Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 379: The Marquise's Suppression

in the room,

Caiyun and Xiaxia brought another pot of warm tea, then they retreated together, closed the doors and windows, and stayed outside.

Mrs. Wang raised her hand to replace the cold tea in front of Lin Daiyu, poured a new cup, and then spoke to the sound of gurgling water: "Since the death of the old master, the Jia family has been declining again and again. It is no longer as glorious as you think."

"In recent years, the capital has been in turmoil again, and His Majesty has to propose a new policy from time to time. When the policy is implemented, others don't know that our life is getting harder and harder. For example, the rent outside is getting harder and harder every year. In the mansion, we have to support two or three hundred people, and it is really not enough to make ends meet."

"Even before, when His Majesty wanted to build warships and asked the capital for donations, our family contributed no less than other noble families."

"Now, this residence for the imperial visit is being built..."

Of course Lin Daiyu understood what was said. They wanted her father or Yue Ling to invest some money in the Grand View Garden. After all, she herself was penniless.

If it was just borrowing money to build a garden, it would be a very common thing.

But the significance of the garden built by the Jia family was extraordinary and had a clear political orientation. After all, it was the residence for the imperial concubine to visit her relatives.

The Rong and Ning mansions will prosper together and suffer together. They are definitely willing to contribute and will cooperate very well.

If you want to drag other companies into this, it would be extremely difficult.

Perhaps Mrs. Wang looked down on Lin Daiyu because of her age and her lack of political acumen, so she said these words openly.

Lin Daiyu was happy to cooperate. She sipped the water gently without saying a word, as if she had not heard the trap hidden in it.

If it was just to borrow money, Lin Daiyu felt that there was no need for Mrs. Wang to be so cautious. After all, the Xue family was closer to Mrs. Wang, and their wealthy family made them better candidates for borrowing money, so Mrs. Wang's purpose must be more than that.

As expected, after seeing that Lin Daiyu had no reaction, Mrs. Wang let out a sigh and said, "Just think of it as your aunt pouring out her grievances to you, and listen to it."

Lin Daiyu nodded in response, "It's certainly not easy for my aunt to manage all the affairs of the mansion, and Yu'er can understand that."

Madam Wang smiled lightly and changed the subject, "The money issue is actually a small matter. The key is that the Jia family's livelihood still depends on the man outside, and this is the big issue that we have to worry about."

"Brother Huan and Brother Lan are both past the age of elementary school, but they haven't found any strengths. I want to send them to the military camp to gain some experience. Brother Pan from the Xue family only knew how to play and have fun. After three years of training in the military camp, he came back a while ago and he looks strong."

"Men still can't be kept at home, they have to be sent out to be trained."

Looking up at Lin Daiyu, who was still indifferent, Mrs. Wang moved closer and said, "I think your marriage with the Marquis will be settled soon. The Marquis has made great contributions this time and will surely be entrusted with important tasks by His Majesty. It will only take a word to help the younger generation of the Jia family."

"Besides, your uncle is also a man without ambition. He has the job of a fifth-rank official, but it's all a sinecure. He doesn't have many achievements, so he won't be promoted for a while."

"Seeing your elder sister become the imperial concubine, he, as a father, is only a fifth-rank official, which also brings shame to the imperial concubine."

"If you can be promoted by the Marquis, it will also help your elder sister gain a foothold in the palace."

Lin Daiyu also raised her eyes, smiled shyly, and replied: "What my aunt asks for is not something I can do. I need Brother Yue's consent. Not to mention that Brother Yue and I are not married yet, even if we are really married, what my aunt asks for is too much. How can I expect Brother Yue to agree to it for no reason?"

From what Lin Daiyu said, it seemed that she wanted her to propose conditions. Mrs. Wang was overjoyed and went into more details, saying, "It took the Marquis many years to return to the capital. The capital now is different from the one when the northern barbarians moved south. If His Majesty entrusts you with an important task again, the Marquis will also need help to make it easier for you to act."

"Of course, no one from the Jia family is in the officialdom now, but there are still people from the Wang family who are officials."

"Second brother of the Wang family, you have made great contributions in suppressing the rebellion. You may be appointed as the commander-in-chief when you return to the capital. If the marquis recommends you, you may even be appointed as the governor of the Nine Gates."

"If you help the Jia family again, the imperial concubine in the palace will remember the Marquis' kindness. Then, the Jia family and the Wang family will help the Marquis no matter what he does. Isn't that wonderful?"

Lin Daiyu couldn't help but smile in her heart. Sure enough, under her guidance, Mrs. Wang was exposed.

Regardless of how true or false Mrs. Wang's verbal promise was, her ambition alone was huge.

First of all, Jia Huan and Jia Lan are both children of the second wife, but there is no mention of Jia Lian and Jia Cong from the first wife.

