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In fact, before coming to Daxiangguo Temple, Lin Wan'er had anticipated various ways of responding from Su Ning, but she never expected that Su Ning would be so "frank", and for a moment she didn't know how to respond.

After all, no matter how strong Lin Wan'er appears to be, it is useless. After all, she is just a little girl in her teens. How can she be a match for Su Ning, the thousand-year-old demon?

At this moment, Su Ning looked at Lin Wan'er in front of him again and made a promise. He also hoped that Lin Wan'er would not cause trouble after marrying into the family. "Wan'er, I promise you that I will handle your relationship with Xue Baochai properly."

"Hmph! Men always think they can control everything." However, Lin Wan'er pouted and said this with disapproval, because she felt that Su Ning and her father were equally domineering.

"I'm not an ordinary man." Suning showed a sunny smile.

"Hmph! Arrogant." Lin Wan'er, who was angry, thought for a long time but could only come up with this word.

Then, Su Ning suddenly had a women's mechanical watch in his hand. He put it on Lin Wan'er's wrist and explained, "Wan'er, I didn't know you asked me out today, so I didn't bring anything with me. This mechanical watch has been with me for a long time. Think of it as a token of love from me to you."

"What a beautiful watch! Aren't most Western watches pocket watches and pendulum clocks?" Sure enough, Lin Wan'er couldn't resist the charm of a mechanical watch.

Suning has an easy time dealing with women. If he wants, he can seduce all the beautiful women. "So this mechanical watch is the only one in the world. It just represents my feelings for you."

Lin Wan'er reluctantly stroked the mechanical watch on her wrist and said with a pout, "Hmph! Sweet talk! You're so good at it, I don't believe you're that honest."

"My heart is toward the bright moon, but the bright moon only shines on the ditch." At this moment, Su Ning made a sad expression and looked at Lin Wan'er and said.

"I don't want to bother with you! I'm leaving now."

"Wan'er, can I hug you?"

"You wish! Don't even think about touching me until we're married."

"Simple! When I go back today, I'll ask my parents to urge us to get married."

"..." Lin Wan'er couldn't help but blush shyly, then she glared at Su Ning and ran away.

In fact, Lin Wan'er was not too opposed to this matter. After all, she was quite satisfied with Su Ning. Nowadays, there were very few children of nobles who could compare with Su Ning.

So Lin Wan'er did not refuse Su Ning's proposal. Instead, she felt a little bit of anticipation in her heart. She didn't want such a good man to be possessed by Xue Baochai alone.

After Lin Wan'er boarded the carriage and left Daxiangguo Temple, the mysterious Duke's wife reappeared. "What's the matter? Is it okay for you to accompany me to burn incense this time?"

At this moment, Su Ning looked at his mother with a depressed look on his face and said, "Mom, why didn't you tell me earlier? I could have packed up in advance."

"Is it my fault?" The Duke's wife asked with a displeased look at Su Ning.

"Hehe, I'll have to trouble my mother with the wedding of Lin Wan'er and me." Then Su Ning looked at his mother in front of him and urged her to get married. In his heart, he also wanted to win the beauty as soon as possible.

The Duke's wife smiled nonchalantly and said, "Don't worry! Your father and I know what's going on. We'll be able to bring you home with the beauty soon."

"Thank you, mother."

……

Ever since Su Ning married Xue Baochai as his concubine, Jia Baoyu often came to Su Mansion to find Su Ning, and almost regarded Su Mansion as his second home.

However, Suning and Xue Baochai did not have any aversion to Jia Baoyu. They would give him a warm welcome every time, which made Jia Baoyu like to come and play with Suning even more.

Su Ning glanced at Xue Baochai who was standing beside him and said, "Baochai, it's getting late. You should go back to bed first!"

"Okay! Husband, don't drink too late." Although Xue Baochai was indeed feeling sleepy, she still gave Su Ning an instruction.

"I know! I know everything."

After Xue Baochai got up and left the room, Su Ning continued to drink with Jia Baoyu, shoulder to shoulder. Not only were the servants of the Su Mansion serving them, but also Xiren, the personal maid that Jia Baoyu brought with him.

Soon, Jia Baoyu was drunk by Suning again, and then Suning carried him to the bed to rest, while Xiren hurried over to undress Jia Baoyu.

