Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 842 Mrs. You’s Thoughts
In front of Luo Yunhou's gate,
As the gate of the mansion opened wide, Zhang Jinyu did not let Master Wuxin in. Not to mention that there was a monk in the house at night, even the Ningguo Mansion might bring bad luck.
After entering the mansion, he quickly went to the east courtyard.
Only Ningbian was left with his personal soldiers to go to a courtyard in the West Garden and bring out the Wuwei monk. When they reached the door, he said to the slightly haggard monk,
"You come from a famous temple, so why do you do those things? The Marquis is kind-hearted and has kept you here until now. You should take care of yourself in the future."

After saying that, he pushed the person forward and shouted towards Wuxin outside the door,
"Abbot, the people have been sent out. Don't cause trouble in the capital again."

"Amitabha, General Ning, don't worry, I will remember it!"

He chanted a Buddhist name, and the two monks behind him suddenly moved and rushed over. They held down the monk Wuwei with one arm each. Wuwei was not willing to be controlled by others, and he tried to break free with all his strength.

Suddenly, a voice was heard.
"Junior brother, Master has passed away. He didn't even see you for the last time! Do you know that?"

"What? Master, how could this happen? When I left, Master was fine."

The Wuwei monk was horrified and did not use his Qi anymore. As soon as his strength was exhausted, he was controlled by the two monks behind him and pinned down.

Wuwei didn't care about these two people at all and could have broken free with just his hand. However, when he heard that his master had passed away, his heart was shaken and he could no longer calm down. He questioned with his eyes wide open and red.

Master Wu Xin shook his head. He was haunted by demons. He was not proficient in Buddhism. He only had brute force.
"Amitabha, take him back."

"Yes, Abbot."

The two monks received the order and were about to take Wuwei back. However, Wuwei did not hear the abbot's reply and his brain went into hysteria. He instantly jumped up and knocked the two people behind him away. He rushed over and was in front of him in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately, no one knew how Master Wuxin made his move. He just stretched out a finger and Wuwei's eyes rolled back and he fell to his knees.
"Take it away,"

After leaving a few words, the two monks who were blown away got up, carried the person and followed him back to Ningguo Mansion first.

Ningguo Mansion East Garden,
In the side room,
Madam You had just washed, changed her clothes, and was sitting on the bed. Yin Die'er, who served her personally, pushed open the door from the outside, stepped into the room, put the food box on the table, and hurried back to close the door. In addition, when closing the door, Yin Die'er stuck her head out to look outside, and seeing no one was around, she shrank back into the room.

"Grandma, grandma, there's no one outside. There are a dozen servants taking turns to watch the gate of the courtyard. No outsiders will come in. Also, Nanny Li from the Marquis's Mansion lives in the next room. If there's any movement, they'll come over."

During the days when Madam You was "ill", she had a lot of peace after leaving the East Mansion to Feng Yatou. It was a rare few days of leisure. After Master Jing was buried tomorrow, she would be much more at peace. Another thing was to hide it from others. After all, the people who should know about it knew it. Therefore, the servants who used to serve in the courtyard,

Madam You also agreed to stay. In addition, she selected twenty young servants from the servants in the outer courtyard to be responsible for guarding the East Garden. One was to prevent outsiders from mistakenly entering, and the other was to serve as an example for the entire East Palace. From now on, who would make the decision on the affairs of the palace?
She learned all this from Feng Yatou. She recruited a lot of people from the clan to guard the courtyard.

"You are so careful. You don't need to be so nervous in the house."

Madam You sighed, thinking back to the past, she actually felt a little relieved, especially when Jia Zhen and his son were around, they made a fuss in the mansion every day, and the backyard was in turmoil. The prostitutes bought in were replaced batch after batch, and she could only turn a blind eye to it and not be annoyed. By the way, how were those concubines dealt with?

"Yes, grandma, I am worried about you. I have just cooked some porridge for you in the kitchen in the yard, and brought some side dishes. Grandma, please have a sip of porridge to warm yourself up."

Yindieer opened the lid of the food box, reached over, brought out a few plates and a soup bowl, filled a bowl of soup for grandma, handed it to her, and stirred it carefully with a spoon.

