Chapter Eighty

  "Old lady at ease, daughter-in-law is thrifty!" Madam Jia's praise made Mrs. Xing feel honored and surprised, she quickly stood up and respectfully responded with a sentence.

  Lin Daiyu turned around and walked to the front of Mrs. Wang, also with a gentle bow: "Yu'er has seen her second aunt, and wishes her second aunt peace!"

  "Hmm... you've got a good heart, get up quickly!" Madam Wang forced a faint smile onto her face and said indifferently.

  As for using this skill to help Lin Daiyu?

  "Hmph... Don't play God with me, I have a deep grudge against that short-lived dead girl's mother; giving him a smile is already being nice, reaching out to help her - are you sure you're not sick?"

  Mrs. Wang's behavior left Lin Daiyu stunned for a moment, but she still got up honestly with the help of her maid; it made Old Lady Jia's eyes twitch, this old second branch is really getting more and more out of hand; turning back, she must let Old Second give her a good scolding, this eyelid is getting thinner and thinner.

  Not to mention Old Lady Jia, even Lin Rulan watching from the side couldn't help but shake her head; no wonder the Rongguo House has been declining with each generation. As for Wang Furen's presence as the mistress of the house, it was simply incomparable to Old Lady Jia's; these two people were fundamentally not on the same level!

  "Good sister-in-law!" Lin Daiyu smiled and puckered up her lips at Li Wan.

  "Lin's sister is polite!" Li Niang looked like she was only in her early twenties, but judging from her attire and demeanor, if one were to look at her from behind, they might mistake her for a middle-aged woman.

  This ancient feudal thought is really harmful, Lin Ruolan looked at Li Ni's beautiful face and felt a hint of pity; poor her, she had to be a widow since her early teens, and this was how her life would end.

  If this were in modern times, Li Niang's age would be clearly visible; even if her husband really died, what's the big deal? There would still be many people chasing after her; it's not like she couldn't date and get married again. Unfortunately, this is ancient times; if Li Niang really had such thoughts, let alone being carried away to soak in a pig cage, just one person spitting out water could drown her.

  Old Mrs. Jia instructed: "Hurry up and invite the young ladies over, just say that the distant guest has arrived."

  Lin Daiyu's small face showed a hint of excitement, hehe... she was finally going to meet the three young ladies of Rongguo House; before long, she saw three nursemaids and five or six maidservants surrounding three young girls who were not very old.

  Lin Ruo Lan gazed at the three little maidservants approaching, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes; she truly hadn't expected that these three young ladies from the Jia household would all be so lovely, although they couldn't compare to Lin Dai Yu; however, each and every one of them was a born beauty.

  Jia Yingchun, Jia Tanchun and Jia Xichun all wore identical crimson skirts and hairpins, with the same makeup on their faces and hairstyles. The pearl flowers, hairpins and earrings they wore were also of the same style in triplicate, differing only slightly in color; everything else was exactly the same.

  Jia Yingchun was a girl with a melon-seed face, willow-leaf eyebrows and almond eyes, her skin as white and beautiful as snow; judging from her appearance, she seemed to be slightly older than Lin Daiyu, probably around six or seven years old; her face wore a gentle smile, and at first glance, she was obviously a girl with an extremely good temperament.

  Jia Tan Chun looked as if she were about the same age as Lin Dai Yu, but this girl was slender and tall; her oval face had beautiful eyebrows and eyes, with a hint of a mischievous glint in her eye; there was a sense of elegance and refinement about her, just by looking at her; this girl was also extremely open-minded and cheerful by nature.

  The youngest, Jia Xichun, was still in her infancy, looking to be no more than three or four years old; her face and figure were not yet fully developed, but judging from the appearance of her two elder sisters, Jia Yingchun and Jia Tanchun, it was likely that she would turn out well in the future.

  Lin Daiyu looked up and sized up Jia Yingchun, Jia Tanchun, and Jia Xichun at the same time, while Jia Yingchun, Jia Tanchun, and Jia Xichun were also tilting their heads to gaze at Lin Daiyu, this distant and pampered guest in the mansion.

  The girl in front of me is about the same age as my sister, with a snow-white and beautiful face; a pair of eyes that shine brighter than the stars, soft pink lips pursed tightly like flower petals; a straight nose and curved eyebrows, delicate to the extreme; although still young, it seems that one can already foresee what kind of stunning beauty she will become when she grows up.

  Lin Ruo Lan smiled slightly: "Yu'er, usually you always mention that you want to have several sisters to play together, but now that your sister is here, why are you standing there in a daze?"

  Children's thoughts and worldview are extremely simple, they like what they like and dislike what they dislike, never pretending to be something they're not. This is something that Lin Ruolan admires greatly.

  "Good day, sisters!" Although Lin Daiyu was still young, the Lin family's upbringing was excellent; after being reminded by Lin Rulan, Lin Daiyu slightly bowed her waist and paid respects to Jia Yingchun, Jia Tanchun, and Jia Xichun.

  "Lin sister, no need to be so formal; we're all family sisters, no need to be so polite." Jia Ying Chun was the first to return a courtesy to Lin Dai Yu, and said gently: "My name is Jia Ying Chun, I'm seven years old this year; slightly older than Lin sister, you can call me Sister Ying Chun."

  "Welcome Spring!" Lin Daiyu changed her tone and called out a sentence.

