Chapter 610: Bewitching Hearts

Rongguo Prefecture, East Courtyard.

On a spring afternoon, the sun was warm, and the sky was as blue as if washed.

Baoyu was in a drunken stupor, his steps staggering, and he bumped into someone unexpectedly.

Where his palm touched, it was unusually warm and soul-stirring, and his heart couldn't help but feel a surge of softness.

Don't look at how Baoyu always has words like "daughters are made of water" on his lips, labeling himself as someone who respects young ladies.

But he had been dallying with maids in bed since he was ten years old. To say he was pure and noble would be a bit too shameless.

Baoyu was no less frivolous and dissolute than any other wealthy young master.

It was only because he was still young, had always hidden in the inner quarters, and had his father Jia Zheng suppressing him, that his behavior was slightly better than Jia Lian, Jia Zhen, and the others.

The person he bumped into was a young woman, who staggered back two steps in a somewhat disheveled manner, almost falling to the ground.

A crisp and sharp voice exploded: "What kind of lecherous thing are you? Are you blind? You dare to touch my..."

When she looked up and saw it was Baoyu, the words she had half-cursed were instantly swallowed back.

The sharp and crisp voice suddenly softened, carrying an unexpected surprise.

"You are Baoyu, Bao Er Ye..."

Baoyu, with his drunken eyes, saw that the person he had bumped into was slim and graceful, with a charming demeanor and pretty features. Judging by her attire, she was a maid of fifteen or sixteen.

Even though he was already heavily drunk, seeing such a beautiful maid made him feel quite satisfied.

Thinking of the soft and bouncy touch just now, he felt a bit infatuated and stared blankly at that part of her.

Seeing Baoyu reeking of alcohol, his expression dazed, and staring at her shameful parts in such an improper way,

if it had been anyone else staring at her so unscrupulously, she would have mostly likely cursed them.

According to common sense, Baoyu reeking of alcohol with vacant eyes was not a pleasant sight.

But she couldn't feel any disgust at all. Her heart jumped wildly, she felt dizzy and happy, and even wished Baoyu would look at her a few more times.

"Bao Er Ye, why are you here alone, and having drunk so much wine, with no one to look after you?"

Baoyu heard the maid's tone was gentle and soft. Even though he was heavily drunk and confused, he could feel the diligence and closeness in her words.

This made Baoyu feel satisfied, and since the maid was beautiful, it gave him, in his drunken state, an impulse to talk wildly.

He blurted out, "It's all that Jia Cong's fault. Just because he gave Lin Meimei some nonsense thing, what's so great about it? Lin Meimei was actually fooled by him.

This kind of 'salary-worm' is truly hateful; he only knows how to tarnish the purity of the daughters of this world..."

Baoyu was muddled after drinking, his speech slurred, and he muttered a lot.

Although the maid couldn't hear it completely, she roughly heard that he had suffered a loss because of Jia Cong, and couldn't help but curse inwardly: This Jia Cong is truly a pest; her own young lady was also driven neurotic by him...

Seeing this beautiful maid listening to his grievances, Baoyu's spirit was greatly lifted. His words became indignant, and he gestured wildly. He was already unsteady on his feet after drinking, and he lost his balance and was about to stumble and fall.

The maid hurriedly went up to support him. Baoyu's body almost pressed against her, and she had a hard time supporting him, panting slightly.

Baoyu leaned against the maid's warm and soft body, his heart fluttering slightly. He carefully squinted at the maid's appearance and said, "Sister, you look very familiar. Have I seen you somewhere before? Do you seem familiar?"

Hearing him call her "Sister," the maid felt satisfied, and her legs felt a bit weak.

She thought to herself that she really hadn't misjudged him. This Baoyu not only looked handsome and pleasing, but his mouth was also sweet. She was just a slave maid, yet he called her "Sister" one after another.

If they could become something in the future, she would be willing to live a few years less just to hear him call her "Sister" often...

Hearing Baoyu's sweet talk, the maid became even more joyful and said, "Bao Er Ye, look carefully again. Do you really not recognize me?"

Although Baoyu was heavily drunk, dizzy, and confused, he had this talent: he could remember every beautiful daughter he saw.

If it weren't for this, why would he have grabbed only rouge and powder during his first-year "grabbing the future" ceremony, only to be despised by Jia Zheng as a born lecher? It can be seen that this had its roots...

Baoyu just thought for a moment, and his drunken eyes lit up, "You are Xia Gu Niang's, Xia Gu Niang's..."

Hearing Baoyu stuttering even after being drunk, the maid didn't feel any annoyance at all. Instead, she felt he was simple and cute, making her heart itch.

