The Red Mansion

Chapter 103: Gift Exchange, Jiang Nian Earns Money

Grandmother Jia sat on a lacquered couch. Despite the sweltering heat, she wore a long, dark blue, solid-grain gauze gown, unembroidered except for the collar and cuffs, embroidered with a three-color blue Buddha's hand pattern. Her white hair wore a headband embroidered with agarwood and longevity patterns. Her silver hair was tied in a tight bun, pinned with a single, flat-topped hairpin emblazoned with the character "longevity" in red gold. Her left hand slowly twirled agarwood prayer beads.

Grandmother Jia looked at Jiang Nian carefully and was quite satisfied with her appearance.

Because Jiang Nian looks somewhat heroic.

Moreover, Grandmother Jia unexpectedly saw in Jiang Nian the shadow of Jia Daishan in his youth. Back then, Jia Daishan was also handsome and upright, and he also wore the gorgeous uniform of a guard.

Grandmother Jia smiled and said to Jiang Nian, "You are new here, and you are a fifth-rank guard. I shouldn't let you stand and talk."

Grandmother Jia then looked at the maidservant beside her, Yuanyang, and said, "Yuanyang, move the chair."

Yuanyang was a maidservant whom Grandmother Jia loved very much. She had a slim waist and a narrow back, an oval face, black hair, a high nose, and a few freckles on both cheeks. She was used to serving Grandmother Jia.

Immediately, Yuanyang moved a chair and asked Jiang Nian to sit down.

Yuanyang was strikingly beautiful, and there were other beautiful maids in the hall. However, as Jiang Nian sat down, his gaze lingered for three seconds on Wang Xifeng. Although it was his first time meeting Wang Xifeng, he could immediately guess her identity. This was because Wang Xifeng's clothing was resplendent with embroidery, and she was also quite beautiful. Even as she stood in the hall, she exuded the aura of a master.

Li Wan and Wang Xifeng are both the mistresses of Rongguo Mansion. Li Wan avoided the place and went to the green gauze cabinet, but Wang Xifeng deliberately did not avoid it and wanted to meet Jiang Nian in person.

Jia Lian didn't often sit down, but since Jiang Nian was already sitting, Grandmother Jia asked Jia Lian to sit down as well.

Grandmother Jia asked Jiang Nian curiously, "You stayed with the Second Master for so long. What did you talk about?"

Jiang Nian said frankly: "Talking about the Ministry of Works and the government warehouse."

When these words were spoken, everyone in the hall, including Li Wan and the girls behind the green gauze cabinet, were surprised.

This young man actually talked about the Ministry of Industry’s business with the second master?

Grandmother Jia became more and more curious and asked, "Why are you talking about such official business?"

Jiang Nian said calmly, "Although I am young, I often think about state affairs. The government granary is an important place for storing grain, which is related to the national economy and people's livelihood. Therefore, I am curious and would like to ask the second master for advice."

Jia Mu: "..."

Oh, you, a fifteen-year-old boy, are always thinking about state affairs and caring about the national economy and people's livelihood?
Grandmother Jia changed the subject and inquired about Jiang Nian's family background, asking about his parents...

Finally unable to suppress her strong doubts, Jia's mother asked, "I heard that the Thirteenth Prince is very close to you, but I wonder what exactly is your relationship with the Thirteenth Prince?"

Jiang Nian said perfunctorily: "I am indeed close to the prince, but as for the origin of our relationship, it is inconvenient to say. I hope the old lady will forgive me."

After hearing this, Jia Mu felt depressed.

Wang Xifeng stared at Jiang Nian and thought to herself, "It seems my previous guess was probably right. This guy is most likely the Thirteenth Prince's illegitimate son!"

Grandmother Jia asked again, "Have you ever seen the Empress Dowager?"

Jiang Nian replied calmly, "The Empress Dowager summoned me a few days ago."

Everyone in the hall secretly sighed: This is amazing, not only has this guy been arranged to marry by the Empress Dowager, but he has also been summoned by the Empress Dowager. It is truly an honor!

Grandmother Jia talked to Jiang Nian about the wedding again, but they had nothing more to talk about after that.

