Red Mansion: Bastards rule the roost

Chapter 555: Diverting trouble to the east
The delivery room has been cleaned up, the sheets and quilts have been replaced, and benzoin has been smoked. Sister Feng is covered with a thin silk quilt, lying weakly on the bed with her eyes closed and concentrating. Her hair, soaked with sweat, sticks to her forehead, looking slightly messy.

Over there, Ruyi and others were teasing and giggling around the cleaned little guy.

Jia Cong didn't join in the fun, walked to the bed and sat down, saying, "Sister Feng, how do you feel?"

Sister Feng forced a smile and said softly: "It's okay. How is the child? It's a pity that it's a girl."

Jia Cong smiled and said: "What's wrong with a girl? You are as smart and capable as you, and I can't even love you."

Don't think too much. Our family doesn't value mother over son. To me, men and women are the same. Besides, if you want a son, can we just have another baby in the future? "

Sister Feng's face flushed, she glanced at Ruyi and the others carefully, and said in a low voice: "You are going to die, what are you talking about, please listen carefully."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Isn't this the peace of mind?"

"What are you worried about?" Baochai came over and smiled.

Sister Feng said hurriedly: "Cong'er was afraid that I would be worried, so she told me that the child was in good condition and everything was fine, so that I could rest assured."

Baochai smiled and said, "Sister Feng, don't worry. The child is as beautiful as you, and it's adorable. Look at them all rushing to hold it."

Sister Feng felt her heart heat up after hearing this, and glanced at Jia Cong.

Jia Cong understood it and said with a smile: "Bring the child here and show it to me."

"Look, the child is so naughty. Look at her big eyes, like black pearls, lively and energetic, and she can also smile." Ruyi smiled and handed the child to Jia Cong.

"What a fuss. In two years, I will use all my firepower to let you have children until you don't want to have children. I guarantee that you will be annoyed when you see the baby." Jia Cong took the swaddling clothes and said with a smile.

"Fuck you," the girls spat in unison.

"Look, this girl is more popular than the boy." Jia Cong put the child in Sister Feng's arms.

With tears in her eyes, Sister Feng hugged the child gently, her heart was soft and soft, and she still had not even half of Feng Lazi's majesty. She said, "Just give her a name so that she can be supported."

"Well, let's call her Sister Qiao." Jia Cong blurted out.

Daiyu said: "Sister Qiao, what's the source?"

Jia Cong smiled dryly and said: "What's the origin of a nickname? You see she is so well-behaved. She is called Qiao Jieer. She is worthy of her name. It is nice to hear and easy to remember."

Everyone smiled and nodded.

Speaking of Sister Qiao, Jia Cong suddenly thought of Grandma Liu's grandson Ban'er, and asked: "Grandma Liu came last year, and I asked her grandson Ban'er to stay in Beijing. What's going on now?"

Baochai smiled and said: "I happen to know this. Ban'er was originally arranged to be in Zhuangzi outside the city, and he was trained with the soldiers, and a scholar Xianggong was arranged to teach him how to read.

Brother Huan went down to select the soldiers. The two were old acquaintances and were very close friends. They were about the same age, so Brother Huan made him the official of the soldiers. Now the two of them are practicing together in Zhuangzi. "

Jia Cong asked curiously: "How did Sister Bao know?"

Daiyu smiled and said, "Of course it was Brother Huan who wrote about it."

"Hey, brother Huan has also learned to write letters? It's only ten or twenty miles away, what kind of letter should I write?" Jia Cong said.

Daiyu covered her mouth and smiled and said: "Of course I have to write a letter. She said that she didn't dare to ask you for money, so she wrote an urgent letter to me and Sister Bao asking for food, grass and military pay, and sent Ban'er to deliver it.

Qian'er, you were locked up in the Gongyuan. We thought that the military situation was like a fire, so we approved two thousand silver to him. "

Everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter, and Sister Feng also laughed and cursed: "This unimproved, dirty thing."

