Chapter 464: Mrs. Wang’s Little Plan
Daoxiang Village.
This naturally does not refer to the dim sum shop in later generations, but Li Wan's residence in the Grand View Garden.
Unlike other places with magnificent scenery and winding paths , this Daoxiang Village is surrounded by farmhouses in the countryside, giving it a rural feel. For this reason, Li Wan gave herself the nickname "Daoxiang Old Farmer".
But on that morning, because Baoyu took Jia Lan to Sun's house early in the morning, the girls in the garden had nothing to do. They were afraid that Li Wan would be anxious waiting at home alone, so they all gathered in the Rice Fragrance Village to chat.
Li Wan sat on a beautiful black pottery stool. At first, she managed to deal with everyone with a few words, but as she waited and waited and her son did not come back, she inevitably became restless and irritable, and her words gradually became less and less.
Xue Baochai had always been considerate. Seeing that she was silent and trying to force herself to laugh, she was no longer in the mood to greet her sisters. She stood up and pointed outside the courtyard with a smile, saying, "When I came here just now, I saw that the grapes on the shelf were ripe. This is the first time that grapes have grown in the garden. We can't let old farmer Daoxiang eat them all alone - someone go pick them quickly so that the sisters can taste them together!"
"I, I, I, I'll go pick it!"
Tanchun was the first to agree, and Daiyu and Xichun also said they wanted to go together. So the three of them asked Li Wan for a pair of scissors, a fruit plate and other things, and went to the courtyard chatting and laughing.
At this time, Xue Baochai stepped forward, put her white jade-white wrist gently on Li Wan's shoulder, and said softly to comfort her: "Don't worry, sister-in-law, since Lord Sun is mediating, this matter will definitely be successful - I think it is most likely that Brother Bao was greedy for wine and got stuck at the table."
Li Wan knew very well that with Sun Shaozong trying his best to make this happen, there shouldn't be any setbacks in Jia Lan's becoming his disciple - but as a mother, it was her nature to worry about her son, and it was impossible to eliminate that.
So she held Baochai's soft hand with her backhand, and said with a wry smile: "I know this, of course, but I can't wait for a definite news, so I am always worried."
As he spoke, he felt Baochai's small hands were soft, tender, and boneless. Even the brocade treasured in the palace might not have such a delicate touch.
For a moment, Li Wan actually had some unspeakable impulses. She wished she could hold the jade-like person beside her tightly in her arms and learn those "rude" methods from Sun Erlang.
But Xue Baochai is not Suyun after all, and she will not allow herself to be manipulated. Even if she wants to make some intimate moves, she must find a suitable reason first.
But this reason...
It’s ready-made!
"Alas~"
Li Wan suddenly sighed, and took the opportunity to put her arms around Xue Baochai's slender waist, and said softly: "Don't talk about me, let's talk about yourself. Although the madam has already made up her mind, these young men and women are always in close contact with each other. If something happens..."
Although she did not point it out clearly, Xue Baochai naturally knew who these "young boys and girls" were referring to.
So Xue Baochai shook her head slightly and said firmly: " Sister is definitely not the kind of person who doesn't know how to love herself!"
She only talked about Lin Daiyu but didn't mention Jia Baoyu at all. It was obvious that she was not very confident in Brother Bao's self-control ability.
Then she smiled again: "If it is destined to happen, it will happen. If it is not destined to happen, don't force it. If these two can really achieve the right result, I will only be happy for them."
"Why are you lying in front of me?"
Li Wan sneered and said half-truthfully, "Let me hear from you, darling, whether you are as indifferent as you say."
As she spoke, she pressed all her cloud-like hair onto the front of Xue Baochai's lapel, with her left ear resting squarely on her round neck.
“Ah~!”
Xue Baochai was startled and tried to dodge, but Li Wan had already held her waist tightly, so she had no way of getting away.
Feeling Li Wan rubbing against her chest, it didn't seem like she wanted to listen to anything, but rather like she wanted to bury her face in her bellyband. She couldn't help but say shyly, "Sister-in-law, don't do that. It makes me... it makes me feel itchy."
But Li Wan said without even raising her head: "It's right, it's itchy, which proves that you didn't tell the truth just now!"
The voice was slightly muffled, but it turned out that she had buried her mouth and nose in Xue Baochai's chest. As she spoke, the hot air from her mouth penetrated through layers of fabric and caused Xue Baochai to have small bumps all over her body.