"Grandma, be careful,"

"Well, you are still considerate."

Madam You has now come to terms with it. What can a woman do? The East Mansion has no master and no male heir. Her back will be weak in the future. It is absurd to want to stand up straight.

She took the bowl, stretched out her jade hand, picked up the spoon, carefully lifted it up, put it to her lips, took a sip of the porridge, and just after eating it, she felt much better in her heart, and asked;

"How are those women and prostitutes in the backyard dealt with?"

Yin Die'er stood beside her, holding a plate in one hand and chopsticks in the other, picking up some pickles for grandma and whispered back;

"Grandma, I have inquired about these things. The master bought a lot of prostitutes before. After the incident, they were kept in the west room in the backyard. They were not moved after the mansion was opened. In the past few days, the second mistress of the West Mansion checked the roster. There are nearly 200 people in the East Mansion. Half of them should be removed. She actually mentioned that she was going to sell the extra people, but later,"

Yindie'er blushed and continued to pick up some pickles for her grandmother. She fell silent.

Madam You was eating and didn't hear Yin Die'er talking, so she stopped, looked up at her, and asked in confusion;

"What's wrong? I made you shy. What can I do next?"

Madam You didn't care. Many of the innocent prostitutes had been raped by the master. How many of them were left innocent? When she thought about the time when she went to Tianxiang Tower, she heard obscene noises and talk. It was so shameful.
Seeing that the lady stopped what she was doing, Yindie quickly replied,
"Grandma, it's nothing. I don't know who brought it up with Second Grandma, saying that there are many people in the clan, many of whom are still unmarried. Some of the clan members work in the mansion, but they can't save much money. What they lack is wives. They asked Second Grandma to keep the extra women in the mansion and marry them off."

With a red face, Yindieer put the pickled vegetables into grandma's bowl and drank it down.
It was just that Madam You was a little puzzled. The maids in the East Mansion were fine, but the master's concubines were also people in the mansion after all. Even if they were married to people from the family, it would still be one woman marrying off to multiple men. What was that?
"Could it be that Feng girl agreed? Some women can give, but how can some women do that?"

Seeing that grandma had finished her bowl of porridge, Yin Die'er carefully took it back, went back to the table, added some more porridge to Madam You from the bowl, turned around and walked back.
"Grandma, you're right. The Second Madam of the West Mansion didn't want to do that. How could she give the food that the master had tasted to others? But I heard from Butler Lai that these people are all old people in the mansion and know some details. If they were sold and others bought them and kept them in the house, it would be fine. But if they knew something, it would cause trouble again. So the Second Madam nodded and agreed to divide the slaves in the mansion. The men went to work in the farm, and the women were given to the clansmen in the alleys for marriage, even."

Yin Die'er pursed her lips. Being a servant was nothing, but the people in those rooms had also been divided up.

"Even what?"

Madam You also felt a little strange in her heart, and those who were going to marry the young lady were also sent away.

"Grandma, it seems that the people in the backyard have been distributed by the Second Madam of the West Mansion to the sons of the family who guard the courtyard. Even the concubines of the master who came in were given to the steward of the courtyard, saying that they were left to them to take good care of them and not to say anything to others. This person will be distributed in the next few days."

Although Yin Die'er knew it was inappropriate, she knew all the inner affairs of the mansion, whether it was the master or the maids. The same was true for the lady. She quickly suppressed the thought that had just arisen.

As if she had sensed something, Madam You's face turned slightly red, and she was a little annoyed. It was all because of some unlucky things. Those women who came in were more or less pretty, and they were divided up. Did she ever consider the face of the East Mansion? But when she thought of the old lady's actions, there were some things she really couldn't say a word more, especially Li Wan was still waiting there, and she must not make any mistakes. Fortunately, there were some silver and money shops left for her by the Jing master, plus what she left, so even if she was driven out of the mansion, she would still have a place to stay.

His eyes were full of thought, and he finally made up his mind.
"Yin Die'er, there are 40 to 50 people serving in the East Garden now. From now on, you will be the chief steward of the East Garden. You will be in charge of all the internal affairs. After the master is buried, you will send a dozen of your close friends to sort out the properties in my hands and clean up the house I left behind so that they can be used as a backup."

