Corrupt official in the Red Chamber

Chapter 160 Birthday
Let’s not talk about the fight between men in the court, let’s talk about Rongguo Mansion.

In Rongqing Hall, Jia Mu was chatting with several mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law.

"You said that the fifteenth day of the first lunar month has passed, what good days will come next?"

Mother Jia likes to get together but not to leave. There was a lot of fun on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and she wanted to get together again this time.

However, she never thought that the Rongguo Mansion could no longer make ends meet, and if she continued to suffer like this, the family would soon collapse.

The mother-in-law and daughters-in-law below looked at each other, their minds were almost filled with smoke, and they couldn't think of any good days recently.

Just when everyone was embarrassed, the mandarin duck next to Jia Mu suddenly spoke, "Old lady, the 21st is Miss Bao's birthday."

Mother Jia's eyes lit up when she heard this, and then she patted her thigh and said, "Why did I forget Bao Ya's birthday? It just so happens that everyone can have a meal of her."

When Jia Mu said this, the people below all laughed in agreement.

Then Jia Mu said to the mandarin duck next to her: "Go to Bao Yatou and tell her that I will celebrate her birthday this year, but she will have to pay for it."

When she said this, Jia Mu herself couldn't help laughing.

Yuanyang was also a little amused. He covered his mouth with his hand and nodded, then retreated.

It only said that Yuanyang left Rongguo Mansion, took a small sedan, and quickly arrived at Jia Rui's house.

After entering the courtyard, led by the little maid, they entered the back house and came to Xue Baochai's courtyard.

As soon as she entered the yard, she heard Shi Xiangyun and Xue Baochai talking and laughing in the room, and sometimes Jia Baoyu's echo.

Yuanyang covered her mouth with a handkerchief and smiled, then followed the little maid through the door.

As soon as she entered the door, she was discovered by Xue Baochai.

"Yuanyang, why are you here? Is there something wrong with the old lady?"

Yuanyang hurried forward to salute Xue Baochai and Shi Xiangyun first. As for Jia Baoyu, she just nodded.

Jia Baoyu didn't take Yuanyang's rudeness to heart at all, and even thought that Yuanyang was a sign of being close to him.

"The old lady suddenly remembered in the house today that the 21st is Grandma Rui's birthday, so she sent me here to treat Grandma Rui!"

Xue Baochai is now a rich woman and doesn't care about this little money at all.

"Okay, I'll take out two hundred silver to do this now."

Yuanyang smiled and agreed: "200 taels of silver is enough. For the sake of fun, why don't we do it in the Grand View Garden?"

It turns out that Yuanyang knew what Jia Mu was thinking, so she persuaded Xue Baochai to go to Rongguo Mansion, which brought the two families closer.

Xue Baochai hesitated for a moment. She had planned to celebrate her birthday at her own home, and she would probably invite Jia Mu over then.

But Yuanyang's words are equivalent to Jia Mu's words, and Xue Baochai has to think about it now.

Xue Baochai is not willing to go to Rongguo Mansion to celebrate her birthday now. Now is not the time for her to rely on others and try to please Jia Mu.

Moreover, when she lived in Rongguo Mansion, Jia Mu expressed dissatisfaction with her intentionally or unintentionally, so in Xue Baochai's heart, Jia Mu was not an important person.

But after all, Jia's mother is the most prestigious person in the Jia family. He has refuted her face, and it will not look good in the future.

So Xue Baochai rolled his eyes, and then said: "I have seen your garden, why don't you come to my garden and take a look."

When Xue Baochai said this, he paused and said with a sigh: "I won't be able to see this garden for much longer. It will be moved to the Hou Mansion in front of me soon. I won't be able to celebrate birthdays here anymore. "

Yuanyang is such a smart person. From Xue Baochai's words, we can know her intention to evade.

However, Yuanyang was not annoyed. Instead, he said with a smile: "I have also heard of this garden. Although it is not as grand as the Grand View Garden, it is still worth seeing. It happens to be Grandma Rui's birthday, and we old ladies also Come and take a look.”

Xue Baochai smiled and said, "Actually, I still want to ask the old lady!"

"Sister Bao, you have everything here, what else do you want? Do you want to spend less?" Shi Xiangyun said jokingly from the side.

"No, it's not easy to hire a troupe from outside that is both worry-free and knows the rules. Now that it's ready for use, I don't want to spend that money!"

Saying this, Xue Baochai showed a caressing expression, which made everyone below laugh.

Yuanyang also laughed along with her for a while. In fact, she didn't take it to heart at all. You must know that Jia Rui's family is rich in gold and silver now, so why would she care about these small coins?

As long as Jia Rui reveals her secret, people below her will rush to fawn over her, and even the best troupe in the capital will perform for free.

"I can promise Grandma Rui on this matter for the old lady. I will make sure that the department team in the mansion prepares it well that day, and I will not ruin Grandma Rui's happiness."

"Okay, I'll just wait."

Then everyone joked with me for a while, and Yuanyang stood up and left.

Seeing Yuanyang about to leave, Jia Baoyu hesitated and quickly followed him out.

