Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

The fact that people close to the retired emperor came to pay their respects to Jia She indicates the great importance of this matter, and the powerful figures in the Jia family attach great importance to it.

However, Jia Zheng considered himself a pure and upright scholar and disdained associating with eunuchs, so he only allowed Jia Lian and Jia Zhen to receive him.

The eunuch surnamed Wang indeed only came to offer sacrifices. After sitting for a while and saying some pretentious things, he left.

After seeing them off, Jia Lian watched their car drive away, his eyes narrowed.

Now he finally understood why so many people hated eunuchs.

He had met several senior eunuchs from the Daming Palace before, and both Dai Quan and Qiu Shi'an had left a good impression on Jia Lian; they were quite amiable. In comparison, this dog of a eunuch was very unpleasant.

The other party seemed to be there purely to show off.

It is said that one can know one's master from one's servants. No wonder there are rumors circulating in the court and among the people that the retired emperor in his later years changed his ways, becoming fond of luxury and ambitious for great achievements...

These rumors are probably just baseless.

Of course, no matter what, the retired emperor was not someone he could afford to offend, so he naturally wouldn't criticize the retired emperor's behavior.

Moreover, the fact that the retired emperor sent this dead eunuch to pay respects to Jia She was a good thing for both him and the Jia family, indicating that the retired emperor still remembered the families of these meritorious officials.

For noble families, living a life of dignity is paramount, and this dignity mostly comes from imperial favor.

So, Jia Zhen, who had also seen him off, looked at Jia Lian and said with a mixture of envy and sourness, "Brother Lian, congratulations! I never expected that even Chonghua Palace would send someone to pay respects to the master."

It's clear that even the Emperor Emeritus still remembers your household...

Jia Zhen was much older than Jia Lian and knew all too well the status of the Rongguo Mansion in the court and among the people when Jia Daishan was alive.

Putting aside everything else, when his grandfather Jia Daihua died, there wasn't a sound in the palace at all.

They are still the first wife, which is truly heartbreaking.

Jia Lian casually responded to Jia Zhen's words, then turned around and saw Lin Zhixiao come up and say:

"Second Master, the Old Madam requests your presence."

Lin Zhixiao had arrived earlier. He had seen Jia Lian and Jia Zhen talking to the palace eunuchs, so he didn't dare to disturb them. He waited until Jia Lian had some free time before going up to speak.

Jia Lian was not surprised to hear this.

Jia She's funeral was a grand affair, and it was the first time that he and Wang Xifeng had ever organized such a major event. So, Grandmother Jia was somewhat worried and had given them instructions several times in recent days, both openly and secretly, for fear that they might not handle it properly.

Considering the amount of money the old man had spent, Jia Lian naturally listened to all the opinions he could.

This time, for reasons unknown, he bowed to Jia Zhen, asking him to take good care of things outside, and then walked towards Grandmother Jia's courtyard.

Upon reaching this side of the veranda, I overheard several cleaning women gossiping in the courtyard.

They sat on the steps or stood with brooms in hand, saying, "So, it's true that the master and mistress's household is really struggling."

With the passing of the master, the funeral, which lasted for a month, must have cost a fortune.

As you all know, once the master gets his hands on money, how can he keep it for even a day or two? I've heard that over the years, not only have they not accumulated any wealth, but they've actually gone into debt.

In that case, wouldn't the master and mistress have to subsidize the funeral expenses...?

"Didn't I hear the old lady provided the money?"

"The old lady contributed a little, but most of it came from the local government. I heard that the madam also took out several thousand taels of silver out of her own pocket to help with the master's funeral arrangements."

"Is that so? Didn't they say that the eldest master and the second master separated their households a long time ago? Even if the eldest master is incompetent at managing the household and has incurred financial losses, does that mean that the eldest mistress, the second master, and the second mistress are also short of money? Why should the mistress have to pay for it?"

"You all know what kind of person the First Madam is. Asking her for money? You'd better make sure she can produce it!"

Then there's Second Madam Lian and Second Master Lian...

Second Madam Lian is certainly wealthy. It's said that her dowry alone was enormous, not to mention the money she's earned over the years managing the household—at least tens of thousands of taels of silver! However, asking Second Madam Lian to contribute money for her father-in-law's funeral is not only unreasonable, but also raises the question: is her money so easily obtained? If she were to contribute, it would most likely be because she's broke. She's never truly treated the Master and Madam Lian as her parents-in-law…

As for Master Lian, he is certainly filial. However, he only became an official in the last two years and started building his family business, so his wealth is probably limited, and naturally, it is all in the hands of Madam Lian.

So, in that case, shouldn't our husband and wife pay for this? Only our husband and wife, being kind and good-hearted, would be so generous and not hold it against us. What would other families say in this situation?

The old women chattered excitedly about the household affairs, each one full of energy.

They were able to act with impunity because the funeral was being held in the east wing and most of the mistresses were not in this courtyard.

"Let's leave what you're saying aside. After all, we're all family, and the old lady is still alive. How can we completely separate ourselves? It's like when our Rongguo Mansion makes connections with other mansions. Isn't it our side that's always handling it? The eldest master, apart from having Second Master Lian come over to help manage the household, doesn't really care at all."

But let me tell you, whether it's a wedding or a funeral, a good thing or a bad thing, there's always a give and take between families when guests come and go. Nobody gets rich from this, right?

