I'm in the Red Mansion

Chapter 193 Women are not inferior to men
Back in Ningguo Mansion, Jia Cong was reading in his study.

The hunting trip in Tiewang Mountain was on March 28th, and it took 17 or 18 days just to hunt outside the area. By the time we returned, it was around April 15th, and now it’s May in a blink of an eye.

There are only three months left until the provincial examination.

At this moment, Xiangling came to report that it was Xiaorong's grandmother who came to ask for a meeting.

Qin Keqing comes to visit?
For a moment, Jia Cong couldn't help but feel confused.

Didn't Qin Keqing always misunderstand that I had bad intentions towards her?
Why is it that he has come to me on his own initiative now?
By the way, I remember I said two lines of poetry to her last time: White egrets fly over the vast paddy fields, and yellow orioles sing in the shady summer trees.

She probably understood and no longer doubted me.

I wonder what she wants to talk to me about this time?
Could it be related to her brother?

Qin Keqing's status is quite embarrassing now. If it is not an urgent matter, she would hardly come to visit.

Thinking of this, Jia Cong couldn't help but order someone to invite Qin Keqing in.

The two of them greeted each other, and Jia Cong asked Qin Keqing to sit down.

Qingwen served tea, and after a few words of idle chatter, Qin Keqing could not help but say:
"I heard at home that my uncle is reforming the tribal school. Now the tribal school has a completely new look."

"My niece admires my uncle's ability very much, but I have something to ask of him."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "We are all family, so why bother asking for help? If you need my help, just tell me. As long as I can do it, I will never refuse."

Qin Keqing couldn't help but say, "My brother was originally studying at the clan school, but because he had a serious illness last year, he was delayed at home."

"Thanks to my uncle's miraculous healing, he was able to save his life. Now, after more than half a year of nursing, he is gradually getting better."

"I want to beg my uncle to let my brother continue to study in our Jia family school."

Jia Cong nodded and said, "I thought it was a big deal, but it turns out to be just a small matter like this. It's nothing to worry about. Just send the person over."

Qin Keqing hurriedly thanked him, "Thanks, uncle."

After hesitating for a moment, Qin Keqing continued, "My niece-in-law is a little shallow in her knowledge. There are two things that have been hanging in my mind, and I don't know whether to say them or not."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "We are a family. If there is anything that should be said or not, just say it."

Qin Keqing couldn't help but say: "Uncle is naturally a man of both civil and military talents, and has unparalleled intelligence, but uncle is so focused on preparing for the provincial examination that he didn't notice that my Jia family also has hidden dangers."

"As the saying goes, 'the moon is full and then it wanes, the water is full and then it overflows'; and 'if you climb high, you will fall hard'. Now our family has been prosperous for a hundred years."

"If one day joy turns to sorrow, and the saying 'when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter' comes true, wouldn't it be a waste of our reputation as a family of poets and scholars?"

Hearing Qin Keqing's words, Jia Cong's heart shuddered.

Jia Cong nodded and said, "Keqing, you are right. Always think of the days when you have time, and don't wait until you have no time to think of the days when you have time. Since you have noticed this inappropriateness, do you have any solution?"

When Qin Keqing heard Jia Cong say the word Keqing, she was stunned and couldn't help looking at Jia Cong in surprise.

Keqing was her nickname. In this world, besides her father and brother, only her deceased husband Jia Rong knew her.

Even Jia Zhen didn't know it - yes, Jia Baoyu once called her by her nickname in his sleep, but it didn't mean that Baoyu knew her nickname.

How did Uncle San know her nickname now?

And in such a state of forgetfulness that he actually shouted out?
In this era, a woman’s nickname and feet were not allowed to be touched by outsiders except her husband.

When Jia Cong saw Qin Keqing looking at him like that, he immediately realized something was wrong.

In the past, I always called her Rongge's daughter-in-law, but this time, in a trance, I directly called her by her nickname. How did I know her nickname?

This is hard to explain!

In the end, Jia Cong could only act as if nothing had happened and pretend that nothing had happened.

Qin Keqing was full of doubts. She looked at Jia Cong intently, wanting to ask him for an explanation.

Unexpectedly, Jia Cong seemed to be completely unaware that he had just mentioned his nickname.

Qin Keqing read for a while, but felt it was not right to continue reading.

She had no choice but to say, "Although we offer sacrifices to our ancestors' tombs four times a year, we just don't have enough money and food. Secondly, although we have established a private school, we don't have enough money to support it."

"I think that now when the country is prosperous, there is no lack of sacrifices and supplies, but when it declines in the future, where will these two things come from?"

"Why not follow my advice and take advantage of your wealth today to buy more farms, houses, and land near the ancestral tombs so that the money for the sacrifices and supplies can all come from here, and you can also set up a family school here."

"The elders and the young in the clan have agreed on a rule, and from now on each family will be in charge of the land, money, grain, sacrifices, and supplies for the year."

"If it circulates like this, there will be no competition, and there will be no malpractices such as pawning. Even if there is a crime, all property can be confiscated by the government, but the sacrificial property will not even be confiscated by the government."

"Even if things fall into decline, the descendants can go home to study and farm, and there will be a decline, and the sacrifices can continue forever. If you think that the prosperity will never end, and don't think about the future, it will not be a long-term strategy."

After Qin Keqing finished speaking, Jia Cong couldn't help but look at Qin Keqing in surprise.

He was not surprised by these words, he actually knew these words a long time ago.

In the thirteenth chapter of the Book of Red Mansions: Qin Keqing was appointed as the Dragon Guard Commander after her death, she appeared in Wang Xifeng's dream and said these words.

What surprised Jia Cong was that the situation at that time was that the person was about to die, and his words were kind.

After her death, Qin Keqing felt that in the entire Jia Mansion, perhaps only Wang Xifeng had the ability and means to save the Jia Mansion.

Therefore, he told Wang Xifeng in his dream how to leave the Jia family a way out.

It’s a pity that although Wang Xifeng has the ability to save the Jia family, she does not have the intention to save it.

In the end, her last words were not followed.

If Wang Xifeng had really done what Qin Keqing wanted, why would the Jia family have fallen into such a state of desolation after their property was ransacked?

And now, Qin Keqing actually took the initiative to find me and told me all the strategies she had thought of.

It can be seen that Qin Keqing really wants the best for the Jia family.

Moreover, she does have the means and ability.

She is just a little weak in character, but in terms of mental ability, she is not necessarily weaker than Wang Xifeng.

And how did the Jia family treat her?

Jia Rong, her husband, was afraid of Jia Zhen's tyranny and was indifferent to her.

The father-in-law Jia Zhen has always been thinking about how to persecute her.

On the contrary, she still wholeheartedly cares about the Jia family!
Thinking of this, Jia Cong couldn't help but say: "Brother Rong's daughter-in-law, your insight is really as good as that of a man. It really makes the men of the Jia family ashamed."

"Don't worry, I will implement these two points soon. In this way, even if the Jia family declines in the future, there will be a way out."

(End of this chapter)