Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

When Jia Lian returned home, it was already past midnight.

"Weren't you seeing off your adopted sister? Why did you take so long?"

As soon as I entered the room, I saw the familiar suspicious look on Sister Feng's face.

Jia Lian didn't speak, but plopped down on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed), took the fragrant tea that Ping'er handed him, took a sip, and then casually said, "The matriarch of the Zhen family insisted on having dinner, and I couldn't refuse, so I was a little late."

"Hehehe, I think it's not that they can't refuse, but that they can't wait to stay and eat more."

Faced with this unwarranted mockery, Jia Lian simply ignored it and beckoned his cousin in red to come over and massage his legs.

Seeing that Jia Lian ignored her, Feng Jie pouted but didn't press the matter. She sat down on the other side of the table, leaned down, and asked Jia Lian, "Didn't Steward Dai come looking for you earlier? What was it about?"

Not long after Jia Lian returned with Daiyu and the others in the evening, Dai Quan came to deliver Emperor Ningkang's decree.

"It's nothing important. It's just that His Majesty can't stand my leisurely life, so he told me to pack up and go to Tianjin to help him build ships."

Although Jia Lian's tone seemed nonchalant, Feng Jie was delighted to hear it.

Although Dai Quan returned home quickly after passing through the mansion in the evening, Jia Lian did not show any unusual behavior.

But after all, it was Dai Quan, the emperor's number one eunuch, who came specifically to see Jia Lian, so she couldn't help but worry.

Hearing that the emperor had sent Jia Lian on this mission, he felt both relieved and happy.

"Look at you. The Emperor remembers you and sends you on a mission. What a great favor! Many people want to do things for the Emperor, but they can't even get it if they beg. And you still look unwilling."

While happy, Sister Feng couldn't help but feel a little reluctant to part with Jia Lian. He had only been home for a few days.

But the emperor's decree could not be disobeyed.

"So when are you planning to leave?"

Faced with Sister Feng's pleading gaze, Jia Lian suddenly felt a little smug.

Where is the rose with thorns that this woman used to be in front of him now?

So he reached out and stroked the other person's radiant face, and said with a smile, "There's no rush."

Having reached Jia Lian's position, it was no longer necessary for him to blindly obey the emperor's orders.

Given the current political situation, Jia Lian felt it was more important to stay in the capital and obtain firsthand information.

Anyway, the emperor had already told him to stay home and observe mourning, so he wasn't in a hurry when the emperor suddenly issued this order without giving a specific date.

In the past, building ports and ships was to help the country become stronger, to demonstrate one's value, and to enhance one's status.

He is still a "suspicious person" in the emperor's eyes, so why should he work so hard like a beast of burden and make himself look cheap?

He has made up his mind to rest at home and figure out his future before thinking about anything else.

He opened his mouth to take the grapes that Sister Feng had peeled and handed to him, ate them, and then suddenly said, "I have something for you to do."

"What is it?" Sister Feng asked, puzzled.

"I plan to build a new house on the original Lai family land, and we will move out when the time is right."

When Jia Lian said this, not only Feng Jie was stunned, but also the maids in the room.

move out?

Moving out of the prestigious Duke's mansion?

This was something no one expected, but the fact that these words came from Jia Lian, who was becoming increasingly authoritative, made it seem like no one thought Jia Lian would joke about something so important.

The first one to be anxious was Sister Feng.

"Why would you move out for no reason?"

Jia Lian glanced at the maids in the room, leading them to mistakenly believe that he was telling them to leave.

Before they could completely leave, Jia Lian spoke up, saying, "This small courtyard is no longer suitable for the two of us. It's time to move to a bigger and better house."

Upon hearing this, Sister Feng immediately understood Jia Lian's meaning.

Indeed, this courtyard was originally arranged for the couple when they came to help manage the household.

To be honest, it's just an ordinary small courtyard with two sections in total.

Although Sister Feng later opened up a door on the west side and renovated an empty courtyard next to it into a garden and bathhouse, making the space much larger, it was still far from matching the status of their Marquis and his wife.

Oh, now they are the Duke and Duchess.

To give a simple example, of the more than forty maids and more than twenty servants currently on duty in the courtyard, only Ping'er, Qingwen, Xiangling, Qiaojie'er's wet nurse and two personal maids live in the courtyard. All the others are placed elsewhere.

Actually, Sister Feng felt quite comfortable living in her little courtyard. Perhaps it was because she had lived there for so many years, and every plant and tree had been arranged according to her wishes, so she had developed feelings for it.

Considering that Jia Lian was a man, and given his current status it was indeed inappropriate for him to be confined to such a small courtyard, he hesitated and said, "If you find this courtyard too small, then we can move to the east wing. There's no need to move out."

"The east courtyard isn't suitable either."

Sister Feng was stumped, and she also felt that Jia Lian was right.

The east wing is only one-third the size of the original Rongguo Mansion's front courtyard. Since the front and back houses of the Rongguo Mansion are roughly the same size, the east wing only accounts for one-sixth of the Rongguo Mansion's size.

Of that one-sixth, nearly half still belongs to the current Mrs. Xing.

Jia Lian's personal guards, attendants, and servants number nearly a hundred. Even if all of them lived outside, the east wing would probably be too cramped for their daily activities.

She finally realized the necessity of moving to a different house.

So he tentatively asked, "Didn't you say you wanted me to be the mistress of this Duke's mansion?"

There was immense ambition in the woman's eyes.

She is now the Duchess of the State and also controls the household affairs. She is only missing a substantial ownership right to become the true mistress of the Duke's Mansion.

She has never been a kind-hearted person at all.

For her own benefit, she wouldn't mind driving Madam Wang and her husband out of Rongxi Hall and taking charge of the household herself.

