A few days ago, the Jia family had received a letter that Daiyu would return to the capital that day. Grandmother Jia sympathized with Daiyu's situation and specially told Xifeng,"You sent someone to pick her up a few days ago. She just experienced a sad thing.”He then instructed," I'm usually too lazy to ask about the servants in the residence. They've learned to look down on me. You should also beat them up.”
Since the old lady had given her instructions, Xifeng naturally agreed and went back to make the arrangements. When they were eating, she asked Ping Er,""The people we sent to wait have been waiting for two to three days, but there's still no news. Where did this Miss Lin go?”
Ping 'er nodded and said," I don't know what ship Miss Lin is on, but there was no news along the way. However, someone came to the pier just now and said that there was a ship that came in the morning to deliver a letter. It said that Second Miss Lin is sick and seasick, so the ship is moving slowly. It will arrive tomorrow morning at the latest."”
Lin Er is sick?!" Xi Feng was stunned for a moment before she suddenly understood and smiled."That's what I meant. In your Second Master's letter, he said that our Miss Lin is doing well in Suzhou and Yangzhou. There's no door that she can't enter in the official and merchant circles. In order to divide the family property, she has even managed to control the Lin family elders. I was surprised that she was even more capable than me. Sigh, she's still a woman after all. She must be tired.”Xi Feng continued," It's obvious that this person was forced out. When she was with us, we didn't have to worry about her at all. We even said that she was dumb. Now that she's back, Master Lin is dead, and we can't count on anyone else for his funeral. It's hard for her, as his niece, to bear the responsibility."”
Ping 'er also said," That's right. The two pitiful Miss Lin are both good people. Now that everyone in the family is dead, they have no one to rely on. I wonder what will happen in the future."”
Xifeng said," What else can she do? At least Miss Lin has the old lady to support her. She'll marry someone in the future and be stable. It won't be bad. It's harder for Lin Er. We can still let her do whatever she wants. Her family will always be dead and she doesn't have a dowry. I don't know how she'll do it in the future. I'll just watch from the side. In the future, I'll have to let Sister Lin accompany me."”He changed the topic and said,"Fortunately, we're here. Otherwise, I'm afraid we wouldn't know where to live now."”
"I heard that she has a god-relative outside. Do you know how he is? Is he reliable?"”
"What god-relative?" Xi Feng shook her head."I'm afraid it's only because of the power of Master Tu Lin." Otherwise, why would she still come to us after Aunt Lin died?”
"Oh, right." "Baoyu took a fancy to Qingwen the other day and said he wanted her. I only said I couldn't make the decision and wanted to ask Grandma, so I didn't answer him."”
"That Qingwen is the one that the old lady gave to Second Miss Lin and then had a fight with the carbon manager?”
"It's her."
"She looks pretty good, but she has a strange temper. No wonder Baoyu likes her. However, although she came from the old lady and it is appropriate to give her to Baoyu, the old lady has already promised to give her away. Now that her master has returned in the blink of an eye, it is not appropriate for us to touch her. As for Baoyu, you can give him another one. However, you have to be more careful about his personality and appearance. Don't let Madam say that we didn't choose well when she sees him.”
After the two of them had eaten, Ping Er went to Baoyu to dispel his thoughts and chose another suitable one for him. Xifeng, on the other hand, rushed to arrange a courtyard and Daiyu in her free time. Daiyu was going to stay here for a long time. In the future, she would only leave the house from this courtyard. In the future, it might be according to the old lady's wishes or the madam's calculations. It would not be good to let Daiyu and her husband stay in the guest courtyard.
Daiyu was about to return, so let's not talk about the Jia family's reaction first. On this side of the dock, the people responsible for receiving the ship were the Zhou family, who was the wife's side room, and another steward surnamed Li, who was sent by the old lady.
He told the boy that since Miss Lin's ship would arrive tomorrow, it would not arrive in the blink of an eye no matter how fast it was. He said that he wanted to invite the two stewards to a nearby teahouse for tea and that he wanted a table by the window upstairs to sit and wait. It would not delay things. Since Xifeng had personally given the order, the steward naturally did not dare to slack off. No matter how he tried to persuade her, he only dared not leave the dock.
A clever boy borrowed two chairs from the boatman and asked the two stewards to sit down. He personally held a small teapot and said,"Miss Lin's boat is naturally a rented big boat. It's easy to recognize. We saw it from afar and sent a chair and teapot to the boatman to welcome Miss back.”
