Three Wives and Four Concubines in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Page 118

Seeing Baochai nod obediently and not showing any signs of illness, Gu Yu finally felt relieved. However, seeing Baochai showing such a rare girlish side made her heart itch even more, and she quietly shifted her position a few more feet, whispering with a smile:

"If I can't sleep well, Sister Bao can come and call me anytime..."

After a pause, Gu Yu dropped another bombshell.

“These past few days, Yun-mei has been resting in my room, and she seems to be in better spirits than before. Why don’t you give her a try, Bao-jie?”

Baochai stared in surprise, not expecting Gu Yu to make such rapid progress, with Yun Yatou already sharing a bed with him so quickly. A hint of envy welled up in her heart.

But then she heard Gu Yu invite her, and for some reason, her pretty face turned bright red, and she quickly raised her small hand to touch Gu Yu's chest.

"...No...!"

"?"

Gu Yu was taken aback. Baochai and he were only one step away from taking the final step together, so why was she suddenly reacting so strongly?

"Sister Bao, you..."

Baochai opened her mouth, her face flushed, too embarrassed to voice her thoughts. But the lingering effects of Daiyu's earlier revelation still weighed on her, and she couldn't withstand Gu Yu's gaze. Her heart softened, and with a trembling voice barely audible, she said:

"I often have to go to my mother's place... if... I'll be found out!"

"???"

Gu Yu never expected that Aunt Xue would have such an ability, even able to tell whether the person sleeping next to her daughter was Ying'er or a man. Gu Yu was so surprised that her eyelids twitched.

However, upon seeing Baochai's charming and shy appearance, he suddenly realized what she was thinking and couldn't help but chuckle, deliberately teasing her.

"Ying'er already gave it to me, why isn't Sister Bao afraid she'll find out? Now she's using this to make excuses, could it be..."

As she spoke, she deliberately put on a disappointed look. Baochai bit her lip, feeling she couldn't take it anymore. Just as she was about to stand up to hide, Gu Yu quickly grabbed her arm.

"Dear sister, I was just joking, please don't be angry~"

Gu Yu suppressed a laugh and took Baochai's hand. Seeing that Baochai was blushing and her neck was covered in a layer of fragrant sweat, Gu Yu took out a handkerchief to wipe it for her.

Now that she had been out for a while, Baochai was afraid that someone inside might come out and see her. She was about to raise her hand to indicate that she could do it herself, but when she looked up and saw the warmth in Gu Yu's eyes, her heart melted, and she felt all her strength disappear. She held her breath and remained motionless, letting Gu Yu do as she pleased.

As Gu Yu gently wiped Baochai's slender neck, he seductively smiled and said:

"Judging by the days, Ying'er should be feeling better in a couple of days. How about I go over to keep Bao-jie company and have a chat with her then?"

Before Baochai could speak, Gu Yu moved even closer, gently brushing her rosy cheek, leaving a warm, fleeting touch. Then, he lifted his head and whispered seductively in her ear:

"Don't worry, Sister Bao, I know everything... Ying'er will be there too..."

"..."

Baochai's heart skipped a beat, and her breathing became even more rapid, but she couldn't utter a single word. After an unknown amount of time, Gu Yu suddenly sat up and took two steps away from Baochai. Then, a figure walked out of the door, curiously looking this way, which startled Baochai awake.

"What are you talking to Sister Bao about, Brother Yu? You haven't come in for so long, don't get sunburned."

Gu Yu's smile deepened. She walked over and gently stroked Meng Zhi's hair, causing the little girl to blush and her eyes to crinkle with shyness. She casually replied:

"I'm thick-skinned and have nothing to fear. I was just advising your sister Bao to be careful of the sun—"

Halfway through her sentence, Gu Yu suddenly paused, turned around and looked towards the West Mountain. Her eyes lit up; she knew there was a way.

"Ahem! The sun is scorching today, how about we go up the mountain to take shelter? I remember there's a Cleansing Pool on the mountain, it's warm in winter and cool in summer, just like a hot spring. Sister Bao is also sweating a lot, how about we go up and soak in it together with the other sisters?"

Baochai blushed and bit her lip, too embarrassed to call out his excuse given his excitement. "Is that a proper invitation?" she thought. "Pah!"

“…We…we only considered it a serious idea, so there was nothing to hide. But Her Highness is of noble birth, and so is Miss Miaoyu…”

After finding her reasons, Baochai looked at Gu Yu without showing any emotion, a strange light flashing in her eyes. Now that she knew about Xiangyun's progress, she still didn't know much about Miaoyu and the princess in front of her, so she naturally wanted to take every opportunity to find out more.

