The head of the Red Mansion

Chapter 333 Cruise Ship
Wang Xifeng wished she could treat Granny Liu's family like Bodhisattvas.

By saving the eldest aunt of the East Mansion, they were essentially saving both of their mansions.

Otherwise, not only would the old lady and Brother Zhu not be able to live well, but the East and West mansions would never be able to return to what they were before.

Having married into this family and witnessed its gradual changes, Wang Xifeng deeply understood the importance of her aunt, the eldest daughter-in-law of the East Mansion.

Despite her father-in-law's current mission to Russia and Jia Lian's position as the Director of the Military Treasury, which appear to be very powerful, the eldest aunt of the East Mansion is actually the pillar of stability for both mansions.

Because the old lady was ill and the eldest aunt of the East Mansion had just escaped death and was having difficulty walking, she didn't have the time or the inconvenience to take her family around the mansion. However, the whole family was invited into the sewing room by Wang Xifeng. Although it was summer, she had the people in the sewing room make two sets of clothes for each of them for all four seasons.

"Second Grandma, Granny Liu wants to go home."

While Wang Xifeng was serving the old lady her medicine, Ping'er quietly stepped forward and whispered to her, "She went to the East Mansion now, saying she wanted to say goodbye to the First Madam."

"Is it Granny Liu who saved people?"

Although Grandmother Jia's eyes were slightly closed, she could hear very clearly.

"Yes!"

Wang Xifeng hurriedly said, "Her son-in-law's ancestors were related to our family. When my aunt mentioned it to her, she strongly invited the whole family to come to the capital. The other day, the East Mansion was in a lot of turmoil, so I brought them here and asked Ping'er to entertain them."

“They are our family’s greatest benefactors.”

When Madam Xing was about to feed her the medicine, Grandmother Jia waved her hand, indicating that she should stop drinking it, saying, "Even though I am ill, you should still take good care of me."

"Don't worry, old lady!"

Madam Xing said, "She is my sister-in-law's savior. My two younger sisters and I are all very grateful. Since it was difficult to entertain you while you were ill, we took turns going to keep you company. Even when Er Ya and the other girls came home from school in the evening, we went to keep them company, talked to them, and brought them things."

It was her; she had given her daughters-in-law quite a few pieces of jewelry as a token of her respect.

It hurt to give it to them.

"My sister-in-law didn't have time for the past two days, but today, we definitely won't let her leave."

In fact it is.

Even without the Grand View Garden, the Huifang Garden is still a nice garden.

"When Uncle Liu left, didn't he say he would take care of your chickens?"

Shen Ning sat in a sedan chair and led her around the family's garden, saying, "Since you're here, stay a while and take a look around our garden."

"I've been staying here for two days already."

Grandma Liu was a little embarrassed. "These past two days, I've eaten and seen everything I've never eaten or seen before."

She even saw the royal angels at the city gate that day.

"But thanks to you..."

She has already inquired about it.

The second wife of the Rongguo Mansion had passed away long ago, and she was not on good terms with Madam Shen.

The son-in-law knew Zhou Rui and his wife, who died even earlier than the second wife.

The current head housekeeper of Rongguo Mansion, although she is also a great-aunt of the Wang family, is a member of the younger generation and has no idea about the ancestral connection.

But he's a kind person.

Even though the old lady in the mansion was ill, she, as the granddaughter-in-law, had to serve her at all times. She also took the time to accompany them to have their clothes measured and had her personal maid take care of them throughout the process.

Grandma Liu never imagined that one day she could live such a life of luxury, with everything done for her.

"For us peasants, being able to go through this ordeal is a blessing in this lifetime."

"..."

Shen Ning patted Grandma Liu's hand, "You're too kind, aren't you? Look at me, I wasn't being polite to you that day."

It was Wang Xifeng's duty to entertain them.

Of course, she would also occasionally send a lunchbox or a few plates of snacks.

Even Rong-ge'er went over and kowtowed.

Wang Gou'er was also entertained by Jia Zhen, Jia Zhu, and Jia Lian in turn.

Shen Ning was actually quite happy. Without her having to explain, the entire Jia family remembered the kindness of Granny Liu's help on her behalf.

"You are destined to be part of the Jia family."

Shen Ning led her along the shade of the trees, but unexpectedly, melodious zither music came from the direction of Ningcui Pavilion. "Oh? Is Mr. Zhan teaching the zither today?"

She looked at Granny Liu and said, "Granny, shall we go and listen together?"

"Yeah!"

When you arrive in a wealthy place, you naturally have to indulge in some refined pursuits.

Grandma Liu was very interested.

Before long, Shen Ning led Granny Liu, Liu Shi, Ban'er, and Qing'er onto the boat, and they all boarded the boat to Ningcui Pavilion.