The steward thought for a moment and finally agreed. He sat by the river and drank tea while chatting with the boys about the manor. After drinking half a cup of tea, he was very satisfied. Suddenly, he heard someone exclaim. When he looked, he saw a big black phoenix gold ship coming from the river. It was escorted ashore by two small arrow boats.
"Aiya, what a nice boat!" The steward followed the crowd and told the boy who followed him," You've never seen such a big ship, right? Speaking of which, I've only seen it once. That was when I passed by Yangzhou to send our young lady off. It was said that when the late emperor went to Yangzhou, he rode this kind of wind.”
Hearing that the Emperor had ridden on it, the boy wanted to see it even more. The group of people squeezed to the shore, all of them standing on tiptoes and stretching their necks out, wanting to see what kind of high-ranking official this person was riding on the same boat as the Emperor.
The small boat gave way, and the big boat gradually approached the shore. The footboard was put down, and five or six strong men in black clothes with sleeves rolled up strode out from the boat. They looked at the boat with fierce eyes, and one of them shouted,"Where is the Jia family?"
The steward's heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly went up and bowed, saying, I'm the steward of the Jia family, surnamed Zhou…" Before he finished speaking, the man interrupted,""It was Steward Zhou. I don't know where the sedan chair is. Please arrange for it to be carried to the boat.”
" This..." Who would carry a palanquin into a boat? Steward Zhou hesitated for a moment before calling for the palanquin to be carried over. He said,""May I ask where Miss Lin is now? I heard from the higher-ups that Young Lady is slightly ill."
"Naturally on the ship." The man looked at the person carrying the sedan chair and said,"The boat is not as good as the ground, especially when carrying the sedan chair over the steps. If you are not familiar with it, I'm afraid it will be unstable." Steward Zhou, why don't you ask the brothers to rest while I ask people to carry the palanquin onto the big ship. After picking up the young miss, we will carry it down and the brothers will take it?”
"Good, good, good." Steward Zhou quickly called for the sedan chair to be carried over. When he saw the chair, he secretly kicked it into the river.
The palanquin got on the boat and came back a moment later. Seeing the palanquin was heavy, he knew that he had already picked up someone. As the man directed the small boat to unload the cargo, he handed over more than thirty carts to Steward Zhou. Half of them were Daiyu's dowry, and the rest were some paintings, calligraphy, relics, and gifts.
After the handover, the man bowed to Butler Zhou and said goodbye to the two men,"Big Ambition Brothers, even if we bid farewell today, I believe that we won't be far from meeting again. When you follow the young miss to the Land of Yangsu again, don't forget to call out to the brothers on the water.”
How to unload the ship and load the car at the dock, how to hand it over, and not to mention him, in just a moment, the dock shore was already full of cars ready to go. In front of the road was naturally the steward boy who came to pick them up. In the middle was two Lanni sedan chairs guarded by more than ten old women and girls. The sedan chair spread out from five to six steps to hundreds of meters. It was a formation of two men in a car. Although the capital was a place where the rich gathered, such a scene also attracted many people to look at it.
Along the way, although Daiyu had the pain of her father's death and the destruction of her family, her heart was also depressed and sad. However, because of Lin Ming's illness, she fell into a coma and was seriously ill. She had been bedridden. She wholeheartedly took care of Lin Ming. Her sadness was temporarily put aside and she cried less.
At this moment, the palanquin was moving steadily on the road, swaying slightly, making people sleepy. Daiyu didn't want to sleep. She flipped through a book in her hand, but she couldn't read the words. She closed the book and saw the title on the cover. She knew it was Lin Er's book.
"What's so good about this book? She's so fascinated by it that she can't leave it day and night.”Daiyu opened the book again and read a page carefully. However, she could not find any clever or good words in it. She closed the book again and wiped the dust off the cover with a handkerchief. She carefully put it aside.
Daiyu opened a small corner of the curtain and asked,"Where are we? Why is it so lively?”
"Oh, Miss, we're not far from the pier and haven't reached the main street yet. The commoners came to see that our convoy had a large formation, so they were a little noisy.”
When Daiyu heard this voice, she quickly pulled down the curtain and was shocked.
"Does Young Lady have any instructions?" That person waited, and when he didn't receive an answer, he followed suit. A shadow on the curtain of the palanquin seemed to have its head pressed against the palanquin.
