The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 62 Estrangement
But Xue Pan worked even harder after receiving praise from Mr. Zhan.

That day, he came to look for Baoyu to play with him again, but was stopped outside by Xiren and others.

"The Second Master is asleep now, Master Xue, please come back another day!"

Xue Pan smiled and said:

"What's my relationship with Baoyu? I'll just go in and find him."

As Xue Pan was about to go inside, he saw Xiren and others blocking him in front, holding hands, and refusing to move an inch.

"Master Xue, please don't make things difficult for me and others. It's better to come back another day."

Xue Pan slapped his head and suddenly realized what was going on. He hurriedly took out a few silver ingots from his waist bag and handed them over with a smile.

"Oh, it's my fault. I forgot to pay the sisters for their tea."

It would have been fine if he didn't give the "tea money", but when Xiren and the others saw the "tea money", their eyes turned red and they felt extremely regretful. They should not have broken the rules and accepted tips from others indiscriminately.

"Who wants your filthy money?"

Qingwen jumped out and slapped Xue Pan's hand away. If it weren't for the fact that this was inside the mansion with so many people around, she would have started cursing.

The silver ingots drew an arc in the air and fell to the ground at the gate of the courtyard, attracting the attention of everyone around.

Xue Pan deliberately let the news leak out in the first place, otherwise it would not be difficult to clean up the crime scene.

Unlike Mr. Zhan who is a kind-hearted gentleman, Xue Pan is a bad guy. If you ask him to do good things, he will definitely mess it up, but if you ask him to do bad things, he will have no problem doing it.

He knew very well that none of the four girls dared to tell anyone about what happened that day, so he did not get angry. He just stood at the door with a smile, waved at the maids who were peeking around, and said loudly:
"Since you sisters don't think highly of this little money and don't want it, I'll give it all to you!"

As soon as he said this, several maids rushed out and picked up the silver on the ground.

Qingwen was immediately very anxious and rushed over to stop them, "No one is allowed to take that silver."

Although those little maids had received rewards before, Xue Pan always treated people differently based on their situation. He gave more rewards to the four major maids and naturally less rewards to the ordinary little maids.

These people finally have a chance to pick up a large ingot of silver, so how could they miss it?
If it were normal days, the fourth girl would be favored by Baoyu and could still control these people, but now that there is money in front of them, who would care about her?
Anyway, it was a reward from Mr. Xue, and it wasn't stolen or robbed, so just put the silver in your pocket.

Only Qingwen and the other four daughters knew that if they accepted the silver now, there would be a price to pay in the future. Of course they refused, and a quarrel started between them immediately.

The little maid took the silver and ran back into the house, cursing:
"You have made enough money in the past, but you don't care that others are still hungry. You only monopolize Master Xue and refuse to let him go. Your greed is really ugly."

Musk Moon and a few others hurried over to help stop these people from leaving, but they heard Xue Pan laugh and wave his hand, and another seven or eight silver ingots were scattered into the yard, immediately making the yard more lively.

The commotion here immediately alarmed Baoyu who was standing behind, and he sent someone over to find out what was going on.

At this point, the news of Xue Pan's arrival could no longer be concealed, so Xiren and the others had no choice but to let Xue Pan in. However, the four girls watched Xue Pan as if he were a thief, and would never give him the chance to be alone with Baoyu.

With so many girls around, the two men could not do anything. Xue Pan invited Baoyu to go out for fun, but was stopped by Xiren and the other four girls. They even quoted Master Zheng's words, saying that they would rather let Baoyu study at home than go out with Xue Pan.

Finally, Xue Pan had no choice but to give up temporarily and leave.

Later, Xue Pan used Jia Rong's name to invite Jia Baoyu to his house to play, but the four girls no longer trusted the Ningguo Mansion because of what happened there before. They were afraid that they would be sent away again, so they just held Baoyu back and used all kinds of methods to tie him down, not allowing him to go.

