The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 510 The most poisonous woman’s heart
Lu Xun once mentioned an interesting phenomenon that Chinese people always like to compromise. For example, if you say that the room is too dark and you plan to open a skylight, no one will allow it. But if you advocate tearing down the roof, they will compromise and be willing to open the skylight.

This is actually similar to the saying "If you follow the best, you will get the middle; if you follow the middle, you will get the bottom; if you follow the bottom, you will get nothing."

If Jia Huan had directly proposed to stop paying monthly wages and lay off half of the servants at the beginning, most of the servants in the Jia family would have opposed it, or even become angry and made trouble. However, Jia Huan secretly used a trick. He used Mrs. Wang to spread the word in advance that she would sell half of the servants, arousing public indignation. However, the next day he announced publicly that he would not sell them, but would simply lay off the servants, and would even pay them severance pay.

Imagine that the slaves had expected to be sold off, separated from their wives and children, and separated from their flesh and blood. Now Jia Huan suddenly said that he would not sell them off, and there was also a separation fee. How could the slaves not feel relieved? How could they not be grateful? They even gladly accepted the fact that their monthly salary was stopped.

Let's get back to the topic. After Jia Huan announced the "suspension of salaries and layoffs" in public, he left and left the remaining work to Lin Zhixiao.

At this time, Jia Zheng was pacing back and forth in his study, Mengpo Zhai, and was feeling restless when his long-time attendant Li Gui walked in with a strange look on his face.

Jia Zheng asked hurriedly, "How is it? Did Huan'er not cause any great trouble?"

Li Gui said with a sigh, "No, Master Huan San is very clever. I admire him very much now."

Jia Zheng half-believed and half-doubted, "Is it really true?"

Li Gui then recounted what had happened. After listening to it, Jia Zheng couldn't help but feel relieved, but at the same time he was a little annoyed. He thought, this rebellious son actually tricked me, how could this be!

It turned out that in order to prevent the news from leaking out, Jia Huan even hid it from Jia Zheng. The latter had always thought that Jia Huan really wanted to sell half of the slaves for money, so he didn't even dare to show up this time, for fear of being criticized by thousands of people. Unexpectedly, Jia Huan was just bluffing and easily accomplished the extremely difficult task of reducing the slaves.

For a long time, the Jia family had been in serious financial deficit. One of the important reasons was that the population was too large and the burden was too heavy. Now that this stubborn problem had been successfully solved, Jia Zheng felt relieved as if a huge stone had been lifted from his heart. After sending Li Gui away, he poured himself a cup of tea and sipped it leisurely.

To be honest, ever since Jia She and Jia Zhen were arrested, Jia Zheng has been worried and anxious for more than half a month. He has been unable to sleep or eat. Bad things have happened one after another, making him so anxious that he vomited blood. Now he can finally take a break. Having a smart and capable son really relieves him a lot of worries. It's a pity that Huan'er is not raised by his wife.

Thinking of the conflicts and rifts between Jia Huan and Mrs. Wang, Jia Zheng couldn't help but feel distressed again.

…………

Grandmother Jia originally had the habit of taking a nap. After suffering a series of blows and falling ill, she seemed to be even more sleepy. She slept for more than an hour in the afternoon and did not wake up.

Mrs. Wang looked at the old woman lying on the bed, who looked like a dead tree or a dying lamp. Her eyes were uncertain and she didn't know what she was thinking. After a long while, she lowered the curtain and left the outer room. She asked in a low voice, "Has the old lady had lunch?"

At this time, only Yuanyang and Amber were left in Lady Jia's room to serve her. The rest were summoned by Jia Huan to a meeting in front of the large flower hall in the middle of the Jia Mansion.

Yuanyang replied worriedly, "I only drank two spoonfuls of ginseng soup, and I feel sleepy and groggy. I am awake for only a few minutes a day."

Mrs. Wang sighed and said, "You guys take good care of her. When the weather gets warmer, maybe the old lady will get better."

Yuanyang nodded quickly.

At this time, Amber couldn't help but ask, "Madam, I have something to say, but I don't know if I should say it or not."

Madam Wang said calmly, "You and Yuanyang are both serving the old lady. There is nothing you cannot say. It is always for the good of the old lady."

Amber shook her head and said, "It's not about the old lady, it's about Master Huan San."

Mrs. Wang said calmly, "How is Huan'er?"

Amber said angrily, "I heard that Master Huan San was going to sell off half of the servants in the mansion. Now he has summoned them to the Grand Hall. Maybe they have already started selling them. The old lady is now sick and confused. She doesn't know when it's day or night. Why didn't Madam dissuade her? Everyone knows that the old lady and Madam are people who cherish the elderly and the poor. Many of the servants in the mansion have served their masters for generations. Which one of them doesn't have a family? Can Madam bear to watch them being sold off, their wives and children separated, and their flesh and blood separated?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Aunt Xue, Mrs. You, Qin Keqing and Li Wan who were present all looked at Mrs. Wang at the same time.

Without waiting for Mrs. Wang to speak, Wang Xifeng immediately spoke up, "Of course Madam dissuaded you. Of course, there is no way I wouldn't dissuade you from doing something like this."

Zhou Ruijia, who was standing next to her, said in a yin-yang voice, "As the saying goes, a new official will make three big moves when he takes office. Your madam has tried to dissuade him, but she's afraid that someone won't listen and will act on their own!" Although Qin Keqing was weak in character, she was a smart person. She naturally heard that Wang Xifeng and Zhou Ruijia were singing the same tune and were clearly adding fuel to the fire. She couldn't help but worry secretly, and wanted to say a few words to defend Jia Huan, but was afraid of offending others.