This is not simply an attempt to promote the children of the Jia family, but an obvious attempt to once again exclude the eldest branch from having a say in the Jia family.

Now that Jia Yuanchun has become a noble concubine in the palace, the first wife has only the title but no wealth, and has been squeezed out to the East Courtyard. Mrs. Wang still feels that it is not thorough.

Even if he involves the Wang family and makes them his accomplices, wouldn't it be even more suspicious that he is trying to undermine Lady Jia?
Of course, Lin Daiyu is not as ignorant as she appears to be. She has been with Yue Ling for several years and has been influenced by him. With her intelligence and talent, she has analyzed Mrs. Wang's psychology clearly.

In Mrs. Wang's eyes, Lin Daiyu lowered her head, considering whether it was really as she said, that it would benefit Marquis Anjing in many ways. She thought to herself, "Sure enough, this girl, once she mentioned that it would benefit Yue Ling, she would rack her brains to think of something."

"No wonder she abandoned Ru Hai and followed Yue Ling to the capital. She is truly infatuated."

Thinking she had understood Lin Daiyu's mind, Mrs. Wang poured her another cup of tea and said slowly, "This is all I wish for. I just want to express my true feelings to Yu'er. It's not something that can be accomplished overnight. Auntie also knows that the Marquis must have his own difficulties. But right now, the emergency at the guest house is urgent, and I hope the Marquis can help me a little."

"Now that many expensive materials have been purchased, we need to hire some famous craftsmen. If you have the name of the Marquis, it will be easy to recruit people."

She left aside many difficult things and finally made only a small request. This was Mrs. Wang's delicate way of guessing other people's inner thoughts.

The previous requirements may seem excessive, but they are just a prelude to the last one.

If the villa for the imperial visit was built with the name of Yue Ling, then the Jia family would be firmly tied to Yue Ling, even if it was not real, it would be the same in the eyes of outsiders.

Even if Lin Daiyu did not agree, Mrs. Wang could still make a big fuss about today's long conversation.

It can be said that Mrs. Wang had made all the calculations, and as long as Lin Daiyu approached the door of Rong Xi Tang, she would have won.

At least, from the perspective of the eldest wife, the defeat was irreversible.

Lin Daiyu remained calm and composed. After a long while, she finally spoke out from her deep thoughts and asked, "My uncle is the official in charge of the Ministry of Works. It shouldn't be difficult for him to hire a few craftsmen, right?"

Mrs. Wang's face, which had been always smiling, suddenly froze. It was not only because Lin Daiyu had exposed her lie at once, but also because she no longer saw the childishness she had just seen in Lin Daiyu.

Sitting opposite her, there was a playful expression on her face. For a moment, Mrs. Wang had the illusion that she had seen the Queen in the palace.

This kind of graceful, dignified and elegant temperament should not have appeared in Lin Daiyu, who had not yet reached the age of 15.

"No...it's not difficult."

Mrs. Wang did not panic, but suppressed her doubts and maintained control of the situation. But Lin Daiyu continued to ask, "If your aunt really wanted to support the younger generation of the Jia family, why didn't the eldest son Jia Lian leave the house first to become an official or join the army?"

Mrs. Wang looked slightly surprised, but she smiled awkwardly and replied, "This is the eldest wife's internal affairs, I can't make the decision."

Lin Daiyu nodded slightly and said with a smile, "Then helping uncle, was it his idea? Grandmother, do you know?"

Mrs. Wang's arms trembled slightly as she picked up the teacup in front of her and took a sip, slightly suppressing her inner panic.

The Jia family is no longer under her sole control. Her vision is good, but Grandmother Jia still has to take care of household affairs and will not allow her to become more powerful and involve the Wang family.

Lin Daiyu had discovered many of the problems at once, and Mrs. Wang didn't know how to answer, so she lowered her head.

Seeing that Mrs. Wang did not answer, Lin Daiyu still did not stop her counterattack.

"Officialdom is no less peaceful than the inner chamber. Only those who are capable can hold high positions. If you are incompetent and make mistakes while in a high position, won't it lead to a disaster?"

"The same logic applies to the other brothers of the Jia family and my aunt's brothers."

"There is also the so-called elder sister's foothold in the palace."

"I've been to the palace before. The queen is kind and gentle to others. She is a model for the country. The palace is well-organized. If nothing goes wrong, you can stay here."

"Big sister entered the palace when she was young and served as a female official for several years. Don't you know the rules of the palace? In the palace, you have no worries about food and clothing, and you can enjoy the treatment of concubines. How can you survive?"

Mrs. Wang finally couldn't help herself and said, "I am doing this for the good of the Jia family. I also want Yu'er to have a glorious wedding and not need the help of her family."

