Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 55: The End of the Past
Qingwen hurried forward to greet her: "Hello, Aunt Zhou, why are you here?"

This middle-aged woman was none other than Wang Fu-ren's chambermaid, Zhou Ruijia, who usually took care of all of Wang Fu-ren's household affairs.

Her husband was in charge of the rent money from the Ningguo Mansion, and the couple were considered respectable elderly people in the mansion.

Qingwen hurriedly led Zhou Rui's wife and the maid into the room, and kindly invited her to sit down.

Jia Cong understood that Qingwen was well-behaved. He knew that he always stayed in the East Courtyard and did not recognize Zhou Rui's wife. She was reminding him deliberately.

He said loudly, "Hello, Aunt Zhou. I am injured and cannot stand up to greet you. I hope you will not be offended."

Zhou Rui's wife had heard about Jia Cong's affairs a long time ago. She knew that he had lived a difficult life in the East Courtyard since he was a child and had always been severely criticized and beaten by the eldest master and mistress.

I thought that children who grew up in such an environment would suffer too much grievance and would inevitably have some hidden resentment.

But when I saw him in person, I found that he had a gentle look in his eyes, spoke calmly, was open and generous, and did not have the slightest bit of a cold or eccentric air.

It is amazing that a child raised in such a situation did not grow up badly.

No wonder the second master took a liking to him, he really seems to be an extraordinary child.

"Brother Cong, please stop being so rude. Now that you are in the West Mansion, we are all family. If you need food and supplies in the future, just send the maid to find me."

"Then I would like to thank Aunt Zhou first." Even though Jia Cong was injured and unable to get out of bed, he still sat down and bowed properly to Zhou Rui's wife.

This man is Mrs. Wang's confidant. This mansion is full of sieves, so he has to perform well to avoid being criticized.

Seeing that he was neither arrogant nor humble, and was modest and polite, Zhou Ruijia nodded secretly in her heart.

"Madam said that there is only one maid, Qingwen, in Cong's room. He will have to go to school in the future, and there will be a lot of things to do inside and outside the house. I am afraid you are not enough.

Send Liu's Wu'er to your house as a maid, and send three or two other maids to do rough work, and take them with you when you move to the new courtyard."

Jia Cong was very moved and said, "Madam, you are so kind. I am so grateful to you and I. I really have no way to repay you. Please help me and Madam to express our gratitude when you go back."

When I feel better, I will go over and kowtow to my wife."

Originally, bringing a maid over was just a small matter, and there was no need for Zhou Ruijia to come forward. She was also sent by Mrs. Wang.

Although the words were not said explicitly, Zhou Ruijia had followed Mrs. Wang all her life, so how could she not understand it?

However, Jia Cong, who was beaten half to death in the East Courtyard, actually had a chance to turn bad luck around. Not only did his grandmother place him in the West Palace to be raised for fear of any accidents, but someone outside also arranged for him to study in an academy.

Mrs. Wang began to have some interest in her mind. She also wanted to see what he would look like after his long period of hardship and success. She wanted to see his true character and had a plan in mind.

Zhou Ruijia was a worldly-wise person who had seen many situations. She saw that Jia Cong's words were sincere and seemed to come from his heart.

I thought that he was used to being criticized since he was a child, so if someone treated him a little better, he would be grateful. This was also common sense, so I let it go with my critical mind.

"Wu'er, don't just stand there, come and meet your Third Master, and serve him well from now on."

Jia Cong saw a maid walking out from behind Zhou Rui's wife. She was a few years older than Qingwen, with a slender and graceful figure, clear eyes, a pretty face, and a delicate and graceful air.

He bowed to Jia Cong and said, "Wu'er, I'm meeting the Third Master."

Liu Wu'er, Jia Cong was familiar with this name, although in the original timeline, Liu Wu'er was just a flash-in-the-pan character.

Although the book only mentions her a few times, it is very impressive. It says that although she is a cook's daughter, her personality is similar to Ping, Xi, Yuan and Zi.

This is a very high evaluation in the Red Mansion surrounded by flowers.