At this time, a group of maids who served in Jia's room came back, led by Pearl, Jade and Glass. These three maids were second-class maids serving Jia's mother, and it seemed that they had just returned from the Grand Flower Hall.

Wang Xifeng's eyes suddenly lit up, and she deliberately asked, "You guys are back so soon? Why did Master Huan San call everyone over?"

Feicui, who was always quick-witted, replied, "Master Huan San said that the mansion is in great difficulty now and can no longer support so many servants. He asked everyone to find their own way out. Those who are willing to leave will be given two taels of silver each as travel expenses. After receiving the indenture, they can leave and regain their freedom. If they don't want to leave, they can stay, but the monthly salary will be stopped from now on until the mansion pays off its foreign debts."

The youngest, Glass, stuck out his tongue and said, "It turns out that everyone has wrongly blamed Master Huan San. Master Huan San had no intention of selling slaves. He just wanted everyone to choose to leave the mansion voluntarily, and he even gave them severance pay."

Qin Keqing heaved a sigh of relief when she heard this, and Aunt Xue also smiled and said, "I knew Huan'er was kind-hearted and would never do such a bad thing. Although two taels of silver is not much, considering the current situation in the mansion, it is the most righteous thing I can do."

Zhou Ruijia looked very embarrassed. She had just been playing tricks on Jia Huan, but was immediately slapped in the face.

"It seems that Huan'er has listened to the lady's advice." Wang Xifeng smiled awkwardly and tried to smooth things over, but she felt like she had eaten a fly in her heart.

Wang Xifeng had originally planned to wait for Jia Huan to announce the sale of the slaves in public and arouse public outrage, and then she would take the opportunity to take the lead in "upholding justice" and earn a good reputation while taking back Jia Huan's power as housekeeper. However, Jia Huan did not play according to the rules at all, which was clearly a trick on herself and her wife.

Mrs. Wang was also very unhappy at this moment, but she could only pretend to be happy and said, "Amitabha, this is a good thing."

Yu Shi joked, "If that's the case, why don't you little hooves take the silver and leave? Do you think two taels of silver is too little?"

Zhenzhu hurriedly shook her head and said, "Look at what Grandma Zhen said. The old lady usually treats us maids well. Now the mansion is in trouble and the old lady is sick. If we leave at this time, will we still be considered human beings?"

Li Wan was touched and said, "My dear servants, it is hard for you to be so loyal. It is worth it that the old lady loves you so much."

Feicui curled her lips and said, "Although we are not leaving, there are many people who want to leave. They are almost trampling down the threshold of the grand hall. Some are even impatient and sneak away with their families without waiting for Master Huan San to gather everyone and announce it. But they deserve it. If they had waited a little longer, they could have received their indentures and severance pay and regained their freedom. Now they can only be refugees outside."

Yuanyang sneered, "They are all selfish and cold-hearted people. They left cleanly. Let them fend for themselves."

Aunt Xue sighed and said, "As the saying goes, husband and wife are birds of the same forest. When disaster strikes, they fly away separately. This is even more so for servants. Just let them be. There is no need to be too harsh on them."

Mrs. Wang nodded and said, "My sister is right. Everyone should go home and don't disturb the old lady's rest." After that, she left Lady Jia's room.

Wang Xifeng had been preparing to make trouble, but now she could only return to her residence like a deflated ball. As soon as she entered the door, Feng'er came forward and said, "Madam, Huan Lao San didn't sell the slaves at all, and even gave each of them two taels of silver as severance pay. Now no one scolds him anymore, and they are all grateful to him. Pah, they are really a bunch of slaves who have never seen the world, and they were sent away with just two taels of silver."

Wang Xifeng said coldly: "How could you know how clever Huan Lao San's tricks were? My wife and I have been used by him."

Feng Er was surprised and asked, "What do you mean?"

Wang Xifeng gritted her teeth and said, "Now I understand. Yesterday, Huan Lao San pretended to ask Madam for permission to sell off half of his servants. He actually wanted to spread the word and make everyone angry. But today, he suddenly announced that he would not sell them and even gave them two taels of silver as severance pay. How can those servants not be overjoyed and grateful?"

Feng Er suddenly came to his senses and said in surprise, "Isn't this what... playing hard to get? He even tricked Grandma and Madam into doing this. Huan Lao San is really too cunning. Well, he also took this opportunity to stop paying the monthly salary, which not only saved expenses, but also forced more people to choose to leave, thus achieving the goal of reducing the number of servants. Tsk tsk, Huan Lao San's tactics are too terrible. Grandma, let's..."

Wang Xifeng's face darkened. Seeing this, Feng'er stopped talking and did not continue.

As for Lady Wang, after leaving Lady Jia's courtyard, she returned to the main room with a gloomy face, and was obviously in a very bad mood. It was no wonder that she was in a good mood after being tricked by Jia Huan, a bastard. Moreover, the more Jia Huan behaved, the greater her sense of crisis became. For a moment, she even hoped that Lady Jia would die immediately, because once Lady Jia died, Jia Huan would be in mourning and naturally could not participate in the next joint examination.

It is just like this: the mouth of a bamboo snake and the sting of a wasp. Neither of them is poisonous, but the heart of a woman is the most poisonous.

(End of this chapter)