This evening.

The Grand View Garden, which had been silent for a while, became lively again with the start of the dinner party. Even Jia She and Jia Zhen also returned to the scene one after another.

But now, the atmosphere of the male guest chairman became strange again.

Because there were more elders present, Xue Pan was sitting under Xue Pan with a little restraint. Seeing this scene, he couldn't help but feel puzzled, so he pulled Xue Pan and asked quietly: "Brother, is there something between Master Shen and Uncle Zhen of Ningguo Mansion?

Is there any quarrel?"

"Is this..."

Xue Panzheng was staring at Xiaodan on the stage with bright eyes. When he heard this question, the expression on his face froze immediately. He spread his hands and said: "I'm not very familiar with them. You ask me, but I don't know."

Who should I ask?"

Xue Biao saw that what he said was not sincere, and knew that he must have touched on the secrets of Rongguo Mansion, and his cousin had probably been involved. Otherwise, why would he hide it from him if he was not close enough?

So I didn't ask any more questions, I just suppressed the questions in my heart for the time being.

At this time, Ying'er walked quickly and whispered a few words in Xue Pan's ear.

I'll take him down to rest first."

Jia She twisted his beard and nodded: "In that case, I won't keep you brothers anymore. You are my own family. If you need anything in the future, just open your mouth."

Xue Pan led Xue Biao to thank Jia She, and said "Sorry" to everyone twice before following Ying'er out of the main hall.

Aunt Xue led Baochai and sisters Baoqin who had been waiting outside the door for a long time. When they saw his brother coming out, they took Xue Pan and gave them instructions until Xue Pan urged them impatiently.

Send it outside the garden.

When they reached the intersection, Aunt Xue stopped and was about to say goodbye to the two brothers when she suddenly heard someone yelling behind the rocks.

Because the voice sounded very familiar, Aunt Xue couldn't help but wonder: "Who is there? Why does it sound familiar?"

"It seems to be Xiangling!"

Ying'er knew Xiang Ling very well, so she immediately recognized her voice.

Everyone didn't know what was going on, and they were afraid that something had happened to Xiang Ling, so they followed the sound and looked for it, only to see Xiang Ling holding a vase and looking at the top of the rock, and kept reminding her: "Be careful!

These few branches should be enough!"

Looking towards the rock, I saw a tall figure clinging to it, picking and picking the autumn chrysanthemums blooming in the mountain.

Aunt Xue couldn't help but exclaimed when she saw this: "Come down quickly, come down quickly, why are you climbing so high at night?!"

Jiao Shun looked back at the top and nodded to everyone, but there was no reply. He turned around and broke off a few more sticks with scissors, then climbed down like a gecko. When he was halfway up the mountain, he simply twisted his waist and jumped down.

Amidst the screams of everyone, they saw him straighten his back as if nothing happened, take off the flower branch from his mouth, hold it in his hand and say with a smile: "I just had a whim, I don't want my tired wife to worry about me."

Aunt Xue patted her chest in fear, and complained in an ups and downs: "This is the fifth rank of the current dynasty, but why is it still so reckless? What should I do if I fall?!"

"I didn't even want to climb up."

Jiao Shun explained: "I just wandered here and saw a lot of chrysanthemums blooming here, so I wanted to pick some and take them home to show Xiuyan and her children. I didn't want to start collecting them, but I realized that it was still early and most of these chrysanthemums were still in bad shape.

Yes, only a few plants on the rocks bloom earlier than others, perhaps because they get enough sunshine on weekdays, so..."

As he spoke, he simply regulated the chrysanthemums in his hands, pieced them together into a random handful, and then trimmed the lengths of the branches one by one.

But Baoqin secretly asked her cousin who Xing Xiuyan was, and she couldn't help but be very curious.

I heard my brother talk about Jiao Jijiu's glorious deeds in just a few years, from giving birth to a slave to a fifth-ranked servant in the current dynasty. I only thought that Jiao Shun was a man who was devoted to official career and economics. Whoever wanted to turn around would see how pitiful he was towards his son.

A scene with the husband.

Seeing that Jiao Shun was pruning at an angle, he couldn't help but ask: "Brother Jiao, what's the name of pruning like this?"

Perhaps because she is in the period of voice change, her voice is a bit like a clipped sound, but it is much more natural than one that is deliberately suppressed, and it is more poignant to people's hearts.

However, Jiao Shun's current thoughts are more focused on Aunt Xue.

He knew very well that a bird in the hand is worth as much as a hundred birds in the forest, so naturally he would not make the same mistake as Baoyu. He put on the face of a gentleman and said with a smile: "It's not about the name, it's just convenient."

It absorbs water in the bottle and stays there for a while."

"I see."

Bao Qin nodded slightly, but Xue Biao beside him couldn't help but exclaimed: "Brother Jiao actually has some research on flower arrangement?"

