Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 371: Annoyance at the Door
Xing Xiuyan, who was originally sitting, stood up suddenly and frowned, "Why do we have to move out now?"

Liang Er said, "It seems that the girl's father had a quarrel with the eldest wife, and he was so angry that he wanted to move away. He has already gone to the street to hire a carriage."

"This..." Xing Xiuyan looked extremely embarrassed.

At that time, women were required to "obey their fathers at home and their husbands after marriage". No matter how capable Xing Xiuyan was, she dared not disobey her father, otherwise she would be considered unfilial.

Don't think that being unfilial only brings a bad reputation. In fact, at this time, you are indeed charged with the crime of being unfilial, and your parents will be successful if they report you to the government.

Daiyu saw that she was in a dilemma, so she said softly, "Since you have something to worry about, Sister Xing should go back first. I will talk to Fourth Brother about this matter, and it should be fine."

Xing Xiuyan sighed, bowed to Daiyu, and without saying anything, hurried away with Liang'er and Zhuan'er.

As soon as she left, Qingwen, who had brought snacks, frowned and said, "It's better not to have parents like this."

Daiyu nodded and said, "Who said it wasn't true?"

Every family has its own difficulties. Daiyu was spoiled by her parents since she was a child. She was carefree at first, but then her mother died early, followed by her father. She lived alone in the Jia Mansion, and was exposed to the harsh wind and frost for 360 days a year.

Looking back on the past, she sighed with regret, but fortunately, everything was over. However, Xing Xiuyan's situation made Daiyu feel even more frightened, and she thought to herself that it was a good thing that her family did not have such parents, otherwise, she would rather die than live like this.

Daiyu was kindhearted. Since she had tasted Xing Xiuyan's tea, she considered them as a family. She frowned and thought for a long time. She felt a little worried, so she sent Xiangling to the Rong Mansion to check things out.

At the end of the afternoon, Xiangling hurried back, frowning and saying, "Miss Xing's father is angry. I don't know where he drank at noon, and now no one can stop him. The eldest wife is so angry that she curses in the streets, and the third lady, as a girl, can't say anything."

As for Lady Jia, she naturally never showed up. They were distant relatives, so how could she stop them from leaving?

Xiangling was the closest to Daiyu, and she vaguely knew that Xing Xiuyan might come to the mansion soon, so she whispered, "Madam, do you want to think of a solution?"

Daiyu said, "I am a woman, what can I do? I am just a fox borrowing the power of the tiger. In the end, I still had to rely on the power of my fourth brother."

Xiangling smiled and said nothing. Daiyu just listened to what she said, but in fact, the Bo's mansion had been in good order for the past two years. The occasional unruly maids and servants were all sent away by Daiyu. The people in the family were not afraid of the master slamming the table, but they were afraid of the mistress looking cold and silent.

Just at this moment, a maid came in front and said, "The master is back."

Daiyu put down the rice tea in her hand, stood up and went to greet them with Xiangling. Soon they met Li Weijian at the second ceremonial gate.

After the two of them greeted each other, Daiyu habitually placed her hand in Li Weijian's and whispered a brief account of Xing Xiuyan's situation. Li Weijian then smiled and said, "It's a good thing I didn't believe the eldest lady. Otherwise, if I had sent someone to the Baoning Marquis's mansion to receive the visiting card today, I would have had to send someone else to deliver it again this time."

Daiyu looked up at him and said, "Isn't this a difficult matter to handle?"

Li Weijian said with a smile: "It's just using power to pressure people, why can't it be dealt with?"

The Baoning Marquisate has always been low-key, not even taking up the hereditary position, but keeping a low profile behind closed doors. Given Li Weijian's current position, how could the Baoning Marquisate risk offending him by marrying Xing Xiuyan?
The next day, Li Weijian sat in the yamen early in the morning and did not mention it, so the day of the visit was set for tomorrow. Anyway, marriage is not something that can be done overnight, and Li Weijian has plenty of patience.

It is said that Aunt Xue and Baochai packed their bags early in the morning and took a carriage to their home in the inner city.

When they reached the door, they could hear the sound of shouting and yelling. When the mother and daughter went inside, they saw that Xia Jingui was occupying the main room, and invited some women and maids with makeup to play dominoes.

Seeing the mother and daughter coming, Xia Jingui felt a little uncomfortable at first, then she stood up to greet them and said with a smile, "Why are the madam and the girl here?"