There was something in the words, Yin Die'er understood, grandma was leaving a way out, which was good, after all, with grandma's appearance, I'm sure the marquis would not want to let her go,

"Yes, grandma, I know that the income from the property can be directly exchanged for a contract, and the money will no longer be deposited into the mansion's account. As for the mansion, I arranged for an old couple to stay there to watch over it a few days ago. It's very quiet in the South City."

Although it is a house in the south city, where ordinary people live, a house in the capital is not something that ordinary people can afford.
"That's good. Tell Wan'er to learn how to do accounts after following the old shopkeeper for so long. Tell him to keep one book for the accounts outside the mansion and another book for the accounts inside the mansion. Keep them well. Don't accuse me of selfish motives. Now that things have come to this, I need to think about my way out."

Mrs. You was also relieved. It was much better than she had thought. Originally, she only had a house and two shops, and she could barely make ends meet outside the mansion. Unexpectedly, Master Jing actually divided the private property in the mansion between her and Li Wan. How could she not be grateful?

Now it seems that after the West Mansion came to power, Master Jing still thought carefully. As for the ancestral property, he was not afraid. Even the old lady did not dare to touch it. Many people in the family still counted on it.

Even though we had discussed it before, the matter of having a child was also my fault. I was afraid that I would never have hope in this life. When I thought of this, I unconsciously touched my belly.
Yin Die'er saw this action, took the bowl from grandma's hand, put it on the table, and came back to take off grandma's robe and comfort her;

"Grandma, go to bed early. Tomorrow, there will be more crying. Actually, grandma, don't underestimate yourself. The Marquis is still young and there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Let him cry more each time. There will always be hope. I have inquired about the several ladies in the Marquis' Mansion, but there has been no movement so far. Only the eldest lady of the West Mansion has won the first place."

The voice in her ears lingered, making Madam You blush, but her eyes regained their color, and what she said made sense. She had seen many doctors, even the imperial physician in the palace, and for the time being, they said that there was no symptom. In this case, it was Master Zhen who had a problem with his health. If...
Although I have some ideas, the timing is not right now. I will think about it when many things are done and Ningguo Mansion is stable.
"Don't say these things in the future. Take care of the affairs of the East Garden. Also, find people to seal up the houses in the backyard. The same goes for Tianxiang Tower. Clean it up and take out all the unused and broken things. Sell all the non-essential items. Wait for the West Mansion's eldest lady to find a suitable place and give it to her."

Since there was no one there, there was no point guarding so many houses. They were all cleaned up and sealed. They would be used later. As for why Madam You did not choose Tianxiang Tower, it was because if she lived there, in the end, she would still leave room for those vixen.
"Grandma, the houses in the backyard are easy to clean up. Not many people live there. There are only a few rooms for the prostitutes to live in. As for Tianxiang Tower, it's full of broken copper and rotten iron. The valuable things have been put away. I only bought some alchemy furnaces and hung the Yin-Yang Bagua diagram inside. There's not much left in the upstairs room. It's better for you to live there."

Yin Die'er didn't mean to say that. After all, the courtyard of Tianxiang Tower was the best in the entire Ningguo Mansion, followed by the two courtyards in the east and west in the front, plus the backyard and back garden, and the many rows of rooms in the west where servants lived. There were many houses, but the best location was the building in the middle. After all, when it was built, agarwood was used on one wall, which had a fragrance and was used to calm the mind.

I think if grandma goes to live there, the management power of the East Mansion may still be in grandma's hands.

Madam You had already lain down, covered with a quilt, squinting her eyes, thinking back to her past in Tianxiang Tower, feeling mixed emotions, and sighed softly.
"Hey, let's talk about it later!"

"Yes, grandma."

Yin Die'er had no choice but to clean up the table and leave.

In Huifang Garden,
At this time, candles were lit all around, and many of the younger generation of the Jia family were kneeling here to keep vigil. The second wife of the West Mansion had said that those who kept vigil here well would be given five taels of silver each, and even the maids who were about to be released from the East Mansion could be given one. With this, more than a dozen people who were keeping vigil, which was originally a hard job, stayed here, and no one left. Even the younger generation such as Jia Qing, Jia Qin, and Jia Fang temporarily forgot about Brother Qiang from the Shuntian Mansion government office and knelt there to doze off;
"Brother Qing, after tomorrow, Second Madam will really send us a maid."

