Red Mansion, Ningfu Scholarly Family

Chapter 181 Baochai: Sister-in-law, just sister-in-law!

……

When Lady Jia heard her precious little son’s crying, she became furious and slammed the table and yelled.

"How ridiculous! I'm not dead yet!"

"Someone, call the boss to me."

The maids below looked at each other, and none of them dared to go. Finally, Yuanyang sighed softly, lifted the curtain and went out.

Outside Jia's mother's courtyard, the maids and old women coming and going were all from the main house. They all looked down on others, as if they wished they could raise their heads to the sky.

However, Yuanyang at least has some face so she is not looked down upon. Most people respectfully call her "Miss Yuanyang" when they meet her.

The mandarin ducks responded with smiles one by one.

Suddenly, a few third-class old women came to the corner of the corridor. They were smelly and seemed to have just come back from cleaning the toilet over there.

A well-dressed woman followed behind, cursing, "Hurry up and come back after dinner, the new toilet is waiting for you three to clean it!"

"Yes Yes."

The three of them nodded hurriedly.

Yuanyang looked carefully and found that the three old women cleaning the toilet were none other than Wang Fu-ren's three former maids, namely Zhou Rui's wife, Wu Xin's wife, and Zheng Hua's wife.

During the Chinese New Year, Mrs. Wang suddenly gained power and promoted her three concubines from the farm. They were very powerful for a while.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. With the clan leader Jia Jing returning to Beijing to restore order, the eldest branch of the family came to power again. Mrs. Wang entered the small Buddhist temple for the second time, and her concubines naturally did not benefit from it. They were punished by Mrs. Xing to do the dirtiest and most tiring job in the mansion... cleaning the toilet.

Of course, the three of them were full of complaints about this, but they had no choice. After all, they were just servants in the Jia family, and Mrs. Xing's words were like an imperial decree to them!

"mandarin duck!"

Zhou Ruijia had sharp eyes and spotted Yuanyang at a glance. She ran over and grabbed Yuanyang's snow-white wrist with her dirty hands, crying, "Miss, for the sake of our past relationship, please ask for mercy from the old lady."

The mandarin duck stood there awkwardly, not knowing whether to put his hands down or not.

Mother Fei was quick-witted and stepped forward to slap Zhou Ruijia, causing her to stagger. She then sneered, "Who the hell are you? How dare a lowly third-rate woman touch a young lady with her dirty hands? You really don't know how to live or die. You'll know when you get a good beating when you get home!"

When Zhou Ruijia heard that she was going to be beaten, she was immediately terrified. She didn't care about the burning pain on her face, she knelt on the ground and cried, "I won't dare, I know I was wrong, I won't dare to touch you again, please have mercy on me!"

"Hey, get up now." Yuanyang waved her hands and said to Mrs. Fei, "Poor girl, please don't make things difficult for her."

Mrs. Fei smiled apologetically and said, "Young lady, you are kind, we know that." After that, she glared at the three of them and said, "Why don't you go and eat quickly? You still have to work this afternoon!"

"Yes Yes Yes."

The three of them ran away quickly, scrambling.

At the corner.

Zheng Huajia looked back and saw that Mrs. Fei was talking to Yuanyang and didn't follow. She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "She didn't follow. Let's go to the kitchen and get some meat. I haven't tasted meat for two months. My eyes are almost numb."

"If I had known that I would suffer so much in the mansion, I would rather stay in the farm down there. Now I can't go back even if I want to."

Zhou Ruijia covered her cheek and said, "Is Liu Jia still here? I have some friendship with her, so it's not difficult to get a piece of meat."

Wu Xinjia sighed and shook her head, "She's gone. I heard that Siqi kicked her out the other day. Now Qin Xianjia is keeping her in."

"It's bad." Zhou Rui's wife said angrily, "What can we do? Qin Xian's family is the worst to us. Forget about the meat. We don't even have a single steamed bun."

"Why don't we go and ask Miss Xing for help?"

"That's fine..."

Miss Xing is the kindest person.

……

On this side, Yuanyang entered Jia She's yard.

Jia She was drinking in the room, accompanied by several concubines in gorgeous clothes. One of them even had her clothes untied, revealing a small green dress embroidered with mandarin ducks playing in the water.

"Master, the mandarin ducks are here."

A little girl came in and replied.

Jia She, who was drinking, brightened his eyes.

"Please come in quickly."

Yuanyang was originally at the door. He walked in with a stern face and bowed, saying, "Greetings to the master. The old lady has something to ask, so please come over."

"Haha."

Jia She smiled and put down his wine cup: "The old lady has invited me, I will obey, but..."

Yuanyang stared at Jia She warily: "What's going on?"

Jia She smiled and said, "You have to come over and have a drink with me."

goat!

Yuanyang cursed in her heart and said coldly: "Master, I am the maidservant of the old lady, please respect me!"

