Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 359: If the Mandarin Ducks Are Married

In the backyard of Rongqing Hall, there is the mandarin duck room.

She watched her brother Jin Wenxiang leave happily, not knowing whether he was going to tell her sister-in-law the news, or to the East Courtyard to tell the old man the good news.

Having such a spineless brother and sister-in-law, I can only blame my bad luck. My parents are smart and honest people, but they are far away in Jinling and can't help me.

The singing of the small opera in the big flower hall drifted over slowly and leisurely, sometimes lingering and sad, sometimes passionate and inspiring, as if it went straight into the heart and lungs, making Yuanyang's heart ache and surge.

She stared at the pair of unfinished autumn boots in a daze, then looked at the sewing basket next to her, which contained a pair of sharp cloth-cutting scissors...

……

On the stage of the Grand Hall, the play "A Bed Full of Hu" had finished. Jia Mu and others returned to Rongqing Hall to rest and talk, and asked the small actors to change their costumes and prepare for the next play "The Legend of the White Snake".

Yuanyang entered the outer hall of Rongqing Hall, poured hot tea for Lady Jia on the small round table and was about to bring it inside.

Jin Wenxiang's wife came over when she saw the opportunity. She had just received a message from her husband saying that Yuanyang had agreed to the matter and was waiting for her to report to the old lady.

But seeing that Yuanyang still had a cold face, he felt a little unsure, so he asked tentatively: "Young lady, come with me and report to the old lady. It's such a happy event, let's make her happy."

Yuanyang sneered, "It's not disgusting, this is also called a happy event, the juice that the top scholar is fed with is full of happy events, let's go see the old lady now."

After saying that, she pulled her sister-in-law into Rongqing Hall. When Jin Wenxiang's wife saw Yuanyang's angry face, she knew that something was wrong, but she couldn't resist Yuanyang's pull, and the two of them pulled each other until they came in front of Lady Jia.

Just as Grandmother Jia was chatting and laughing with Aunt Xue, she saw Yuanyang suddenly pulling her sister-in-law to kneel in front of them, with an unyielding look on her face. Grandmother Jia and everyone in the hall were shocked.

Yuanyang said to Lady Jia, "Madam, a few days ago the eldest mistress asked my sister-in-law to come over as a matchmaker, saying that the eldest master had taken a fancy to me and wanted to marry me as his concubine, but I refused.

The eldest master said that I was relying on the old lady’s pity and wanted to hire someone from outside in the future, and that I had set my eyes on the mansion’s… My brother, I didn’t agree to this, and even let my brother and sister-in-law force me…”

Baoyu, who was standing by, brightened his eyes when he heard this. He saw such a noble girl again today, but he didn't expect Sister Yuanyang to be so strong-willed. He was suddenly stunned and looked at Yuanyang with a sharp gaze.

When he heard Yuanyang say that she liked the young man in the mansion, Baoyu wondered if Yuanyang had secretly fallen in love with him. He felt intoxicated...

……

When Lady Jia, who was sitting at the top of the table, heard what Yuanyang said, her eyes widened. She had been immersed in the rear house for half her life, so how could she not know about the secret tricks in the family?

There are so many good-looking maids in the mansion, why does his ridiculous son fall for Yuanyang, the girl next to him, and even ask his eldest daughter-in-law to act as a matchmaker? Doesn't he understand what his intention is?

He said angrily: "Is there such an unreasonable thing?"

Having said that, Yuanyang could not help but glance at Jia Cong sitting on the left, and Qingwen and Yinglian standing behind him. One was pretty and charming, the other was as delicate as jade. They were truly first-class characters.

Yuanyang felt a sense of loss in his heart, and quickly retracted his gaze, lowered his eyelids, gritted his teeth and said: "The old lady and the ladies are here today, and I spoke my mind in front of everyone.

I am just a house-born girl, and I would never dare to dream of any young man from a rich family. Anyway, I will never marry in my life. I have said this, and I will never regret it, otherwise I will not end up well!

If you are lucky enough to get to the old lady, everything will be fine.

If I am unlucky enough to live with the old lady, I will serve her until she dies. I will cut my hair and become a nun. Even if the old lady forces me to accept this marriage, I would rather die than agree to it!"

When Yuanyang said this, he suddenly took out the scissors from his sleeve, grabbed a handful of black hair, and started cutting it off.

Nowadays, people pay attention to the fact that their hair and body are given by their parents. Women at home rarely trim their hair in their lives, let alone cut it in such a large amount, which almost means they are rejecting the secular world.

When Jia Mu and others saw this, they were shocked and quickly asked people to stop them, but it was too late between the warehouses.

At this moment, a figure flashed on the left and quickly stepped forward to grab Yuanyang's arm holding the scissors. However, it was still a little too late. A lock of Yuanyang's hair was still cut off and fell to the ground.