Moreover, she had already heard that Baoyu recognized who she was, but his speech was a bit slurred. That he could still remember her even in such a state made the maid feel very satisfied and proud.

She said, "Bao Er Ye recognized correctly. I am Miss's maid. Bao Er Ye still doesn't know my name; I am called Seeing Seeing Baochan."

Baoyu chuckled foolishly, muttering, "Seeing Seeing Baochan, Seeing Seeing Baochan, what a beautiful name. It sounds so good when spoken."

Hearing Baoyu's kind words, Seeing Seeing Baochan felt happy and smiled beautifully, "Even if my name is ordinary, as long as Bao Er Ye thinks it sounds good, it has become a good name from now on."

Hearing this, Baoyu was overjoyed. She was truly a maid who knew how to be interesting, and she was so clever and beautiful. He couldn't help but feel great regret: why didn't he have such a good maid by his side...

This Seeing Seeing Baochan was also outstanding in appearance. She had been bought by the Xia family from outside when she was a child to be Xia Gu Niang's personal maid.

Master Xia passed away ten years ago, and the inner quarters of the Xia family were all maids and old women; they couldn't see any other men at all.

Seeing Seeing Baochan and Xia Gu Niang grew up in such inner quarters, and both had seen very few men of outstanding demeanor and bearing.

Therefore, when Xia Gu Niang suddenly saw Jia Cong's outstanding appearance, it was as if a Pandora's box had been opened for her, which was why she was so unable to control herself. Her maid was in the same state...

As a maid with a low status, Seeing Seeing Baochan's vision and knowledge were even shallower than Xia Gu Niang's.

She had never seen a noble young master like Baoyu before, and he was so handsome. The first time she saw Baoyu in the East Courtyard, she was a bit fascinated by him.

It was just that she was only a slave maid, and Baoyu was a noble young master from another family, so she didn't dare to have too many extravagant hopes in her heart.

But she had already reached the age of sixteen and had long since blossomed with feelings. From the lewd talk of the old women in the house, she had also secretly heard about the affairs between men and women.

Alone in bed at midnight, her heart of spring sprouted, and Baoyu's shadow often flickered in her heart...

Originally, she hadn't put much thought into this matter, but ever since she secretly overheard the conversation between Mistress Xia and Xia Gu Niang, she knew that the Mistress was planning the marriage between the Miss and that Baoyu.

Seeing Seeing Baochan's heart of spring began to stir. She was the Miss's personal maid and would definitely have to accompany the Miss as a dowry maid in the future.

If the Mistress really let the Miss marry that Baoyu, wouldn't she be a dowry maid? She had heard that when one went to a wealthy family, one would have to be a "tongfang" maid, and in the future, she could even be a concubine...

From that moment on, this beautiful and tricky little maid, intertwined with lust and vanity, gave birth to an ambition she had never had before.

Mistress Xia probably never thought that there was someone in her own house who was even more hot-headed and crazy than she was, hoping that her daughter would marry into the Rongguo Jia family.

This time, Seeing Seeing Baochan followed Xia Gu Niang to the East Courtyard to guard the courtyard. Xia Gu Niang wanted to take the opportunity to see Jia Cong, but Seeing Seeing Baochan was aiming for Baoyu.

Before the banquet started today, when Jia Cong and Baoyu entered the inner hall, Xia Gu Niang was infatuated because she saw Jia Cong, while Seeing Seeing Baochan's heart was pounding because she saw Baoyu...

Both mistress and servant had their own preferences and were happy in their own way. They were truly not of the same family, not entering the same door.

It was just that Baoyu didn't stay in the inner hall for long before he went to the outer hall to entertain guests because of the Jia family master's instructions, which made Seeing Seeing Baochan feel quite disappointed.

When the banquet ended, the Jia Mistress invited her own Mistress to stroll in the garden, letting the Jia Third Young Lady accompany her own Miss for tea.

Seeing Seeing Baochan felt quite bored on the side and happened to need to relieve herself, so she went out to find a place. She was just coming out after finishing in the rockery.

It was truly as she wished; she just happened to bump into Baoyu, which filled Seeing Seeing Baochan's heart with strange surprise and excitement...

What Seeing Seeing Baochan didn't expect even more was that after she spoke a few words with Baoyu, she found that he was so good at sweet-talking and coaxing people. The two of them were so compatible and intoxicating after just a few words.

She just wanted to drag Baoyu along and talk a few more sentences, and her heart felt satisfied. She asked, "Bao Er Ye, where are you going? Why is there no maid accompanying you?" It was probably because Baoyu's obsession with Daiyu was too deep, or perhaps it was the topic Xiao Hong had brought up, that made Baoyu take it to heart.

Even though he was drunk and muddled, and even though he was flirting with this pretty maid, it didn't make him completely forget this matter.

