The head of the Red Mansion

Chapter 109 Apologizing?!
At Ningguo Mansion, Shen Ning, who had just taken her daughter for a stroll and was about to return to her courtyard, saw a little maid rushing over to deliver the news.

"Madam is overjoyed! The young lady from the West Mansion has returned to visit her family with her cousins. The old lady has already welcomed them in, and our eldest master has also returned."

"reward!"

Shen Ning handed her daughter, who was yawning and about to fall asleep, to the wet nurse. "Prepare the sedan chair, I'm going to take a look."

She had thought they wouldn't get home until late at night, but she hadn't expected them to return so quickly, clearly having traveled all night.

Having killed thirty enemies and captured two alive, it was a great victory, but Shen Ning suspected that they were still frightened, so she went to check on them without any hesitation.

At this moment, Jia Min and Grandmother Jia had already embraced and wept bitterly. Wang Xifeng, seeing her husband who had become thin and dark, was also heartbroken and hurriedly ordered the calming medicine that had been prepared overnight to be boiled up.

"Feng'er, I'm fine."

Jia Lian quietly squeezed Wang Xifeng's hand.

On his way back, he learned from his father and brother Jia Zhen that the family had undergone a complete upheaval and that his father had moved to Rongxi Hall.

This is a good thing, but his daughter Feng'er... is probably worried about it every day.

Jia Lian was worried that his father and stepmother might dislike Feng'er because of her relationship with his second aunt, and he was even more worried that his second aunt might cause trouble for him because of Feng'er's relationship with the eldest son's family.

"you lost weight."

He said with great heartache, "I'm back, and I'm not afraid anymore."

Wang Xifeng: "..."

She had thought life was pretty good, but her husband's words suddenly filled her with endless sorrow.

With one misfortune after another befalling her family, she, despite being the matriarch, was extremely cautious in everything she did.

Many things completely overturned her previous understanding.

Now she's extremely cautious in everything she does, afraid of making a mistake that her stepmother-in-law will catch her in.

In the past, her aunt would cover for her and bail her out when she made mistakes, but now... Wang Xifeng always felt that her aunt was also waiting to catch her making a mistake.

"Hmm~"

When Wang Xifeng leaned closer to Jia Lian, her nose tingled, her eyes welled up, and tears streamed down her face.

Jia Lian hurriedly wiped away her tears, "I brought you so many good things." He was about to say something more in a low voice when the little boy tugged at his clothes, "Second cousin, is this your second cousin's wife?"

Lin Chang'an's childlike voice was clear and bright, and his eyes were filled with innocent curiosity, "Are you my second cousin's wife?"

"……Yes!"

Wang Xifeng quickly wiped away her tears, and when everyone looked over, she smiled and bent down, "You're Chang'an's little cousin?!"

"Yes, my name is Lin Chang'an, and this is my older sister, Daiyu."

"Daiyu greets Second Sister-in-law."

When Wang Xifeng looked over, Lin Daiyu also quickly bowed.

When those bad guys attacked, my second cousin told the first people to protect my mother and their carriage.

On the way from Yangzhou to Beijing, my second cousin treated them very well.

After the two children met their grandmother and two aunts, they both started looking for Jia Lian.

"Hello, sister!"

Wang Xifeng quickly helped them up and smiled at the old lady and Jia Min who were looking over, saying, "No wonder our old lady keeps talking about her little cousins ​​all day long. It must be that celestial children have come to our house!"

"You might as well say that the two of them are little devils."

Jia Lian handed his cousin to Wang Xifeng to hold, while he picked up his younger cousin, saying, "They've worn me out on the journey."

"reward!"

Seeing his practiced movements and the two children's happy faces, the old lady couldn't help but laugh, "Our Lian'er has done a good job this time, Grandma will reward you."

“Mother, you should reward him.”

Jia Min also laughed, "We really owe a lot to Lian'er along the way. As soon as he found out that Li Haifeng of the Li family had escaped, he hired ten bodyguards from the Fuwei Escort Agency to escort us. They traveled day and night, otherwise they might have attacked us on the way."

I practically got lucky with my life.

Fortunately, his son and daughter, who were always in poor health, did not fall ill on the way. They even rode horses with their nephew and their health improved.

Jia Min had no idea why they were acting this way.

At home, she raised him with great care, afraid that something might go wrong.

But Lian'er, whenever they went to a city or town, always found a way to let them try this and that.

Before they had even finished eating, they were already talking about what good food they could find in the next town.

Jia Min was completely convinced; for the first time, she wondered if she was doing something wrong in raising her child.

Or perhaps the Lin family's method of raising children was fundamentally flawed.

Kids should be allowed to fall and fight.

"After that person was arrested, our family's fortunes turned around."

Grandmother Jia felt sorry for her daughter, grandson, and granddaughter. She hugged her daughter again and said to the maid, "Go and carry the fifth chest on the west side of the storeroom to your second master and second mistress."

