Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Earl's Mansion, Jia Cong Courtyard.

In the early morning, Jia Cong woke up from a deep sleep. The warm and soft quilt was still filled with the sweet fragrance of his daughter, which seemed to linger for a long time.

By the middle of the twelfth lunar month, the flavor of the New Year becomes stronger and the festive atmosphere begins to permeate the east and west.

However, these external atmospheres did not affect Jia Cong's work and rest rhythm, except that he went to the firearms workshop every now and then to check the progress of the breech-loading rifle.

The rest of the time he followed his habit of many years, reviewing his lessons in his study until 12:00 p.m. every night, and then getting up just after 12:00 a.m. to start a new day's lessons.

The fact that he was able to pass the imperial examination twice with glory and honor was not due to the vision and knowledge of later generations.

Although these things can provide a summary, they can never replace everything.

He was able to succeed in the imperial examinations because he had a famous teacher like Liu Jing'an, and more importantly, because he, like other successful students, studied hard and tirelessly day after day.

Every day after 12 o'clock, he would finish his homework and go back to his room to sleep. His bed would be warmed up in advance by the maid. This was a habit brought by the old tutor of the Jia family's West Mansion.

Even though Jia Cong lived a miserable life in the East Courtyard and had only Zhishao as his maid by his side, every winter, Zhishao would warm up his bed in advance.

This was his first winter in the East Palace. Naturally, the habits he had developed in the West Palace were brought to the East Palace by maids such as Wu'er and Qingwen.

However, there are more people in the courtyard now than before, and Jia Cong has never cared about these daily details. They are all arranged by Zhishao and Wu'er.

So every night when he fell asleep, he usually didn't realize that it was that girl who contributed her body temperature.

However, when he returned to the room last night, he found Yinglian sleeping soundly in her quilt. He pushed her for a long time before waking her up. When he asked her, he found out that it was her turn to warm the bed today, but she fell asleep out of desire.

Now, this sweet and refreshing smell is the trace left by Yinglian's deep sleep.

……

In the early morning, the eastern sky is still gray-blue. Through the semi-transparent glazed window panes, you can see the shadows of the beautiful trees and flowers in the yard.

The end of the year is approaching and the year is getting colder. There was another heavy snow last night.

As soon as Jia Cong lifted the bed curtain, Zhishao, who was sleeping on the side couch, woke up, stood up and rubbed her eyes.

She stretched her slender waist slightly, and in the dim light of the room in the early morning, a graceful and moving figure appeared. In the dark room, her bright eyes could still be seen clearly.

She stood up, lit the candle, put on a long double-breasted satin jacket with gold and gold flowers, combed her hair, and with her hands like flowers stroking willows, she deftly put her long hair into a pretty bun.

He came over to help Jia Cong open the bed curtain, hung it with the old bronze curtain hook, took out a royal blue satin round-necked robe with silver patterns from the rosewood Ruyi hanging cloud hanger beside the bed, and helped Jia Cong put it on.

There were two knocks on the door of the main room, and Wu'er came in carrying a large copper basin filled with hot water emitting white steam.

She was wearing a pine green and aqua blue embroidered collared long jacket, an ivory fleece lining, and a dark blue embroidered long skirt underneath. Perhaps it was too cold in the early morning of winter, and her pretty face was a little red from the wind.

She placed the copper basin on the rack, scalded a face towel with hot water, and gave it to Jia Cong to wash his face. She also took a comb to help Jia Cong comb his messy hair.

This is the scene that is repeated every morning in the yard, filled with a warm and peaceful homely atmosphere.

……

Jia Cong looked at Wu'er in the dressing mirror. She had a slender and graceful figure, bright and clever eyes, curved eyebrows, and a graceful and delicate demeanor that was pleasing to the eye.

He asked, "You went to the West Mansion to help Second Sister-in-law with the household these two days. Did everything go smoothly?"

Zhi Shao, who was standing by, smiled and said, "Wu'er has always done things properly and meticulously, so why are you worried?"

Jia Cong smiled and said, "No matter how smart one is, there will always be a period of learning and practicing. It is always better to be careful."