Jiang Nian said, "Yesterday, Brother Jia asked me to inform all the masters of the mansion in detail so that I could prepare gifts for them one by one to express my gratitude. The gifts have all been brought. If the old lady has no other instructions, I will not bother you any further. After presenting the gifts, I will take my leave."

Grandmother Jia had no intention of hosting a banquet, but she nodded and said, "Knowing that you came with gifts, I have also specially ordered the masters of our house to prepare return gifts one by one."

Then, the two sides exchanged gifts.

The gift Jiang Nian had previously given to Jia Zheng was opened in front of Jia Zheng, but the gifts he gave to others were all placed in brocade boxes, which he would not open in front of Jia Zheng.

When Jiang Nian left with a bunch of return gifts from everyone in Rongguo Mansion, a "grand event" of opening gifts began in Rongqing Hall.

Even Lady Jia was curious and even a little expectant, thinking that Jiang Nian must be giving her a generous gift.

result……

"Oh, it's a pine and crane longevity ornament. This is... dyed Xiuyan jade..."

Wang Xifeng was the first to see through it.

Grandmother Jia was immediately depressed. The gift Jiang Nian gave her was actually a dyed Xiuyan jade pine and crane ornament, and it was a small one at that. This gift was estimated to be worth only a few taels of silver!
In her room, she had a large Hetian jade carved pine and crane ornament worth hundreds of taels of silver. In comparison, the Xiuyan jade dyed pine and crane ornament Jiang Nian gave her seemed particularly shabby.

After Lady Jia, the gifts from Jia She, Lady Xing, Lady Wang, and Li Wan were opened one after another.

It was seen that the gift given to Jia She was a boxwood carved saddle ornament, the gift given to Mrs. Xing was a bird's nest made of rock sugar, the gift given to Mrs. Wang was a cotton cloth colored printed image of Guanyin, and the gifts given to Li Wan were two pieces of fine cotton cloth.

Wang Xifeng had been looking forward to the gift Jiang Nian would give her, but now she no longer felt any anticipation. She even disdained to do it herself and ordered her maid Ping'er to open the package. After opening it, she saw a copper enamel necklace dyed with gold lacquer.

Wang Xifeng couldn't help but sneer at this, thinking to herself, "Well, when have I, Wang Xifeng, ever used such a cheap necklace?"

The gifts that Jiang Nian gave to Lin Daiyu, Yingchun, Tanchun and Xichun were also opened one by one in public. They included small baskets woven with wicker branches, incense boxes carved from whole bamboo roots, and wind stoves made of clay... These things were even cheaper, and their total value was less than one or two taels of silver.

However, the four girls' eyes lit up and they all seemed to be very happy.

"My little basket is nice."

"My incense box is wonderful." "I like your wind furnace, how about we exchange?"

"..."

Uh, little girls are so easy to fool!

The gift given to Jia Lian was a folding fan imitating Dong Qichang's landscape painting.

What was given to Jia Baoyu was actually Zhu Xi's "Collected Commentaries on the Four Books". When Baoyu saw it, he frowned and felt extremely disgusted.

The gift given to Jia Lan was a ceramic inkstone with soot ink.

Aunt Zhao had been very upset because Jiang Nian hadn't given her a gift, which had excluded her from her master's family, and because she hadn't received a gift for her son, Jia Huan. But now, seeing how cheap all the other masters' gifts were, and seeing the gloomy expressions of Lady Jia, Lady Xing, Lady Wang, Li Wan, and Wang Xifeng, she began to "gloat over their misfortune."

At this time, Jia Lian, who had just seen Jiang Nian off, returned to Rongqing Hall. Seeing that Jia Mu and the others looked gloomy, he asked, "Why does the old lady look unhappy? Is she unhappy with Jiang Nian?"

Wang Xifeng said, "Look at the gift he gave you."

Jia Lian immediately examined the gifts. After checking them, he felt a little depressed, but he said to Jia Mu, "The gift he gave to the Second Master was not so cheap. It was a Huizhou She inkstone with a Huzhou purple-hair brush, and two bottles of high-quality tea that he brought from Jiangning."

Jia Mu and the others were silent.

