The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 178 Grandma's Majesty
Jia Rong brought a cart of things into the outer courtyard of Tianxiang Tower.

The girls quickly came out to watch the fun and saw the large cart of things that Jia Rong pulled in.

"Big brother! What are these? Are they delicious?"

Shi Xiangyun came over quickly to ask.

Jia Rong took out a piece of paper and said, "There are food and clothes. This is a gift from the governor of Shanzhou in the spring. The emperor gave it to me."

Shi Xiangyun quickly took the list, opened it and looked at it carefully.

Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai also came over to watch. The others wanted to see, but could not squeeze in.

Xichun was too small to squeeze in, so she quickly shouted, "What did you write? Read it out for us!"

Shi Xiangyun started reading from the beginning.

"Five pieces of Yuanhu skin."

"Five sea dragon skins."

Xichun shouted, "What is sea dragon skin?"

Jia Rong explained: "Sea otter, an animal that lives in water."

Shi Xiangyun continued to read the list below.

"Twenty otter skins."

"One thousand Pegasus skins."

Jia Xichun pulled Jia Rong's sleeve again, "What is a celestial horse? Is it a flying horse?"

Jia Rong laughed and said, "It is a kind of fox that lives in the sand."

Shi Xiangyun shouted, "Five hundred black cloud leopard skins!"

"Ten white fox skins!"

"A box of red crane feathers!"

"Three boxes of duck-cheeked feathers!"

"Five boxes of rich cakes!"

"Five barrels of Bing dates!"

"Five bottles of Jili tea!"

"Five boxes of lily powder!"

Jia Rong quickly ordered, "Move it into the storeroom and take it out to dry in the sun when the weather gets better. We don't need to buy anything else this winter. These are enough for us to make a few sets of clothes."

"Yes! Master!"

The maids and servants quickly came to work and moved the things into the warehouse in the inner courtyard.

Jia Rong went into the house with the girls and wives.

Jia Yuanchun and Qin Keqing were waiting at the door.

"master."

Jia Rong walked over and embraced the two of them as they went in.

Jia Yuanchun smiled and said, "I knew that Master was too casual, so I asked the children to eat early, and Master will test their homework in the evening."

Jia Rong smiled and said, "Don't worry, we'll talk about it tomorrow. You'll be at home for the time being. I'll find a Jinshi to teach them in a few days."

Jia Yuanchun naturally had no objection.

Now that my family belongs to the realm of royalty and nobles, it is not excessive to invite a Jinshi to teach me for a while.

After entering the room and sitting down, Jia Rong saw Li Wan sitting at a table in the distance.

"Li Gongcai is here too, come and eat with us. Jia Lan is quite good at martial arts. I plan to let him stay with Liu Xianglian for a while, and then arrange an official for him when he is older."

When Li Wan heard Jia Rong calling her name, she quickly stood up and walked over to the Li sisters' table.

"Thank you, Duke!" Li Wan thanked him gratefully, "I'm sorry for offending you over the years, Duke. Please forgive me!"

Jia Rong smiled and said, "Sit down and have a drink."

Drinking is not difficult for everyone.

The maid came over to pour wine. Li Wan sat down, looked at the glass of wine, and happily picked it up with both hands and drank a bowl.

After finishing the drink, he showed the clean bottom of the bowl and said, "Thank you, Duke!"

Jia Rong said indifferently, "It's okay. I don't bear grudges. I heard that you took care of Li Wen and Li Qi and played with the girls. I want to thank you."

Li Wan hurriedly said, "You are too polite, Duke! This is all part of my job!"

Jia Rong smiled and said, "We have known each other for many years. I won't be polite. Let's have dinner. You can stay here. I will bring the old lady over in a few days."

Jia Yuanchun asked curiously, "Is there something going on in the west again?"

In fact, no one wanted the old lady to come.

Even girls like Shi Xiangyun and Lin Daiyu, who were loved by Grandmother Jia, were not willing to see the old ancestor at this time.

Everyone has long been accustomed to a leisurely life and does not want to invite an ancestor to come over and become his granddaughter themselves.

Jia Rong picked up his chopsticks and said casually, "Baoyu is going to Jiangnan for study in a few days. The world is peaceful now, and he is going with my pass, so naturally nothing will happen to him."

"Your father is very busy, and the old lady and the wife will be lonely living there, so they come over to liven things up. Just make the arrangements for you."

Jia Rong brought the old lady to manage this group of people, and deliberately brought an ancestor over to the group.

Jia Yuanchun had no idea of Jia Rong's evil intentions, so she nodded and said, "That's good."

"Let's eat." Jia Rong gestured for everyone to eat first.

Now Jia Rong had many wives and concubines, and there were five tables in the hall alone. After they had finished their meal, they began to chat.

Before Wang Xifeng could speak, Qin Keqing said, "Master, should the maidservant beside Baoyu follow him to Jiangnan, or stay with us?"

Qingwen sat at the maids' table, together with Yuanyang, Ping'er, Xiaohong, and Yinglian.

After hearing this, Qingwen was not nervous at all. She stood up and said, "Master, Sheyue and Bihen came to me some time ago and said they wanted to work in our house. I saw that we were short of a few maids, so I kept them here."

Lin Daiyu and Shi Xiangyun listened quietly and looked at Jia Rong's reaction.

Jia Rong sighed, "They are pitiful people, but if they stay here to serve me, Baoyu will think they have betrayed him and will not take them back when he returns."