Wu Er replied, "Don't worry, Third Master. Everything is fine in the West Mansion. Second Madam and Sister Ping Er are used to managing the household. They are very familiar with the affairs inside and outside the household. I don't need to worry about anything.

I just watched and learned a lot in the past few days."

Jia Cong knew that Wang Xifeng asked him to send someone over not to recruit laborers, but to use his influence to help her and make Mrs. Wang cautious and dare not easily interfere with her housekeeper.

So when Wu'er went to the West Mansion, she was like Jia Cong's personal servant, and no one in the West Mansion dared to look down on her.

When Wu'er first followed Jia Cong, he was severely beaten by Jia She. Jia's grandmother was worried that he would lose his life in the East Courtyard, so she brought him to the East Palace to be raised.

At that time, many maids in the West Mansion laughed at Sister Liu, saying that her daughter followed a low-class master. With such a lowly background, even if he was the master, her dog meat would not be served on the table.

At that time, when they saw Wu'er, they would arrogantly call her the girl from the Liu family.

Later, Jia Cong studied hard and became increasingly outstanding in the Rongguo Mansion. The "Liu maid" that the servants called "Liu Girl" became "Miss Liu" with a respectful tone.

Now Jia Cong holds two titles and is full of honor. He becomes the head of both the East and West Mansions. Wu'er, his personal maid, is sent back to the West Mansion by Jia Cong to manage household affairs.

As a result, the servants in the West Mansion became more and more opportunistic, and the "Miss Liu" they used to refer to immediately became "Big Miss Liu"...

When you are down and out, no one cares about you; when you are successful, you are admired and flattered. In fact, there is no need to feel vulgar, because this is how everyone in the world is.

Wang Xifeng knew that she was Jia Cong's favored confidant, so she would not really order her around, but just let her stay by her side to manage matters.

Wu Er combed her hair with a comb, and Jia Cong asked again, "How are things going with the master and the mistress these days?"

Wu Er replied, “In the past two days, the master, the mistress, Aunt Zhou, Aunt Zhao, and several other masters have moved their luggage and belongings to the side yard.

Since that day, the master has lived in Mengpozhai Study and has never returned to Rongxi Hall. "

……

Since that day, the Ministry of Clan Affairs and the Ministry of Personnel came with impeachment memorials, demanding that Jia Zheng write a letter to defend himself.

When Jia Zheng learned that so many officials in the court had jointly impeached him for occupying Rong Xi Tang without permission, he was terrified and filled with remorse.

He had been a judge for more than ten years. Although he was mediocre, he always abided by the rules and regulations and never made any mistakes. He had never expected a scene like the one before him.

After the people from the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Clan Court left, he did not ask for the opinions of Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang, but strictly ordered Lin Zhixiao to arrange people to move all the belongings of the second house out of Rong Xi Tang.

He went into the Mengpo Zhai study and did not come out for the whole day. He slept in the study that night.

After hearing the news, Jia Cong hurried to Mengpo Zhai Study to persuade Jia Zheng. Jia Zheng only said that he regretted listening to the words of the inner chambers, and had nothing else to say.

As for the seven impeachment memorials, Jia Zheng did not respond to each one of them. His faults had already been made clear, so what else was there to defend himself?

As for one of the memorials impeaching Jia's mother for not managing the household strictly, Jia Zheng had no reason to let his mother suffer the consequences, so naturally, the son should follow the mother's lead.

That night he wrote a heartfelt letter of apology and personally delivered it to the Ministry of Clan Affairs the next day, which then presented it to Emperor Jiazhao to apologize.

Things had come to this point. Although Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang were women in the inner court, they knew that the matter was extremely dangerous as so many officials had impeached them and the emperor had issued an edict to question them.

Therefore, although he was unwilling to see Jia Zheng move out of Rong Xi Tang immediately, he did not dare to say a word to stop him.

Grandmother Jia looked exhausted and could not help sighing, but she was already tied up and could no longer criticize Fang Qiu in the inner courtyard for fear of causing trouble again.

