Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 542: Trivia of the Jia Mansion
Leaving the warm room, the cold air penetrated into his neck. Jia Lian shivered and shrank his neck.

Zhuzi stepped forward and put on the cloak: "Second Master, are you coming back?"

Looking up at the sky, it has a gloomy background. Between the gray sky and earth, endless snowflakes are flying.

After adapting himself for a while, Jia Lian stepped into the heavy snow, left the palace, and took a carriage home.

........................

It snowed heavily all night. Before dawn, the servants of the Jia mansion got up and worked hard in the falling snow.

Don't sympathize with them. From the perspective of the lower class, being able to work as a servant in the Jia Mansion is something to be envied. At least they won't be hungry or cold.

Wang Xifeng, who now completely controlled the power in the backyard of the Jia Mansion, got up early as usual.

A short absence is better than a new marriage. It has been several years since Wang Xifeng left home, and for her, it is like a blessing after a long drought.

Looking at the busy servants, Wang Xifeng couldn't help but sigh in her heart. She had never realized before that the prestige of being the head of the Jia family's backyard was not as great as having a man by her side for a night.

"I wonder if the master will leave when he comes back this time?" Wang Xifeng said to herself. Ping'er came from behind and put a thick cloak on her.

"Uncle Zheng has been exiled for many years, and we haven't seen him come back. He just writes to me once a month." After hearing Ping'er's comfort, Wang Xifeng nodded helplessly.

She didn't read enough, otherwise she would have said, "I regret asking my husband to seek a title!"
"A few days ago, when my aunt came back to her parents' home, the old lady also mentioned Second Uncle Zheng. It sounded like she wanted to ask Uncle Lin from the Lin family for help to arrange for his return to Beijing." Thinking of the second house, Wang Xifeng suddenly felt less melancholy.

"There's no end to this man. Second Uncle Zheng was at best a doctor in the capital, and now he's a fourth-rank prefect. People can't have everything, right?" Ping'er commented.

When Jia Lian got up, it was already bright and the snow had stopped.

Seeing Jia Quan standing by the bed, Jia Lian was quite surprised: "Why are you here?"

When Jia Quan saw Jia Lian wake up, he seemed frightened and turned around and ran out, shouting as he ran: "Sister, sister, father is awake."

Jia Lian couldn't help laughing when he heard this. This son was not close to him and seemed to be a little afraid of him. Alas, the relationship between father and son in this era was mostly like this.

Qiaojie rushed in like a gust of wind. After two steps, she instantly entered the state of a lady as if in slow motion. She bowed to Jia Lian and said, "My daughter greets my father!"

Jia Quan followed in with a little timidity on his face. He grabbed his sister's sleeve with his little hands and looked at Jia Lian cautiously.

Ping'er and Guixiang came in later. Guixiang said to the siblings, "Young Master and Miss, please go out and wait. Don't disturb the master while he is changing his clothes and washing up."

After not seeing each other for a few years, Qiaojie really started to act like a grown-up girl. After saying goodbye, she took her brother out.

On Jia Lian's side, Ping'er even brought the mouthwash to his mouth, and he dressed like a model, letting the two of them do whatever they wanted.

"Why didn't you see Xiangling?" Jia Lian asked. Ping'er said with a hint of disgust: "Second Master only has Xiangling in his heart!"

Jia Lian raised his hand and gently tapped the fleshy part: "You'll eat anything that's sour."

Guixiang explained, "Xiangling's mother was ill, so I went to take care of her last night."

Feng Shi had to deal with Zhen Shiyin, and suffered a lot for several years.

"Go visit her when you have time. Xiangling has had a hard time too."

The three of them chatted casually, and after they had tidied up Jia Lian, they did not allow other maids to do anything.

After eating a bowl of steaming noodles, Jia Lian wiped his mouth and waved to Qiaojie and Jia Quan.

Qiaojie came forward with her brother. Jia Lian looked at the two siblings and sighed, "My daughter is grown up now. She can't play horse riding anymore."

When she was a child, Qiaojie’s favorite thing was to sit on Jia Lian’s neck and act crazy everywhere.

Just this one sentence of emotion made Qiaojie burst into tears, and she rushed forward and hugged Jia Lian and cried loudly. She cried and shouted: "My cruel father, you left for so long!"

How could Jia Lian stand this, and he tried to comfort her in a panic. Jia Quan, who was standing next to him, had never seen his sister so weak before, and his mouth opened in shock, as if he had discovered something incredible.

After a while, Qiaojie stopped crying and Jia Lian wiped her tears.