Later, Baoyu's maid Fangguan gave her the rose water that Baoyu had left over. Because her mother Liu's family had offended Siqi and others, the mother and daughter were labeled thieves. Liu Wu'er was a noble person, so she was so angry that she fell ill. The description of the book was disordered. Some people said that Liu Wu'er died of anger because of this, while others said that she did not die. There are many different opinions.

Today Jia Cong finally saw the real person, and indeed his figure and appearance were very outstanding, living up to the vivid description in the original text.

The girl Qingwen has always been proud of her good looks, but she saw that Wu'er was as outstanding as she was.

The graceful and elegant charm on her body was even better than her own, and she snorted in dissatisfaction.

Seeing Qingwen's childish nature, Jia Cong couldn't help but laugh.

Jia Cong had never seen Wu'er before today. Because Wu'er was not on duty in the garden, she could not move around the mansion freely and could only help out in her mother's kitchen.

But he was not unfamiliar with Wu'er, because Zhishao had been very good friends with Wu'er since childhood. The last time Jia Cong was beaten by Jia She and had no money to go to the kitchen to buy food, it was Wu'er who kindly helped him secretly.

Although he was brought by Zhishao every time, he and Wu'er had never met each other, but they had already developed a close relationship.

When he saw Wu'er, Jia Cong thought of his own Zhishao, and his heart couldn't help feeling a little sad.

In the next few days, Jia Cong asked Qingwen to apply medicine on Qu Hongxiu's back every day. The medicine was very effective. By the third day, the whip wounds on Qu Hongxiu's back had healed for the most part and she was able to walk.

Qingwen was a straightforward person, and everything she expressed showed on her face. She was initially a little repulsive to the new arrival, Wu'er, even though she had arrived only one day earlier than Wu'er.

Fortunately, although Wu'er is a person with his own opinions, he is actually delicate and gentle in nature. He treats people with sincerity and knows how to be humble, so he is quite popular.

The two of them did all the work in Jia Cong's room together. After a day or two of bumping into each other, Qingwen finally submitted to her, and the two little maids became harmonious, talking and laughing.

Among them, Xiao Jindong, He Jizhen and Zhou Xizhe came together.

They had known earlier that Jia Cong had been robbed on the road, and later heard from Liu Bi that he was injured by family punishment, so the three of them gathered together on a certain day to come and visit him.

These three people were more experienced and sophisticated than Liu Bi. They knew that family disgrace should not be made public, so they did not mention Jia Cong's injury at all.

They just talked about some things they saw and heard in the market and the interesting things they encountered in daily life. The four of them had a great time chatting during the meal.

Xiao Jindong also said that since Jia Cong became famous in the Nanxi Literary Society, the value of the calligraphy works displayed in his shop has doubled. Many people come to inquire about them every day, and the price has been raised to two hundred taels per piece.

It looks like the prices will continue to rise, and he even joked that he should heal his wounds as soon as possible and sell a few more pieces of calligraphy to him so that he could make some more money.

Since that day, Jia Cong deliberately provoked Jia She, and then dealt with some inner-house calculations by Jia Mu and others. Only at this time did he feel a little relieved.

However, the two uninvited guests who came later made him alert.

The people who came were Liu Binfang, the magistrate of Zhen'an Prefecture, and Zheng Yingquan, the chief magistrate of the Court of Magistrates.

The magistrate Liu Binfang was in his thirties. He was neatly dressed, had a kind attitude, and a smile on his face that showed he would not offend anyone. Jia Cong could see that he was just a guest.

Zheng Yingquan, the chief judge of the Magistrate's Court, is the protagonist.

Jia Cong had long anticipated that the Court of Inquiry would definitely not turn a blind eye to the fact that he had been kidnapped by the murderer of Wu Jinrong and returned home safely.

He had anticipated that the Magistrates' Court would definitely send someone to inquire about the matter, and he had rehearsed in his mind countless times how the other party would ask questions and how he would answer them.

Zhou Junxing of the Magistrate's Court is a notoriously cruel official who is good at investigating and solving cases, but is even more keen on making connections and framing others. When facing such a person, one could easily end up in big trouble if one is not careful.

Moreover, at the critical moment that day, he and Qu Hongxiu teamed up to kill two of Zhou Junxing's men, and he was already involved in the matter, which made him even more cautious in his words and deeds in this matter.

　In this new book stage, please follow me and collect it. Thank you very much!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)