Gu Yu grinned smugly. Without so many palace maids following her, wouldn't Meng Zhi be completely at her mercy? Even though her two personal maids had followed her to the manor, they were now isolated and couldn't participate in her summer party.

As for Jiang Ming's questioning afterward? It was utterly insignificant compared to the gains! Besides, he had reason to suspect they were spies, and he was afraid of exposing their whereabouts. Furthermore, probably no one would suspect he was so audacious as to take liberties with the princess…hehe~

"Sister Bao, don't worry, I'm just escorting you up there, I have no other intentions!"

Gu Yu made a solemn promise, then smiled mischievously and led the way into the house. In front of the women, he directly stated the current plan and, without waiting for their opinions, immediately ordered the servants to prepare the carriages and horses.

"..."

Miaoyu sat there, blushing and feeling very awkward. She had been worried that saying such a bit too much would offend Young Master Gu's sisters, but after a brief silence, they all seemed to agree, exchanging glances with blushing faces, leaving her feeling awkward.

What is Miaoyu's identity? Her invitation to this manor from Gu Yu already had some unclear and ambiguous implications, but she could use her identity as a nun to hypnotize herself.

But once they arrived at the manor, they gradually stopped hiding their feelings. She could easily see through their deception; it seemed that each of them harbored unusual feelings for Gu Yu, and their every move exuded a certain charm.

However, even I... what right do I have to look down on such frivolous people?

Chapter Sixty-Seven: I Want to Take a Bath, My Skin Feels So Good

These past two nights, the more she thought about it, the more unsettled she became, and she couldn't sleep. She wanted to confide in someone, but even the maid who served her was from the Gu family. All her worries were bottled up inside, and they only grew stronger.

Unfortunately, Gu Yu seemed to be so gentle to all his sisters, and she didn't know what he really thought of her. She was afraid that she might misunderstand him.

After observing her for the past few days, Miaoyu noticed nothing particularly unusual about her. For some reason, she suddenly felt uneasy. Coincidentally, she heard Daiyu talk about Gu Yu's background today, and her feelings became complicated, leaving her at a loss for words.

While Miaoyu was lost in thought, she suddenly saw her sisters get up and walk outside. She was startled and hesitated for a moment before blushing and gritting her teeth to follow them.

She needs to wait for at least one signal!

Xishan is not just one mountain. If someone could look down from the sky, they could see a vast expanse of golden glazed palace buildings spread out in this mountain forest. However, the southern section seems to have been cut off, with the dark red buildings on the two mountain peaks there clearly distinguishing them from the rest of the area.

They say that looking at a mountain makes a horse run itself to death, and Gu Yu originally thought that with a carriage and horses, she would arrive quickly. However, a full quarter of an hour had passed and she still hadn't reached the foot of the mountain. As her initial novelty and shyness gradually faded, Gu Yu was afraid that the shy girl's heart might waver, so she could only shamelessly ride her horse around the carriages to join in the fun, talking until she was almost dry before finally arriving at her destination.

Watching the other maids who accompanied her walk quickly and orderly to get ready, Qingwen rolled her clever eyes, ran over and bit Xiangling's tongue, saying something, but Xiangling blushed and shook her head. Qingwen glared at her with disappointment, then ran over shyly and tugged at Gu Yu's sleeve.

"Master...why did you call so many maids here? Xiangling and I can serve you just fine..."

Seeing the unfounded wariness on her little face, Gu Yu chuckled and pinched her cheek, casually replying:

“Of course I don’t need them to serve me, but Sister Yun and Miss Miaoyu have no one to serve them.”

Qingwen smiled happily and was about to step back when Gu Yu pulled her back.

"Call Ying'er over first. I have something to tell her, but don't make a scene..."

Qingwen nodded and ran off to deliver the message with satisfaction. She hadn't expected that all the women were not far from Gu Yu. After running a dozen steps and getting closer, she was in a dilemma. How could she not alarm so many people?

After waiting for a while without seeing any opportunity, Qingwen simply went up to Ying'er, patted her on the shoulder, and whispered these words in her ear, leaving the problem to Ying'er herself. Then she ran to Xiangling's side to hide.

