The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 505: Counting with Fingers

Jia Huan braved the drizzling rain and rushed to Grandmother Jia's room. He found that in addition to Jia Zheng, Lady Wang, Lady Xing and Aunt Xue, Youshi and Qin Keqing, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, were also present. Both of them had swollen eyes from crying. Especially the beautiful Qin Keqing, who looked timid and sorrowful at the moment, and was really pitiful.

Since the Ningguo Mansion, along with its houses, fields, and servants, were all confiscated, only Youshi, Jia Rong and his wife, and Jia Zhen's concubines were left in the mansion. They had nowhere to live, so Jia Zheng could only vacate a few empty rooms to temporarily house them and dispatched maids to serve them.

Jia Rong had several ribs broken by his father Jia Zhen. Although he has been recuperating for more than 20 days, he is still unable to get up and is still bedridden, so he did not appear here.

After Jia Huan entered the room, he greeted Jia Mu and others one by one. Qin Keliao stood up, bowed to Jia Huan and called him Uncle Huan.

Grandmother Jia seemed to be in better spirits tonight. After asking Jia Huan to sit down, she asked, "Brother Huan, I heard from your father that the two mansions owed a total of 220,000 taels of foreign debt."

Jia Huan corrected him, "Madam, it's two hundred and twenty-three thousand five hundred and seventy-two taels."

Grandmother Jia nodded and said, "I have a bad memory, so I only remembered a rough number, which is fine. But our family can't afford so much money, and you promised to pay the debt tomorrow. If the creditor comes to your house to demand the money tomorrow, do you have any way to deal with it?"

Jia Huan shook his head: "No, I just acted on the situation."

When these words came out, everyone was disappointed, and Jia Zheng was even more furious. Jia Huan had returned to the garden to eat dinner so confidently before, and he thought that Jia Huan had thought of a way to deal with it, but he didn't. He couldn't help but scold him, "Evil creature, if you didn't have a way to deal with it, why did you make such a boast and promise to pay you back tomorrow?"

Jia Huan said calmly: "Huan'er did promise to pay back the money tomorrow, but she didn't say she would pay it back in full."

Jia Zheng was stunned for a moment, then said angrily: "You are still so young, but you are still trying to be clever in these crooked ways. This is not what a gentleman does. You have really read the sage book in vain. If you only return part of it tomorrow, will people agree with you? Be careful or you will cause a big mess!"

Jia Huan rolled his eyes secretly, thinking, "What a pedant! You've become stupid from reading so much, no wonder you haven't been able to advance in the officialdom for so many years."

Grandmother Jia was very satisfied with Jia Huan's performance, and she reprimanded Jia Zheng, saying, "Reading is indeed for the purpose of understanding reason and cultivating oneself, but one should not study blindly. One should learn to be flexible in dealing with others. A gentleman is also one who is flexible in appearance and square in heart. I think Brother Huan did the right thing."

Jia Zheng was the most foolishly filial person. When his mother spoke, he immediately looked embarrassed and dared not refute.

Grandmother Jia turned to Jia Huan and said, "I was a little worried at first, but after hearing what you said, I feel assured and can hand the money over to you. I had collected 30,000 taels before, and I had intended to return the stolen money to the eldest master and Zhen'er, but now I have no choice but to deal with the immediate emergency. In addition to this 30,000 taels, I will take out another 20,000 taels of my own money. These are all what I have saved throughout my life, and some of them were my dowry when I got married. Now I only have 3,000 taels left for the coffin, and I have taken out the rest. I don't have a penny more."

Jia Zheng said anxiously, "Mother's money is for your old age. You should keep it for yourself. I will find another way."

Grandmother Jia sneered, "I am an old woman, the earth is buried up to my chin, how many days can I eat rice? I can't bring it with me when I am born, and I can't take it with me when I die. What's the point of keeping all this silver? Three thousand taels is enough for funeral expenses. It's just hard for the second young lady and the others. I was going to use this silver as their dowry, but now I have to let them suffer."

Hearing this, Jia Zheng lowered his head in shame and said with red eyes: "The child is not pretty!"

At this moment, Jia's mother looked like a general inspecting troops on the battlefield, quite heroic, majestic, decisive and capable. She scolded: "Zheng'er, you are also over fifty years old, don't act like a child. The most important thing now is to get through this.

The eldest wife and Feng girl had just had their house raided, and they are already very poor. Zhu'er's wife is a young widow and unemployed, and there is Lang'er to support, so let's forget about it. Madam must have saved a lot of her own money over the years. Although she took out two thousand taels of silver a few days ago, if you still have some, why not take out a little more to deal with the emergency and tide over the difficulties together!"

Mrs. Wang was directly named by Grandmother Jia. Although she was reluctant, she had to express her feelings. Moreover, she was the first wife of the main house, so she naturally did not want to see the Jia family fall apart. She could only bear the pain and said, "I only have five thousand taels left, so take it all out for emergency!"