The family never expected that they could take a boat in this mansion.

They stayed in the West Mansion for the past two days and walked around some places. The connecting corridors and courtyards were a feast for the eyes.

We didn't even go to the front yard of the mansion, just to the back courtyard, where every three steps there was a new scene, every five steps a painting, and now we've even taken a boat ride.

The riverbanks are lined not only with reeds, but also with lotus pods.

Among the lush green lotus leaves, small and adorable lotus pods emerge, clearly having been carefully tended.

Grandma Liu clicked her tongue in amazement, "How come the lotus leaves grow so neatly here?"

They have them in the countryside too, but many of them are accompanied by withered leaves.

Children in the countryside like to play in the water and pick the leaves. Many lotus pods are picked by the children before they even grow up.

"Where is it more orderly?"

Shen Ning smiled, "It's because my nieces want to learn to paint and want to look good, so I specially hired someone to take care of it."

In summer, Daiyu and the others enjoyed going boating.

The boat they often traveled on, to keep out mosquitoes, was specially decorated with light blue soft gauze, just like Ningcui Pavilion.

"My God, this...this requires a specialist to manage!"

Liu covered her mouth.

She knew that even the lowest-ranking servants in the Jia family received two hundred coins a month.

This is the two hundred yuan I earned through honest work; the host family provided me with food, lodging, and even clothes.

"There's no other way. You have to find a professional to raise it. Otherwise, you simply can't raise it to be this good-looking or this beautiful."

A bright red dragonfly landed on the small lotus seedpod, followed closely by a black dragonfly.

The two little ones took flight together, playing happily at varying speeds, which made Shen Ning very happy as well. "But lotus root, the whole thing is a treasure."

Lotus flowers can be admired, lotus pods can be eaten, lotus leaves can be made into tea, and she has eaten several meals of stir-fried lotus leaf stems with shredded meat. Not to mention, there are countless ways to eat lotus root.

Shen Ning heard from Aunt Li that the young girls wanted her to cook a whole lotus root feast when they harvested lotus roots. She was currently thinking about how to make it even more perfect and expand her recipes.

You have to admit it.

Shen Ning carefully examined the girls' accounts and found that, considering their family's spending habits, they were already breaking even on just one item, He.

"Fish can be raised in the lotus pond..."

Just as we were talking about fish, a red carp darted past a lotus leaf, splashing a small amount of water before disappearing back into the water.

Shen Ning's smile deepened. "The lotus pods can be sold, and the lotus roots inside will fetch an even higher price in winter."

"how much is it?"

Grandma Liu asked expectantly.

"The price ranges from five hundred coins to one tael of silver per pound."

Shen Ning didn't remember the specifics, but it was roughly in that range: "In winter, when vegetables are scarce, wealthy families or restaurants wouldn't care about the price if they saw fresh lotus roots."

At this point, she smiled at Granny Liu and said, "I see there's a pretty big pond over in your village too."

"Yeah yeah!"

Grandma Liu nodded hurriedly, "But that's a wild pond."

The pond wasn't deep, so no one wanted to wash their clothes there.

The ducks and geese, however, were all over there.

"What do you think, Madam? Should we buy that pond for lotus roots?"

"Great!"

Shen Ning nodded with a smile. It's better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish.

“The wild pond shouldn’t cost much money. If Grandma wants to grow lotus roots, I’ll have Aunt Yu, who manages this place, come and teach you for a few days.”

"That's a good feeling!"

Grandma Liu was so happy that she slapped her thigh on the spot.

Wild ponds really don't require much money.

Moreover, in the past two days, their family has been receiving so many gifts that they can't keep up with the flow.

Not to mention the gold and silver jewelry, I collected about ten small gold and silver locks from Ban'er and Qing'er alone.

They were all gifts from the young ladies of that household.

They were all as beautiful as angels, and although they were young, they were all very polite and thanked the old woman for escorting Madam Shen back to her residence.

Grandma Liu didn't really think she had done anything special.

Madam Shen had already avoided those Japanese.

Even if she didn't give it to him, someone else would.

Their family, on the other hand, is truly blessed.

“When I get back, I’ll buy that pond.”

They also received several packets of silver, which were given by the ladies and aunts of the household there. Princess Rongguo of the palace was said to be an aunt of this family, and even she ordered her eunuchs to send over a lot of silver as a reward.

Grandma Liu is no longer afraid that her family will not be able to make ends meet.

As long as one doesn't gamble or visit prostitutes, one can accumulate wealth for generations to come.

This is also why she felt embarrassed to stay any longer.

Others may not know the inside story, but she does.

She absolutely could not accept this life-saving grace.

