The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 177 The Endeavoring Second Grandma
The funeral of the three kings ended quickly.

Jia Rong was the first to return to the capital to report.

"Your Majesty, this time we hired 150,000 craftsmen and civilians, and it took forty-nine days, costing a total of 2.1 million silver coins."

The emperor had already known the outcome of the matter from the memorials.

"I have already learned from the Crown Prince. Thank you for your hard work this time."

Jia Rong said politely, "Serving the emperor and repaying his kindness is what I should do! Your Majesty, you look good. Did something good happen to you?"

The emperor was even happier after hearing this. "Really? I didn't even look in the mirror when I got up this morning. I have been busy reviewing memorials since early morning until the sun is about to set. I just took a short nap after lunch."

Jia Rong said, "When I went to Xiaoling County with the Crown Prince to do some work, I was worried that the Crown Prince might not be able to adapt to the local climate, so I kept watching over him carefully until I had finished the work and saw that there was nothing else to do, and then I came back early to report."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince has been busy these past few days meeting clan members from all over the country. Some of the clan members fell ill after they arrived. Fortunately, they were all minor problems, and I helped prescribe medicine to cure them."

The emperor nodded.

"Thank you, my dear minister. Although I have several sons, the crown prince is not a legitimate son. If I had known that you were here earlier, my eldest son would not have died at a young age."

Jia Rong knew that the emperor was jealous and concerned, and did not like his most trusted confidant to be too close to the prince.

You can’t alienate the prince, but you can’t be too flattering to him and forget about the old man.

Although he was planning to pass the throne to the crown prince, he would give up the idea as soon as he had the thought.

The succession of imperial power has always been full of uncertainty.

Jia Rong said: "It was only when I followed the emperor that I had the opportunity to show my talents. A few years earlier or later would not be as good as those years."

The emperor nodded in satisfaction and said with a smile: "Last year, the commercial taxes in the south came in two days ago. Because the world is peaceful, the people below are grateful. The three taxes of salt, tea, and ships in Jiangnan alone add up to 15 million taels, which is more than I thought."

Jia Rong laughed and said, "Your Majesty is such a joke. If you hadn't sent a large army to Jiangnan to suppress the bandits, those merchants would have sold out their country for money. They would have dared to do things that would cost them their lives just to make a few more taels of silver. How could they have been grateful?"

The emperor smiled after hearing this and said, "My dear minister, what you said makes sense. The prince has read too much and has become an idiot. I will send away the three teachers around him in a few years to prevent them from learning bad things and forgetting that our ancestors founded the country."

Jia Rong said, "Your Majesty is wise."

The emperor said: "Now the treasury is full, and the money that was spent on rewarding the soldiers last month is almost back. You just mentioned the problem of water and soil incompatibility. This time we will solve the water problem in the capital."

Jia Rong also wanted to drink some clean water, so he agreed, "Yes."

The two of them sat and chatted for a while, and when it was almost time, Jia Rong said, "Your Majesty, it's getting late, and I should go back."

The emperor looked outside and saw that the sun had not yet set. "Well, my dear minister, you must be tired after being busy for so many days. Today, the governor of Shanzhou sent us the spring tribute. I took a look and found that they were all leather for making clothes. You can take them back and make some clothes for your children."

Jia Rong said politely, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Jia Rong quickly went to the Imperial Household Department, took the bill and took a cart of tribute home.

Wang Xifeng had arrived home a long time ago. She had just returned to the room to drink a sip of tea and had not sat for a few minutes when she was called over by a group of girls.

"Sister Feng, we are here to play with you~"

When Wang Xifeng heard Lin Daiyu's voice, she saw more than a dozen girls rushing in.

Wang Xifeng shouted, "Girls, are you here to see me or to bother me?"

It was obvious that he was here to extort money, how could Wang Xifeng not know this?

Xue Baochai smiled and said, "Everyone knows that Sister Feng is back. I miss her so much after not seeing her for over a month. How dare I bother Sister Feng?"

Xichun was pushed to the front by the maid behind her and said with a smile: "Hello, Second Madam! I pay my respects to you, Second Madam!"