Aunt Xue saw that Xia Jingui was furious and said with a stern face, "Since it's your home, why can't Baochai and I come? It's so early in the morning, why are you looking for someone to play dominoes?"

The ladies were also used to watching the situation, so they quickly stood up and found an excuse to leave. After everyone left, Xia Jingui was too lazy to pretend, and sat down with a dignified manner, crossing her legs and said, "Madam, what you just said, you were the one who wanted to move out, and now you have moved back quietly. If people outside knew my character and behavior, I'm afraid they would criticize me for being unfilial behind my back."

Aunt Xue was so choked that she didn't know what to say. Is there anyone in the world more unfilial than Xia Jingui?
Aunt Xue remained silent at the moment, and Xia Jingui was annoyed and had to send the maid and the old woman to pack up the things and move to the front yard.

After a whole morning, Aunt Xue finally settled down, and Baochai said, "Brother Ke is about to take a nap, I will go find him and ask him."

Aunt Xue was particularly reluctant to let you go, and said, "My son, why don't you move in too? Otherwise, I will be worried about leaving you alone outside."

Baochai disliked Xia Jingui and said quietly, "I have to go to the factory outside the city every two or three days now, and it is really inconvenient to live in the inner city. Why don't we wait a while until I find a suitable manager, so that I can have more free time in the future and it will be convenient for me to come back and live here."

Aunt Xue had no choice but to accept the offer and personally sent Baochai out. As soon as she returned to the main room, Baochan came looking for her.

When he saw her, he fell to his knees and began to cry.

Xue Pan was a bully who only feared the strong and the weak. Seeing that he could not intimidate Xia Jingui, he had to stay away from her. He was not at home for eight or nine days out of ten. No one knew where he went. He only came back to stay overnight. Even when he rested, he went straight to Baochan. Xia Jingui became more jealous and resentful. The two quarreled every few days, and Xia Jingui got angry and started beating people.

Aunt Xue saw this and asked hurriedly, "What are you doing? If you have anything to say, get up and talk."

Baochan cried, "Please save me, madam!" and then told her everything that had happened.

Aunt Xue was annoyed, thinking that if Baochan had not helped Xia Jingui to plot against Bilian, Bilian would not have returned home on her own. Now, Bilian was driven away, and Baochan herself became a thorn in Xia Jingui's side.

Listening to Baochan's complaints, Aunt Xue was about to dismiss her perfunctorily, but suddenly an idea occurred to her - why not recruit Baochan to deal with Xia Jingui, so as to use the tiger to devour the wolf?
He immediately pulled Baochan up and comforted her, "You are a maidservant after all. I can't stand her treating you like this. I think you should pack up and move to my courtyard. I will take care of you and she won't go too far."

Baochan was so happy that she cried and kept saying, "Thank you, madam. Thank you, madam."

Baochan wiped her tears, and Aunt Xue sent Tongxi and Tonggui to help. After a while, they packed up their things and moved to the backyard.

Seeing this, Xia Jingui was furious and stood in the yard, cursing like a shrew. Aunt Xue knew that she was unreasonable, so she just ignored her and talked to Baochan.

Because she wanted to win Baochan over, Aunt Xue even asked her to stay in her room overnight. Baochan was not stupid, so how could she not know Aunt Xue's thoughts? It was just a matter of one willing to fight and the other willing to be beaten, and no matter what they thought in their hearts, they were as close as mother and daughter the next morning.

At noon that day, Baochai came to see Aunt Xue again. Seeing that Aunt Xue and Baochan were very close, she was surprised at first, but then relieved, thinking that her mother must be trying to win her over.

When Baochan returned to her room, only mother and daughter were left. Baochai said, "I did see Brother Tael yesterday."

"How did he say?"

Baochai said, "He only said he was burning incense and fulfilling his vow, and didn't say anything else. Maybe it was just a coincidence?"

Aunt Xue might be vague about other things, but she was very sharp-eyed about matters between men and women. After hearing this, she asked Xue Ke about the situation in detail, and then said, "Ke is a man with a big mind. Now that he has an official position, it is only right for him to find a well-educated and well-mannered lady in the future. Why would he keep entangled with your sister-in-law? I'm afraid that this matter will be blamed on your sister-in-law."

Baochai nodded, thinking back to what happened yesterday. When Xia Jingui was mentioned, Xue Ke's eyes were clearly filled with disgust.

The mother and daughter talked in private for a while, and suddenly they all said in joy: "It seems that the master is back."