Granny Liu was also afraid that her daughter and son-in-law would take Shen Madam's favor and the Jia family's care for granted.

People get used to living here and become complacent; even if they have money, they can't hold onto it.

Therefore, in the past two days, she has been giving her daughter countless instructions behind her back.

Even though her son-in-law mostly lived in the outer courtyard, she would talk about him non-stop whenever she saw him.

The men of the Jia family were all officials.

They were polite and thanked us, but we know exactly what they did.

It was just a simple rice porridge invitation, and Madam Shen reciprocated with mung bean cakes and steamed buns.

After calculating it over and over, Granny Liu realized that all she had done was bring her a basin of water, let her soak her feet, puncture the blisters, and change her shoes.

Therefore, the longer she stayed there, the more uneasy she felt.

"Don't laugh at me, but these past few days, because of you, I've been feeling uneasy accepting all these gifts..."

"Haha, hahaha~~"

Shen Ning laughed, "Please accept this gift. As I said, this is a connection between you, me, and the Jia family."

This connection is too deep.

They had this destiny in the Dream of the Red Chamber, and they have this destiny here as well.

Otherwise, out of so many people, why would she have chosen to hide at Granny Liu's house?

It's as if Heaven, through her, intended to compensate Granny Liu.

"Let's go, let's go, Mr. Zhan's piano playing has stopped, otherwise the rest of the music won't be as good."

Before the words were even finished, sure enough, the tone changed, becoming more varied and complex. One particular sound even startled the dragonflies, causing them to flutter away in all directions.

Shen Ning didn't know that her daughter was also causing trouble. That ear-piercing sound was something Jia Yue quickly ripped out while her cousin Daiyu was playing the zither.

Having no other choice, Daiyu had to give up playing and held down her little cousin's hands, saying, "Yue'er wants to learn the zither, we'll have a private lesson later!"

That day, my aunt went missing, and my little cousin cried her heart out early in the morning. They were all terrified.

The adults were busy looking for someone, so they could only take care of their little cousin.

Actually, I was extremely worried.

He inevitably spoiled his younger cousin even more.

Otherwise, no one would have let her in when she was learning the piano.

"Learn now..."

Jia Yue's eyes are clear and bright.

Lin Daiyu was speechless and helpless.

"My dear sister, doesn't your hand hurt?"

Jia Yue: "..."

She looked at her chubby little hands, then stretched them all out in front of Daiyu, "Whoosh~"

"..."

What could Daiyu do?
I can only blow it on her.

"Sir, Madam is here."

When the maid whispered to Mr. Zhan, she, who was standing by the window, also saw it.

Zhan Xue waved her hand and tiptoed out to greet them.

"We were just passing by when we heard you teaching the piano, so we came by boat."

Shen Ning smiled and told her not to worry about them.

“Yue’er is here too.”

Zhan Xue gave the maid a wink, "Why don't you take her with you?" Boating was one of the little girl's favorite activities, and she said with a smile, "If she doesn't leave, none of us will be able to finish my piano lesson."

"Haha, I knew it!"

The girls have been learning the piano for a while now.

Although their abilities vary, that demonic sound just now was far below standard.

“You should have sent her back when you were teaching her the piano.”

When Shen Ning saw Daiyu bring her daughter back, her smile deepened.

In the novel *Dream of the Red Chamber*, everyone says that Daiyu is petty, but in fact, she never got angry with her sisters.

"Mother~"

"Auntie!"

Both children came toward her.

"I'm taking Yue'er with me. You all focus on your studies and come back together after school."

"Hmm~"

Daiyu bowed to Granny Liu and the others before hurrying back home.

After taking her daughter, Shen Ning waved to Zhan Xue. The flower boat passed under the small bridge in front of Ningcui Pavilion and headed west.

At this time, Grandmother Jia already knew from Yuanyang that Granny Liu's family had been warmly received in the East Mansion.

She dismissed everyone and quietly asked Yuanyang if she had given Granny Liu any extra gifts.

“That day, even though you were ill, you were still thinking about this matter, so I sent you two hundred taels of silver, two sets of clothes, a set of gold and silver jewelry, two small gold locks for children to wear, and some gold and silver ingots.”

How could the mandarin ducks dare to be negligent?

"Later, my wife and my great-aunt also sent gifts."

Although they were all a step below, the sheer number of people made up for it!
"Don't worry, ma'am, we won't be impolite."

Grandma, Grandma, and the girls all gave gifts too.

"Ah~"

Grandmother Jia sighed, "I'm feeling much better now. When Granny Liu comes back, go and invite her over yourself so we can have a chat."

At least we saved Shen Shi, so we can consider it a saving of her.

Otherwise, if Granny Lai's affair were exposed, she wouldn't have the face to see her children and grandchildren in this household.