The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 125 Jia Rong Exits
Bang!
Jia Rong is out!
The old concubine died in February. I was in trouble for two months in February and March, and I was in seclusion in April, May, and June. I just came out in early July.

Jia Rong left the customs in the afternoon.

The scorching sun at one o'clock in the afternoon made Jia Rong very uncomfortable. He began to sweat after standing at the door for a few seconds, and his whole body felt sticky and uncomfortable.

"I haven't taken a bath for more than three months." Jia Rong reached out and touched the corner of his mouth. "My beard isn't getting shorter."

Jia Rong closed the door and went to take a shower first.

The place for retreat is the area between the front yard and the main courtyard. It is newly enclosed by a wall to form a large courtyard, and a lot of the original main courtyard is used as warehouses.

Jia Rong walked directly to the back of the original front yard. The courtyard wing where Yuanyang and others used to live had a wall opened up at the back to serve as a gate. Usually, the bathing area in the main courtyard and the front yard was also shared.

As soon as I walked to the bathroom door, I heard voices inside.

"This water has been in the sun for the whole morning. It's scalding hot. Can someone get some cool water?"

"Let it dry there for a while. We've all taken off our clothes. How about you put them on and go get some water?"

"I'm afraid it will get even hotter if left alone."

"Nonsense!"

"It's really hot outside today. I really want to be like the master and stay indoors without any clothes on."

When Jia Rong heard this, he shouted, "Nonsense! I was wearing shorts in the room!"

The woman inside was startled, and then she saw Jia Rong banging on the door and shouting, "Open the door quickly, I want to take a shower."

The four maids in the room no longer cared about being shy and quickly went over to hide behind the door to open it.

"Is the master alone?" Bai Jinchuan asked as she opened the door bolt.

Jia Rong said, "Of course. I know you guys are bathing in the house, so how could I bring a man here? Besides, there are no other men in this yard except me."

Bai Jinchuan and others were asking the maid, and when they knew Xiaohong Qingwen was not there, they quickly let the master in.

Jia Rong was only wearing shorts. When he came in, he saw four young girls holding towels standing in the living room of the 40-square-meter house.

"I'm going to take a shower first, and you can help me after you're done."

Jia Rong, on the other hand, no longer had any dirty thoughts.

I have seen too many women in my daily life, and I am feeling hot and uncomfortable now. The steam in the bathroom makes my body, which has not taken a shower for a long time, even more uncomfortable.

As soon as I thought about how dirty my body was and that any slight effort would leave me with a handful of mud, I suddenly lost the desire to do so.

The four maids came here to take a shower, not a bath.

After seeing Jia Rong sitting down and washing his hands with hot water, the four of them quickly came over to help.

"Master, let us help you wash."

Jia Rong refused directly, "I will do it myself first. I am very dirty and you can't wash it clean. After Jin Chuan is done, go out and prepare hot water. I need to shave later."

"Yes!" Jin Chuan wanted to get close to Jia Rong, but when her name was called, she missed this good opportunity.

Jia Rong took the bath towel and started to take a bath. He thought he would be very dirty as he had not taken a bath for three months. However, he had been out during these three months and had lived in a clean room for food, clothing, shelter and transportation. He washed his hands, face, feet and buttocks every day.

Although it was dirty, it was not as dirty as I had imagined. It was more of an uncomfortable feeling caused by the stuffiness and heat.

I don’t know why, but I really hate hot weather. Just thinking about it makes me feel mentally uncomfortable.

I would rather go out to work at five or six in the morning in winter than stay in a sedan without air conditioning at one or two in the afternoon in summer, especially when I have to wear long sleeves and long pants.

When Jia Rong was almost done washing, the three maids squatted down tacitly to help.

One scrubbed Jia Rong's back, one poured water with a ladle, and one helped scrub his knees.

There was originally another one for wiping the face, but currently only three maids can use it.

It was normal for maids to help with bathing, but it was very rare for them to be naked in front of their masters, and normally there was no such opportunity at all.

Sure enough, not long after, Qingwen quickly walked to the door, and when she saw three naked girls in front and behind her master, she walked in anxiously.

