The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Rongguo Mansion, because Jia Lian left the table early, and there was no play in the courtyard.

Simply eating wine will inevitably lose some fun, so the people in the clan will disperse soon.

It's the women inside, because they all know that Mother Jia likes to be lively. After the meal, most of them go back to Mother Jia's Rongqing Hall to chat with the parents.

Suddenly, Lai's Xizi came in and said loudly: "Old lady, Lian's second grandma, I'm very happy.

The empress dowager, and our mother, have all given rewards! "

Jiamu and the others were all startled, then overjoyed.

After a while, I saw a group of eunuchs from the palace, carrying and carrying all kinds of red treasures, coming from the corridor outside.

The two leaders were both dressed in bright red eunuch robes.

One of them was Xia Shouzhong, the eunuch of Liugongdu.After she became a noble concubine in Yuanchun, she often came to Jia's mansion to deliver decrees and invite things, and Mrs. Jia Muwang was familiar with her.

Just another one, neither of them knew.

The other women in the hall had already given way to the eunuchs so that they could carry all their things in.

"Old lady, ladies and gentlemen, please be polite."

Xia Shouzhong stepped forward and bowed, and said with a smile.

Mother Jia and the others also got up to greet them, and responded, their eyes fell on the old eunuch next to Xia Shouzhong.

Seeing this, Xia Shouzhong introduced with a smile: "This is the eunuch, the consul general of Weiyang Palace, Eunuch Zhou."

Although Jiamu and the others would go to the palace to receive banquets every year, they basically had a lot of audiences with the empress, and rarely saw the queen mother, so they didn't know the head of Weiyang Palace.

At this time, when I heard about it, I looked busy and respectful.

The eunuch surnamed Zhou was not arrogant, he just smiled and said a few polite words, and then said: "The old servant sent these things to your residence on the order of the Queen Mother, and congratulated Lord Zhenyuan on the way."

Mother Jia and others hurriedly knelt down to thank Shengen. After being called to stand up, they looked at the valuables placed all over the floor. They were shocked inwardly and couldn't help asking: "Dare to ask my old man, why did the Queen Mother lower her class so much?" reward?"

Every festival in Yuanchun, some precious things will be given to the home, and Jia Mu and others are not surprised.

But the rewards from Yuanchun today are obviously a foil, and they can all see that it is mainly the rewards from the Queen Mother.

Eunuch Zhou said with a smile: "The Marquis of Zhenyuan escorted the princess back to Beijing safely. The escort has done a good job. The Queen Mother is very happy and specially gave this kind of reward."

Sure enough, it was because of this that Jia Mu and others were busy and thanked, while asking Jia Lian to come over.

But Mrs. Zhou heard that Jia Lian was not in the mansion, but she didn't intend to meet Jia Lian. She said that there is no need to trouble her, and she brought Xia Shouzhong back to the palace to return to her command.

As for the Rongqing Hall, the women in the other rooms, seeing the piles of rewards from the Empress Dowager and the Imperial Concubine, were all envious and congratulated one after another.

Even Aunt Xue couldn't help being envious when she saw the riches and honors in the house.

The Xue family is not short of these goods, but the wealth bestowed by the heavenly family is different from what the family earned through business.

Knowing that the Rongguo Mansion would be busy counting these things, she got up, bid farewell to Mother Jia and the others, and left with her daughter Baochai.

And when she left, it was inconvenient for the others to stay, and they all left one after another.

Soon, only the family members in the Fuchu were left in Rongqingtang.

Mrs. Wang looked at Wang Xifeng, who was leading a few maids and servants happily counting their belongings in the hall, and turned her head to Jiamu and said: "Old lady, although the garden behind is basically completed, but to welcome my mother back home to visit relatives, There are also some expenses.

Now the money left in Curry has basically gone.After the new year's day, there are still several gifts that need to be given to them, but now that there are rewards from the palace, they may be able to handle it. "

When Jia Mu heard it, she immediately understood what Mrs. Wang meant.

Her face was a little unhappy.

One is that she is not happy that Mrs. Wang is bothering her with such things, she has long since neglected family affairs,
The second is dissatisfied that the family is guarding a huge family business, but it is still tight, and now they want to calculate these people.

But then Jia Mu's expression softened again.

She also understood that the family spent too much money for the garden behind.

At home and outside, almost all the places that can be used have been used.

Even she paid tens of thousands of private houses for this!

She also understands Mrs. Wang's difficulty.

And she also knew that since the opening of the East Cross Courtyard, the two rooms were merged into one, and this kind of thing was inevitable.