After a while, Xue Pan came staggering in, reeking of alcohol and with red eyes. He asked curiously, "Why did mom and sister move back?"

He was indeed a filial son, and said with a smile: "It just so happens that some rare items have entered our shop these days. I was planning to send them to the outer city tomorrow. Now I have saved myself the trouble."

Aunt Xue looked sullen and furious. She stepped forward and twisted Xue Pan's ear and asked, "Where did you go last night?"

Xue Pan said, "I drank too much with my friends and just slept outside." He paused and then said, "Hey? Mom, sister, do you know Zheng Ruozhen?" Aunt Xue was worried about Baochai's marriage. In the past two years, she asked around about the sons of noble families. After a little thought, she said, "Is it the son of the Baoning Marquis's mansion?"

"That's right." Xue Pan became excited and rolled up his sleeves to gossip, "Mom doesn't know, that Zheng Ruozhen..." As he spoke, he kept the secret.

Aunt Xue was anxious: "What happened to Zheng Ruzhen?"

"Hey, that guy got caught!"

"what?"

Xue Pan then spoke freely, saying: "That guy always looked down on me. My son invited me to several private banquets, but he only came once, drank a few glasses of wine, and then left on the pretext of having something to do. How could I not know that he was deliberately keeping his distance from me? Hey, I didn't expect that he turned around and hooked up with that damn lady of the lord. After just a few days, he felt itchy down there, and went to see a doctor, and it turned out that he had contracted a dirty disease!"

Aunt Xue spat, "How dare you say such a thing in front of your sister?"

Xue Pan was about to say something else when he suddenly heard a "pop" sound. He turned around and saw Baochan's face was pale and the teacup in her hand had fallen to the ground.

Baochan said, "Master...you, you also went close to that lousy lady of the lord before? If you are the same as Zheng Ruozhen, then wouldn't it be...wouldn't it be——"

Xue Pan was annoyed: "What nonsense!" He turned around and whispered to Aunt Xue: "Mr. Zheng didn't take his son to play, but took Brother Lian with him. Tsk tsk, there will be trouble in Rongguo Mansion this time."

Aunt Xue couldn't help but feel lucky that Xue Pan wasn't favored by her husband, otherwise the Xue family would be ruined. She immediately scolded him, "Don't hang out outside all day from now on!" She glanced at Baochan, whose complexion was gradually recovering and who was bending over to pick up the old porcelain pieces with Tongxi, and said, "Isn't the family short of someone to serve you?"

Xue Pan smiled awkwardly and stammered, "My son really can't subdue her. She keeps crying, making a scene, and even threatening to hang herself. I can't hit her, and I can't scold her. I really don't know what to do."

Aunt Xue said, "Why is that so difficult? If you give birth to a son soon, she might change her temper if she has a child to worry about."

Although Xue Pan's leg disease had improved, he still needed to take medicine to have sex. He was always taking strong medicine, which inevitably made him weak. Looking at Xia Jingui's tigress appearance, how could he still have the interest? He could only stay in Xia Jingui's room two or three times a month, and the rest of the time he would either fool around outside or stay in Baochan's room.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Aunt Xue said again: "You are so concerned, but you will only be hardworking for a month or two, and she will be quiet after that." But she thought in her heart that she should take care of the girl first, so that her silly son would not be cuckolded and have someone else's child.

After a month or two, as long as Xia Jingui gets pregnant and gives birth to the Xue family's legitimate son, I guess those inappropriate thoughts will gradually fade away.

Xue Pan couldn't refuse, so he agreed vaguely, yawned loudly and said, "I slept for two hours yesterday. Mom and sister, please stay here first. I'm going to my room to have a rest." He then looked for Baochan and went to the side room together.

The three members of the Xue family were talking in private, but they didn't know that Xia Jingui's spies were everywhere in and outside the mansion, and the disobedient one was sent away by her early in the morning with an excuse.

Xue Pan had just fallen asleep when Xia Jingui got wind of the news. She was immediately furious! She was not the kind of woman who would take care of her husband and children, and she had never thought of being faithful to one man. If it weren't for the fact that the shares of the Xue family were still worth a lot of money, I'm afraid she would have already taken the dowry and returned home.

Since the family is rich, wouldn't it be nice to have a pretty boy as son-in-law?
What about having a son? Xue Pan only does it two or three times a month, and every time he fails, how can he have a son with such a character?

