Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

The next day, when Jia Lian returned to the mansion, he found it much quieter.

When she got home, Fengjie was there too, so she asked her, "Has Granny Liu left?"

"She left after noon. The old lady originally wanted to keep her for a couple more days, but she was determined to leave. There was no way to stop her, so we just let her go. Hehehe, speaking of which, our household hasn't been this lively for quite some time. This Granny Liu has certainly brought some joy to our family."

As Sister Feng inventoried the goods, she laughed and talked, clearly seeing Granny Liu as nothing more than a source of joy for the whole family.

So Jia Lian sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) and said with a laugh, "She's so old, and you still make fun of her like that. Look how mischievous you are."

Jia Lian was present at least yesterday afternoon and glimpsed how Sister Feng, Yuanyang, and others were amusing themselves by teasing Granny Liu to please Grandmother Jia and the others. Surprisingly, despite Granny Liu's disgraceful behavior, she remained completely unperturbed. According to Jia Lian, Granny Liu appeared oblivious, but she was clearly aware of what was happening.

Sure enough, Sister Feng laughed and replied, "You're the only good person, and we're all bad, right? We're just trying to please the old lady. Who would deliberately tease her?"

"We didn't mistreat her when she left today. Madam alone gave her one hundred taels of silver, and the old lady practically emptied her coffers to give her everything she could take back—food, clothing, cloth, medicine, candy, silver ingots—plus what the rest of us gave her, enough to feed her family for ten years. So, all things considered, do you think she gained or lost?"

Jia Lian was speechless in the face of Feng Jie's retort. Indeed, for a wealthy family like the Jia family, even a small amount leaking from their coffers would be enough to make a poor rural family rich for a long time.

But Jia Lian had long held sway over Feng Jie and could not tolerate her provocation. So he beckoned to her, and as she walked over suspiciously, he pulled her into his arms, pinched her mouth, and laughed, "Indeed, I, Jia Lian, have married a shrewd wife. Not only can she help with the family's calculations, but now she can even help other families with theirs. How wonderful."

Such blatant mockery naturally made Sister Feng blush, and what embarrassed her even more was that there were many maids in the room.

Ping'er, Xiangling, Xiaohong, Feng'er, and two young wives were being harassed by Jia Lian in front of so many people, treating them like young wives. She felt that her dignity as the matriarch of the household had been severely suppressed, but she was helpless.

Jia Lian wanted to hug her, but she couldn't struggle. She couldn't very well scratch Jia Lian's face in front of the servants, could she?

Fortunately, those who often served her were the most sensible. Seeing the master and mistress being affectionate, they all wisely dispersed.

Only then did Feng Jie loosen her grip a bit, grabbing Jia Lian's hand and biting it. But Jia Lian wasn't one to be trifled with; he immediately pinched her lips, lowered his head, and kissed her until she was dizzy and almost breathless. She pushed him away, giving Jia Lian a shy glare, and quickly changed the subject, saying, "I have two things to ask you!"

"One issue is the shortage of manpower in the manor. Since Yingya and the others moved into the garden, as instructed by the old lady, each of them has been provided with four more maids, four supervisors and night watchmen, not to mention the cleaning and sweeping women."

Especially in Baoyu's room, the old lady was worried that there were not enough people to serve him, so in less than a month, she added a lot of people to his room.

Although the old lady said that if we needed more people, we could draw them from her yard, my wife said that we couldn't let the old lady suffer, so she discussed with me about hiring a few people from outside.

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian said indifferently, "You can decide such matters yourselves; why bother asking me?"

The man is in charge of external affairs, and the woman is in charge of internal affairs. Unless absolutely necessary, Jia Lian doesn't want to interfere in the affairs of the inner quarters. Besides, the Jia family has a strict set of standards for purchasing servants, and they won't hire anyone who doesn't have a clean background, so there's not much to worry about attracting spies or agents.

Moreover, Jia Lian knew perfectly well that the reason why the inner quarters were short of servants was not only due to the expansion of the Grand View Garden, but also because of Feng Jie's own needs.

Although Sister Feng had many people around her in the past, they were all there for the purpose of managing the household. There weren't many people who actually served her.

Things are different now. She is now a Marquis's wife, and she has nearly doubled the size of her courtyard, adding a flower hall and a bathhouse. Whether from a practical or grand perspective, the courtyard needs to be filled with people. Therefore, Jia Lian was not surprised and had no objection to purchasing a few servants.

His wife wanted to show off, so why wouldn't he support her? Besides, in this day and age, adding a few more servants wouldn't cost much.

Unexpectedly, Sister Feng turned around and hugged Jia Lian's neck, facing him with a smile as beautiful as a flower, and said: "Oh, you really don't care? It's easy to deal with the old women and wives, and it's easy to transfer them from other places into the mansion. It's just that we need to buy a dozen or twenty young maids."