  Jia Ying Chun pointed to Jia Tan Chun and Jia Xi Chun, saying: "I heard from Madam that Lin Daiyu is five years old this year, her birthday is on the Flower Festival in March; Tan Chun's sister is also five years old this year, but her birth month is a bit earlier than yours."

  "Hello, little sister who loves spring!" Lin Daiyu said with a smile.

  "Sister Lin is great!" Jia Tan Chun was not nervous at all and smiled brightly at Lin Dai Yu.

  "This is Xiachun sister." Jia Ying Chun pointed to the last one being held by Jia Tan Chun's hand, Jia Xiachun, and said: "Xiachun sister is still young, she just turned three years old this year."

  After several young ladies introduced themselves, Lin Daiyu asked Baoling to bring out the gifts that Lin Ruolan had prepared in advance and distribute them one by one into the hands of Jia Sanqian.

  All these gifts were prepared by Lin Daiyu according to the inner preferences of girls like Jia Yingchun; each one took a lot of thought, and every piece was exquisite and unique. They were also extremely rare and precious items that made Jia Yingchun, Jia Tanchun, and Jia Xichun very happy. In their hearts, they naturally became more fond of Lin Daiyu, this little cousin who came from afar.

  It was just now that Jia Yingchun's calm and composed behavior made Lin Ruolan glance at her sideways; huh... who said that Jia Yingchun is a stupid wooden head; she didn't notice anything at all.

  Lin Daiyu was chatting with Jia Yingchun, Jia Tanchun and Jia Xichun with great enthusiasm, while Lady Jia, Mrs. Xing, Mrs. Wang and Li Niang were on the other side feeling awkward; Lin Rulan wasn't a talkative person, but she really had nothing to chat about with the ladies of the Rongguo House.

  For a moment, everyone was at a loss for words, looking at each other in embarrassment, unsure of what to say next.

  Just as Old Lady Jia was secretly worried that Lin Rulan might be delayed, she heard someone loudly laughing and talking while approaching: "Ancestress... I'm late, didn't come to welcome the distinguished guest!"

  When they heard such a loud and unrestrained laughter, Lin Ruolan and Lin Daiyu had completely different reactions.

  Daiyu secretly thought to herself, "Everyone in this room is so quiet and solemn, not a word is spoken; who exactly is this person who has come? How dare they be so presumptuous and rude?"

  Lin Ruolan's eyebrows jumped up: "Hehe... this newcomer should be the famous Wang Xifeng - Phoenix Spicy Girl!"

  As for Wang Xifeng, who is considered a number one figure in the Rongguo Mansion, Lin Rulan has been famous for a long time; she had been expecting this opportunity to come, and now it finally arrived; Lin Rulan would not miss it, her eyes were wide open staring at the gate of Rongxi Hall.

  The door curtain was lifted by the maid, and a large group of maids and women surrounded a person who looked like a new daughter-in-law and walked in; when the person approached, Lin Ruo Lan's eyes jumped lightly; it seemed that Wang Xifeng had been married into the Jia family for several years, but why was she still dressed exactly like a new daughter-in-law.

  It wasn't until this moment that Lin Ruolan had some understanding of the sentences in Cao Xueqin's original text describing Wang Xifeng.

  On that day, the original book described this person as being dressed differently from other girls; colorful and bright, like a goddess fairy; wearing a golden silk eight-treasure hairpin on her head, with a morning sun five-phoenix hanging pearl pendant; wearing a crimson gold plate dragonfly necklace around her neck, with a bean green palace ribbon tied to the hem of her skirt; wearing a pair of rose-shaped earrings, wearing a crimson satin jacket with a hundred butterflies embroidered in gold thread; wearing a five-color carved silk silver mouse cloak outside, and a jade sprinkle flower foreign embroidery skirt underneath.

  A pair of phoenix-shaped eyes, two willow-leaf shaped eyebrows; slender figure, delicate physique; a face as smooth as jade with a hint of spring, lips that curve into a smile before they open. This Wang Xifeng is indeed one of the most outstanding characters in Dream of the Red Chamber, evident from the original description.

  This will be Lin Ruolan's rare use of her mind, she carefully measured the young woman in front of her; a melon seed face with phoenix eyes is indeed a very beautiful woman, with a head of black hair tied into a spiritual snake bun; on top of which was neatly inserted a transparent white jade plum blossom hairpin, next to which was a five-tailed golden hairpin with a phoenix mouth spitting out a string of eastern pearls, each one the size of a thumb; and extremely round and lustrous, at a glance you can tell that even if you have money, you may not be able to buy it.

  The person wore a rose-red silk jacket with large peony flowers embroidered on it, and the sleeves inside were made of top-grade cloud-patterned brocade in silver purple color. The combination of rose red and silver purple was eye-catching.

  On her slender wrist, apart from a pair of rose-twisted crimson gold bangles, she also wore a pair of jade bangles with a bright green color; this pair of bangles was even more rare and precious, not only were they transparent and shiny in color, but the inside of the bangle actually had a faint purple aura, just looking at it you could tell it was extremely valuable.

  This made Lin Ruolan sigh in secret, this Wang Xifeng was not as described in the original work; however, regarding the wealth of the Wang family, it left Lin Ruolan speechless.

  As expected, it's really worthy of being the East China Sea lacking a white jade bed, the Dragon King invited the Wang family from Jinling; Alas! Is there a glittering golden light with wood?