It would be fine if he was just a scoundrel, but he's also useless in bed. What's the point of keeping a man like him?
She had managed to coax Xue Ke to go to the temple, but Xue Ke refused to listen. Xia Jingui tried to please him in every way, and used threats and inducements, and Xue Ke finally changed his attitude. Although he was reluctant, he accompanied her for a meal and a drink.

Xia Jingui was still thinking that Xue Ke was a man of good character, and that it was just right that a gentleman could be deceived by tricks, so she planned to visit him frequently, and even a piece of ice would melt sooner or later. But just as she started, Aunt Xue moved back. She came up with another trick to deal with herself...

Xia Jingui thought about it and made up her mind: No, I have to drive this troublesome mother-in-law away before I can accomplish anything good.

............................................................

Another day passed. On this day, Li Weijian finished his work at the government office and went straight to the Marquis Baoning's Mansion by carriage.

When they arrived at the Mansion of Marquis Baoning, the doorman had already reported back. Soon the main door was opened and Zheng Guliang, a first-class official in casual clothes, came to greet them personally.

Li Weijian got off the carriage, bowed and smiled at him from a distance, "Forgive me, I am an uninvited guest this time."

Zheng Guliang smiled and said, "Master Li, you are joking. Master Li, your presence brings honor to our humble home. How can you be a bad guest? Please, come in and have some tea."

Li Weijian followed Zheng Guliang into the inner courtyard. The Baoning Marquis's Mansion had only four courtyards and a back garden. The study room where they had the conversation was in the wing room beside the second entrance.

The two men went in, sat down as host and guest, and chatted briefly. Zheng Guliang then looked at Li Weijian in surprise again and again.

Li Weijian knew that Zheng Guliang didn't know his purpose, so he said, "I am not being modest. I am here to be a bad guest."

Zheng Guliang asked, "Oh? What does Lord Li mean by that?"

Li Weijian sighed and said, "It's because I have a confidante, and we are in love with each other, so I should have taken her in a long time ago. But I just got married, so it's not easy to take a concubine in the past one or two years, so it's been delayed. I thought I would make it happen in the next few months, but who knew that I suddenly heard that your family...the eldest son is also interested in taking my confidante?"

Zheng Guliang's face turned pale with anger: "Is there such a thing?"

Li Weijian said, "Ignorance is not a crime. I am not here to ask for punishment, but to annoy you. It is because your family does not know the details that misunderstandings arise. Oh, I heard that my beloved's family still owes you a lot of money? Please tell me the amount, uncle, and I will pay it off right away. As for taking a concubine or getting married, I think it's okay."

Zheng Guliang said solemnly, "Master Li called me his great uncle and said this, what else can I say? To be honest, my eldest son is a playboy, and this time he got involved... If it weren't for my wife crying and trying to commit suicide all day, I would never allow that evil boy to harm other women again!"

Li Weijian said hurriedly: "Uncle is able to distinguish right from wrong, I admire him."

Zheng Guliang was a straightforward person, he stood up and said, "Master Li, please wait a moment, I will be back soon."

"Uncle, please do as you please."

Zheng Guliang bowed slightly and left. After a moment, he entered the inner house, found his wife and stretched out his hand and said, "Give it to me."

His wife was surprised and asked, "What does the master want?"

"Bring the contract written by the Xing family here quickly!"

"What's the matter? Don't scare me, sir."

Zheng Guliang stamped his feet and frowned, saying: "It's all because of you that you doted on that evil creature. You almost brought disaster to your family!"

His wife was very surprised and asked immediately. Zheng Guliang then explained the reason and pointed to the front: "The Jingling Earl is sitting in the study now. If the lady has any objection, she can go and talk to the Li Bo in person!"

His wife was not a domineering person to begin with. She turned pale with fear and quickly looked for the written contract. She said with a bitter face, "Master, don't blame me. I am really a real brother..."

Zheng Guliang said decisively, "I have more than one son!" He walked to the door, stamped his feet and turned back and said, "Tomorrow you go to the Wang family to discuss and let the marriage be decided on my second brother."

Zheng Guliang hurried back to the study, handed over the contract with both hands, and said guiltily: "My wife is not virtuous and my son is not filial. I am sorry to make Master Li laugh."

Li Weijian took the contract and hurriedly counted the banknotes. Zheng Guliang refused, saying, "Master Li, please don't embarrass me."

Li Weijian smiled and said, "Let's put it this way. It's only natural to pay back a debt. If your uncle doesn't accept the money, I won't feel at ease."

(End of this chapter)