The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 164 Provoking the King of Hell

After the Lantern Festival, court officials began to return to work.

When Jia Rong got up early in the morning and combed his hair, he looked at himself in the mirror with a frown on his face.

Lin Hongyu, who was serving Jia Rong, asked curiously, "Master, why are you unhappy?"

Jia Rong, who had not rested during the New Year, suddenly discovered something.

"I didn't rest during the Chinese New Year. My good annual leave was wasted!"

Jia Rong felt a little uncomfortable.

Lin Hongyu smiled and said, "This is all the fault of that old assassin. If he hadn't caused trouble during the New Year, the master wouldn't be so busy."

Jia Rong thought about it and found that it seemed to be the case.

"Forget it, forget it. If you think about it carefully, it's not that tiring. Besides, the emperor has given me a lot of rewards. This time, I can make at least one or two million."

Ping Er asked curiously, "What could make such a fortune? My goodness, that's one or two million!"

Jia Rong looked at Ping'er standing behind him in the mirror.

Ping'er was wearing a white jacket. Although the cotton-padded jacket looked a little bulky in winter, the material used was silk, which looked soft and smooth and fit her body well when she wore it.

Especially with the makeup on her face, she is no longer a maid, but a coquettish concubine with heavy makeup.

Heart of beauty in everyone.

Jia Rong would not criticize anyone just because they like to dress up. He would even tolerate a capricious maid like Qingwen.

There was also a lazy and charming beauty like Qin Keqing, who often walked around the garden in bright clothes, and the others naturally began to compare themselves with her.

It doesn't matter if you wear heavy makeup, as long as it conforms to Jia Rong's aesthetic taste. Just don't conform to the overly excessive and rubbish aesthetic taste of this feudal era.

Jia Rong has always been personally instructing on this. He would tell people directly whether it is good or not, and even directly ask how to dress.

Because it is winter, we don't ask for much to keep warm.

Jia Rong laughed and said, "Ping'er is as greedy as Sister Feng. She comes here to ask about getting rich as soon as she hears about it."

Ping'er leaned behind Jia Rong, put her hands down inside Jia Rong's collar, and gently stroked Jia Rong's body with her slender fingers.

"What are you talking about, Master? If I don't ask clearly, it will be so embarrassing when the grandmas come to ask us about it."

Jia Rong has never cared about the thoughts of the women in his family, especially the housekeepers.

"It doesn't matter. You will know when you need to. Let Sister Feng rest first. We can start the funeral after the first month of the lunar year. I have already sent people to buy various funeral supplies. The funerals of the three princes will definitely be bigger."

"This time the whole city will not mourn together. The location is to build a mausoleum near the county town at the foot of the mountain in the west. It has little to do with the people in the city."

"I asked the emperor for two million taels of silver, including the construction of the mausoleum and the immigration and guarding of the mausoleum. I will ask for more from the Ministry of Internal Affairs later. Many business and construction projects will also be handed over to our people to do, and we will give some things to relatives inside and outside the family to do. In short, I will arrange the general matters."

Ping Er thought about this and asked again, "Then the Second Madam will not be able to stay here any longer. If she knew this, how could she rest?"

Jia Rong smiled and said, "Then don't tell her about this! Don't tell anyone."

Just as Jia Rong finished speaking, someone outside asked, "What are you talking about?"

Ping Erh smiled and said, "It's Sister Daiyu who's here."

The maid guarding the door lifted the curtain. Lin Daiyu was not tall, so she came in directly without lowering her head.

Lin Daiyu looked at Ping'er and said with a smile, "What are sister-in-law and brother Rong talking about in private? Let me hear it. I have a small mouth and can barely eat a few bites of food, let alone spread rumors."

When Ping'er heard Lin Daiyu call her sister-in-law, she knew she was teasing her.

"Sister Daiyu, please don't make fun of me. The master won't allow me to say it, so I dare not say anything."

Jia Rong said casually, "Just say it. We don't need to hide anything from our family."

