The head of the Red Mansion

Chapter 208 Going Crazy
At Shou Kang Palace, the retired emperor saw his son, the emperor, after the court session.

But now he was clean again, as if the abuse he suffered at the hands of his servants last night was just a dream.

"Ah~"

The retired emperor pointed at the eunuch who had been dozing off desperately the night before, and made a chopping gesture with his hand, "Ahhh~~"

The last two shouts were rather sharp. The emperor seemed to sense something and looked at the servant who had suddenly knelt on the ground. "What's going on?"

"This servant deserves to die, this servant deserves to die. When this servant was washing the Emperor Emeritus, I used... I used too much force, and the Emperor Emeritus became angry with this servant."

"Ahhh~~Aha~~"

The retired emperor was even angrier.

"Dai Quan~"

The emperor, not wanting to lift the covers to look at the old man's lower body, asked Dai Quan, who was also sweating profusely, "What do you think is going on?"

"Reporting to... Your Majesty..."

Dai Quan also hurriedly knelt down on the ground. “That’s right. After the Emperor Emeritus fell ill, his temper became quite bad. We servants…” he whispered, “If we wash too lightly, sometimes we can’t get it clean, but if we wash too heavily, the Emperor Emeritus is not satisfied. We servants are in a dilemma.”

No, no, that's not how it works.

The retired emperor was furious. With his barely functional hand, he waved it repeatedly, signaling that they should all be executed.

Dai Quan is a careless lackey and cannot be used.

Then we'll cut them all down and replace them with a new batch.

Anyway, there's not much else in this palace, but plenty of servants.

"Father, you are not in good health and should not be easily angered."

The emperor was, after all, a filial son; he eventually lifted the covers to check for himself.

A person who is bedridden and unable to urinate or defecate normally wouldn't smell pleasant. However, the Emperor Emeritus was different. The water used to wash him was prepared by the Imperial Hospital, boiled, and then infused with a touch of osmanthus fragrance.

So, the smell under his blanket was alright.

Just as the emperor was hesitating about whether to pull down his father's pants, the old man got excited and became wet again.

Alright, now there's no need to hesitate. Dai Quan and the others immediately got to work, pulling down their pants and washing them on the spot...

The retired emperor was filled with anger, shame, helplessness, and powerlessness.

However, the emperor looked very carefully and made sure that there wasn't even a red mark on his father's body, and that the eunuch taking care of him had his nails trimmed clean. He then suspected that the old man was just getting restless from lying down and was throwing a tantrum.

"Father, would you like to go outside and soak up some sun?"

The emperor tried his best to be good-tempered.

After all, he's his father.

He changed the subject, "Dai Quan, from now on, whenever the sun is out, you two should each take the Emperor Emeritus to the Imperial Garden for half an hour each morning and evening."

The Emperor Emeritus: "..."

He hated that his son couldn't understand him.

They even suspected that their son had done it on purpose.

The son knew perfectly well that he was going to kill Dai Quan and his men, yet he still handed him over to Dai Quan.

Is this because they're afraid he won't die quickly enough?

When he looked at the emperor again, his eyes couldn't help but fill with anger and ruthlessness.

"...You don't want to?"

When Prince Jing and several imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital arrived, the emperor sighed, "If they don't want to, then so be it."

"What happened to Father?"

Prince Jing leaned closer.

The retired emperor didn't treat him well either.

That scoundrel is a fence-sitter; as soon as he falls, he immediately sides with the emperor.

Look how obsequious he was to the emperor just now.

The retired emperor was panting heavily.

Don't want to pay attention to him.

At this moment, Consort Zhen, who was in the small Buddhist hall, heard the Empress say that several ministers in Jiangnan had impeached her brother, and the Emperor had now summoned him to the capital to defend himself. She knew that the Zhen family was about to be purged.

The Empress said this not out of kindness, but to make fun of her.

Haha~
"Thank you for coming to inform me, Your Majesty."

This woman, whom I once looked down upon, is now able to act superior to me?
How ridiculous!
"I believe the Emperor will clear the Zhen family's name."

Her brother isn't stupid.

When my parents were young, they were both close advisors to the retired emperor.

The Zhen family were the Emperor Emeritus's eyes and ears in Jiangnan.

If there's something...

That could only mean that the lavishness during the reception of the emperor was excessive, and the money borrowed from the national treasury could not be repaid.

But is this the Zhen family's fault?

It was clearly the retired emperor's own extravagance that was at play.

He wanted to show off his power, not only by taking over the powerful clans of Jiangnan, but also by demonstrating the wealth and strength of the Great Zhao Dynasty to the world.

The so-called national treasury debt was clearly spent by the retired emperor himself.

Otherwise, why doesn't he ask everyone to pay back the money himself?
Isn't it because he was in the wrong?

Did he listen to the Crown Prince's repeated remonstrances?
Those IOUs...

The thought that it was the Crown Prince who strongly urged everyone to write it made Consort Zhen's blood boil.

As expected, the most shameless ones are still the royal family.

The fact that the retired emperor tacitly approved of the crown prince's actions was probably because he thought that the crown prince could take back what he had done after his death.

