The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 153 Happy Concubine

When Jia Rong was still sleeping in bed the next day, the hardworking Miss Baochai had already gotten up early.

It was still dark outside. Miss Baochai came out of her bedroom in the dark, wearing a golden phoenix fur coat.

Compared with cloaks such as the orangutan felt cape, the jade needle straw raincoat, the duck cheek fur coat, and the pheasant gold fur coat, the one worn by Xue Baochai is obviously of a higher grade.

After putting on the warm cloak, Baochai walked to the one-square-meter compartment between the bedroom and the middle room, hung her clothes on a nearby wooden hanger before going into the toilet.

This bathroom only has a simple ceramic toilet, which is connected to the sewer. To flush it, all you have to do is ask the maid to fetch water from outside and pour it in.

Baochai quickly wiped her butt and pulled up her trousers. After Ying'er brought hot water to wash her hands, she wiped her hands with a towel handed to her by another maid.

Ying'er flushed the toilet with water, then covered the lid and closed the wooden door of the cubicle.

Baochai was dressing and putting on makeup in the larger compartment opposite.

There are two floors here, which were discussed and designed by Jia Rong and the craftsmen.

A rectangular cement compartment the size of a coffin below was where the maid slept.

It is two meters long, one and a half meters wide, and one and a half meters high, which is equivalent to the area under a platform.

After going up three concrete steps, there is a rectangular grandstand dressing room with a makeup mirror, a dressing table, and some clothes.

Because the heating area is limited, the maid's sleeping area is close to the bedroom so she can get more residual heat.

Although this place is small, people of this era tend to design their bedrooms smaller. Ying'er is not very tall, so this small space is actually much larger than the place where Ying'er lived before.

Especially since the floor heating passes through here, I have to take off all my clothes before going to bed every night to avoid sweating from the heat.

Anyway, the maids all like where they live now when they are on duty.

It is not appropriate to place a too good mirror in the bedroom, and the same goes for Xue Baochai's makeup mirror.

Bright candles had been lit in the room. With the help of the bright candlelight, Xue Baochai could clearly see her beautiful self in the mirror.

Her face is like peach blossoms and her eyes are like water apricots.

Xue Baochai is not only confident in her appearance, but also likes the beautiful clothes given by the imperial concubine.

noble!

Xue Baochai likes this kind of noble temperament.

After looking at her charming, dignified and noble appearance, Xue Baochai hurriedly washed and put on makeup.

When it was almost ready, Qingwen and Yinglian came in from outside.

Xue Baochai said quickly, "I will serve you today. You go back and rest. I will tell the master if he asks."

Qingwen frowned and was about to get angry when she saw Yinglian nodded and said, "Okay, thank you, Sister Baochai."

Xue Baochai smiled and said, "Thank you, my two sisters. Everyone has this moment."

When Qingwen heard her say this, she thought about the fact that this day would come to her in the future, so she endured it and went back home at around six in the morning in the middle of winter.

After the two men left, Xue Baochai felt a little unhappy.

After all, she is not the legal wife, and she is not the only concubine. There are many competitors.

However, there was no time to think about these things, and Xue Baochai continued to busy herself with preparations.

When Jia Rong got up, Xue Baochai began to help him put on his clothes.

From socks to underwear, long johns, cotton trousers, to the autumn clothes, sweaters and cotton-padded jackets, and finally to the official uniform and a belt.

Jia Rong's hands were not honest either. He touched Xue Baochai's plump buttocks, and then reached into her clothes to touch her randomly.

Of course Xue Baochai could not resist her husband's love for her. Unlike You Erjie, she did not think that this was a bad thing. Instead, she hoped that he would like her more.

After washing his face, Jia Rong went out for exercise. When he felt better, he came back to have dinner with Xue Baochai.

The table is filled with seasonal delicacies.

A fragrant porridge made from plum blossoms and rice.

A brightly colored cold dish made with pickled green plums and sugared vegetables and fruits.

A layered pastry with meat filling and a crispy outer layer.

The noodles are made from top-quality white rice, cooked, cooled, and then added with sweet potato juice to mix and settle. After drying, they are dehydrated and fried in boiling oil, then slowly fried in warm oil. After cooling, sugar is added to turn it into a date red color, which is called pink dates.

In addition to rice, there are also several plates of common chicken, duck, fish and meat, as well as more than ten plates of various pickles.

Jia Rong said to Xue Baochai, "From now on, your standards will be calculated according to your aunt's. You will receive your own monthly salary, and your maids will also receive the same salary as everyone else."

"Food, clothing, housing and transportation will gradually be provided. You will have a special sedan chair when you go out. You can ask Second Grandma for details."

Xue Baochai said happily, "Yes, thank you, Master."

