The head of the Red Mansion

Chapter 99 News from Jiangnan
May 20th is an auspicious day for consecration, exorcism, foundation laying, earthmoving, and demolition.

Only then did the maids and old women in the Rongguo Mansion finally realize that the world in the mansion had changed.

Since the 17th, the second branch of the family has been constantly moving boxes from the public warehouse to Lixiang Courtyard. Now they're moving them from Rongxi Hall to Lixiang Courtyard...

At 3:15 PM, the auspicious time for moving, Jia Zheng and Lady Wang left Rongxi Hall and headed to Lixiang Courtyard. Jia She, along with Xing Shi, also discreetly made their way from the east wing to Rongxi Hall. The two brothers were amicable and peaceful, each returning to their respective places.

Yuan Chun and Jia Zhu, who had been worried about their parents causing trouble, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally succeeded.

"Brother can go back to the Imperial College tomorrow without worry."

"It is indeed time to return to the Imperial College."

Jia Zhu smiled, "However, brother would like to trouble sister with a favor."

"tell me the story."

"When I'm not home, please help take care of your sister-in-law."

Jia Zhu sighed, "My mother is upset, and Li Shi... is like my eldest aunt, from a scholarly family, while I..."

"Wasn't my sister-in-law someone Mother specifically asked me to marry for my brother?"

Yuan Chun interrupted her brother, saying, "Instead of asking me to help take care of him, you should do it yourself."

what?
"But aren't I supposed to be going to the Imperial Academy?"

Once you go to the Imperial College, you can only come back once every two weeks.

Jia Zhu was very puzzled.

He had no doubt that his sister didn't want to help him.

"Brother, you must understand that Mother... is still angry with me."

Yesterday, her mother even called her aside for a private talk, asking how much of the eight thousand taels of silver sent to the palace last year was still there.

Yuan Chun said she was gone.

She received two thousand taels of silver at the time, spent nearly six hundred taels, and returned the rest to the public.

At that time, her mother looked as if she wanted to devour her.

"Moreover, my mother valued my older brother more than me."

Yuan Chun gave Jia Zhu some advice, saying, "Brother is studying at the Imperial Academy, so you could say that his future wealth and prospects are all in Lord Li's hands."

Jia Zhu: "..."

He was somewhat dumbfounded.

Is his sister asking him to use himself to threaten their mother?

"Brother, if you can't even sweep one room, how can you sweep the world?"

Yuan Chun smiled, uttered those words, and walked away gracefully.

Jia Zhu watched his sister walk away for a while before scratching his head. But as soon as he turned around, he saw his wife, Li Wan, walking towards him.

The moment she saw her husband, a happy smile bloomed on Li Wan's face.

With the family division completed smoothly, her husband no longer had to live in the ancestral hall.

She's been very worried these days.

I often can't sleep at night.

"It's windy now, what brings you here?"

When he held his wife's hand, a warm smile appeared on Jia Zhu's face.

What's there to be afraid of in a warm breeze?

Li Wan smiled and said, "Father and Mother have already moved in. Shouldn't we go over and pay our respects?"

"...Let's go together!"

Jia Zhu applied a little force with her hand.

When others move, they should be congratulated, but when their parents move...

He always felt that a storm was brewing.

"Then hurry up, I just came from over there and saw Baoyu go by."

"Baoyu?" Jia Zhu asked in confusion, "Isn't he in school?"

"It seems the teacher wasn't feeling well, so he dismissed the class early."

"..."

Jia Zhu felt slightly uneasy. "Then let's go quickly."

The two hurried towards Pear Fragrance Courtyard, and before they even got there, they heard Baoyu reciting his lessons while crying.

"...Those in ancient times who wished to manifest their virtue to the world first ordered well their states. Those who wished to order well their states first regulated their families. Those who wished to regulate their families first cultivated their personal lives. Those who wished to cultivate their personal lives first rectified their hearts. Those who wished to rectify their hearts first made their intentions sincere..."

The little one stood in the yard, sobbing, yet reciting this passage from "The Great Learning" with remarkable clarity.

Jia Zhu wanted to rub her forehead.

The father was already sensitive, and if his younger brother learned to recite this passage, wouldn't that be asking for a beating?

Sure enough, his father's face had turned ashen.

Jia Zhu hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Baoyu, what is the meaning of 'What Heaven ordains is called human nature, following one's nature is called the Way, and cultivating the Way is called education' in the Doctrine of the Mean?"

Baoyu was stunned for a moment, but quickly said, "It means... that following one's true nature and goodness is the Way. The Way is following one's nature, and following one's nature is natural and ordinary. The ordinary principle is the conventional principle, and the natural conventional principle is the middle way, which is harmony."

"That was a good answer!"

Jia Zhu was generous with his praise. He bowed to his father and said, "Father, do you think Baoyu is doing quite well in his study of the Doctrine of the Mean? He's just started studying the Great Learning and can only memorize it by rote. Why don't you check his knowledge again in a few months?"

"..."