He blurted out, "I'm going to the back garden to find the Aunt and ask why I'm getting married..."

Although Baoyu's speech was slurred after drinking, Seeing Seeing Baochan heard this sentence clearly. The words "back garden" and "getting married" made her heart jump violently.

Seeing Seeing Baochan thought that just now the Jia Mistress had invited the Mistress to the back garden alone, and also let the Jia Third Young Lady accompany the Miss for tea, as if she were deliberately keeping the Miss away.

Could it be that the Jia Mistress was going to discuss the marriage between the Miss and Baoyu in the back garden because it was quiet there!

Once Seeing Seeing Baochan thought of this, she was certain it must be correct, and her heart was truly very happy.

As long as the Miss could marry Baoyu, she would be able to stick to him. In the future, hearing Baoyu call her "Sister" every day—wouldn't that be very beautiful...

She saw Baoyu's drunken and cute state, his speech slurred, and thought: if Baoyu went in this state, wouldn't he disturb the Jia Mistress and the Mistress's thoughts?

If her own Mistress saw Baoyu in such a state of loss of composure, she might feel disgust in her heart. If the Miss's marriage failed because of this, that would be terrible.

Therefore, Seeing Seeing Baochan made up her mind that she must not let Baoyu go to pester the Jia Mistress.

!

She affectionately supported Baoyu's arm and coaxed him softly, "Bao Er Ye, getting married is a good thing, no need to rush to ask right now. You have drunk a lot of wine; I think it's better to go back to your room and rest.

Tell me which room you live in, and I'll support you back, okay?"

Baoyu had originally wanted to ask Lady Wang why he was going to marry Xia Gu Niang, but being coaxed by Seeing Seeing Baochan like this, his heart relaxed.

At this moment, his arm was tightly supported by Seeing Seeing Baochan, and he didn't know if Seeing Seeing Baochan was intentional or unintentional, but Baoyu felt his elbow pressing against that plump and soft place...

This made Baoyu's heels stick to the ground, his ears felt soft, and he hurriedly said, "Okay, I'll listen to Sister. I'll go back to my room and rest now."

It was just that ever since Jia Zheng and Lady Wang moved into the East Courtyard, Baoyu had never stayed there for a single night. Even the room he used for show was cleaned by the maid Qiu Wen.

When he usually came to the East Courtyard, the place he went to most was the Mengpo Study. He was truly confused about which room he lived in, not to mention that with the alcohol hitting him now, he couldn't remember a single bit.

So he took Seeing Seeing Baochan and wandered around everywhere, not knowing if it was really to find his own room, or if he was thinking of rubbing and dallying with this pretty maid to get some fun in secret...

Seeing Seeing Baochan was also eager to spend more time with Baoyu, supporting him as they walked around, and she was quite happy in it.

The two of them wandered around and before long arrived in front of a large house. Under the eaves of that house hung a black-bottomed gold-lettered plaque, with three large characters written on it.

In this world, under normal circumstances, out of ten slave maids, ten must be illiterate.

A young master like Jia Cong, who was keen on eradicating illiteracy among the maids around him, teaching them all to read and write, was truly a strange exception that made people stare.

Xia Gu Niang was also well-versed in literature; writing poetry and couplets was not a problem for her.

But Seeing Seeing Baochan, as Xia Gu Niang's personal maid, had learned her trickiness and willfulness to the fullest, but hadn't learned any other benefits, including the ability to read and write.

Seeing Seeing Baochan stared at the plaque for a long time, only recognizing that half of the character on it was "Tu" (earth), and she knew nothing else.

She was just about to ask Baoyu how to read these characters, when she saw Baoyu push open the door with one hand, staggering as he brought her into the house.

Seeing Seeing Baochan saw that the house was decorated exquisitely and elegantly, with bookshelves on both walls, all neatly stacked with books.

In the middle of the house was a large desk, on which were placed the four treasures of the study—brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. Beside the desk was a sleeping couch, which must be for resting.

The inner quarters of the Xia family were all women. Although there were some books in Xia Gu Niang's room, the Xia family didn't have a proper study.

Therefore, Seeing Seeing Baochan thought that the room of a young master from a wealthy family must look like this, and she didn't pay much attention to it.

She supported Baoyu to sit on the sleeping couch, thinking that she was not a maid of this family, and staying in the young master's room for too long would be inappropriate. Although she was reluctant, she still prepared to get up and leave.

Seeing Seeing Baochan had just taken a step away when her small hand was grabbed by Baoyu, who said, "Good Sister, my head is a bit dizzy. You're leaving just like that, and you won't stay and talk to me?"