Ying Er stood by and waited on the side, smiling and saying, "But sir, our young lady hasn't gained much since she became an aunt."

Jia Rong laughed and said, "What I gave you before were all my things. They were just my dowry. If it were an ordinary girl, I would not give her gold, silver and jewelry every year."

Ying'er wanted to learn from Qingwen and use her eloquence to get to the top, but she was not as pretty as Qingwen, and Jia Rong was not someone who liked to argue.

What’s more important is that no matter what Xue Baochai promised Ying’er before, she doesn’t want Ying’er to take the position at this time.

Xue Baochai asked, "Master, it's already daybreak outside. Do you usually go to court at this time?"

Jia Rong took out his pocket watch and looked at it. "It's still early. The emperor has to worship his ancestors and entertain the princes and ministers. I won't be home for dinner these few days. You can eat by yourselves."

Xue Baochai replied, "Yes."

Jia Rong added, "I will come over to sleep at night. You should take a bath early after dinner. Before you get pregnant, you can just wear your red wedding dress and wait for me at home every night. I will come over during this period before the New Year."

Xue Baochai said happily, "Yes."

After she finished speaking, Xue Baochai asked carefully, "What if I'm not feeling well and something happens to me?"

Jia Rong said, "Just let someone tell me in advance. Let's make a rule in our house. When someone has a wedding, they should put a cinnabar mole on their forehead or put on some pretty red makeup. This way, we can avoid some embarrassing things without having to say it out loud."

Xue Baochai smiled and said, "Master is so kind to us. It is my blessing to marry you as his concubine."

Seeing that Xue Baochai had adapted to the life of a concubine, Jia Rong was just about to do something to let her help him vent his anger when he heard the maid outside reporting.

"Master! The palace urgently summons you! The Seventh Prince has a fever and feels like he is on fire. The Emperor has ordered you to come to the palace and treat him immediately."

Xue Baochai stood up and said, "Master, the Emperor has summoned you!"

Jia Rong was already used to this kind of thing, just like when he was being intimate with his secretary in the office and there was an emergency patient.

"I'll go over and take a look."

Jia Rong felt that the child was beyond help.

The emperor is not young anymore, he is almost forty years old. His oldest son is twenty years old and the youngest is just three or four years old.

There will definitely be no children in the future. Now there are seven sons, and if one dies, there will be one less.

Jia Rong went to the palace very quickly. The youngest prince was the queen's biological son. The queen had five children in total, two sons and three daughters, but now she only had this one biological son. The rest died early.

Although in most cases the eldest son inherits the throne, in reality the probability of the eldest son inheriting the throne is extremely low, far less than 10%.

This dynasty was considered the most orthodox system of primogeniture, but the percentage was still less than 20%.

Most of the causes are premature death.

Jia Rong quickly rode into the palace with a homemade first aid kit.

The ground was slippery in winter, so Jia Rong didn't dare ride his horse too fast.

No one stopped him on the road. In fact, Jia Rong hoped that someone would stop him for a while so that they would not go to help.

Jia Rong really didn't want to do something like emergency rescue. What if he failed to save the person? Wouldn't it damage his reputation?

If there was a guard who could stop me and risk being beheaded by the emperor and empress, it would be enough to delay me for an hour.

The life or death of the prince has nothing to do with Jia Rong.

However, it was too easy to enter the harem, so Jia Rong had no choice but to enter the queen's bedroom.

"Duke Ningguo! Please come in!"

The queen's maid quickly invited Jia Rong in, and generously reached out to pull him inside regardless of whether they were men or women.

Jia Rong really wanted to reach out and slap her on the butt, but fortunately it was not the first time he had done this.

Bang~ Jia Rong slapped the palace maid's cotton trousers with his palm.

The maid was shocked and said with a red face, "Duke Ningguo, the Queen has been here since early morning. When she woke up this morning and called for the Seventh Prince to wake up, she found that he couldn't wake up. It seems that he has caught a cold. The imperial physician came and said that Duke Ningguo should be called."

Jia Rong's lust quickly subsided, and he cursed, "These bastards, they always give me the hot stuff to do!"

He cursed directly.

After walking a few steps inside, he found that several of his bastards were standing in the room with their heads lowered submissively, and the queen also came out from behind the screen and looked at him anxiously.

"Duke Ning, please help my son! He is very hot and I can't wake him up no matter how hard I shout."

Jia Rong glared at the three old imperial doctors who were eating for free, then quickly ignored the queen and went straight to the bedside to check on the situation.

The child had a fever and his body was very hot, and he was sweating even though he was covered with a quilt.

Jia Rong lifted the quilt and quickly said, "Close the door and stop the stove." The palace maids quickly obeyed and did it. Whoever made a mistake at this time would be held accountable later.