Lin Daiyu stood up and smoothed the folds of her skirt, and said with a smile, "Aunt, are you saying these things out of public or private reasons?"

In just a few words, Mrs. Wang was at a disadvantage, and the situation was difficult to reverse. She had no choice but to answer Lin Daiyu's question: "It is out of personal feelings. Of course, I hope that our two families can be on good terms."

After all, Mrs. Wang finally got stuck on Lin Daiyu's marriage and couldn't divert the topic.

Lin Daiyu curled her lips and said frankly, "Personally, I haven't married Brother Yue yet, how can I persuade Brother Yue to work for the Jia family? Is it just for my sake?"

"A gentleman judges deeds, not hearts. Over the years, there hasn't been much affection between Rongguo Mansion and me, or between my aunt and me, right? Is there any personal relationship between us?"

"Before today, I don't think I've ever had a face-to-face conversation with my aunt. If my grandmother were to say these words, I would believe them a little."

"Isn't it a bit too abrupt for my aunt to say these words so openly now?"

Madam Wang waved her hands repeatedly, "Yu'er, you misunderstood me. Before, it wasn't that I didn't want to be friends with you and the Marquis, it was really because of my ancestors that I didn't want to get too involved with the Anjing Marquisate, but I totally disagree with this idea."

"After all, you and the Rongguo Mansion are closely related. How can you become alienated just because of a few misunderstandings?"

"Right now, the old ancestor doesn't take care of the household affairs much, so I took the initiative to bring you in."

Lin Daiyu nodded slightly. Only then did she learn from Mrs. Wang's panicked words that the Rongguo Mansion had now fallen apart so badly.

The first wife completely fell out of favor in the struggle, and the second wife wanted to force the first wife into a desperate situation again.

Mrs. Wang believes that her position in the mansion is still not stable enough, and wants to increase the power of the Wang family further. With the help of her maternal family, she wants to sideline Lady Jia and truly seize power.

After blurting out a few more words, Mrs. Wang also felt that she had spoken inappropriately and was being led by Lin Daiyu.

But the fact is that Lin Daiyu cannot confront Grandmother Jia face to face, and looking at Lin Daiyu's current state, she may not care at all what Grandmother Jia thinks of her.

Mrs. Wang calmed down a little, and then asked tentatively, "If you ask me, my second brother has military merits, can he be promoted?"

Lin Daiyu narrowed her eyes and her tone gradually became colder.

"Mr. Yu, your aunt should know the character of these children of the Jia family. Are they willing to guard the nine borders and fight the enemy? Can they endure the hardships of the military camp?"

"My uncle was admitted to the government by patronage, and the highest rank he could reach is the fifth rank. If he achieves political success and has the status of a royal relative, can he still worry about promotion?"

"If I can't get promoted, it means my uncle doesn't want to be an official."

"As for the elders of the Wang family, since they have made military achievements, His Majesty will certainly decide on rewards. Why should Brother Yue add unnecessary things? Do you want Brother Yue to be accused of forming a clique for this?!"

Mrs. Wang was startled by Lin Daiyu's last cold threat. She stood up and shook her head repeatedly, and replied hastily: "That's not the case, that's not the case. It was Yu'er who brought up the matter of talking about you first."

Lin Daiyu glared, her eyes full of anger, and said in a loud voice: "If we really talk about official business, I am married to the Marquis's wife, which is a body with imperial decree. My aunt still needs to kneel down and kowtow to me!"

After saying this, Lin Daiyu withdrew and left under Mrs. Wang's shocked gaze.

He pushed open the double doors and glared at Caiyun Cloud and Xia who were guarding the door.

The house with wooden brick walls was of course not very soundproof, and both of them could hear the conversation inside intermittently. At this moment, they were naturally frightened and unconsciously shrank their heads and bowed to Lin Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu snorted coldly, folded up her skirt, and went to her sister's back room.

At this moment in the room,

Mrs. Wang, who was completely humiliated by Lin Daiyu's criticism, had distorted eyes and gradually slid to the ground, muttering to herself, repeating the four words "kneeling ceremony" unconsciously.

In today's world, it is most difficult for women to gain power, and the best way is to depend on men.

Mrs. Wang was obsessed with how to seize power and more power in the Rongguo Mansion, but she completely forgot that in terms of status, Lin Daiyu was much higher than her, and she had no qualifications to come forward and beg for mercy.

"Ma'am, ma'am, how are you?"

After Lin Daiyu left, Caiyun Cloud and Xia hurried into the room to see what was happening, and helped Mrs. Wang up.

Mrs. Wang's face was as pale as dirt, and she sighed quietly, "No wonder Baoyu has been wronged time and again by this girl. Even I can't get the upper hand. Fortunately, Baoyu didn't make trouble in front of the hall today, otherwise...ah, I can't avoid suffering again."

(End of this chapter)