In addition to Jia Quan, there were two little maids, who were standing aside timidly, holding hands, and looking at Jia Lian.

At this time, Jia Lian was deeply touched. He only had one father and so many children, and he couldn't take care of them all.

Jia Lian would still try his best to take care of each child if conditions allowed. He squatted down and touched Jia Quan's head first. The silly son dodged at first, then grinned and was rubbed hard on the forehead.

The two little maids whispered in unison: "Dad!"

Jia Lian held one in each hand, put his face close to hers, and whispered, "Hey, you are all good girls! You are all good girls!"

After chatting with the children for a while, Jia Lian stood up and went to the front. Ping'er and Guixiang followed him, and behind them were four little maids that Jia Lian had never seen before.

There have been quite a few changes in just a few years.

Yesterday I first accompanied Lady Jia and in the evening I accompanied Wang Xifeng, but I didn't pay attention to either of them. So I'll take this opportunity to say a few words to them.

"When I was away, were you all right? Were you not bullied?"

Guixiang smiled and shook her head. Ping'er said in a low voice, "The second mistress is in charge of the backyard of the West Mansion now. We are lucky enough not to bully others."

"I'm sorry I've troubled you all by being away for more than three years. I also didn't have time to come back for Yingchun's wedding." Jia Lian couldn't help but sigh, time flies.

"The son-in-law of the Mi family passed the imperial examination and was sent to Henan. The second daughter followed him and became a proper wife of a county magistrate. Many people envied her."

Jia Lian really couldn't refute what Ping'er said. Yingchun was the main wife when she got married, and soon she followed her to another place, so she didn't have to suffer the anger of her mother-in-law at home. Although the future of Mi's son-in-law has a lot to do with Jia Lian, otherwise it would be so easy for a third-rank Jinshi to become a seventh-rank county magistrate. When Yingchun got married, Jia Lian specially sent a lot of dowry and wrote a letter to Wang Xifeng, asking her to give more dowry. Otherwise, it would be better to expect pie in the sky than to expect Jia She.

"By the way, I forgot to ask about Baoyu's marriage yesterday. Why is he just staying at home like this all the time without seeking a future?" Jia Lian walked slowly, not in a hurry.

"My second uncle Zheng has arranged a marriage for me. He is an old friend from the Ministry of Works and is now the Right Governor of Shandong. The wedding will be held in March next year." Guixiang replied.

Jia Lian couldn't help but feel dazed, the change was too great. He thought, even if Daiyu and Baochai were gone, wouldn't there still be Shi Xiangyun?
Speaking of Shi Xiangyun, she has also reached the so-called marriageable age in this era. Since traveling through time, I have never seen Shi Xiangyun. I don’t know whether Baoyu has seen her or not, and why he didn’t form a bond with her.

When they arrived outside the courtyard where Jia's grandmother lived, they happened to meet Jia Rong.

"I guess Second Uncle will be here about now." I didn't pay attention yesterday, but after a careful look today, I found that Jia Rong's temperament has changed a lot, except that his eye circles are a little darker.

In the East Palace nowadays, no one can control Jia Rong. Fortunately, after being influenced by Jia Lian, he is still reliable, at least much better than Jia She.

The letters from the East Palace never stopped. Jia Zhen was getting worse day by day, and Jia Rong was most worried about whether his title would be reduced. Jia Rong mentioned several times in the letter that Qin Keqing gave birth to a daughter. Jia Rong was very worried that there would be no successor in the East Palace. He couldn't let the side branch of the family get the advantage, right? In fact, Jia Rong did try hard, but his seed was not good enough.

Jia Lian thought, maybe he was enlightened too early, and he liked the older ones. You have become the Macron of the Jia family.

"You, your health is more important." Jia Lian couldn't help but remind him. Jia Rong smiled indifferently and said, "What's the point of living if you can't be happy every day?"

Jia Lian stepped forward and patted his shoulder: "Let's go in together." The Jia family's current business is mainly managed by Jia Rong. He personally likes this and has found the value of life in it.

Jia Lian might not have a detailed account of how big the Jia family's assets are now, and he didn't know as much as Wang Xifeng.

Taking the cigarette factory as an example, although it was no longer an exclusive transaction and many competitors emerged later, the Jia family started early and their brand value was much greater.

There is also the winter vegetable project. After Jia Lian left, Jia Rong continued to do it every year. Although the emperor took the lion's share, thousands of people depended on him for their livelihoods. Outside, Jia Rong was a real boss.