Humph, it’s just that the gift for Jia Zheng is a little expensive.

Yuanyang smiled sweetly and said to Lady Jia, "Madam, the gifts given by Guard Jiang are not expensive, but they were carefully selected according to the characteristics of the masters. It can be said that he put a lot of thought into them."

After a moment's thought, Grandmother Jia felt that this made sense.

However, she was really unhappy in her heart. Jiang Nian had taken away Yuanchun, whom she had carefully cultivated. Today was his first visit, and he took the initiative to prepare gifts one by one. But what did he give her in the end?

When Lady Jia thought about the gifts she and Jia Zheng had given her in return, she became even more depressed...

……

……

On this day, after Jiang Nian returned to the Jiang family's small house in the eastern suburbs from Rongguo Mansion, he ordered Xue Baochai, Ying'er and Xiangling to help him unpack the return gifts from everyone in Rongguo Mansion.

In fact, Jiang Nian already knew what the return gifts from everyone in Rongguo Mansion were, because Jia Lian gave him a list of return gifts with detailed instructions on it.

What Lady Jia gave was a golden pheasant fur coat!

The original novel wrote that Grandmother Jia gave Jia Baoyu a cloak made of peacock feathers mixed with gold and silk threads. It was brilliant in gold and green, sparkling in emerald green, with complex craftsmanship and a rare finished product.

Now Grandmother Jia actually gave Jiang Nian a golden pheasant fur coat as a return gift.

Because Grandmother Jia was thinking of giving Jiang Nian a generous gift in return, and she always liked to give precious silks and satins as gifts. After much reflection, she decided that of all the precious silks and satins she owned, the golden pheasant fur coat was the only one suitable for Jiang Nian. Jia Baoyu was still young and it was not suitable for him to wear.

The cost price of just this piece of golden pheasant fur is one thousand taels of silver, and it is extremely difficult to buy on the market. If it is sold, there will be someone who will buy it for two thousand taels.

What Jia Zheng gave was a set of Song Dynasty edition of "Collected Commentaries on the Four Books".

In Daqing, Song Dynasty books are already precious collections from a long time ago. There is a saying that "one page of Song Dynasty books is worth one tael of gold", and Zhu Xi was a person from the Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty edition of "Collected Commentaries on the Four Books" has a special status among Daqing literati, and some book collectors regard it as a "treasure to protect the house."

If the Song edition of "Collected Commentaries on the Four Books" given by Jia Zheng were sold now, it would probably fetch five hundred or even one thousand taels of silver.

The return gifts from others were much worse than those from Lady Jia and Jia Zheng.

The return gift that Mrs. Wang gave was worth only one hundred taels of silver. She hated Jiang Nian in her heart, and if Lady Jia had not asked her to give a generous return gift, she would not have given a return gift worth even one hundred taels of silver.

The gifts Jiang Nian brought to the Rongguo Mansion were worth only a little over two hundred taels of silver, primarily because the gift given to Jia Zheng was valuable. The gifts Jiang Nian received in return were estimated to be worth over three thousand taels of silver.

"As expected of the wealthy Rongguo Mansion!"

Jiang Nian thought.

Since he came to Beijing, his expenses have increased a lot, but he is not rich, so he cannot spend money as extravagantly as the Jia family.

Moreover, he might be able to help Jia Zheng quickly get promoted from Yuanwailang to Langzhong, which would be much more valuable than the return gift of more than 3,000 taels of silver from the Rongguo Mansion...

Xiangling and Ying'er were both amazed by the golden pheasant fur coat given by Lady Jia and praised it repeatedly.

However, Xue Baochai didn't care much about the golden pheasant fur coat, but was quite interested in the Song Dynasty edition of "Collected Commentaries on the Four Books" given by Jia Zheng. She held the volume in both hands and examined it carefully.

Seeing this, Jiang Nian smiled slightly and said, "If this book suits your taste, I'll lend it to you for a look."

Xue Baochai hesitated for a moment before saying, "Thank you, sir."

Jiang Nian then went into the study, ready to offer advice again.

This time, his suggestion was related to the Ministry of Works and the government warehouse...

(End of this chapter)