Jia Cong smiled and said: "Brother Huan is quite worthy of me. If he knows how to ask women for money, he will definitely be successful in the future."

"The upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked." The girls laughed and scolded.

Jia Cong smiled slightly. According to the original timeline, Sister Qiao would marry Ban'er and live her whole life as an ordinary village woman. But now, this possibility is naturally slim.

"The eldest lady is here." The girl at the door announced.

Mrs. Xing came in with a few daughters-in-law and maids, and everyone wanted to see the ceremony.

"Girl Feng, thank you for your hard work. The old lady was very happy to know that you have added another daughter to our family. She hurriedly asked me to come and see how you are. What did the doctor say? These are the two gifts the old lady gave you. Nanny." Mrs. Xing said with a smile.

Sister Feng tried to push herself up, but was held down by Jia Cong. She said in shock: "Thank you, old lady and eldest madam, for your trouble. Everything is fine with me. I'll go pay my respects to the old lady and eldest madam when the moon comes out."

"Okay, you should have a good time and lie down. The old lady knows your filial piety, and has given you many instructions to cultivate your health and make sure you don't get any diseases. Why are you so anxious?"
If you want to eat or want anything, just send someone over and tell them, and I will have them brought to you. Mrs. Xing smiled.

Wang Xifeng felt the care of her "mother-in-law" for the first time in many years. She was "touched" to tears and cried: "Thank you, old lady, for your kindness."

"Hey, it's a big happy event today. Why are you crying? Stop crying. You're hurting yourself. I'll go first. I won't stop you from resting. I'll see you again in two days." Mrs. Xing smiled and gave Jia Cong a sign. With a wink, he asked him to go out and talk. Jia Cong had expected it, nodded slightly, and said with a smile: "Sister Ping'er, I'll leave this place to you. If you have anything to say, just tell my wife. Let's go out first, don't disturb Sister Feng's rest."

"Yes, Lord Marquis." Ping'er said hurriedly.

Mrs. Xing quietly pulled Jia Cong out of the door and whispered: "Brother Cong, the old lady asked what happened to the hundreds of thousands of silver?"

Jia Cong explained the cause and effect and said: "Now the national treasury is short of more than 10 million taels. His Majesty was furious, and immediately established the Qingqingfu. He specially ordered Huo Xiang to promote him, and each of the clan members, nobles and civil servants selected one person to take charge. .

I am the noble one, so our family has to collect other people’s debts. How can we delay paying our own debts?

I have repaid the hundreds of thousands that the Ning Mansion owes. The money that the Rong Mansion has accumulated over the years should be paid out from the official position. This is what the princess wants.

Please reply to the old lady like this, I will send someone to pick up the money later. "

Mrs. Xing nodded helplessly. Jia Cong's theory was correct, but he also brought out Ruyi. What could she say? You can't insist on taking advantage of the princess, so you have to go back and reply to Jia Mu's original words.

After the old lady learned about it, she said calmly: "Brother Cong is right. Although I got some money from the investigation of the corrupt slaves last year, in the past two years, there have been many happy events in the old acquaintance family.

Last time, due to the involvement of the eldest master, Brother Jing, and Brother Rong, it took a lot of money to organize everything. It was a bit difficult for the officials to come up with this cash in one go.

The eldest wife went back and told the eldest man, just as I said, she asked him to come out with 50,000 silver and make do with the debt, so that our whole family would be debt-free. "

Mrs. Xing felt bitter in her heart, but she didn't dare to show any objection. She didn't see that her sister-in-law was still in the dark room in the house, so she hurriedly said: "What the old lady said is true. I will go back and tell the lord."

Jia Mu said "Yeah" and nodded.

Next to them, Li Wan, Yingchun, and Tanchun breathed a sigh of relief. They didn't dare to make the final decision on such a large sum of money.

Although the old lady asked the eldest man to pay fifty thousand silver, the remaining amount is not small. I am afraid that there will be another famine among the officials unless more of the gold and silver utensils are sold.