Xue Baochai was extremely ashamed and wanted to push her away, but Li Wan was also a woman after all, and had always been on good terms with her. How could she just attack her because of some absurd behavior?
Just when she was in a dilemma, she heard Li Wan muffledly say, "Let alone other things, just based on your fertile figure, Sister Lin has absolutely no chance of winning."
As she was talking, Xue Baochai felt her buttocks tighten again. It turned out that Li Wan had grabbed her tightly. She was so scared that she shouted, "Sister Lin, how come you came back so soon?!"
Li Wan was fooled and sat up straight in a hurry. Xue Baochai took the opportunity to run away, blushing and saying coquettishly, "Sister-in-law, why are you like this today? I think you must have been drunk by my third sister!"
When Li Wan saw that Daiyu had not returned, she knew that she had been tricked by her, but she did not want to approach her and act like a scoundrel, so she smiled and joked, "Why, sister, are you angry because I told you about your secret?"
Xue Baochai did not respond, but went straight to the door, lifted the curtain, and said without turning her head, "I'll go pick some grapes too."
Watching her curvaceous figure disappear outside the door, the anger in Li Wan's heart gradually subsided, but she couldn't help but sigh.
Although she had other intentions just now, her analysis was not false. Lin Daiyu and Jia Baoyu were childhood sweethearts, but based on Lin Daiyu's physique alone, Mrs. Wang would never let Baoyu marry her.
But in today's world, it is the parents' orders and the matchmaker's words that really play a decisive role.
Therefore, Li Wan had already concluded that the person who would become her sister-in-law in the end would undoubtedly be Xue Baochai.
However, her judgment has actually had some minor deviations in the past two days.
As for the reason for this deviation...
In fact, it was a chain reaction triggered by Jia Yuanchun being selected as the "seed player".
Not to mention how the women tasted the grapes in Daoxiang Village.
But at noon that day, Mrs. Wang set out wine and food, which was rare, and invited Jia Zheng into the house to talk.
This was the first time Jia Zheng had received such treatment since he decided to take Aunt Zhao south with him. Jia Zheng was flattered and even dressed up specially for the occasion, thinking of taking advantage of the opportunity to "let go of the youthful passion of an old man".
Who would have thought that when they got to the house, Mrs. Wang dismissed the maids around her and asked directly: "Have you replied to the marriage?"
This question immediately stunned Jia Zheng, who had no idea what kind of marriage he was asking about.
"It's about the marriage between Sun Jia Erlang and Baochai!"
"So that's what you were talking about."
Jia Zheng suddenly realized what was going on, and then he said with some displeasure, "Didn't you insist on leaving Xue's niece to Baoyu? You quarreled with me over this matter before, but why are you bringing it up again now?"
In fact, the reason why Jia Zheng asked Sun Shaozong and others to reply to the letter was that he felt that Baoyu and Daiyu were childhood sweethearts, and they were cousins, so they were more suitable for marriage than Baochai.
But when he came back and told Mrs. Wang about it, she firmly disagreed and started an argument. She even said that Lin Daiyu had the potential to "die young". Jia Zheng was so angry that he gritted his teeth and then stopped.
After all, although he was angry at Mrs. Wang's careless words, he really had no confidence in Lin Daiyu's health - no matter how close his niece was, she could not compare to his son.
But after many days, Mrs. Wang took the initiative to talk about this matter again, which really made Jia Zheng a little puzzled.
"this……"
Madam Wang looked a little ashamed, and after a long silence, she gritted her teeth and said in a trembling voice, "If it were in the past, this 'golden marriage' would have been perfect, but now doesn't our eldest sister have a chance... a chance to give birth to a prince?"
“Shhh!!!”
Jia Zheng jumped three feet high, puffed his beard and glared, and made a gesture to keep quiet. He then looked around the door a few times to make sure that no one had eavesdropped. Then he came back and scolded her, "Are you crazy? How dare you say such nonsense? If His Majesty and the Crown Prince hear this, how can the Queen live in peace in the harem?!"
Mrs. Wang knew that she had spoken out of turn. Now, she just needed to understand the word "Crown Prince" in her heart, but she must never say it out loud.
Therefore, he slapped his lips and blamed himself: "Master, please don't blame me. I just said something irresponsible in front of you. I would never dare to say anything nonsense in front of others!"
Jia Zheng was still worried, and repeatedly reminded her to be careful with her words and actions, and only gave up after Wang Fu-ren swore an oath.
"That's right."
Jia Zheng frowned and questioned, "What exactly did you mean by that?"