Insulting your mother's maid is a great act of unfilial piety!

"Hahaha."

Jia She laughed triumphantly again, stroked his white beard, stood up and said, "Let's go. I'll let you go today."

He didn't believe that with his current power, the mandarin duck could escape from his grasp.

The mandarin duck breathed a sigh of relief and hurried back.

At one point, Jia She arrived at Jia's mother's courtyard. He first glanced at Jia Zheng beside him indifferently, then looked at Jia's mother and saluted.

"Greetings to the old lady."

The master has done a good job in putting on a good show.

Grandmother Jia sneered from above, "Greetings, greetings? What kind of greetings are you saying? Do you still have eyes for an old woman like me?"

Jia She pretended to be puzzled: "Mother, what are you talking about? Have you listened to some villain's instigation again?"

"Pooh!"

Grandmother Jia spat.

"Whoever is provoked by the villain knows it clearly!"

"Let me ask you, why did you chase your second brother out of the East Courtyard? When you lived there, your second brother didn't chase you out!"

Jia She smiled when he heard this: "I knew it, it's about this!" He then looked at Jia Zheng and sneered: "That's all you can do. You bother the old lady with such trivial matters!"

Jia Zheng: "..."

I can't argue with you or beat you, so is there anything wrong with asking the old lady for justice?

Grandmother Jia said with a stern face: "Don't bully your brother with your words. If you don't explain why you let your second brother move out of the East Cross Courtyard, I can't agree to it!"

Jia She smiled and said, "Of course I have an explanation."

"First of all, I didn't mean to kick my second brother out of the house. I just asked him to move to a new place. I have already ordered people to clean up the yard over there for him."

"As for what to do with the East Cross Courtyard... After careful discussion between Rong Ge'er and me, we plan to connect the gardens of the two mansions and build a larger and more unique garden for the girls in the mansion to live in."

"The second and third girls in our house, and the girls Xichun and Lin from their place are still young. They can live in and have fun for a few years."

Of course, there is a more important reason.

Jia Rong paid 50,000 taels of silver.

But, it’s not convenient to tell this to the mother and son.

"Where did you get the money to build the garden?"

Grandmother Jia asked suspiciously.

Jia She laughed and said, "Of course I don't have any, but the East Palace has plenty of money. If they plucked a hair from their body, it would be thicker than our waists!"

Grandmother Jia nodded slightly.

It turned out that the garden was built with money from the East Palace.

Not bad.

But why are the words so harsh?
No matter how defeated the Rongguo Mansion is, it can't be less powerful than the East Mansion, right?

"It's settled. The garden will be started in a few days. Second brother, you can move in immediately after you return, but the flowers, plants, bricks, tiles and stones inside cannot be moved. They are to be kept for the garden."

Jia Zheng made a bitter face: "...Mother, me?"

Grandmother Jia waved her hand and said, "Move."

"what?"

Jia Zheng looked at his mother in shock.

Is this how you administer justice?

Are you biased?

Grandmother Jia comforted Jia Zheng and said, "The East Palace is willing to spend money, so why should we stand in the way? When the garden is built, we can go in and take a look." Finally, she said, "I have envied the garden of the Nan'an Concubine for a long time, and I have always wanted to build one."

Jia Zheng: "..."

Jia She patted Jia Zheng on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Did you hear that, second brother? You should have a long-term vision and put the interests of the family first. What if you suffer a little injustice?"

……

Imperial College.

As the sun sets, a day of boring study finally comes to an end. The students walk out of the classroom in twos and threes. Some eat and continue to study in the classroom, some go directly back to the dormitory to rest, and some find an excuse to go out and play.

Recently, the Dean has been very busy with official duties and has been away from home frequently, which has led to the relaxation of the rules of the Imperial College, especially regarding entering and leaving the college. The guards at the door have gradually become useless.

"Shunzhi..."

"how?"

"Nothing." Xu Lian smiled slightly: "Are you going home again today?"

Jia Rong nodded: "Of course."

Xu Lian curled her lips and said, "Is it so good at home that you have to go home every day? Next year is the year for the imperial examination. Haven't you seen Zeng Liang and his family not go back to their dormitories? They study hard in the school all night long. We should work hard too!"

“Yes, they are indeed hardworking.”

Jia Rong waved the fan in his hand.

After August 15th, the weather gradually became warmer, as if the autumn heat was about to show its last bit of power.

"But I think it's the same no matter where you study. It doesn't mean that if you study hard in school, you will definitely learn well, but if you go home, you will definitely not learn well. What do you think?"

"You're just making a fuss!" Xu Lian chuckled and said, "I said, of course it's better to study in school. You probably went home because you couldn't bear to leave the maids at home to serve you, right?"

"hehe."

Jia Rong did not deny it.

"You're half right."

