Chapter 135: Xue Baochai persuades her mother to help her brother
Bang!
As soon as the maids and servants in the room left, Mrs. Xue Wang immediately knocked down the teacups on the table.
The celadon produced by the official kiln of the Northern Song Dynasty broke into eight pieces on the ground, which scared Xue Baochai who had just entered the room.
Seeing the annoyance on her mother's face, Baochai did not rush to ask what was going on. Instead, she shouted to the outside, "Sister Tongxi, I accidentally dropped a cup. Please send someone in to clean it up."
Having said that, he stepped forward and pulled Mrs. Xue Wang into the inner room.
Until the maid outside was busy and collected the teacup fragments.
Xue Baochai then half-coquettishly and half-complainingly said, "Mom, they just walked a short distance away and you're already throwing things around. If word gets out, how will my brother be able to get close to Lord Sun in the future?"
[This "mother" is a common name used by Xue Baochai in the original version of Dream of the Red Chamber, so I copied it here.]
"There are such people..."
Mrs. Xue Wang was so angry that she wanted to tell her daughter about Sun Shaozong's rude behavior just now, but she forced herself to hold the words back when they came to her lips - how could she, a widow who had been widowed for many years, say such things in front of her daughter?
So he changed his words stiffly: "You all praised Lord Sun like a flower, but today I think he doesn't live up to his reputation. I'm afraid he is not as compliant as the young master of General Shenwu's family! Let Pan'er stay away from him from now on!"
Seeing that she was hesitant to speak, Xue Baochai knew there must be something hidden, so she quickly used both soft and hard tactics to get to know what had just happened.
Mrs. Xue Wang tried to evade her by saying a few words, but when she saw that she couldn't get the better of her, she could only say half-heartedly, "That fellow has very sneaky eyes. In front of your brother, he... he has no shame to look at you!"
As he spoke, his face turned red again and he twisted the handkerchief into a knot.
“No way?!”
Xue Baochai's beautiful eyes widened in astonishment. After a pause, she couldn't help but add, "How is this possible?!"
Mrs. Xue Wang didn't want to talk about the matter in detail, but when she saw that her daughter didn't believe what she said, she felt very angry.
For the moment, he didn't care about any etiquette or taboos, raised his hand to hold up the heavy conscience, and said angrily: "I saw with my own eyes that he looked at me with those evil eyes, how could it be fake?"
With this "heavy evidence" before her eyes, Xue Baochai had no choice but to believe it, so her evaluation of Sun Shaozong instantly dropped by half, and a hint of disappointment lingered in her heart.
But thinking of her family's current situation, after a little hesitation, Xue Baochai still defended Sun Shaozong, saying, "It's human nature for a young man to admire a girl. Not to mention others, my brother has the same problem. Even Brother Bao, at such a young age, is... just..."
She casually compared Baoyu to him, but halfway through she suddenly realized that it was inappropriate. Although they were relatives, how could she, a girl waiting to be married, discuss the private matters between men's beds?
Just when she was wondering how to end it, Mrs. Xue Wang said angrily: "How can he compare with Baoyu? When has Baoyu ever done such a shameless thing in front of other people's children?!"
After a pause, she added angrily: "Even your good-for-nothing brother would never act like this!"
Seeing that his mother was getting angrier and angrier, she seemed to want to kick Sun Shaozong out of the house immediately.
"Mother, calm down first."
Xue Baochai had no choice but to step forward and hold onto Mrs. Xue Wang's arm, and said sweetly and innocently: " Think about it, if he was so unbearable normally, how could he have made such a big name? How could he be valued by my uncle? Maybe he is just..."
Before she could finish, Mrs. Xue Wang angrily said, "Maybe he just looks down on us, an orphan and a widow!"
"How is that possible!"
Seeing her mother thinking more and more about Sun Shaozong, Xue Baochai no longer cared about anything else. She gritted her teeth and said simply, "Perhaps he has never seen a woman as dignified and noble as mother, and he may have been bewildered for a while!"
Dignified and noble?
Are you temporarily confused?
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Xue Wang was stunned, her face became even redder, but her anger lessened a little.
Seeing that this rhetoric was indeed effective, Baochai hurriedly struck while the iron was hot and said, "Mother, think about it. Since he is on good terms with my brother and knows that my brother is about to marry a girl from the Wang family, how dare he look down on our family?"
"Besides, he often comes and goes in Rongguo Mansion, and it's inevitable that he runs into those beautiful women in the mansion, but I have never heard of any rumors about him, which shows that he is not a reckless playboy. But when he saw my mother today..."
"In that case, isn't it because of my mother that I have been bewitched by her? "
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
Xue Wangshi yelled in shame and anger, but she felt more ashamed than angry.
Women of her age actually care more about their charm than those young girls.
Especially after hearing what her daughter said, she placed herself above all the young women in the Jia family. This made her feel embarrassed but also a little proud.
Baochai secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then she reasoned with him, "Mom, if you are tired of him, just don't call him in to talk in the future, but you must never let it out in front of my brother!"
"Although Minister Wang has promised to help you get ahead, how can you easily handle the intrigues and deceptions in the officialdom?"
"My uncle and aunt can give me some advice, but my brother has a stubborn temper and may not be willing to follow the advice of the elders."
"Only someone like Lord Sun can not only convince my brother, but also overcome difficulties in the officialdom. He is my brother's perfect assistant in the future!"
"So mother, you must not be greedy for the likes and dislikes of the moment and ruin your brother's future."
After hearing these words, Mrs. Xue Wang was stunned for a long while. Finally, she suddenly said, "My dear daughter, you are speaking for him like this. Could it be that you have fallen in love with Sun Erlang?"
This time it was Xue Baochai's turn to blush. She stamped her feet and said angrily, "Mother, what are you talking about? I was just thinking about my brother, how could it be... Besides, how could I like a rough man who wields swords and guns?!"
Xue Wangshi burst out laughing, stretched out her hand and poked her forehead with a finger, and said with a smile: "So, you still like those who are more gentle, such as Baoyu?"
"Mother!"
Xue Baochai could no longer resist, so she covered her face with a handkerchief and walked away.
After watching her daughter leave, Mrs. Xue Wang smiled to herself for a long while before leisurely sitting down in front of the dressing table.
Looking at the red cheeks in the mirror, and thinking about what her daughter had just said, she suddenly held her face in her hands, and uttered from her cherry-like mouth: "What a shameless thing!"
This is so confusing, and I don't know whether I am scolding others or scolding my own heart...
——Dividing line——
Let me explain this on two sides.
When Sun Shaozong and Xue Pan arrived at the back garden, they saw a handsome young man waiting for a long time in the sea of chrysanthemums. It was none other than Master Bao from the Rongguo Mansion.
It turned out that yesterday, in addition to Sun Shaozong, Xue Pan also invited Jia Baoyu and Feng Ziying to accompany him. Baoyu was a relative of the mansion, so he naturally arrived early, but Feng Ziying was late.
"Second brother."
The three of them exchanged a few polite words, and then Baoyu changed the subject and asked curiously, "The other day I saw that the flower gardens in your house had all been razed to the ground. I wonder what new rules this is?"
Hearing him asking about this, Sun Shaozong gave a bitter smile and was about to explain the reason, but suddenly something happened in his mind, and he thought to himself, why not take advantage of the situation...