When Ying'er heard that Gu Yu wanted to see her, she looked over in confusion. Just then, she saw Gu Yu looking at her with a smile, and she blushed. Seeing that Baochai was holding Daiyu's hand and talking and laughing, she gave Zijuan and the others a look, and then quietly retreated and ran to Gu Yu.

"Master?"

Every now and then, a young girl's gaze would seemingly fall upon him unintentionally. Gu Yu didn't want to be too unrestrained in public, so he simply smiled, bent down, and whispered:

“I’ve already made plans with Baochai. Once you’re feeling better, you can go and keep her company. Since you’re not able to go into the water today, why don’t you lead the maids to serve Baochai and the others? As for Zijuan and the others…”

The sounds that followed were even fainter, and all that could be seen was Ying'er's face turning bright red with embarrassment. She couldn't help but cover her face with her hand before running back without saying a word.

Qingwen was very curious, but before she could ask, they were about to arrive at the Cleansing Pool.

The Cleansing Pool is located on a vacant lot less than halfway up the mountain. More than two hundred years have passed since the Gu family bought the land and built the supporting buildings here. The vermilion roof of the pavilion has turned into a dark red block, and the copper bells under the eaves have been eroded by wind and rain, losing their exquisite shape and becoming somewhat blurry.

However, these well-placed traces of age add a rich historical flavor to the building, and the surrounding dense foliage blocks most of the sunlight, adding a touch of cool, tranquil simplicity to the air.

The group of women, who had been chatting and laughing just moments before, unconsciously lowered their voices as soon as they arrived at the door. A dozen pairs of beautiful eyes looked around, and the more learned women, such as Baochai, Daiyu, and Miaoyu, became particularly interested and wanted to explore the building in front of them.

The sisters looked at each other, their faces flushed, and remained silent, secretly glancing at Gu Yu beside them. None of them dared to speak first and break the silence.

Seeing this, Gu Yu coughed twice and stepped out, leading the way inside as if nothing had happened, and began to introduce the interior layout to them.

“These rows of houses each have a separately dug pool, which is connected to the kitchen inside. If it gets too cold in winter, you can heat it up.”

However, these were all small pools, and Gu Yu naturally did not intend to let them soak separately. After passing this place, she walked past the pavilion at the end, turned a corner, and went deeper into the area.

The small courtyards next to her were all closed. Daiyu looked around twice but couldn't see anything, so she glanced at Gu Yu. Unexpectedly, he pretended not to see her and walked straight past. Daiyu could only snort and follow him inside.

After passing through more than a dozen courtyards, a main courtyard stood at the end. The rooftops that could be vaguely seen from the gate were the buildings in this courtyard. Some voices came from inside, from the maids who had come up earlier.

Having brought Daiyu and the others here, before they could speak, Gu Yu smiled and gestured, saying:

"After walking all this way, the sisters must be tired. Now you should soak in the pool. It's the Yellow Jade Pool that my family spent almost two years building. It's the best for nourishing the skin."

After saying this, he consciously summoned Xiangling and Qingwen, who promptly shut up Daiyu's mouth, who wanted to retort.

"I'll go find a pool to relax in first. If you've had enough, you can sit in the pavilion over there. There are some rare books there. We'll go back after the sun goes down."

Seeing that Gu Yu was so self-aware this time and did not take advantage of others, Daiyu felt both amused and strange. However, she then glanced at Miaoyu and Xiangyun beside her, as if she understood something. She turned her eyes away and stopped looking at Gu Yu. She just smiled and pulled Mengzhi inside.

"In that case, we should soak in it properly. The book has never mentioned a pool made of topaz. Sister Mengzhi should give it a try and see if it works."

In just a few days, Mengzhi went from being called the older sister to the younger sister. However, seeing that she didn't seem unhappy at all and even seemed to enjoy it, Gu Yu didn't bother with it. After all, you really couldn't tell from her appearance.

"I wonder about Mengzhi's health..."

Gu Yu shivered, couldn't help but look up at the sky, muttered something under her breath, and walked even faster.

"This scorching weather is making me so irritable."

……

Chapter Sixty-Eight: On the Concretization of Wealth

After Gu Yu left, the women followed the maids into the courtyard. After passing two screen walls, they finally saw a pond about ten feet in diameter. Even in the daytime, they could see faint steam rising from it, making it seem like a fairyland.

After scanning back and forth, Daiyu and the others widened their eyes and gained a new understanding of the wealth that Gu Yu had mentioned, which had been repaired over two years.

"Good heavens, I originally thought that Brother Yu's two years was enough to demonstrate the extravagance of this pool, but now it seems that there's probably no other place in the world that could be repaired in two years..."

