The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 88 Competitors
Ever since being driven out of the Rongguo Mansion, Qingwen never thought about having any connection with the Ning and Rong mansions again.

Who knew that now, she is going back again!

Although it is the Ningguo Mansion, in her heart, the Ning and Rong families are one family, and the two families are just separated by a door. Entering the Ningguo Mansion is equivalent to returning to the Rongguo Mansion, there is no difference.

Thinking that she would be able to see Baoyu and those people she once knew very well again soon, Qingwen felt a complex feeling in her heart that was difficult to describe.

She wanted to return to Ningguo Mansion to avoid her current hard life, but she was afraid of seeing her old acquaintances and being laughed at by them. She was in a dilemma.

Originally, she always thought that after leaving Rongguo Mansion, she could live a good life with her own abilities, and even become the master of the house one day, and return home in glory, trample those who looked down on her under her feet, and vent her anger.

But the reality was so devastating, not only did she fail to turn things around, but she became worse and worse. She had lowered her goal from returning to a glorious life to just being able to escape from this shabby place.

Qingwen sighed secretly and had to take things one step at a time and wait until she entered the Ningguo Mansion before making any decisions!

At least the living standard there is much better than that in this small courtyard outside, and the working environment is familiar and the work content is easy.

Besides, as long as she entered the Ningguo Mansion, she would be close to Baoyu. If it really didn't work out, she could ask Baoyu for help and transfer to Madam Rong. It would be better than suffering here with Yun'er, the evil woman.

After figuring it out, Qingwen quickly packed up her things, made a small bag, put it on her back, and went out.

After Yun'er had packed up her belongings, she packed all the miscellaneous stuff into a few small boxes and put them on the carriage that came to pick her up. She then took everyone directly to Ningguo Mansion.

In the Ningguo Mansion today, Youshi and Keqing are in charge.

Originally, it was Keqing who should have arranged for Master Rong's concubine to enter the mansion, but the two women knew whose woman Yun'er was, so after discussing it, they invited Yun'er over to talk.

Yun'er was originally quite confident. Everyone served their own masters and there were no conflicts.

But who would have thought that after just a few words when they met, Yun'er realized that they were all serving the same master!

She couldn't help but feel speechless, but she also felt more relieved. Since they had the same master, she was not afraid of being driven away by the people in Ningguo Mansion. At worst, she could just go out of this door and enter that courtyard.

"Since you have entered the mansion, Sister Yun'er, you must abide by the rules of the mansion. All the maids around you must be replaced with family-born girls. Otherwise, you cannot be trusted."

"As for the people who have been replaced, those with living indentures will be given some money to send away, and those with dead indentures will be trained together for a period of time and then returned to your room."

Seeing Keqing's order, Yun'er hurriedly smiled and said:

"Just follow my sister's instructions. I have no objection."

"But there is a special person here, Qingwen, who has been specially cared for by the master. She is also a living indenture. Should she be sent away as well?"

When they heard the name Qingwen, the two girls of the You family frowned. They looked down on this kind of maid who couldn't distinguish between superiors and subordinates. But they also knew that Master Zhan was very interested in the four maids around Baoyu, and Qingwen, although she was disfigured, was no exception.

The two of them lowered their heads and discussed in a low voice for a few words, then said:

"Then she will stay by your side. Her treatment will be the same as when she was in Rongguo Mansion, a second-class maid, with one hundred yuan per month."

Yun Er hurriedly smiled and said:
"That's too much!"

"The master specifically instructed us to temper her and teach her to be more sensible. She is probably going to be married to a young lady with a soft personality in the future."

When Youshi and the other two heard this, they immediately knew who the soft and sticky young lady was referring to, and they felt relieved and changed their words:
"Then you will start from the bottom, a third-class maid, with 500 coins per month."

Yun Er smiled and suggested:

"Since the newcomers have to be retrained, how can Qingwen be an exception? Of course, she must also be trained together."

