Red Mansion, Ningfu Scholarly Family

Chapter 20 The Four Major Families!

……

After being scolded by Lady Jia, Zhou Rui's wife stopped crying all of a sudden and looked at Mrs. Wang blankly.

Madam Wang was embarrassed and scolded, "You deserve to be beaten. Who told you to be so nosy in the mansion over there? You even had the nerve to go in front of the old lady and talk nonsense. Why don't you go back quickly!"

"Yes Yes!"

Zhou Rui's wife hurriedly covered her face and walked out of Lady Jia's room in shame. Just as she was about to go out, she was stopped by Yuanyang.

"Auntie Zhou, this is the twenty taels of silver the old lady gave you as a reward. You can live a free life from now on and don't have to serve others anymore." Yuanyang said with a smile.

Zhou Ruijia's old face turned red, but fortunately the skin on his face had thickened due to the swelling. He said awkwardly, "The madam won't let me go back again. Please return the silver to the old lady, young lady."

Yuanyang chuckled and said, "You are confused again. How can you take back the things that the old lady gave you as a reward? What happens between you and the lady is your business. This is a reward from the old lady. Why don't you accept it quickly?"

Zhou Ruijia took the silver awkwardly and said with a shy smile, "Thank you for the reward, old lady."

"Ok!"

Yuanyang nodded and said with a smile: "Remember to collect this month's salary."

Zhou Ruijia: “…”

what does it mean?

Is he going to kick her out of the house?
Impossible? She is my wife's companion!
At this time, Amber came out with a smile, "Hey, isn't this Aunt Zhou? I heard that you followed Master Bao to the East Palace to show off your power last night? Why are you leaving today?"

Zhou Ruijia almost vomited blood. He lowered his head and walked out without saying a word.

Yuanyang whispered, "Why do you have to offend her again? After all, she is the wife's person, and she is thick-skinned. She will definitely not leave the house easily."

Amber narrowed her eyes and smiled, "Anyway, you were the one who offended me first. I just followed you. Besides, we are maids of the Jia family. How can we be afraid of a mere maid from the Wang family? The old lady said that the Wang family is just a ruined family."

That's right!

Although Grandmother Jia thought that Rongguo Mansion could not compare with Ningguo Mansion, a real scholarly family that had produced Jinshi, she did not take the Wang family seriously. The Wang family was just a ruffian who had barely climbed up with the help of the Jia family's power.

The four great families of Jinling: Jia, Shi, Wang... Hmm? There seems to be a Xue family as well?

……

"Sister Lin, I finally came here once, but you didn't play with me and only went to the East Palace to accompany Fourth Sister."

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "Why don't you go over there to find us?"

Xiangyun said, "How can I dare to go if the master didn't invite me?"

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "Is there anything that you, Miss Yun, don't dare to do?"

Xiangyun pursed her lips. She really didn't dare to go to the East Palace to make a fuss. A month ago, the old master of the East Palace called her second uncle Shi Ding over and gave him a severe scolding. She happened to be there at the time and she was still frightened.

The Master of the East Palace is so majestic!
Besides, her noisy personality did not please the old man, and if he was caught, he would most likely scold her.

Of course, Xiangyun can't lose in a verbal battle.

"I heard from Sister Feng that Big Brother Zhen is worried about Rong'er's marriage recently. Did Grandpa ask you over to ask about his horoscope or something?" After saying that, Xiangyun ran into the kitchen with a laugh.

Lin Daiyu gritted her teeth in anger and chased after him: "Bah! You biting tongue, Xiangyun, you just like to gossip and make people hate you, you stand still!"

"Hehe, Sister Lin, I don't dare anymore."

Xiangyun regretted her decision as soon as she entered the Bisha Kitchen. She had nowhere to run.

"Let's see how you run now!"

Lin Daiyu stood guard at the door, rolled up her sleeves and sneered, "If I don't teach you a lesson today, you'll go to heaven!"

"Sister Lin, please forgive me. I won't dare to do it again."

"Cuckoo..."

The two of them started fighting inside.

After a while, the two were tired. Xiangyun leaned on the bed and gasped for breath, while Lin Daiyu combed her temples and packed some clothes.

"Sister Lin, what are you doing?"

"Go and stay with my fourth sister for a few days."