Jia Fang knelt there, quietly pressing his knees with his hands. After kneeling for a long time, it was inevitable that his knees would be extremely sore, but it was impossible for him to get up. His family was not rich, and five taels of silver was not a small amount, and there was also a maid to lead him. Where could he find such a good thing? Even if he did not take her into his mother's room, it would be good for her to serve her.

"Of course there is some nonsense. Second Madam has never said anything wrong. There are so many people in the mansion, how can we be left out?"

"Yes, brothers, we don't want anyone. We are going to release them anyway. It doesn't matter who we give them to."

Jia Qin has recovered from his injuries now. Although he is a little weak, he kneels here and puts on an extra piece of clothing. In private, Miss Ping'er tells him not to talk nonsense anymore and gives him an extra ten taels of silver as hush money. Others don't know about it and keep it in their hearts.
Some people from the school knelt in the mourning shed and chatted with each other, but they did not care about one person, that is Jia Rong, who was in the front, burning paper money for Jia Jing. He was at least the master of Ningguo Mansion. Although he was demoted to a commoner, how could he not be informed of the affairs of the mansion? Even the maids in the mansion were married to relatives. What was left of Ningguo Mansion? There were still so many private properties, and there was no need to ask about the public properties. They were all in Ningguo Mansion. Could it be that this time, they were all swallowed up by Xifu?
Jia Rong was weak to begin with, so how could he bear it? He stood up suddenly, and felt his eyes go dark. He almost fainted on the ground. He lay there for a long time before he came to his senses. He saw stars. The others were talking about the interesting things in the mansion, and no one noticed. He had just thought about going to the West Mansion to question them, but he also knew that if he made a fuss at this time, he would be accused of being unfilial.

Suddenly, he thought of the sick Madam You. Perhaps, he could get some truth from her. After all, the future title was in her belly. Even if the family property was divided, it would be better to give her more. Thinking of this, he looked around and said;
"Jia Qin, help burn the paper money. I'm going to go to the bathroom."

"Oh, okay, Brother Rong."

Jia Qin wanted to listen more, but when he saw Brother Rong stand up, he had to nod and come over to help burn paper money. Then, Jia Rong stood up, put on his clothes, and carefully walked towards the East Garden.

I don't know why, the once bustling Ningguo Mansion is now somewhat lifeless. Although many courtyards are brightly lit, the feeling of alienation still comes to mind. If I had known earlier, I would have gotten rid of that evil Taoist priest. But if there was no evil Taoist priest, I don't know how my father Jia Zhen would humiliate me.
Seeing some figures vaguely visible in the east, he walked over quickly. Just as he reached the gate of the courtyard, he saw four servants guarding there, yawning. He had not seen them in the past few days, so Jia Rong did not take it seriously. He walked over and tried to force his way in, but he was stopped just as he reached the gate.

"Brother Rong, it's late, you can't enter the yard."

The leading servant, seeing that it was Jia Rong, did not give him any face and stopped him directly. Almost all the servants knew about the affairs of the two mansions. They were not afraid in the past, and they were even less afraid now.

Jia Rong's face darkened and he shouted harshly,

"You are blind, do you know who I am?"

"Of course I know, Master Rong. It's not that I don't want you to come in. Madam is asleep and it's late. It's hard to say some things. If you have anything to say, we can talk tomorrow."

The servants were all found by Yin Die'er from the front yard. They were told everything clearly. Even if they were to be released later, it would not be their turn. Who would dare not accept this opportunity? Especially the servant Chen Sheng, who was appointed as the manager of the East Garden Guard. When he heard the noise, he came over with two people. When he saw that it was Jia Rong who came here, he clasped his fists and bowed.
"It's Master Rong. I wonder what brings you here. If it's something important, please tell me. I'll go in and report it."

Jia Rong had never been so angry before. Even if he had been so angry before, it was when his father was around. He immediately cursed.

"You bastard, are you allowed to ask about the master's affairs?"

(End of this chapter)