"Oh, thank you for the gift, Grandma."

Jia Lian, holding Lin Chang'an, happily bowed to the old lady.

When Shen Ning arrived, the room was filled with laughter and cheerful conversation.

"Sister-in-law!"

Shen Ning had just bowed to the old lady when Jia Min pulled her two children over and made them bow to her as well. "Jia Min thanks you, sister-in-law, for saving my family's lives." Not wanting to kneel down and kowtow, she patted her children and said, "Quickly, kowtow to your aunt and thank her for saving our lives."

"Thank you so much, Auntie, for saving my life!"

The two children, with their soft, childlike voices, actually knelt down and kowtowed to her.

"What is my sister doing?"

Shen Ning quickly stepped forward to help Xiao Daiyu and Xiao Chang'an up, saying, "I'm their aunt, this will only make us feel distant."

"Sister-in-law..."

Jia Min finally stopped stopping her, but she hugged Shen Ning and said, "It's not that we're being distant, it's that you really saved my family's lives."

She never imagined that the families she trusted most had all been bribed.

If it weren't for my sister-in-law's reminder, given the Li family's vicious nature, who knows what might have happened to the two children.

These two children are her and her husband's life; if anything happens to either of them, she...

Jia Min felt she couldn't go on living.

Tears streamed down her face. "Thank you, sister!"

"...Okay, okay, thank you!"

Shen Ning gently patted her back, "You were both frightened on the way here, but everything is fine now that you're home."

"She should thank you properly."

Grandmother Jia was also deeply moved. If it weren't for Madam Shen's repeated and proactive dispatch of so many guards, the servants in the mansion would have been of no use no matter how many there were.

As the matriarch of the Jia family, she was aware of the fighting strength of the mansion's guards.

Unfortunately, the guards of the Western Prefecture were disbanded by the Duke himself the year he passed away.

"Your aunt should thank you properly. Lian'er, quickly, kowtow to your aunt. The guards who went to pick you up were because your aunt was worried about you."

Of the ten people who went to pick them up, only four were servants from this mansion, while the other six were guards from the East Mansion.

Without their protection, the daughter, Lian'er, and their two grandchildren would have been terrified when they were attacked.

"Okay, okay, I'll accept Lian'er's bow."

Even if you don't accept it, people will still be thinking about it.

Shen Ning laughed and said, "But Aunt, you can't just thank me with empty words and let Lian'er fool me with a single bow, can you? You should at least treat me to a few shows and give me some good wine and food."

"Bah~"

Grandmother Jia was amused by her, "When have you ever come to visit and I've ever let you go hungry?"

"See?" Shen Ning helped Jia Min sit down next to the old lady. "This is my second home. I'm your sister-in-law. How could I ignore you when I know you're in danger? And Lian'er, get up quickly."

Seeing that Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng had actually come over to kowtow, she hurriedly went to help them up, saying, "You are still young, and you will have plenty of time to take care of me in the future. Brother She and his wife must not be jealous then."

Jia She and Xing Shi both laughed.

The room became lively again, but Jia Zheng and Lady Wang's smiles looked rather forced.

When Jia Lian brought up the gifts he had given to everyone—salt—the two men almost lost their composure.

However, Grandmother Jia, Jia She, Yingchun, and others were overjoyed.

These were made for them by their grandson (son, brother) himself.

No wonder he came back so thin and dark-skinned.

Wang Xifeng had previously mentioned the snacks, but she completely put them down.

My husband is busy making salt, so he probably doesn't have time to visit any brothels.
"Auntie, Auntie~"

After distributing the small boxes of salt to each person, Jia Lian asked Shen Ning and Jia Min for advice, "When I came here, my uncle wrote me a letter asking me to go to the palace to report on the salt affairs in Jiangnan to the Emperor. What do you think, should I go now or tomorrow?"

what?
Jia She and Jia Zheng both turned serious. "Go now."

They dared not delay matters concerning the royal family.

"If His Majesty does not have time to see you now, he will have someone inform you."

Jia Zheng glanced at his elder brother and continued, "You child, why are you only bringing this up now? Hurry up and go submit the invitation."

"Go!"

When Jia Lian looked to her for help, Shen Ning said gently, "Answer whatever the Emperor asks."

"Listen to your aunt," Jia Min said, "Go!"

Since the elders all said so, Jia Lian dared not delay any longer, and quickly bowed to everyone before leaving.

"Wait a moment."

Shen Ning thought of something, "I heard you went to the Li family?"

"Yes!"

"The Li family's house was ransacked, their belongings..."

“I will hand it over to the Emperor.”

"Hmm~"

Shen Ning was satisfied. "You've paid what you owed. Now you need to apologize to the Emperor."