"So, since we're the ones handling all the return gifts from outside the Rongguo Mansion, then naturally we should also be the ones receiving all the gifts sent to us, right?"

"That makes sense... I understand what you mean. You mean that when Master Lian and Madam Lian were arranging the Master's funeral, they embezzled all the offerings sent from various mansions and didn't register them with the authorities here?"

"That's right! There wasn't much going on in the old master's courtyard before, so it was fine."

But nowadays, for the funeral of the master, almost every household sends people with offerings, and even those who don't have time send them.

Everyone knows that social interactions are all about giving and receiving money, so there needs to be a leader to prevent problems from arising.

However, I heard from the people in the steward's office that Second Madam Lian and the others have no intention of bringing this matter to their side. Just you wait and see, this will be a mess in the future.

That's why I said, "The master and mistress's family fortune is hard to come by..."

"According to what you said, that is indeed the case. What Master Lian and Madam Lian did was really dishonest. They only did it because Master and Madam are kind people and elders, so it was not good to argue with them."

"Sigh, how dare they use the money given by the mistress to pay for the master's funeral..."

Jia Lian stood in the wide corridor, and with the help of the pillars blocking his view, he heard the gist of what they were saying, though he didn't hear everything they said.

He wasn't surprised at all, and he wasn't even angry.

Because similar rumors had not just started today; he had already heard them from Zhao'er and others.

This is the first time I've ever heard it with my own ears.

Jia Lian was almost certain that this was Lady Wang's doing. She simply wanted to use public pressure to force him and Wang Xifeng to send all the funeral offerings they received here for registration and record-keeping…

There's a reason behind this.

Although the East Wing has been separated for ten years, it is not entirely independent.

For example, the exchange of gifts with various noble families was indeed always handled by Jia Zheng's side. After all, other families didn't have the time or inclination to manage the internal relationships within the Rongguo Mansion, nor could they possibly maintain relations with two Rongguo Mansions simultaneously, sending two gifts each time they went to the Rongguo Mansion…

Previously, because Jia She lived alone in the east wing and didn't concern himself with anything, his interactions were all private, so it didn't cause any problems. Jia Zheng, on the other hand, accepted all the gifts and prepared all the gifts to send to others, which was also fine.

However, with Jia She's death and this major event, the problems with the Rongguo Mansion's incongruous method of dividing the family property were exposed.

When other families bring offerings to pay their respects, they naturally go to the mourning hall. Since the mourning hall is located in the east courtyard, the offerings are also naturally sent to the east courtyard.

A family with one or two hundred taels of silver, after a few days, the goods and silver together would be worth several thousand taels of silver!

According to the old customs, this money should indeed be sent to the official treasury here for accounting purposes. That's the proper way, so that when other families have funerals in the future, they can return the money according to this account...

That makes sense... but how could Jia Lian and Feng Jie easily hand over what has fallen into their hands?

After all, if we're talking about "reason," then the entire Rongguo Mansion's estate should belong to the eldest branch of the family, with Jia Zheng and the others only getting a small share...

All these years, the eldest branch of the family hasn't said anything, has they? Now, with only one sacrificial offering, and this being Jia She's only chance to take advantage, which he risked his life for, what's wrong with taking advantage?

Therefore, in the Rongguo Mansion, reason has long ceased to be reason.

Jia Lian wasn't like Jia Zheng, so concerned with saving face, he naturally wouldn't force Feng Jie to hand over what she had already obtained. At worst, he would just send them a bill back in the end.

Perhaps, this is what angered Madam Wang.

It's true, she was half-forced by Grandmother Jia to give money to Jia She for his funeral, but she didn't get any benefit from it. Instead, she was tricked by Jia Lian and others!

When she first realized this problem, she hinted to Sister Feng how to act in a "reasonable" way.

Sister Feng said that most of the offerings others brought were for funeral purposes, and there wasn't much cash on hand. It just so happened that there was a shortfall in funds for Jia She's funeral, so they would wait until after Jia She's funeral to see if there was any surplus, and if so, it would all be donated to the government.

After all, we can't afford to neglect the master's funeral arrangements, can we?

Following Jia Lian's instructions, Sister Feng also subtly hinted to Lady Wang that the remaining amount of the promised three thousand taels of silver should be settled...

Because Grandmother Jia was worried that Jia Lian and his brother wouldn't be very good at managing affairs, she only gave them two thousand of the six thousand taels of silver so far, saying that she would give them the rest later.

Madam Wang followed suit, giving only one thousand of her three thousand taels of silver. She said she hadn't yet managed to get the other two thousand and would bring them over in a few days.

As for the four thousand taels of silver that Grandmother Jia and the others had promised from the government, Jia Lian led his men to collect it directly from the accounting office the very next day.

Anyway, he's been managing things here all these years, and when he wants to collect his money, Lin Zhixiao doesn't dare refuse!

Lin Zhixiao was in charge of the treasury.

Since Jia Lian and the others didn't send over the sacrificial offerings, Lady Wang naturally wouldn't send over the remaining two thousand taels of silver. Even so, she already felt she had been terribly cheated.

Perhaps having no better options, Madam Wang could only achieve her goal by ruining their reputations.

Therefore, these old women have been spreading the good name of Jia Zheng and his wife everywhere for the past two days, while exposing the shameless behavior of Jia Lian and his wife.

In this light, Madam Wang was ultimately just a woman confined to the inner quarters; she was shrewd, but ultimately not farsighted.