Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 424: The Unusual New Cabinet

On the way home in the evening, I met Jin Shi waiting for me.

Jia Lian stopped and asked him, "Is there anything going on in the East Palace?"

"Grandma's stepmother and two younger sisters arrived in the capital this morning. Grandma asked me to wait for Second Master on the road." Jin Shi answered respectfully. He is now the second butler, and the next step is to replace Lai Da. From the perspective of being a house slave, he is only one step away from reaching the peak of his life. In the future, he will be able to be like Lai Da, with his son being released from civil service and using connections to become a minor official.

"Oh, you're here so quickly!" Jia Lian couldn't help but be surprised. It was only the beginning of February now. It would take almost a month to travel from the northwest to the capital. Did they set off after the New Year?
"Who said it wasn't?" Jin Shi echoed. Jia Lian turned over and got off his horse and went straight into the side door of the East Palace.

You's residence was on the west side, next to the courtyard wall, and next to it was the small door leading to the East Palace. In the eyes of others, she officially gave up the main house and the rights of the housekeeper after Qin's entry.

After lunch, Youshi's stepmother and two sisters went to wash and rest. Youshi was waiting alone in the room. How to arrange for her stepmother and sisters was up to Jia Lian. There was no shortage of accommodation in the East Mansion, but the problem was that she and Jia Lian had an affair, and she was afraid that her stepmother and sisters would find out. Another reason was that she was afraid that Wang Xifeng would cause trouble. After all, Jia Erye was a lecherous man, and Qin dared to touch him. How could she not be tempted when she saw the two sisters? Therefore, it was more appropriate to live outside, at least there would be no trouble at home.

Hearing the noise outside, Youshi got up and went out to greet them. When she went down the stairs, she saw Jia Lian flashing out from behind the screen, with Yin Die following behind him.

"Greetings, Second Master!" Yushi stepped forward and bowed with a smile. This was only because there was no one else around, otherwise the address would not be correct.

"Why are you being so polite when we know each other so well?" Jia Lian was also a little surprised and joked with a smile.

Yu Shi heard the flirtatious tone in his words, rolled her eyes, stepped forward and whispered, "They don't live with me, wait for me to take you to see them."

Outside a side courtyard of the East Palace, Youshi and Jia Lian stopped. The woman sitting at the door stood up and saluted, saying flatteringly, "My mother-in-law and the two young ladies have already gotten up and are washing up."

Youshi smiled at her and walked in. The woman greeted Jia Lian again, and Jia Lian just nodded slightly and followed her in.

After entering, he saw the mother and daughter standing together in a slightly awkward manner. Jia Lian did not rush to look at them, but looked around. He did not even arrange a maid. It was obvious that Youshi did not want them to live in the East Mansion.

"This is the official face of the Jia family. He is a young man but already a fourth-rank official. The second master Lian, the legitimate son of the West Mansion, has always been close to the East Mansion. You have come up to meet him. You will have many requests for favors in the future."

Yu's introduction is very interesting, as it lets the mother and her two daughters know who the real big shot is.

Old Lady You smiled apologetically and said, "Master Lian is so noble at first sight. I once saw the Prince of Xining from afar in the northwest. Master Lian is no worse than him."

After hearing this, Youshi couldn't help but remind her stepmother: "The Xining Palace is on the decline, and its glory will not last for many days. How can it be compared with the Second Master who is at the peak of his career?"

Jia Lian didn't say anything, but the gap between this plastic mother and daughter was exposed. It was obvious that if they were not biological children, there would be a big difference between them.

Old Lady You has deep eye sockets and a high nose bridge, so she must be mixed-race. Second Sister You doesn't look mixed-race, but Third Sister You is more obvious. In the northwest, all kinds of mixed-race are normal.

Youshi said again: "Second sister, third sister, please pay your respects to the Second Master."

