suddenly I caught a glimpse of the pink wedding dress on the table. I felt it was particularly dazzling. I was so stunned that I couldn't speak, and I suppressed the tears in my eyes.

Pink! ?Taking a concubine! ?
"Girl! Let me help you wash up!"

Yuanyang's voice came, and Xing Xiuyan got down from the bed with dull eyes. After washing up under Yuanyang's service, she walked to the dressing table like a zombie, and sat silently on the stool. She unintentionally looked at the golden headdress on the table, and her head was filled with confusion. It's blank, just let the mandarin ducks take care of it.

Thinking of the teasing of the sisters these days, I just feel that my cheeks are burning hot.

Dressing up, putting on wedding clothes, and covering her head in just over an hour, to Xing Xiuyan, it felt like a lifetime ago.

As the firecrackers sounded outside the house, Xing Zhong and Xing's wife also rushed over.

Xing Xiuyan glanced at her parents who looked ashamed and bowed slightly.

"My daughter is gone!"

After that, he was in a daze, like a marionette, and got into the sedan chair with the support of the mandarin duck, the curtain of the sedan chair was drawn down, and tears finally flowed down uncontrollably.

…………

At this time, in the Grand View Garden, Baoyu and a group of sisters, who were preparing to go to Lai's house for a wedding banquet, received a notice not to go.

"What! To be a concubine?"

Hearing the little maid's report, she couldn't help but exclaimed.Among them, Baochai and Tanchun were the loudest, while Yingchun was, as always, half a beat behind the others.

Baoyu stood up and said angrily: "Sister Xing, a person as golden as jade, how can she be a concubine?"

Hearing the word "Jin Yu", Daiyu couldn't help but sneer and said: "Huh! I'm afraid someone is not complaining about Sister Xing, but the one who is angry about taking the concubine is not herself!"

"How could I have such dirty thoughts? It's just that Sister Xing is so talented and beautiful, how could she be a concubine?! Could it be..."

Tanchun stopped him and said, "Second brother, please be careful. Everyone has his or her own destiny. Besides, the eldest aunt and sister Xing's parents are in charge of this matter. They may be relying on eldest brother for their favor, but we don't know!"

Xichun asked: "Does Sister Xing know?"

Baochai sighed: "I probably know it! Maybe I knew it before I came to Beijing. I think sister Xing's family background..."

Speaking of this, I stopped talking.

Seeing Yingchun who had nothing to do with her, Baoyu said angrily: "Second sister! Sister Xing is your cousin, why didn't you say a word!"

Yingchun was alone in a daze when she suddenly heard Baoyu calling her and said in a panic: "I...I don't know!"

Seeing everyone looking at him in unison, he hurriedly added: "I don't know how to say it!"

Tanchun almost didn't hold back, but fortunately he stopped in time, sighed softly and said indistinctly, "Oh! Although it's not nice to say that being a concubine is good, but fortunately, I gave it to Brother Lai, and it's not a wrong person."

He turned to Baoyu and said, "Yesterday we promised Sister Xing, but because we are keeping concubines, we are not allowed to go there. Why don't the second brother go over and congratulate us on our behalf?"

Baoyu yelled as if he was angry: "I won't go, I won't go! I can't get over the sadness, how can I say congratulations!"

Daiyu sneered and said: "I don't know whether Sister Xing knows, but it's impossible for Brother Lai not to know whether he is a concubine or a wife. But even so, he did not look down on her at all. He knew that there was no one around Sister Xing. He took care of me and even asked the old lady for a mandarin duck. He thought so carefully and thoughtfully, which is much better than some people who only talk nonsense afterward!"

Baochai persuaded and said: "We don't need to argue here. It's not convenient to go there anyway. Besides, it doesn't sound good to talk about taking a concubine. Sister Xing may not want us to see it!"

After thinking for a while, he added: "We all sent gifts in advance yesterday. Sister Xing should be able to understand our difficulties."

Daiyu stood up suddenly and said reluctantly: "I don't care whether you send gifts or not, but I want to send them. It was for Sister Xing before, and Brother Lai's gifts haven't been sent yet! Since we can't go, If anyone wants to go or not, just ask the maids to send him there."

Tanchun was the first to agree: "Then count me in!"

Then he turned to look at everyone and said, "Who else wants to send it? Let's take it with us too!"

Yingchun said weakly: "You all give it away, so I will do the same as you!"

Baochai smiled and said: "Whether brother Lai marries a wife or takes a concubine, my brother will definitely go. It's hard for a family to send two congratulatory gifts, so I don't need to do anything extra."

I had originally planned to come to the door to congratulate him, and the gifts were all ready-made, so there was no need to go back and prepare them.

Except for Baochai and Baoyu, everyone put their gifts in one place.

Si Qi immediately volunteered and said, "Why don't you let me deliver it to you! Miss Xing is your cousin after all."

Daiyu and Tanchun always spoke for Uncle Lai, and even did not hesitate to offend Baoyu with words. Baochai was also related to Xue Pan, but their own lady was slow to do anything. She saw it and was anxious in her heart, eager to declare her sovereignty for Yingchun. , so I took on the task of delivering gifts.

Jogging all the way to Lai's house, Xing Xiuyan's pink sedan chair happened to have just entered the door.

After registering the congratulatory gifts at the concierge, I wanted to go to Lai Shangrong to say a few words for Yingchun. When I entered the courtyard, I saw Jia Zhen, Jia Lian, Xue Pan and others, surrounding Lai Shangrong like stars over the moon.

He had to retreat silently.

(End of this chapter)