It stands to reason that since it is a family, income and expenditure should be unified.

But with so many people in a family, it's impossible to really ignore each other?

For example, she must take out some good things that other people honor Jia Mu, and share them with everyone, right?

This is unrealistic.

Therefore, according to the previous practice of the family, the goods obtained by individuals are naturally distributed by individuals.

The farm floor shop in the mansion, as well as the exchange of gifts and gifts from various families, are all recorded and paid by the officials.

In the past, it was no problem for Jia Amnesty and Jia Zheng to have separate accounts.There are different opinions on both sides.

But now, the family has become one again.However, both Jia Zheng and Jia Lian were able to stand up outside, so it was inevitable that there would be differences.

For example, in the past, Jia Zheng was in charge of the house alone, and other people saw the things he or Mrs. Wang sent, and they could keep them for themselves, or send them to the government for storage.

For another example, Yuanchun's rewards, if not specified to Jia's mother or anyone else, would go directly to the official treasury.

But it's different now.

The silver in the official treasury needs to be shared by Jia Lian and Jia Zheng.

If Jia Zheng's colleagues or friends send gifts to the mansion, will Mrs. Wang let them enter the government?
Obviously not.

Over the past year, Mrs. Wang has also done the same.

Wang Xifeng did this even more.

In the past few years, Jia Lian has received various rewards one after another. Others gave Jia Lian gifts, etc., but Wang Xifeng basically received them at home quickly and arranged them by herself.

In this way, everyone has their own plans, and the officials pay more and less, so naturally they can't make ends meet.

The disadvantages have not been shown before, after all, it is supported by the foundation of the century-old government.Today, the construction of a grand view garden has made the officials bear the burden that it cannot bear.

The prosperity faded away, revealing its true face.

Now Mrs. Wang is in trouble.

It doesn't matter to Wang Xifeng, anyway, no matter how difficult it is to be an official, her private treasury is still fertile, so there is no need to worry.

It's no wonder that Mrs. Wang would take a fancy to these things that the Queen Mother awarded, and wanted to ask Mother Jia to see if they could be used by officials.

In Mrs. Wang's view, as long as Jia's mother agrees, Wang Xifeng will not disagree.

Mrs. Wang even had some secret resentment. In the past, Wang Xifeng was obedient to her, but since Jia Lian gained power, Wang Xifeng became more obedient to her.However, Wang Xifeng is very smart and tactful, which made her unable to handle her sore feet.

How does Mrs. Wang know that the reason why Wang Xifeng no longer listens to her is that Jia Lian blows the wind around his pillow day and night.

Under Jia Lian's repeated reminders, Wang Xifeng also realized that the former Mrs. Wang was indeed suspected of using her.

Taking advantage of her jealousy, Jia Lian was not allowed to take a concubine, and she herself could not give birth to a son. In the future, Jia Lian's title would most likely fall to the second wife.

In addition, when he was punished by the Queen Mother, he was almost divorced from the Jia family, and Mrs. Wang, the aunt, did not help her.On the contrary, it was Jia Lian who never left her. Comparing the two, she naturally knew who to rely on.

"Old lady, the inventory is out, you always look at it, if there is anything you fancy, just take it."

Wang Xifeng is very good at life, knowing that everyone sees her hot-eyed, so she turns around and wants to bribe Jia Mu.

Mother Jia took the list and glanced at it, but she really didn't want to speak.

In fact, it looks like there are so many things, and if they really add up, they are only worth two or three thousand taels of silver.In the past, this little money really couldn't enter her eyes.

"Feng girl, you are in charge of the family now, and you know the situation at home.

Just now your wife said that when the new year comes, there are still several mansions that have not prepared all the congratulatory gifts.

Now the family is no better than in previous years, and there is no other place to collect money.

These things are fresh goods, it's a pity if you take them home and leave them in vain, it's better to keep them at the disposal of the officials. "

If the eunuch hadn't said that the queen mother made a special trip to reward Jia Lian in the previous week, Mother Jia would not have been so embarrassing.

Even if everyone knew that it was because of Jia Lian, as long as the queen mother didn't say anything, she could be regarded as a reward to Jia's mansion as the queen mother. It was only natural for such things to be sent to the officials.

Wang Xifeng was stunned for a moment, but she reacted quickly, and smiled immediately: "My wife is right, of course I know the situation at home.

Let's do this, let's send all the gifts from our mother to the officials, it's enough to prepare several congratulatory gifts. "

People like Wang Xifeng judged the situation almost instantly and threw away the car to save the handsome man.

After all, Mother Jia has already spoken, and she can't do without giving in.