"Of course! If someone is innocent, how could His Majesty wrong them?"

The Queen did not have the habit of kicking a man when he was down.

However, the emperor remembered all those years when Consort Zhen bullied her.

If I don't come, it would be against his good intentions.

Now that everything that needed to be said had been said, the Empress was not happy to stay there. "I came to tell you that you will probably be able to have a meal with Lord Zhen this year and have a family reunion."

"...Thank you, Your Majesty. I will wait for that day."

Consort Zhen gave the Empress a deep look before finally asking the question that concerned her most, "These past few days, I have been praying for the Emperor Emeritus. May I ask the Emperor Emeritus..."

"The retired emperor is not doing well."

The Empress sighed, "After all, I'm getting old."

With the Emperor Emeritus gone and Consort Zhen confined to her quarters, she was now the true Empress.

The Empress had been looking forward to this day for a long time, but she hadn't expected it to arrive so soon.

"Your Highness...you should be even more sincere."

The Empress lit an incense stick for the Bodhisattva and then turned to leave.

What you sow, you reap.

If Prince Jin had gained power, her family probably wouldn't even be able to afford a small Buddhist shrine now.

"Someone come here," she said as she walked out, "The bird's nest that the Imperial Household Department sent the other day is quite good. Go and take three catties of it, and also get some other health supplements to send to Madam Shen of Ningguo Mansion."

As Consort Zhen listened to the Empress's voice fading into the distance, she trembled with rage.

Their family's great misfortune began in the Ningguo Mansion.

The empress even said this in her palace...

Consort Zhen collapsed to the ground, clutching the wooden fish, and wept silently.

If she had known her son was so unreliable, she should have taken drastic measures on the Emperor Emeritus's birthday.

If we had gotten rid of the Shen family back then, none of this would have happened.
She was filled with remorse, but little did she know that the Zhen family had received the news on the third day after the Emperor Emeritus suffered a stroke and the Prince of Jin entered the Imperial Clan Court.

Under the guise of delivering New Year's gifts, the Zhen family has dispatched several gift-giving teams, which are currently heading to the capital.

The biggest problem for the Zhen family is money.

Regardless of their relationship with Consort Zhen and Prince Jin, if the Emperor were to order them to repay their debts, the Zhen family would be impoverished.

Having enjoyed a good life, the entire Zhen family was now worried about money.

Everyone was thinking about how to hide the silver.

There are too many enemies in Jiangnan.

Even servants' homes could be watched, so they had no choice but to go to the capital.

Since they couldn't rely on the Prince of Jin, and their daughters who were married in the capital were also out of the question, the only options left were the Princess Dowager of Nan'an or a former relative of the Zhen family.

For example, the old lady of Rongguo Mansion.

The old lady of Ningguo Mansion passed away too early, and Jia Jing had a lot of bad luck in those years. Although the two families did not break off contact, they were no longer close.

However, I frequently visited the Rongguo Mansion.

Moreover, if the items could be placed in the Rongguo Mansion, the Ningguo Mansion probably wouldn't be able to hold a grudge against the Zhen family because of Prince Jin. Shen Ning, who hadn't slept all night and had just returned to the mansion from outside the city, was unaware that one of the conditions that triggered the Jia family's downfall in Dream of the Red Chamber—helping the Zhen family hide their gold—had been initiated more than a decade earlier than expected.

The first thing she did when she got home was call for Qingcheng.

Qingcheng took care of all the needlework.

"Is there any goose down left?"

"some."

"Madam likes it, so regardless of whether she needs it or not, Qingcheng has kept some, just in case she needs it urgently." "What does Madam want to do? This servant will arrange it right away."

"...Yue'er's sleeping bag is very well made. Can you make two adult sizes for me? They can be used as capes during the day and as sleeping bags at night."

"Is it made of sheepskin?"

"Yes, use sheepskin!"

Shen Ning nodded, "The same old rules, use goose down inside, fill it with fine cotton cloth by sewing it into small compartments, and then cover it with a whole piece of cotton cloth as the lining. For the outside... we'll choose a thick navy blue material."

When traveling, there's always a chance you'll spend the night in the mountains.

Now that Jia Jing has one, the person who has always protected him should also be given one.

Shen Ning pointed at them and told them to do more things in Japan, "Like Yue'er, make longer things and sew more rows of small ribbons."

Even if it's a bit long, you can pull it back and tie it up at the bottom.

When it's inconvenient to sleep at night, you can take it out again, and it becomes a sleeping bag.

"Okay, when do you need it?"

"tomorrow!"

Shen Ning said, "If you can't handle it all by yourself, then find a few more people."

"Yes!"

Qingcheng went down without hesitation.

This was definitely not something she could accomplish by herself in a single day. She quickly returned to the sewing room and assigned tasks to everyone.

As for the various pills and wound medicines, Shen Ning simply called Jiao Da and asked him to go to the storeroom and get them.

She had no experience going out, but Jiao Da had.

"It's done so quickly?"

Upon seeing the bundle that Jiao Da brought, Shen Ning opened it and took a look.

