Red Mansion, Ningfu Scholarly Family

Chapter 109 This is jealous

……

(I was too busy writing last night, so I’ve rewritten the previous chapter. Don’t forget to check back if you’ve subscribed.)
Ningguo Mansion, study.

Jia Rong told Jia Jing in detail what had happened in the past two days, and also mentioned a few words about the commercial tax mentioned by Liu Yan.

"Master Liu said you took advantage of him."

Jia Jing smiled.

"He's overthinking it. It's a complete coincidence."

Jia Rong nodded to show that he believed it.

"They were short of money, and the Xue family was rich, so they each took what they needed, and they also saved Xue Pan's life." Jia Jing added: "The reason why Xue Pan was saved was entirely because Wang Ziteng saved him."

Jia Rong was confused and asked, "How did Lord Wang save him?"

Jia Jing took a sip of tea and said calmly, "I can't mess with the Xue family and then the Wang family. How will the Shi family look at me? Will they still dare to follow me? Since the Wang family is rushing to die, the Xue family must be appeased."

"You have to learn these."

Jia Rong: “…”

It turned out to be the case.

That day, Jia Jing suddenly showed mercy, and Jia Rong thought that he was bewitched by Aunt Xue's pitiful appearance.

"Let's talk about commercial taxes."

"Looking up the relevant books of the pre-Song Dynasty, the commercial tax revenue of our dynasty is not even one-tenth of that of the former Song Dynasty, but the land tax and population tax have increased several times and are 20% higher than that of the pre-Song Dynasty. Even so, a group of upright people are still shouting that the wealth should be shared by the people. It's really ridiculous."

Jia Rong also laughed: "This is hiding wealth in business."

"You are right. It is to hide wealth in business. Let's not talk about anything else. If we plunder a few salt merchants in Jiangnan, we can have a source of military pay for the nine frontiers for several years."

"Although Daxia is poor, it actually has some rich people."

As Jia Jing spoke, there was a hint of coldness in his eyes, and Jia Rong beside him felt the chill.

Are we going to take action against the salt merchants in Jiangnan?

After several generations of operation, the Jiangnan salt merchants had already established a rich network of relationships in the court, and even many bureaucrats were their spokesmen.

If we want to touch them, there will inevitably be a bloody storm in the court.

With Jia Jing entering the cabinet...

"grown ups!"

At this time, someone hurried in from outside the door.

It was Jia Jing's aide Nangong Lu.

"There is a letter from Lord Lin."

Jia Jing was shocked.

"Bring it quickly."

The letter was sealed. Jia Jinglue checked it and found that there was no problem, then he opened the envelope.

There were indeed two letters inside.

One was addressed to Lin Daiyu. Jia Jing took it out and put it aside, then opened the other one and read it carefully.

half an hour.

After reading the letter, Jia Jing put it aside silently.

Nangong Lu smiled and asked, "Is there any good news?"

Jia Jing asked, "Mr. Nangong, how do you know it's good news?"

Nangong Lu laughed and said, "Bad news. The old man is about to slam the table again: This old Lin!"

"Haha." Jia Jing smiled: "I am worried about his temper. He is willing to sacrifice his life for others. It is not his job to be an official. He should stay useful so that he can better share the worries of the emperor."

Nangong Lu smiled.

"What the old man said is absolutely right."

When Jia Jing was an official, he always focused on stability.

"Old Lin has already obtained evidence of several salt merchants' crimes and their backers in the court. There are many implications. Fortunately, he did not act rashly this time, otherwise I would be in trouble now."

Nangong Lu smiled and said, "Lord Lin knows that the old man is at a critical time in entering the cabinet, so he will definitely be patient. Besides, Zhuge Lan is still there, so he is somewhat useful."

Jia Jing said, "Zhuge Lan is not enough. I will write a letter later and ask Mr. Nangong to go to Jiangnan to deliver it to Ru Hai. Also, tell him the situation here in detail. The key point is to prevent the salt merchants from jumping into danger. Everything else can be discussed after the New Year."

"What about the old man?"

"There's basically nothing going on here, so go ahead and don't worry."

"Subordinates take orders."

Jia Jing picked up another letter and said to Jia Rong, "Give it to your aunt Lin. You don't have to come back. You've finished your family affairs in the past two days. Go to the Imperial College for classes tomorrow."

Jia Rong quickly agreed.

He took the letter and said goodbye.

On the first day of school at the Imperial College, Jia Rong asked for leave after registering. It was not that Jia Rong was lazy, but the class was not complete during those days and many students from other provinces had not arrived in Kyoto yet, so the classes had not officially started.