You Erjie and You Sanjie stepped forward and bowed to each other. Jia Lian had been watching for a while, and smiled and clasped his hands in return: "You're welcome. We are all family. Did you have a smooth journey?"

The You sisters stepped back and Old Lady You stepped forward to speak, which showed that she had some basic family education.

"Thanks to the good reputation of the Jia Mansion, when I left on the third day of the New Year, I asked an old friend in the army to arrange for me to follow a group of people to Xi'an. When I arrived in Xi'an, I was also escorted by a caravan."

Jia Lian understood and said with a smile: "You guys take a good rest. If you have anything to say, please tell me. I have something else to do, so I will take my leave first."

Jia Lian folded his hands and said goodbye. Youshi saw him off to the door before returning. When she entered again, she said to You Lao Niang, "Don't talk nonsense in the future. The tricks of the four kings and eight dukes don't work anymore. Don't talk about this to outsiders either."

Old Lady You laughed twice and lowered her head in silence. Seeing this, Mrs. You said softly, "I'm not trying to embarrass you. It's just that this East Mansion is too troublesome. You should stay in the East Mansion for a while. When you have recovered and regained your spirits, I will find a place for you to stay."

Old Lady You showed a worried look on her face. After all, a widow brought her two daughters to live with her stepdaughter in the capital city where they were unfamiliar with the place. How could living outside be as safe as living in Ningguo Mansion?
You Erjie was a person with no temper. She kept her head down and said nothing. You Sanjie asked, "Why, can't the eldest sister be the master of the backyard in the East Palace?"

Seeing their reactions, Youshi sighed, held one of her sisters in each hand, and sat on the kang to talk: "Mr. Lian just now is now the most important person in the East and West Palaces. Not to mention me, even when Jia Zhen was in a good mood, I had to work hard to curry favor with him. Now the head of the East Palace is Jia Rong, and he only follows Mr. Lian's lead. To be honest, without Mr. Lian's support, the East Palace is already strong on the outside but weak on the inside, with nothing inside."

"Does Master Lian have the final say on whether we live in the East Mansion?" Old Lady You rolled her eyes and asked carefully.

Youshi smiled and said, "That's not the case. The East Palace can still accommodate you. But your two sisters will get married sooner or later. What's the point of living in the East Palace forever? I have some savings. I will buy a house outside. After you move in, it would be best if you can find a live-in son-in-law to support the family. In this way, the You family lineage will continue to have incense, and the ancestral tablets will also have a place to go."

After hearing this, Old Lady You's face looked a little better. Mrs. You said this because she was really planning for the succession of the You family.

"Oh, it's all my fault that I didn't give birth to a boy." This woman didn't have a strong voice because she didn't give birth to a son.

Seeing that the job was approved, You Shi got up and left. When the mother and daughter were left alone, Old Lady You said, "After your father's funeral, there won't be much money left. If you move out, you will have to rely on yourselves. If you don't have some income, you will run out of money sooner or later. It won't work without a man in the house."

You Erjie still didn't say anything. She didn't dare to say it to Youshi just now, and now she didn't dare to say it to my mother. You Sanjie inherited Hu Feng's appearance, with a heroic look on her face. After hearing what my mother said, she said, "It's better to rely on yourself than to ask for help from others."

Old Lady You ignored Third Sister You's words, but she didn't say she was daydreaming. But after sitting down, she couldn't help but worry about the future.

When You came back and saw Jia Lian hadn't left, she stepped forward and said, "The You family's incense cannot be cut off, so I thought of letting them live outside and find a live-in son-in-law later."

Jia Lian didn't. It wasn't that he was so enthusiastic, but Yu Shi had given birth to a child, and Jia Lian couldn't just stand by and watch her affairs. Besides, Yu's sisters were indeed beautiful in their own ways, so Jia Lian admitted that he was greedy.

"Houses in the capital are not cheap. You only have a few pocket dollars. Leave this matter to me. I'll have someone send it to you when it's done." Jia Lian's attitude of taking on so much responsibility made Youshi feel mixed emotions.