"It's just that Second Uncle is kind and willing to stay in the back." Jia Rong said in a low voice. Jia Lian smiled and shook his head after hearing it: "Don't worry about the minor details."

A person's status is not reflected by where he lives at home. As for Wang Xifeng, when she enters the palace during the New Year, she has more face than Lady Jia and is always asked to sit in front of the Queen.

In fact, the less Jia Lian asked to move back to the middle courtyard, the more embarrassed the second house would be. Jia Lian stopped the woman who wanted to go in to report the news and walked over the threshold.

As soon as I entered the courtyard and turned around the screen, I heard a burst of lively laughter and Wang Xifeng talking inside.

"Madam, rest assured that Baoyu's marriage will be held in a grand manner and will not bring disgrace to the Jia family's reputation."

The woman guarding the door behind him still called out, "Mr. Lian is here!"

Jia Lian's ears were itchy from the loud voice, so he raised his hand to scratch them. "You've shouted well, but don't shout anymore in the future. You won't get any reward even if you shout your throat out."

Jia Rong was quite generous and threw over a silver dollar, which made the gatekeeper so happy that she thanked him repeatedly.

Jia Lian did not look back, but walked in with big strides. Jia's mother had already stood up and waved at Li Zhang: "My dear grandson, come here quickly!"

Jia Lian entered and bowed to Lady Jia first, then turned to see Lady Xing first, and then Lady Wang. This order was a bit subtle. Seeing Youshi folded her hands to signal, Qin Keqing stood up and bowed, Jia Lian slightly turned sideways to return the greeting. After a round, he found that Baoyu did not come forward, so Jia Lian naturally did not want to let him go.

"Baoyu, what are you doing standing back there? Are you counting money?" He said something teasing. Baoyu was standing with a young girl at the moment and wanted to talk to her. The girl looked a little disgusted. But she just stepped away slightly out of politeness.

"Counting silver? It's nothing but vulgar stuff. It pollutes the elegance when you keep talking about it." Baoyu retorted. Jia Lian smiled and didn't argue with him. Instead, the girl next to him said, "Second brother Bao can wear fine clothes and eat delicious food, so he can't do without these vulgar things." These words made Jia Lian's eyes light up and he looked closely.

"Shi Xiangyun meets Second Brother Lian and pays her respects to him." This girl turned out to be Shi Xiangyun. Jia Lian took a look and found that she was quite heroic and could wield a sword.

Tanchun, who was standing next to him, had grown up. When Jia Lian's gaze came over, she bowed and greeted him.

Jia Lian was just a little bit more polite to Tanchun. After all, they were cousins. Maybe it was because they had too little contact? As for Tanchun's future, that was something Jia Zheng and Mrs. Wang should worry about.

Grandmother Jia asked someone to bring a stool and asked Jia Lian to sit down and talk.

While Jia Lian was talking, Wang Xifeng came over and stood quietly aside, as if she was not the one who had spoken loudly just now.

What Grandmother Jia was most concerned about was Jia Lian's going to Southeast Asia to fight. Jia Lian naturally said it was very casual, saying that fighting was the job of the soldiers below, and he was just in charge of logistics in the back.

Speaking of Nanyang, Jia Lian said, "I bought a lot of Nanyang goods this time. Have you shown the list to the old lady?"

These words were said to Wang Xifeng who was beside him.

"It was late yesterday. We entered the warehouse first in the chaos. Lin Zhixiao is checking the list. There are more than 50 large boxes. We can handle them."

What Wang Xifeng meant was, don't be anxious, let me see what good stuff you have first, and then go to my own small warehouse, and then go to the public warehouse.

Jia Lian did not expose her little trick. This time, she brought back too many things, and some of the fine goods were packed in ten boxes. Jia Lian had them sent to the south of the city. These things really have to be thanked to the Spaniards. Jia Lian was really rude and put a lot of the good things they accumulated in Southeast Asia into his personal pocket. Another part went into Li Yuan's private pocket. Speaking of these things, Jia Lian converted them into silver to give bonuses to the soldiers below. They are all in the account, but he didn't specify what they are, and simply recorded them as silver.

"By the way, the British envoy asked someone to send a box of jadeite a few years ago." Wang Xifeng mentioned it as soon as she remembered it, and her words implied that she disliked it.

Jade is probably something that only Chinese people like. It seems that the envoy did his homework, but not thoroughly. The jade he gave may not be of high quality or have the wrong water quality.