Xue Baochai and Shi Xiangyun looked at each other, and then their eyes showed such expressions.

Jia Baoyu followed Yuanyang into the yard, walked a few steps and walked behind Yuanyang, and then asked: "How are you doing these days, sister Lin? How are you sleeping? Are you eating well?"

Yuanyang paused for a moment, and then said with a smile, "Eating is okay, but sleeping is a bit uncomfortable. I heard a cough last night."

When Jia Baoyu heard this, he immediately became anxious. He stamped his feet and said, "It must be that you didn't cover yourself with a tight quilt. It's cold now. Don't cough if you catch a cold."

As he talked, Jia Baoyu felt that Xue Baochai couldn't stay here anymore, so he hurriedly went back to say goodbye to Xue Baochai, then packed up his things and followed Yuanyang back to Rongguo Mansion.

Besides, Jia Rui came back from the Infantry Command Yamen. Before he entered, he saw another group of people gathered at his door.

Nowadays, officials come to Jia Rui's doorstep from time to time to do business. They are all people who send gifts of ice and toast, seek connections, and go through the back door.

But usually it is done before the year, or after the summer harvest.

The imperial court had just opened its office, and it was rare for so many people to gather at the door.

And most of these people are not officials, but some gorgeously dressed businessmen.

Jia Rui understood what was going on in a flash of his mind.

It seems that since he serves as the Admiral of the Nine Sects, these people have gotten the news and come to curry favor with him so that it will be easier to do business in the future.

However, these businessmen must be too well-informed. He only received the order in the morning and just finished handling the yamen affairs in the afternoon. As soon as he returned home, so many people were already surrounding him at the door.

The boys at the door of his house are maintaining order and receiving red envelopes from time to time. It seems that these boys have made a lot of money today.

Jia Rui usually doesn't interfere with this. As long as they don't make random promises to cause trouble for him and receive some red envelopes, Jia Rui thinks there's nothing wrong with them.

The boys finally found out that Jia Rui was back, and they quickly left the businessmen who were working for him and came to Jia Rui to pay their respects.

Jia Rui dismounted, threw the horse's reins to the boy who was waiting for him, and then entered through the side door.

As for the merchants at the door who came to give gifts, the family didn't even look at them.

These people are not qualified to be received by Jia Rui now. At most, their housekeepers can greet them.

The businessmen also knew the status gap between themselves and Jia Rui, so they did not come forward to talk around Jia Rui.

Jia Rui entered the house, passed through the second door, and came to Xue Baochai's yard.

After entering the door, I heard Xue Baochai and Shi Xiangyun discussing how to celebrate their birthday.

Jia Rui thought for a moment and then remembered that Xue Baochai's birthday was coming.

Jia Rui patted his head in annoyance. How could he have forgotten such an important thing?
But it’s also strange. Before a man gets married, he remembers his girlfriend’s birthday clearly, but once he gets married, he can’t remember which day it is.

Jia Rui walked into the house with a smile, and then said to Xue Baochai: "How are you going to celebrate Grandma's birthday? Do you want me to give you advice?"

Xue Baochai glanced at Jia Rui coldly, "Master still remembers my birthday. I'm really flattered."

Jia Rui immediately knew that Xue Baochai had seen through his scheme, so he smiled, touched his nose, and said sheepishly:

"Isn't there a lot of things going on in the yamen lately? I was so busy that I was so dizzy that I forgot your birthday."

With that said, Jia Rui walked up to Xue Baochai and bowed deeply, "I apologize to the eldest grandma, and please forgive me."

In fact, Xue Baochai was not really angry with Jia Rui. When he saw him apologizing, he smiled and forgave him.

Then Jia Rui moved a chair and sat next to Xue Baochai, and the three of them began to discuss what to do for Xue Baochai's birthday.
Since Jia Mu's troupe came to join in the fun, they didn't need a troupe here.

However, Xue Baochai's birthday is no small matter. If the family members of the civil and military ministers in the court get the news, they will be in trouble.

And now Jia Rui is preparing to keep a low profile for a while, and is not planning to have any conflict with the Emperor before he returns to Beijing.

So Jia Rui decided that it would be just a matter of family members, and there was no need to tell other people.

Time flies very quickly, and the 21st is here in a blink of an eye.

On this day, the side entrance of Jia Rui's house was busy with traffic, and luxury carriages entered from here.

As the hostess, Xue Baochai personally welcomed the guests entering the home at the second door.

In addition to Jia Mu, these people also include Mrs. Wang, Mrs. Xing, Sanchun, Lin Daiyu and Jia Baoyu.

Originally, such a lively occasion could not be separated from Wang Xifeng. Unfortunately, Wang Xifeng is now pregnant and has difficulty walking, so she can only stay at home.

Fortunately, Xue Baochai was also very capable and arranged everyone properly.

In the main hall of the home, Mrs. Wang and Mother Jia were sitting in the middle, chatting and laughing, with other juniors accompanying them on both sides.

After a while, a maid came and asked if the show could start?

As the host, Mrs. Wang looked at the sky, then said with a smile: "It's getting late, let's go have a drink and watch a show."

(End of this chapter)