Lin Daiyu hadn't rested here in the past two days. Xiangyun, who was very smart, knew that something must have happened, so she got up and combed her hair and asked with a smile, "What happened? Why did you suddenly go there?" "You, guess?"

"Haha." Xiangyun smiled and said confidently, "The East Palace is a family of scholars, and they value courtesy the most. From the old master to Rong'er and Xichun, they are all like this. Someone must have noticed that you were 'not right' in the Bisha Kitchen and reminded you, right?"

"Could it be Rong Ge'er?"

"Bah, he's a junior, why is he reminding me?"

"That is?"

"Sister Xichun said so."

"Oh……"

Lin Daiyu packed up her underwear and asked Zijuan and Xueyan to pack them up and take them to Xichun's courtyard in the East Palace.

Fortunately, Baoyu calmed down after being beaten, otherwise there would have been another round of noise.

"Okay, this is for you to live in." After cleaning up, Lin Daiyu clapped her hands and said with a smile.

Xiangyun chuckled and said, "Since you don't come to live here anymore, I won't stay here. I'm going to look for my second sister."

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "You are not a good sleeper and you talk in your sleep. Second sister is getting fed up with you."

Xiangyun smiled and said, "I have been sleeping over there during the two days you have been in the East Palace. She has gotten used to it. At night, she reads her books while I talk."

Daiyu asked with a smile: "Who are you talking to?"

Xiangyun smiled and said, "Siqi, Cuilu, the three of us can talk. She is leaning on the bed reading a book."

Lin Daiyu: "..."

……

Jinling, Xue family.

Among the four major families, only the Xue family does not live at the feet of the emperor. All the members of the family do business in Jinling.

It’s not that the Xue family doesn’t want to go to Beijing, but they are simply not qualified.

Not to mention that the Jia family is a family of scholars with two dukes, the second-ranked Shi family also has two marquises. Even the Wang family, which is considered a impoverished family in Grandmother Jia's eyes, has connections in the court. Only the Xue family has become increasingly useless in recent years. Although they are imperial merchants, they cannot escape the word "merchant". Only the head of the family holds an idle position in the Ministry of Revenue, which is considered to be able to barely maintain their dignity.

On the surface, they are the four major families, but the Xue family members themselves know clearly what is going on.

"Mom, this spring the profits of all the shops and the accounts of all the farms are 20% less than before." Xue Baochai looked at a few account books and said with some melancholy while stroking her temples.

Aunt Xue frowned slightly when she heard this and said, "Another 20% less? Those damned bastards, seeing our family is in decline, they resorted to any means possible!"

After hesitating for a while, Aunt Xue gritted her teeth and said, "Why don't we go directly to Beijing! Your uncle is now the governor of the Beijing camp, and he is also a powerful person in the court. And your aunt's family is a Duke's family. If we go to Kyoto, who dares to bully us?"

Baochai naturally knew a little about the powerful relatives in Kyoto, so she smiled helplessly and said, "Mom, although it's good to go to Kyoto, you just need to live under the sway of others, which is far from being as comfortable as now. This is why Dad has never gone to Kyoto. Besides, people are often forgotten when they leave, and it's hard to say how much affection some of the families in Kyoto still have."

"Silly girl." Aunt Xue sighed, "Of course I know all this, but our family is in such a state now, and your brother is a useless man who can't support the family business. If we don't find a backer, I'm afraid we will be taken advantage of."

"Besides, your aunt and I have been close since childhood, and your brother has taken good care of us. He will never ignore us."

Baochai was somewhat moved after hearing this.

As the saying goes, 'Don't do business without someone in the court', especially for big businessmen like the Xue family, it is basically difficult to move forward without a backer. It was okay before my father was around, and most people gave me some face. Since my father passed away, people have left me and I have very few connections in Jinling left.

Going to Kyoto might also be a good choice.

I heard that the head of the Jia family was a Jinshi and held the position of Minister of War! As long as he could help the Xue family, the Xue family would at least be safe and sound, if not hopeful of revival.

The two were discussing when suddenly a maid ran in hurriedly, panting and saying, "Oh no, oh no!"

"What's wrong? What's wrong?"

Aunt Xue asked anxiously.

Baochai was also very nervous. Her useless brother was so frustrating!
The little girl panted and said, "Master, he, killed someone outside..."

"what!"

"what!"

……

(End of this chapter)