The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 148 Don’t Keep a Lazy Woman
The next morning, Jia Rong went to work early.

At this time, most people have not yet realized the changes in the mansion.

It was not until early in the morning when Jia Yuanchun took the children to eat that she lost her appetite when she saw the food on the table.

Cook dragon liver, stir-fried phoenix brain, hairy tofu, and serve with a bowl of Yutian Rouge rice.

Dragon liver is made from carp, which is said to be the fish that can leap over the dragon gate. Stir-fry the carp's pancreas and then fry it with lard.

Phoenix brain is chicken brain.

Jia Yuanchun had no intention of eating any of the dishes on the table, so she sat at the table and asked the servants.

"What did you have for breakfast, Master?"

Qin Yun replied, "The master also prepared the same meal in the morning, but he threw it away after taking one look at it, saying that these dishes were bad for the body. From now on, the master's room will continue to cook according to the original method."

The eldest son, Jia Du, looked at the food on the table and said, "Why did you change the food today? I don't want to eat this, I want to eat buns."

Even a child can tell at a glance whether the food is good or not.

Jia Yuanchun was speechless in the end. "Tell the kitchen to cook as usual and deduct it from the expenses of my room. Don't do these things in the future. I will pay for the meals here myself."

Qin Yun whispered, "Yes."

Jia Yuanchun couldn't lose her temper with Jia Rong, nor could she blame You Erjie.

Now I can only spend my own money to eat.

Fortunately, I have saved some money over the years, so there will be no problem with just eating and drinking.

However, it was more difficult to help the other sisters in the house and those from my mother's family.

Even though the old lady returned to Jinling, her food, clothing and other expenses were still the same as in the mansion, and Jia Yuanchun continued to provide support.

Jia Yuanchun quickly got up and asked the maids to accompany the children to eat, while she went to check her private money and dowry.

After being punished today, Jia Yuanchun realized that Jia Rong had given her too many things. If she had not lent money to the west several times in the past eight years, she would have no problem with food and drink for the rest of her life.

Even with the money he has now, it is enough for Jia Yuanchun, her children, and Baoqin's maids to live for twenty years.

Qinyun helped Jia Yuanchun organize her private money and various jewelry.

"Madam, the money issue is easy to talk about, but what about the maids? The master only allows us to keep four maids in each room. Counting the three young masters, there will be ten in total. At least half of them must leave."

Qin Yun said worriedly, "Every grandmother in her room is talking about this. It would be inappropriate to drive away most of them at once."

Jia Yuanchun had four maids as a dowry. Except for one who got married early, the rest were Baoqin, Qinyun and Qingyun.

Except for Baoqin who became the concubine, the other two always followed Jia Yuanchun and never went out.

Now that I am over 25 years old and have been used to a good life, I naturally will not go out to get married and will stay here for the rest of my life.

Jia Yuanchun was naturally confident in these two maids who had followed her for more than ten years from Rong Mansion to Ning Mansion, and it was impossible for her to drive them away.

"In addition to you and Qingyun, let's keep a few more people who are steady and have been with us for a long time. Only one nanny will be fine, so that others won't say that our family is mean and treats the nanny badly."

Jia Yuanchun had no way to persuade Jia Rong to withdraw his order, so now she could only let her own people suffer.

"Go and ask who wants to leave, and give each of them 100 taels of silver to get married. Then find some young servants in the mansion. I will tell the master and arrange their marriages."

Qin Yun nodded and said, "Yes, I don't know when the master will calm down."

Jia Yuanchun warned: "Don't ask."

Jia Yuanchun didn't want to talk about this kind of thing. She was becoming more and more like Lady Wang lately and didn't want to get involved in many things.

Qin Yun said, "I don't dare to ask, but I heard that there is nothing wrong in the rooms of the girls, and their food, clothing, and expenses are all normal. Why not arrange for those who don't want to leave to serve the other girls first, and then talk about it later?"

Jia Yuanchun thought this was a good idea. "Okay, I'll talk to Tanchun and Yingchun about it at noon. When I went back to my parents' home before, our maids went to serve Yingchun. It's a good opportunity for us to go there."

As Jia Yuanchun was talking, she suddenly asked, "How many times have I been back to my mother's home this year?"

Qin Yun thought quickly, "I went there a few times during the Chinese New Year. I went to ask the old lady about her funeral. I went there once when the old lady left. Later, when the master went to the south, I went back and stayed there for a while."

"I don't remember exactly how many times."

Jia Yuanchun sighed, "It's okay. From now on, I will just take care of Jia Ben and Jia Shu. There is no need for so many maids in the house."

Qin Yun nodded and said, "Yes."

Although the number of maids was reduced, the nanny and some of the married wives and old women continued to work. These married women were not included in the quota of slaves in the house, so the layoff of two-thirds did not affect the normal work efficiency. On the contrary, it was much more comfortable because there were fewer people who were in the way.

Normally, the maid who feeds the birds, the maid who burns the stove, and the maid who sweeps the floor have to go to three places if they are notified of something. Now that the three maids are combined into one, only one is enough.