"Rongguo Mansion has its own rules, and Ningguo Mansion has its own rules. If you don't relearn them, what will you do if you make a mistake?"

Yu Shi glanced at Yun'er and suddenly realized that she was a strong rival who was very good at currying favor with the master. She had to be on guard against her in the future, but she remained calm and just smiled and nodded in agreement.

Therefore, Qingwen was captured and trained together with a group of new maids.

In the Ningguo Mansion today, Lai Er and others have been sent by Master Zhan to work on the construction site to make money, and many affairs have been taken over by Master Zhan's own family. They have taken over the management of the mansion step by step, so that the Rongguo Mansion, which is only separated by a wall, is unaware of the changes that have taken place next door, and is even more unaware of the affairs of Yun'er, Qingwen and others.

All they could see was Master Rong living a life of luxury, eating, drinking and having fun everywhere, and it seemed like he had endless money to spend.

Grandma Rong was like a socialite every day, socializing in the backyards of powerful families in Beijing. She made her clothing business flourish and was envied by everyone.

Unfortunately, because of the falling out with the Zhan family, the Rongguo Mansion could not participate in many money-making businesses, and its original business was greatly affected.

Because of these things, Mrs. Wang has been quite worried and anxious recently.

In order to solve this problem and also to save more money for the family, Mrs. Wang decided to follow the Zhan family's example. She organized the embroiderers in the mansion together and started a clothing business, intending to compete with the Zhan family.

"Will this work?" Jia Zheng knew nothing about financial affairs and was quite worried.

"Why not?" Madam Wang urged, "Why did the Zhan family bring our two families into this business?"

"It's because these clothes are sold in the backyards of the rich and powerful people's homes. Without the introduction of us women, ordinary people can't even enter the door of the officials and dignitaries' homes!"

"Since everyone relies on connections to attract people, it doesn't matter who the ladies buy their clothes from. I can easily attract a hundred people by myself."

"This dress is only of a rare style and rare material, but the rest is not difficult."

"I have asked many people in the mansion, and they can all make these clothes, but they have errands in the mansion and cannot work for the Zhan family, otherwise they would have gone to earn money long ago!"

"In that case, why not gather them all together and learn from the Zhan family to make these clothes as well."

"Then let's just copy the styles from the Zhan family. Anyway, as for clothing styles, they use them, so can we."

"There's no rule that this can only be used by his family. If we use it, what can he do?"

"When the time comes, if it's the same material and the same clothes, we can just sell them at a lower price. Why shouldn't our relatives and friends support our business?"

Jia Zheng thought about it and it seemed to make sense, so he nodded and said:
"Well, if that's the case, let's give it a try!"

After gaining the support of her master, Mrs. Wang spread the news and began to recruit women and maids with good skills to be embroiderers, and replaced their original jobs with new people.

As soon as the news spread, the Rongguo Mansion suddenly became lively and every family began to praise Mrs. Wang again.

Even Wang Xifeng ran over.

She had always been envious of the network of connections behind the clothing business, but Mr. Zhan never paid any attention to her and never took her out to play, which made her very dissatisfied, and she often quarreled with Jia Lian over this.

It’s not that she hadn’t thought about starting from within the mansion, but this clothing business was not from the Rongguo Mansion, but from Mrs. Wang’s own family.

Mrs. Wang buys the goods from the Zhan family, then sells them at a higher price. She can be Mrs. Wang's subordinate, but she cannot start her own business. Mrs. Wang is the first one to disagree, which is very boring.

Recently, Master Zheng wanted to cut off the relationship between the two mansions, but Master She, the nominal head of the Rongguo Mansion, disagreed with him. As Master She's daughter-in-law, Wang Xifeng would definitely support her own master.

She was still thinking about her adopted sister-in-law, and was calculating all day long how much benefit her family could get if Yingchun really married Master Zhan.

But this time, when Wang Xifeng heard that Mrs. Wang was planning to start her own clothing business, she decisively changed her stance, sided with Mrs. Wang, and rushed over eagerly to get a piece of the pie.

