The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 156 Fifteen Years

It was already afternoon when Jia Yuanchun returned. She took a sedan chair and entered the garden directly from the entrance of Huifang Garden.

"Let's stop here. It's getting dark and the road is slippery. Let's all go back to our rooms and rest. There shouldn't be anything to do today."

Jia Yuanchun thought that it was not easy for the sedan chair bearers, so she got off the sedan chair and walked for a while.

When I brought my mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, and maids into the garden, I saw a few children playing with snowballs in the snow.

The two sides were dozens of meters apart and blocked by the woods railings, so the children did not notice Jia Yuanchun on the main road.

Jia Yuanchun ordered: "Tell them to go back to their rooms. It will be time for dinner soon. Don't get them dirty."

"Yes! Grandma!" The old woman quickly went to help.

The maids around Jia Yuanchun were gradually getting older, almost all of them were in their twenties, and the old women who usually served them were the wives of the servants in the house.

The ones who actually control the number are the male servants. Married women and wives do not occupy the servant quota in the mansion and are all considered helpers.

The old women don't do the work every day. Those who do the work every day are the trusted maids. Usually, they are the maids who come with the dowry and continue to do this job after they get married.

Like Zhou Rui's family.

The maids under Jia Yuanchun were all selected by Jia Rong from the families of his subordinates, and he was used to employing servants who had been in the Jia family for generations.

However, those who commit serious corruption or cause trouble will be punished.

Jia Yuanchun's subordinates, including the maids who came with her as a dowry, such as Baoqin, Qinyun and Qingyun, actually all obeyed Jia Rong, but Jia Yuanchun herself was not aware of this.

Youshi knew this very well, but she never told anyone.

Youshi was very clear that her maids also listened to Jia Rong, including Qin Keqing's maid, who was also assigned by Jia Rong.

She didn't care about this kind of thing and was very satisfied with her current life.

The two arrived at the large courtyard in front of Tianxiang Tower.

In front of Tianxiang Tower there is a cement square where Jia Rong usually practices martial arts and exercises. He also hangs clothes to dry or allows children to run and play in front of the door.

The square is surrounded by high walls.

In the north is the Tianxiang Tower, which faces south.

To the west is the large kitchen and boiler room, behind the kitchen are the garden and the pool. The boiler room is located at the junction of the Tianxiang Building to the north, and the place where the women live in the west room of the Tianxiang Building is warmer than ordinary places.

To the south are the courtyard wall and gate.

On the right side of the east side is a high wall, and outside the wall is a corridor leading to the interior for carriages and horses, which is responsible for transporting various supplies to Tianxiang Tower. Further east is Chaoyang Tower where Youshi, Wang Xifeng and others live.

The Four Seasons Garden where the girls lived was located in the southwest corner, about a hundred meters away from Tianxiang Tower.

Each area has a dedicated large kitchen, and the Ning Mansion has one or two hundred servants just for cooking.

It would certainly take a lot of money to support such a huge family.

Jia Yuanchun walked into the yard, and the children who were setting off firecrackers in the yard quickly came over.

Jia Qiaoer finally waited for Jia Yuanchun and shouted happily: "Happy New Year, Madam Duke!"

Jia Yuanchun smiled and said, "You are also lucky~ Qiaojie has grown so big in the blink of an eye~"

Jia Yuanchun reached out and touched Jia Qiaoer's head. She had watched Jia Qiaoer grow up since she was a child, and she raised her together with her own children.

Now my eldest son will be living outside next year, but he will still be accompanied by these girls.

Ling'er, the daughter of the second wife of the Zhen family, also shouted, "Good luck to the Duke's wife!"

Jia Yuanchun loved the girl and smiled, "All right, that's all right. You are pretty and well-behaved. I will talk to your mother later and ask her to make you my goddaughter."

It is a good thing to have more girls in a big family. Jia Yuanchun is unable to give birth to a daughter, and now the eldest daughter is less than five years old. It would be faster to just recognize two daughters.

In the future, whether it is for marriage or to accompany your children to grow up, it will be a very good choice.

The maid Xiaolu behind Ling'er quickly supported Ling'er's shoulders and said, "Why don't you thank Grandma and call her godmother? This is a great thing!"

The maids in the Zhen family knew very well what a good thing this was. If Jia Yuanchun became their godmother, not only Ling'er, but even the second lady would be taken care of.

Ling'er said obediently: "Godmother~"

Jia Yuanchun was even happier. She reached out and took the two cute little girls by the hand and led them into the house. "Come on, go inside. I'll get you something delicious and fun."

Behind Jia Yuanchun, her two sons followed sullenly.

Jia Yuanchun quickly entered the house and gave the children New Year's money.

As he was sending his message, he suddenly saw Shi Xiangyun smiling and reaching out to grab his hand.

Jia Yuanchun laughed unhappily and said, "How old are you? Why are you still asking me for New Year's money?"

Shi Xiangyun said coquettishly: "I am still a child~"

Lin Daiyu and others nearby laughed so hard that they couldn't stop, and bent over to laugh at the little kid.

Shi Xiangyun was shameless and squatted again and again, "Sister Yuanchun, you are blessed! I pay my respects to you!" Jia Yuanchun looked at Shi Xiangyun and said helplessly, "You have to ask the master for your share. When I came back from the palace, the master accompanied the emperor and the princes of the royal family to the Taimiao to worship their ancestors. I guess he will be back at night."

At this time, Yuanyang came over with a smile on his face.

Seeing this, Lin Daiyu reminded, "Sister Yun, look who's here. It's the sister who manages the money in the front yard."