Baochai looked at the patterns on the edge of the pond and couldn't help but shake her head and sigh. This was not made up of small pieces piled up. It was clearly carved directly from three or five pieces of yellow jade and then finely carved and polished by a skilled craftsman. I'm afraid even the palace doesn't have such a treasure.

Regardless of the value of such a massive piece of topaz, finding one of this size is a once-in-a-millennium event, and only a long-established family like the Gu family would have such a treasure passed down through generations.

Although Sister You and Keqing didn't understand the difference between large and small, they knew that jade was a valuable thing. This pool was no exaggeration to say that it was a mountain of gold piled up in front of them. They were all dazzled and amazed.

After they exclaimed a few words, Xichun, who was a little impatient, quickly smiled and pulled them to the nearby bathing room to change their clothes. However, she only realized at this time that there was only Ying'er among the maids serving them.

Daiyu turned her head in surprise and saw that Zijuan and Xueyan had both run away, so she asked:

"Could it be that Brother Yu called them away?"

Ying'er blushed and weakly explained:

“Miss Lin, you know Young Master Yu’s temper. He can’t stand seeing Xiangling and the others suffer. So, he took all the servants in the manor away, saying he was going to hold some kind of gold and silver conference, leaving me to take care of the girls alone.”

Daiyu couldn't help but smile, and took Ying'er's hand to comfort her:

"Good sister, you've really been wronged. When we get back, we'll definitely make him apologize to you."

Baochai then walked up from behind and said with a smile:

"Sister Lin, please don't wrong her. She's just having bad luck. It's not convenient for her to go into the water these days, so she couldn't make it. If she could go into the water, you probably wouldn't be able to see her even if you wanted to!"

"Girl!"

Daiyu and the others naturally understood the hidden meaning in Baochai's words, and they all started to tease her, making Ying'er so embarrassed that her neck turned pink before they stopped. They then lined up to go in and change their clothes.

Daiyu was frail from childhood and somewhat afraid of the cold. With the help of her maids, she took off her clothes, wearing only her undergarments and an unfamiliar style of diaper, and went directly into the water from the steps leading to the pool in her room.

She had been worried that the temperature in the open-air pool might be too low, but as soon as she entered the pool, Daiyu couldn't help but let out a soft moan, closed her eyes comfortably, and completely relaxed.

The maid had already explained that the southern side was suitable for their daughter's home, while the northern side of the pond was deeper. So, after leaving the obstruction, they walked directly along the edge of the pond.

The pool water barely submerged her delicate thighs. The maids were all outside the screen wall, and she was the first to come out. Daiyu's shyness subsided a little, and she took a few more steps inside. Then she heard Baochai's voice behind her.

"Sister Lin, wait for me~"

Daiyu turned around and her face flushed red. She cursed inwardly, but still couldn't help staring at it for a second.

"How can it be so big..."

Secretly raising her hand to cover the soft flesh in front of her, Daiyu suddenly remembered Gu Yu's behavior when she saw him earlier. Although he said he liked both the big and the small, she knew that there was an element of flattery in it. She couldn't help but feel a little depressed. She quickly took two steps down and then found a place to lean against him, only revealing her delicate shoulders.

Baochai understood a bit from Daiyu's gaze. Thinking of Gu Yu's behavior, she felt a little shy, but she still held back and sat down next to Daiyu. Because she was taller, most of her high and firm breasts were exposed above the water, which was quite eye-catching.

Seeing Daiyu's glance, Baochai awkwardly pursed her lips and deliberately shrank back. She wanted to comfort her but didn't know where to start, and for a moment the air became strangely quiet.

Fortunately, Mengzhi, Xichun, and the others came out soon after. The pool, which was ten feet in diameter, had enough space to accommodate them except for the north side. If they were willing, they could also create a considerable space between each other, which avoided a lot of awkwardness.

The two little girls, Xichun and Mengzhi, huddled together and chatted, their silvery laughter ringing out from time to time. Suddenly, they moved closer together.

After Ying'er left, she led several maids in. They had also changed into light and cool clothes. The baskets they carried were filled with many bottles and jars. After taking off their shoes, they walked to the edge of the pond, took out a few brocade cushions, and sat there without saying a word.

Seeing that the girls were all looking this way, the leader stood up, bowed, and said respectfully:

"This is floral essential oil that the young master brought over. After the ladies have soaked for a while, we, who have all learned massage, will give them a massage."