"Madam, this decision couldn't be more wise!"

Wang Xifeng kept flattering Lady Wang and said:
"I had this idea a long time ago, but at that time our two families were on good terms, and if I told them, the mansion would be the first to disagree."

"Now that we've become enemies, let's cut off what needs to be cut off. From now on, they can do their thing and we can do ours."

"After my wife's clothes are made, I will first send them to the backyards of relatives and friends. I will definitely make a good start for my wife!"

It’s just a pity that Wang Xifeng got a cold shoulder despite her efforts.

Originally, the business belonged to Mrs. Wang, and now she has no intention of sharing this benefit with other people in the mansion, not even her own niece.

So Mrs. Wang said politely with a fake smile:
"Feng girl, you have good intentions, but the business has just started to be prepared, and there is not even a single word yet!"

"Besides, it's just a small business of ours. I'm testing the waters first. I don't need to trouble you for now."

"When this business is well established and I have more clothes, it won't be too late for me to ask you for help."

Wang Xifeng was a very smart person. When she heard her words, she knew that she wanted to keep it all for herself, so she replied with a fake smile:
"What kind of heresy are you talking about, ma'am?"

"Now, all the people in the mansion who are good at manual work are being transferred to other positions. Such a big move has even alarmed the old lady. How can this be a small business?"

"The other day the old lady asked me whether such a large-scale transfer would affect the normal life of the mansion, but I evaded her."

"But now it seems that I misunderstood. It turns out that it was just my wife's own transfer. I will ask those extra greedy ghosts to go back to work honestly and stop thinking about things that they shouldn't have all day long."

Mrs. Wang's face darkened after hearing this.

This was due to her lack of consideration. She was only thinking about the benefits, but forgot that everyone in this mansion was like a fly chasing after fishy smells, and would pounce on them as soon as they saw the slightest benefit.

The business was indeed hers before, but that was because the dominant power was not in her hands, but in the hands of Dongfu and Zhan family, so even if others were jealous, there was nothing they could do. But now that she wants to do it herself, it is inevitable that some people will want to come and share the profits.

Although she had some embroiderers in her house, their number was limited. If she wanted to make this business a success, she would have to concentrate the strength of all the embroiderers in the house.

Especially from the meaning of Wang Xifeng's words, if her wishes were not fulfilled, she would definitely make trouble behind the scenes, and might even go to the old lady to slander him.

She could ignore Wang Xifeng's face, but if the old lady spoke up, she would have no choice, and she might even lose more.

Why don’t you die of your greed!

Mrs. Wang cursed inwardly, then thought carefully for a long time, but she couldn't think of a way to monopolize the business, so she said unhappily:

"It's just a small matter, why bother the old lady?"

"Since you don't mind being tired, just take over this mess. I'll get a share of the money anyway, and I'd rather have some peace and quiet!"

Wang Xifeng then changed her anger into joy, and said with a smile:

"Don't worry, Madam. I have already prepared a few people who have worked as embroiderers in the Zhan Mansion and know how it is done there."

"Let's ask them to come over and explain it to us. Then we can follow the prescription and get the right medicine. It will be perfect."

Mrs. Wang was not good at trivial matters to begin with. It was okay for her to be in charge of the household, but she had only a vague understanding of business matters. Now that she saw that she was well prepared, she could only comfort herself that with Feng Lazi in charge, she would definitely be able to worry less and the probability of success would be much greater.

With the cooperation of Wang Xifeng, things went almost smoothly afterwards. Soon, a large courtyard was fenced off in the northwest corner of Rongguo Mansion, where the large flower hall was built later, as a centralized working location.

There was no other way. There were too many people in Rongguo Mansion and there were almost no vacant rooms, so they had to build a new place.

Then, they began to promote the product to their relatives and friends in a big way, hoping to grab some orders.