"Haha~"

Jiao Shun smiled heartily, waved his hand and said, "Brother Tadashi thinks highly of me. I'm just hearing about it. How can I say that I have studied hard?"

After saying that, she motioned Xiangling to bring the vase closer, put the arranged bouquet inside, and carefully pinched off the overly dense leaves, and then ordered: "Take it back, if the aunt and the girl have already fallen asleep."

, I’ll just put it in the living room for now, and I’ll take it in myself early tomorrow morning.”

After Xiangling left with the flowers in her hands, Jiao Shun took the opportunity to say goodbye and returned to the main hall of the Grand View Garden.

But after seeing off brothers Xue Pan and Xue Bian, Aunt Xue and Baochai were both a little confused.

Aunt Xue was feeling better, but Baochai had mixed feelings in her heart.

After Jiao Shun was promoted to Jijiu, Jia Baoyu was a direct descendant of Rongguo Mansion. Zhun Guojiu's identity and background advantages have basically been equalized or even surpassed. Considering the attitudes and abilities of the two in their economic careers, the gap will only grow in the future.

getting bigger and bigger.

Even in terms of being gentle and considerate towards women, it now seems that Jiao Shun is even worse than him.

She was originally most worried about the issue of "risk", but after personally participating in the battle of Dali Temple (although it was just soy sauce), most of it was dispelled.

Facts have proved that although Jiao Shun is young and has not read many books, he has risk control abilities that are not commensurate with his age and experience.

The various miraculous calculations during this period were just a matter of prediction. More importantly, Xue Baochai realized from the message he conveyed to Lin Daiyu that Jiao Shun had actually prepared a retreat early in the morning, and always maintained a posture of being able to advance, attack, retreat and defend.

Putting aside this biggest worry, how can Jia Baoyu still have the slightest advantage in front of Jiao Shun?

Could it be...

Did you really make the wrong choice?

But now it's too late to repent, and I can only let the feeling of loss linger in my heart.

Seeing that the mother and son were both preoccupied, Baoqin originally had a lot of things to ask, but it was inconvenient to speak at the moment.

The three of them silently returned to the door of the main hall. Aunt Xue calmed down and ordered: "I'm going to ask Lin Yatou to come out for Baochai. You can also follow them to help clean up."

"No, no, no!"

Bao Qin waved her hand quickly: "I left the maid in the Xiaoxiang Pavilion in the afternoon, and Sister Lin's people are helping me. Everything has been arranged by now."

As he spoke, he chuckled and said, "Has Auntie forgotten? I have been with my father since I was a child, and the maids and servants have long been accustomed to these things."

"Alas~"

She looked cute and charming, but how could Aunt Xue not know the pain behind it?

He couldn't help but sigh: "Your uncle and your father are both cruel, leaving us orphans and widowed mothers..."

"Mother!"

Seeing Wang Xifeng sending a group of female relatives out, Baochai quickly interrupted Aunt Xue and urged: "It's getting late, so we'd better invite Sister Lin out quickly."

After Aunt Xue came in, Xue Baochai pulled her cousin aside alone and warned: "Since you said everything is ready, I won't follow you. Let's rest early when we get there. Don't be playful."

stay up."

Baoqin held her arm and said with a smile: "Sister, I've been doing nothing on the boat these days. I only eat and sleep every day. How can I be tired?"

"Even if you are not tired, your sister Lin should be tired by the end of the day."

Baochai said sternly: "She has always been frail and sick, but she never knows how to take care of her body. So I'm not afraid that you two won't get along well. I'm just afraid that you will lose your temper with each other and be playful and careless."

Baoqin suddenly understood and responded obediently.

At the same time, I thought to myself, I previously thought that my sister and Sister Lin were not getting along, but now it seems that is not the case.

But not long after, Lin Daiyu came out, Baochai entrusted her to Daiyu, watched the two of them go out for a long distance, and then returned to the palace alone.

As a result, as soon as he entered the door, he saw Baoyu rolling around in the arms of the old lady and acting coquettishly. Although the junior Chenghuan's kneeling was also a sign of filial piety, but...

Alas~

When will he grow up?

Not to mention how upset Baochai was.

But after Bao Qin followed Lin Daiyu out of the Grand View Garden, he couldn't help but inquire along the way: "Sister Lin, what kind of person is Brother Jiao?"

Lin Daiyu asked curiously: "Why did you suddenly ask about Brother Jiao?"

Baoqin then explained in detail the fact that his brother was full of praise in front of him and what happened to Jiao Shun picking flowers just now. He only omitted the mention of Jiao Shun by Xue Baochai in his family letter.

Lin Daiyu suddenly realized, covered her mouth and said with a smile: "This is not surprising. When Sister Xing had to be Brother Jiao's concubine, I felt sorry for her for a long time. Who knew that I had expressed the wrong feelings."