"Master! I went over to check on you at noon, and now you're out. Congratulations, Master! I'll help you take a bath, and you three can go out."

Qingwen herself had not yet become an aunt, so how could she give other maids a chance?

What's more, Jia Yuanchun has clearly told us to keep an eye on these four sluts with bad intentions!

When Yuchuan, Caiyun and Caixia saw Qingwen coming, they knew they had no chance.

Jia Rong didn't care. Qingwen and others had served for a longer time and knew the intensity better.

"Go call Yuanyang and Ping'er, and Yinglian and Xiaohong as well. Tell Yuanchun that the alchemy is going well. I'll be resting in the front yard."

Jia Rong said, "Tell Yuanchun and the others not to bother me. Don't come over with the kids to visit me or bring me food. I don't want to be polite to anyone now. If they come over to bother me again, I won't be polite to them."

"Yes!" Qingwen responded quickly, and then said to the three people: "Why don't you go quickly!"

The three naked girls hurriedly put on their clothes and went out to work.

As soon as the three of them left, Qingwen closed the door and started taking off her clothes.

Since she was going to be an aunt, Qingwen naturally knew how to serve.

Jia Rong felt Qingwen pressing against his back to help him take a bath, and smiled, "When you're done, I'll go back to the room and take care of you."

Qingwen's face flushed, and she said gently, "The master is finally willing to accept us. I have been with him for more than two years, and I am almost an old maid."

Jia Rong asked again, "What's going on in the mansion recently?"

Qingwen said, "There are a lot of things going on. There's no end to the trouble in the west. Fortunately, thanks to the master, no matter what happens, it's not a big deal."

What happened in the west recently was similar to what happened before when the house was ransacked, but everyone found that the landslides and earthquakes that caused the whole Rong Mansion to wail were just an insignificant breeze to Jia Rong.

There wasn't even a single wave or storm, and it just disappeared without a second thought.

Qingwen recounted various things one by one. In addition to some things happening outside, there were also princes and nobles who came to give gifts, and small things like the children at home bumping into each other while playing.

Soon Yuanyang, Ping'er, Xiaohong, and Yinglian came over with more than twenty maids.

A large group of people started to get busy, some brought water, some prepared tea, some carried clothes, some tidied the room and made the beds, some fanned the room, and some carried various necessary equipment.

After taking a bath, Jia Rong put on a new pair of knee-length shorts and went out of the bathroom. Under the protection of Yuanyang's umbrella, he went into the tidied house.

A lot of ice cubes were placed in the room, the floor was mopped with water, and four maids started fanning the room with fans.

Jia Rong walked over to the chair and sat down. The chair was a reclining chair made of fine wood and had just been moved out from a cool place in the house. After lying down, he immediately felt much more comfortable.

Yinglian moved the footstool and put it down, and Jia Rong stepped on it, keeping his legs, feet and body at a comfortable angle.

Soon the maids started fanning him, and Jia Rong rinsed his mouth and spit into another large cup. The maid who received the mouthwash quickly left.

Jia Rong took the cold tea and drank it, then lay down and left everything else alone after he felt better.

Qingwen came over to wipe her mouth, Ping'er and Yuanyang came over to help tidy up her hair, preparing to trim Jia Rong's beard and face.

The maids brought a chair to Yuanyang. Yuanyang sat down with a pair of scissors and talked to Jia Rong while cutting off the troublesome beard on both sides of his face.

"Master, you will be twenty-five next year. It's almost time to grow a beard."

Jia Rong closed his eyes and said directly: "Let's talk about it after I'm thirty."

Yuanyang could feel that Jia Rong was not in a good mood today. Although the medicine was ready, he had just come out of seclusion for more than three months and still didn't like others to disturb or nag him.

Even the legitimate wife Jia Yuanchun and others had to respond carefully after hearing Jia Rong's request not to bother them.

Such a foolish behavior of having no rules, coming to serve soup and water even after being told not to disturb, and asking servants and children to come and care for and disturb even if they themselves don't come, will inevitably lead to impolite consequences.