Grandmother Jia nodded and said, "That makes fifty-five thousand taels." Then she looked at Aunt Xue again and said apologetically, "Aunt is a relative. She already gave two thousand taels last time. I shouldn't bother you again this time, but the situation is stronger than people. I can only shamelessly borrow some from you for emergency use."

"You're too polite, ma'am. Well..." Aunt Xue looked a little embarrassed and obviously couldn't make up her mind.

"No matter how much you can lend, it's all out of deep affection and kindness, so there's no need to be embarrassed, Madam." Grandmother Jia coughed twice and said.

Aunt Xue apologized, "Although our family has closed the business in the south, we have not been able to recover most of the silver. Ke'er is staying in Nanjing to handle it. Although we have some silver on hand now, we also need to turn over the business here. The most we can take out is 20,000 taels of silver, no more!"

Grandmother Jia nodded and said, "Every family has its own difficulties. I understand. Then let's borrow 20,000 taels of silver from Auntie temporarily. We still have five or six farms in Jinling. Auntie also plans to buy some land. If we can't pay it back by then, we can use the farms to pay it back. We will never let Auntie suffer any loss."

Aunt Xue waved her hands and smiled.

Grandmother Jia was a little tired at this time. She coughed twice and asked Yuanyang beside her, "Yuanyang, how much silver have you collected?"

Yuanyang replied, "Seventy-five thousand taels."

Grandmother Jia sighed, "For now, this is all we have. Seventy-five thousand is not even half of it. Huan'er, you will have to rely on yourself to mediate tomorrow."

Jia Huan nodded calmly and said, "Huan'er, do your best."

Next, Jia Zheng and Jia Huan personally counted the silver they had collected and put it into the warehouse, locked it up, and sent several reliable servants to guard it.

It is worth mentioning here that what Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang took out were both cash, while the twenty thousand taels that Aunt Xue took out were silver notes, and they happened to be silver notes from the Shanxi Merchants' Money House, the kind that were payable on sight.

Besides, it was almost midnight when Jia Zheng and Jia Huan, father and son, finished counting the silver and put it into the warehouse. As soon as they walked out of the warehouse, they met the eldest wife, Mrs. Xing, and Wang Shanbao, the housekeeper. The two of them were holding lanterns and were obviously waiting there on purpose. It was freezing cold and raining, and it was hard for them to wait until now.

"What is the eldest lady doing here?" Jia Zheng asked in confusion. Mrs. Xing glanced at Jia Huan, hesitant, while Wang Shanbao smiled like a hyena. Jia Huan knew what was going on and bowed deliberately before saying, "Master, I'll go back to the garden first!"

Jia Zheng coughed and said, "Wait a minute, come with me to the study room, I have something to tell you."

"It's very late now, let's talk about it tomorrow!" Jia Huan left with an umbrella, and no longer paid any attention to Jia Zheng.

Jia Zheng was angry and embarrassed, and secretly cursed his rebellious son. In fact, he had nothing to say to Jia Huan, he just wanted to find an excuse to let Jia Huan stay. After all, it was late at night and it was quiet, and the uncle and sister-in-law should avoid suspicion.

Mrs. Xing was secretly happy to see Jia Huan leave. This boy is very cunning and difficult to deal with. It would be difficult to control him here.

Mrs. Xing watched Jia Huan walk away, and then she asked, "During the day, the master promised to give me three thousand taels of silver for my self-defense and retirement. When will he give it to me?"

Wang Shanbao's wife also smiled and said, "Yes, this place is not far from the storehouse. The master just came to get the silver. With this silver, the lady can protect herself and sleep peacefully at night."

Jia Zheng said awkwardly: "Well... the money in the treasury is used to pay off debts. It cannot be used casually. Wait until you have more money in the future."

Mrs. Xing's face suddenly fell, and she said unhappily: "Now the mansion owes more than 200,000 taels of foreign debt. When will we be able to make ends meet?"

Wang Shanbao's wife also chimed in, "That's right. Anyway, it's far from enough to pay off the debt. What's the big deal if it's three thousand taels more or less? Second Master, just give the silver to our wife, and we'll all be safe!"

Jia Zheng said in embarrassment: "Three thousand taels is indeed not much, but this is a special fund for repaying debts. The old lady has taken out all her dowry, so how can we misappropriate it? This is absolutely not allowed!"

When Wang Shanbao saw that Jia Zheng refused, he secretly signaled to him. The eldest wife immediately sat down and burst into tears, saying that she was penniless, her husband and son were in jail, and she had no one to rely on. As a brother-in-law, Jia Zheng not only did not help his sister-in-law, but also bullied her. He had clearly promised to give her three thousand taels but broke his promise.

Jia Zheng blushed and was at a loss, so he advised, "Sister-in-law, please get up. It's not that I don't want to give you the silver, but I can't. The key to the silver vault is with Huan'er."