Of course, the ones who suffered the loss were not Jia Rong, but the maids and the wives and grandmothers of each room who were in charge of the maids' wages.

Jia Rong not only controlled the number of places, but also cut the funds for each room by two-thirds.

Baoqin has always been a maid. After she became an aunt, she kept a low profile. Jia Rong gave her a lot of money. She lived alone with her child without being disturbed by her parents or other relatives, which was quite good.

Because the original amount of money was not much, the reduction would not be much.

Those who spent the most on food and drink were Jia Yuanchun, Qin Keqing and other people from You's courtyard.

Now that the money-making targets have been redefined, anyone who doesn’t work hard will have a hard life.

Unless you are a low-key person like Baoqin, you should also know how to work hard.

Jia Yuanchun herself could live a low-key and simple life like her mother, Lady Wang, but she couldn't just sit back and do nothing like Lady Wang did.

Her subordinates, her younger sister and others all want her, as an elder sister, to seek justice.

At this time, at the You camp, a group of women were also sighing.

You said, "I told you not to provoke him a long time ago, but you refused to listen. I have been in this family for more than ten years and I know many things better than you."

After saying this, Youshi sighed. She was very opposed to her sisters provoking Jia Rong, and she was even more opposed to You Erjie's character of always going against Jia Rong.

Third Sister You said, "It's too late to do anything about it. Even if Second Sister doesn't say anything about it, I think Great Madam will be involved, because Second Sister and Great Madam are the same kind of people."

You Erjie has realized her mistake and said, "I have implicated my sisters this time. I will pay for their meals in the future."

Wang Xifeng smiled and said, "Forget it. Didn't the master give you the money? Based on my understanding of the master, he will probably not touch you for a while. Save your money. Let's think of a way. When the master calms down, you can learn from your sister."

Qin Keqing also comforted him, saying, "The master was good to us, but what my sister did was also right. If it were me, I wouldn't want to do that kind of thing when my parents died. The master was a little too much in this matter."

Third Sister You said to Second Sister: "Sister, you don't have to blame yourself. This kind of thing is bound to happen. It's not your fault. It's like the sky is going to rain and my mother is going to get married. We women shouldn't think too much and just live a down-to-earth life."

With the comfort of several good sisters, You Erjie felt a little better.

Now she has a group of good sisters and young sons and nephews to take care of, so she has to continue living her life even if she is blamed by Jia Rong.

Youshi continued, "I don't have many maids here. Although I have punished you, I have nothing to do with it. You can send away some of the maids you have, and keep the obedient and useful ones. If you really have no place to put them, you can put them here. After all, we are all in the same building, so you can do what you need to do."

Qin Keqing was a little worried. "I'm afraid the maids will know too much. If I drive them away, they will inevitably go out and spread rumors."

Wang Xifeng laughed and said, "Why are you afraid of this? Have you forgotten who our master is? If a maid dares to talk nonsense about what's going on at home, beat her to death!!"

Feng Ji did not hide her feelings at all, and You Erjie felt scared when she heard it.

I didn't know much about Wang Xifeng when I first met her. The time when I really got to know her was when she fell into trouble in Ning Mansion and had to make a living in the mansion with her children as outsiders.

At that time, Wang Xifeng was naturally easy to talk to and acted carefully in everything she did.

Now Wang Xifeng is already the second wife. Not to mention the second and third sisters, even Qin Keqing and Youshi can hardly control her.

Yu Shi, on the other hand, didn't mind this kind of thing. She nodded and agreed, saying, "Let Second Madam handle this matter."

Wang Xifeng looked at Youshi and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll be the villain, and you guys just stay out of this matter."

Yushi herself is not clean, and she is the person who knows Jia Rong best, so she would rather be stepped on by Fengjie than be the master of the house.

At least with the status of Madam Dowager, Youshi didn't have to worry at all that Wang Xifeng would do anything that would harm everyone's interests.

Neither Qin Keqing nor Youshi was afraid of Wang Xifeng becoming too powerful. The greatest support for the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was still the man Jia Rong.

The hostesses of Ning Mansion have evolved from the feudal system to a modern management system, and have created a performance appraisal system similar to the corporate system.

It would be too feudal if a duke's mansion with thousands of people and a husband-and-wife system with dozens of people were still managed according to the traditional feudal marriage system and if morality was used to restrain both parties.

Jia Rong broke through the limitations and boredom of marriage and wanted to lie there and enjoy his life forever, but that was definitely a dream!
Liberalism doesn’t support lazy women!

It would be fine if she doesn't know how to compete for favor, but if she refuses to let her husband in when he comes to her house, refuses to let him go to bed, and is even more impossible to serve her husband, then this kind of woman can be divorced.

At least You Erjie cooperated the first time. When she didn't want to do it the second time, she just held the funeral in a simple manner in advance. It was not that she was unwilling to serve, but she just didn't want to wear mourning clothes and serve her mother after she died.

The fact that he was still punished even though he did this only shows that Jia Rong was just like the feudal masters of that era, with an overly strong male chauvinism.

(End of this chapter)