Baoyu was a willful person to begin with and could not tolerate being controlled. Because of this incident, he became somewhat dissatisfied with Xiren and the other girls, but he was an easy-to-please person and nothing seemed to change for the time being.

Seeing that the four girls were very persistent and refused to give in, Xue Pan turned around to look for his own sister.

"My dear sister, Baoyu is now in my grasp. I can control him, but the maids around him are in the way. You have to help me get rid of them."

Baochai received the order from her brother and ran straight to Daiyu.

Baochai is a well-behaved person and has a very good relationship with all her sisters.

At first, Daiyu was jealous a few times because Baoyu was always around Baochai, but later she found that Baochai was completely indifferent to Baoyu and that she already had a marriage engagement and a lover, so she got back together with him.

Baochai had a cold relationship with Baoyu before, so it would be too deliberate if she went to find Baoyu directly. But as long as she went to Daiyu more often, Baoyu would naturally come to her on his own initiative.

Sure enough, Baochai had only sat here for half an hour when the Phoenix Egg came over smiling with a group of maids.

Baochai didn't say anything either. She just watched the childhood sweethearts being affectionate with each other, waiting for the opportunity to come.

As expected, Baoyu is the kind of person who only remembers to eat and not to be beaten. Although Baochai always ignores him, it cannot dampen his enthusiasm, and he comes over to flirt with her again.

However, Baochai usually dealt with him indifferently, but this time she smiled and said a few words to him, which made Baoyu overjoyed. He clapped his hands and laughed:
"Laughed!"

"Sister Bao smiled!"

"This is the first time I've seen Sister Bao smile. She's really prettier than a flower. Even this room is much brighter now!"

"Sister Bao, you should smile more often. Why do you always have a sullen face?"

After hearing this, Baochai immediately put away her smile, raised her chin slightly, and said coldly:
"My family is now living under someone else's roof, how dare I mess with a phoenix egg like you?"

"I just smiled, but those guys behind you stared at me like I was a thief. If I smiled every day, I'm afraid the flesh on my body would have turned into a sieve."

Baoyu turned around in surprise and saw Xiren and others hastily withdrawing their gazes.

Because of Xue Pan, the four girls now think that no one in the Xue family is a good person. Even Xue Baochai, who has always been kind to others, is just like Xue Pan in the past in their eyes, appearing to be honest but actually treacherous, and might harm their second master at any time.

For this reason, when they look at Xue Baochai now, they are much more cautious and scrutinizing.

Baochai was very sensitive and had noticed it a long time ago, but she just didn't say anything. This was a good opportunity to give them some eye drops.

She saw very clearly that Baoyu's so-called sympathy and tenderness for women was just an appearance. In his heart, there was actually a distinction between those who were close and distant.

Even among the same maids, Baoyu divided them into different levels in his mind.

The more beautiful it is, the higher the grade, and the more favored it is.

The identities of a maid and a young lady are completely different and cannot be crossed.

When a conflict occurred between Sister Bao and the head maid, there was no doubt that he would naturally stand on Sister Bao's side.

Baoyu was simple-minded. When Baochai pointed this out to him, he thought that Baochai had been rude to him in the past only because she lived under someone else's roof and did not dare to provoke him. He immediately became angry and shouted at Xiren and others:

"Sister Bao is my honored guest. How can you be so disrespectful?"

"I have always known that there are many people like you in your family, but I thought they were all coarse women and corrupt officials. I never thought that even you, Xiren, are like this!"

Seeing Baoyu getting angry, Xiren and others hated Baochai even more. They felt that Baochai was not a good person and they should not let her get close to their second master.

The others were fine, except Qingwen, who had a hot temper and was spoiled by Baoyu on weekdays. She even dared to go back on her words and said in a sarcastic tone:

"The Xue family is now full of people giving gifts, but he is the most popular one. How can he look like a dependent?"

