Jia Baoyu suppressed a smile in his heart. He found that talking to others by taking advantage of predicting the plot gave him a "perverted" pleasure.

"Is there something wrong with me? Why is my sister looking at me like this?" Jia Baoyu touched his chin and said with a smile.

"No, no, I was distracted. Xiangling is a good name, better than the previous one."

Naturally, Baochai didn't know Jia Baoyu's strange thoughts. Although Jia Baoyu kept laughing, she just felt that Jia Baoyu was born to laugh.

Xi Renyin said, "It's very windy here. Miss Bao, why don't you go inside and have a cup of hot tea?"

"No, I'm going to see my mother and aunt."

After Baochai finished speaking, she was about to leave. Then she turned around and said, "Brother Baochai, please remember to say more nice things to your aunt during dinner. She loves you so much."

Jia Baoyu nodded: "Don't worry, sister, I understand."

After Baochai left, Jia Baoyu focused on Xiangling.

Speaking of which, things were happening one after another today, but I hadn't had time to talk to her yet.

Xiangling was no longer wearing the cotton clothes she had worn in the morning, but had put on a colorful shirt, which must have been something offensive or charming.

She had been frightened several times today. Just now, Zhou Rui and others couldn't help but kick her out, which must have frightened her a lot. Now she was stunned, with tears on her face, and her eyes were red and swollen.

, which obviously reduced her beauty a lot.

Jia Baoyu didn't know how to comfort her, so he said to Xiren: "Take her to take a bath, then let her have a good rest, and let her come to my room tomorrow morning."

After Xiren agreed, Jia Baoyu was about to go back to the house. However, Xiangling suddenly ran to him, knelt down suddenly, then pulled his trouser legs and said: "Please, second master, don't drive me out, just let me stay."

Here, I will act like a cow and a horse, serving the Second Master for the rest of my life! Please, the Second Master, please keep me..."

Tears were shed, and the sadness was touching.

For Xiangling, today is like a nightmare.

First, her "daddy" who often beat and scolded her was kidnapped, and then the young man who took her home was seriously injured on the way, and he was also kidnapped by a group of vicious people.

Later, I even heard that the young master was dead... He was such a good person, but it was rare for him to be kind to him when he was so old. How could he just die?

Xiangling couldn't figure it out, but she was even more afraid, afraid that she would die too!

Later, she was thrown into a big yard. There were two sisters here who were very kind to her. They gave her delicious food, changed her into nice clothes, and said a lot of words to comfort her. She finally felt a little relieved.

Unexpectedly, not long after, another group of powerful women rushed in and tried to drag her out without any explanation.

She is not stupid, she knows these people want to drive her away.

Her father is gone, and the young man who said he would take care of her for the rest of her life is also dead. If she is kicked out by them, she has no idea where she will go...

She kept crying, and kept crying. But she had become accustomed to crying over the years, and knew that crying was useless. Therefore, when she understood that the young master in front of her could keep her, she finally, driven by fear, took the initiative to beg.

.

"You get up first." Jia Baoyu bent down to help her up. Her body was very soft, thin and light.

The two attackers also came over to persuade her, and then supported her. However, they still looked at Jia Baoyu timidly, as if waiting for his promise.

Jia Baoyu said gently: "Don't worry, I won't kick you out. You can live here with peace of mind. No one will bully you again in the future, and no one will dare to kick you out."

...

Ten days later, twelve stars will open, which means it is auspicious and it is good to travel.

Mrs. Wang's trip south to Jinling was originally to treat Jia Baoyu. After Jia Baoyu recovered from her illness, if it were not for the sisterly relationship with Aunt Xue, and later for waiting to enter Beijing with the Xue family, she would have set off back to Beijing long ago.

Aunt Xue knew that Mrs. Wang was in a hurry to return to Beijing and was afraid that Xue Pan's lawsuit would go wrong. She just wanted to leave Jinling as soon as possible. Therefore, she didn't delay much. In just a few days, she made clear arrangements for things at home and abroad, and what she should bring with her.

All the belongings were packed into boxes and loaded onto the carriage, and then they chose an auspicious day and sailed north.

…

The vast Grand Canal is vast and magnificent. Since the Sui Dynasty, it has been the most important transportation hub between the north and the south.

In front of a private room on the second floor of the passenger ship, Jia Baoyu gently knocked on the door.

The person who opened the door was a petite maid in a yellow undershirt. She was called Golden Eagle. Baochai called her Ying'er.

Just as Ying'er was about to greet her, Jia Baoyu made a shushing gesture to her and walked in.

Beside the wooden window, Baochai was holding a book in his hand, but he was already in a trance looking out the window at the waves formed by the river water being pushed away by the hull of the boat, and didn't even notice Jia Baoyu entering.

She is wearing a white printed double-breasted gown. She is pretty and bright. She can become a fascinating scenery just sitting quietly like this.

At this moment, Jia Baoyu suddenly wanted to step forward, cover her eyes from behind, and ask her to guess who he was...

"What are Sister Bao thinking about, so absorbed?"

Baochai turned around and saw clearly that it was Jia Baoyu walking over. He then smiled and said, "Nothing, just taking a look."

