Turning Hostility into Friendship, Daiyu Has a Sudden Whim

If Salt Surveillance Censor Lin Ruhai were still alive, the plump steward might not have been so wary.

After all, Lin Ruhai was merely a confidant of the Emperor, while 'Prince Zhongshun' was the Emperor's own brother, born of the same mother. The closeness of their relationship was self-evident.

But Lin Ruhai had just died, giving his all to the country, and the orphan girl he left behind was being bullied by the Emperor's servants. How would the Emperor view this matter? What would be the reaction of the ministers in the court?

The more the plump steward thought about it, the more he felt a chill on his neck. Instead, he began to rejoice that the salt smugglers had been stopped by Sun Shaozong and had not yet had time to commit a major mistake.

But...

He glanced at the salt smugglers on the boat, then at Jia Lian and the others opposite him, and for a moment he didn't know how to end this—he had just announced the Prince's name, and now he was going to admit defeat in public. If Prince Zhongshun knew, how could he spare him?

Fortunately, there was Jia Yucun nearby.

"This steward."

He skipped the previous conflict and said as if nothing had happened, "Since we have met by chance, it's nothing to help each other out. It's just that our boat is already full of luggage, and I'm afraid we can't fit this full boat of salt."

This offer of a way out immediately relieved the plump steward. He also saw the salt smugglers who had fallen into the water climbing back onto the boat one after another. Although they were all blue and swollen from the cold, none of them were missing, so he knew that the other party had shown mercy just now.

So he hurriedly followed the slope and said, "It doesn't matter, my five boats can squeeze in half a boat of salt. You only need to help transport the remaining half boat of salt to the ferry!"

After the two agreed on the plan, Yucun asked Jia Lian to come forward and make the decision.

Lian, Second Master had been so frightened by this series of events that most of his soul had flown away. Now that he saw that the conflict had finally been resolved peacefully, how could he not agree?

So the boatmen here busied themselves weighing anchor and approached the wrecked salt boat, allowing the salt smugglers to do as they pleased.

A storm was thus turned into nothing. Both sides tried their best to pretend that nothing had happened, but who could really forget the scene of Sun Shaozong wielding a large oar, intimidating the group of smugglers?

Therefore, after the plump steward chatted with Jia Lian and Jia Yucun for a few words, the topic was impatiently drawn to Sun Shaozong.

Anyway, they were all returning to the Capital, and it couldn't be concealed—moreover, Jia Lian and Jia Yucun 'didn't dare' to deceive the Prince's steward for Sun Shaozong's sake.

Who knew that after asking about Sun Shaozong's name and origin, the plump steward suddenly slapped his thigh and exclaimed with a face full of surprise, "So it's Commander Sun's younger brother, then he's not an outsider! Commander Sun often comes to the Prince's mansion on official business recently, and I'm already familiar with him. If I had known it was Commander Sun's younger brother here, there would never have been this misunderstanding!"

This kind of talk could only deceive fools!

What was Sun Shaozu's status?

In terms of title, he was just a third-rank commander. In terms of actual position, he was only a fourth-rank military officer in the patrol battalion. He really wasn't an important figure. The doorman of Prince Zhongshun's mansion probably wouldn't even look at him straight, so what qualifications did he have to be familiar with the Prince's steward?

He had probably only seen him a few times and knew of such a person.

The plump steward spoke like this, firstly to continue to downplay the conflict just now, and secondly to try to build a relationship with Sun Shaozong.

How shrewd was Sun Shaozong?

In Daiyu's words, he had the skin of a bear and the heart of a fox!

He immediately understood the plump steward's intention and hurriedly exclaimed 'Oh dear', stepping forward to pay his respects and saying, "So the steward is actually my brother's good friend. This is really a case of the Dragon King's Temple being flooded by the Great Water. If I had known our relationship earlier, I wouldn't have dared to act recklessly!"

The two of them babbled a few words back and forth, and actually managed to build some friendship.

At this point, the plump steward finally revealed his name, which was Zhou Jingui, one of the three foreign affairs stewards of the Prince's mansion.