"I think it's more like stealing the show!"

"If we were to follow the red and fight for the white, we would have been following behind them and wagging our tails. Why would we be scolded here?"

Baoyu was choked by Qingwen's words. He felt that Qingwen's words made a lot of sense. He didn't know what to say for a moment, so he turned to look at Baochai again.

Baochai said calmly:

"No one's money comes from the wind. Why would my family give such a large reward for no reason? Isn't it just to curry favor with everyone in this mansion and seek peace?"

"Even though I spent so much money, I'm still being watched. I think it's because I didn't give enough money. Next time, I'll ask my brother to bring more money into the mansion."

When Qingwen heard this, she became furious and shouted:
"Who wants your Xue family's money?"

"Do you think you can bribe us sisters with money?"

"You look down on me like that!"

Baochai lowered her eyes and her tone became increasingly indifferent.

"In the past few months, I don't know how much money you have taken from the Xue family, but now you say you don't want it?"

"Haha... If you really don't love money, then please return all the money to the Xue family!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Qingwen immediately lost her temper.

Over the past few months, no one knows how much silver has been rewarded by Xue Pan and Baochai. The four of them are Baoyu's head maids and they get the most, with each of them getting at least several dozen taels.

Since money comes easily, it is natural to spend it generously.

Although there are still some left, they are no longer enough. How can they be returned now?
Seeing that Qingwen had nothing to say, Baochai sighed:

"Sure enough, the money you gave me is too little!"

"Everyone in this mansion is looking down on me. I don't know how Sister Daiyu managed to hold on in such a harsh environment."

As soon as the eye drops were applied, Baoyu's attention was immediately drawn away. He hurried over to take Daiyu's hand and asked with concern:

"Does Sister Lin also have to look at other people's faces?"

Daiyu opened her mouth, wanting to say something to explain, but didn't want to lie, so she remained silent.

Zijuan stepped forward and took over as her mouthpiece, complaining:

"Second Master, you don't know, what Miss Bao said is still good."

"In our mansion, everything requires silver. If you don't have it, even the food will be cold and rotten, and even the rouge and powder will be low-quality stuff. You dare not put it on your face."

She was afraid that Baoyu would not believe her, so she went to the back room and fetched a box of rouge and powder, slapped it on the table, and said:

"In addition to the two taels of monthly salary, my young lady also has another two taels of money for hair oil and powder. But look at this thing, sir. Who dares to use it?"

"Fortunately, when the young lady came, she brought some silver from home, so she could buy some good things for herself, and she could also give tips to the kitchen staff from time to time, so she could have a hot meal. Otherwise, it would really be..."

Baoyu didn't know much about other things, but he was very experienced in rouge and powder. With just a light flick of his hand, he knew that the black stuff inside must taste bad and he couldn't eat it.

Just as he was filled with shock and anger, Baochai beside him sighed again:
"No wonder Sister Daiyu is always sick. Compared to her, living under someone else's roof is nothing."

These words immediately ignited Baoyu's anger. He grabbed the rouge and powder, turned around and rushed out.

Xiren and others were terrified, fearing that he would expose the secret, so they hurriedly chased after him, trying to stop him.

But Baoyu didn't understand the whole story. He just thought that it was the servants who did something evil, so he wanted to find the bad guy, fire him, and that would be the end of it.

When he rushed to Mrs. Wang and told her what happened, Mrs. Wang started to have a headache.

She had been in charge of the household for many years, so how could she not know the shortcomings of this family? But just as the biggest shortcoming of a country lies in the emperor, the biggest shortcoming of Rongguo Mansion lies in Grandmother Jia. With the old lady protecting her, no one can touch those black-hearted servants.

When seeing a butler like Lai Da, even the young masters and young ladies had to call him Grandpa Lai, and Mrs. Wang didn't dare to provoke him.