Except for the women in the mansion, the people present were spoiled young men like Baoyu. Only Jia Cong, who had practiced martial arts since childhood and had nimble hands and feet, was able to stop Yuanyang.

Yuanyang looked up and saw that it was Jia Cong who grabbed her arm.

Seeing his pair of eyes as deep as autumn pools, staring at her quietly, as if to captivate her heart, his other hand snatched away her scissors.

Yuanyang lowered her head and dared not look at him again. She felt aggrieved and had many things to say, but she couldn't say them at all. She couldn't help but burst into tears.

……

Grandmother Jia said angrily, "I only have this one trustworthy maid left, so you guys should still plot against me."

Then he pointed at Madam Wang and said, "So you are all showing respect to me on the outside, but you are plotting against me on the inside. You know I am being nice to this girl, and you can't stand it, so you want to get rid of her so that you can manipulate me!"

When everyone in the hall heard this, their faces changed.

They all thought to themselves, is the old lady confused? The eldest master and the first wife want to take Yuanyang as a concubine, what does it have to do with the second wife? Why did the old lady scold the second wife?

Everyone else present was puzzled, except Wang Xifeng and Jia Cong, who more or less knew the reason behind Lady Jia's unusual words.

Jia Cong is a special outsider. Even though he has not experienced many things personally and no one has told him about them, he still knows the basics of some of them.

Yuanyang was Lady Jia's most trusted maid. It was said that all of Lady Jia's private dowry and property were given to Yuanyang for care. Lady Jia trusted Yuanyang even more than her son and daughter-in-law in terms of property.

Just imagine a character like Yuanyang. How could Grandmother Jia allow her eldest son, who has such a ridiculous nature, to get involved with her?

Grandmother Jia must have known that the purpose of Jia She and Lady Xing wanting to marry Yuanyang was nothing more than coveting their private property.

Grandmother Jia had been immersed in the filth of the inner court all her life, so she must have seen clearly the characters of her two daughters-in-law.

Although the eldest daughter-in-law is greedy by nature, she still shows off to some extent, so it is easy to see.

But the second daughter-in-law is even more troublesome. She wears a string of Buddhist beads and recites sutras all day long. Others think she is filial and kind, but in fact, her mind is much deeper than the eldest daughter-in-law who is as stupid as a statue.

Qianxue, the maid in Baoyu's room, was originally a maid in Jia Mu's room. She and Xiren were assigned to Baoyu to serve.

Nanny Li in Baoyu's room was also the wet nurse arranged by Grandmother Jia for Baoyu since he was a child.

Taking advantage of the trend of reducing the population in the mansion, Wang Fu-ren drove away Xixue and retired Li Ma-ma, just because of a cup of maple dew tea, which was a trivial excuse. This was to cut off Jia Mu's eyes and ears in Baoyu's room. Moreover, Jia Cong recently heard that for some unknown reason, Wang Fu-ren took out two taels of silver from her monthly allowance and gave it to Xiren in Baoyu's room, raising her monthly allowance to the same level as that of a concubine, thus winning Xiren's heart.

You should know that Xiren was originally Jia Mu's maid. Because she was always honest and gentle, Jia Mu assigned her to serve Baoyu.

By doing this, Mrs. Wang was almost trying to steal the old lady's love and slap her in the face. Although the whole family couldn't say anything on the surface, the old lady must be very angry.

When he encountered the Yuanyang incident just now, he pretended to be confused and cursed her out. He was just sounding a warning to his second daughter-in-law and asked her to be more restrained in her daily life.

……

Among these people, apart from Jia Cong, Wang Xifeng was the most sensitive.

She knew about Yuanyang's matter. In fact, with just a word from the old lady, the master could not do anything to Yuanyang. It would only become a big deal once the matter was brought to the attention of the old lady.

At this moment, the old lady did not call the eldest wife to scold her, but instead scolded the second wife who was in charge. This was just an indirect criticism and she was just making a fuss about the issue.

As the mistress of the Rongguo Mansion, her aunt's daily actions had long made the old lady feel that she lacked vision, and she had long been somewhat dissatisfied.

Not to mention other small matters, the one that hit the old lady the most was Baoyu's marriage.

Baoyu is the legitimate son of the second wife of the Rongguo Mansion and the apple of the old lady's eye. According to the status of the Duke's Mansion, Baoyu should marry a noble lady from a high-ranking official family to be considered a good match.

The old lady's favorite, Lin Daiyu, is a daughter of an official, who is of high status and wealth. She comes from a family of marquises for five generations. Her father is a top scholar in the imperial examination and serves as the Imperial Censor of the Lianghuai Salt Administration. Such status and family background are perfect for Baoyu.

However, out of selfishness and the fact that her aunt was not on good terms with her deceased sister-in-law, she was afraid that if Lin Daiyu married into the family, she would be favored by the old lady and she would lose her authority as the mistress of the household.