Shi Xiangyun quickly looked over and saw Yuanyang coming over with a smile, so she said happily: "Sister Yuanyang is here! Maybe there is something good? Happy New Year~"

"Happy New Year, I also wish Sister Yun a happy new year." Yuanyang politely returned the gift and quickly said, "The master said that he might be back late today, and he has already prepared New Year's money for the girls in the study. All unmarried girls can get 100 taels each, and the rest can be arranged by the grandmother herself."

After hearing this, Jia Yuanchun nodded and said, "I'll go up and take a look, and I'll bring it back to reward you."

Shi Xiangyun joked: "Big brother's is big brother's, big sister's is big sister's~"

Jia Yuanchun said helplessly: "You little girl, okay, I will also give you ten taels, so that you won't say I'm stingy."

Before Shi Xiangyun could say anything, Xue Baochai took the initiative to say, "The ordinary ladies in the duke's family only get a few taels of silver a month, and sister Yun, you got ten taels just from the eldest lady. You are really calculating!"

Lin Daiyu smiled and agreed, "That's right, our sister Yun is not only a foodie, but also a money-lover!"

Jia Yuanchun said frankly: "The master is the master, and others are others. The master gave you 100 taels. If I gave you 100 taels, wouldn't I spoil you? These 10 taels of silver are enough for an ordinary family to use for a year. I think it will be gone in two or three days in your hands."

Shi Xiangyun showed an embarrassed expression and said defensively: "I know. It's New Year's Day. Sister, please don't say that to me, okay~"

Jia Yuanchun smiled and said, "Okay, I won't talk about you anymore. We are all my sisters. Come with me. Today is the New Year and we should be more festive."

Everyone quickly went up together with a smile on their faces, talking to each other, it was quite lively.

Yuanyang also brought Qingwen and Yinglian up, but neither of them got in.

Qingwen was dressed gorgeously today. She wore a bright red middle-length coat, which was similar to a base shirt, and a white jacket with a gold collar and embossed flowers on the outside. Her face was powdered, her eyebrows were dark, her lips were rosy, and she wore a red flower on her head.

She looks like a lady from a respectable family, but also like a charming and attractive aunt. Because she is young, beautiful and has a good figure, she can easily control both styles.

But there are many beautiful girls in the study, and their beauty is not just that of maids.

Xue Baochai, Lin Daiyu, Xue Baoqin, Jia Yuanchun and others easily suppressed Qingwen.

There is also an even more charming Qin Keqing downstairs, and Xiangling, who is also dressed up and wearing nice clothes and jewelry, is no worse than Qingwen.

Qingwen’s biggest problem is her background, followed by her personality, and then her brain.

"Thank you, grandma!" Qingwen thanked happily after receiving the money.

Jia Yuanchun kept her gentle smile, looked at the others and said, "Now that you have everything, go down."

Shi Xiangyun looked at the gold and silver that remained in the box, smiled and led her sisters downstairs.

"Let's go! I won't spend a penny today. I will definitely let you know my backbone!"

Lin Daiyu walked lightly, followed behind Shi Xiangyun, reached out and touched her shoulder, and said with a smile: "Finally we persuaded you to stop. I was thinking that you would lose your New Year's money in the card game again! Finally you woke up after being scolded."

Shi Xiangyun said, "You guys don't pay for drinking and writing poetry, and it's no fun if they don't pay for playing cards. Oh! I'd better go find my big brother to play with later!"

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "Then you'll have a lot to wait for."

Jia Yuanchun quickly collected the remaining money and asked the maid to move it back to her room to use as a reward for the rest of the people.

When Jia Yuanchun went downstairs again, she saw Wang Xifeng and the second wife of the Zhen family talking to the old lady in the hall.

Yushi sat on one side, on an equal footing with the old lady.

Aunt Xue, Lady Wang, and Lady Xing were also there, and they were accompanied by girls such as Tanchun and Yingchun.

The old lady quickly distributed the New Year’s money, which were all gold ingots weighing seven cents, equivalent to seven taels of silver, but usually a little more, not exceeding ten taels.

Not only the old lady's family came today, but also women and children from some branches of the Jia family. The girls were given gold ingots, and the children were mostly given a handful of copper coins.

Although there were not many people, the inside and outside of the house, and even the yard were filled with wives and children from various families. They scattered money like pouring water, one handful after another.

This expense was undoubtedly huge. Inside and outside the building, the hundred banquet tables in the yard outside were all filled with people.

The old lady was not qualified to represent everyone, Youshi seldom showed up, Wang Xifeng wanted to go up but was not qualified, and in the end, it was Jia Yuanchun, who was dressed elegantly and had a lot of experience, holding a glass of wine, who stood at the gate of the courtyard and talked to everyone inside and outside.

"This year is my fifteenth year in Ning Mansion."

The old lady and others sat in the room listening, and said in a low voice: "It's been fifteen years, it's gone by so fast."

Mrs. Wang whispered to comfort her, "Yuanchun married into a good family. You see, Jia Ben, Jia Shu, and Jia Zhu are almost grown up. Although she is still a grandmother, she will be a wife in a few years."

Wang Xifeng was sitting at another table, also feeling filled with emotion at this moment.

If I hadn't refused to be a concubine at the beginning, it would have been fifteen years now.

Soon Wang Xifeng stopped thinking about this. Even if she had come in as a concubine, she would not be as good as Jia Yuanchun.

Although there are many female housekeepers in the Ning Mansion, even Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai can take on the responsibilities of housekeeper, but if we really have to say who is most in line with the kingly way, it is naturally Jia Yuanchun, the head of the family with rich qualifications.

(End of this chapter)