Similarly, with Mrs. Wang as their backing, no one can touch Zhou Rui and his wife; with Wang Xifeng as their backing, no one can touch Lai Wang and his wife.

Grandmother Jia relies on Lai Da and others to control the family, Lady Wang relies on Zhou Rui and his wife to manage Rongguo Mansion, and Wang Xifeng also relies on Lai Wang and his wife to manage the household.

They all share a common interest, and if one of them is moved, the whole body will be moved.

But since my son has exposed the matter, it must be dealt with!

There is no way that a subordinate can be closer to you than your own son, right?

What's more, it's hard to say whether this was done by one's own subordinates!

In other words, you can just put the blame on someone else. After all, none of these filthy guys in the mansion has a clean bottom.

Mrs. Wang made up her mind quickly. She asked someone to call Zhou Ruijia over, threw the inferior rouge and powder in front of her, and cursed:
"I just wanted to have some peace and quiet for a few years and not ask about the affairs of this mansion, but now this mansion has become such a mess!"

"Look at this rouge and powder. Can it be used by girls?"

"I heard that the kitchen staff has to pay money to give hot meals, otherwise they can only eat cold and stale food. Is this reasonable?"

"They are all obsessed with money, and have completely forgotten their own identities. They don't even understand the principles of being a human being!"

"Go and investigate thoroughly to find out who dares to be so disrespectful. Once you find out, fire them all!"

"Our Rongguo Mansion is a kind family, and we cannot tolerate such a black-hearted servant in our home!"

Zhou Ruijia immediately knelt down and kowtowed, agreeing to it.

Mrs. Wang tried to comfort Baoyu again, "Don't worry, this matter cannot be let go. We must take this opportunity to rectify the family tradition so that we won't be laughed at by others."

Baoyu foolishly believed it and said with a happy smile:
"I said that these things must be the result of the servants' reckless behavior, and it was not the intention of our master."

"Madam, why don't you tell everyone again not to accept tips from the Xue family in the future, so as to avoid misunderstandings from Bao-jie and Aunt Xue's family."

Mrs. Wang was calculating her sister's money, so she couldn't bring herself to ask such a question. She evaded the question by saying:

"You are just talking nonsense."

"If you give your maid a reward and she refuses to accept it, what will you think? Will you think that she is angry with you?"

"The Xue family is a merchant family. They love to use this money to win over others. If you don't let them pay the money, they will be worried!"

"Your Aunt Xue is my biological sister. Baochai and Wenlong are respected as young ladies and young masters in the mansion. How can there be any saying that they are living under someone else's roof?"

"It's obvious that the maids around you have been spoiled by you. They have forgotten their own identities and are giving Baochai a rude look. That's why this happened."

When Baoyu heard this, he remembered how the maids usually behaved in front of his family, and he began to believe it in his heart. He said angrily:

"I will go back and talk to them and ask them not to do this."

Mrs. Wang pointed at his forehead and said angrily:

"You should really say it if you are willing to. Don't just try to coax me with words and then turn around and humble yourself and treat those maids like your own parents."

After hearing this, Baoyu started to act like a spoiled child, and he went into Mrs. Wang's arms and acted like a coquettish child, which completely wore away Mrs. Wang's temper.

After coaxing Baoyu away, Mrs. Wang asked someone to find out what had gone wrong and why Baoyu knew all these things when he was fine.

Because of the dispute over silver, the four girls had offended other maids in the courtyard.

Now that they saw Mrs. Wang sent people to inquire about the news, how could they say anything good about the four girls? Instead, they exaggerated the matter.

Soon Mrs. Wang got the news and knew what had happened in front of Baoyu's yard before.

She didn't know that there was another story behind this. She only analyzed the known situation and felt that it was mostly because of the greed of Xiren and the other maids. They felt that the Xue family didn't give enough money and might even be trying to blackmail them. She immediately became dissatisfied with Xiren and the other three maids.

As for Baochai and Xue Pan, she didn't have any doubts at all.

