The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 509 Dismissal
That night, Wang Xifeng coaxed her daughter to sleep, took the ginseng chicken soup handed to her by her maid Feng'er, drank a few sips, and immediately felt warm all over her limbs. She breathed a sigh of relief and gave the rest to Feng'er.

Feng'er drank the chicken soup and said with a little pride: "Thanks to my cleverness, I hid the old ginseng in the box in the old swaddling clothes of my elder sister. Otherwise, they would have been confiscated by the Jinyiwei, and we would not have been able to enjoy them."

Wang Xifeng sneered, "The Jinyi Guards are just a gust of wind, they will pass away when they pass by. But if Huan Lao San really takes over, I'm afraid our days of enjoying the throne will be over."

Feng Er said angrily, "As grandma said, the food provided by the kitchen today is much worse. I asked the head cook and he said that Lin Zhixiao's family has already given instructions to cut the kitchen budget by 30% in the future. The food provided to the masters and servants of each room is based on the number of people, and there is a fixed amount to prevent waste. From now on, you can't even ask for an extra egg.

Look, for this bowl of ginseng chicken soup, I had to pay for the old hen. When grandma was the housekeeper, who wouldn't be fawning on her? Now that grandma has lost power, everyone has become 'honest'.

Wang Xifeng was secretly resentful when she heard this, but she could do nothing about it. Ever since her uncle Wang Ziteng was dismissed from his post, she had lost her greatest support from her natal family. Now her father-in-law Jia She had been stripped of his title, and her husband Jia Lian was in jail, with no idea when he would be released. She had even less to rely on, so how could those snobs still try to curry favor with her!
At this time Feng Er said again: "By the way, I heard that Huan Lao San is planning to sell half of the servants in the mansion, but I don't know if it's true or not."

Wang Xifeng nodded with a strange look on her face: "The third brother Huan did mention it to Madam, and I was there at the time."

Feng Er was surprised and asked, "How dare he? Will Madam just let him do whatever he wants?"

Wang Xifeng sneered, "I've heard the old lady mention this before. When the Jia family's ancestors started out, there were less than 50 servants in the mansion. Now the number has increased several times. It's really too much. I don't know how much money and food are wasted. The monthly salary alone costs several thousand taels a year. It's really time to cut back. Since Huan Lao San is willing to bear the infamy and be the bad guy, let him be the bad guy. The lady would love it, so she didn't say anything and just let Huan Lao San do it himself."

Feng Er suddenly had an idea and said, "So, Madam, you are just following the flow. Although Huan Lao San is smart, he is still young and hot-tempered. Now there is no servant in the mansion who doesn't scold him. However, I am worried that Huan Lao San will do something bad and take the opportunity to take revenge and lay off all the servants in Grandma's room. Then Grandma will suffer."

Wang Xifeng smiled and said, "If he dares to make things difficult for me, I will just lead the way. Anyway, everyone is resentful, and then the lady will have a reason to punish him. Even the old lady will not be able to take sides."

Feng'er's eyes lit up, and she thought, that's right, nowadays, the servants in the mansion, who doesn't have the support of the master behind them, and the relationship is also complicated. How could Jia Huan sell half of the servants so easily? As the saying goes, it's hard to offend the public anger. Once grandma takes the lead in making trouble, there will definitely be a hundred responses. By then, Huan Lao San will not be able to stay in this family, let alone the housekeeper.

Thinking of this, Feng'er couldn't help but feel a little hopeful. She even hoped that Jia Huan would sell the slave as soon as possible. After all, she was Jia Lian's maid, and it was impossible for her to be sold to anyone else.

The next morning, all the servants and maids of the Jia family received the notice. Except for the first-class maids who had to serve their master personally and those who had difficulty moving, all of them were to gather in the open space in front of the Grand Hall after lunch, as Master Huan Sanye had something important to announce.

For a time, all the servants in the mansion were in a panic. Some of them even thought that they had no support from their masters, so they simply packed up and ran away secretly. After all, being an illegal vagrant outside was better than being sold to a small family to work as slaves.

In addition, if the original family was sold to different families as slaves, the wives and children would be separated, which would undoubtedly be very miserable. For this reason, wealthy families who valued their reputation would generally not sell slaves, especially slaves with families, so as to avoid getting a bad reputation of being rich and unkind.

In the afternoon, all the servants of the Jia family, regardless of gender, age or status, came to the large flower hall in the middle of the Rongguo Mansion. Hundreds of people were bustling around, and the noise was deafening. Some were angry, some were gloomy, some were uneasy, some were frightened, and their expressions were varied.