Qingwen said angrily, "Then I won't go back to Baoyu! If I go back, I will be beaten and scolded, and I will be abused by him!"

Jia Rong asked curiously, "Does Baoyu still hit people?"

Qingwen nodded quickly, "Yes, Xiren, Bihen, and Sheyue were often beaten, especially Xiren, who was often beaten by him, punched and kicked by him."

Jia Rong frowned.

"Baoyu is such an ungrateful guy. I thought he was the kind of person who cared about women, but I didn't expect him to say one thing and do another. He treats people like this when he's tired of playing with them."

“Tell Sheyue and Bihen that they can stay in Ning Mansion peacefully from now on and don’t have to go back to Baoyu anymore!”

Qingwen said happily: "Yes!"

Neither Shi Xiangyun nor Lin Daiyu thought that Jia Baoyu was that kind of person, and of course they did not expect that Jia Rong would take in two maids who were tired of being played with.

Jia Yuanchun frowned, "Master, those two girls have suffered a lot, why not let them go out and get married, so they don't have to be maids anymore."

"Besides, they are different from other maids. They are all used maids. Taking them in will have a bad impact on our Duke's Mansion."

Jia Rong thought about it and said, "That's right. Qingwen should go and ask their opinions. If she wants to get married or go back to her hometown, then she can go back. If she wants to stay, she can only be a maid."

"Something happened in the west before, and the whole city knew that there was a maid having an affair with a man in the alley at night. Now the two of them are from the west again. If I put them in the young lady's grandmother's room, it would be bad for my reputation."

Only then did Qingwen think of the problem in the west and she didn't dare to take on this matter anymore.

"Master is right. I will go back and tell them now."

Jia Rong stopped them and said, "Just let the maid go over and tell them. Don't run around right after dinner. Let Xiren come over as well. I think those people in the west never intended to recognize her as their aunt from the beginning to the end. They never looked up to her."

Qingwen nodded happily and asked the maid to pass on the message. She was now just one step away from becoming an aunt!

Jia Yuanchun sighed and didn't want to say anything.

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "Brother Rong, I have good news for you."

Jia Rong laughed and said, "Is there anything you know that I don't know? Is it Yuanchun who is pregnant, or Yingchun? It can't be Tanchun, right?"

Seeing that Jia Rong actually knew about this, Lin Daiyu no longer had an excuse to ask for benefits.

Tanchun blushed and said coquettishly, "Brother-in-law!"

Jia Rong smiled and said, "Now that most of the aunts in the family are pregnant, it's time to have a few more children."

Qingwen looked at Jia Rong with her heart beating faster.

Sure enough, Jia Rong looked over, and their eyes met, and a spark called happiness ignited in an instant.

Jia Rong said, "Qingwen and Yinglian have been serving me for quite some time, and I have long promised to give them status. The same is true for Lin Hongyu, who is not young anymore. Let me rest for a few days and settle the affairs of the mansion before we can start!"

Qingwen, Yinglian and Lin Hongyu quickly stood up and saluted.

"Thank you, sir!" The three of them had been looking forward to it for a long time, especially Xiaohong.

Jia Rong said, "Your wedding room is still in the front yard. This year I will tidy up the house and build some tall buildings that will be warm in winter and cool in summer."

Wang Xifeng laughed and said, "I think it will only take a month or so, and the master's aunts will not be enough again!"

Yingchun, who had become cheerful, smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, there are still a few young ladies waiting for you~"

Yu Shi also laughed and asked, "Where is the master resting today?"

Jia Rong said, "Rest here with Yuanchun, and let Baoqin serve you. Clothes are worse than new, and people are worse than old. Although Baoqin is quiet, honest and dutiful and can't coax people, I treat you all as women, as my women and the mother of my children, not as playthings."

Wang Xifeng joked, "I think Baoqin alone is not enough, why not take Qingyun and Qinyun as well?"

Jia Yuanchun frowned and looked at Wang Xifeng.

Wang Xifeng smiled awkwardly.

Jia Rong smiled and said, "I will speak directly to anyone I like, and I will take responsibility for whoever I want. I can't chew too much. Besides, normal wealthy families don't actually choose concubines from maids, right? If you do this too much, you ladies will lose face."

Jia Yuanchun nodded and said, "Master is right. I think we should find some girls from official families in the future. I think Miss Wang is a good girl."

Wang Xifeng was suddenly embarrassed.

"This..." Wang Xifeng said in embarrassment: "My uncle has only one daughter, how can she be his concubine..."

Jia Yuanchun said, "I was confused, please don't blame me, sister."

The eldest grandmother directly attacked the second grandmother at the dinner table. What should the others do?
Of course I pretended not to know!
Jia Rong stood up and said, "Who wants to play cards? No money is involved, but if you lose you have to call me Master, in a coquettish way. I can pay you if you lose."

Shi Xiangyun stood up quickly, "I'll do it!"

Xue Baochai also said: "Me!"

Qin Keqing smiled and said, "Master~"

If Jia Rong wanted to play cards, it would be easy to get a table together.

Soon, Jia Rong no longer cared about the trouble between Jia Yuanchun and Wang Xifeng, and started playing cards surrounded by the women.

I didn't know who was standing behind me, but he deliberately pressed his chest against my head.

But it doesn’t matter, who does she matter?
Jia Rong even touched the thigh of someone next to him while looking at the card table.

(End of this chapter)