However, Jia Lian laughed upon hearing this.

It seems this woman still hasn't realized the fundamental problem.

If it were merely a matter of becoming a mountain king, he wouldn't need to consult with Sister Feng at all; he could handle it himself.

In fact, even Jia Zheng and Lady Wang only nominally occupied Rongxi Hall; the couple never actually lived in the main hall, which was the so-called main house of the main courtyard.

Needless to say, Madam Wang lived year-round in the three small main rooms next to Rongxi Hall, which was the side courtyard.

Jia Zheng was similar; he usually lived in the outer study, Mengpo Studio.

As for the night, if he wasn't interested in sex, he would stay in Madam Wang's room; if he was interested, he would go to Aunt Zhao or Aunt Zhou.

The residences of these two concubines who were born into the family could not possibly be the main house.

However, the fact that their entire family's residence was within the Rongxi Hall's boundaries demonstrated their ownership of Rongxi Hall.

This situation may have arisen because Jia Zheng and his wife felt ashamed to occupy the main courtyard in the past, and therefore deliberately avoided any appearance of impropriety.

Jia Lian had long planned that one day, if things went well between the two sides, he would move Jia Zheng's family to the east wing after Grandmother Jia died, or he would pay for a house to be built for them outside, and then respectfully invite them to live in another courtyard.

If things don't go well, they'll just kick you out.

Having inherited his family's title, he didn't think it would be a difficult task at all.

He hadn't expected things to turn out this way. In the end, he was an outsider, while Jia Zheng was the true, legitimate heir of the Rongguo Mansion?

Under such circumstances, Jia Lian would naturally not do something as unethical as usurping someone else's place and then kicking out the rightful owner.

The main reason is that he has money, so there's no need for him to be so shameless.

Putting aside the enormous sums of money he embezzled in Jiangnan that year, just consider these past few years: the successive rewards from the palace and the imperial court, as well as the considerable success of his restaurants, wineries, and grain shops. He has enough money to support the construction of a luxurious mansion.

In fact, Jia Lian had not decided whether to move out before, but seeing that his mourning period was about to end and that he had made a marriage agreement with Baochai.

Jia Lian didn't want to hold the wedding in the east wing, or "borrow" Rongxi Hall.

He wanted to hold a grand wedding for Daiyu and Baochai in his own home.

So she tapped Sister Feng on the forehead and said with a laugh, "You're still thinking about this? Aren't you afraid the world will gossip about us behind our backs?"

The couple had discussed this issue before.

However, Sister Feng is a person who prioritizes profit above all else.

In her eyes, as long as the benefits are big enough, what's there to be afraid of?

After all, could any house built outside be as good as the Duke's mansion built by imperial decree?

However, seeing that Jia Lian was indeed a man of principle, he could only abandon such a shameless idea and begin to think of other ways out.

"Lai's territory is nice, but it's still a bit small... Wait, you're not including Lai Sheng's family in that, are you?"

Jia Lian said noncommittally, "We'll just find them a better place later."

The houses of Lai Da and Lai Er were originally owned by the Jia family. However, after being granted to them, they were both expanded to varying degrees and are now adjacent to each other.

The two companies combined form a fairly large territory.

Now that the Lai family's house has been taken back by the government, I believe that Lai Sheng will be happy to move to a different place when he learns that Jia Lian is going to build a new house on their land.

Sister Feng nodded and said, "It's still a bit narrow..."

Although Lai Da and Lai Er were powerful servants, they were still servants after all, and their mansions, no matter how large, were still limited.

In Feng Jie'er's view, Jia Lian is now a duke in name and in fact, and since he is going to build a new mansion, he cannot lose face.

At least in terms of territory size, it cannot be too much smaller than the Rongguo Mansion.

"Have you forgotten that when Lai Da wanted to build a garden for Granny Lai, he was able to negotiate with the surrounding neighbors to move out? I suppose my reputation isn't any worse than Lai Da's... You don't need to worry about the land."

Sister Feng immediately burst into laughter.

With Jia Lian's assurance, she felt more confident.

With the territory secured, the next issue is funding.

"So how much money are you planning to allocate to building the house? Will you be using any gold?"

The gold that Sister Feng mentioned specifically refers to the ten chests of gold she kept under her bed.

Jia Lian's brows twitched slightly, and he smiled, "If you're willing, it's not impossible."

Sister Feng rolled her eyes in annoyance.

She had known for a long time that Jia Lian had "secret savings," but she had never been sure how much it was.

She's starting to see some progress, but it seems the money she has is her secret stash.

She wasn't too angry, since she had more money than she could ever spend in several lifetimes.

So, out of curiosity, I asked, "What was it that you said you needed me to do for you?"

Jia Lian tapped his fingers lightly on the kang table and said slowly, "If we're going to move out, we need a reason..."

Fengjie immediately realized, "Yes, if we move out of here for no reason, not to mention whether Grandmother Jia and others agree, Jia Lian himself carries the title of 'Duke of Rongguo.' If he leaves the Duke of Rongguo's mansion, what will outsiders think?"

She was somewhat annoyed. With her intelligence, she should have thought of this much earlier.

It's all that heartless guy's fault. He's always more reliable than her in words and deeds, which has made her develop a dependency on him. In his presence, she's too lazy to think.

"Then what excuse do you think would be good? If we don't come up with a suitable one, I'm afraid the old lady definitely won't agree."

Jia Lian paused for a moment, then said, "When we were paying respects to our ancestors yesterday, didn't quite a few people think I was an outsider? Outsiders are naturally better off living outside."

Sister Feng was stunned for a moment. Although she felt that the reason was far-fetched, she couldn't think of anything else for the time being, so she nodded.