Of course, Master Zhan had already known about their publicity. Yushi and Keqing came over nervously and complained:

"Master, this second wife is so rude. We are all relatives. How can she do this?"

"Why don't we lower the price too?"

Zhan Ershisi was not in a hurry. He just smiled and hugged the two of them, comforting them:
"You don't have to worry too much. This business is not that easy to do!"

"Let's not talk about anything else, just talking about 996, we can do it, can Xifu also afford it?"

"The slaves in the West Mansion are all rebellious against Tian Gang. Even the master has to give them some face. Do you still want them to be busy from morning to night and work six hours a day?" "What a sweet dream!"

After hearing this, the two girls remembered the changes in the behavior of the servants in Ningguo Mansion before and after Master Zhan came to the mansion, and they immediately understood, but they still couldn't help but worry.

"Master, even if they don't work six hours a day, we can always keep the business going by hiring more people, but we will just make less money. But the business we lost is a pure loss!"

Zhan Ershi thought for a moment and said:
"Come to think of it, these sets of clothes have been used for a long time, and it's time to launch new costumes."

"The reason why this clothing attracts people to buy is that it is new. Once you see it more often, your interest will naturally fade."

"Okay, I'll prepare a few new clothing styles for you later. You can arrange for someone to make them. From now on, we will launch a new set of clothing every ten days."

"Even if those people support the West Mansion because of friendship or other reasons, they will definitely not miss out on our new equipment."

"Hehe... Once the costumes are made, the three of us will try them out together and study the issue of customer satisfaction in detail."

Seeing his frivolous smile, the two girls couldn't help but blush and spat at him harshly, but did not refuse.

Since he didn't care, it would be easy to talk to Aunt Xue. After Wang Xifeng had been coaxing her for a long time, she finally agreed to provide her with the same tribute-level materials as the palace. However, it had to be the same as the Zhan family's, with payment and delivery, and no credit or returns.

Wang Xifeng had no idea there was a trap, so she agreed with a smile on her face and bought a lot of material in one go.

Everything went smoothly at the beginning. The Jia and Wang families had strong connections and easily got a lot of orders, but problems soon arose.

Wang Xifeng was very concerned about this business, but her focus was not on production but on managing personal connections.

What she was thinking about was how to make profits through these new friends, going through the backyard route, building connections, and colluding with officials and businessmen.

So she spent most of her time running back and forth between houses, drinking tea, watching a play, chatting about family matters, etc. As for clothes, she left it to Ping'er to take care of them.

As a result, after just a few days, Ping'er quit the job.

"Madam, you should find someone else. I can't do this job!"

Wang Xifeng has been in high spirits lately, and her complexion has improved a lot. Seeing her being naughty, she was not angry, but smiled and asked:

"what happened?"

"Who made you angry?"

"Haha..." Ping'er sneered, "Who else could it be? Those embroiderers!"

"My wife entrusted me with this task, and I was afraid that I couldn't do it well, so I went to the site every day to supervise it. As a result, a group of women were chatting and arguing, and few of them worked hard."

"I just said a few words, and they started to talk back at me, saying that if you gave them five taels of silver a month like the Zhan family, they would work hard without saying a word. If you can't give them that, then they'd better stop complaining about this and that."

"They also said that if you feel that they are not doing a good enough job, then you can find someone else to do it. You can find whoever you want. They are not willing to serve you anymore!"

After Wang Xifeng heard this, she burst into laughter and said soothingly:
"Come on, why are you so angry with a bunch of old ladies?"

"They live by their mouths all day long. If they don't gossip while working, they will suffocate to death!"

"If they want to talk, then let them talk. Anyway, the money the government can only give is this much, and it can't go up any more."

"We already give 20% to 30% more than ordinary servants. If we give more, the others will start making trouble again."

"There are only a few people like Mr. Zhan in this world. It's like he has a grudge against money. He gives it to anyone he sees."

