Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Chapter 193 A small confrontation

Jia Yuanchun sat at the head of the table, watching Lin Daiyu bow gracefully.

Baoqin stood proudly beside Jia Yuanchun and coughed, "Stand up, come forward, and take a seat."

Lin Daiyu did not feel embarrassed or humiliated at all. She just walked over with a smile, sat down gracefully, and then said with a smile:

"My lady, it's been a long time." Then he looked at Baoqin and said, "This girl, please go down and don't let anyone disturb you. And don't let anyone in to eavesdrop."

Baoqin's face changed.

Yuanchun looked at her and said, "Go ahead."

He hurried away with the zither in his arms.

Yuanchun looked at Daiyu and sneered: "The emperor gave you face by letting you enter the palace to see me, but he didn't ask you to show your face to me."

That’s what I said!

Daiyu sneered: "Your Highness has said it the other way around. You should say:

"The emperor asked you to summon me to the palace because he wanted to see you, and he had to give the Jia family some respect. But he didn't ask you to come and give me a chance.

"Madam Jia, I came here to ask you something, not to thank you for the rags you sent to my house."

Jia Yuanchun couldn't hold back any longer: "This is a gift from the Emperor... a gift from the palace, and you dare to call it rubbish?!"

Daiyu smiled softly, covering her mouth: "Your Majesty, you also know that the gift you gave is not worthy of the word 'Imperial Gift'?

"A box of mooncakes, a silk fan, a gauze skirt, and a single quilt.

"Are you mocking me for being homeless? Out of place? Alone and helpless?

"What's the harm? I have my uncle Tao Jian who loves me, and His Majesty wants me to break up Jia Wang, Shi Xue, and even the four kings and eight dukes!

"Why should I be afraid of being alone? The Queen Mother loves me very much, and even if the Lord does not like my personality, he has to accept the fact that I am Lin Ruhai's daughter.

"Your Highness, you used Miaoyu to threaten Yimin and ordered her to keep an eye on me in the Lin Residence. What do you want to do?

"If I were just a little orphan girl that you nobles look down upon, why would you spend so much effort on me?"

Although Daiyu was smiling, her eyes were like knives, piercing Yuanchun so hard that she could not dodge. "My Lady, my cousin, please tell me the truth.

"Otherwise, I will tell the emperor all of this. Who knows, he might have to re-investigate: how did he meet my father, how did my father meet my mother, and how was my mother coerced by you?!"

Yuanchun was so frightened that she almost slipped off her seat and asked in a choked voice, "What do you mean by coercion? Who coerced my aunt? What did they coerce me about?!"

Daiyu looked at her reaction and confirmed that this guess was denied at least by Yuanchun. Then she curled her lips and smiled like a spring breeze:

"So, cousin, the meeting between His Majesty and my father, and the meeting between my father and my mother, was indeed planned by someone, and you knew about it, right?"

Yuanchun shuddered.

Surprisingly, I failed to block her in the first round, and she slipped in through the gap and caught a glimpse of the truth.

Taking a deep breath, Yuanchun forced herself to smile: "I hadn't entered the palace yet at that time, and I only heard my mother mention it once.

"It is said that the first deposed prince has committed atrocities, but I am afraid that he cannot be saved. It seems that we need to make some arrangements with the other princes.

"Two years later, I watched that handsome young man, Lin Gusu, who was the top scorer in the imperial examination, become our son-in-law.

"And the way my mother looked at him, it wasn't like she was looking at her brother-in-law, but rather like she was looking at a gold ingot. I guessed that this man might be of great use in the future."

Lin Daiyu would not listen to her perfunctory words and continued with a smile: "How old were you at that time? Your mother certainly didn't say that to you.

"Given how cunning my grandmother and uncle are, this couldn't possibly have been discussed with them. So, was this something your mother and your uncle discussed?

"If that's the case, how could a girl like you from the Jia family hear the Wang family's secret discussion? Cousin, I have little experience, so please don't lie to me!"

Yuanchun paused for a moment, then forced a smile: "My uncle actually told my mother this. I was in the warm room next door at the time, and they all thought I was asleep."

Daiyu nodded, "So that's how it is." She smiled again, stood up and knelt hastily, "I was rash and made assumptions about my cousin. I apologize for that."

Then he sat down and asked with a smile, "Then the death of my younger brother, mother, and father, are they related to the Wang family?"

Yuanchun was so frightened that she almost screamed, "Sister Lin, what are you talking about? My cousin, my uncle and my aunt all died of illness! What does this have to do with the Wang family?"

"That's hard to say." Lin Daiyu smiled faintly, "Your mother died by accident, do you really think it was just an accident?"

Yuanchun felt a black screen in front of her eyes, and her heart ached. She stretched out her hand to hold the seat and smiled sadly: "My dear sister, tell me, what do you want to know?

"Tell me what you know, even if it's not necessarily the truth, I'll tell you everything!"

"Okay. I won't mention the Wang family anymore. As long as you stop following the Wang family in bullying me, I won't treat you as a member of the Wang family and take revenge on you together."

Daiyu smiled very gently, "Now, please explain to me what you told Yimin last time -

"What do you mean by Miaoyu going to the Lin family and expressing gratitude to Lin Zhixiao's family? What do you mean by them both helping Yimin to plot against me?"

"That's not what I said originally." Yuanchun finally calmed down her breathing and her heart no longer hurt so much. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and spoke slowly.

"Miaoyu's true identity is that she is a descendant of the royal family of the previous dynasty. Her ancestors were surnamed Song, from Suzhou, and were fond of antiques.

"In fact, her family name is Zhao. The last emperor of the previous dynasty and her great-grandfather are cousins. Those antiques were definitely smuggled out of the previous imperial palace.

“After I entered the palace, I saw a list of lost items from the Sizhen Division. The items on it overlapped 80% with the list of items that were robbed from her home.

"It's just that in her generation, there was only this one daughter. The person ordered to track her down felt pity and spared her family.

"Who would have thought that they would not restrain themselves and actually flaunt their wealth in front of others. This is what brought disaster upon them." At this point, Yuanchun also looked reluctant and sighed.

"I heard that the one who was greedy was Prince Zhongshun. He went to his house first and then made up his mind to get it."

Daiyu saw that she could not continue, so she spoke for her: "So he disguised himself as a bandit and did evil things.

"What happened next? How did you know? Especially since you were in the palace, how come you knew more details than your parents outside?"

Yuanchun lowered her eyes and said, "I only found out about this after my family took her in. Prince Beijing sent me her life story and threatened me with the Rong and Ning mansions to find out the emperor's will for him."

Daiyu narrowed her eyes and asked, "What is the holy will?"

"Are you satisfied with the prince?"

"Prince?!"

"The prince wanted to be on good terms with him in his early years, but he embarrassed the prince several times. Later, when he wanted to turn things around, the prince treated him coldly again."

"Oh! So he wants to find an opportunity to change the crown prince."

Daiyu smiled and said, "This extremely stupid Prince Beijing has a really good plan!"