Seeing Seeing Baochan felt shy and said, "You have your own maids to talk to. What does it look like to be pulling and dragging with me?"

Although she said this, her feet stopped, and being gently pulled by Baoyu, she also sat on the sleeping couch...

Baoyu was drunk, and his speech gradually became presumptuous: "Good Sister, what kind of incense are you wearing? It really smells good. Tell me where you bought it, and I'll buy some to wear too."

Seeing Seeing Baochan probably realized something. In fact, she could have run away. She believed that Baoyu was so drunk he couldn't walk steadily, so he shouldn't be able to stop her.

However, she didn't leave. It was like facing something dangerous; her heart was both afraid and pulled by its strange, fatal temptation...

Seeing Seeing Baochan's voice trembled as she said, "I'm just a slave maid, what kind of incense could I wear..."

Baoyu usually flirted with the maids around him, so he had already learned to be slick. Now, under the influence of alcohol, he became even more familiar and bold.

He laughed, "I don't believe you haven't worn good incense; otherwise, why would you smell so good? Let me smell it again. I'm an expert in these things; don't try to fool me."

Seeing Seeing Baochan felt both ashamed and happy, surprised and afraid; she had always been confined to the inner quarters of the Xia family and had never seen such romantic scenes, so how could she withstand such provocation from Baoyu? She became even more confused and infatuated.

Baoyu's large face pressed against her temple and neck, becoming wantonly intimate, and his hands became even more excessive.

Seeing Seeing Baochan's whole body went soft, and she didn't even have the strength to run away. The heavy scent of alcohol exhaled by Baoyu seemed to be about to intoxicate her...

East Courtyard, Inner Hall.

Jia Cong and Jia Zheng sent off the guests together. Jia Zheng saw that Baoyu had long since disappeared. Thinking that he must have drunk too much and gone somewhere to "play dead," he couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment.

The two of them went to the inner hall to see Jia Mu together. Jia Cong thought that after paying his respects to the old lady, he would take the sisters back to the East Prefecture.

Just as he reached the entrance of the inner hall and was about to follow Jia Zheng into the hall, he saw Xiao Hong coming over alone, her eyes seeming to have something to say.

Jia Cong stopped and asked, "Why aren't you in the hall accompanying the young ladies, but came out alone?"

Xiao Hong said, "I just sent Lin Miss out of the prefecture. She took Third Brother's carriage and returned to the East Prefecture first."

Jia Cong was puzzled and asked, "Why did Lin Meimei leave in such a hurry, and not go with the sisters?"

Xiao Hong stood on tiptoe and whispered in Jia Cong's ear. Hearing this, Jia Cong's face turned cold, and he gave a disdainful hum, saying, "I know."

He entered the hall to pay his respects to Jia Mu, and just as he wanted to leave the East Courtyard, Jia Zheng suddenly called him back and asked him to go to the study to talk.

Jia Cong thought for a moment, then followed Jia Zheng away from the inner hall. The two of them went toward the Mengpo Study together.

On the way, Jia Zheng sighed, "Brother Cong, although Baoyu is the same age as you, he has been doted on by the old lady since he was a child, and his behavior is often absurd. If only he had one or two parts of your ambition, I would be satisfied for the rest of my life.

Just like last time when Lin Yatou advised him to study, he caused such a scene. I won't even mention those things...

And today, entertaining guests in the outer hall, he didn't have a steady demeanor either.

Recently, my wife has been wanting to find a marriage for Baoyu early, and she has taken a fancy to the Xia family's daughter. You have seen that girl a few times during these two birthday banquets in the East Courtyard.

In your opinion, is this marriage a good match?"

Hearing this, Jia Cong was also shocked. Back then, in the Rongqing Hall, when he heard Zhang Dao Shi talking about a marriage for Baoyu, the daughter of the "Osmanthus Xia" family was mentioned.

He knew better than anyone else what kind of person Xia Jingui was. At that time, he even felt that it would be unimaginable for Baoyu to marry Xia Jingui.

However, just now he heard what Xiao Hong said—that after Baoyu got drunk, his old habits returned, and he had pestered Daiyu with his words, which was truly annoying...

He said, "Master, although the Xia family is not an official family, they are a famous family of imperial merchants. I heard that Mistress Xia, as a woman, has supported the Xia family business for more than ten years; she is definitely not an ordinary person.

A daughter raised by such a woman must not be an ordinary person. Since it is a girl the Mistress has taken a fancy to, as for the marriage, I am just a junior and should not make rash judgments.

I can only say that jade cannot be made into a vessel without carving, and marriage is also a matter of cause and effect. Different people have different situations. If Baoyu gets married early and has constraints in his heart, perhaps it is not a bad thing..." (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 611 =====