To be honest, Xiren was really good to Jia Baoyu. Not only was she Jia Baoyu's first woman, but she also wholeheartedly considered Jia Baoyu's future. It was a pity that this playboy Jia Baoyu was too disappointing and was trapped in the pile of cosmetics all his life and could never get out.

As for becoming a monk later, it was just a form of escape. There is no real paradise in this world. It is nothing more than self-consolation for some cowards.

At this time, Suning was feeling itchy as he looked at the drunk Jia Baoyu, but he really didn't want to become "gay", so his eyes couldn't help but stare at the equally attractive Xiren.

Su Ning just waved to the servants in the Su Mansion, and sure enough, all the servants walked out obediently and closed the door of the room.

But Su Ning hugged Xiren tightly from behind, "Xiren, stay with me today."

"Ah? Young master, no! I'm Xiren, Master Bao's personal maid." Xiren, who was suddenly attacked, became a little flustered.

Su Ning simply posed an irrefutable question. Giving women away as gifts was quite common in ancient society. "Xiren, considering my relationship with Master Bao, if I asked him for you, do you think he would agree?"

"I..." As expected, Xiren was stunned and frightened inside.

Then Su Ning continued to whisper in Xiren's ear, "Xiren, you can't be a servant in the Jia family forever. You just want to be Master Bao's concubine, but unfortunately, the Jia family will never agree to that."

"No...no! The old lady promised me." Hua Xiren refuted Su Ning's statement in a self-deceiving manner. In her heart, she was still unwilling to give up Jia Baoyu.

At this moment, Su Ning once again attacked Hua Xiren with a fatal blow. "Did she sign an agreement with you? Are there any witnesses?"

"This……"

Su Ning's big hands kept asking for more, and soon Hua Xiren was a little overwhelmed. "Xiren, don't be so silly! As long as you are willing to be obedient, I can guarantee your future life."

You have to know that when she was with Jia Baoyu before, she was the one who took the initiative more often. Jia Baoyu was more like a little boy who had not seen much of the world, so he didn't have the excitement that a real man like Su Ning could bring.

However, Hua Xiren, who had already given up resistance in her heart, still asked with the last bit of her rationality, "Young Master, why should I believe you?"

At this moment, Su Ning turned Xiren around so that they could look each other in the eye. Then, with a domineering look on his face, he emphasized, "Because I am a man! And a man whose word is law."

"Ah..." Xiren felt a little confused and excited when she felt the masculine scent on Suning.

Then Suning directly picked up the Xiren who had no ability to resist, and looked at Jia Baoyu who was still hungover on the bed. It must be said that this feeling was quite exciting.

Suning spent most of the day there entertaining Xiren, and then left the room contentedly. However, before leaving, he slipped a fifty-tael silver note to Xiren.

It felt like only an hour had passed. Su Ning pinched Hua Xiren's face proudly and said, "Xiren, you performed very well today! If you encounter any trouble in the future, remember to come to me."

"Thank you, young master." Hua Xiren, who was enjoying a different feeling, had given up resisting.

"I guess you are tired too! You'd better rest early." Then Su Ning looked at Hua Xiren in front of him and said.

"Yes! Young Master." Then, Su Ning returned to Xue Baochai's room in the backyard with a refreshed spirit. However, Xue Baochai had been waiting for Su Ning to come back. "Husband, why are you back so late?"

"I drank a little too much tonight! So I took a nap in the guest room first." Su Ning explained while taking off his clothes and looking at Xue Baochai in front of him.

Xue Baochai, who had made room for Su Ning on an empty bed, said gloomily, "Huh! I thought you were going to stay up all night with Brother Bao again today!"

"Hehe, how could that be? There's a gorgeous beauty waiting in the room, how could I possibly resist?"

"Humph! Sweet talk."

"Baochai, today I want to..."

"Ah! How embarrassing..."

"Hey, hurry up!"

"Ah."

……

Qin Keqing's death was a huge blow to Wang Xifeng. After all, they were very good friends. Especially the warning Qin Keqing gave her before her death had always been on Wang Xifeng's mind.

However, Wang Xifeng is a person who likes flattery, values interests, and seeks personal relationships, so she is destined not to be a good manager.

Many readers may say that Wang Xifeng sacrificed her dowry for the Rongguo Mansion, but they don’t know that Wang Xifeng has been secretly supporting her own family, the Wang family. This is why she finally handed her daughter Qiaojie over to her uncle Wang, because she believed that her uncle Wang was the only way out for her daughter Qiaojie.