Because Baochai has always had a lukewarm attitude towards Baoyu, she was dissatisfied at first, thinking that everyone should like their own son, but later she became extremely satisfied, thinking that Baochai did not have a coquettish look, was very dedicated to her duties, never overstepped the line, and was a good girl.

Although Xue Pan is the young master and head of the Xue family, he is not arrogant at all. He follows his son around all day long like a follower. He will most likely be able to help his son in the future, which of course makes her even more satisfied.

Seeing that Xiren and the other four had offended the Xue brothers and sisters, she thought about replacing them, but she also knew that these four girls had always been treasured by her own phoenix eggs, so she wanted to wait and see what happened next. But Zhou Ruijia received the order from Mrs. Wang, so she took the chicken feathers as a token of authority and began to suppress dissidents. She found a reason to punish many people who she usually looked down upon and didn't give face to, either by fining them or expelling them from the mansion, causing panic in the whole mansion.

Most of them were from the eldest master's side, and there were also a few from Wang Xifeng's side. However, she didn't dare to touch anyone from the old lady's side.

Even so, someone reported the matter to Lady Xing and Wang Xifeng. However, this time the incident was started by the Phoenix Egg in the mansion, so no one could afford to offend. Also, since they had the right to do so, they could only suffer in silence.

After the storm subsided, everyone asked each other and found out the whole story.

Because of this rectification, many things could not be done temporarily. The kitchen staff, purchasing staff and others lost a lot of benefits, so naturally they became resentful.

The Xue family is the God of Wealth, they cannot hate them.

Master Bao is the old lady's favorite, so they dare not hate him.

Then I can only hate Xiren and the other four maids.

Before they knew it, Xiren and the other three had become public enemies in the mansion, their reputation had been damaged, and everyone began to despise them.

The four girls also noticed this, but they did not know the seriousness of the matter. Relying on Baoyu's support, they did not take the storm outside the courtyard seriously. They were only thinking about how to bring Master Bao back to the right path.

The fourth girl was not a woman of insight to begin with, and she could not think of any good way except to prevent Xue Pan from leading her second master astray.

After rejecting several ideas that seemed useless at first glance, Xiren hesitated for a moment and said through gritted teeth:

"The reason why Second Master has gone astray is probably because he doesn't understand the relationship between men and women. If he knows how to enjoy it, he will definitely not be seduced by Xue again."

"At this moment, I'm afraid the sisters are the only ones who can make sacrifices."

"Anyway, everyone will give it to the Second Master sooner or later, so it doesn't matter if it's sooner or later!"

After hearing this, the other three women fell silent.

Xiren and Baoyu are the closest to each other, so of course she can accept making some sacrifices for Baoyu, but she also feels a little unwilling in her heart.

In the original book, it was Baoyu who told Xiren the details of his dream, which aroused her emotions, but she could not resist Baoyu's forcing, so she was able to have sex with him.

Now, when Xiren saw Baoyu, she remembered what she saw that day, and she felt uncomfortable in her heart. Naturally, her willingness to devote herself to him was discounted.

The other three girls' affection for Baoyu is not as strong as Xiren's, so naturally the discount is greater.

Of course it would be best if Mrs. Wang could assign one.

If they were to become Master Bao's concubine or maidservant in the future, the four of them would actually be willing.

However, if they were to devote themselves to Master Bao now, without any name or status, and with the future being uncertain, not all four of them would be willing.

But the problem is that the reason behind this must never be told to Mrs. Wang. If they let Mrs. Wang know the truth, they would be seeking death!

Seeing that the other three women were silent, Xiren knew their attitudes and sighed:
"If that doesn't work, then let's draw lots!"

When Qingwen heard this, she raised her eyebrows and cried:

"What's the point of drawing lots for such a matter?"

"If I draw someone who is unwilling, does the lot count?"