……

"Is Aunt Lin at home?"

Jia Rong came to Lin Daiyu's yard with a letter.

Zijuan smiled and said in the corridor: "Mr. Rong is here, the young lady is inside, please help to comfort her, the young lady is not very happy today."

"Oh? Why are you not happy?" "I don't know either."

Zijuan said this and opened the curtain.

When Jia Rong entered the room, Lin Daiyu was leaning on the bed in the inner room, reading a book in her hand.

Jia Rong did not dare to go in, but just smiled and asked from outside the curtain: "What's wrong with Aunt Lin?"

"What's wrong? It's none of your business."

The voice seemed a little angry, but not too angry.

It’s hard to guess what girls are thinking.

Jia Rong sat on a chair outside and said with a smile, "There must be a reason. I just heard that they all went to Lixiangyuan to have a drink. Why didn't Aunt Lin go?"

"I don't want to go." Lin Daiyu said, "Why didn't you go? You helped them a lot. Maybe this dinner was just for you."

Jia Rong smiled and said, "I was just listening to the master's teachings in his study."

Lin Daiyu said: "Haha, I thought so. Normally, he should have flown away long ago."

Jia Rong said, "I can't fly. The best I can do is walk."

Lin Daiyu: "...Then why don't you go and see your Aunt Bao and Sister Bao? What are you doing here?"

Jia Rong waved his hand and said, "Send the letter. Master Lin has sent a letter."

Lin Daiyu then came out and reached out to take it.

Jia Rong gently pulled back the hand holding the letter...

Lin Daiyu missed the target and almost fell on Jia Rong.

"You're going to die!"

Lin Daiyu quickly steadied herself and gave her eldest nephew a fierce look.

"I just accidentally slipped."

Jia Rong hurriedly handed it over again.

Lin Daiyu reached out to take it.

Lin Daiyu had originally thought that her nephew was going to make trouble again, so she was prepared. Unexpectedly, she got what she wanted easily this time.

"Hum..."

Lin Daiyu took it, raised her foot and kicked Jia Rong lightly, then walked to the window, opened the envelope and read it carefully.

"Zijuan, where's your tea?"

"Coming!"

Amber came in with tea and said with a smile, "Sir, please have some tea."

Jia Rong asked, "Have you been here all this time?"

"Yes!" Amber nodded generously: "The old lady asked me to come and serve Miss Lin that time, so I didn't go back, but the old lady still gave me a monthly salary."

"Master, I know why Miss Lin is unhappy!" Amber said in a low voice.

"Why!"

"The Xue sisters have snatched the eldest daughter away and have been occupying her for the past few days. Today, they even took her to the West Mansion for a drink."

"Didn't you invite Aunt Lin?"

"Yes, but the girl didn't go."

Jia Rong nodded.

Are you jealous of your aunt?
Girls have really weird minds.

"What are you two gossiping about?" Lin Daiyu looked over here after reading the letter.

Amber smiled and said, "Miss, the master said he has been in the master's study and is hungry now and hasn't eaten yet."

Lin Daiyu said, "That's perfect. Go west quickly. The family has prepared delicious food and wine for you."

Zijuan walked in and said with a smile, "Miss, you are wrong. The master came to our side to deliver a letter to you. You are an aunt, how can you chase your nephew away?"

"Yup!"

Jia Rong waved his fan and said with a smile: "If I run errands for my aunt, I have to serve her anyway, right?"

Lin Daiyu said, "In that case, aren't there still snacks for lunch? Amber, go get them out for my nephew to try."

Amber smiled and said, "Miss, you are wrong again. How can you use the leftovers from lunch to serve your nephew? I will go to the kitchen to get some good food."

With that, Amber went out.

Lin Daiyu snorted "You act on your own initiative" and stopped talking. Instead, she picked up the letter and sat at the desk to continue reading it sentence by sentence.

Although the letter has been read, the deep concern between the lines can only be understood by reading it carefully.

"Auntie writes very well."

Lin Daiyu looked up and saw Jia Rong coming over at some point. He was looking through some articles she had written when she was bored, which also contained a few poems.

“He also writes good poetry.”

"I can't do that. I read too many articles and my brain has become dull. I can't write good poems."

Lin Daiyu felt much better after reading the letter. Seeing Jia Rong laugh at himself, she said with a smile, "Are you stupid? I think you are very clever and you can bully others!"

"It's unfair, I really didn't mean it just now!"

"I believe you ghost!"

(End of this chapter)