From the Red Mansion, you can travel through the world of martial arts

Chapter 195 Baochai's Worries

After Jia Wei and Baochai had finished their meal, they went to the main room.

Jia Wei held her close all the way and supported her as she walked. However, Baochai was plump and seemed to be fine.

A group of maids, old women, stewards, servants and other servants in the mansion were divided into groups and lined up neatly outside, kowtowed and paid their respects to the mistress of the house.

Yu-shi arrived soon after, bringing her second and third sisters with her to deliver the public account books of the mansion, as well as the counterpart of the marquis's mansion, and the keys and lists of the treasury and silver vault.

Before Jia Wei got married, Youshi was the temporary housekeeper. Now that Baochai has married into the family, she must return the jade intact to Jia Wei.

Baochai took them one by one. She looked at You Erjie and You Sanjie for a few more times. Seeing that the two girls were well-dressed and dressed beautifully, she had some vague guesses.

But since Jia Wei had just mentioned that he had taken in three concubines, these two were not included, she naturally would not say much and just pretended not to know.

At this time, the two girls were also looking at Baochai. You Erjie thought to herself, she is so dignified and elegant, with such an extraordinary demeanor, no wonder Jia Wei is in love with her, and for a moment she couldn't help feeling a little ashamed of herself.

The third sister thought, isn't she just prettier than me? I'm not bad either, and I'm definitely better at martial arts than her, and I'm better at serving people than her...

Third Sister You saw that there were two chairs in the main seat in the hall, but Jia Wei wanted to squeeze into one chair with Baochai.

The hand was still on her shoulder, protecting her at all times. The two of them joked from time to time, and the good honey mixed with oil inevitably made it more delicious.

Baochai gave them a few words of lecture, gave them some reward as usual, and then dismissed all the servants.

At this time, Youshi looked at her two younger sisters, and You Erjie and You Sanjie stepped forward to pay their respects to Baochai.

Youshi wanted to help her two younger sisters. As long as Baochai asked out of curiosity and knew that her two younger sisters were still concubines, she would most likely give Youshi some face, and there would be no problem in making them concubines in the future.

But Baochai knew in her heart that these were all Jia Wei's business, so she did not say much, but just helped the two of them up and asked a few casual questions about family matters.

It seemed that it was not surprising at all that the two sisters of the eldest sister-in-law paid their respects to her younger sister-in-law and kept silent about the matter.

Yu's expression remained calm. She changed the subject and made a few jokes, then left with her people.

Although Jia Wei noticed something strange, he just smiled and said nothing. He leaned back in his chair, put one hand on Baochai's shoulder, and twirled her hair between his fingers, feeling very comfortable.

After Baochai sent Youshi away, she looked back and saw Jia Wei smiling, and she felt relieved. She did not ask more about the two You girls, and she and Jia Wei looked at the account book together.

Jia Wei also sent away the other maids, leaving only Ying'er, Xiangling and others to serve.

He pointed at the tea bowl and asked Baochai to feed him tea. Baochai obeyed and personally fed him the bowl of tea, and wiped the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief.

Jia Wei couldn't help but feel comfortable, thinking that this was the good thing about Sister Bao, she was warm-hearted and willing to serve others. If it was Sister Lin, she would definitely roll her eyes at him...

The Xue family was a royal merchant family, and Baochai roughly flipped through the account book and got the idea.

She was still a little surprised, for example, she could see the actual situation in Rongguo Mansion even if Wang Xifeng and others didn't say it.

Although the Rong Mansion appears prosperous on the surface, it does not have much income. It is already in a situation of boiling oil in a fire and decorating flowers with brocade. The income is not enough to make ends meet, and the mansion is living beyond its means. The days of wealth and prosperity will not last long.

Baochai originally thought that the situation in the East Palace was similar, but she did not expect that the economic situation of the Marquis's Mansion headed by Jia Wei was surprisingly good!

