The Fenghua Years of the Red Chamber

It is said that the picture of the Yingqin Villa has been drawn, from the Huifang Garden in the East Mansion in the east to the back garden of the West Mansion in the west, and the residence of the slaves of the Back Street clansman was demolished. The wife, Jia Zheng and his wife were very satisfied, and Jia She, who has always been critical, couldn't help but say hello.

The provincial villa has not yet officially started construction, and the masters of the Rongning Second Mansion are already busy. Jia Zheng is not in charge of general affairs, such as the placement of clan servants, and the purchase of supplies. And in charge of everything, the inner house is managed by Wang Xifeng who moved back to the second room.

Now the family-speaking villa is about to start construction. Firstly, we will raise money. The 20 taels in the public account are due to the previous expenses, and now only 10 taels are left. Because Jia Zhen was taken by the old lady, she asked for 10 taels of silver. She follower also contributed 10 taels of silver, Jia Zheng and his wife contributed 5 taels of silver, and the old lady contributed 20 taels of silver for herself, making a total of 55 taels of silver.That sounds like a lot, but it's only enough to get the job done.

"Lien'er, girl Feng, mother-in-law visitation is a major event in the family, and as brothers and sisters-in-law, you have to do your part." Madam Wang saw that Jia Lian and his wife were indifferent, and directly asked for money.

"Madam, for your empress's happy event, the two of us are naturally cautious and try our best to handle the errands. We dare not make a mistake and delay your empress's important event." Jia Lian returned solemnly, pretending not to understand what Mrs. Wang meant.

Mrs. Wang saw Jia Lian pretending not to know what he meant, and Wang Xifeng bowing her head in silence as if she didn't want to give out money. She was very angry. Jia Amnesty listened to Jia Lian's words and used the teacup to hide the corners of her mouth. Because of the empress's name, she disarmed and surrendered, and handed over the silver.

"Lian'er, girl Feng, if your mother is good, our family will be decent. If your mother is not good, you will not be able to hold your head up outside. The old woman knows that it is not easy for you as a young couple, but now that the house is difficult, the two of you will pay 5 yuan." Two silver coins." The old lady looked at the reactions of several people, and saw that Jia Lian and Lian escaped Mrs. Wang's begging, so she said, knowing that Jia Lian and his wife took care of the house, they took a lot out of their pockets, The 5 taels of silver can still be obtained, and the old lady is very determined. Although it is distressing for Jia Lian and his wife to take out the 5 taels of silver, they can still get it out.

The old lady brought out her mother to oppress others, and she was very confident that Jia Lian and his wife would pay for it.But he couldn't stand the presence of such an idiot as Jia Amnesty in the house. "The old lady's words are a bit biased. As the mother's biological parents, the second child only paid 5 taels of silver. As juniors, Lian'er and his wife are juniors. How can they pay the same amount as the second child? Besides, Lian'er has no property in his hands. How can he have the money to honor his mother." Jia She was unhappy, and directly pushed back and said.

"Shut up, boss, I didn't ask you anything." The old lady didn't expect Jia Amnesty to shirk for Jia Lian.

"Old lady, what I said is wrong? You and I both know how much money Lian'er has in his hand. Even if they agreed to pay 5 taels of silver, where did the money come from? Who doesn't know that Lian'er is a softie?" Yes, live on the daughter-in-law's dowry, for the sake of the mother, fill in her daughter-in-law's dowry, how do you let them live in the future? Old lady, you can't let the Jia family's children and grandchildren eat chaff and swallow vegetables for the sake of the mother's face. If this is going to get out, can the empress have a bright face?" Jia pardoned the bachelor, and did not save any face for the second room and Jia Lian in front of everyone, and Jia Zheng and Jia Lian, who were talking on the phone, blushed and did not dare to look up. say.

"You bastard, unfilial son, you want to piss me off." The old lady's hands trembled angrily, and what the old lady said both inside and outside was to blame her for favoring the second wife, and making it difficult for the first wife because of a married granddaughter.

"The old lady calm down, the son is telling the truth, the old lady just doesn't want to listen to the son not to mention it." Jia She was afraid that the old mother's anger would be good or bad, and the big thing would be ruined, so he hurriedly comforted her.

"You..." the old lady pointed at Jia She and was speechless. Mrs. Wang hurried up to appease Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng, "Seeing that you are mad at the old lady, what do you say about this?" Mrs. Wang must start today Jia Lian and his wife bit out a piece of meat.

"Old lady, madam, the grandson is not up to the mark, he has become a father, and he has no serious errands, he only helps with the general affairs at home, the old man is right, the grandson is worthless, the 5 taels of silver is the grandson I can't get it out." Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng looked at each other and said, the old man is an idiot, if they say they can get the money at this time, it will disgrace Jia Amnesty, and their legs will be broken when they go back.