In a large family, where etiquette is strict, there are no people who do not know the rules and cannot see their own identity.

This situation is even worse in the imperial palace. Even if the emperor has told them not to disturb him, the concubines in the harem will still come and disturb him. The result is that they will be locked up in the cold palace for life.

Xiao Hong said happily, "When the master was in seclusion, the eldest lady bought some maids aged 11 or 12 from outside. The master can choose which one he likes after looking at them. The master has too few maids here. At least 20 or 30 will be enough."

Jia Rong felt a little sleepy.

Xiao Hong continued, "Those little girls have learned the rules of serving others before, but they are still too young to understand things. Madam means to pick a few suitable maids from each room to use first."

Xiaohong saw that Jia Rong closed his eyes and didn't say anything, and whether he was asleep or not, he continued to talk about some trivial things in the mansion.

Soon Yuanyang brought a hot towel to help Jia Rong put on his face, and said with a smile: "I think the master is tired, let's take a nap first."

Jia Rong said, "After I clean my beard, I can go to bed. Yuanyang and Ping'er will wait on me. Yinglian, Qingwen, and Xiaohong will wait on me at the bedside. The rest of you can go down and rest."

Everyone roughly knew what happened.

Soon the other maids who were in the way retreated. Except for a few maids who stayed at the door and in the main room waiting for orders, there were only Jia Rong and five maids in the bedroom.

Yuanyang and Ping'er had already taken off their clothes and were waiting for them to lie down. Qingwen, Yinglian and Xiaohong were moving chairs and looking at the three people on the bed, blushing as they learned from their predecessors' experience.

Jia Rong was not in a hurry to employ the three maids. Even though they were all eighteen or nineteen years old, Jia Rong was not in a hurry.

After taking a bath, Jia Rong went to the palace to deliver medicine.

The emperor was very pleased to see that Jia Rong had completed the task successfully!

The emperor quickly said seriously: "I know that your family is in financial difficulty and you have very few servants. It is very hard for you to be in seclusion for three months and nine days to make elixirs. You should have rested well, but now there is something you must do."

Jia Rong decided to come over at night and beat him up, saying righteously: "Country is country, there is a family only if there is a country. My heart of serving the country is evident to all. Loyalty to the emperor is what I have always wanted. Your Majesty, please give me your orders. I will do my best until my death!"

Jia Rong was thinking whether he should just kill him. This dog emperor was always thinking about how to control people. He wanted to exploit a 24-year-old employee right after he got to work. He was simply courting death! !
There would be no loss to him if he changed the emperor, since he had no conflicts with the court ministers and princes anyway.

If there is a conflict, we can talk about it in the evening and it will be resolved.

If you use your muscles to think about how to solve problems instead of using morality, you will find that many problems are actually so simple.

The assassins have come so many times but have not killed the emperor. In fact, many princes and ministers are already dissatisfied.

At worst, we can just follow public opinion!

Just when Jia Rong was thinking about coming over for a visit in the evening, the emperor solemnly announced the imperial edict.

"The Zhen family in Jiangnan has behaved improperly, and has suffered a great loss in the weaving funds. I have granted them grace and leniency many times, and asked them to make up for the loss. If they are grateful for my grace, they should do their best to serve me."

"But the Zhen family not only did not appreciate my kindness, but also did not know my magnanimity. Instead, they secretly transferred their family property to relatives and friends in various places! How despicable!"

"Lord Jia, I order you to go to Jiangnan to investigate this matter thoroughly. Send someone to escort the important members of the Zhen family to Beijing. Seal up the family's property and keep it under guard until the new person in charge arrives to handle it."

"As for the rest of the minor matters, you can handle them on your own, and you don't need to report to me."

Jia Rong understood immediately. It turned out that he felt that he had no one and no money at home, so he gave himself a chance to go to the south of the Yangtze River to make some extra money legally.

The Zhen family is related to the Rong Mansion, and it is estimated that the old lady also secretly received money.

Simply put, it is too difficult to make money by hiring people, and the emperor does not want to give money from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the palace, so he directly hands over the criminals who owed him money to Jia Rong to deal with, using punishment instead of reward.