However, selling the ancestral property is a good idea or not, so that the family members and clan members will know that a person who is "incompetent in running the household" and "a prodigal son" cannot escape the reputation.

Before Yingchun could think of this, Li Wan and Tanchun looked at each other and understood what the other meant. They couldn't bear this reputation.
-
That night, Jia Cong was discussing countermeasures with Pang Chao in the study. Suddenly, he heard a report from his own soldiers, saying that Niu Jizong, Liu Fang, Hou Xiaokang and other aristocratic nobles who had good relations with him were all here, saying they wanted to congratulate the family on the happiness of having a new child.

Jia Cong hurriedly ordered people to invite Ruyi, Baochai and others to receive the family members. He and Pang Chao went out to welcome them. They met everyone in front of the main hall and said with a smile: "You are very well informed."

Niu Jizong smiled and said: "I had known that Miss Feng of Zunfu would be around these days. Just now, the old lady of Xifu had posted a message and invited us to have moon drinks. We were thinking privately that we would have to wait for another month. Where can we wait? Why not first? Come and say hello to my brother."

Jia Cong smiled awkwardly, does everyone know?

I had to hold on to my face and said, "Well, I've worked hard for my niece, so you should all congratulate Brother Lian."

Everyone laughed, and Liu Fang said: "It's the same. Now that Miss Feng lives with the Marquis, we don't have to run around. Anyway, this daughter has to call you "Sir", and you are the clan leader, so it is normal to congratulate you. "

"Yes, Lao Liu is right."

Jia Cong was right. Regardless of niece or daughter, they all have to call themselves master, and it seems that they can still get away with it. Hey, it turns out that the title "Master" has this magical effect.

Yin smiled and said: "Everyone please come."

Everyone sat down and took a sip of tea. Jia Cong and Pang Chao looked at each other and smiled and said, "You are here together, but do you have anything else to do? We are sincere and sincere, so we won't be polite."

Niu Jizong said: "I can't hide anything from Lord Hou. Today I learned about the debt settlement... We don't know anything about it. Can Lord Hou give me some advice?"

Jia Cong said: "So that's what happened." After telling the story again, he said: "This time, His Majesty ordered Prime Minister Huo to take the overall responsibility, and Zhongxin, Cong and Feng Shilang to share the responsibility. It was obvious that he had made up his mind.

If you try to push the envelope and refuse to pay back, I'm afraid you won't be able to get through. Cong went to the Ministry of Revenue early this morning to pay back six hundred thousand taels. You gentlemen, you should make preparations earlier. "

Everyone's faces suddenly fell down, and they all looked at each other and smiled bitterly.

Chen Ruiwen, Duke of Qi's Mansion, said: "Master Hou, you know the situation in our family well. The Duke's line has been out of power for decades, and they have been eating the same old food these years. It only looks like they have survived from the outside. In this hurry, , how can you raise so much money?"

"Yes, Lord Marquis, we ourselves are struggling to survive, so how can we spare the energy to repay our ancestors' debts?"

Everyone was busy complaining, each one worse than the other.

Jia Cong knew that they were indeed inferior to the powerful Wuhou and had a difficult life, so he said: "You don't need to panic too much. Although this matter is iron-clad, there is no need to rush it."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and said happily: "Thank you so much, Marquis Huan, for your kindness. We are grateful."

"Thank you first. What I mean is that I don't want everyone to return it all at once. Within half a month, you can go back and sell some gold and jade utensils, and each of you can collect 20% of the debt. Go to the Ministry of Accounts to pay it first. I want this money to come back, so you can grit your teeth and pay it back." I can get it," Jia Cong said.

Everyone's hearts sank, this was tens of thousands of silver, and they hurriedly said: "The remaining 80%..."

Jia Cong smiled and said: "You often hunt, you should know that if you encounter a tiger in the wild, when you run for your life, you don't need to run faster than the tiger, you just need to be faster than your companions."

(End of this chapter)