However, she did not expect that the person who helped Qiaojie in the end would be the vulgar Granny Liu, while Uncle Wang personally sent Qiaojie into the fire pit.

Although Wang Xifeng has outstanding abilities and means, and is full of wisdom and strategies, she handles things in a reasonable, well-founded and deterrent manner.

However, the greater the ability and the heavier the selfishness, the more likely it is to cause greater losses and potential harm. Simply choosing the wrong so-called escape route is the biggest miscalculation.

Wang Xifeng's management of Rongguo Mansion only touches on the surface issues, and she is unable and impossible to get to the essence.

In theory, as the steward of Rongguo Mansion, even if he is just a manager within the mansion, he can still play many positive roles.

For example, reforming the long-standing malpractices in Rongguo Mansion, making overall arrangements for increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, and making preparations for the future.

Wang Xifeng also made some achievements during her time as housekeeper, which cannot negate her hard work. In Chapter 55, she and Ping'er said:

"You know, I've come up with so many ways to save money these past few years, and there's probably no one in my family who doesn't secretly resent me.

I am now riding a tiger.

Although I have seen through some of the problems, I still find it difficult to let go for the time being; secondly, more people go out than come in.

All matters, big or small, are still carried out according to the rules handed down by our ancestors, but the annual income is not as much as before.

If you save too much, outsiders will laugh at you, the old lady and the wife will feel wronged, and the servants will complain and be mean;
If you don’t start saving money early, you’ll lose everything in a few years.”

In fact, Wang Xifeng understood it better than anyone else and had done a lot of work, so she didn't need Qin Keqing's reminder at all.

But it is not enough to just be frugal without increasing revenue and benefiting the people below.

Her goal was not to make the future of the Jia family and everyone better, but to gain more benefits, greater reputation, and more opportunities to perform.

A housekeeper with such utilitarianism is bound to "manage without paying attention", which will inevitably lead to complaints from everyone.

Wang Xifeng's management philosophy is also unhealthy. She advocates iron-fisted governance, cruel suppression, and imposes "management terrorism", causing the servants in the Jia family to endure mental slavery and oppression in addition to their work.

If the children at home had not had nowhere else to go, they would have risen up in rebellion long ago.

The shortcomings of Wang Xifeng's administration became apparent once she fell ill.

As soon as she lay down, the Rongguo Mansion was filled with smoke of war, and all kinds of problems, big and small, emerged one after another.

This is a reflection of the lack of in-depth management.

In contrast, when Jia Tanchun took over as the housekeeper for Fengjie, she showed a brand new spirit from the beginning.

She started by eliminating bad policies, upholding rules, and reforming the Grand View Garden, rectifying the atmosphere of the Rongguo Mansion from the root and enforcing strict discipline.

Not only does he set an example himself, he is also bold and daring, and never uses nepotism.

Although Tanchun's housekeeper was initially opposed by some unscrupulous people, she soon changed her ways and showed renewed enthusiasm for work.

When Lady Wang and Lady Jia were not at home, there was no civil unrest in the Jia family. Not a single person appointed by Jia Tanchun as the housekeeper was involved. Instead, it was the old people who rose up when Wang Xifeng was the housekeeper.

Judging solely from the "effectiveness and ineffectiveness" of the housekeeper, Wang Xifeng's "management" is undoubtedly not as thorough as Jia Tanchun's.

Jia Tanchun is capable of management, innovation and reform, but Wang Xifeng is only limited to the level of "management".

Because she had no "reason", she became confused as soon as she fell down.

Jia Tanchun wanted to fight again, but time, power and situation did not allow it.

This is called "the game is over."

Therefore, from the beginning of Chapter 55 to the end of Chapter 80, the increasing turmoil in the Jia family is not so much the result of Jia Tanchun's reforms encountering a backlash from the diehards and following in the footsteps of Wang Anshi's reforms, but rather the complete failure of Wang Xifeng's housekeeping.

In fact, Wang Xifeng’s peak of power had completely passed since she had a miscarriage after the Lantern Festival.

Wang Xifeng's miscarriage was a watershed in her life.

Before, Fengjie was the housekeeper and Lian's second wife, and she was very powerful and glorious.

After that, Fengjie became a daughter-in-law who had lost her power and it would be difficult for her to return to the pinnacle of power.

When she was divorced, she was no longer a member of the Jia family.

……

(End of this chapter)