"You father and son want to piss off me, an old woman. If I had known that there were unworthy descendants like you, I might as well have gone with the old man."

"Old lady, calm down. You heard what Lian'er said. He couldn't afford 5 taels of silver, but my son suddenly thought of a place to pay the money. The dowry left by Lian'er's mother, the old lady was afraid to keep it. I spent it indiscriminately in my hands, sealed it up in the treasury and managed by the old lady, and now those farm shops are still in the hands of the old lady, and you are good at management, old lady, so you must have saved 8 yuan in output over the years. Ten thousand taels of silver, after all, these things belong to him in the end, and the 5 taels of silver will come from here." Jia She took advantage of Jia Zhen's presence to make it clear and forced the old lady to hand over Jia Lian's mother's dowry.

"My lord, I never knew about my mother's dowry." Jia Lian was very surprised. He had never heard that his biological mother left him an estate. Before Jia She told him about his natal family, he never elaborated on it. thing.He thought his family was down and out and left him nothing.

"Your family is down and out now, but when your mother got married, it was the time when your family was prosperous. Even your aunt couldn't compare to her red makeup." Jia She recalled, "If you don't know, you should, When it was sealed up at the beginning, the old lady said that she would hand over your mother’s dowry to you when you got married. Twenty years have passed, and the old lady is getting old, so I’m afraid she forgot. I can't have this one more." Jia She laughed at himself.

"Old lady, now that Lian'er has married and become a father, his mother's dowry should be handed over to him. You can't live on your daughter-in-law's dowry all the time. When it was sealed up, Brother Jing from Dongfu was also there. Among the list family, The old lady and I each have a copy here, I think the storeroom will be opened today to take inventory, and the money for the construction of the family-friendly villa will be collected as soon as possible." Jia Amnesty said to himself, regardless of the old lady's face.

When the old lady and Mrs. Wang saw Jia She mentioning the dowry, they couldn't care less about getting angry. They had filled their pockets and divided up those things over the years, and now only some heavy furniture is left in the warehouse.The old lady pretended to be calm, and said: "I am old and confused. When Lian'er got married, I thought he was young and ignorant. I was afraid that he would be deceived by outsiders, so I never handed over things to him. Now it is time to hand over to him. There are many account books accumulated over the years, which need to be sorted out, and will be handed over to Lian'er and his wife after they are sorted out." The old lady said generously.

When Jia Amnesty mentioned this matter, she would definitely entangle her endlessly. She couldn't just hold on to the dowry and refuse to give it. If it spread that she didn't take advantage of it, it would also embarrass the empress.What's more, it was a critical juncture, and Jia Lian and his wife were required to contribute, so they had to find a way to delay the matter now, leaving time for the second child and the others to make up for the loopholes.

"Old lady, if that's the case, then come to the handover in five days. I'll invite elder brother Jing to come to the mansion to be a witness. Today I mainly raise money for the family's family's villa. How about this? First, I will allocate 5 taels of the profits to make up the whole family. I will save my son's money, so that someone will talk about it in the future." Jia She said pointedly.

Seeing Jia Amnesty's reluctance, the old lady asked Yuanyang to take out 5 taels of silver and hand it over to Jia Lian for fear of other troubles, and put it into the general ledger for the preparation of the family-friendly villa.Jia Lian and his wife saw that the money they had just received had not been warmed up, so they handed it over, feeling very distressed.

The old lady left Mrs. Wang to discuss the matter, "Second daughter-in-law, you put the guy in your hands these few days, and take someone to check the things of your first sister-in-law. Don't make any mistakes during the inventory, and let the boss Make a fuss, spread it out to make jokes for others, and embarrass the empress." After sending everyone out, the old lady specifically explained to Mrs. Wang, for fear that Mrs. Wang would be fooled at will.

"Old lady, my daughter-in-law is not talented enough, and she is not good at business management. These years, some of them have been embezzled during festivals." Mrs. Wang lowered her head and whispered. The old lady knew about those things embezzled during festivals, but most of them went into her In the warehouse, let her spit out the fat in her mouth, absolutely not.

"Then make it up." The old lady glanced sharply at Mrs. Wang. "I'll let Yuanyang pick out a few similar ones in a while. As for the others, there must be omissions."

"Old lady, it has been 20 years, and the calligraphy and paintings stored in the warehouse are inevitably worn out." Mrs. Wang said aggressively.

"Confused, money is more important, or empress is more important, you have to think about it, and come back after you understand it." The old lady said disappointedly to the daughter-in-law who had a low eyebrow and a pleasing eye in front of her.She was blind back then, and married Zheng'er such an unclear daughter-in-law, if it wasn't for the sake of the empress and Baoyu, she would have died of illness a long time ago.

In this room Mrs. Wang dropped a lot of tea utensils after returning to her room, and in that room, Jia She felt very headache looking at Jia Lian and his wife who surrounded him like puppies.