Mrs. Xing was stunned for a moment, half believing and half doubting, "Where is Huan'er's key? Did the master really not lie to me?"

Jia Zheng said, "The treasury has three locks. I only have one key. The other two are with Huan'er and Lin Zhixiao. It will take three keys to open it."

Madam Xing and Wang Shanbao looked at each other in shock and hatred. No wonder Huan Lao San left in a hurry just now. It turned out that he had guessed their purpose long ago, so he slipped away first. He is indeed a cunning little bastard. It makes me so angry!
Mrs. Xing had no choice but to grit her teeth, get up, and leave in a huff. Jia Zheng breathed a sigh of relief, for he finally understood why Jia Huan left in such a hurry. This rebellious son... was such a clever fellow!
Besides, Mrs. Xing was naturally unwilling to not get the money. Wang Shanbao's wife was also very desperate because, as Mrs. Xing's companion, her house had been raided by the Embroidered Uniform Guards. So she instigated Mrs. Xing to find Jia Huan. As long as Jia Huan was dealt with, it would be easy to deal with Jia Zheng and Lin Zhixiao.

So, under the instigation of Wang Shanbao, Mrs. Xing rushed to Yueweiju in the middle of the night, ready to use her status as the eldest wife to make a scene and suppress Jia Huan. However, when the master and servant arrived at the door of Yueweiju, they found that the gate was locked and there was not even a night guard. It was dark inside and they knocked on the door for a long time but got no response.

It was already past midnight and it was raining. The cold was biting. Mrs. Xing and Wang Shanbao's wife were so cold that their teeth were chattering. In the end, they could only leave cursing.

After the two of them left for a while, the lights in Yuewei Residence were turned on. Mandalin opened the gate with a lantern and took a look. Then she returned to the house with a smile and said to everyone, "They're gone!"

Xueyan asked curiously, "Third Master is really a master of foresight. How did you know that the first wife would come?"

Jia Huan pinched his fingers and smiled, "Of course I calculated it with my fingers!"

Lin Daiyu stretched out her spring onion-like index finger and poked Jia Huan's forehead lightly, saying with a smile: "I believe you, you fool!"

Ping'er and Xueyan both covered their mouths and laughed softly!

It was already late at night, why were Lin Daiyu and her servant in Jia Huan's room?
It turned out that Lin Daiyu learned that the mansion owed more than 200,000 taels of silver in foreign debt, and Jia Huan had boasted that the creditors would come to his house tomorrow to pay off the debts together. So she was worried that Jia Huan would not be able to pay the money tomorrow, so she sent the remaining 5,000 taels of silver in her hand to Yueweiju, intending to give it to Jia Huan for emergency, and waited until Jia Huan came back in the middle of the night.

It is said that when Lin Daiyu came back from the south, she brought a total of 15,000 taels of silver. She gave 10,000 taels of silver to Lady Jia as a filial gift, and kept only 5,000 taels of silver for herself. She didn't spend much of it on weekdays, but now she gave it all to Jia Huan.

Jia Huan was of course very touched, but he was sure that if Mrs. Xing failed to get the money from Jia Zheng, she would definitely come to him to ask for the key, so he didn't have time to say anything more. He immediately asked Ping'er and Mandalin to lock the courtyard door and blow out the lights.

Sure enough, not long after, Mrs. Xing came to the door, but was turned away and left in anger.

Jia Huan was afraid of Mrs. Xing, but she was his elder, and it would be difficult to deal with her if she started to throw a tantrum. So he simply used the tactic of "closing the four cities and hanging up the sign of no war". When the time came, he would just say that he fell asleep and didn't hear anyone knocking on the door.

Let’s get back to the topic. Lin Daiyu and Jia Huan talked for a while, and then they were ready to get up and say goodbye.

"It's late at night and the roads are slippery. It's raining. Sister Lin, why don't you stay here for the night?" Jia Huan suggested sincerely, and added, "You sleep in my bed and I'll sleep in the study."

Lin Daiyu's pretty face was slightly hot. Although her heart was tied to Jia Huan, and the two of them were even close enough to "sleep on the same bed", she was afraid that if she stayed overnight at Jia Huan's place, some rumors would spread, so she shook her head and said, "I'm used to my own bed. Let's go home."

Jia Huan did not force it and personally sent Lin Daiyu and her servant back to Xiaosha Pavilion. Zijuan was waiting for her under the lamp, and when she saw her finally come back, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Zijuan was a thoughtful person, and naturally she had seen her daughter's feelings for Master Huan Sanye a long time ago. So when she waited at home until the middle of the night but still didn't see Lin Daiyu come back, she was naturally worried that the two of them might have lost themselves in lust and do something out of line. Now that she saw Jia Huan personally bringing Lin Daiyu back, she felt relieved.

(End of this chapter)