Wang Xifeng quickly got down from the bed, "You guys, you just came here to cause trouble for me on purpose, and you won't let me sit for a while."

"Hurry up and sit down~" Lin Daiyu and Tanchun pressed Wang Xifeng's shoulders together to make her sit down, "We are not strangers. We are all here to care about you, my good sister."

Xichun was pulled by Shi Xiangyun to sit aside, so Wang Xifeng didn't need to get up.

"Second Madam~" Xing Xiuyun, Xue Baoqin, the Li sisters, Yuanyang, Qingwen, as well as several people from Youshi's side and their maids, soon filled the room.

Wang Xifeng really enjoyed this lively atmosphere of being complimented by everyone.

"Alright, alright. I don't know what you little hooves are thinking. Don't worry, you will get what you want."

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "Why are you so relieved? Last time, Brother Rong asked you to give me a bottle of Hundred Flowers and Hundred Fruits Honey, but I don't know who defaulted on the debt! Humph!"

Lin Daiyu pretended to be angry and snorted, not looking at Wang Xifeng.

Wang Xifeng and Lin Daiyu were sitting together, and at this time Wang Xifeng put her hands on Lin Daiyu's shoulders.

"My dear sister, didn't I forget because I left in such a hurry? Besides, on your birthday, the master specially asked Yinglian to send it to you, and he sent it to you secretly. How could I not know?"

After hearing this, Shi Xiangyun quickly said, "Great! Daiyu is so cunning that she fooled me!"

Xue Baochai also said: "We'll interrogate her later when we get back, for now..."

"What first?" Wang Xifeng looked at Xue Baochai unhappily. "If you are nice and reasonable, I will not reduce your benefits. If you are not polite, I will also hum one for you to see!"

Tanchun laughed and said, "What are you humming about? Look who's coming outside? Sister, come in quickly!"

Tanchun and the maids made way for them, and sure enough, they saw Jia Yuanchun coming in with her maids.

Wang Xifeng quickly stood up and put on her shoes, cursing, "You bunch of little girls only know how to bully an honest man like me!" When Tanchun and others heard Wang Xifeng call herself an honest person, they laughed so hard that their stomachs hurt, and they laughed loudly without any hesitation.

Soon Lin Daiyu also stood up to make room for Jia Yuanchun.

After Jia Yuanchun sat down, she pulled Lin Daiyu to sit down with her, and said to Wang Xifeng with a smile: "Sister, you have been working hard recently. I am relieved to see that you are okay."

Wang Xifeng stood by and smiled, "I'm not tired. It's the master who's busy with things outside. I just order some people around to do some things. Most of the people around me are from our family. It's not much different from being at home."

"I brought gifts for my sister and the girls." Wang Xifeng quickly went into the house and took out a box. "This is for my sister. We'll talk about the rest of the sisters and girls tonight. It's too chaotic with so many people here now. Anyway, you can't miss it!"

Jia Yuanchun nodded and said, "Sisters, please go back first and don't bother Second Madam to rest. The master will be back soon. Please clean up and dress beautifully to welcome him back happily."

Wang Xifeng said quickly, "I'll pack up quickly and go over later."

Jia Yuanchun said, "Sister, you are pregnant, so don't be so tired. I have already told Keqing to stop being so lazy and help out when necessary. Sister, just take care of yourself first. You can take care of our family affairs whenever you want. No one will argue with you."

Tanchun smiled and said, "I am too busy now. I have to patrol the west for an hour every day, and I have to manage more than a hundred people in the yard."

Xue Baochai followed up and said, "Me too. Who made me have two naughty girls in my yard? They just do mischief all day long and don't know how to help others."

Lin Daiyu said mischievously, "Sister Bao, please don't always show off to us what's in your belly. It will teach us bad lessons."

Shi Xiangyun said directly: "If you can't manage it, just let big sister help you! Why are you showing off!"

Jia Yuanchun smiled at this time.

Seeing this, Wang Xifeng quickly made a guess.

"Sister, too?"

Everyone quickly looked at Jia Yuanchun.

Jia Yuanchun smiled and nodded, "I asked the imperial physician to come and see me. I didn't tell anyone about this, thinking I would tell the master when I got back. I didn't expect my sister to find out."

