Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Chapter 212 Osmanthus Xia Family

The eighth day of September.

Lin House.

Qingwen came to tell Daiyu excitedly, "This year's autumn examination was postponed for a month due to floods in various places and difficult roads. It will only start today.

"I heard that the four people in the Jia Mansion have all met their end!"

"Four? Who are they?" Xueyan counted on her fingers but couldn't figure out who they were. "The one from Jinling with the surname Yu, Second Master Bao, Third Master Huan, and who else?"

"And when you get here, you can go and serve Master Jing!" Xiaohong was wiping the Duobao Pavilion. She was busy with her hands, but it did not stop her from talking.

Qingwen nodded repeatedly: "The one from Rong Mansion is called Jia Lang, and the one who rushed back from the Taoist temple is called Jia Li."

He laughed again, "However, Third Master Huan did not have a fate. The one who died was another person from Jinling, who was the same age as Third Master Huan, and whose name was Jia Ying."

"The autumn provincial examination tests the candidates for Juren." Daiyu finally became curious after hearing this, "Do they all have the title of Xiucai?"

"Yes! They all passed the exam when they were in Jinling. Even Ying-ge'er and Jia Lin, who helps with the housework, are actually scholars!"

Qingwen said with a chuckle, "Second Master Bao had to donate money to become a student in the Imperial Academy in order to take the exam. Third Master Huan is a commoner, so he can't go!"

Zijuan glanced at her and said, "You can't say this outside this room. Do you understand?"

Qingwen then thought of Tanchun, stuck out her tongue, and nodded obediently: "Yes. I was wrong. I will never say it again."

But there happened to be a Snow Crow outside the door who came to deliver something. He heard it, paused, and looked at the little girl outside the door.

The little girls were obedient and kept silent. They watched her retreat a few steps before they announced loudly, "Miss Snow Crow is here."

Snow Crow came in with a smile and gave Daiyu a box of ribbons, all colorful and with various patterns: "The county lady has only recently learned how to make them, and she has made quite a few.

"I picked out a few brightly colored ones, as well as the shoes I made last time, and asked Aunt Jiang to send them to the palace for the Empress Dowager.

"These are light and elegant. I thought the princess might like them, so I sent them to you. Please take your pick."

Daiyu smiled and asked her to put it down. She picked among them for a while and took out a plum blossom pattern with green willows and yellow flowers. She sighed:

"I heard that your county lady was also annoyed by others beating her like this. Now she has learned it herself."

He put that one back, smiled and stood up, "I'm free too, just about to go out for a walk, let's go to your place."

Xue Ya smiled and said, "The county lady also wants to invite the princess over to sit down. Second Master Yun is here and is talking about the renovation of the house over there. I'm afraid the princess is impatient to listen."

"How could that be? I haven't seen Yun'er for a while." Daiyu immediately walked out and glared at Qingwen, "You are the laziest. You should wash up at home today.

"Xiaohong, Xueyan, you two follow me and go visit your Yimin County Lady."

Xiaohong blushed and pretended not to hear, still cleaning the Duobao Pavilion. Xueyan rushed over, snatched the rag from her hand, and forced her to wash and wipe her hands, and dragged her out with Daiyu.

Sure enough, in Qingqiu Courtyard, Jia Yun was telling Tanchun about the progress of the decoration of the county lady's mansion: "... the flowers and trees are almost planted. Now all we need to do is put the furniture in.

"But the furniture makers all said to wait. It would be best if we could roast the house over a charcoal fire every day, and move in next spring after this winter."

Tanchun hesitated and looked at Aunt Jiang: "What do you think?"

"That's what I said. It won't be too late to move next spring when the flowers bloom." Aunt Jiang smiled with her eyes narrowed, "I wish you and the princess could live like this!

"Sisters can chat and laugh again. We can entertain guests together. It's lively with people coming and going."

Tanchun laughed: "What's the big deal? I have a yard ready for Sister Lin to live in. At most, we can just take her along to celebrate the New Year."

Lin Daiyu laughed when she heard this.

Xiao Hong lowered her head and opened the curtain. Lin Daiyu came in with a click of the tongue and said with a smile, "Oh my! Now I know why the Empress Dowager wanted to replace those two aunts.

"When those two were here, they hoped that Yimin would move to the county lady's mansion next door tomorrow and never have any contact with me again, so as not to lead the county lady astray.

"Now Aunt Jiang is trying every possible means to get Yimin to hang out with me, eat my food and drink my drinks, and then get into trouble with me tomorrow and go to the Queen Mother to be scolded.

"But isn't this the idea?!"

Aunt Jiang laughed and hurriedly offered her seat to Lin Daiyu, saying, "How did the princess know what I was thinking? It was exactly this idea!"

Everyone laughed.

Jia Yun also smiled, bowed his head and clasped his hands, first greeted Lin Daiyu, then smiled and said, "I was just about to tell the princess and the county lady about something."

Lin Daiyu and Tanchun sat together, holding hands, and smiled as she asked him, "Tell me about it."

"Isn't it that the autumn examination has been postponed? Some of the osmanthus sellers in the capital have hastened the flowering period, so those that bloomed in August are now unsaleable.

"But I took people to check them one by one. It's just that the flowers bloomed for a short time this year, so they will still be good in the future. And therefore we can negotiate the price.

"I see at home... I mean, I see that there was no sweet osmanthus planted in the Princess's Mansion before, and there is no sweet osmanthus planted in the County Princess's Mansion either. Do you want to take advantage of these opportunities to order a few older and taller sweet osmanthus trees?"

Jia Yun lowered his head and said.

Osmanthus fragrans?

Osmanthus Xia family?

The fierce woman who tortured Xiangling to death in her previous life? !

Ah!

Daiyu's eyes sparkled, and she almost followed up his words with a smile, "Okay! I'll order three or five big ones. You can discuss it with Yimin."

Tanchun also laughed: "I was thinking of getting two bigger ones. Next autumn, we'll enjoy the osmanthus flowers and crabs. How carefree! Then, we can secretly bring the Queen Mother out and have a great time all day long!"

Aunt Jiang narrowed her eyes and smiled: "Exactly! Very good!"

Jia Yun relaxed his shoulders and agreed with a smile.

"Whose osmanthus flowers are these? Do we know?" Daiyu asked with a fake casual smile.

Jia Yun also smiled and bowed his head and replied, "The other day I had dinner with the florist I often contact. Unexpectedly, the manager of the osmanthus seller came to see him, and we chatted together.

"I heard that, like the Xue family, they are also imperial merchants listed in the Ministry of Revenue. They have dozens of hectares of osmanthus fields in Beijing. Almost all the osmanthus in Beijing belongs to their family.

"The family's surname is Xia, and outsiders call them the 'Osmanthus Xia Family'. But now they have fallen on hard times, with no male descendants...either the old ones or the young ones.

"Now there is only an old lady and a daughter. Although they are rich, there is no guarantee that someone will get interested one day and the family business will fall into their hands."

When Daiyu heard this, she smiled, said "oh", called Xiaohong over, whispered something in her ear, and then told Jia Yun to leave when there was nothing else to do.

Then Xiaohong followed out silently.

Daiyu took the box of ribbons and pushed them out, pulling Tanchun by the sleeve and grabbing her ear, and asked with a smile:

"Tell me the truth, why did you think of bringing Ying'er's craftsmanship from the Xue family to me?

"Did the Xue family come looking for you? Don't hide it! Tell me now!"