Ping Er was relieved after hearing this, no longer worried about the consequences in the future, and only reminded:

"I'm afraid they'll be too slow and take several days to make a piece of clothing. When they come to urge us to deliver the clothes, we won't be able to do it."

"That won't do!" Wang Xifeng's face changed, and she stood up and walked out, saying as she walked: "I'll go talk to them. They can chat while they work, but if they can't hand in the clothes on time, no one can blame me for being rude."

The two of them hurried to the workshop, but before they entered the house, they heard someone laughing inside. Wang Xifeng's brows immediately raised, and she walked into the house with a cold face, ready to make an example of someone.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she came in, she saw a pretty young man standing in the center of the room, holding a piece of clothing that looked like a hip skirt in his hand, and laughing with the people next to him. The old women also dropped their work and just tried to coax him.

Wang Xifeng’s anger immediately subsided. Baoyu was the only one in the mansion who could enjoy such treatment!

Baoyu has been very depressed recently.

First, all the close followers around him were driven away, and then the people in Jiang Yunxuan were replaced.

Then Qingwen was expelled from the mansion, and the three maids Xiren, Sheyue and Qiu Wen were all given away. No matter how much he cried, he could not change the cruel hearts of the master and the mistress.

Afterwards, because the three women were competing for a husband, the atmosphere in the mansion became tense, and Sister Xiangyun came home less often.

In the end, Uncle Lin fell ill and Sister Lin also passed away.

Even Xue Pan and Jia Rong, with whom he had a close relationship, were now nowhere to be seen all day long. Qin Zhong was only with Huan Saner all day long, doing something mysterious and unknown, which made him feel particularly lonely.

There were so many people gathered in this mansion to make clothes. Baoyu was of course aware of such a big event, so he came to watch the fun, and then when he saw the beautiful clothes, he couldn't let them go.

Xue Pan had once given him an evening dress, but after he got what he wanted, this scumbag never gave him any other clothes. Now that Baoyu saw that there was one in his own house, he insisted on taking one back home first.

If it was something else, these old women would definitely let him take it, since they didn't have to pay for it themselves anyway.

But they all knew that Mrs. Wang was wary of Baoyu's interest in women. This thing was a girl's toy. If he took it away to please one of his sisters, something might happen.

These old women were all experienced and fearful of being taken out on, so they tried to coax him and were afraid to let him take the thing away.

"Oh, my Second Master, this thing is not for you, you can't wear it!"

"When you have a concubine in the future, I will make a set for you myself, and I will definitely satisfy you."

"Besides, this costume isn't even finished yet. Look how plain it is. It's only been cut, not embroidered yet!"

No matter how much they tried to persuade Baoyu, they could not change his mind. Fortunately, Wang Xifeng arrived at this time. She smiled and stepped forward, took Baoyu's hand, and pulled him out, saying:
"Don't disturb them while they're working. They're just worried about not finding a chance to slack off!"

"If you really like this dress, your sister-in-law will give you a set later."

Baoyu was unwilling to do so and just cried out:

"Sister-in-law must be coaxing me again. I just like this one."

Wang Xifeng explained:
"The clothes here are all tailor-made so that they fit snugly. Haven't you seen the labels on the clothes?"

"The clothes in this room all belong to someone else. You can't give them away carelessly."

Baoyu turned his head to look, and indeed saw that the label had a serial number and many numbers on it, but no name, so he asked curiously:
“Why don’t you write your name?”

Wang Xifeng tapped him on the forehead and said angrily:

"These are girls' clothes. It's fine to just write down the height and leg length. We don't know who it is anyway, but how can you leave the name out there? What will happen if people find out?"

"Originally, only women were allowed in this room. But because of my words, the servants guarding the door let you in. I will definitely punish them later."

Baoyu finally believed it and begged:
"It was all my own fault, so I can't blame anyone else. Sister-in-law, please show some mercy."

Wang Xifeng said angrily:

"If you don't want to implicate others, then you should just stay in your room and study. Now that you've committed a crime, you're trying to do me a favor!"

