The head of the Red Mansion

Chapter 116 Teaching
silver?

Is it about money?

Improving one's life can seem to be all about money.

Jia Jing smiled slowly, "Go home and tell your wife that I thanked her."

To be honest, Shedi, Zhuer, and the others are all fools. They give him money secretly and dare not put it out in the open, so even though he has money, he doesn't dare to spend it because of them.

But Min'er is different.

She is a member of the Lin family.

Lin Ruhai did a good job in Jiangnan, and both the retired emperor and the emperor were very satisfied with him.

She felt sorry for her cousin and gave him some money to improve his life; it seemed that no one could say anything about it.

Jia Jingchao beckoned to a Taoist priest who looked over, "Brother Taoist, could you please cover for me today? I'll go and come back later."

After suffering these past few months, this former nobleman has fallen into the mundane world and learned the hardships of life. Is there anything wrong with him taking the things his cousin gave him back to his own room?
If Lin Xiang were smarter, it would be even better if he took the initiative to tell him about things in Jiangnan.

The worst thing about Tai Xuan Temple is that it is not well-informed.

Unfortunately, he can only endure it now.

“Uncle, this gauze curtain is made entirely of cicada wing gauze. It was specially made for you by our madam.”

Lin Xiang brought out the things Jia Jing needed most, saying, "There are many mosquitoes in the mountains. You can keep the extra cicada wing gauze to cover the windows, or make another gauze curtain."

"……it is good!"

In the past, his wife would arrange all of these things.

now……

Mosquitoes have been around for the past two weeks, and Jia Jing often spends the whole night battling one or two of them.

Unfortunately, the little creature was too cunning; he could often only hear its voice but never see it.

Even if you do manage to see them, you often find yourself a step too slow or not performing well, causing them to escape.

Even after he rests, people will still come looking for revenge.

A gossamer-wing gauze curtain is nice.

With it, all he has to do is clean the space on the bed.

"This was delivered very timely."

"..."

Lin Xiang glanced at the bulge on Jia Jing's chin, sighed inwardly, and took out two more sets of bamboo clothes lined with soft gauze, saying, "These bamboo clothes are very popular in Jiangnan now. When we made them for our master, Madam also prepared them for your uncles. You can wear them when it's hot, but you must not get too cold."

"Hahaha! Of course!"

Thinking of his youngest sister, who is now also good at managing the household, Jia Jing felt a rare sense of joy.

Half of the gifts from the two carriages were given to the Taoist temple, and the other half were taken to his house.

In the blink of an eye, he became the richest person in the entire Taoist temple.

“Uncle, our madam said that if you don’t want to ask your aunt for help, just ask her. She will definitely do anything she can for you.”

Lin Xiang actually wanted to buy him two Taoist boys, and two strong and healthy ones, to help him with his work.

Having studied under Lin Ruhai, he knew all too well how difficult it was to get an education.

Putting aside his family background, his maternal uncle was a dignified scholar who had passed the imperial examinations, yet he wasted his time in the fields like an old farmer. It was truly pitiful.

Unfortunately, he dared not say it.

It's hard to say.

He knew a little about why his uncle had chosen to live in seclusion here. Giving gifts was a matter of kinship, but anything more was inappropriate.

"……become!"

Jia Jing regretted that the boy was too honest. He said he would give gifts, but he only gave gifts and didn't say a word about what was going on in Jiangnan. "Go and say goodbye to the abbot and go back to the city!"

He had to find a way to get the fertilizer with his daughter's handprints and footprints to sprinkle on the orchids in the yard.

"Yes!"

Lin Xiang honestly went to say goodbye, and soon the Taoist temple returned to its usual quiet.

From afar, the abbot watched Jia Jing go back to work and couldn't help but sigh.

He silently returned to his room, ground ink, took out his brush, and wrote down what needed to be noted so that it would be convenient for people from above to review when they came.

……

At Rongguo Mansion, Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng, who had gotten up late, wanted to avoid embarrassment, so they had the gifts they had prepared the day before carried onto the carriage and headed to the Wang family.

"Second Madam, I forgot something."

Ping'er suddenly remembered Jin Chuan'er's visit last night. "Second Madam asked you to come over in the middle of the night last night. I thought that since you were asleep, I would go over early in the morning."

As a result, it was already so late this morning.

"midnight?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian frowned slightly. "Then let's go ask them together!"

He became an official, and his second aunt still looked at him with kindness, but for some reason, that kindness seemed different from before.

But having grown up with his second uncle and aunt, he still felt a deep affection for them.

He was happy that his father was able to return to Rongxi Hall, and he was also willing to do more for his second uncle and aunt if possible.

"……become!"