Jia Zheng's expression softened slightly. "Alright, the old lady loves you, but you can't just be naughty all the time. Now that the time is right, what kind of behavior is it if you don't write a couple of calligraphy pieces and just play around everywhere?"

"Yes...! Son will go back and practice calligraphy right away."

Baoyu secretly glanced at the storeroom.

He had heard that his parents had moved, so he came to visit his mother.

But his mother, who used to always speak up for him when his father made him recite, heard him crying this time and hadn't even come out of the storeroom yet.

"Your son takes his leave!"

As he retreated towards the courtyard gate, Baoyu glanced again in the direction of the storeroom, but his mother never poked her head out.

Baoyu wiped away his tears, took off running towards Grandmother Jia's courtyard.

"Slow down, slow down, be careful not to fall."

Yuan Chun was so happy that on her way back she saw two beautiful butterflies and chased after them for a while. But when she got close to her grandmother's courtyard, she saw her little brother looking like a disheveled kitten. "What happened? Did you fall?"

Her younger brother looked so pitiful that she worriedly checked his arms and legs, afraid he might have fallen somewhere.

"Where are your maids and servants? Why were you allowed to run off alone?"

"Big sister~"

Baoyu immediately threw himself into his sister's arms and burst into tears, "Waaah, waaaah~~~~"

"...Tell your sister, what happened?"

Yuan Chun hugged her younger brother and touched his arms and legs. She felt no injuries, but her brother was crying so sadly. Suddenly, she thought of something. "Did you come back from Pear Fragrance Courtyard?"

"Hmm~"

Baoyu felt wronged, "I didn't recite the book wrong, but Master still scolded me."

Yuanchun: "..."

She hugged her younger brother tighter.

Recently, many people in the family have been saying behind my back that my younger brother's jade was prepared in advance by my mother to help him win favor with my grandmother.

Whether it was prepared in advance, she didn't know, but the rumor had been circulating for years...

Yuan Chun sighed softly to herself.

Her grandmother had already told her about the things her aunt had said to her mother.

She didn't think anything of it at first.

My younger brother's magical jade looks like it belongs to Taoism; it can only be used as a small accessory or a magical artifact.

But during her years in the palace, Yuan Chun learned a great deal, and now…

"Good boy, it was Master's fault."

Yuan Chun said softly, "Master has been busy and flustered these past few days, and he's in a bad mood. He'll be fine in a few days."

"really?"

"real!"

Baoyu sobbed for a moment, "Then I'll be good and recite the texts for you again in a few days."

His mother used to stand beside him when he recited his lessons.

Recently, his parents have been staying at the ancestral hall, and he's been behaving much better so as not to worry them.

"Hmm~"

Yuan Chun wiped away her younger brother's tears, "Don't cry, I'll tell you a story later."

The younger brother was actually more intelligent and quick-witted than his older brother, Jia Zhu.

But his father only taught him to study by rote.

There was absolutely no guidance whatsoever.

Yuan Chun, who had been back for more than ten days, had already noticed that although her younger brother could read the books and explain their meaning, he was still missing something. "Let's talk about it tonight," she said. "Confucius said: 'Should we use bricks to fight?'"

"Really?"

Baoyu's eyes lit up immediately. At his age, he was at the stage of playing and having fun.

Although I also prefer older sisters, it's rare to have something different when we read Confucius's sayings every day.

"Of course it's true."

Yuan Chun gently pinched her younger brother's nose. "Come on, let's wipe your face clean first, otherwise you'll start snotting."

Baoyu: "..."

He quickly sniffed.

To avoid actually producing snot bubbles in your nose.

When the siblings entered the courtyard, Grandmother Jia quietly disappeared.

It would be a lie to say that I am not sad.

How did her beloved second son end up like this?

The old lady wanted to call her second son over and give him a scolding, but she was afraid that Baoyu would be the one to suffer more in the end.

Of all his grandsons, Baoyu is the one who most resembles the Duke.

The old lady patted her chest, finally suppressing her anger.

……

Ningguo Mansion.

Shen Ning was looking at the little maid who had been training with Jiao Da for three months.

"From now on, you'll be called Xiaodong, Xiaonan, Xiaoxi, and Xiaobei!"

"Mrs. Xie bestowed the name upon me."

This name sounds much better than their original names, Daya, Erya, Pandi, and Dengdi.

The four maids were very happy.

Shen Ning nodded.

But her daughter was still young, and she wasn't planning to go out right now, so she looked at Jiao Da and said, "I'll have to trouble you to train them for a while longer."

Summer is almost here, and the old women who will teach them how to swim are already in place. They're just waiting for the hottest time of June and July.

Shen Ning wanted a maid who could ride a horse, wield a sword, fish in the water, and escape with her master in dire circumstances.

“There’s nothing wrong with the slave religion, but they will eventually have to enter the inner quarters.”

Jiao Dadao: "Madam should find them a matron to teach them manners."

“The old woman in the manor who teaches etiquette is Mama Jian,” Madam You said hurriedly when her mother-in-law looked over. “I’ll have her go over there later.”