The queen stood beside the bed and did not dare to ask.

"The Emperor has arrived!!"

The door of the room was quickly pushed open, and the Queen's maid quickly went over and shouted, "Your Majesty, Duke Ningguo is treating the Seventh Prince. Please close the door."

Jia Rong shouted outside, "Your Majesty, please come in. No one else should come in."

The maid didn't say anything and the emperor came in.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!" Several imperial doctors quickly knelt down, pressed their heads tightly to the ground, and tried to be as humble as possible.

The emperor ignored these people and walked in.

Jia Rong sat on the edge of the bed and continued to wipe the prince's body. The emperor naturally would not mind the fact that he did not get up to salute, and he also avoided the need for him to be so polite.

"My dear, how is the emperor?"

Jia Rong said, "We need to wait and see. I forgot to ask you just now. What did the three imperial doctors say?"

The three old imperial doctors outside hated Jia Rong to death, but they were more afraid of him.

The Queen said, "After examining my son, all three of them said that only Doctor Jia could cure him."

Jia Rong said directly: "The three seniors all believe that this is a terminal illness. I was pushed out by them to take on this terminal illness. I can only do my best, but I cannot guarantee that I can save him."

The emperor said directly: "My dear minister, just do your best. I don't blame you. When I was young, I had an elder brother who died of fever at the age of ten. I know that this is a sudden death disease."

The emperor obviously knew the child's symptoms and knew that he would most likely lose his son.

"Yes." After obtaining the family's consent, Jia Rong began the treatment.

Jia Rong opened the first aid kit and took out a bottle of alcohol.

In this era, it is possible to produce anhydrous alcohol, and it is not difficult. You only need to know some chemical techniques.

Jia Rong has money, power and time, so he can easily get all kinds of things.

"Someone help him sit up and take off his clothes."

As soon as Jia Rong finished speaking, the Queen immediately ordered, "Go quickly!"

The palace maids quickly stepped forward and did as Jia Rong said.

Jia Rong quickly cooled him down physically and wiped his body with alcohol.

If you are hot, you will sweat. Doctors of that era believed that if you are hot, you should cover yourself up to sweat, and if you are sick, you should eat less. In short, many children died of this torture.

Jia Rong checked the child's breathing and after making sure there was no secretion in his mouth that could block his breathing, he let him lie down to keep his breathing unobstructed.

The emperor smelled a scent of alcohol and asked, "My dear, what are you applying?"

Jia Rong replied, "It is alcohol. Drinking it directly will kill you, but if used externally it can prevent wounds from getting contaminated by dust in the air. Applying it on the body can help cool you down. It is distilled from wine. The specific method is quite complicated. This bottle of alcohol requires three jars of liquor."

The emperor didn't quite understand, but he wasn't stupid, so he asked directly: "Isn't it usually better to be a little hot and sweaty?"

Jia Rong replied, "Sweating is the cooling of the body by contact with water. When people sweat, they feel cold. For example, when you are frightened, your back will suddenly feel cold if you sweat."

The three imperial doctors kneeling on the ground felt this deeply.

Jia Rong added, "The Seventh Prince's condition is more serious than that of an average person. The Empress is used to following the advice of the general imperial physicians, asking him to cover himself with more quilts and place more stoves in the room to increase the temperature. Although he is indeed sweating, the heat inside his body is also higher. If the brain is kept hot for too long, it will burn out. Even if he is cured, he will still be a fool."

The emperor quickly turned his head to look outside. Because of the screen, he could not see the three imperial doctors. However, the three old imperial doctors were silent at this time, which meant that what Jia Rong said was right.

Soon after helping to cool down the prince, Jia Rong touched the prince's heart again.

The emperor asked, "Why do you put your hands on your chest? Are you passing on your skills?"

Jia Rong was speechless and said, "No, I don't have those skills. I just often touch people's chests and find that everyone's heartbeat is about the same. If it is lower or higher, it means that the body is abnormal."

"Your Majesty, please don't speak. I am carefully counting the prince's heartbeats. This is similar to the principle of pulse. Your Majesty can ask the three senior imperial doctors. I am only doing my job. I will do my best and leave the rest to fate. Compared with the three senior imperial doctors, I am only slightly better, but I cannot bring the dead back to life."

The emperor soon stopped talking and did not ask the three imperial doctors.

After waiting for more than half an hour, the prince's hand moved.

His lips were a little pale and his face was pale, but he still forced himself to open his eyes.

Jia Rong asked, "Are you hungry?"

The prince replied, “I’m hungry.”

Jia Rong stood up and gave his seat to the queen, and said, "Don't catch a cold. Cover yourself with the quilt. Turn up the heat in the room, but don't get too hot that you sweat. I'll write a menu for you and have the imperial kitchen prepare it."

