What happened next was much as Jia Zheng had guessed when he discussed it with Grandmother Jia that day. After sleeping for three whole days and nights, Lin Daiyu suddenly came around on the fourth day.
Then, despite her grief, she neither cried nor made a scene. She simply found Grandmother Jia in a daze and immediately said she wanted to return to Yangzhou.
As for the Jia family members present at the time—including Grandmother Jia, Jia Zheng, Lady Wang, and Wang Xifeng—none of them tried to stop her.
They had prepared themselves mentally and made the necessary arrangements long ago, so none of this came as a surprise.
So they only tried to talk her out of it a couple of times before sighing and telling Jia Lian, who had already prepared everything, to get the luggage in order. Following their usual practice, they even spent a fortune under the name of the Rongguo Immortal Estate to rent a contingent of Heavenly Soldiers from one of the Heavenly Court's bureaus, to serve as an escort and provide basic security.
Afterward, they had Jia Lian escort Lin Daiyu, along with everyone else, aboard the Jia family's enormous Cloudwatcher Skyship that very afternoon. They hurriedly set off.
Aside from Jia Lian, Tanchun—Lin Daiyu's close friend, confidante, and something of a fellow disciple—was naturally granted Grandmother Jia's permission to accompany them as well.
Though Tanchun was still unmarried and, by rights, shouldn't have traveled far from the Rongguo Immortal Estate, Grandmother Jia simply couldn't stop worrying about Lin Daiyu. She feared Daiyu might do something foolish in her grief, so it was essential that Tanchun go with her.
After all, at least she would have someone close by to keep her company and talk things through with, wouldn't she?
There had been