As he spoke, he pulled him out of the house, had someone take him back to his yard, and dug a tunnel:

"This dress needs to be tailor-made. Who do you plan to wear it for? Ask her to come to me for measurements. After it's done, my second sister-in-law will personally deliver the dress to you."

Baoyu was embarrassed to say that he wanted to wear the clothes, so he just said a few vague words to get the answer, thinking that he would go back to Xue Pan or other channels to get the clothes.

After Wang Xifeng sent him away, she scolded the group of old women and ordered them to complete their work regularly and on time, otherwise they would be severely punished.

These old women were not convinced, but they did not dare to get angry in front of her. They just nodded and agreed. Only then did Wang Xifeng feel relieved and handed the work over to Ping'er, and went out to socialize on her own.

Baoyu was thinking about the clothes, so he went to look for Xue Pan and Jia Rong first. Seeing that they were not at home, he left the house and went straight to Yun'er's courtyard.

After doing certain things together, their feelings are naturally different. There are some things that are not convenient for him to let the people in Ningguo Mansion leave messages, but he can let Yun'er convey them.

But when we arrived at the courtyard, we were shocked to find that it was deserted and there was no trace of anyone.

Baoyu then started to panic. After asking people for a long time, he finally found out that Yun'er and others had left on their own and their whereabouts were unknown.

He was not a smart or capable person to begin with, so when faced with such a situation, after much thought, he decided to ask Zhan Ershisi for help.

When Zhan Ershi heard his intention, he burst into laughter and patted Baoyu on the shoulder, saying:
"Haha...what do I take it for granted?"

"I'll help you solve these two problems!"

"This dress was originally made in my house. If you had told me earlier that you liked it, you could have just told me directly. Why would you have gone through so much trouble?"

"I'll have someone take your measurements in a few days, and I'll have Wenlong deliver the full set of clothes to you in a few days. But you need to hide it well, and don't let your master and mistress find out, otherwise you'll lose your dignity!"

After hearing this, Baoyu laughed awkwardly, feeling quite embarrassed.

"I wasn't very familiar with Brother Zhan before, so I was a little embarrassed and it was hard for me to speak up."

Zhan Ershisi then hugged him and said with a smile:

"Don't worry, Baoyu. What happened between you, Wenlong, and Rong'er will never be leaked."

"If you want to meet someone privately in the future, just go to Ningguo Mansion. The family rules there are very strict. No matter who you meet privately with, no one will dare to say anything."

"It doesn't matter even if it has anything to do with Li Gongcai!"

Baoyu panicked when he heard this, and quickly waved his hands to deny it:
"Brother Zhan, don't talk nonsense. There is nothing wrong between me and my sister-in-law. There is absolutely no private relationship!"

This rumor was originally spread by Master Zhan. Master Zhan knew better than him whether there was an affair between them or not, so he winked and said:

"That's right, that's right. The rumors circulating in your mansion about raising a younger brother-in-law are all false. They are pure rumors."

Baoyu became even more anxious, but Master Zhan changed the subject and said:

"Yun'er has now been taken in by Rong'er and has officially entered the Ningguo Mansion as a concubine. It's just that because she is still in mourning, it's not convenient for people to know, so she deliberately keeps a low profile."

"The Miss Qingwen you're thinking about is also working in Ningguo Mansion now. If you want to meet in the future, it will be much easier."

Baoyu was also a licking dog. When he heard about Yun'er and Qingwen's affairs, his attention was immediately diverted. He clapped his hands happily and said:

"That's great. It saves me from having to run so far and having to drive everyone around me away. It's quite troublesome."

Zhan Ershisi first took Baoyu to the backyard, had someone measure his body, and then made clothes for him anonymously. After everything was arranged, he took him towards Ningguo Mansion.

Thanks to book friends "Gulu Hanshan" and "Yuanqianyanbo" for rewarding 100 coins!
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(End of this chapter)