The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion-Chapter 462: Old Madam Wang’s Little Scheme
Chapter 462: Old Madam Wang's Little Scheme
| Daoxiang Village. |
This, of course, didn’t refer to the dim sum shop of later generations, but Li Wan’s residence in the Grand View Garden.
Unlike the magnificent winding roads in other places, this Daoxiang Village was surrounded by pastoral farmhouses, giving it a picturesque suburban atmosphere. Therefore, Li Wan gave it the nickname ”Daoxiang Village.”
This morning, because Baoyu had already led Jia Lan to the Sun family early in the morning, the girls in the garden had nothing to do, and they were afraid that Li Wan would be anxious to wait at home alone, so they all gathered in this Daoxiang Village to chat and have a good time.
Li Wan sat on a black pottery mound, initially responding to the crowd with a few words. However, as she waited and waited, her son didn’t return. It was inevitable that she became restless, and her words gradually diminished.
Xue Baochai was always considerate. Seeing that she was silent and forced to laugh, she was already in no mood to greet the sisters. She then stood up and pointed out to the outside with a smile, "When I just came here, I saw that the grapes on the shelf were ripe. This is the first time grapes have grown in the garden. We can't let the old farmer eat alone. Let’s hurry and pick it, and we Sisters can also have a taste together!"
“I, I, I, I'll go pick it!”
Tanchun was the first to answer, and Daiyu and Xichun also joked that they wanted to go together. So the three of them begged Li Wan for scissors, fruit plates, and other things and went to the courtyard with a smile.
At this moment, Xue Baochai stepped forward and lightly touched Li Wan's shoulder with a white jade-like wrist. She comforted her in a soft voice and said, "Sister-in-law, don't worry. Since Lord Sun made peace from it, I think it's mostly because Brother Bao was greedy for the wine and delayed.”
Li Wan didn't even know that Sun Shaozong was trying his best to promote this matter. There shouldn't be any twists and turns in Jia Lan's apprenticeship. As a mother, she was worried about her son, and it couldn't be erased.
So she took Baochai's with her backhand and said with a wry smile, "I naturally know that. I just can't wait for a definite message, to have a sigh of relief in my heart.”
During her speech, she only felt that Baochai's little hands were warm, delicate, and weak without bones. Even the brocade that was treasured by Imperial might not have such a delicate touch.
For a moment, Li Wan had some ulterior impulses. She wished she could tightly embrace the jade-like person around her and learn from Sun Erlang's ”rude” methods.
It was just that Xue Baochai was not Suyun after all, and she couldn't tolerate the ”manipulation” of rubbing and flattening. Even if she made some intimate moves, she needed to find a suitable reason first.
But for this reason...
It was ready-made!
Sigh~
Li Wan suddenly let out a faint sigh and took the opportunity to encircle Xue Baochai's slender waist. She whispered, "Don't talk about me anymore; let's talk about yourself. Although the Madam has already made up her mind, these young men and girls are constantly struggling with each other. If there were any unforeseen circumstances...”
Although she didn’t fully clarify, Xue Baochai naturally knew who this ”young man and girl” referred to.
So Xue Baochai shook her head slightly and said firmly, "Sister Lin is not someone who doesn't know how to love herself.”
She only mentioned Lin Daiyu but didn't mention Jia Baoyu at all. Obviously, she wasn't very confident about the self-control ability of Brother Bao.
Then she smiled again and said, "Sometimes there must be in life, and when there is no time in life, do not force it. If these two people can truly achieve good results, I will only be happy for them.”
“In front of me, what are you talking about?”
Li Wan sneered and said half truthfully, "Let me listen to your heart; was it as indifferent as you say?”
As he spoke, she pressed the cloud-like hair all over Xue Baochai's forehead, and her left ear was even more impartial, pressing it against half of the round edge.
Ah~
Xue Baochai was startled and was about to dodge, but her waist had already been tightly grasped by Li Wan. How could she break free in a moment?
Feeling Li Wan rubbing back and forth on her chest, not as if she wanted to listen to any heartfelt feelings, but as if she wanted to bury her face in her belly, she couldn't help but blush and say, "Sister-in-law, don't do this. It made me itch.”
But Li Wan didn't raise her head and said, "Itch is right; it proves that you didn't tell the truth just now.”
The voice was faintly muffled; it turned out that she had already buried her mouth and nose in Xue Baochai's chest. As she spoke, the hot breath from her mouth penetrated through layers of fabric, causing Xue Baochai to have small bumps all over her body.