Xu Lian: "Oh? Anything else?"

Jia Rong: "...cannot say."

Xu Lian: “Hmph…”

Jia Rong: "I'm leaving. See you tomorrow morning."

"By the way, go and arrange the literary gathering at the end of the month. Several people from the Jiangnan Ying Society are coming to challenge us, and we can't lose momentum."

Xu Lian: "No, I'm not in the mood!"

Jia Rong: “…”

With this temper, he is worthy of being a backbone of the Youth Society!

"Brother, thank you for your help!"

Jia Rong stepped forward and patted Xu Lian on the shoulder, and smelled a faint fragrance coming towards her.

awkward.

"Hmph, stop trying to tease me!" Xu Lian unhappily opened Jia Rong's hand, "Call Xie Jiwen, it's time for him to 'get married'."

"Okay, I'll go find him right away."

Jia Rong prepared to slip away quickly.

He had suspected before that Xu Lian was disguised as a man, but he felt that it was unlikely. After all, not everyone could enter the Imperial College.

It's not realistic for a woman to dress as a man.

In addition, there were particularly many "rabbits" in the Imperial College, and there were many men who looked effeminate, with makeup and rouge on their faces and smelled fragrant, so no one paid too much attention to it.

But this time, he had to admit that Xu Lian was definitely a girl!
Could it be...the daughter of Guo Jijiu?
Otherwise, who could arrange for a daughter to enter the Imperial College without anyone knowing?
"return!"

Jia Rong had already walked several steps out when Xu Lian called him back, "Seeing that you are in such a dilemma, let's just go with me. Brother Xie, you should heal your wounds first."

"Thank you, thank you!"

"Don't just say thank you, tell me how to thank you!"

"I'll treat you to a drink some other day, okay?"

Jia Rong remained calm.

"Okay, I've written it down."

Xu Lian smiled happily.

……

"Master? What's wrong with you?"

On the way home, Xiao Xiao looked at Jia Rong and asked with a little confusion.

"Oh, nothing."

Jia Rong sighed.

Xu Lian, one of the three heroes of Qingshe, is a woman!
If word of this gets out...

never mind!

As long as it is kept secret, it may not be leaked.

He couldn't bear to part with such a great general.

Without Xu Lian, Qingshe’s brilliance would undoubtedly be much dimmer.

The story of how the talented scholar Xu Lian trampled upon the "world's most talented scholar" Li Chun with his writing is still talked about with relish in the circle of talented scholars.

"Master, let me tell you something."

"what's up?"

"The Royal Guards have come to our house."

Jia Rong: “?!”

Xiao Xiao explained: "Many noble families have been arranged, and our family will naturally be no exception."

"This person has some tricks. He found Butler Lai through various connections and eventually became Butler Lai's distant relative and entered our house."

"Oh."

Jia Rong narrowed his eyes slightly: "Did the Lai family betray you?"

"No."

Xiao Xiao shook her head and said, "Butler Lai didn't know that he was a member of the Jinyiwei, so I said that this person is very powerful."

Jia Rong asked curiously, "Then how did you find out?"

Xiao Xiao smiled and said, "Because I just said that almost all the noble families have been arranged, it is impossible that our family is the only one missing, right? So I secretly checked the people who came to our house recently, and compared them one by one, and sure enough... hehe!"

Jia Rong laughed.

The emperor is already in his seventies and eighties. Instead of enjoying his retirement, he actually started a Jinyiwei!

but.

Jia Rong felt that this move was aimed at intimidating the new emperor.

I, your old man, am not old and blind yet.

Don't play tricks on me!
"Since all the princes and nobles have arranged it at their homes, just keep it. Just pay more attention to it in daily life."

"Also, from now on, we will not hire servants in our house, and we will not accept children born in other families for the time being."

"Also, don't recruit anyone from your intelligence network for now, unless they are people you trust very much."

Xiao Xiao nodded.

"Don't worry, I know."

……

"Rong'er, I heard that you want to build a big garden?" As soon as he returned home, Xichun followed him in, grabbed Jia Rong's arm and asked happily.

Jia Rong nodded.

"good."

"Our garden has been built for more than ten years. It is time to expand it. I have already bought the garden in the west mansion. When the time comes, the gardens of the two mansions will be combined into one, and the garden will be more than twice as large."

"Great!"

Xichun clapped her hands and laughed, "When the time comes, Second Sister, Third Sister, Miss Lin, Miss Bao, and Miss Xing will all move in."

Jia Rong was laughing when he was suddenly stunned.

"Lin girl, is it Lin Daiyu?"

Xichun: “Yeah!”

"Bao girl is Bao Qin?"

Xichun: “Yeah!”

Jia Rong: "Who is Xing girl?"

Xichun: "Xing Xiuyan!"

Jia Rong: “…”

"Why do you demote someone so casually?"

"Forehead."