At this moment, the originally noisy crowd suddenly quieted down, all eyes were cast fiercely in the same place, as if they were choosing someone to devour, the atmosphere was oppressive like a powder keg, as if a spark could cause an earth-shaking explosion.

Jia Huan was seen walking out of the grand hall, followed by Lin Zhixiao, Shitou, Lin Zhong, Lin Fu, Jin Bao, Mu Ye and others, while Jia Zheng did not appear. This old man was indeed a bit unreliable.

At this moment, even though Lin Zhixiao was mature and prudent, he still felt like a thorn in his side. The brothers Lin Zhong and Lin Fu were even more unbearable. They lowered their heads, as if they had become shameless traitors who betrayed their class, and they wished they could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

As for Xing Wei, Mu Ye and Jin Bao, they had all seen a lot of storms and experienced the tempering of blood and fire on the battlefield. This little scene was simply child's play for them, so they were not afraid at all and followed Jia Huan with their heads held high. In the eyes of the Jia family's servants, they naturally became the embodiment of successful villains. The Third Master Huan, who seemed approachable in the past, now became a hateful, ruthless and rich "bully".

Jia Huan seemed to ignore the resentful looks of the servants. He walked calmly to the steps and commanded condescendingly, "Butler Lin, count the number of people."

Lin Zhixiao quickly took out the roster and began to count the number of people in each household. About half an hour later, he trotted back to Jia Huan and said respectfully, "Third Master, the headcount is complete. There are 438 servants in the mansion, 402 of whom were supposed to be here, 335 of whom were actually here, and 48 were absent."

Jia Huan took the roster and took a look at it, and found that the absent names were circled in red ink. These 48 people were from 7 households, and it was very likely that the whole family had run away. However, Jia Huan still sent Lin Zhong and Lin Fu to each household to verify.

Sure enough, after Lin Zhong and Lin Fu checked house by house, they found that these seven households were empty, including Siqi's family who served Jia Yingchun.

Jia Huan raised the list in his hand and shook it, then said loudly, "There are seven servants who have not arrived yet. After investigation, it was found that these seven families had left the house without saying goodbye. According to the provisions of the "Great Jin Law", any servant who escapes without permission will be punished with whipping; those who escape and resist arrest will be whipped thirty times; those who resist arrest and injure others will be whipped thirty to one hundred times depending on the circumstances, with the possibility of death!"

All the servants of the Jia family present were terrified and felt both fear and hatred in their hearts.

At this time, Jia Huan continued in a clear voice: "We could have reported these servants who escaped without permission to the authorities, but my Jia family has always been kind and righteous, and the old lady and the mistress are especially compassionate to the elderly and the poor, and are generous and charitable, so I do not intend to pursue them any further. Let them go, and just consider it a good deed!"

As soon as this was said, the servants could not help but whisper to each other. Didn't Jia Huan want to sell half of his servants for silver? Why was he so generous as to let the runaway servant go?
At this moment, someone among the servants suddenly sneered and said, "Master Huan San, there is no need to pretend to be so hypocritical. Since you are going to do such an evil thing, why bother pretending to be kind and righteous?"

Jia Huan looked carefully and saw that the person who was speaking was actually a maid. She was in her twenties, with a slim figure, shoulders as sharp as a knife, and a pretty face. She was even prettier than Ping'er. She was Qingwen, who served Jia Baoyu in his room.

In addition to Qingwen, Qiu Wen, Bihen, Sheyue and others were also there, each with a sullen look and a hint of uneasiness. These were all the big maids in Jia Baoyu's room, and they were confident that they had Jia Baoyu's support, so they were not very afraid of Jia Huan.

Jia Huan frowned and said calmly, "Why do you say that, Miss Qingwen?"

Qingwen squinted her eyes and sneered, "Why do you ask when you already know the answer? You called us here today just to sell half of us. If you want to sell us, just do it openly. Why pretend to be sympathetic?" Among all the maids in Jia's house, Qingwen's appearance is undoubtedly the most outstanding, but she is also the most rebellious, and she is arrogant. She is born with a sharp tongue and loves to be tough when encountering things. Therefore, she often offends people and is not popular. In the end, her end is also miserable, just as her verdict says: It is difficult to meet a clear moon, and it is easy to disperse colorful clouds. Her heart is higher than the sky, but her body is lowly. Her charm and cleverness attract people's resentment, and her short life is often caused by slander. The sentimental young man misses her in vain.

Shitou was naturally very upset when he saw that this charming and beautiful maid dared to show her teeth to the Third Master. He shouted angrily: "Where did you come from, you little whore? You are talking nonsense here and being disrespectful to the Third Master. Believe it or not, I will make you lose your good teeth!"