The Ningguo Mansion originally had few masters and servants, and the expenses were small, so there was a lot of silver left in the public treasury. After Jia Wei was granted the title, he seized nearly 600,000 taels of silver from the Lai family.

In this way, it is easy to be the mistress of the house.

But Baochai also noticed some minor problems, such as excessive decoration in some places and unreasonable prices for several purchases.

But there was no need to say much in front of Jia Wei. Just wait until she had established herself in the mansion and started to take charge, and then solve the problems one by one.

Now that the mansion is doing well now, we must manage it well and not follow the same fate as Rongguo Mansion.

Baochai flipped to the back and saw the account of the mansion's garden renovation. She asked curiously, "Besides the public treasury, did the mansion get money from anywhere else to build the garden?"

Jia Wei nodded and said, "The main money for repairing the garden will come from my private treasury."

Baochai realized that the entire Marquis's mansion belonged to the title, and it was normal to separate it from Jia Wei's private property.

Jia Wei waved his hand, and Cuiguo brought him an account book. He took it and handed it to Baochai in his arms: "Husband and wife are one, and my private property is also in your hands. You can spend it as you like, but don't mix it with the money in the public treasury."

Jia Wei thought that now all the assets of the Marquis' Mansion belonged to Baochai's family, so in the future most of his private property would definitely be added to Daiyu's family. It was unrealistic to treat them equally, but at least he should not be partial.

Baochai felt sweet after hearing this. She brought 120 dowries with her when she got married, all from her own pocket money, so she certainly didn't have to spend Jia Wei's money. But Jia Wei's action showed his trust and intimacy.

Baochai looked through Jia Wei's private accounts and became more and more surprised. Jia Wei's private treasury had spent about 300,000 taels of silver to build the garden, but the amount of silver in the private treasury had increased instead of decreased. The reason was that the income was too frightening!
Even someone like Baochai, who has seen the world, was still frightened by what she saw.

For example, in the most recent transactions, a revenue of 700,000 taels of silver was earned in just three or four days!

It’s richer than the Xue family’s current wealth!
Moreover, the reasons were not clearly stated. When Baochai thought about Jia Wei's power, she knew that it did not come from a legitimate source!

She thought about it carefully. The recent major event in the capital was the rebellion of Prince Ningjing, and the case was investigated by the Jinyiwei. Many of the gang members were implicated, and the Jinyiwei were responsible for confiscating their property and questioning them...

Faced with such a major event, Baochai was unable to remain calm. A trace of worry appeared on her face as she thought about how to persuade Jia Wei.

Jia Wei looked at Baochai's expression and knew what she was thinking. "How lamentable is the virtue of stopping the loom." Sister Bao would advise others to study hard and make progress. Now that she saw Jia Wei's corruption and abuse of power, she must have wanted to advise him.

He tightly embraced Baochai in his arms and looked at the maids: "All of you go down."

"Yes." Xiangling and others responded and retreated one by one.

Jia Wei kissed Baochai's smooth face and pinched her slender waist. "What do you want to say?"

Baochai was still a little uncomfortable with this kind of intimate behavior, so she said softly, "It's nothing, Brother Wei."

Baochai still felt concerned that they had just gotten married. If she started to give orders to Jia Wei, she would inevitably make him unhappy. These things could not be rushed.

Baochai continued to look through the pages, still feeling horrified.

Jia Wei also watched. When he raided Zhao Wuji's house, he embezzled 200,000 taels; when he fought against the eunuchs and other ministers, he embezzled 1 million taels; Wei Xiaobao gave him 100,000 taels; and the Lianghuai salt merchants gave him two gifts, totaling 600,000 taels.

All in all, it was nearly three million taels of silver.

Baochai's palms felt a little cold.

For example, in the West Mansion, masters like Jia Zheng and Jia She could only receive some salaries, and instead of waiting to earn money, they asked the government for money.

It's definitely a good thing that your man can make money, but this is too much of a money-maker... Baochai was a little scared.

