Red Mansion, Ningfu Scholarly Family

Chapter 268: A Little Bit Beyond Etiquette
……

"Brother Rong."

Baoqin was wearing a red silk skirt and a moon-white double-breasted top. She lowered her head shyly, and played with the hem of her skirt with her hands.

"Sister Baoqin."

Jia Rong took Baoqin's hand, looked into the distance and said, "Where's your sister?"

Baoqin pouted her lips, raised her eyes to look at Jia Rong and said, "Are you looking for me or my sister?"

Jia Rong said seriously, "Of course I'm looking for you, but your sister always follows me secretly. I'm afraid she'll see us getting close again and go back to scold you."

Baoqin smiled slightly when she heard this and said, "Brother Rong is very kind, but you don't have to worry. When I came, Sister Bao was talking to the mistress and didn't come with me."

"Oh, all right."

Jia Rong embraced the beauty and gently stroked her waist for a while.

Baoqin bit her red lips gently and whispered, "Although my sister didn't come, you can't go beyond the rules and bully me, otherwise... I won't come next time."

"Don't worry." Jia Rong smiled and said, "I know how to behave properly. Don't forget that I read the Book of Rites."

Baoqin: "..."

Brother Rong speaks very nicely.

It's just that the hands are getting more and more bullying.

"Hate."

Baoqin gently pushed Jia Rong and threatened, "Maybe my sister followed and is watching from a distance."

Jia Rong: "Then there's nothing to be afraid of."

Baoqin: "Hmm? Why?"

Jia Rong: "Because peeking is against etiquette, your sister wouldn't say anything if she dared to peek, we are all the same."

Baoqin: "..."

……

Half an hour later, Baoqin tiptoed back to Lixiangyuan and found that the yard was quiet with only Nanny Li guarding the gate. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Miss Qin is back?"

Nanny Li asked with a smile.

"Ah."

Baoqin nodded.

Nanny Li continued, "Miss Bao just went to look for the young lady. Didn't you meet her?"

Baoqin: "Ah? No..."

Nanny Li said, "Then I have to go out and look for Miss Bao. It's so late now, and if she doesn't meet her, she should come back."

Baoqin: "I'll go too."

As soon as the two of them reached the door, they saw Baochai walking in from outside.

Nanny Li said hurriedly, "The young lady is back. We were just about to go look for you."

Baochai smiled and said, "I didn't go far. I just wandered around outside."

"Madame Li, please close the door."

"Hey."

Nanny Li agreed and ran to close the door and bolt it.

Back in the room, Baochai asked Baoqin with a smile, "I heard Miss Ping'er came. It's so late, what were you doing?"

Baoqin pointed to the waning moon outside the window in a serious tone and said, "Let's go... admire the moon."

"Oh?" Baochai said, half-smiley, "Is it for one person or two people?"

"Sister, you know everything? I..."

Baoqin immediately lowered her head in shame and stammered.

"Hey!"

Baochai said earnestly, "You are already engaged, and according to the rules you cannot see each other, but we are not the kind of pedantic and conservative family. If you can't help wanting to see each other, that's fine, but you must not go beyond the rules of etiquette."

"Well, I see."

Baoqin nodded repeatedly.

Actually, they didn't go too far beyond the rules. They just went a little beyond the rules.

In Rong Ge'er's words: It's no big deal.

……

Ping'er completed the task well today, and Jia Rong fulfilled his promise that night and rewarded her generously. The next day, Ping'er almost overslept and couldn't get up.

"Good morning, Miss Ping'er. Did you sleep well last night?" Qingwen smiled and stopped Ping'er at the door when she wanted to comb her hair.

Ping Er suppressed her shyness and pretended to be nonchalant: "Thank you for your concern, Miss. I slept well. Please let me go first. I got up late and I still need to comb my hair."

Qingwen chuckled and said, "You slept well, but we didn't. We listened to the umm and umm for half the night."

Ping'er's face suddenly turned red.

impossible!

Last night she tried her best to hold back her anger by gritting her teeth and not making any sound, she even bit a hole in the quilt.

"Qingwen."

Jia Rong was drinking tea outside and asked, "Are you very idle and have nothing to do? Come with Ping'er to the study to settle accounts today."

Ping'er is his chief accountant, and he can't just watch her being bullied.

Qingwen was terrified when she heard this. It was okay to ask her to do needlework, but settling accounts was a disaster.

"I remembered that I have to go out to pick flower petals to make rouge today. I'm very busy." Then he ran out of the house, turned around and said, "Master, I'm not doing my job, I'm saving you money. The rouge and powder sold outside are expensive and have poor effects."

Jia Rong said, "Thank you very much. You have saved a lot of money for my family every year."

This was not false. A respectable maid represented the face of her master and had to dress up every day. The mansion also had their share of the allowance. However, because Jia Rong had Qingwen in his room, he basically did not use rouge from outside.

Saving a few taels a month is not a problem.

It turns out that there is another rouge-making master in the mansion who is as famous as Qingwen, and that is Da Baoyu. However, Da Baoyu has been preoccupied with worldly affairs recently and has lost interest in making rouge.

Ping Erh finished washing up and came to Jia Rong. She said seriously, "Master, you said last night that you wanted to check the accounts in Nanyang. When are you going to come over?"

"No hurry, have breakfast first."

At this time, Jia Rong was flipping through some excellent palace examination essays from previous years, all of which were found by Jia Jing from the Hanlin Academy. They were extremely precious and could not be seen by ordinary people at all.

"Ah."

Ping'er nodded and went downstairs to serve the meal.

Soon the maids brought breakfast downstairs. Several people served Jia Rong first and then set up another table downstairs.

Xiaoxiao, Ping'er, Xiangling, and Caiyun Xia, Ping'er's assistant in the study.

"Where's Qingwen? Why isn't she coming to eat?"

"She was picking flower petals in the garden. She said she would leave a stack of tofu buns for her."

"Oh, Qingwen is so capable, she works so hard that she forgets to eat and sleep."

"Yeah yeah."

……

Jia Rong's property in Nanyang is jointly managed by Xiaoxiao and Ping'er. Xiaoxiao is also responsible for protecting Jia Rong's safety and intelligence matters on a daily basis, and is not very concerned about the Nanyang accounts, so Ping'er is the supervisor.

Nanyang's accounts were huge and messy, and it was not an easy task to sort them out. Fortunately, Ping'er poached two of Wang Fu-ren's concubines, Caiyun and Xia.

It can't be considered as poaching. At that time, these two betrayed Mrs. Wang and went to Aunt Zhao and Jia Huan. As a result, the mother and son were afraid to accept the bribe and were about to be killed by Mrs. Wang. Ping'er helped them out of consideration for their old friendship, and that's how she got these two loyal and capable assistants.

Now the three of them had sorted out Nanyang's accounts in perfect order. Jia Rong looked at them for half a day and found nothing wrong.

"Thank you for your hard work. The accounts are very proper. Do you want any reward?" Jia Rong said with a smile as he looked at Caiyun and Xia.

Caiyun Cloud and Xia hurriedly knelt down and saluted solemnly, saying, "Master, what are you talking about? We are very lucky to have a place to stay in Ningguo Mansion thanks to your support. How dare we ask for a reward?"

Seeing that the two were determined not to give in, Jia Rong stopped insisting and said to Ping'er, "In that case, you should raise their monthly wages. The more you work, the more you will get. If you work with us, we will not treat you unfairly."

Ping Er asked with a smile, "How much is it?"

Jia Rong said, "You decide how much your people's salary will be raised."

"Okay sir."

Ping'er immediately understood what Jia Rong meant.

……

(End of this chapter)