Xue Baochai felt extremely ashamed and deliberately pushed her away, but Li Wan was also a woman and had always been good friends with her. How could she act recklessly due to some absurd actions?
At the moment of being in a dilemma, she heard Li Wan say in a muffled voice, "Apart from anything else, with my sister's easy-to-raise physique, Sister Lin has no chance of winning.”
As she spoke, Xue Baochai felt her buttocks tighten again, and Li Wan took advantage of it and tightly clenched them. She was so scared that she quickly exclaimed, "Sister Lin, why did you come back so soon?”
Li Wan was indeed deceived, and she quickly sat back in her figure. Xue Baochai took advantage of the situation and fled a long distance, blushing and coquettishly saying, "Sister-in-Law, how could you be so, so... I think you must have been intoxicated by her third sister just now…”
Li Wan saw that Daiyu had not returned and knew that she had deceived her. However, it was not easy for her to come up with the ”scoundrel” action again. So she joked with a smile and said, "Why, are you getting a little embarrassed and angry when I expose your thoughts?
Xue Baochai remained silent and went straight to the door, lifting the curtain. Without looking back, she dropped a sentence, "I'll also cut some grapes.”
Watching her curvaceous figure disappear outside the door, Li Wan's evil fire gradually subsided, but she couldn't help but let out a faint sigh.
Although she had some ulterior motives just now, the analysis was not false. Currently, Lin Daiyu and Jia Baoyu were childhood sweethearts, but with Lin Daiyu's body and bones alone, Old Madam Wang would never let Baoyu marry her.
Unfortunately, in today's world, it was precisely the words of the matchmaker ordered by these parents that truly play a decisive role.
Therefore, Li Wan had long concluded that the one who could eventually become her Sister-in-law would undoubtedly be Xue Baochai.
However, her judgment has made some minor deviations in the past two days.
As for the reason for this deviation...
It was a chain reaction triggered by Jia Yuanchun being selected as a ”seed player.”
At noon that day, Old Madam Wang rarely set aside wine and dishes and invited Jia Zheng into the room to speak.
Since Jia Zheng decided to take Concubine Zhao with him to the south, this treatment has been unprecedented for the first time. It made Jia Zheng a bit flattered, and he even tidied up and decided to take advantage of the situation and talk about an ”Old Man talks about teenage madness.”
Who knew that when he arrived at the house, Old Madam Wang dismissed the maid beside her, but she asked directly, "Have you ever spoken back to that marriage?”
Immediately, Jia Zheng was dumbfounded and had no idea what kind of marriage she was asking about.
“It's the marriage between Sun Erlang and Baochai.”
“So you're talking about this.”
Jia Zheng suddenly realized and then said with some displeasure, "Didn't you insist on leaving Niece Xue to Baoyu? You had a lot of trouble with me for this matter, but now why are you bringing this up again?”
In fact, the reason why Jia Zheng asked Sun Shaozong to wait for a reply in the beginning was that he thought that Baoyu and Daiyu were both unsuspecting of being together and that they were cousins, meaning Baochai had no chance of winning.
Unexpectedly, when she came back and spoke to Old Madam Wang, she firmly disagreed and argued. She even said that Lin Daiyu had a ”premature appearance,” gritting her teeth in anger, and then stopped speaking.
After all, although he was angry with Old Madam Wang for being unscrupulous, he didn’t have much confidence in Lin Daiyu's body and bones. No matter how close their niece was, they couldn’t compare it to their son.
Just a few days later, Old Madam Wang took the initiative to talk about this matter again, which truly left Jia Zheng somewhat puzzled.
This…
But seeing Old Madam Wang showing some shame, she remained silent for a while before gritting her teeth and trembling in her voice, "If it had been before, this ”golden and jade bond” would have been great, but now our eldest sister has a chance... to have the chance to give birth to the Crown Prince…”
“Shh…”
Jia Zheng jumped three feet high and made a silent gesture, blowing his beard and glaring. He then looked around the door a few times to make sure that no one had heard her. He then came back and angrily scolded, "Are you crazy?! How dare you say this nonsense? If it reaches the ears of His Majesty and the Crown Prince, how can your sister live peacefully in the harem?”
Old Madam Wang knew she had made a mistake, but now the word ”Crown Prince” could only be known in her heart, and she must not pass it on from her mouth.
Therefore, she quickly slapped her mouth and blamed herself, saying, "Master, don't blame me. I only speak recklessly in front of you and dare not speak nonsense to others.”
Jia Zheng, however, remained uneasy and repeatedly urged her to pay attention to her words and actions. Old Madam Wang, who was in the wrong, swore and swore, which was considered a cessation.