Europeans and Americans prefer diamonds, but Chinese people at this time like gemstones very much, but they don’t have much interest in diamonds. Jade is definitely hard currency, which is a good way to cater to their tastes.

As a person who came from an era when synthetic diamonds were very cheap, Jia Lian didn't have any feelings about diamonds.

After chatting with Grandmother Jia for a while, Jia Lian stood up to say goodbye. Although Wang Xifeng was now the actual head of the family, she was still suppressed by Grandmother Jia because of the word "filial piety" and stayed obediently to accompany her.

When Jia Lian came out with Jia Rong, someone called out from behind. Jia Lian stopped and looked back, seeing that it was Madam Xing. He smiled and asked, "What's the matter?"

Mrs. Xing stepped forward and whispered, "Brother Lian, my brother has come to Beijing and is now renting a house outside. I am trying to find him a job that can support him. After much thought, I can only ask you for help."

Jia Lian knew very well that Jia She was unreliable. In addition, Mrs. Xing was old and ugly. No matter how careful she was with Jia She, she could hardly expect him to do anything for her brother.

Jia Lian did not answer in a hurry, but looked at Jia Rong and shook his head slightly, which showed that Mrs. Xing had never begged him.

Well, Jia Lian is quite satisfied with this. Although Mrs. Xing seems to have a weak presence, she is actually able to live well under the tyranny of Jia She, and she is not a fool.

"It's just a small matter, why bother your second uncle? Just let me do it." Jia Rong consciously asked for the task. Jia Lian smiled and raised his hand: "Let me do it. It's a rare occasion for Madam Xing to ask for help."

Mrs. Xing was immediately grateful after hearing this. There was a huge difference between whether Jia Lian or Jia Rong came forward to handle a matter.

"Thank you, Brother Lian." Mrs. Xing was so excited that she was gasping for breath.

"If you just want a job to make a living, Rong Ge'er, it's nothing to do. Let's put him in the Five Cities Army. If he doesn't want to go out to patrol the streets, he can do odd jobs inside. Having an official status will make him look better. He won't be easily bullied when he walks outside." Although Jia Lian had been away for more than three years, almost four years, it was not difficult to arrange for someone to join the Five Cities Army.

"He is not young anymore, so he should just do odd jobs." Mrs. Xing was self-aware and made the choice on her own initiative.

"Okay, I'll let you know when I'm done." Jia Lian didn't want to say much, so Mrs. Xing thanked him again and again and said goodbye.

The uncle and nephew continued to walk towards the East Palace. On the way, Jia Lian saw that no one was following them, so he asked about the sensitive topic: "Is everything okay over there with Miaoyu? Has the support from you been maintained?"

Jia Rong said with some resentment, "That can't be done. The old immortals brought her here. We still have to do the work. I have seen that fake nun twice. She has become more beautiful and worthy of my second uncle."

Jia Lian was so angry that he laughed. Miaoyu was of such a high status that she could not do anything wrong. Jia Jing took the things from the Zhen family and buried them in the basement.

"After the renovation of Xuanzhen Temple, there should be no problems now, right?" Jia Lian reminded him subtly, hoping that Jia Rong would be more restrained.

"There are seven or eight female practitioners in the temple now. They have adopted a few baby girls in the past few years, which is considered a good deed. All the messy things that happened in the past should be stopped." Jia Rong said it so confidently. I don't know where he got the confidence from. If you want to talk about the most messy thing, aren't you?

Jia Lian did not find fault with him. After all, the basement had been sealed. If he wanted to open it again, he would have to wait until Emperor Chenghui was gone. He did not know how the Zhen family was doing in the Western Regions.

"Miaoyu doesn't have any requests before the New Year, right?" Jia Lian was still very concerned about this. After all, Miaoyu's identity was quite sensitive, and who knew how many Dragon Guards were hiding nearby and following her.

"She didn't ask for too much. Even if she didn't ask for anything, her monthly expenses would still be two hundred taels, which is not a small amount."

Only two hundred taels a month, certainly not as much as before, but it was acceptable. After all, there were many things that didn't require money to buy, and the Jia family would just send whatever they had.

The two men walked to the East Palace and had just sat down for a while when Youshi and Qin Keqing came back and prepared wine and food for lunch. Jia Lian went to see Jia Zhen, who was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, breathing in little but out more, and it was unknown how long he could hold on.

Jia Rong accompanied Jia Lian in drinking a lot, and when they were almost drunk, they staggered to take a rest. Jia Lian also drank a lot, so he was helped by Qin Keqing and Baozhu to go down to rest.

(End of this chapter)