The good news is that Jia Lian is willing to take responsibility after putting on pants, but the worrying thing is that the two sisters cannot escape his clutches, and it is still a question whether the children born can have the surname You.

"There's no rush for this. After they move out, they won't have a way to make a living, and they'll have a lot of headaches." Yu Shi hinted again.

Jia Lian pretended not to understand, stood up and said, "It's getting late, I'm going back."

Youshi did not want to keep him, and sent him out the door. Seeing Baozhu lingering on the path, she pretended not to see her and turned back. Jia Lian saw Baozhu and approached her to talk to her. Then he learned that Qin Shi had asked Jia Lian to do something. Qin Zhong was studying in the clan school and had not been paying much attention recently. Qin Shi was very worried and asked Jia Lian to check on him.

"Hasn't the clan school been rectified? Why doesn't the teacher take responsibility?" When Jia Lian found out, his face immediately turned unhappy.

Baozhu said quickly, "It's not the teacher's fault. It's just that the young master always hangs out with two classmates, and Master Bao always drags him to stay overnight. In the exams before the New Year, the young master's academic performance was very bad. After the New Year, the clan school resumed, and grandma asked someone to ask around, and only then did she know that the young master had taken several days off. But because he is grandma's biological brother, the teacher couldn't interfere too much."

Jia Lian understood. If we talk about a dandy boy, it has to be Baoyu, so he started to play both land and water games.

It is not possible to say how good Baoyu is. Young masters in big families are all the same. Jia Lian was not a good person. This trend of the Central Plains dynasty has influenced the surrounding East Asian cultural circles, including the Japanese Xiao surname.

It doesn't matter if you can't keep up with the living standards, you must study hard to be elegant.

"I understand!" Jia Lian said he knew, and did not stay in the East Palace, so he said goodbye and left.

This matter still gave Jia Lian a headache, mainly because it could not be solved by physical means.

Back home, Wang Xifeng was waiting for Jia Lian to have dinner together. Looking at the sixteen plates of food on the table, Jia Lian wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut, sat down, picked up his chopsticks and started eating.

Speaking of which, Wang Xifeng is much better now. When she first came into the house, the meal would start with twenty-four dishes, and thirty-six dishes was considered Lady Jia's show. Wang Xifeng would have thirty-five dishes if she had one less.

In comparison, if Jia Lian dined alone, the maximum number of dishes he could have would be eight, which would already seem too luxurious.

Read more latest popular novels at 6.9*shuba!

Jia Lian chatted with him for a while at the dinner table. After putting down his chopsticks, he said casually, "The last time we had dinner at the teacher's house, guess how many dishes we had?"

Wang Xifeng's face slightly changed color after hearing this, and she snorted, "How much can I save? Baoyu has 24 dishes for dinner."

Jia Lian smiled and said, "Guess how many dishes does His Majesty eat for each meal? And how many dishes does the Queen eat for each meal?"

Wang Xifeng was silenced by these words, but Jia Lian continued to smile and said, "The current emperor advocates simplicity, and the empress follows suit. Every day, each meal only has nine dishes, and she won't have one more."

Wang Xifeng was curious and asked, "Why not serve ten dishes? Wouldn't it be better to have ten dishes?"

Jia Lian smiled and said, "The number nine does not simply represent nine, but also means infinity. Besides, there is no such thing as perfection in the world. Perfection is not necessarily a good thing."

Wang Xifeng nodded and said, "Okay, okay, I know everything."

Jia Lian stood up and left. It didn't matter whether Wang Xifeng listened or not. The Jia family didn't lack money for a few dishes. It was just that the current emperor only ate nine dishes, while the Jia family had dozens of dishes at any time. What was that?
Let me ask you, if you were the emperor, what would you think if he knew what happened at the dinner table in the Jia family?
Well, speaking of perfection, there was an emperor who called himself the Perfect Man.

