Chapter 322: Xue sister is learned and courteous, fit to manage a household!

On the way to the Jia Mansion, Jia Jing gave Lin Daiyu and Baichai separate evaluations of purity and virtue!

In Jia Jing's heart, Lin Daiyu's and Baichai's personalities each have their strengths and also weaknesses!

Just like in chapter sixty-three of the original work, when all the flowers held a night banquet, the flower slips they drew were exactly the footnote to their fates!

Baichai drew the peony, inscribed with "Outshining All Flowers", and the poem says, "Even if emotionless, it still moves people."

The peony is the king of flowers, graceful and splendid, yet "emotionless."

This "emotionless" is not cold-blooded, but rather not easily swayed by feelings, maintaining rationality above all.

This is the ultimate of virtue, yet it is not without the sorrow of virtue.

Because virtue is good, but ultimate virtue suppresses one's nature, making true happiness difficult!

Daiyu drew the hibiscus, inscribed with "Wind and Dew Bring Sorrow", and the poem says, "Do not blame the east wind; sigh at yourself."

The hibiscus grows in water, pure and lofty, yet cannot withstand wind and frost.

She is too genuine, so genuine that this world cannot accommodate her.

This is the ultimate of purity, yet it is not necessarily the tragedy of purity.

Because purity is good, but ultimate purity cannot survive in the real material world!

Daiyu's "purity" is an inward, self-fulfilling mental cleanliness;

Baichai's "virtue" is an outward, way of living in harmony with the world.

One lives as poetry, one lives as reason, one lives for emotion, one lives for ritual.

No one is right or wrong, superior or inferior; everyone's upbringing differs, forming different ideas, that's all!

The world is inherently vast and colorful, capable of letting a hundred flowers bloom and also allowing each person to have their own flaws and little thoughts!

So there's no need to compare or differentiate; just keep your own traits and live out your own brilliance!

Actually, Baichai is not unaware of these principles; after all, she is also a thoughtful and intelligent person.

However, as Jia Jing's power and influence grow daily, the status and position gap between them becomes too great,

she becomes eager to probe Jia Jing's feelings, thus acting so anxiously hesitant and indecisive!

And at this moment, upon hearing Jia Jing's evaluation of her and Daiyu, Baichai's heart trembled slightly, the watery apricot eyes beneath her willow-leaf brows flickered.

In her heart she repeatedly chewed over the words "virtuous and decent", her mood instantly brightened a bit, her jade teeth gently biting her cherry lips as she spoke softly:

"Third Brother is right! I misspoke, Third Brother, please don't hold it against me!"

Baichai felt she had just blundered as well; why bring up Little Sister Lin for no reason?

This isn't the case of touching the wrong pot; instead it shows her mind is narrow, unable to tolerate others!

After all, she is a quick-witted lady; in an instant she realized her earlier words carried a hint of sourness and sharpness!

"It's just a private chat, what's there to blame?" Jia Jing lightly laughed and said:

"Xue sister is knowledgeable and courteous, understanding of people, suitable for managing a household; I rather appreciate this temperament of yours."

"In front of me, you need not be overly cautious; relax a bit, you may say anything without worry!"

Jia Jing still expressed affirmation of Baichai's temperament.

Whether from personal contact or from the Embroidered Uniform Guard's intelligence, Baichai's appearance, talent, and all aspects are quite good!

Although in the original work Baichai has a rather controversial point,

namely, when catching butterflies she once schemed against Daiyu, but actually their relationship has always been mutual scheming and banter, with give and take.

Moreover, judging from the situation at the time and Baichai's overall character, this was certainly not her intentional wish to harm anyone, but merely an impulsive reaction made in haste.

At that time Baichai chased the butterfly to the Verdant Pavilion, and unintentionally overheard Xiaohong and Zhui'er discussing the private matter of "handkerchief love transmission".

Her instantaneous judgment was:

"No wonder those adulterous dog thieves from ancient times have sharp scheming…… and moreover they speak thus, clearly afraid of being discovered."

Her first thought was self-preservation……

If the maidservants found out she had heard the secret, given Xiaohong's "good scheming" nature, they might "desperate people rebel, desperate dogs jump over walls", causing unnecessary trouble.

So she employed the "Golden Cicada Shell Shedding" stratagem, deliberately stomping heavily and laughing as she shouted:

"Pin'er, I see where you're hiding!"

Then she pretended to search for a while and asked Xiaohong, "Where have you hidden Miss Lin?"

Baichai blurted out "Pin'er", not because she hated Daiyu or wanted to harm her, but because:

First, Daiyu was the only reasonable choice at the time.

Baichai was strolling in the garden, while Daiyu usually goes alone, enjoys hide-and-seek style jokes, and Baoyu is often teased by her.

Therefore choosing Daiyu was the least abrupt and most likely to deceive the maidservants.

Second, she believed it would not cause substantive harm to Daiyu.

Daiyu is the beloved of Jia Mu, while Xiaohong is a third-rank maidservant,

even if they suspected Daiyu had heard, they would absolutely not dare to question her, nor dare to spread rumors detrimental to Daiyu.

Third, she had no time to think further.

Xiaohong was about to push open the window, Baichai had to react within half a second, making deep deliberation impossible.

She subconsciously chose the most familiar Daiyu, who also best fit the current situation.

As for the actual outcome, this indeed caused no substantive harm to Daiyu; it was merely used as a pretext!

Moreover, judging from Baichai's overall conduct, she can only be said to harbor deep thoughts, but cannot be called a scheming person!

For example, after discovering Daiyu secretly reading miscellaneous books, she did not openly accuse her,

but instead privately, drawing from her own experience, she sincerely advised her, protecting Daiyu's reputation and dignity.

When she saw Daiyu needing adjustment due to illness, Baichai even more keenly perceived Daiyu's difficulty in speaking out while living under others' roofs,

she proactively offered to supply the daily needed bird's nest, together with the rock sugar for porridge, carefully preparing everything.

This thoughtfulness, which rises above any grudge and sincerely attends to the other's body,

In the end it thoroughly moved Daiyu, prompting her to open her heart to them and become bosom friends.

Daiyu is so sensitive and pure‑hearted that even she eventually came to approve of Baichai, which speaks to Baichai's character.

Including her generosity in paying for a crab banquet for Shi Xiangyun, and privately promising to redeem Xing Xiuyan's cotton coat, and so on.

She considers the other's side and saves their face, handling matters comprehensively.

All things considered, her ranking alongside Daiyu at the head of the Twelve Gold Hairpins list is no accident—it's certainly not a random ordering!

Therefore, from Jia Jing's perspective, it's petty to fault Baichai's character just for chasing butterflies—that's nitpicking and overgeneralizing!

After all, no metal is pure, no one is perfect—even Jia Jing himself isn't as flawless and selfless as he seems on the surface, so how could we demand perfection from others!