"That's it."

Shen Ning nodded. "Jiao Da, have you tried the training plan I gave you last time?"

"……not yet."

Jiao Da looked somewhat unnatural.

Is there something inconvenient?

Shen Ning wasn't surprised, and still asked the old man with a smile.

"Those obstacle drawings you made are not easy to work with."

"Can't we just have a carpenter make it according to the blueprints?"

"It is possible, but recently all the carpenters who take on carpentry jobs in our manor have been borrowed by Steward Lin of the West Mansion."

"...Don't we have any servants in our household who are skilled in carpentry?"

Shen Ning knew that the carpenters who could take on carpentry work in both prefectures were true craftsmen.

When Jia Zheng of the Western Mansion moves, the Pear Fragrance Courtyard will definitely need some renovations.

But her obstacle courses didn't require such meticulous work. "The diagrams I drew were quite simple, weren't they?"

Jiao Da: "..."

He had no idea how his wife, who was perfectly fine in the inner quarters, had come up with all those strange and unusual things, and even made the trainees climb and jump.

Once you're used to climbing and jumping, you can do anything with your eyes closed.

The old man didn't think that kind of training was useful.

But this statement...

He didn't feel comfortable telling his wife about it.

"Find a few carpenters to make it. As long as it's well-sanded and there are no splinters, it doesn't matter if it's a little ugly."

Shen Ning simply said, "Once it's done, let Zhen'er go take a look. Whoever can run there the fastest will be rewarded with twenty taels of silver."

Are there any rewards?

Jiao Da was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Yes, this old servant will have someone do it right away."

"and many more!"

Shen Ning called out, "I heard that you guys wear iron weights on your bodies during training?"

"Yes!"

When it came to his profession, Jiao Da nodded seriously, "The guards are also soldiers, and they have to wear armor in wartime."

"Were Xiaodong and the other three people tied up?"

"It's available now."

Jiao Da glanced at the little maid standing at the front, who should be called Xiaodong.

The young maid stepped forward, bent down, and tapped her calves.

The metallic sound surprised Shen Ning. "Can you take it off and let me see it?"

Xiaodong indeed untied one of his legs.

The two iron pieces were wrapped in cloth and felt to weigh about two or three pounds when held in the hand.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Shen Ning handed it back to her and turned to Madam You, saying, "From now on, add another dish of braised pork for everyone every noon."

"Yes!"

Ms. You agreed.

She already knew that Yuan Chun, the eldest sister of the Xifu family, always chose strong and powerful women as her dowry maids.

Wang Xifeng, the second sister-in-law, had trained several of her mother-in-law's six burly servants, but they were all taken away from her.

With their means, what's a few bites of meat?
"Mrs. Xie!"

The four maids' eyes lit up with joy.

Who would have thought that they would have such a good life after entering the mansion?

"Go on, and train well with your Grandpa Jiao."

Shen Ning waved her hand and watched them leave before saying to Madam You, "From now on, all the servants and maids who come into the manor will undergo three months of training."

Those with exceptional talent can be nurtured further.

"Yes!"

Ms. You nodded hurriedly.

Just then, Jia Zhen rushed in, "Mother, something has happened in Jiangnan."

Shen Ning: "..."

She had already guessed it. "It's the Li family?"

"Yes!"

Jia Zhen looked very unwell. "The Li family really colluded with the Japanese pirates and almost invaded Yangzhou."

"Were all their family members arrested?"

This is what Shen Ning is concerned about.

One escaped.

Shen Ning suddenly stood up. "Who escaped?"

"The seventh son of the Li family."

Jia Zhen was also worried about Jia Lian, who had not yet returned. "The imperial court has already issued a warrant for his arrest. Those who went to welcome Aunt Min and Brother Lian have probably already met them, as long as they didn't miss them."

Aunt Min is an official's wife, and Lian Er is from the Rongguo Mansion. They would normally rest at any post station if there was one.

After all, the post stations along the route from the capital to Jiangnan were the best-maintained.

"...After the Li family members were arrested, did the seventh son of the Li family send anyone to rescue them?"

"No."

Jia Zhen shook his head. "Li Haimu committed suicide the day after he was arrested."

what?
Shen Ning frowned deeply, "Where were the people who arrested the Li family from?"

"I don't know the specifics, I only know that it was someone else sent by the Emperor, and the local garrison didn't move at all."

Jia Zhen said, "It is said that nearly ten million in valuables were confiscated from the Li family. Several major salt merchants connected with the Li family may also be in trouble."

So, does that mean we're going to make it bigger?
But the bigger it gets...

"By the way, you haven't told me yet whether Jia Lian received the letter or caused trouble at the Li family's house."

"Trouble has broken out."

Jia Zhen's face turned pale. "I just received news that he not only beat Li Haimu, but also all the younger generation of the Li family. However, it is said that he did a good job of beating them. It was because the Li family members had difficulty traveling that their journey was delayed. Except for Li Laoqi, who was not at home, they were all caught in one fell swoop."

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