Mrs. Wang was in deep despair, as if she had lost her parents, but she did not dare to have the slightest thought of wasting time.

That night she stayed in Rong Xi Tang for the last night with great reluctance. The next morning, Jia Zheng sent people to urge her to move out in a hurry and disappointment.

……

In the next few days, Mrs. Wang was terrified, ashamed and angry because she was driven out of Rong Xi Tang, and she had no intention of interfering in the affairs of Rong State.

Wang Xifeng seized the opportunity and took advantage of the situation. She used ruthless means to ruthlessly screen out the dowry servants that Mrs. Wang had originally arranged in various places.

They were all assigned to idle positions to avoid causing trouble at key locations under Mrs. Wang's orders.

He spent another two days organizing the servants, rewarding the diligent and punishing the lazy, clearing up the various accounts in the mansion, and saving expenses.

Because Jia Cong had reminded her that now that he had been demoted to inherit the title, the property of the West Palace would be reduced by 500 dan, and the monthly silver income of the West Palace would also be reduced.

Although both the East and West Mansions are Jia Cong's properties, there is no reason to rob Peter to repair West Wall. Otherwise, the two mansions will cannibalize each other and become extravagant. In a few years, the East Mansion will be dragged down and ruined.

Therefore, Jia Cong set rules for Wang Xifeng that the two governments would each keep their own accounts, be responsible for their own profits and losses, and manage their own cash flow.

This also indirectly forced people like Lady Jia of the West Mansion, Mrs. Wang, Baoyu and others who were accustomed to spending lavishly in their daily lives to restrain their spending.

After hearing this, Wang Xifeng also became alert, knowing that although Jia Cong was not directly in charge of the household, he was meticulous and careful and would not tolerate any mistakes.

So he became more alert, carefully sorted out the accounts, and found out the repeated and wasteful expenses in the daily housework of the Xi Mansion.

If the children of the family went to school, the clan school would provide them with pens, ink, paper and inkstone. However, when Baoyu, Jia Huan, Jia Lan and others went to school, they had to pay eight taels of silver each for snacks, paper and pens.

You should know that eight taels of silver are enough for a poor person to eat for most of half a year. Even if you use good snacks, paper and pens every day, you will definitely not spend eight taels of silver in a month. It is a completely wasteful way of spending money.

These old rules were set by Mrs. Wang back then, because the second house had the most descendants in the entire Rongguo Mansion, and everyone including Jia Zhu, Baoyu, Jia Huan, and Jia Lan had to study.

In the past, Wang Xifeng had some complaints about this expenditure, but since Mrs. Wang was in charge, she never said anything.

Now that the West Mansion had changed and she was able to take charge of the household again, the first thing she did was to donate this item. She saved a total of three hundred taels of silver in a year, which was enough to cover the shopping expenses of the small kitchen inside the second gate for two months.

In addition, the monthly hair oils and powder expenses for the female members of each room were all purchased by the compradors from the outer courtyard. However, the products purchased were often of inferior quality, and the compradors were suspected of extortion and false reporting.

The women in the inner courtyard could not get suitable makeup items, and had to use their monthly allowance to ask their trusted maids and old women to buy good ones. This was not only very troublesome, but also wasted extra money.

Wang Xifeng was a female member of the family herself, so she naturally knew the reason very well. However, the cosmetics agent in the outer courtyard was a maid who came with Lady Wang as a dowry, so no one dared to intervene in this matter, and it had been going on for many years.

This item was naturally also donated by Wang Xifeng. Part of the extra money from the hair oil and powder was taken back into the public treasury, and the other part was distributed to the women in each room as pocket money for their own purchases.

Wang Xifeng, along with Ping'er and Wu'er, planned and strategized every day, and implemented these kinds of cost-saving measures one by one, which made the money flow in Xifu Gong's treasury much more relaxed.

But these are just small measures after all, and they are far from enough to cure the symptoms and the root cause of the problem in Xifu.

……

While Wu Er was tying Jia Cong's hair, she was talking about what she heard about the West Mansion while helping Wang Xifeng as the housekeeper. After the West Mansion was demoted to the rank of successor, it still had 2,000 dan of property, which was more than the East Mansion. As long as it was well managed, there would be no problem in daily life.