He asked Jia Baoyu to sit down.

Jia Baoyu sat on a round stool next to Baochai, raised his head slightly, and saw a quiet and dignified face.

When I read The Red Mansion in my previous life, I remember two sentences that describe Baochai’s appearance particularly deeply:

His face is like a silver basin and his eyes are like apricots.

Some people say that Baochai has a big face...

In fact, in Jia Baoyu's opinion at this time, this was definitely an unrealistic joke.

Although Baochai's face is not a small jasper face, it has nothing to do with being "big" or "round".

Jia Baoyu has seen small faces. For example, Xiangling and Meiren both have small faces. Among them, Xiangling is thin and does not have much flesh on her lower cheeks, which makes her look "melon seed shaped".

Although Xiaojiabiyu looks cute and cute with such a face shape, it obviously cannot match Baochai's temperament.

Baochai's face is a traditional beauty face shape. If we had to make a comparison, it would be an oval face.

The lines are smooth, slightly slim, plump and white.

This is the face of a classic oriental beauty.

Therefore, the so-called silver basin refers to the smooth and perfect appearance of Baochai, which is like the silver moon in the sky, shining coldly on people.

After more than ten days of getting along with each other, Baochai and Jia Baoyu have become familiar with each other, and they are close cousins. Even if Jia Baoyu looks at her like this, it is not considered rude. However, Baochai still feels a little at a loss.

So he reopened the book in his hand and let Jia Baoyu read it.

Just after I read two lines, I didn't know if I understood it, I heard Jia Baoyu ask: "Does my sister really want to enter the palace?"

Baochai raised his head in surprise. For his daughter's family, Jia Baoyu's question was really abrupt.

However, she still replied: "I don't know, this is just a regulation. In a family like ours, when the daughter reaches an age, her name must be submitted to the Ministry of Etiquette for selection.

My mother just reported my name in accordance with the formalities. But I think there are so many good girls in the world, and those like me will probably not be selected, so there is no talk of entering the palace."

Haha. Jia Baoyu rolled his eyes in his heart, Are you like this? What kind of person are you? If all the girls in the world are like you, then the man will be happy.

As for the rules...the rules are set like this, but if I don't want to, all the women in the world who want to enter the palace will be gone. Can't the royal family force it? Well, in my memory, it seems like this in the Qing Dynasty.

, but it seems to be limited to the Manchu aristocracy.

"Does Sister Bao want to enter the palace? My eldest sister has already entered the palace. It has been seven or eight years now. I have never had the chance to see her again. In fact, there is nothing good about entering the palace..."

Faced with Jia Baoyu's question, Baochai just smiled and did not respond. If Jia Baoyu was not her cousin and she had a good sense for him, she would not have said what she said to him before.

Jia Baoyu didn't care if he didn't get a response. In fact, according to his judgment, Baochai should be more willing to enter the palace.

Men can still study, take imperial examinations and become officials, but women can only wait to get married if they want to change their status. Otherwise, entering the palace is a direct way to the top.

Because in the palace, there are gathered the most noble people in the world.

As long as you are not a woman who is willing to be mediocre, it is perfectly normal to have a slight yearning for that place.

Understanding is understanding, but when he really made this judgment, Jia Baoyu still felt a little disappointed. After all, according to the original work, Baochai was going to be his wife in the end, but now she wants to enter the palace and become a "noble".

.....

"Second Master Bao, drink tea." Ying'er brewed a cup of tea and brought it over. Jia Baoyu took it and took a sip.

The days on the boat were boring, and he was tired of reading in the house just now, so he just came to Baochai to talk to her.

"I've heard that this piece of jade on your body is rare. Maybe you can show it to me today?"

Jia Baoyu stopped talking, and they were bored. Baochai wanted to find something to say, but suddenly she looked up and saw Jia Baoyu wearing a necklace on her chest, with something on it, but it was hidden in her arms and could not be seen. She knew it was her mother.

I was curious about the piece of jade that I often talked about, so I said this.

Jia Baoyu casually went deep into his arms and took off the piece of jade, but did not hand it to Baochai. Instead, he smiled and said: "As a courtesy, it's natural for my sister to want to see my jade, but I heard that my sister also has a piece of jade, which is very strange. Why?"

Won’t you give me a look?”

After Baochai heard this, she secretly blamed Xue Pan for telling Jia Baoyu such a private matter.

He saw Jia Baoyu looking at him with a smile. He was obviously convinced that there was such a thing, and he couldn't shirk it. He just said: "There is something, but it's nothing special. If you want to see it, nature will show it to you." After saying this, he turned sideways and explained.

Open the two breast buttons of the double-breasted jacket and take out a gold lock attached to the small jacket inside.

Although Baochai turned sideways, Jia Baoyu still caught a glimpse of snow-white.

That was the area not covered by Baochai's light yellow dress, which could not be seen at all on ordinary days. It was a place just below the beauty's collarbone.

"Here." Baochai didn't notice Jia Baoyu's prying eyes and handed over the golden lock.

Jia Baoyu also quickly put his jade into Baochai's hand.
Chapter completed!