He insisted on marrying his niece Baochai, who was related to him by blood, as his daughter-in-law, and even spread the story of a perfect match in the mansion, which made the old lady very unhappy.

Not to mention the old lady, even Wang Xifeng felt that this was inappropriate.

The ancestors of the Xue family only had a nominal position as Ziwei Sheren, which means they were a family of merchants. Their background was far different from that of Lin Daiyu.

If the eldest son of Rongguo Mansion married the daughter of a merchant, the outside world would laugh at the Jia family. However, my aunt also came from a prominent family, and for the sake of her own likes and dislikes and stability, she ignored all this.

The old lady was just using the Yuanyang incident to threaten her aunt.

The old lady's words: "She is respectful to me on the outside, but she is plotting against me on the inside" are exactly what her aunt did. This statement is not at all respectful.

……

Seeing that the old lady was angry, Li Gongcai felt that the situation was a little strange and not suitable for unmarried young ladies to be present. He waved to Yingchun, Baochai and other sisters and led them out of the hall.

When Tanchun saw Jia Cong still sitting there, holding the scissors he had snatched from Yuanyang, she thought for a moment and stopped.

She originally wanted to say something good about Lady Wang, as this stepmother had been quite nice to her in the past.

But that day when she went to beg Lady Wang to allow Jin Chuan to stay, she was flatly refused, and she felt a little disappointed.

Although Tanchun was young, she was very smart. She could not understand the full meaning of the old lady's words just now, but she had some feeling. She swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

When Daiyu saw Tanchun suddenly stop, she knew that she must have something on her mind, so she also stopped. She saw clearly from the side that Yuanyang's look at her third brother seemed a little unusual...

But she couldn't help but feel a little angry in her heart. This idiot Third Brother not only coaxed the girl in her room to wash and comb her hair, but he even dared to mess with the maidservant beside her grandmother.

……

In Rongqing Hall, Wang Xifeng felt that it would be unreasonable for her not to come out to smooth things over at this critical juncture, and her aunt would become suspicious of her.

Then he said, "Madam, the master wants to take someone in, how would you know about this?"

After hearing this, Jia's mother took the opportunity to calm down and said to Mrs. Wang, "I was also very angry and confused. This matter is not your fault.

But now you are the mistress of the house, you have to take care of everything in the house, and you have to remind your sister-in-law in your daily words that you can’t let her let her master do whatever he wants, otherwise the house will be in chaos.”

Mrs. Wang knew clearly what Lady Jia meant, and quickly responded with a respectful look.

After hearing what Grandmother Jia said, Jia Cong disciplined his daughter-in-law without making a fuss. It seemed like he was trying to win without fighting, and his mind was quite formidable.

It's a pity that the old lady only focuses on the internal fighting at home and never pays any attention to things outside. Her tricks and vision are so different from those of the old lady, and she looks so smart in vain.

After being angry with Lady Wang, Lady Jia calmed down following Wang Xifeng's words and asked Amber to help Yuanyang up and comb her hair again.

Then he scolded Sister Yuanyang who was kneeling on the ground, "You are also confused. You can force your sister to do something she doesn't want to do, and you even say that she likes the man in the mansion. Such nonsense.

What good will it do you to ruin your sister's reputation? "

When Jin Wenxiang's wife heard the stern voice of Lady Jia, she became panicked. When Yuanyang made a fuss just now, she knew that something was wrong. The old lady was coming back to settle the score with her.

Jin Wenxiang's family was afraid that Lady Jia would get angry and dismiss them from their jobs in Rongqingtang. If they were sent to work somewhere else, they would be completely embarrassed.

The woman was so flustered that she said something without thinking: "Old lady, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have forced my sister to agree to this. It was really because of the eldest lady's intention that I dared not refuse.

Even if I were brave enough, I would not dare to lie to the old lady. I did not say that our daughter fell in love with a man out of thin air…”

Having said this, Jin Wenxiang's eyes involuntarily turned to Jia Cong, but she saw that Jia Cong's eyes were focused and his eyes were as sharp as a knife, which scared her so much that she swallowed back the rest of her words.

Jia's mother, Mrs. Wang, Aunt Xue and others present were all worldly-wise people. Although Jin Wenxiang's wife did not say anything further, her expression just now was as if she had spoken.

Everyone's eyes suddenly turned to Jia Cong. Even Yinglian and Qingwen, who were standing behind Jia Cong, felt that something was wrong with the atmosphere.

Anger was already rising in Grandmother Jia's eyes, she had never expected that Jia Cong would actually provoke Yuanyang. Yuanyang usually followed her around, but she had no idea about it at all. What a sinful man this was!
He asked in a deep voice: "Brother Cong, what is going on? Does it have anything to do with you?"

When Daiyu and Tanchun in the outer hall heard Lady Jia ask this question in the inner hall, their faces changed and they thought to themselves that this was not good. The eldest master wanted to marry Yuanyang as his concubine, how did this involve the third brother?

(End of this chapter)