The medicine included Liushen Pills, Huatuo Zaizao Pills, Tianwang Buxin Pills, Renshen Yangrong Pills, as well as about ten bottles of wound medicine and about ten packets of powders for treating wind-cold.

The relevant effects are also clearly stated on the signature.

It looks like everything is fine.

"Let's get another ginseng root!"

In critical moments, ginseng can save lives.

Anyway, this stuff can't be kept for long.

Shen Ning remembered that the ginseng the old lady in the Dream of the Red Chamber had rotted because it had been stored for too long.

“If he doesn’t need it, he can exchange it for silver.”

"to make!"

Since his wife had spoken, Jiao Da was even less likely to object. "I'm going home tomorrow. Is there any letter you need me to take with me, Madam?"

This?
Shen Ning was taken aback, then stood up and said, "Wait a moment."

She went to her daughter's room and returned shortly afterward with two pieces of paper bearing her handprints and footprints.

Jia Jing got one portion, and she got one portion herself.

"I've said enough. Give this to him."

Jiao Da: "..."

I must say, the girl's little handprints and footprints are quite cute.

He took it, carefully folded it, and put it in his pocket.

"Oh, right, I also had Qingcheng make two large cloaks that look like the ones Yue'er sleeps in. Go to the sewing room to pick them up tomorrow."

"Eh~"

Jiao Da knew how good that stuff was.

Yue'er's sleeping bag is incredibly practical for people on the march or fighting.

"Madam, about that little sleeping bag, do you think we should tell Second Master Lian? Or perhaps Miss Lanzhi?"

"……Um!"

Shen Ning nodded, "I'll talk to Lan Zhi when she comes over."

Once it's rolled out, it will be even better, just like a military blanket.

"Speaking of Lanzhi, I almost forgot, Jia Zheng and Wang Shi have left the city, haven't they? Does anyone in the manor know how they are doing now?"

Shen Ning instructed Jiao Da to send a guard to keep an eye on things.

"After listening to Mr. Cheng's advice, Master Zheng borrowed two taels of silver from the clan and bought writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones. It is said that he wrote quite a few couplets today."

"..."

Shen Ning couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

She never expected that Jia Zheng, that useless fellow, could actually get anything done.

"And what about Wang Shi?"

"Today...she fed the cows."

Jiao Da had a lot to say but couldn't explain it.

"The clan gave us three rooms, and Old Niu was locked in the kitchen room. Well... Old Niu poops and pee a lot. The second master and second mistress didn't understand. They almost got into a fight because of Old Niu's poop and pee."

The two of them had delicate skin and had been waited on since birth.

Now I'm taking care of the old ox...

Jiao Da was speechless. "It probably won't be long before that old ox is returned to the clan."

Shen Ning: "..."

She didn't know whether she should laugh.

Anyway, the corners of his mouth were turned up. "Okay, keep an eye on them. If they really return them, I'll treat you to a drink."

She wanted to drink to celebrate, but Grandmother Jia next door felt helpless and heartbroken.

Old ox!
How many farmers outside want one?
Lan Zhi had already been drawn out, but seeing her tears, she restored it.

result……

"Mother, please don't worry about this."

When Jia Min heard this, she remained silent for a long time. "Livestock is indeed not so easy to raise."

She was afraid that her second brother and sister-in-law would raise the old ox to death.

That would be truly terrible.

"Ah~"

The old lady sighed, "What's the point of interfering? I do want to guide them in a positive direction, but look at them, do they listen to me?"

Don't you know how to raise them yourself? Don't you know how to ask someone for advice?
Wang Xifeng actually had an idea, but she dared not say it, nor was it appropriate for her to say it.

Anyway, if she were the aunt, she wouldn't know how to raise a child herself, so she would ask someone for advice. She could then partner with that person to get an oxcart, and even if it only carried ten people a day, they could still get five copper coins in profit.

Five copper coins may not seem like much, but they can buy a pound of coarse grains.

If you save it up for three days, you can make a pound of rice.

My aunt no longer has to worry about my uncle's attitude when eating.

Wang Xifeng was actually quite worried that her aunt wouldn't have enough to eat.

Her uncle hated her to the core. Now that he had earned money, could he afford to let his aunt spend it?
While Wang Xifeng prayed in her heart that her aunt wouldn't make a mistake, Wang Shi was already on the verge of collapse when faced with yet another huge pile of dung from the old ox.

This thing is disgusting.

"Oh, Mrs. Jia, do you want this cow dung?"

Jia Zheng, who was writing couplets in his bedroom-cum-study, heard this. His hand holding the pen trembled, and a piece of paper was ruined.

Ahhhhh~~~~
Jia Zheng was about to lose his mind.

Livestock should never be kept in the kitchen.

That's where food is prepared. That old cow urinates and defecates there. How will he eat in the future?

In his opinion, their land is so scarce that they don't need an old ox at all.

That Wang woman is so stupid...

Jia Zheng couldn't understand why she insisted on keeping it.

Even if we keep it, we still can't control it.

"Don't don't."

As if seeing a savior, Wang hurriedly said, "Do you want it? If you do, come and shovel it!"