Before the first lunar month, the scenery of the provincial parental home was inevitably monotonous, so it was not worth repeating.
At the Lixiang Courtyard, more than ten young girls were laughing and making noises. Seeing Jia Baoyu leading Sun Shaozong in, they hurried forward and greeted ”Second Uncle Bao, Second Uncle Bao” and said some auspicious words carefully around him.
There was only a slim woman in the middle of the room. She only stepped forward, gave a simple salute, and then hid in the corner.
This was nothing, but Jia Baoyu pointed at her first and said, "I know this one. Her singing is excellent. Even the Empress has praised it! What's her name... Lingguan, yes, it's Lingguan!"
As he said this, he waved and said, "Lingguan, please sing a song for Brother Sun quickly and let him listen to it!"
In fact, the female playwright of this family was lower than the slave of that family, who had children. Jia Baoyu told her to sing for the guests, which was a reasonable thing.
However, Lingguan twisted her body and said with a little bit of a smile, "I'm hoarse and can't sing!"
How did that pretty voice sound so hoarse?
Baoyu has never been treated like this, especially in front of outsiders, so his baby face was red and full of rage.
If it was someone else who was to make him angry, even if he didn't beat the person up, he would have scolded them with a few words at least. But when Jia Baoyu saw the brightly-colored woman, he lost three points of his anger. To put it nicely, he was a person who knew how to cherish women, at worst, he was a "ladies’ man."
In particular, the eyebrows, eyes, and facial features of Lingguan at this age were also similar to Lin Daiyu, and he became more and more confused about what to do.
There was an older actor next to him. She came up and whispered, "Don't take her actions into account. Just wait a moment. When the Second Master Qiang comes and asks her to sing, she must sing!"
Jia Baoyu was puzzled and asked where Jia Qiang went.
Sun Shaozong was listening, but he knew that this was accusing Lingguan of that age, accusing her of being spoiled because of her unusual relationship with Jia Qiang. Even Jia Baoyu, such a serious master, was completely ignored.
Tch
This small domestic theatrical troupe has to fight openly and secretly!
Fortunately, Sun Shaozong didn't have to listen to her singing today. He didn't care about the calculation between a group of young girls, so he casually said, "If she doesn't want to sing, just choose a few people to sing. Let me see what's wrong. That’s enough."
Jia Baoyu listened and quickly followed the instructions.
The leading actor then called on the sisters to rehearse. Although there were no costumes and props, they were more charming in their manners and actions. It was more pleasing to the eyes than the Sun family's grassy platform team.
However, this was not to say that Jiang Yuhan's teaching was not good. It could only be said that when Rongguo Mansion first bought people, they bought them according to the traits of entertainers, while the young servant girls of the Sun family valued their size and color.
In the final analysis, the focus on talent was different.
He told Jia Baoyu about this conclusion, and he had no better idea. He could only say with relief, "Don't worry, Second Brother. Drama is a long way to learn. Maybe when the time comes, your servant girls will suddenly become enlightened."
"I can only hope so."
After listening to the play, the two people saw that Jia Qiang still hadn’t returned, so they went out of the Lixiang Courtyard without thinking about it. Sun Shaozong was thinking of pretending to go to the washroom to pee, but it really was to see what Ping’er had to say to him.
Unexpectedly, without waiting for him to use his tricks, a young man came to Baoyu in a hurry and said something to him.
Jia Baoyu stamped his foot and said angrily, "Is this dog slave trying to rebel? I considered his effort and didn’t take his wrong actions into account, but he is still not over!"
The word "dog slave" didn’t mean anyone else but Mingyan, the most beloved boy around Jia Baoyu.
At that time, the Lai Da shook all the servants and servant girls around Jia Baoyu, who was greedy for the money of the monastery, to avoid using the mouse. The most involved person was Mingyan.
According to the convention for dealing with others, he should be severely punished and then directly expelled from Rongguo Mansion.
But Jia Baoyu, mindful of his past efforts, only relegated him to the firewood room and made him a rough servant.
However, Mingyan was used to being free and easy around Baoyu. How could he bear the work of chopping firewood and carrying water all day?
So every three or five times, he came to cry and begged Baoyu to let him ”reinstate his post,” which only made Baoyu too tired to deal with him.
Today, Baoyu was not in the yard, but he reluctantly went inside. And somehow, he and the big maid Qingwen were caught in a fight. The yard was full of birds and dogs.
Qingwen and Xiren were the sharp points in Jia Baoyu's house. Now that he heard that Mingyan dared to tear Qingwen apart, Baoyu was very angry.
After explaining the cause and effect to Sun Shaozong, he smiled and said, "You don’t have to hurry away, Second Brother. When I finish this matter, I will invite you to have a drink at noon. By the way, I can also listen to the inside story of the disobedient case."
Sun Shaozong also said with a smile, "I'm afraid the drink was a secondary reason."
He then shook his sleeve and said, "Go quickly. I'll walk around here."
Jia Baoyu didn’t doubt his words and then solemnly greeted him. He then hurried away with the boy.
After seeing him off, Sun Shaozong walked around casually and circled several times. After confirming that there was no one nearby, he followed the foot of the remote hillside all the way.
Seeing that the courtyard door on the top of the slope was half open, Sun Shaozong hurried into the courtyard.
After entering the door, he saw a slim figure with her back to him, and he was ready to call out Ping’er's name.
However, when the words came to his lips, he suddenly felt that it was wrong because the woman's large sleeves fluttered and it was a patchwork dress!
It’s not Ping’er?!
At this time, the woman also heard the movement and looked back at Sun Shaozong in disbelief. She looked back at Sun Shaozong, but she was surprised and yelled a cry of surprise. She stepped back a few steps and folded her hands in front of her chest. Her face, which was originally quite dusty, was more full of vigilance.
"It's you! You... What do you want to do?!"
It turned out that the woman in the patchwork was the nun Miaoyu, who had very long hair.
Sun Shaozong had already begun to retreat after seeing that she was not Ping’er. Seeing her appearance like that of a wolf guard, he immediately left the courtyard without saying a word.
"Hey, don't go!"
He didn’t know what Miaoyu was thinking. When she saw him turn around to leave, she ran after him and shouted.
Sun Shaozong didn't want to pay attention to her, but as soon as he came out of the courtyard, he saw a figure coming in a hurry. He saw that she had reached the slope, but who could it be if it wasn’t Ping’er?
Oh no!
If he lets Miaoyu catch up with Ping’er, it might cause some misunderstandings. Then…
Sun Shaozong's heart flashed. He hurriedly made a sign to Ping’er to leave quickly, turned around and turned back to the courtyard, and asked aloud, "What do you want?"
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