It’s just that the population of the West Mansion is too large. In addition to the masters of the various branches of the Rong Kingdom, there are also family servants who have passed down the bloodline of the West Mansion for generations.

When Lady Jia, Lady Wang, Lady Xing, Wang Xifeng, Li Wan and others married into the Jia family, each of them brought with them several rooms of maids to accompany them.

Now, several decades have passed, and these servants who were born in the family and came as dowries have all started their own families and reproduced. The number of slaves in the Western Palace has increased every year and has become quite considerable.

Although the court implemented a new policy last year, the summer and autumn tax expenditures of Rongguo Mansion increased significantly, and the cash flow of Rongguogong was tight.

Wang Xifeng once obtained the consent of Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang and laid off some of the servants in Rongguo Mansion.

However, in the Duke's Mansion, which has been in existence for nearly a hundred years, every corner would be filled with servants who had been in the family for several generations. Many of them had close relationships with Lady Jia, Lady Wang and others, and they could not be dismissed at all.

Those who were taken away by Wang Xifeng that time either had a bad reputation in the mansion or had no support. In total, not many people were taken away.

Wang Xifeng sorted out the population list and found that there were more than 460 servants in each room and courtyard of the West Mansion, not counting the house-born children who were born every year.

She thought that only by eliminating the redundant population could she truly make up for the deficit caused by the decreasing property of the nobility, but this was not an easy task.

When Jia Cong heard the population number of the West Palace reported by Wu'er, he was also shocked.

No wonder the West Palace has more property than the East Palace, but in recent years it has been in a dilemma of not making enough money to cover its expenses.

A mansion supports so many people and there is no way to increase income and reduce expenditure. No matter how much wealth one has, it will eventually become penniless.

Since the establishment of Jia Cong's East Palace, he has purchased fifty household slaves from Jiangnan. Together with the maids and servants around Jia Cong and Yingchun, the total number of people in the entire East Palace is less than eighty.

There is an obvious difference between the two. The East Palace occupies a larger area than the West Palace. Fifty household slaves are enough for Yingchun to take care of and assign them. Even if the West Palace cuts half of its population, it will still be enough.

However, Jia Cong had just inherited the Rongguo Mansion, and things had only just settled down a little, so it was not appropriate to make such a large population reduction at the moment.

He asked Wu'er to tell Wang Xifeng that the population reduction in the West Palace should not be done hastily, and it should be done after the beginning of next spring. He would come up with a plan and then proceed step by step.

Zhishao smiled silently on the side, seeing Jia Cong and Wu'er asking questions and talking to each other very seriously, like a teacher instructing a student. Could it be that the Third Master really wanted to raise Wu'er as a housekeeper?

As the two were talking, they suddenly saw Yuanyang come into the yard and say that the old lady asked the third master to go to Rongqing Hall to discuss something.

Jia Cong frowned when he heard this. Every time Grandmother Jia asked him to go to Rongqing Hall, something bad happened. Although he was never troubled by this, he would go crazy if he continued to go through this for days.

……

Rongguo Mansion, Rongqing Hall.

There were only three people in the hall: Lady Jia, Jia Zheng, and Mrs. Wang.

These days, Jia Zheng and his wife moved out of Rong Xi Tang, which was a shocking event in the mansion.

Countless servants in the mansion were whispering behind the scenes. Since the old master passed away, the second master became the heir to the mansion and had lived in Rong Xi Tang for fifteen years. Now, things are really going to change.

These days, sisters like Daiyu, Tanchun, Yingchun, etc. have been more careful. Knowing that the old lady is feeling upset, they usually do not come to disturb Lady Jia.

Even Aunt Zhao could see that things were going badly, so she ordered Jia Huan to stay in his room more often and not go out to hang around all the time. If he accidentally made the old lady uncomfortable, he would definitely be punished.

When Lady Jia saw that Lin Zhixiao and his servants had moved the second house's belongings out of Rong Xi Tang one by one over the past two days, she was so depressed that she was trembling.