I was thinking, with our Marquis's great reputation, if he were to spread the word that he wanted to buy maids, countless daughters from poor families would vie for a spot. Then, whatever kind they were, the Marquis could choose from. And since he likes elegant maids, shouldn't we take this opportunity to pick a couple of good ones?

If it were me choosing, I might not be able to please the Marquis.

Facing Sister Feng's teasing, Jia Lian remained unperturbed. "Do you think someone of my current status needs to resort to such methods to attract beauties? Let me tell you without exaggeration, wherever I go, I guarantee a whole bunch of beauties will follow me around. Hmph, if I hadn't intentionally restrained myself, you would already be surrounded by a harem of sisters. So, if you enjoy seeing ugly women constantly in front of you, go ahead and recruit them; I promise I won't say a word against it."

Sister Feng's face immediately darkened, and she cursed, "Bah, you think there are too few now? Just count our family, not counting Lin Yatou, there's Ping'er, Xiangling, Qingwen, Aqi, Aqin, the one in your study, and the four in Pear Fragrance Courtyard, there are eleven or twelve on the surface alone, not to mention, who knows how many you've been hiding from me behind my back..."

Faced with Sister Feng's half-suspicious, half-testing gaze and words, Jia Lian's expression remained unchanged, his calmness terrifying.

Sister Feng became discouraged, feeling that there was no point in discussing this topic, so she changed the subject and said, "Alright, let's get down to business. Tomorrow is the birthday of the master of the other mansion. Although Master Jing will not return home according to custom, we as the younger generation cannot be negligent."

Sister-in-law You has already decided that the event will still be held, but only the main family relatives will be invited to come and have some fun. They're short-handed, so Madam asked me to help with the preparations. I'll be personally delivering these goods later; are you coming?

Let's go take a look.

Since there are no adult males in the East Mansion, Jia Lian is obligated to help take care of things outside, both out of courtesy and reason.

Feng Jie was about to get up and tidy up when Jia Lian stopped her. Just as Feng Jie was wondering if Jia Lian was planning to do something funny, she heard Jia Lian say, "Our precious daughter will be three years old next year. It's time to give her a name. It's not right to keep calling her 'Little Big Sister' all the time."

"Oh, you've decided what name you want to give her?"

Sister Feng didn't care much; in this era, a girl's name was generally dispensable. Most girls simply received a nickname from their elders and lived with it for the rest of their lives.

Jia Lian pretended to think for a moment. In reality, Jia Lian was unwilling to alter the original text regarding the names of people and things.

For example, Xiangling, and the names of the Yiying Pavilion and scenic spots in the Grand View Garden.

Even though it was his own precious daughter, Jia Lian originally didn't intend to interfere, thinking that if it were to follow the original story, it wouldn't be a problem to let Granny Liu give her a name.

However, after seeing that little brat Ban'er yesterday, Jia Lian's mindset underwent a subtle change. He was somewhat reluctant to let his daughter have any connection with Wang Ban'er's family.

It just so happened that Granny Liu only stayed at Rongguo Mansion for one day before leaving, and her daughter did not fall ill from visiting the garden too much, so Granny Liu did not have the opportunity to name her daughter.

Therefore, Jia Lian felt it was best to choose the name himself.

"Her formal name will be 'Qiao,' like the grass character 'Qiao,' similar to Heng'er, the eldest daughter of the East Mansion, and like the boys, it will be derived from the grass character in their generation. Her nickname will be 'Qiao'er,' in accordance with the day she was born. What do you think?"

"Jia Qiao? Qiao'er, Qiao'er..."

Wang Xifeng murmured a few words, her eyes lighting up. Her daughter was born on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, which was the Qixi Festival, so Jia Lian's choice of name was quite appropriate.

Not to mention, she already knew her education level was far inferior to Jia Lian's, and naming the child was a father's right; she never intended to argue with Jia Lian. What was rare was that Jia Lian even asked for her opinion, which made her very happy. She quickly nodded and smiled, saying, "These two names are good. It seems you, as the father, have put your heart into it. Alright, we'll name our daughter Qiao'er from now on."

As he spoke, his smile broadened.

When Jia Lian saw this, he smiled. This woman could be quite innocent and cute at times.

They arrived at Ningguo Mansion together, and Ningguo Mansion was indeed much busier than usual.

Jia Lian was in the front yard, helping to make arrangements around the area. When he turned around, he learned that Feng Jie had already gone to Qin Keqing's courtyard. He knew that the two good sisters must have a good chat, so he boldly went to the West Garden.

The West Garden of Ningguo Mansion was the residence of Old Lady You, Second Sister You, and Third Sister You, and it was a quiet and secluded place.

As dusk fell, in the main courtyard, Sister You, dressed in a tight-fitting outfit, stood with her hands on her hips, pointing at a group of dejected, slumped young girls below and scolding them: "You useless things, you're tired after only practicing for a short while? If you're like this, no wonder men look down on us women. If I were you, I would look down on you too..."