By the way, I also feel that being secluded at home for more than three months is too tiring, so I decided to go to Jiangnan, where there are many beautiful women, beautiful scenery and high comfort, to relax and have some fun.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Jia Rong thanked happily.

Money and women are not important. What is important is the emperor's filial piety.

When the emperor saw Jia Rong, who usually had a blank expression on his face, showed a happy expression, he knew that he understood what he meant and was indeed very upset.

"Lord Jia, please leave as soon as possible. I have ordered the Jiangnan Province to assist you in handling this matter. Please come back in two months. I have something else for you to do."

"Yes!"

Jia Rong didn't know what was going on, but there was no need to guess.

Good things, just do them.

If it’s not a good thing, don’t do it.

Soon Jia Rong returned home, and when he got home he went to the garden with a cold face.

Everyone in the Jia family was waiting for Jia Rong in the hall. When they saw Jia Rong come in with a sullen face and sit down, they felt that something was wrong.

Wang Xifeng asked quickly, "Master, what happened?"

Jia Rong said angrily: "Isn't it because Yuanchun's family has caused trouble again!"

The old lady was also here, and when she heard it, she hurriedly asked, "What trouble has Baoyu caused again? They said that there was nothing wrong with the drinking incident before."

Jia Yuanchun didn't dare to sit down anymore. She stood in front of the chair and looked at Jia Rong beside her.

Jia Rong scolded, "It's even worse than that! Someone reported our family to the Emperor, saying that someone in the Rong Mansion accepted money sent by the Zhen family in Jiangnan!"

Jia Yuanchun said hurriedly: "Yes, this is true, but for our family..."

It turned out that it was not for Rong Mansion, but for Ning Mansion.

The old lady breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "What's wrong with the Zhen family? Why can they accept money from other families but not the Zhen family?"

Jia Rong cursed, "The Zhen family in Jiangnan owed the national treasury money. They spent all the money from the weaving house and couldn't make up for it. The emperor showed mercy and asked them to make up for it many times. But they hid all the money in their relatives' homes!"

"The Emperor ordered me to go to Jiangnan today and raid the Zhen family in Jiangnan! Bring all the people to the capital to be punished! They will be beheaded!"

Jia Rong took out the imperial edict from his arms and threw it directly at Jia Yuanchun's chair, "Look for yourself!"

Jia Yuanchun was frightened and picked up the imperial edict with trembling hands to read it.

As expected, there was an imperial decree to confiscate the property of the Zhen family, which had failed to live up to the emperor's grace.

Wang Xifeng was also frightened. She knelt down hurriedly beside Jia Rong's legs and shouted, "Master! I deserve to die! I also accepted 30,000 taels of silver from the Zhen family, and I didn't know this happened! I accepted it because it was a gift from my old relative! Wuuuuu..."

Jia Rong leaned back, stretched out his legs and crossed them, and said leisurely: "It's okay, our family will accept it. The emperor knows that our family is poor, so this time he let me go to the south of the Yangtze River to earn some money to supplement the family expenses as a reward for refining the elixir."

"But after the emperor found out that Yuanchun's mother had received the money for her crimes, he told me to handle it myself. I had already told them not to give any money to them without my order."

Jia Rong tilted his head and looked at Jia Yuanchun who was standing there. "Am I reluctant to part with the money? It's a hassle!"

Jia Yuanchun realized that something had indeed happened, but because Jia Rong was in a high position and had great power, the impact was not that great.

"Yes, I know I was wrong." Jia Yuanchun could only admit her mistake.

Wang Xifeng, who called herself a slave, and Jia Yuanchun, who called herself a concubine, both felt a little more at ease.

The old lady asked hurriedly: "What should we do now?"

Jia Rong said directly, "What else can we do? He doesn't have to lose his head and go to jail, but at least we have to give an explanation to the emperor. Please go back to the Lai family's small garden and stay there for the time being. If there is anything important, please have someone come and tell Yuanchun. I will help you if I can. As for the rest, I'll talk to you when I come back from Jiangnan."