Ping Er heard Jia Rong say that, and smiled and said, "The master is going to make a fortune recently, and the funeral of the third prince is going to be a grand one. The emperor gave two million silver coins to make it more grand. The master is not worried about our sister Feng~"

Ping Er naturally didn't need to address her formally when she was joking. She smiled and said, "Sister Feng is still pregnant. If you don't want her to be tired, let her rest for half a month before helping. You can't tell her about the specific expenses, otherwise that money-grubber won't be able to sit for half a month."

Lin Daiyu smiled. She naturally knew Wang Xifeng's preferences. Many royal relatives would attend the funerals of the three kings, and they were all wives of important figures inside and outside the court.

Such a prominent job was originally a hard and tiring one, but if there were millions of silver to be spent, Wang Xifeng would definitely give it a try for the money and fame.

Jia Rong looked at Lin Daiyu, "Sister Daiyu, what's the matter with you coming here? You chose to come and talk to me so early in the morning before I go to work. It must be something important. Just tell me directly."

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "Then I'll tell you directly. It's not difficult. I just don't know what happened. Since we returned after the empress and others left yesterday morning, we found that many things were missing from the house. Even the three Western ducks that Brother Rong gave to Xichun were missing two."

Jia Rong thought for a moment, "Where are the money and some small things?"

"A lot of things were lost." Lin Daiyu answered seriously, "Except for Xichun's courtyard, a lot of things were lost in the other courtyards, including the four courtyards of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Even the room where the queen lives was lost."

Jia Rong roughly understood it.

"It should have been taken by the Queen's maids and the eunuchs who accompanied her. This is an unspoken rule. After all, our family entertained them, and the things in the room were naturally used for entertaining them." "I was not thoughtful enough about this matter. I forgot that with so many people living in the house, there would definitely be some dirty hands. I just didn't think so much. It seems that my status in the palace is not high enough, and the eunuchs and maids don't know how powerful I am."

Jia Rong found that he still had a lot of room for improvement.

In recent years, the emperor has been too indulgent towards those palace maids and eunuchs. They fight to the death for the people around them, and have developed a large group of unruly confidants.

Did this group of people actually play any role?
Not at all...

Jia Rong looked thoughtful. Although he understood that the emperor had money but nowhere to spend it, who should he take revenge on since these palace maids and eunuchs had offended him?
Attacking the emperor would only make him more indulgent towards the palace maids and eunuchs around him. After all, the emperor always believed that danger came from outside, and the more loyal the people around him were, the better.

Seeing Jia Rong frowning and thinking about something dangerous, Lin Daiyu said hurriedly, "The lost things are not a problem. I thought it was done by my family, not by the people in the palace. Brother Rong, don't worry about it. We can just buy back the lost things."

Lin Daiyu also suspected that it was the eunuchs who took it, but because things were also lost from the Queen's room, she felt that it couldn't be someone from the palace.

Because that is the Queen!
After ruling out the possibility that it was someone from the palace, they thought that it might have been stolen by a maid when she was cleaning the house, because there were indeed a few exquisite little gifts from Jia Rong that were lost, so they came to tell Jia Rong about it.

Jia Rong said quickly, "Don't worry about it. Go and ask the girls and count how many things are missing. Don't worry about the things that can be bought. I will give you the exact amount of silver. If you lose something particularly meaningful and must find it back, just tell me and I will give you a call to get it back."

Lin Daiyu felt much more relaxed, "Yes! I'm sorry to bother Brother Rong again."

Jia Rong smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. Every family has problems. Besides, there may be more such problems in the future. This year, I will build a courtyard in the west to entertain distinguished guests. In this way, I will not have no place to entertain guests in the future, and I will not disturb your peace."

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "It's okay for me. I spent the whole day in Brother Rong's secluded room the day before yesterday. I liked it very much! There are white mice running water wheels, glass ant palaces, and glass colorful fish tanks. Baoqin praised it as a glass world, spotless."

Jia Rong's laboratory was locked, and the girls were all well-behaved people. Even Shi Xiangyun would not do something like prying the door open for no reason, so they lived very comfortably in the building.

The building had everything it needed. Jia Rong just didn't clean up because he was too lazy to shave and take a shower. When the girls rested at night, someone brought them water to wash up.