"If anyone is willing to sacrifice himself without any name or status, please stay and draw lots. Anyway, I won't draw!"

After saying this, Qingwen pouted and turned away.

With Qingwen taking the lead, Qiu Wen also said:

"If the master and his wife have spoken, then I definitely have no objection. Or if Master Bao has this intention, I can do it."

"But now, the Second Master clearly has no such intention, and he wants a girl like me to take the initiative to do these shameful things. I...I can't do it."

Musk Moon also retreated and said:

“It hasn’t really come to this!”

"Second Master only said that he likes girls, but he didn't say that he likes being a girl. We just need to keep an eye on that Xue guy and don't let him get close to Second Master again, and most likely everything will be fine."

Seeing that the other three were unwilling, Xiren had no choice but to give up the idea and sighed:

"But the Second Master is now at an age where he should know about the relationship between men and women. If he is led astray by that Xue..."

After hearing this, Qingwen suddenly turned around and clapped her hands, saying:

"That's not easy!"

"I heard that newlyweds are taught about sex before they get married. I think there are picture books on the market that are specifically used to teach people. Why don't you buy one and let Second Master take a look and learn from it?"

After hearing what she said, the three girls seemed to understand something and recalled that they seemed to have heard of similar things before.

"This is a good idea. Anyway, we are just worried that the Second Master will go astray. So, why don't we just tell him what is right?"

"But this album...we are all girls, how can we buy it?"

"Just tell Second Master and have him order someone to buy it, right?"

"Who's going to tell the Second Master? I can't open my mouth anyway!"

After everyone had been arguing for a while, Xiren called Mingyan over the next day, quietly pulled him aside, and whispered:

"I have a task for you, but you must not tell anyone else."

Mingyan was Baoyu's trusted servant. He knew that Xiren was the most trusted by Baoyu, so he smiled and agreed without asking any questions. He just said:

"It's rare that my sister asks me to do something. I will definitely do it beautifully and will not let you down."

Xiren said:

"I was chatting with Second Master before, and heard that he was curious about those things, so I wanted you to help me get some picture albums, but Second Master was too embarrassed to ask, so he asked me to come find you."

"I'll give you some silver. You can go back and buy the album and secretly give it to the Second Master. Just say it's your filial piety and you can win his favor."

Mingyan smiled and said:
"Those things, what are they?"

"Sister, if I don't explain clearly, how can I get things done?"

Xiren blushed and said:

"It's just the things between men and women."

Mingyan's eyes flashed, and she smiled and asked tentatively:
"So that's how it is. This is a simple matter, but it's a taboo. If my wife catches me, I'm afraid I'll be kicked out of the house."

"How about this, I'll go tell Second Master, as long as Second Master agrees, if I'm caught and don't give me away, I'll go buy it."

Seeing Mingyan about to leave, Xiren was startled and hurriedly pulled him back, saying:

"How can I ask the Second Master about this? If he had the nerve to ask, why would he let me come to find you?"

"How about this, when you buy the album, give it to me first, and I will put it in Second Master's room in private."

Mingyan immediately understood and teased:
"So who wants to see this album, Second Master or Sister?"

Xiren blushed and stamped her feet, saying:
"Why do you care so much? Just buy the album!"

Mingyan smiled again, winked and said:
“Then this album is precious!”

Xiren rolled her eyes at him, took out a small piece of silver, weighing about two or three taels, and stuffed it into his hand, saying angrily:
"I'm not asking you to do this for nothing, why are you telling me what's noble and what's lowly?"

Mingyan smiled, put the silver in his pocket, and patted his chest to promise:

"Don't worry, sister. I will definitely deliver this album to you when the time comes, and I will never let Second Master know anything about it."

"I just hope that after my sister becomes my aunt, she can take good care of me."

Xiren was relieved then, and after giving a few more instructions, she left.