And these few boats of salt were not really proper smuggled salt. It was just that Lin Ruhai had just died, and the salt license had not been obtained for a while. The Capital was urging them urgently, so Wu Jingui, relying on the power of Prince Zhongshun's mansion, simply decided to get on the bus first and buy the ticket later.

——separation line——

In Daiyu's room, the maids saw that the clouds had completely dissipated, and the two women were now arm in arm, with no trace of animosity. They finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Daiyu instructed Zijuan and Xueyan to close the windows, and with a pout, she said with some indignation, "That fatso really got off easy! Brother Sun should have swept him into the river to wash his manure-spraying mouth!"

Xueyan nodded beside her like a chick pecking at rice.

Zijuan, however, had stars in her eyes, and with her hands clasped to her chest, she exclaimed, "Second Master Sun was so imposing just now! Standing at the bow of the boat, he scared over a hundred people on the opposite side so much that they didn't even dare to move! I think all the men in our mansion... those servants, added together wouldn't be worthy of carrying Second Master Sun's shoes!"

She spoke too quickly and almost swept in a few of the masters as well.

Although Daiyu wouldn't hold her 'slip of the tongue' against her, when she compared Sun Shaozong today with her own Brother Bao, who loved to eat rouge, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

At this moment, an arm suddenly wrapped around her slender waist and pulled her into an embrace without explanation.

Daiyu was startled at first, but when she looked up, who else could it be but her sworn sister, Ruan Rong?

"Hmph, hmph!"

Ruan Rong deliberately put on a stern face and asked in a 'sinister' tone, "Just now, I don't know which troublemaker was slandering Brother Sun, saying he was like a dung beetle with a shiny surface? If such a troublemaker isn't severely punished, wouldn't that be against all reason and justice?!"

As she spoke, she began to tickle Daiyu under her arms and around her waist.

"Madam Sun, have mercy!"

Daiyu hurriedly surrendered, crying out, "Brother Sun is brave and invincible, a reincarnation of a god! It was this little girl who didn't recognize gold inlaid with jade. Please, Madam Sun, for the sake of our past friendship, spare this little girl's life!"

Hearing her call out the words 'Madam Sun', Ruan Rong was both shy and happy, and even her bones felt two ounces lighter. However, she couldn't just let Daiyu off like that, so she scolded with a delicate voice, 'Such a sharp-tongued little girl,' and was about to get her hands on her.

Who knew that Daiyu would suddenly raise her small face, full of hope, and ask, "Sister, what do you think about letting Baoyu follow Brother Sun to learn martial arts? Anyway, he doesn't like reading, so he can inherit the illustrious martial arts of our ancestors!"

Ruan Rong almost burst out laughing when she heard this.

Although she had never met Jia Baoyu, she had spent these days with Lin Daiyu day and night, and had long filled her ears with the deeds of this rouge-loving young master—Jia Baoyu didn't even have perseverance in reading, so how could he endure the hardship of learning martial arts?

However, no matter how disapproving she was in her heart, seeing Daiyu's serious little appearance, she didn't want to spoil her interest, so she said vaguely, "Brother Sun wouldn't have much of a problem, but your Brother Baoyu is as precious as gold and jade. Would his family be willing to let him learn martial arts?"

"How would we know if it's possible without trying?"

Daiyu originally just had a whim, but thinking that Baoyu had no interest in reading and making progress, and even called scholars 'vermin of the salary', but praised the famous generals and knights of ancient and modern times, she thought that he might really be a material for learning martial arts.

It wasn't that she wanted Baoyu to make progress, but seeing Sun Shaozong's imposing appearance, and thinking about the 'carrying a beauty to fight a group of thieves' incident, she couldn't help but have some expectations.

Therefore, she insisted, "Baoyu doesn't need to practice to Brother Sun's level, as long as he has thirty percent of Brother Sun's... no, fifty percent... no, seventy percent of his ability, that would be enough!"

Seeing her strong-willed nature flare up, raising the standard again and again, Zijuan and Xueyan beside her rolled their eyes, thinking in their hearts that even if Baoyu had one percent of Sun Shaozong's boldness, it would be considered ancestral virtue of the Rongguo Mansion!