"Bah, you lackey! Who do you think you are to call yourself a master here? Go lie down in the corner and eat the rice in the fields. There's plenty of it!" Qingwen retorted, putting her hands on her slender waist.

Xing Wei smacked his lips as if he had a toothache, and Jia Huan couldn't help but laugh. Wow, she is really worthy of being Yong Qingwen, she has such a sharp tongue!
Just when everyone thought Jia Huan was going to lose face, he suddenly burst out laughing, and everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Qingwen was also puzzled and frowned, asking, "Why is Third Master Huan laughing?"

Jia Huan said solemnly, "Who told you that I was going to sell half of my slaves?"

Qingwen asked back: "Isn't it?"

Jia Huan shook his head: "There has never been such a thing."

"Really?" Qingwen was doubtful.

Jia Huan smiled calmly and said, "A gentleman is open-minded, while a villain is always worried. I am Jia Huan, an honest man, and I don't do shady things. If I say there is no truth, then there is no truth. What's the point of lying to you?"

As soon as these words came out, the servants who had been worried just now all smiled happily, and their eyes turned to Jia Huan with friendlier eyes. They all said afterward: "I knew it, how could Third Master Huan do such a hateful thing? I don't know who is the one who is gossiping and making up rumors? He really deserves to be beaten to death!"

Qingwen couldn't help but blushing a little, and said embarrassedly: "It seems that I have misunderstood. I would like to apologize to the Third Master."

Jia Huan waved his hand and said, "Miss Qingwen, please don't be so anxious to apologize. Listen to me first, or you will scold me again later."

When he said this, the servants couldn't help but feel anxious again.

Jia Huan said solemnly: "I'm sure everyone is very clear about the current situation in the mansion. The East Mansion has been confiscated, and all the property of the eldest master's family has been confiscated. The title passed down from our ancestors has also been lost. Now we owe more than 200,000 taels of foreign debt. We are almost penniless and can no longer support so many people."

Qingwen frowned and asked, "Didn't Third Master Huan pay off all his debts today?"

"Yes, I heard that Master Huan San captured the Lai family and seized 40,000 to 50,000 taels of silver, and paid off all the debts. Why are you saying that you owe more than 200,000 taels of foreign debt now?"

"That's right, Master Huan San, after all this talk, you're not planning to sell me off, are you?"

The servants began to complain one after another.

Jia Huan put his hands down and said, "Everyone, please listen to me first. I will reiterate that I have no intention of selling slaves. It is true that I have paid back half of the debt today, but I still owe nearly 100,000 taels, and the mansion has long been unable to make ends meet. If you don't trust me, Jia Huan, you can go ask the master and the mistress."

Lin Zhixiao stepped forward and said sincerely: "Mr. Huan San's words are true. The mansion has been living on debt all along and can no longer support so many people. I hope everyone will understand Mr. Huan San's difficulties."

Lin Zhixiao usually doesn't talk much, but he is very honest, so he is quite popular and has prestige among the servants. So as soon as he started to testify, the few who had been making the loudest noise just now also shut up.

"Then...what does Master Huan San plan to do? He can't really sell us out, right?" someone asked anxiously.

Jia Huan said solemnly: "I understand your feelings, but the mansion really can't afford it. But don't worry, no matter how difficult it is, I, Jia Huan, will not sell out slaves and separate you from your family.

Last night I discussed this with the master and obtained the old lady's consent. We will use the remaining part of the silver as severance pay. Those who voluntarily leave the mansion to find their own way will be given two taels of silver each. Those who do not want to leave the mansion can stay, but from now on, the monthly salary will be suspended until the mansion pays off its foreign debts. "

As soon as these words were spoken, all the servants present looked at each other in bewilderment, and gradually began to discuss in low voices.

Jia Huan quietly winked at Lin Zhixiao, then raised his voice and said, "Everyone, think carefully and make a decision before the evening. If you voluntarily want to leave the mansion and find your own way out, go to the hall to find Manager Lin to register, and receive the severance pay and the contract of sale on the spot, and you will be free from now on."

After saying this, Jia Huan left and returned to the garden to study. The imperial examination was coming soon, and he didn't want to waste too much time on it.

As soon as Jia Huan left, servants rushed into the hall to find Lin Zhixiao to register for severance pay, without any hesitation.

This is not surprising. There are many people in the world who can share happiness, but few who can share suffering. In the past, the Jia family was prominent and well-paid, and even going out on the street was particularly respectable. But now the Jia family has lost its title and is in debt. It can't even pay its monthly salary. Naturally, everyone has to think carefully!

(End of this chapter)