Looking at Xiren's receding back, Mingyan took out the small ingot of silver, weighed it in his hand, shook his head with a sneer, turned around and went back to Lixiangyuan, reporting the matter in detail to Xue Pan.

Mingyan is the most trusted servant around Baoyu. How could Xue Pan not try hard to win him over?
In the past few months, Mingyan has received more money from the Xue family than his entire family has earned in their entire lifetime, so he naturally knows who to side with.

After Xue Pan heard Mingyan's words, he threw out a large silver ingot, weighing about twenty or thirty taels, which was ten times the reward given by Xiren.

"Well done!"

"Don't worry about the album. I'll give you one later and you can give it to her."

Mingyan took the silver and immediately smiled. She thanked the master profusely and went out of the house happily to do her business.

Xiren and the others knew nothing about this, but they took turns watching Baoyu every day to prevent him from being bewitched by Xue again.

It is not known if it was because of the previous conflict with Baochai, but since then, Xue Pan never came to see Baoyu again.

Xiren and the others felt a little relieved, but they still kept on guard and refused to relax.

Mingyan was very efficient. That evening, he came to Xiren privately and handed her the picture album. It was not just one volume, but a set of three, upper, middle and lower, with pictures and texts. The paintings were exquisitely done and each volume was wonderful.

Xiren was overjoyed. After repeatedly asking Mingyan to keep it a secret, she took the booklet back, greeted the other three girls, and then quietly put it into Baoyu's room.

As the four girls had expected, after Baoyu read the erotic album, he often took it out and studied it over and over again, thinking that he had avoided the four girls' eyes. However, he didn't know that every time he studied it, the four girls were terrified and watching him from outside.

They knew that it was inappropriate to act on their own without the knowledge of the master and the mistress, but they had been friends with Baoyu for many years and they could not bear to see him go astray. In the absence of a better solution from others, they had no choice but to go ahead with it.

At first they were a little worried, afraid of being discovered, but later they realized that they were just guilty. People in the mansion were busy currying favor with Master Zhan and looking for a good job. Who would pay attention to them?
After the Four Kings and Eight Dukes and Baoling Hou and others divided up the market share that day, Zhan Twenty-four began to expand his recruitment and prepare to expand the Erguotou business.

The core of Erguotou is distillation. The process and the control of the temperature are very important, and this must be controlled by one's own family. Therefore, Mr. Zhan transferred all the people from his "hometown" in Hebei to Beijing in the name of expanding enrollment and gave them important positions.

With the core backbone, everything becomes convenient, and the remaining relatively unimportant links can be done by hiring other people.

As soon as the news was released, the Zhan Mansion suddenly became lively. Those who were interested rushed to join in, especially the clever people from the Ning and Rong Mansions.

No one knows how many clansmen there are in these two mansions now. In the Rongguo Mansion alone, there are thousands of them in the original book, but most of them are poor people at the bottom of society who can't find work.

Now that he knew that Mr. Zhan's wine-making business was going to expand and was recruiting people, he immediately became interested and tried every means to use his connections to get a good job.

The first to arrive were the Xing Zhong couple.

Just seeing that they were willing to sell their own daughter to Master Zhan as a concubine, we can tell that these two are greedy and selfish people.

The two of them also knew that they were of low status and could not catch the eye of Master Zhan, so they simply bypassed Zhan Twenty-four and went directly to find their own daughter.

They may not take their daughter seriously, but Xing Xiuyan cannot help but treat them both as her parents.

"Miss, since Master Zhan wants to recruit people, who can he use?"

"With your parents helping out with household chores, your words will carry more weight at home, right?"

"You are just whispering in Master Zhan's ear. It's just a matter of Master Zhan's words!"

Xing Xiuyan frowned slightly, feeling really embarrassed.

"Dad, Mom, my daughter has just married into the family, and it is inappropriate for you to interfere in family affairs at will."

"Especially with several other concubines above us. If my daughter speaks up, how can the other concubines be exempted?"