An ugly daughter-in-law must eventually meet her in-laws.

I'll probably get a lecture for sleeping in late today.

Wang Xifeng steeled her heart and agreed.

However, when the couple went to Pear Fragrance Courtyard together, they did not expect to see Madam Wang, but instead saw Jia Zhu, who had just returned home.

"Big brother!"

Jia Lian and Jia Zhu were very close. "Is today your day off? Why are you back? Oh, I know, you heard about what happened at home and rushed back?"

"……Yes!"

Seeing his brother, who had become darker and thinner, Jia Zhu patted him hard on the shoulder and said, "I've heard about what happened at home. You did a good job."

The focus of what his father told him was his aunt's strategy for dealing with the Japanese pirates.

What circulated in the capital was the row of Japanese pirate corpses in Shuntian Prefecture.

Last night, many students at the Imperial Academy, knowing he was from the Jia family, went to visit him.

"Ha, I knew it, my brother would praise me."

Jia Lian smiled, revealing eight teeth, which drew a sidelong glance from Lady Wang, who had rushed back upon hearing of her son's return.

For some reason, she had a feeling that Jia Lian was trying to show off to her son.

"Pearl, why are you back?"

When Madam Wang greeted her son, she first looked him up and down, as if she were afraid that there was something wrong with him.

"My son asked for leave..."

"Why did you take leave again?"

Madam Wang's voice suddenly rose considerably, "How many days off have you taken already?"

At this point, she looked at Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng, who were bowing to her, and said, "Lian'er, you will have to take on more responsibility for things at home in the future. Your elder brother's studies are of utmost importance now."

“…Nephew knows.”

Jia Lian quickly agreed.

At this moment, the smile on his face slowly faded.

My brother's knowledge is always the most important thing.

He couldn't bear the hardship of studying, so he naturally listened to his second uncle and aunt and took care of the family affairs, allowing his older brother to study without any worries.

But now, he's going to take up a post in the Ministry of War!

"Aunt, we just found out that my eldest brother is back."

Wang Xifeng stepped forward and said with a smile, "We packed up too late yesterday and got up late today. As soon as Ping'er mentioned that you were looking for me in the middle of the night, we came right away."

Yes, yes, she contacted her late last night.

But something that happened in the middle of the night, now...

"Mother, if there's anything you need, please ask Li Shi!"

Seeing that her mother's expression was off, Jia Zhu quickly changed the subject, "What do you want with Feng'er? It's the middle of the night, you might scare her."

Normally, if someone is called in the middle of the night, it's because there's an emergency or something bad happening.

Both families have separated, but Mother still looks for Cousin Feng in the middle of the night...

Jia Zhu felt helpless. Not only would his cousin Feng be uncomfortable with what his mother was doing, but his uncles and the others would also be uncomfortable, and even Li Shi would be uncomfortable if she knew.

After all, she is the biological daughter-in-law.

"If you feel you're not feeling energetic enough, then from now on, we'll leave the affairs of our second branch of the family to Madam Li!"

Wang: "..."

She watched as her son, with just a few words, tried to transfer her power as the matriarch of the household to her daughter-in-law, and a surge of anger rose from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. "What? Did Li complain to you?"

In this household, Feng'er is the head mistress, and Li Shi is envious of her, so she also wants to seize her power.

"Did she see that Feng'er did a good job and think that she could do it too?"

Wang suddenly turned around and looked at Li Wan, who had rushed over upon hearing that Jia Zhu had returned. "Li, is that what you mean?"

Li Wan: "..."

What does she mean?
She had no idea what they were talking about.

"Mother!"

Li Wan forced a smile, "I just arrived and don't know what you're talking about. But sir, your aunt is going to the East Mansion soon. Since you're back, why don't you go and pay your respects to her first?"

"I'm on my way there."

Jia Zhu tried to reassure his mother, "Can I tell you what's wrong later?"

"Wait, explain yourself right here first."

He took leave from the Imperial Academy again when he was perfectly fine. How will he be able to do well in the exams after this?
Wang's chest heaved. "Li, do you want to be the mistress of the second wife's household?"

what?
"My wife would never have such a thought."

Li Wan quickly shook her head, "Mother, my wife is still young, and she's not as shrewd and worldly as my second sister-in-law. How can she manage the household?"

She wouldn't do anything that was thankless and exhausting.

She used to think the eldest son's family was chaotic, but after the family split up, Li Wan realized that the second son's family was even more chaotic.

"Besides, you are still young, your younger siblings are still small, and you have been in charge of the household for many years and have plenty of experience."

Li Wan knelt down, "I really can't bear the heavy responsibility of being the second wife."

That's more or less.

Wang's expression softened. "Get up, Zhu'er. Don't talk nonsense about things you don't understand."