"Don't worry about the money mother-in-law collects. Spend it if necessary. Buy Baoyu a few maids or servants. Just don't ask me for anyone. In short, there is nothing to worry about, but don't be too high-profile."

"The people in the west were scapegoats for the emperor's order to confiscate their property. Our family took the money and the people in the west followed suit. If we were caught, it would be no small matter."

The old lady said helplessly: "Okay, what the Duke said makes sense, I am old and confused."

After Jia Rong mocked and humiliated the old lady's family, he said, "Don't be sad, old lady. When I come back, I will reinstate Master Zheng before the end of this year. It won't be difficult for him to return to Rong Mansion in the future."

"Keep a low profile during this period and don't cause any more trouble."

The old lady had always blamed herself for losing the Rongguo Mansion. After hearing Jia Rong's words, hope returned to her sad and gloomy heart. She hurriedly said, "Okay! Okay! I'll listen to you, Duke!"

Jia Rong then said to Jia Yuanchun, "The seventh day of the first lunar month is Qiao'er's birthday. I will leave after her birthday. The old lady's birthday is in August. You should prepare gifts in advance. Then the ladies and grandmothers can go to celebrate the birthday. Friends who have been in contact with the old lady will also go to celebrate the birthday if they know about it in advance."

After hearing this, the old lady asked nervously, "Will something go wrong?"

Jia Rong said, "It's okay. Your Majesty values filial piety. These things won't matter. Just go and come back on the same day. One day is enough for the old lady's birthday. Don't be too extravagant. Keep the gifts within a hundred taels. Don't compare with others, and don't spend too much on food, drink and clothes. Just keep a low profile when you are here."

Seeing that Jia Rong had arranged everything properly, and thinking that her own descendants would also have a chance to succeed, the old lady finally felt much more at ease.

When the old lady was leaving, Jia Rong said to Jia Yuanchun, "Don't keep Li Wan and Jia Lan either. Send them back together."

Jia Yuanchun said hurriedly, "Yes."

The old lady soon went back to live a hard life, and even her maid went back feeling very uncomfortable.

After the others left, Jia Rong said to Wang Xifeng and Jia Yuanchun, "We have received tens of thousands of taels of silver. From now on, you will be responsible for your own food, clothing, housing and transportation. The same goes for everyone who goes there!"

Everyone had heard that Mrs. Wang had received a lot of criminal silver from the Zhen family, so naturally they did not object to this.

In fact, no one reported those people in the west, and they did not confiscate tens of thousands of taels. It was all made up by Jia Rong himself.

Mrs. Wang did receive some, but it was only a few hundred taels of introduction fee. The Zhen family felt that the people in Rong Mansion were not good enough and would be easily exposed, so they hid them all in Ning Mansion.

No matter how you look at it, the Rong family has a very bad reputation. They are always causing trouble and they are definitely not the type of people who can hide anything.

The Zhen family has not really been confiscated yet, and they are afraid of being implicated by the people in the Rong Mansion.

Except for Mrs. Wang's four maids who stayed behind to serve as second-class maids, the rest of the old lady's maids went back with her, and Xiren also went back with them to live a hard life.

There is harm only when there is contrast. For women who are used to living in air-conditioned rooms to wear heavy work clothes to work outside under the scorching sun, the psychological discomfort will be particularly strong.

Lai's garden had not been occupied for several months. There were not only fallen leaves but also feces and urine in it. Many windows and roofs were broken and had not been repaired.

After returning home, Lady Jia had to supervise people working, and the house she lived in was not a specially designed large house. Even at her age, she had to toss and turn in the stuffy house and couldn't even take a hot bath.

The maids and old women could not bear it any more and cried out of grievance.

Li Wan had to wander around with her son many times, and she looked haggard and exhausted both physically and mentally.

Among all the people in the Jia family, the one who can endure the most hardship is definitely not the old lady, nor Jia Zheng, but Mrs. Wang.

Mrs. Wang is someone who can really live a hard life. She is calm and at peace with herself. She can be frugal in everything from food, drink, clothing, daily necessities, and housing, and she eats vegetarian food, chants Buddhist scriptures, and beats the wooden fish.

(End of this chapter)