"In my opinion, Dad and Mom might as well ask my aunt and uncle, and then let my uncle ask my master, that would be much safer."

After Xing Zhong heard this, he slapped his thigh and shouted with his neck stiffened:

"If he's willing to do me this favor, why would I need to come to you in person?"

"When he encouraged us to send our daughter as a concubine, he said a lot of nice things to me, but then he turned around and pretended to be stupid, saying that he had not lost any money from us and that we had already settled the matter."

Xing Xiuyan was unhappy when she heard this. She was not only dissatisfied with her uncle's coldness, but also hurt by her parents' greed. She immediately evaded the question:
"I'll talk to the master about it later. Dad and Mom, just go back and wait for the news."

After hearing this, Mr. and Mrs. Xing Zhong left happily, waiting for good things to happen. However, they didn't know that Xing Xiuyan had never mentioned this matter to Master Zhan at all.

Xing Xiuyan is a person who knows her limits and the big picture. She knows what to say and what to do. Her parents know that if they were hardworking, they would never sell their daughter for fame and fortune.

If they were really allowed to take charge, they might not do a good job and cause a lot of trouble. Not only would the two of them be in trouble, but the little love between her and the master would also be gone. That's why she never mentioned this matter in front of her master. At worst, she would take her parents with her after she had established herself in the mansion.

But even if she didn't mention it, Zhan Ershisi still knew it.

All matters in this mansion, big or small, are kept under the watchful eye of Yu Sanjie, the paparazzi, who perfectly acts as the mansion's intelligence agent.

Master Zhan was very good at coaxing women. After knowing this, when he was favoring Xing Xiuyan that night, he said sweetly:
"Although you are not the master's legal wife, in the master's heart, you are no different from the legal wife."

"Your parents are the master's father-in-law and mother-in-law, so they must be taken care of."

"Look, my second sister's mother and younger sister are now living in the mansion next door, and they have never been treated harshly."

"If you don't even take care of your parents-in-law, there will definitely be people gossiping about you behind your back, which will be detrimental to your reputation."

"Even if your parents aren't good at doing things, you can still give them some chores and earn some money to support them. It's only a few taels of silver a month."

Of course, the key point is, if there is no benefit in giving a daughter away, who would give a daughter to Mr. Zhan in the future?

But there is no need to tell such a cruel truth.

After hearing this, Xing Xiuyan was deeply moved. For the first time ever, she took the initiative to turn on the lights and performed a clothing show for Master Zhan. She was even more considerate on the bed, doing all kinds of things according to Master Zhan's wishes. Even though she was still shy, she never refused.

Master Zhan was naturally very happy. While enjoying Xing Xiuyan's devoted service, he performed all kinds of tricks to tease Xing Xiuyan like a blooming flower.

The next day, Xing Zhong and his wife received the news as expected. They each got an easy, leisurely job. Not only was the salary generous, but they also had a few servants under them, and the work was not difficult.

After receiving such benefits, Xing Zhong and his wife became very excited and started to spread the good deeds of Master Zhan everywhere, fearing that others would not know that their daughter was Master Zhan's concubine.

This made many people feel jealous and secretly laughed at the smug faces of the Xing Zhong couple.

But after hearing this, most families began to wonder whether they should send their daughters to Master Zhan's house.

Even if she doesn't have the bonus of being relatives of the eldest ladies of various mansions like You Erjie and Xing Xiuyan, and can't get the position of a concubine, but even if she is just a maid, she can at least be compared with Jin Chuan'er and Yu Chuan'er!

The current situation is how to get people in.

There are too many people and too little porridge. Just because you want to give it to others doesn’t mean they will take it!

Most likely, you still need to use some connections to succeed!
The original group is full, so I created a new group, which can be seen on the Qidian app.

Those who have followed this chapter are probably not undercover agents.

There should be undercover agents in the original group, so don’t mention this matter in the original group.

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(End of this chapter)