The Maid's Strategy in the Red Chamber

Qingwen

After working hard for more than half a year, at the end of winter, Xueyan finally finished the embroidery.At this time, the construction of the Family Hospital has also been completed, and the furnishings are being arranged nervously.The embroidered picture of Xueyan was immediately sent outside to be framed after Mother Jia and the others had a look at it.

Jia's mother knew that such a large piece was the most difficult to embroider, and if one was not good, the whole would be uncoordinated.Fortunately, Xueyan embroidered very well, showing dignity without showing kitsch, it was better than what I thought, so I couldn't help but praise her again, and reward her generously as usual.

Seeing the things that Yuanyang brought to her, Xueyan thought to herself: Grandma, I have been working so hard for half a year, and finally I have seen the rewards.Because the money spent on building the other courtyard this time was much less than Jia Mu imagined, so this time she was very generous and gave Xueyan a pair of gold ingots weighing twelve taels, a pair of red gold twisted silk bracelets, and two rulers. head.

In the past, this was considered a great income, but compared to the 2000 taels of silver notes given by Mrs. Xing before, Xueyan felt that it was not worth it.That embroidery only took two months to exchange for 2000 taels. This time it took more than half a year to embroider for less than 300 taels of silver. It seems that the price-performance ratio is not very good.

However, Mrs. Xing's work is a kind of fishing, and she feels hot when she takes the money.It's still Jia's mother who is doing a solid job!

Originally, the end of the year is a busy time, and this year, with preparations for visiting relatives, everyone in the house is even more busy.Xueyan had just finished her embroidery, and before she had time to rest for a while, she was assigned the important task of making a dress for Daiyu.This is the dress I wore when I was preparing to visit my relatives in Yuanchun. It should be more solemn and gorgeous than usual.Coupled with the new clothes for the New Year, Xueyan really didn't even have time to catch her breath, so she started her busy life again.In previous years, there were little maids to help, but this time only Zhu Mei and the others helped to make shoes and so on, and Madam Xing "borrowed" the others

I went to do the work of visiting relatives and other homes.

Speaking of this matter, Xue Yan had to admire Jia Amnesty and his wife for their careful planning.It's different from going out to buy everything in the original book, this time almost all the jobs that the maid and mother-in-law can do are sent out by the two of them.What bead curtains, chairs and table surrounds, but all the work that women in the family can do are let the servants do.Even Sanchun and Daiyu were used by Mrs. Xing in the name of doing their best to help the mother. Those who could write and draw were selected and framed to hang in the other courtyard.Those who can't do both of these can help to weave a net, do needlework and so on.As for those little servants and servants, they were not idle.Don't you think you have no work on weekdays?This time, the opportunity has come. I will use the family servants to move, lift, plant flowers and trees in leisure time. Even if the fine masonry and carpentry work cannot be done, it is okay to lay hands on.In short, it is to mobilize all the forces that can be mobilized to work, in order to spend the least amount of money to do the most things.

Most of Jia's servants are old slaves, and some of them are used to stealing and cheating because of their reputation. Naturally, some people are not happy to do heavy work with real knives and guns.Luckily, the people on Jia Amnesty's side said that they had been trained for the past two years, and they didn't dare to show it even if they disagreed.On the contrary, Jia Zheng and his wife have always liked to pretend to be compassionate and kind, and they are used to being inferior.There was a servant over there who jumped with Jia She on the spot.

Jia Amnesty also explained lazily, and directly asked people to tie up the whole family and sell the men to the salt field, and the women to the army tents.These two are the places of the imperial court, and they are called "doing some modest efforts for the imperial court", which is difficult for Jia Zheng to stop.He didn't dare to stop him, for he was afraid that Jia She would let go of this matter in a fit of anger, and his family's provincial house would be ruined.Jia Zheng is not stupid either, he may not be clear about the deceitful behavior of these servants, it's just that he's used to being messy, and because of face, he hasn't dealt with it.

This time, Jia Amnesty helped him deal with it, and he agreed in his heart.

As for Mrs. Wang, I have to say that these two people are worthy of being a couple.The servant was caught on the front foot, and she asked people to turn over the family's house on the back foot.

Turned his head upside down, and brought back all the private houses that he had accumulated for several lifetimes into his own room...