The queen has her own small stove, which makes cooking convenient for her.

The queen quickly sat down beside the bed and asked her son, "My son, are you feeling better?"

The Seventh Prince said, "I'm hungry."

The emperor quickly looked at the seventh prince, suspecting that his son had gone crazy.

However, the Seventh Prince was frightened when he saw the Emperor, and hurriedly and carefully called out, "Father..."

The emperor was relieved after hearing this, and asked Jia Rong again, "My dear, is the emperor okay?"

Jia Rong said, "You still need to slowly recuperate. Don't move around for a while. Stay in your room for two or three days and don't see outsiders."

The emperor would soon go back to deal with state affairs, and told Jia Rong not to go there to get involved, but to stay here for half a day and observe the situation first.

Jia Rong did not consider himself an outsider either. He soon ate and drank tea in the queen's room, and even took a nap on the bed where the queen and the emperor were sitting.

The eunuchs were all outside the door. Only the queen and two palace maids were serving in the room. The door was closed and no one could see inside.

In the afternoon, after the children were able to eat by themselves, Jia Rong went home with the thank-you gift from the Queen.

Jia Rong made a special trip back to the Imperial Hospital.

"Duke Ningguo!" The imperial doctors sitting in the room stood up and saluted when they saw Jia Rong come in.

When Jia Rong saw the three imperial doctors who were there in the morning, he frowned and said, "It's better to be an imperial doctor than a high-ranking official. You three always push problems to me, and you didn't get beheaded?"

Seeing that the three of them were not beheaded, Jia Rong became more confident and cared less about killing people in the future.

The three imperial doctors dared not argue with Jia Rong. If they argued now, they might get their houses searched in the evening.

"Please take a seat, Duke!" The old imperial physician did not dare to offend Jia Rong, and said politely, "It's not that I don't want to save him, it's that I really don't have the ability. Fortunately, the emperor is also a kind person, knowing that the disease is terminal and will not embarrass us, but from now on... it will not be a terminal illness!"

"Please teach us medical skills, Duke. Otherwise, we will lose our lives in the future!"

Jia Rong sat in the first seat and looked at this group of old men who were afraid of death.

“Forget it. After all, I am your leader. If you have some ability, I won’t have to be summoned to the palace day and night.”

Jia Rong was very easy to talk to and taught the technique of cooling down.

After all, the Imperial Medical Bureau still needs these traditional Chinese medicine practitioners to maintain its reputation, and it alone cannot handle all the princes and nobles in the city.

Besides, if these quack doctors kill a few people, how can I show that my medical skills are superb?

Anyway, our family members don’t need treatment from these old doctors. They are more valuable alive than dead.

Although Jia Rong had dirty intentions, his initiative to teach medical skills was considered a great act of kindness in the eyes of a group of old men who had inherited the skills from their ancestors, and they all praised Jia Rong in every way.

It gets dark early in winter, and it was already dark when Jia Rong returned home.

As soon as he reached the door, a servant came quickly to greet him with a horse.

Jia Rong dismounted and entered Ning Mansion, then walked a few dozen meters into the front yard.

Qingwen and Xue Baochai came out to greet them together.

Xue Baochai accompanied Jia Rong into the house, helped him take off his cloak and change clothes, and talked about what happened today.

"Master, at noon the Queen sent someone to deliver the reward. It was cloth, brushes, ink, paper, inkstone, paints, and two pieces of jewelry."

"In the afternoon, the emperor gave me another carriage for you to use when you go to court."

Jia Rong nodded, "I knew it earlier. I've been busy these days, so I'll stay in the front yard. You can pack up and come stay for a few days."

Xue Baochai understood Jia Rong's hard work very well, "Yes! Master, you have worked hard!"

Qingwen brought over an exquisitely crafted jewelry box.

"Master, this is a reward from the Queen."

Jia Rong took it and opened it, and found inside was a golden phoenix hairpin that was intricately crafted and lifelike.

Jia Rong casually handed it to Xue Baochai and said, "Here you go."

"Thank you, Master!" Xue Baochai took it excitedly. Not to mention the golden phoenix hairpin bestowed by the Queen, she liked even this jewelry box very much.

After changing his clothes, Jia Rong went to the garden to eat, have fun with the beautiful girls in the garden, play games and cultivate relationships.

Following behind Jia Rong, Xue Baochai was reluctant to wear the golden phoenix hairpin, so she followed behind him with the box in both hands to take the good things back to show off.

Although it was freezing cold, dark and the roads were slippery, Xue Baochai felt warm in her heart as she accompanied Jia Rong on the road.

(End of this chapter)