She paused for a moment, then continued, “The Li family’s delay in escaping because of you seems like a merit… but at that time, the Li family had not committed any crime. Your barging in to cause trouble for them could be seen by some as bullying others by abusing your power.”

Shen Ning glanced at Wang Shi and Jia Zheng, whose faces were frozen, and then said, "Apologize to the Emperor. If anyone tries to use this to attack you again, they won't be able to."

"Yes!"

Jia Lian hurriedly agreed and then rushed out.

"..."

Although the specific reason is still unknown, is this an apology?

Jia Min looked at Shen Ning, "This apology... isn't it actually a way of showing off?"

That's a huge sum of nearly ten million.

If it weren't for Lian'er's outburst, at least half of the Li family members could have escaped.

Some of the family wealth will surely be able to be transferred out.

"If His Majesty is in a good mood today, then that is a merit."

Shen Ning smiled and beckoned to Xiao Daiyu, "Come here, let your aunt give you a hug. You are exactly as your aunt imagined."

"Give her a hug!"

Jia Min laughed, "If Mom hadn't hugged your aunt first, she definitely wouldn't have ignored me and would have hugged you first."

"How dare you be jealous of your daughter?"

When Shen Ning scolded her, she finally got to hug the Lin Daiyu she had been longing for.

People say that Lin Daiyu is a crybaby, but they overlook her playful and adorable side.

The little girl also loved to laugh. "Auntie, Mother said you had a little sister. Can I play with her?"

"nature!"

Shen Ning readily agreed, "Auntie, as you know, ever since Rong-ge'er started school, the house has been incredibly quiet. Now that Min-meimei is back, why don't you give Yingchun and Tanchun to me?"

"What are you talking about?"

Grandmother Jia was almost amused by her, "You're feeling lonely now, so you want to snatch my granddaughter away?"

She understood; Shen had been subtly instructing Lian'er to use the pretext of apologizing to actually seek credit.

"Look at what you're saying?"

Shen Ning smiled, "They are my nieces too. Yue'er is growing up day by day, and it won't be long before she has to learn to speak. Moving their school to my place will be a good opportunity for them to attend classes with their older sisters."

"...Are you crazy?"

Grandmother Jia laughed as if she wanted to hit her, "How old is Yue'er? You already want her to go to school?"

“I didn’t let her study. I just let her crawl around next to her older sisters while they were studying. Once she got used to hearing and seeing this, she might just become a talented girl like Min.”

Shen Ning held little Daiyu in her arms. "Look, her sisters are so beautiful. She'll definitely grow up to be even more beautiful by following them. Auntie, you just said you wanted to thank me. Is this such a small request that you're going to keep making excuses?"

"...You, you!"

Unable to argue with her, Grandmother Jia laughed and said, "Yue'er has grown up and can talk now. If she doesn't want to, don't blame this old woman for hitting you with her cane."

Her daughter is beautiful, talented, and married well.

Yuan Chun was the same.

The girls below, with the leaders in front guiding them, should all be quite good.

The old lady also appreciates the good relationship between the younger generation.

"Haha, just keep knocking."

Shen Ning laughed, "I'm so old, and I'm still getting hit by my aunt's cane. That's my good fortune."

Everyone in the room burst into laughter.

Wang, though smiling on the surface, was inwardly seething with rage.

Judging from how his sister-in-law treated Lian'er, Lin Ruhai knew that he wanted to give him a boost by asking him to report on the salt affairs in Jiangnan to the Emperor.

His sister-in-law again asked him to feign remorse while actually seeking credit, hoping the emperor might be in a good mood and reward him...

Wang was filled with resentment. Her eldest son didn't have time, and Baoyu was too young, so they couldn't go to Jiangnan back then. Otherwise, such a great opportunity as buying the clan school and ancestral land would never have been available to Lian'er.
now……

She could only hope in her heart that the emperor was in a bad mood.

Ask him anything, and he'll come back.

The emperor wasn't in a bad mood at the time; he simply didn't have the time. As soon as the court session ended, he took Dong Xiaoquan to the Shou Kang Palace, the residence of the retired emperor.

The retired emperor loved Japanese copper the most.

If we can get something back from Japan without raising an army or spending money to build ships, what does a noble title matter?

"Your Majesty, Jia Lian has arrived."

When Eunuch Liu heard the report that Jia Lian had entered the palace, he hurried over and whispered the news.

After all, the Emperor had already said that as soon as Jia Lian entered the palace, he would be summoned immediately.

"coming?"

The Emperor's eyes lit up. "Excellent, Father! Jia Lian, the salt-making expert from the Rongguo Mansion, has entered the palace. Would you like to see him?"

"From the Rongguo Mansion?"

The retired emperor's memory wasn't very good. After thinking for a moment, he remembered and nodded on the spot, saying, "Jia Daishan's grandson, right? Summon him quickly!"