The girls complained, "But this isn't what women are supposed to do!"

"Exactly, exactly! What kind of girl in the world joins the army and trains in martial arts? Isn't that turning the world upside down..."

These girls looked to be no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, and the youngest were just teenagers.

Their lazy yet self-righteous manner truly infuriated Sister You, the head instructor.

"You guys are really infuriating..."

Seeing how useless her subordinates were, Sister You San was so angry that she raised her whip to strike them. Suddenly, she saw Jia Lian walking by, and she immediately forgot her anger, took two steps forward to greet him, and then stopped.

When the girls saw Jia Lian, they all hurriedly lined up in two rows and greeted him listlessly.

"Greetings, Lord Marquis..."

"I have met you, Lord Marquis."

Their voices were also uneven, which made Sister You grit her teeth inwardly. These deaf girls had been taught how to greet Jia Lian, but they just couldn't remember!

Now he's probably laughing his head off.

Jia Lian didn't laugh. He just stood quietly in front of the group of girls. Gradually, these originally lazy women involuntarily straightened their posture and their expressions became solemn.

As soon as Jia Lian's gaze fell upon the area, the previously disorderly ranks straightened up on their own. As a result, a moment later, the group of female recruits standing in the middle of the courtyard were completely different from before, both in terms of their spirit and the neatness of their ranks.

After about twenty or thirty breaths, just as the girls were feeling increasingly uneasy and began to stir, Jia Lian's indifferent voice rang out: "Go and rest."

"Yes……"

The girls, feeling as if they had been granted a pardon, quickly scattered and disappeared in no time.

Only then did Sister You come up, look at Jia Lian, and say unhappily, "Laugh if you want, I also think I'm useless."

Jia Lian's eyes indeed held a hint of amusement. With You Sanjie's immature appearance, it would be truly strange if it were easy for her to lead troops, especially troops like this.

So Jia Lian didn't say anything and went straight into the main room.

Sister You hurriedly followed, and once inside the house, she began to complain: "Those were the people my eldest sister gave me, all maids selected from various parts of the mansion. You saw what happened just now; they're utterly hopeless!"

These days, I've tried everything, but nothing works. They haven't improved at all, and it's driving me crazy.

Seeing that Jia Lian was listening, You Sanjie moved closer and put her arm around his shoulder: "Let's discuss this..."

"you say."

"Can we just cancel our agreement? I really don't want to deal with these idiots anymore. I find it hard to believe they can ever amount to anything!"

"Fine, if you don't want to bring it, then don't. I didn't force you."

Seeing how easily Jia Lian agreed, You Sanjie knew that Jia Lian had not understood her true meaning.

So she sat down in Jia Lian's lap and said with a smile, "What I mean is, I won't help you train soldiers anymore. You can just take me into your personal guard, just like those two female guards, okay?"

"That won't do. You have no outstanding skills, no qualifications, and no official position to rely on. You can't even command these girls, so how could you possibly command my burly men? I advise you to give up on that idea and just stay in the manor peacefully. It would be good for you to help your eldest sister manage the family business in your spare time."

Seeing that her honey trap hadn't worked and Jia Lian remained as cold-blooded as ever, You Sanjie pouted and said unhappily, "Then can't I just be a lowly soldier under them?"

"A common soldier?"

Jia Lian subconsciously glanced at You Sanjie's chest. The ordinary soldier couldn't tell, but the "big-breasted soldier" certainly lived up to his name.

"Well, it depends on whether they're willing to take you in."

Third Sister You was quite dissatisfied. Given her relationship with Jia Lian, how could she possibly be willing to be subordinate to Aqi and the other two girls? She wrapped her arms around Jia Lian's neck and started to act coquettishly and shamelessly. She was completely unaware that her second sister had also arrived after hearing the news and had seen her trying to curry favor with Jia Lian.

Fortunately, the two sisters were very close, and You Erjie was not too jealous. She simply poured a cup of tea for Jia Lian.

"Oh, when did you get here...!" Sister You blushed and was about to get up.

Sister You said irritably, "I just arrived and saw a cat rubbing against the Marquis. Doesn't it have any shame?"

Jia Lian found You Erjie's teasing quite apt and amusing. Seeing You Sanjie blushing uncontrollably, he spread his legs and patted the empty one. You Erjie understood, and despite her shyness, she obediently sat down, exchanged a glance with You Sanjie, and both lowered their heads in embarrassment, leaning against Jia Lian's chest.

Since Sister You's birthday last time, the two sisters have opened up to each other, so although they were shy, it was not beyond their expectations.

Of course, the most beautiful one is Jia Lian. Although Aqi and Aqin were already there, You Erjie and You Sanjie, in terms of beauty alone, surpassed the Aqi sisters. Moreover, they were characters who were depicted in great detail in the original work. Therefore, Jia Lian was somewhat impatient and wanted to win over You Erjie as well, to enjoy the most beautiful thing in the world.