She had a strong illusion, as if the Rongguo Mansion before her was no longer the Rongguo Mansion where she had lived for half her life and was extremely familiar with every tree and blade of grass.

This Duke's mansion, which has been passed down for five generations, now seems somewhat unfamiliar in Lady Jia's eyes.

The root cause of all this was his grandson in the East Palace. What kind of fate did this kid have?

He had killed his biological mother when he was born, and now his father had also died a violent death, and his brother had been convicted and exiled.

Even his second son Jia Zheng, whom he had always valued the most, had to move out of Rong Xi Tang because he suddenly inherited the title of Rong.

Grandmother Jia also thought of Jia Zhen and Jia Rong, who had secretly plotted to seize Jia Cong's property and both had a bad ending...

On the day he was conferred the title, the imperial edict declared that he would inherit the glorious state, and at the same time, her precious jade was devalued to nothing, ruining her reputation.

Thinking of this, Grandmother Jia couldn't help but feel a little horrified. How could the Jia family give birth to such an evil creature? How could he have such a difficult fate?

It seemed that all the relatives or brothers in the two houses who had anything to do with him would be punished by him and end up in a bad way.

Although Grandmother Jia is nearly 70 years old, she still can't let go of the wealth and splendor she has enjoyed throughout her life. Unfortunately, she encounters such an evil star who comes to collect debts when she is old.

Grandmother Jia was frightened whenever she thought about it these days, fearing that one day she would also be punished by this grandson.

She remembered what her sister-in-law from the third room had told her a few days ago, that next spring, Taoist master Zhang Yuzhen would go to Shenjing to pray for the emperor, and that the previous generation of Taoist master Zhang and the previous generation of Duke Rong had some friendship.

Grandmother Jia thought about asking the Taoist priest for good luck and asking him to perform a ritual to change the fortune of the Rongguo Mansion.

……

In short, these days, Grandmother Jia has been thinking of some strange ways to get rid of her inner loss and depression, and her mood has just gradually calmed down.

However, he did not expect that his son Jia Zheng, perhaps because he had met an unexpected guest, had already moved out of Rong Xi Tang, and was able to deal with the impeachment and questioning from the court.

It was as if something was wrong with him. He mentioned to her that the second branch wanted to move to the east courtyard, which almost made Lady Jia angry to death.

At this moment, she was questioning in a stern voice, "Because of the impeachment by an official in the court, I had already followed your wishes and asked the Second House to move out of Rongxi Hall. Now you actually want to move to the East Courtyard.

What kind of look will this make outsiders see? You don't care about your dignity, but I do. Our family is in this situation, and you are still making a fuss. What's the reason?"

This time, Jia Zheng did not act as he did in the past. Even though he had his own ideas, he would immediately give up as soon as Lady Jia scolded him.

The main thing was that one day the Ministry of Clan Affairs and the Ministry of Rites came to his house and delivered a stack of impeachment memorials from court officials. It was a huge shock to him as he had been law-abiding all his life.

In the past few days, whenever he opened his eyes, this matter kept turning over in his mind, and the confusion and uneasiness in his heart were indescribable.

Even though the second wife has moved out of Rong Xi Tang and is living in a side courtyard of Rongguo Mansion, Jia Zheng is still not at ease, fearing that the censors will find a weakness and criticize her.

Even though Jia She inherited the title, he did not inherit the imperially-built Rongguo Mansion and had to live in the separate East Courtyard to avoid suspicion.

Now that Jia Cong, the younger brother of the eldest house, has inherited the title and property, Jia Zheng thinks about his current situation and feels that it is even more embarrassing than what his eldest brother Jia She did back then. How can he feel at ease about this?

He really didn't want to leave any handle on this matter, so he had to think of the most appropriate way to eliminate the trouble once and for all.

He thought about it carefully and finally decided that it would be best to move to the East Courtyard and live there.

With the precedent of Jia She, no one else could find any fault with him.