Afterwards, Mrs. Xing also laughed at Jia She because of this incident: "You will do these thankless things. Look, this villain is made of you, but the benefits are for the second child. Really. I don't know what to say about you?"

Jia She said with a sigh: "You think I want to take care of these messes, the second child is my younger brother in terms of status. If he does something inappropriate, I, the eldest brother, will also be in trouble. Really, there is no benefit to a broken title, but a lot of trouble."

Mrs. Xing reassured: "Okay, okay, don't complain, aren't you working in vain? Half of the second child's money went into your pocket, so it's nothing to be scolded."

It's okay not to mention this matter, but when it is mentioned, Jia She wants to vomit blood even more. He looked at Mrs. Xing sadly: "But didn't you get all the money in the end?"

Mrs. Xing shot him a glance: "You didn't hand over the money you earned to your wife. Could it be that you have some ulterior motives? Besides, didn't you leave 5000 taels for you? I usually turn a blind eye to the three hundred and two hundred taels." , you will be content!"

Frustrated by these words, Jia She, who had nothing to say, went to a corner and secretly grieved: Oh, it’s all my fault that I mistook female men for soft girls when I was young, and I was crushed to death even after crossing. Wow…

Xing who was next to him saw it, and curled his lips in disdain: With an old face full of wrinkles, why are you pretending to be young? There is no teenager who makes such a melancholy expression looking up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, it is simply hot eyes!

Then Jia She, who was too lazy to talk to the show too much, casually straightened the hair on the sideburns and stood up: "I have an appointment with the second wife and the eldest nephew and daughter-in-law to check the decorations in the garden. Let's have dinner, and please master yourself." After saying that, he left.

Mrs. Xing first went to Mrs. Jia's room to greet her. Mrs. Wang and Mrs. You were already waiting here, as were all the girls. When they saw her come in, they all stood up and said hello.

Mother Jia already knew her itinerary, so she greeted her with a smile and said, "Very well, a family should work together like this. The relatives and other homes can go so smoothly, and you, the elders, can't take credit for it. You should let your younger siblings thank you. right."

Before, when Mrs. Xing proposed to ask the maid at home to help with needlework, Jia's mother thought it was too petty and unreasonable.However, Mrs. Xing brought out the whereabouts of her two nephews from her natal family: "Nowadays, the world is getting more and more difficult. The families of the two Shihou are still under the Marquis, and they don't have such a big expenditure as ours. The needlework is almost the same on weekdays." Mrs. Hou is doing it with her family members. This year Tongzhou Zhuangzi reported another snow disaster. Next year, it is not a small amount for the mother to send a gift for relatives. If we are more frugal, the mansion may not even be able to eat next year. What's more, the servant girl Aren’t the servants buying it to work? If they don’t do anything, why do the family spend so much money every year to support these idlers? It’s better to sell it.”

When she said this at the time, the maids and women standing in the room felt a chill down their backs.Ordinary ducks are the best at observing words and expressions, and immediately saw that Jia's mother was a little moved, but because she couldn't save face and said soft words, she immediately stood up and echoed: "What the lady said is true, it's all old ladies and ladies who are sympathetic. On weekdays, servants and servants can only wear red and green brocade clothes. Now that there is something going on in the mansion, although the few of us do not have the outstanding needlework like Xueyan, we can still do things like tie a net and make a curtain. What a glorious thing it is for a concubine to visit relatives, if the servants can make a little effort, they will be decent after several lifetimes of cultivation."

What Yuanyang said was that the servants and servants of the family voluntarily worked for Yuanchun's relatives. They gained both face and reputation, so Mother Jia naturally agreed.That's why later there was the matter of the maid at home being assigned needlework.

In particular, Mrs. Xing managed to get Qingwen, who was second only to Xueyan in needlework, to return to the old lady's side to do some meticulous work. At this time, Qingwen was not a maid in Baoyu's room, because she was outstanding in appearance and good in needlework. It is inevitable to be excluded.This time, when I came back to Jiamu's side, because the needlework was very important, everyone praised her, and Jiamu also liked her sharp speech and lively personality. Gradually, I felt that I was much happier here than in Baoyu's room.

At this time, the work assigned to her was almost finished, and Qingwen felt a little uncertain, so she came to discuss with Xueyan.

Xueyan told her firmly: "You idiot, let me ask you, do you take more money with Baoyu or with the old lady?"