"Master, why haven't you mentioned your mother's dowry in the past." Jia Lian said courteously, serving tea to her old man.

"You good-for-nothing, I told you earlier that you could get it? All right, this is your mother's dowry list, please take a look." Jia Amnesty took out a booklet and handed it to Jia Lian.

"This Zhuangzi in the suburbs of Beijing, this Zhuangzi is the largest Zhuangzi in the suburbs of Beijing except Huangzhuang. I have never heard of who the owner is. So it belongs to our family?" Wang Xifeng looked at it carefully with the booklet and said in surprise. "This shop, this address, how do I remember that it is under the name of my second aunt?" Jia Lian said looking at the familiar address.Jia She drank tea slowly, looked at the excited young couple, shook his head, they were still too young, let them be happy for a while.Old ladies eat more salt than they eat rice.

"Master, why didn't you tell me sooner that you have made a fortune today, and it would be even better if you don't pay the 5 taels of silver." Jia Lian showed her true nature in excitement, and Wang Xifeng also burst into laughter.

"Okay, don't be too happy too early. The two of you still have to think about how to get back the items on the list. This is the list that your mother compiled before she was alive. This is the list that was put into the warehouse that year." Said After that, Jia Amnesty took out another booklet and threw it to Jia Lian and his wife.I saw that it only stated the number of scrolls of calligraphy and painting, the number of acres of fields, and the number of shops, without specific details.

Both Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng were good housekeepers, and when they saw the tricky things inside, they were discouraged and said, "Master, don't we just recognize it like this, don't we still have the dowry list left by my mother?" Jia Lian didn't like it. asked willingly.

"Back then, I was also the master and I didn't understand common affairs, so the old lady and the others took advantage of the loopholes. The dowry list left by your mother didn't have any seals, so it couldn't be counted." Jia She sighed, "Look at this?" Jia She said again Take out a box and give it to Jia Lian.Inside were several house deeds, "I bought them back in the past few years."

"Master, I'll go to the old lady for a review." Jia Lian's eyes turned red when she saw that the house deed was the dowry item on the list.

"Come back" Jia Amnesty stopped Jia Lian who was rushing out.

"Sit down, what's it like? I asked someone to inquire. These shops and land properties were managed by your mother and earned a lot of money. When they were in the hands of your second aunt, your second aunt was incompetent and was fooled by the people below. The business couldn't continue in the first year, and it was sold out, and then I bought it back at a high price, your master." Jia She explained.

Seeing that Jia Lian still wanted to distinguish, Jia Amnesty said: "Your mother's dowry is more than that. Some of them can't continue to operate, they can be resold, and some of them are given as gifts. The old lady thinks it's a secret, huh. Good time, I see what the old lady can use to offset it, don’t worry, I’ll have people buy back those that have been sold off, and you won’t suffer any losses, since you bought them with public money.”

Jia Lian and Jia Lian immediately smiled. These two never thought that the money in the palace should be theirs. Jia She shook his head.

Five days later, Jia Amnesty really invited Jia Jing to conduct an inspection together with Jia Zheng and Jia Jing. Mrs. Wang was indeed a teammate of pigs, and the jewels were replaced with inferior ones. , changing the big to the small, everywhere, the real and the fake are all mixed together, the account book is even worse, except for a few things given by the old lady, the others make the whole group frown. But at any rate, I made it up according to the list.

"Second wife, these are the only things, nothing else?" Jia Jing said with a cold face.

"I remember that the wife's dowry contained tributes from the queen mother and the old concubine. Why are they missing?" Jia She looked at Jia Zheng with a sneer.

Of course, the second daughter-in-law is a hindrance, even daring to embezzle the things bestowed by the emperor.

"Wang family?" Jia Zheng was really furious. Jia Zheng loved saving face, and he was very embarrassed by his brother who he always looked down on accused him of coveting his elder sister-in-law's dowry in public.

"Those things are all bestowed by the gods. The old woman is afraid that the servants will not be careful, so I will save them elsewhere. I will ask someone to retrieve them and send them to Lian'er in a few days." Come forward and resolve this matter.

Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng went back to pack their things, and the other elders went into the old lady's house to rest. "Old lady, these things are a lot worse? What about the future of these years? It can't be the only ones, the old lady can't save them in another place, right? According to my nephew, except for the royal gift, the rest For the unimportant ones, there is no need to send someone to pick them up, and they will be directly converted into silver for Lian'er. These years, the old lady and Mrs. Wang have been running the shop and property for Lian'er. What do you think of the ten thousand taels for you?" Jia Jing didn't give the old lady any face, but he didn't directly reveal that the big guy couldn't step down, after all, Mrs. Wang still has a daughter who is a concubine.

The old lady dared to play tricks in front of Jia Zhen, but she didn't dare to sell her old age in front of Jia Jing, so she had to hold Mrs. Wang and gave Jia Lian 10 taels of silver.