Daiyu was a little annoyed, but she knew that it had nothing to do with this kid. After all, it was Lin Er's instructions. She immediately said,"I don't have any instructions. Don't stand beside me.”As soon as he finished speaking, his thoughts changed again. Although he didn't know where Lin Er had recruited these strangers, they had already pledged their loyalty to Lin Er. Although it wasn't that everyone didn't know many rules, they were still very polite when holding funerals at home or on the road.
Therefore, he said," Lin Er is better. I'm afraid she'll be tired from sitting in the sedan chair. Go and see where she is. She's better."”
The man nodded and left. In the sedan chair, Daiyu twisted the silk and cursed Lin Er again, blaming her for not knowing what was wrong with her brain to make such a ostentatious display. She was even more dandy than Baoyu and did not listen to advice.
With the rumbling of carriages and the rustling of horses, coupled with the spectators on both sides of the road, there was not a moment of peace along the way.
After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly heard a horse galloping past his palanquin and stopped beside Lin Er's palanquin. Daiyu held the palanquin and listened carefully. At first, she couldn't hear anything, but then a male voice shouted,"Young Lady has ordered to stop the carriage! Everyone took a break and drank water!”
Why did he stop? Lin Er was still sick. He should have gone to his grandmother's house earlier to ask the imperial doctor to take a look. How could he stay here? Daiyu opened a corner of the curtain and saw a stout servant girl beside the palanquin, so she called out to her.
The servant girl smiled and replied," It's just a cup of tea's time. Don't be anxious, Young Lady. Young Lady has her own reasons." We have to let the residence prepare these things. Otherwise, where will we put them?”
"She's always so reasonable, but you all listen to her." Old Lady and the sisters are all waiting. It would be rude for us to stay here. Besides, if people say that we are resting on the road, they won't know that Uncle and Aunt will be sad. Hurry up and tell her to leave.”
The servant girl nodded and turned to run towards the sedan chair behind her. As expected, after a short while, she heard the horse galloping from behind to the front, and the sedan chair leisurely moved forward again.
Sitting in the sedan chair, Daiyu thought of the scene. Grandmother was definitely going to cry. She didn't know if her sisters had received the news, if they had gone to school, or if Baoyu was around. When I went there that day, everyone was holding hands like that. When I came back, I told them again and again that Baoyu was seriously ill…As she thought about it, her eyes became wet.
"Miss Lin, we're here." When the palanquin stopped, a mother pulled open the door. The palanquin was already surrounded by ten or so exquisitely dressed servant girls. These girls were probably useful and shouldn't have gone out. Daiyu glanced around and saw that the sedan chair had already entered the second door. Daiyu's eyes reddened. She held her mother's hand and slowly walked out." Mother Zhou, it was you who had to come and fetch me."”
Zhou Ruijia carefully held Dai Yu's hand and smiled.""Young Lady, what are you talking about? This time when I came home, I just received the news. Old Lady, Furen, the entire residence has been looking forward to Young Lady for several days. I was just lucky to receive this mission to pick Young Lady up.”
Those servant girls were also chattering away, and Dai Yu nodded." Then let's go quickly. Don't make everyone wait too long."”As she said this, Daiyu looked back but did not see the other sedan chair. She quickly asked,"Where's Second Young Lady Lin? Why isn't the palanquin here?"
Zhou Ruijia was stunned for a moment before he suddenly smiled and said,"So Young Lady didn't know. I originally planned to pick up the two Young Ladies together, but Second Young Lady Lin's servant girl said that Young Lady's health wasn't good and that seeing Old Lady would make her sad for nothing. It would be better to go back to the courtyard to recuperate first. After a few days, it would be the same if I see Old Lady and the others again. Therefore, Miss Zhi's sedan chair went through the side door, while Second Miss Lin's sedan chair only entered through the small door at the east foot door. At this moment, she was afraid that they had all gone to the courtyard.”
"I see." Daiyu retracted her gaze and looked up. Coincidentally, she saw the swallow nest beside the plaque in the main hall of the second gate. Her heart ached and she finally said,"Let's go."
If it was in the past, Lin Er would definitely be with me. Could it be that she got serious again on the road? Or, or…Daiyu's heart was in turmoil and she didn't pay attention to her feet. She walked lightly and hurriedly, and after passing through a few moon gates, she heard a familiar voice shouting,"Miss, you're finally back!" Daiyu looked up and her eyes were sore again. That hurried welcome, if it wasn't Zijuan, then who was it?
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。