“That's right.”
Jia Zheng frowned and questioned, "What exactly did you mean by that just now?”
“It doesn't mean anything else.”
Old Madam Wang hesitated and said, "If your eldest sister wins and gives birth to a Prince, the situation in our family will be very different, especially if Baoyu is her younger brother.”
“What's wrong?”
Jia Zheng glared in surprise and asked incredulously, "Do you think that Niece Xue is not worthy of Baoyu again?”
“At the moment, it seems like a good match, but if... but if…”
Although Old Madam Wang couldn't say everything completely, her meaning was clear.
At present, in this situation, once Jia Yuanchun was fortunate enough to give birth to a Prince, the future of the Jia family wouldn’t only be dominated by power but would also become the leader of the nobility like the Niu family.
At that time, Jia Baoyu would also become a serious uncle of the state, and with the Xue family's background, it seemed a bit out of class. Therefore, Old Madam Wang had been thinking about it for the past few days and had the idea of ”having the best of both worlds.”
“If you haven't finished speaking to the Sun family's Erlang yet, why don't we delay a bit equivocally?" She said, "If the eldest sister can give birth to a Prince, it's better to push the boat and arrange a marriage between the two families. Sun is also one of the few young talents in the world, and he's not much worse than our family's Baoyu. I think my younger sister won't object too.”
Children were indeed the best in their family, even though Sun Shaozong, a leading figure of the young generation, was still inferior to her son in Old Madam Wang's eyes.
If, after two years, the eldest sister still hasn't given birth to a Prince, then she could promise Baoyu to arrange Baochai for his marriage.
It has to be said that Old Madam Wang's little plan was exceptional.
Jia Zheng was dumbfounded when he heard this, and after a while, he shook his sleeve and said angrily, "You really take over all the good things in this world! Just by speaking over here, it will cause Sun Erlang to delay for two years. If the Baochai was promised to our family at that time, how will I explain it to Sun Erlang?”
“Sun Erlang is now of the fifth rank, and his Big Brother is also accelerating in his career. If we end up on their bad side due to the malicious calculation to harm his family for your sake, isn't it not worth the loss?”
Old Madam Wang, with her divine presence, stood still despite Jia Zheng's harsh words.
It wasn't until Jia Zheng's reprimand came to an end that she put on the look of a clever person with a great plan and said, "It's not easy. When you talk to him about marriage, you just tell him your niece, and never mention Baochai's name again.”
Upon hearing this, Jia Zheng was momentarily stunned, unsure of the differences between this statement and the previous one.
But looking at Old Madam Wang's face full of color, she suddenly realized and blurted out, "You... Do you mean to use Daiyu to offset it then?”
In terms of subdivision, Xue Baochai could be considered the niece of Old Madam Wang, while Lin Daiyu was the niece of Jia Zheng. Of course, Xichun could also be considered Jia Zheng's niece. However, Xichun's identity was one notch short, and she was not destined to become the mistress of the Sun family.
Old Madam Wang nodded and said, "Didn't you still defend Lady Lin against injustice last time? Sun Erlang doesn't seem to have insulted her, does he?”
“As for Sun Erlang, with the appearance of Lady Lin, even Baoyu is difficult to resist. Are you afraid that Sun Erlang will be unwilling?”
He originally thought that she wanted to use Lin Daiyu as a supplement, but when she said so, it seemed like she had the best of both worlds.
Jia Zheng was stunned and stared directly at Old Madam Wang, to whom he had been married for thirty years, like he had only recently met her.
After a while, before shaking his head and saying, "Even if Sun Erlang is willing, how can your precious son be willing to do it? Daiyu has always had an idea; I'm afraid she may not comply.”
“So what?”
Old Madam Wang said decisively, "The words of a matchmaker are the orders of our parents. We can’t manage the marriages of others. Can't we still decide on Baoyu's marriage? If Lady Lin and Baoyu can't make it, it's for her sake to make plans early.”
As she spoke, seeing Jia Zheng still disagreeing, Old Madam Wang's tone became much stronger, and she said with a stern face, "You want to take the harmful spirit southward, until I can't control this? Can't I even make decisions for my son now?”
In this matter, Jia Zheng ultimately felt guilty and felt that regardless of whether Xue Baochai or Lin Daiyu, being able to marry a young and talented person like Sun Shaozong was much better than marrying his son.
So he finally let out a deep sigh and said, "Alright, I'll just follow your example this time. Before I leave, I'll go to the Sun family and bother about it again, and finalize this matter with ambiguity.”
After speaking, he glared again and said, "But don't change your mind in the future.”
