RPAGF Chapter 9 Lin Daiyu
Chapter 9 Lin Daiyu
The morning sunlight spilled over the walls of Yangzhou and slowly bathed the city.
Only one sedan chair remained outside the Salt Transport Commissioner's office.
Mr. Wang dragged his tired legs out.
The butler rushed forward to support him: "Master..."
Mr. Wang pushed his hand away, turned his head to look in the direction of the Salt Commissioner's Office, remained silent for a long while, and then sighed heavily.
Butler: "Master, General Manager Bai is hosting a dinner at Shengchun Restaurant. General Manager Ma and the others have already gone there."
Mr. Wang nodded: "I'll go myself. You go back to the manor immediately and accompany the eldest young master to Jinling. He knows what to do."
......................
The layout of government offices in the front and residences in the back is a typical pattern, and the Salt Commissioner's Office also followed this system.
The front hall, consisting of the main hall, the second hall, and the six offices, is the core area for office work, trial of cases, and handling of government affairs, and is open to the public.
The inner quarters were the private space where officials and their families lived.
The rear residence is not a single courtyard; it includes three main halls, a flower hall, a signing room, an upper room, and a rear garden.
Personal servants and guards also lived in the inner quarters, and were required to be on call for twelve hours a day to guard the gates and prevent outsiders from entering the inner quarters.
The side rooms on both sides of the main gate, the rear building, and the surrounding rooms were for their living quarters.
As the captain of the personal guards, Liu Feng naturally didn't need to squeeze into the large dormitory. Instead, he lived in a single room outside the gate of the three-hall courtyard, which was separated from the inner bedroom by only one door. This way, he could not disturb the privacy of the inner quarters and could be summoned at any time.
"Squeak!"
The servant pushed open the small door to the private room, fanned the dust from the air, and said, "This is it. Please take a look."
Liu Feng glanced at it; it was about eight or nine square meters, with a bed, wardrobe, table, chairs, and a small stove for boiling water—it was passable.
"Okay, this one is fine."
"Please feel free to ask if you need anything. By the way, that's Uncle Lin's room over there."
After closing the door, Liu Feng lay down on the bed and slowly closed his eyes.
After more than a year of living in fear and anxiety, things have finally settled down. It's not that I wasn't worried at all. In the original story, Lin Ruhai first lost his son, then his wife, his daughter was sent to the capital, and he himself died a few years later.
If you said there was nothing fishy about this whole series of events, even a ghost wouldn't believe it!
Being the Salt Commissioner is no easy job!
Liu Feng suddenly opened his eyes. Damn it, he forgot to ask when dinner was served!
Just then, footsteps came from outside the door.
Liu Feng immediately got up and went over, pulling open the door.
An elegantly dressed old woman stood outside the door, her hand, which was about to knock, suddenly froze.
Two rough-looking women followed behind her, one carrying several bolts of cloth and the other holding a tray covered with a red cloth.
"Who are you?" Liu Feng asked tentatively.
The old nanny looked him up and down before slowly saying, "I'm from the Madam's courtyard. These are gifts from the Madam, thank you for risking your life to protect the Master."
"I dare not take credit; it was merely my duty."
"Please accept this; it's a token of the madam's appreciation." The old nanny waved her hand, and two maids carried the gifts into the house.
She then said to Liu Feng, "The madam instructed that if you need anything or want anything in the future, just tell the steward and let them procure it, or you can come directly to me."
"No need, no need, I don't need anything." Liu Feng quickly waved his hand.
The old woman chuckled at his honest and simple demeanor: "When you have time, go to the clothing store and buy a couple of outfits. You can't keep wearing this uniform all the time. By the way, you don't need to wash your dirty clothes; the maids will come and collect them."
"Huh? Oh." Liu Feng nodded blankly.
"Alright, I have other things to do inside, I'll go back now." The old nanny turned to leave, then added, "My surname is Wang, you can just call me Granny Wang from now on."
"Wait a minute," Liu Feng said.
Granny Wang turned around: "What's wrong?"
Liu Feng scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly and asked earnestly, "Um... when will we eat?"
Granny Wang was taken aback at first, then couldn't help but burst out laughing, and the two old women laughed along with her.
Liu Feng looked bewildered. What was so funny? Didn't you guys need to eat?
Wang Mama suppressed a laugh and said, "The mansion originally had no personal guards, but thanks to His Majesty's grace, he has been specially granted personal guards to serve the master. The servants in the front office eat breakfast at 7:00 AM, lunch at 1:00 PM, and dinner at the end of 5:00 PM. Those on night shift have a midnight snack."
It's still early before lunch. If you're hungry, I'll go to the kitchen and see if there are any snacks, and I'll bring them to you.
"I was just asking, just asking casually," Liu Feng said.
Granny Wang didn't say anything more and turned to leave.
After everyone entered the courtyard, Liu Feng went back inside and closed the door. He reached out and touched the fabric on the table. He didn't know much about it, but it was clearly high-quality; it felt soft and smooth. He casually lifted the red cloth on the tray, and his eyes lit up! Ten ingots of official silver, each worth five taels—fifty taels in total!
As expected of the legitimate daughter of the Duke's mansion, she is very generous, unlike that down-on-her-luck Feng Lazi.
"Gurgle—"
Liu Feng rubbed his stomach, put his things into the cabinet, picked up his waist knife, and went to the front office to familiarize himself with the environment and wait for dinner.
......................
While winter has already arrived in the north in November, Yangzhou is still lingering in late autumn.
In the back garden of the Salt Commissioner's Office, the bamboo is still lush and green. The wind rustles the bamboo leaves, and a few leaves drift down and land on the stone bench, gently covering the shoulders of the little girl sitting on the bench.
The little girl looked to be in her early teens. She was wearing a pale white jacket with a silver fur vest over it, dressed simply. She also had a small blue satin cloak over her shoulders, which made her look thin and frail.
The stone bench beneath him was covered with a thick quilt.
The little girl had a faint smile on her face as she looked down at her book.
Suddenly turning her head towards the garden gate, a young maid rushed in, shouting, "Miss! Miss! Master is back!"
The little girl immediately stood up: "Father's back? Where is he? I'll go and pay my respects to him..."
The maidservant quickly stopped him: "Master went to the second hall, saying that the Salt Commissioner has come to visit."
The little girl said "Oh," and sat back down, looking a little unhappy.
The young maid peeked out of the garden gate, sat down next to the girl, and shook her arm: "Miss, I have something interesting to tell you—Master has recently taken in a new captain of his personal guards in Xuzhou. I heard he's a bit dim-witted and quite simple-minded..."
She whispered in the little girl's ear, her face beaming with excitement, occasionally covering her mouth and giggling.
The little girl couldn't help but arch her eyebrows, cover her mouth with her sleeve, and smile faintly.
The maidservant said, "But the steward who came back with him said that he killed many people in Xuzhou, he was a ruthless killer..."
The little girl wrinkled her cute nose: "Don't talk nonsense, this is called decisive action." As she spoke, she lightly tapped the little maid's forehead, "Don't spread rumors, or the old lady will hear you and spank you."
"I'm not afraid at all," the little maid retorted stubbornly.
"Snow Goose——"
"Oh..." Xueyan's voice trembled as she hurriedly ran out.
The young girl was none other than Lin Daiyu. She watched Xueyan's hasty departure, shook her head with a light smile, picked up her book, and quietly began to read again.
Liu Feng was unaware that, without even meeting him, he had already left an impression of being somewhat simple-minded.
At that moment, he stood outside the second hall gate, sword at his side, and greeted each of the women in the salt transport commissioner's family one by one...