Wang Xifeng said happily: "This is a good thing!"

Jia Yuanchun certainly agreed to this, "I hope it's a daughter. I just want an obedient little daughter."

The Jia family has no shortage of sons now, and Jia Yuanchun and Jia Rong both like daughters very much.

Shi Xiangyun was shocked. "How can it be so easy to have children? Look, there are Sister Yuanyang, Sister Ping'er, Sister Feng, Sister Bao, Sister Er, Sister San, and Baoqin. There are seven of them now! More than anyone in our Shi family!"

The girls laughed.

At this time, Yingchun said shyly: "I think I have it too. I have felt like vomiting and not wanting to eat in the past few days, but I just didn't feel like asking for a doctor."

Jia Yuanchun stood up and grabbed Yingchun's hand, "Silly sister, this is a good thing. There are too many such things in our family. The sisters will tell you what to pay attention to. Wait for the master to come back and let him help you."

Yingchun nodded, feeling embarrassed.

Xue Baochai looked at Lin Daiyu and said, "Let's go back and talk. There are a few embarrassed young ladies here!"

Lin Daiyu, Shi Xiangyun, Tanchun and Xichun were all isolated and excluded from the circle of young women.

Qin Keqing came in at some point and said with a smile, "It's good to know it earlier. Sooner or later, we'll all be women. What's there to be ashamed of?"

Jia Yuanchun shook her head helplessly. "Sister, you are still outspoken. We haven't talked for a long time. Change your clothes and let's go out for a walk together."

It turned out that the dress Qin Keqing was wearing was a cheongsam designed by Jia Rong, and Qin Keqing was not wearing any underwear, which made a group of young girls blush.

Qin Keqing was quite respectful to Jia Yuanchun and quickly changed her clothes obediently. They had been together for almost ten years and had always respected each other and got along quite well.

After Jia Yuanchun left, Wang Xifeng quickly drove away the girls who were begging for money and breathed a sigh of relief happily.

Ping'er did not leave, but stayed to help the Zhen family's second wife pack up things.

Ping Er smiled and said, "Second Madam, you made a lot of money this time, didn't you?"

Wang Xifeng lay on the bed, crossed her legs and said proudly, "Not much, maybe just a few hundred thousand taels."

Ping Er calculated and said in surprise, "I didn't expect it to be so much. If it was in Rongguo Mansion in the past, it would be enough for the whole mansion to spend for more than two years."

Wang Xifeng lost her good mood instantly and cursed, "Don't talk nonsense like that! I get angry just thinking about it!"

Ping Erh said, "Don't be angry, Second Madam. I was too nosy. No one wants to care about the people there now. I think even First Madam is not happy that her son will inherit Rongguo Mansion."

Wang Xifeng's mood improved again, "Sister Yuanchun's luck is so bad. Now our master has taken the emperor's surname. It's hard to say what will happen to Ying'er and Qiao'er in the future, but the one in my belly must take the surname of the emperor! Here in Ningguo Mansion, we will be royal relatives in the future!"

Ping'er also laughed. After all, the son in her belly had already got off to an amazing start!

Now Ping'er, like Baoqin, wants to raise her children in a low-key manner and not get involved in the fights among the grandmothers, but she cannot live without a big boss to support her.

Wang Xifeng saw the smile on Ping'er's face and said disdainfully, "Okay, Ping'er, go back and serve the master. The master should be back soon. I have so many people here, so I don't need anyone."

Ping'er quickly said goodbye tactfully. Now that Jia Yuanchun had been assigned by the Emperor to the Rongguo Mansion, the rest of the people began to compete for the title of second in command.

As the second wife, Wang Xifeng assisted Jia Rong in presiding over the funerals of the three kings. She also got to know many princesses and queen dowagers. Naturally, she had enough confidence that she was the most qualified second wife!
Wang Ziteng of the Wang family is a first-rank official in the court. Jia Rong has always doted on Wang Xifeng, and all the household affairs in the mansion are in charge of Wang Xifeng.

Only a few girls can call her Sister Feng. Everyone in the mansion calls her Second Madam!

(End of this chapter)