"Nothing else."
Mrs. Wang stammered, "If the eldest sister is able to live up to her expectations and really gives birth to a prince, the situation of our family will be very different, especially since Baoyu is the eldest sister's biological brother..."
"how?"
Jia Zheng stared in surprise and asked incredulously, "Are you thinking that Xue's niece is not worthy of your Baoyu?!"
"Of course they are a good match for now, but if...but if..."
Although Mrs. Wang didn't say all her words, her meaning was clear and explicit.
In the current situation, if Jia Yuanchun is lucky enough to give birth to a prince, it is a foregone conclusion that the Jia family will not only be powerful in the court, but also become the head of the nobles like the Niu family in the future.
By then, Jia Baoyu would have become a legitimate uncle of the emperor, and the Xue family's status would seem a little low-class - so after thinking about it over the past two days, Mrs. Wang came up with the idea of "having the best of both worlds".
"If the master hasn't made it clear to the second son of the Sun family, it's better to delay it by being ambiguous." Then she said, "If the eldest sister can give birth to a prince, why not go with the flow and arrange a marriage between the two families - anyway, Lord Sun is also a rare young talent, not much worse than our Baoyu, I think my sister will not object."
It is true that one's own children are better. Even a leader of the younger generation like Sun Shaozong is still inferior to her own son in Mrs. Wang's eyes.
"If after two years, the eldest sister still hasn't given birth to a prince, then Baoya will be given to Baoyu."
I have to say that Mrs. Wang’s little plan was really brilliant.
Jia Zheng was dumbfounded when he heard this. After a long while, he threw up his sleeves and said angrily, "You and your son have really taken all the good things in the world! You just touched your upper lip with your lower lip, and you delayed Sun's Erlang for two years. If Bao girl is promised to our family by then, how can I explain to Sun Erlang?!"
"Sun Erlang is now a fifth-rank official, and Dalang will be even more useful. If you offend his family for your little trick, wouldn't that be a loss?"
Mrs. Wang was calm and composed, and remained unmoved despite Jia Zheng's harsh scolding.
When Jia Zheng's scolding came to an end, she acted like a hermit with a clever plan and said, "This is easy. When you talk to him about the marriage, just say that you want to marry your niece to him. Don't mention Baochai's name again."
Jia Zheng was stunned at first when he heard this, not understanding how this was different from what he had said before.
But seeing Mrs. Wang's smug look on her face, she suddenly realized something and blurted out, "You...you mean, we're going to use Daiyu to pay off the debt?!"
To be more specific, Xue Baochai is considered a niece, and Lin Daiyu is Jia Zheng's niece - of course, Xichun is also considered Jia Zheng's niece, but Xichun's status is inferior after all, and she is destined not to become the mistress of the Sun family.
Madam Wang nodded and continued, "Didn't you stand up for Miss Lin last time? This second son of the Sun family, at least, didn't he insult her?"
"As for Sun's Second Brother, even Baoyu would find it hard to resist Lin's beauty. Are you afraid that Sun's Second Brother would be unhappy?"
Originally I wanted to use Lin Daiyu to fill in the gap, but after hearing what she said, it seemed like I could have the best of both worlds.
Jia Zheng was dumbfounded and stared at Mrs. Wang, as if he had just gotten to know her after being married for thirty years.
After a long while, he shook his head and said, "Even if Sun's Erlang is willing, how can your precious son be willing to do it? Daiyu has always been a person with her own ideas, I'm afraid she may not be able to do what you say."
"So what if you don't agree?"
Mrs. Wang said decisively, "The matchmaker's words are the parents' orders. We can't interfere with other people's marriages, but can't you and I decide Baoyu's marriage? Anyway, Lin girl and Baoyu are not going to be together. It's for her own good to make plans early."
As she spoke, seeing that Jia Zheng still looked like he didn't agree, Mrs. Wang's tone became much tougher, and she said with a stern face: "It's fine that the master wants to take that evil spirit south, and I can't do anything about it, but now I can't even make the decision for my own son?"
Jia Zheng felt guilty about this matter after all, and he felt that no matter whether it was Xue Baochai or Lin Daiyu, being able to marry a young talent like Sun Shaozong was a hundred times better than marrying his own son.
So he finally sighed deeply and said, "Forget it, I'll just do as you say this time. Before I leave, I'll go to the Sun family to bother them again and finalize this ambiguous matter."
After saying that, he glared and said, "But don't change your mind again in the future!"