The result of the ten great martial arts and the desire for quick success and glory is that the national treasury is emptied.

It cannot be said that Qianlong was a incompetent emperor. As far as emperors are concerned, the emperors of the Qing Dynasty as a whole performed quite well compared to those of other dynasties.

The biggest problem of the Qing Dynasty was that Kangxi and Qianlong knew clearly what was happening in the outside world, but they stubbornly insisted on a policy of closing the country to the outside world only out of the interests of the Manchu imperial power.

The idea is beautiful, living a small life behind closed doors and engaging in slave politics, but the reality is cruel, which has dragged down the entire nation and led to a century of shame in modern times.

The Kangxi and Qianlong eras were a step backward in civilization in terms of the progress and development of the entire Chinese nation, and they were unforgivable crimes.

(:PS, some people say that I whitewashed the Qing Dynasty. I want to laugh when I see it. The official authorities all admit that the Qing Dynasty is the orthodox dynasty. Is it useful if I don’t admit it? Is it useful if you don’t admit it? This is a multi-ethnic country, and the main theme is national unity. Of course, history is something that will be laughed at if you forcefully whitewash it for no reason. For example, a few years ago, a certain official theater troupe organized a program called Diaoyucheng. Another example is that a well-known writer wrote a novel about Huo Qubing falling in love with a Xiongnu woman, claiming it to be a serious drama, but his shameless face is disgusting.)
Zhang Tingen took two days of rest before officially taking up his new position.

Emperor Chenghui specially convened a cabinet meeting and announced in public that Zhang Ting'en, as the chief minister of the cabinet, would concurrently serve as the Minister of Personnel, Lin Ruhai, as the second minister of the cabinet, would concurrently serve as the Left Censor-in-Chief, Guo Yan, as the Minister of Rites, Pan Jixun, as the Minister of Works, and Ning Ke, as the Minister of Revenue.

After a series of appointments were announced, this cabinet immediately gave people an unusual feeling. Every cabinet minister also served as the head of an important department, which was the most unusual thing.

After Emperor Chenghui's appointment was completed, Zhang Tingen took over the conversation without hesitation. He stood up and clasped his hands to the emperor, then said to the ministers: "Your Majesty has been promoting the performance evaluation system for some time. According to the current situation, the performance evaluation system is in place, but its implementation is not in place. As the Prime Minister, I will take the responsibility to rectify the officialdom. I will start with the six ministries in the capital. According to the established indicators, those who fail to meet the targets will be demoted at the least and dismissed at the worst. Those who are lazy and negligent in their work will not be tolerated."

Zhang Tingen's words were full of murderous intent. The other cabinet ministers couldn't help but sit up straight after hearing them. Everyone they looked at had a serious attitude.

"As long as Prime Minister Zhang has something to say, the Inspectorate will do its best to cooperate." Lin Ruhai stood up and spoke, coughing twice.

Emperor Chenghui said, "Mr. Lin, take care of yourself. See the imperial physician after the meeting."

Lin Ruhai: "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty!"

Afterwards, all the cabinet ministers stood up one by one and expressed their firm support for the implementation of the Performance Evaluation Law.

Emperor Chenghui was quite satisfied when he saw the opinions expressed by his ministers. He thought that the cabinet still needed a prime minister like Zhang Qing.

Look at the piece about Zhongshu Sheren, I always feel like something is missing.

After the meeting, Emperor Chenghui asked Qiu Shian, "Why didn't Jia Lian come?"

Qiu Shian..., the Saint didn't let me inform you? I thought so, but what I said was: "Maybe something is bothering me?"

Emperor Chenghui shook his head: "No, no, Jia Lian is most afraid of trouble, and cabinet meetings are the source of trouble for him. Let's go out for a walk today while there is not much to do."

Qiu Shian,..., aren't you very clear about this?

"I will arrange it right away."

(End of this chapter)