There is only one bed, but it is a very big one. It is quite lively when several girls squeeze together.

Jia Rong stood up and prepared to go to work. He reached out and pinched Lin Daiyu's face, causing her to turn away shyly.

"It's better not to go to my place. If you like, I'll move my ant palace over there for you, but don't let the children see it, otherwise they won't be able to keep it to themselves."

Lin Daiyu smiled and looked at Jia Rong, "I am thick-skinned, but Brother Rong is thin-skinned? If I tell anyone, no one will believe it~"

Jia Rong said, "I have witnesses, how can I not believe it?"

Lin Daiyu smiled and dodged, using her fan to cover her smiling face, leaving only a pair of smiling eyes, "What do you think, Master~"

Jia Rong smiled and patted her waist as he walked forward. "Stop making trouble, let's eat together before we go. I have to go to the palace early today. Many people must have played until late at night during the Lantern Festival yesterday, and I think many of them got sick from the cold."

Lin Daiyu and Jia Rong went to the hall to eat. Lin Daiyu agreed and said, "Baochai and Xiangyun haven't gotten up yet. They must have slept until noon again. I will go back to sleep as soon as I finish eating."

Lin Daiyu sat down naturally to eat. There was only one big kitchen in Four Seasons Garden. They had been busy for several days preparing two meals for the Empress, and they were all resting today.

Jia Rong said to Jin Chuan'er, "After you finish eating, ask the kitchen to send some food to the girls in Four Seasons Garden."

"Yes." Jin Chuan agreed.

Jia Rong said to Lin Daiyu again, "Don't go back in such a cold weather. Just take a nap in my room and come back in the afternoon. I have a quiet day here. Ping'er and Yuanyang are working in the house in the front yard. Usually, there are only a few maids playing around in this yard."

Lin Daiyu nodded and said, "I don't want to be stained by your perfume here. I'm going to sleep with Sister Ping'er. Is Sister Ping'er okay?"

Ping Er laughed and said, "I, your sister-in-law, smell more of powder and rouge than your brother. Aren't you afraid of getting stained with it?"

Jia Rong helped, saying, "Eat, and stop talking. Ping'er, Xiaohong, and Jinchuan should also sit down and eat. When you are done, those who need to be officials should do their duties, those who need to be in charge should be in charge, and those who need to sleep should sleep."

Lin Daiyu did not shut her mouth, "Alas, I am the only one who has nothing to do. I will settle accounts with your daughter later. If your daughter is disobedient, I will pinch her little face!"

After all, Jia Qiaojie is not Jia Rong's daughter. Jia Rong is bold and responsible for what he does. If he acknowledges a son, then he is definitely a son. He will not disown his daughter.

Lin Daiyu's only students were Jia Qiaojie and her tutor Zhen Ling'er. Xiangling was also close to Xue Baochai, and was taught by Jia Yuanchun, Shi Xiangyun and others in turn, so they were not considered Lin Daiyu's students.

While eating, Jia Rong said, "It would be great if you could give birth to a daughter and teach her yourself."

Lin Daiyu drank her porridge and smiled earnestly, "If I had a daughter, I would definitely let her learn well from Sister Yuanchun."

There is no doubt that when it comes to educating their sons and daughters, both Lin Daiyu and Wang Xifeng prefer Jia Yuanchun to take care of the children.

Jia Yuanchun only appears to be a good-for-nothing in front of Jia Rong. In fact, she is the recognized lady of a noble family and a wealthy wife by women in the feudal era.

After dinner, everyone dispersed and Jia Rong rode to the palace.

He did not go to court. Jia Rong did not like going to court so early, so he went directly to the Qianqing Palace where the emperor retired to rest and have snacks, and sat there waiting.

It was almost time for lunch when the emperor and the crown prince returned with the palace maids and eunuchs.

"Your Majesty." Jia Rong greeted him from inside the house.

His greeting was informal, and he did not kneel, but just bent slightly and bowed his head, clasping his hands in a gesture of greeting.

He even had a knife on his waist.

This is the Duke of Ningguo, who is extremely loyal and highly regarded by the Emperor and the Crown Prince!

(End of this chapter)