"A last resort?"

Baoqin became more and more surprised and hurriedly asked: "Where did you start talking about this?"

Lin Daiyu also told the story of Xing Xiuyan's identity and why she became Jiao Shun's concubine. Baoqin was filled with sighs as she listened.

"Fortunately, Brother Jiao is a man who knows both cold and hot. He dotes on Sister Xing in every possible way. Not only does he leave all the housework to her, he also..."

Halfway through, Lin Daiyu suddenly woke up. The anonymous publication of the article by the sisters was not something to be spread casually, especially since Bao Qin would soon marry into Mei Hanlin's family. As we all know, the Hanlin Academy was one of the strongholds for criticizing Jiao Shun and opposing the New Deal.

So he quickly changed the topic and talked a lot about Jiao Shunping's considerate performance.

Bao Qin was astonished when he heard this and couldn't help but sigh: "Sure enough, people cannot be judged by their appearance. It would be great if the Mei family brother also had such a temper."

Lin Daiyu couldn't help but laugh when she heard this, and joked: "You girl is so shameless, you set up a trap on Mr. Mei for no reason. Could it be that you can't wait to get married?"

"What's this?"

Bao Qin didn't take it seriously and said: "I came to Beijing this time to get married. Besides, who among us girls doesn't want to marry a man who knows both coldness and warmth?"

Lin Daiyu didn't expect her to be so calm, and was touched by these words. The smile on her face gradually faded, and she sighed to herself: "Yes, who in our girl family doesn't want to marry a Ruyi who knows both coldness and warmth?"

Mr. Lang?"

After walking forward in silence for a while, she heard Bao Qin ask a little bit, "Sister Lin, there is something I don't know whether to ask or not."

Lin Daiyu smiled: "We have already lived in the same place, what else can we ask?"

"that is……"

Bao Qin hesitated and said: "When I said I wanted to move in in the afternoon, I saw that the sisters seemed a little...if it's not convenient to say so, forget it."

She had been holding these words in her heart for a long time. She originally thought that her cousin and Sister Lin were not getting along, but seeing Baochai's attitude just now, it seemed that this was not the case. Plus seeing that Lin Daiyu was not that secretive person, she finally couldn't help it.

Asked.

Lin Daiyu was stunned for a moment, obviously not expecting that she would ask such a direct question. She immediately put Bao Qin in her arms and said with a smile: "I don't think Sister Bao is a person with nine twists of ileum, but I have a sister like you."

Then he did not hide anything, and told the story of his childhood sweetheart Baoyu, Baochai and Baoyu, who were rumored to be in love with each other, and then broke up with Baoyu for various reasons, and Baochai was about to be engaged to Baoyu.

Said.

Finally, he concluded: "Originally, this matter is not to blame on Sister Bao. It's all...but I can't let go of it in my heart. I really can't get close to Sister Bao."

Only then did Bao Qin suddenly realize, and secretly sighed that Jia Baoyu looked funny, but he didn't know the importance of it, but secretly he didn't even have the slightest sense of responsibility.

For a moment, I couldn't help but worry about what my cousin had done to me, and then I began to worry about whether my future husband would be a good match.

At the same time, she hurriedly confessed to Baochai: "Sister is really close to Sister Lin. When she came here, she specially told me that Sister Lin is weak and I must not drag you along to do nonsense."

Lin Daiyu shook her head slightly: "Of course she is good. Otherwise, the sisters would not praise her. It's just that I can't get over this hurdle in my heart."

Then he said with a smile: "Not to mention whether there are any of these, everyone has agreed to play cards tomorrow, I brought them here specially, and I will teach you how to practice them tonight, so that you won't be confused and unable to get involved tomorrow."

"play cards?"

Xue Baoqin said in surprise: "Is it leaf play or playing horse crane? Although I am not proficient in these things, I do play occasionally. Could it be that the rules in this capital are different from other places?"

"Not those cheesy things."

Lin Daiyu waved her hand and said: "It's a new card game created by Brother Jiao. It borrows the stories of characters from the Three Kingdoms. It can be played by four or five people, and it can be played by more than ten people. It is interesting and does not involve gambling. It is now in the capital.

It has become popular, and I heard that even the ladies in the palace often get together to play cards recently."

Hearing that it was a new card game created by Jiao Shun and it was already popular in the capital, Bao Qin couldn't help covering his mouth and exclaimed: "He did it again? What else can this Jiao family brother not do?"

－－－－－－Digression－－－－－

Alas, my perfect attendance...

Not to mention, after dinner, I refresh myself and go for a night run to relax. I have tried running before and it was as tired as a dog after three to five hundred meters. I have been exercising at home for a while recently, so I will try it again to see if I have made any progress.
Chapter completed!