She and Jia Wei arrived in Shenjing City at about the same time. In just half a year, Jia Wei earned the title of marquis and made three million taels of silver!

Will nothing really happen?
Jia Wei looked at her expression and knew what Baochai was thinking, so he advised her, "I haven't extorted money from the people, so I'm just robbing the rich to help the poor."

Baochai said lightly: "Brother Wei is certainly cautious in his actions, but the whereabouts of so much money is likely to be revealed. Now that our family is prosperous, no one dares to cause trouble, but if we encounter trouble, perhaps someone will use these things to add insult to injury..."

Baochai turned her hand and clasped Jia Wei's fingers tightly, and advised: "As the saying goes, when the moon is full, it wanes; when the water is full, it overflows. Your family is already very rich. Even if you have more silver, it will just be gathering dust in the storehouse."

Jia Wei held her face with one hand, "What are you afraid of? Even if the sky falls, I will hold it up. I know the situation outside better than you do. I will take care of everything. Just enjoy yourself in this mansion."

Baochai did not go against him, but nodded obediently and said "hmm". Jia Wei knew that she still had some concerns in her heart, so he continued.

"What you said is very true. As long as our family continues to prosper, these won't be a problem... That day in the courtyard, when I said I would make you the Duke's wife, I wasn't just trying to please you."

Baochai felt ashamed when she thought of that day. Jia Wei said, "Let's take a step back. Even if the mansion is defeated, I still have my martial arts skills and can take you out of the capital and live a carefree life as a rich man."

After hearing what Jia Wei said, Baochai finally felt relieved. But after all, it was not good for an official to take bribes, and she was still thinking about being more disciplined to Jia Wei in the future...

The two of them were in love for a while, and then a servant came to report that a eunuch had come to deliver an imperial decree.

Immediately, the main door of the mansion was opened, an incense table was set up, and a eunuch went straight into the mansion to announce the decree.

"The Emperor, by the order of Heaven and Mandate, decrees: First-class Yong'an Marquis Jia Yu has made great contributions to the country, and his wife, Xue, is virtuous, hardworking and frugal, and a good wife for the family. She is hereby conferred the title of First-class Imperial Concubine to honor her virtue. I decree this!"

Jia Wei took the imperial edict, arranged for the eunuch to leave, and sent him away.

When they got back to the house, Baochai was naturally very happy, holding the jade scroll with imperial edicts, and looking at Jia Wei with stars in her eyes.

Nowadays, women take care of their husbands and children, and all they can hope to achieve is a lady with an imperial title, and Baochai is no exception.

She was only fifteen years old when she got married, relying on her husband's power, and was awarded the highest honor for ordinary women, the First-Rank Lady, which was bound to be envied and admired by others.

After all, from now on, whenever the Empress Dowager summoned the Imperial Concubine to attend a banquet in the palace, she would be able to sit in the front row...

Jia Wei picked her up and placed her on his lap, "Are you satisfied?"

"Well...thank you, brother."

"Don't talk nonsense." Jia Wei smiled meaningfully, "How are you going to thank me?"

Baochai looked at Jia Wei and said, "From now on, on the bed, you must obey me..."

The news that Baochai was awarded the first-rank imperial edict soon spread throughout the two mansions and sparked heated discussions.

When Baochai was originally in the West Mansion, everyone praised her. So the servants just used it as a topic of conversation, praising Baochai for her good fortune.

Jia Lian was only a fifth-rank Tongzhi and had no real job, so Wang Xifeng naturally did not have an imperial edict.

Not to mention, Li Wan's husband died not long after they got married.

It was inevitable that the two of them would feel jealous.

Tanchun, Xiangyun and others were very envious for a while.

Jia Wei knew that Daiyu would definitely feel uncomfortable after hearing this. But he had just gotten married, and going to Daiyu for no reason would be disrespectful to her. He would just wait for a good opportunity to coax her...

(End of this chapter)