He mustered up the courage to say, "Madam, it's not my son who wants to make trouble. Now Cong'er has inherited the family business according to the imperial decree, and my eldest brother's eldest branch has become the legitimate heir of the Rong Kingdom.

The son in front had already had the idea of ​​moving to Rong Xi Tang, but he was a little slow, which led to impeachment by all the officials in the court. It can be seen that the legal system and etiquette are as heavy as a mountain and are so valued by the world.

My son had made a mistake once before, and he didn't want to be demoted by the court again because of it, so he had to make sure this matter was done thoroughly and perfectly without any mistakes.

The eldest son Cong inherited the family business, and the second son moved to the east courtyard to avoid suspicion. This is the right etiquette.

Didn’t my elder brother move to the East Courtyard for this reason? If he could live there, why can’t I, as his brother, live there? "

It was the first time that Grandmother Jia heard her second son, who had always been filial, speak to her so eloquently and logically, and she was speechless for a moment.

She couldn't say that because she favored her second son, the eldest son could live in the East Courtyard, but she couldn't bear to let the second son live there. Even though the eldest son, Jia She, had passed away, it was difficult for Jia's mother to say this.

Jia Zheng continued, "The East Courtyard is only separated from the Rongguo Mansion by a wall. Even if my son moves there, he can still pay his respects to the old lady every day. He will never dare to fail in his filial duty."

Listening to what Jia Zheng said, Grandmother Jia felt a little shaken. That day, the clan house and the Ministry of Rites came together and looked very aggressive and scary...

Mrs. Wang, who was standing by, seemed to be unable to hold back her tears and said, “Master, we have already moved out of Rongxi Hall, and outsiders will not make trouble anymore.

The master is now moving to the East Courtyard. How will people feel when they hear this? How can we face our relatives and old friends in the future? We must not do this!"

As Mrs. Wang spoke, she kept wiping her tears with her handkerchief.

Jia Zheng was furious when he heard this, and he shouted at Mrs. Wang: "Shut up! Just to save face in front of my relatives, are you going to let me go against the laws of the country and be despised by others and be doomed forever?"

Mrs. Wang was suddenly scolded by Jia Zheng and was completely dumbfounded.

Jia Zheng is a well-behaved man. Although Wang Fu-ren has been overly doting on Baoyu over the years, which makes Jia Zheng unhappy, the couple have long been treating each other with respect, but they have never had a quarrel or scolded each other.

At this time, Jia Cong happened to follow Yuanyang into Rongqing Hall, and happened to hear the scene of Jia Zheng's husband's power being greatly enhanced, and he couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

Mrs. Wang was scolded by Jia Zheng in public, and she felt ashamed and angry, but she was from a prominent family and the husband was the leader of the wife, so naturally she did not dare to refute a word.

Seeing Jia Cong at this moment, he was filled with resentment and said, "Brother Cong, because you have inherited the family business, the master and I have moved out of Rong Xi Tang.

In order to avoid suspicion, the master has to move to the East Courtyard, which is too embarrassing. Congge is now the head of the family, and the family affairs are in your hands now. You have to say a word! "

When Jia Cong heard this, his face suddenly darkened and anger surged in his heart.

The matter of moving the East Courtyard was proposed by Jia Zheng himself to his grandmother out of consideration for etiquette and had nothing to do with him.

However, Mrs. Wang implied in her words that it was she who forced Jia Zheng to make this decision, which was a bit dark and shameless.

Jia Cong felt a little cold in his heart, but smiled and said, "My master has been very kind to me, so I naturally hope that he will live in the mansion from now on, so that I can fulfill my filial duties.

But just now when I entered the hall, I happened to hear what the master said. The master was thoughtful and upright, which was admirable, and he had his reasons.

The wife said that Cong is now the head of the family, but Cong is also a junior in the family. The relocation of relatives is a big deal, and as a junior, Cong should observe etiquette and should not say anything to avoid being disrespectful.

Please let the old lady and the master decide on this matter. Cong will definitely agree. No matter where the master lives, he will treat Cong with the same kindness. They are all elders whom Cong admires and is close to. Cong will never dare to be unfilial. "(End of this chapter)