"...Son knows."

Jia Zhu felt extremely aggrieved.

With his mother like this, even if his wife takes on the role of managing the household, there will never be peace in the family.

"Go on, hurry up and go see your aunt."

Wang waved to her son, then said to Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng, "You two come with me into the courtyard, I have something to tell you."

"……Yes!"

Wang Xifeng and Li Wan exchanged a glance and followed Jia Lian to Pear Fragrance Courtyard.

"Come with me!"

Jia Zhu helped his wife up, "...I'm sorry!"

He saw his wife turn her head and shed a large tear.

"Sir, please think before you speak in the future, or discuss it with me first."

He went to study at the Imperial Academy, but she had to stay at home.

"My wife doesn't have time to talk to me now, but she'll definitely come looking for me again in a few days when she's in a bad mood."

Li Wan wept.

"I'm sorry, I... I'll never do it again."

Jia Zhu held her hand, feeling extremely distressed.

"Say what you mean and do what you say."

Li Wan lowered her head. "Let's go, quickly go and pay our respects to our aunt."

Although her aunt seemed to have a bad relationship with the madam, she could tell that the aunt treated the younger generation equally.

Jia Zhu hurriedly went over to pay his respects to Jia Min. Meanwhile, Madam Wang took a sip of tea personally served by Wang Xifeng, calmed herself down, and said, "Lian'er, are you and Feng'er going to the Wang family to see your eldest and second uncles later?"

"Yes!"

Jia Lian nodded hurriedly, "I was also quite surprised to hear that my uncle's horse had sprung a fright. I wonder who was behind it..."

"It hasn't been found out yet."

Madam Wang sighed, "But now it's all good. Now that you've entered the Armory Administration, you can help your uncle."

She didn't consider him her maternal uncle, but instead called him her paternal uncle, just to take advantage of his close relationship with his niece.

Jia Lian: "..."

“His days in the Beijing garrison are difficult. In the future, you must help him as much as you can.”

"……Yes!"

Once you reach this position, these things are unavoidable.

Jia Lian was already mentally prepared.

But to expect him to break the rules... that's absolutely impossible.

He had already discussed this with his wife yesterday.

I'm going to the Wang family today to formally explain things to my uncle.

After all, the various factions in the court are too complicated. If things go wrong, he might not only fail to help his uncle, but he might also be framed.

"And what about Biyun Temple..."

When Madam Wang began instructing her nephew, she was quite blunt, "Although Zhu'er has returned, he still needs to go back after paying his respects to your aunt. He's taken far too many days off lately, so Yuan Chun's..."

"Feng'er and I will go pick them up."

Jia Lian readily agreed, "I miss my little sister too."

"Alright, I trust you two to handle things."

A smile appeared on Wang's face. "Come back tonight and come see me again. I have something to discuss with you."

"Yes!"

The couple exchanged a glance and agreed in unison.

They were not in a good mood when they left Rikain.

"My aunt has been in a bad mood lately."

Wang Xifeng said, "We'll just listen to what she says. If we really can't handle it... then we'll tell Master and Madam."

The two houses have already been divided.

Wang Xifeng felt uneasy about her aunt's behavior.

“We have already separated our households, and she should…separate herself from them sooner rather than later.”

"Ok!"

Jia Lian squeezed his wife's hand. "Don't worry, I'll listen to you."

His wife's heart is with him.

Jia Lian smiled and said, "But you don't need to stand up for me with my uncle. I'll go first, and if I can't go on, then you can go."

"It's done!"

Wang Xifeng glared at him, and the young couple went to the outer courtyard together.

When they arrived at the Wang family's residence, Wang Ziteng, despite his physical limitations, was still carried to the second gate to greet them.

This treatment alone is completely different from before.

"Yes, he has become much more capable after his trip to Jiangnan."

Wang Ziteng looked at Jia Lian with increasing satisfaction. "When will the higher-ups in the ministry let you take office?"

"His Majesty has granted me three days' leave. I will officially assume my post three days later."

Jia Lian maintained his smile, "Uncle, now that I'm in the Armory, I'll definitely help you with anything the Beijing Garrison needs, as long as it's within the rules."

"...The Beijing Garrison..."

Wang Ziteng thought for a moment, "You could try to suppress it."

His smooth return to his post might not be so easy. "There are many people watching the Armory, and you've been suddenly promoted to this position, so you should be even more cautious." To help him, you first need to secure your position. "Even if it's within the rules, you should listen to your superiors' opinions."

He taught him how to be an official: "In officialdom, it's all about favors and connections. If you give your superiors enough face, they'll be more willing to take responsibility for you if anything happens. Do you understand?"