The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 226 New Home, New Beginning

North City Zhongxiao Palace
"Be careful! Walk carefully! Don't fall!"

Wang Xifeng smiled and instructed Qiao'er and Ling'er, then led the maids towards Nuanyang Tower.

A lot of people had gathered outside Nuan Yang Tower. As soon as Wang Xifeng walked over, she saw the maids standing up and smiling.

"Second Grandma!"

Wang Xifeng walked over with a smile on her face.

"What are you all doing standing outside? Who are you waiting for? Come in and sit with me."

The maid smiled and said, "Second Madam, please go in and take a look. There are only beautiful ladies inside. There is no place for us maids to stand."

"Second Madam, please go in quickly. We just need to look after my sister."

Wang Xifeng walked in quickly and saw many people in the yard busy packing up various boxes and cabinets, and many people chatting and laughing in the sun near the kitchen.

After walking about a hundred steps from the wide courtyard gate to the door of the house, I saw more than twenty tables of beautiful girls and grandmothers sitting in the wide house.

There is a hall when you enter the house, and there is a large house behind the screen inside. Above your head is a luxurious three-story building, making a total of four floors and a rooftop platform, which makes up the fifth floor.

Four doesn't sound good, so five is more pronounceable. Besides, you can hang clothes upstairs or watch the fireworks.

The exterior of the entire house is in Western architectural style, blocked by heavy stones.

Wang Xifeng quickly found Jia Rong, who was being hugged by women on both sides.

Jia Rong held Yingchun with one arm and Tanchun with the other. Yuanchun and Youshi were also sitting with them.

Sitting on the small sofa on the left are Shi Xiangyun and Lin Daiyu, and sitting on the long sofa on the right are Xue Baochai, Xue Baoqin, the Li sisters, Li Wan and others.

There were also Musk Moon and Bi Hen helping to massage legs, while Qingwen, Yinglian and Xiren were visiting the rooms upstairs.

Wang Xifeng came over and said with a smile: "Master, this Nuanyang Tower looks really weird. How could these craftsmen build the house so weirdly? It's not elegant at all."

When Jia Rong saw Wang Xifeng coming, he smiled and said, "Come sit on my lap and I will tell you something."

Wang Xifeng rolled her eyes at him, "How can you be so disrespectful in broad daylight? At least save some face for me in front of my sisters. Musk Moon, you sit on it. Let me sit on this little stool."

Musk Moon said hurriedly: "How dare I?"

Jia Rong wanted to let Sheyue sit on his lap, but Shi Xiangyun stood up and said, "Sister Feng, please sit down. I will go sit with my elder brother."

After saying this, Shi Xiangyun walked over to Jia Rong with a smile.

Jia Rong reluctantly moved his seat and said, "Just squeeze in. There are so many people here, I don't want you to lose face."

Shi Xiangyun said happily: "Thank you, big brother! But it doesn't matter!"

Shi Xiangyun, who had already experienced sexual relations between men and women, actually didn't mind this kind of intimate expression.

After Jia Rong asked Shi Xiangyun to sit next to him, he sat down with his legs crossed.

"The outer walls are built thicker with stone to keep the heat out. The walls are rugged, so light is scattered when it shines on them. They can also block arrows and prevent fire and water."

Jia Rong looked up and saw Second Wife Zhen and Third Sister Zhen standing behind him, so he smiled and said, "You see, each floor is very high, with hot air and cold air going up and down, so it's cool to stand underneath."

Everyone looked up and saw that the house here was indeed twice as high as that of ordinary houses.

"Wide corridors and window sills can block the summer sun and prevent more light from entering the house."

"We use white curtains upstairs and downstairs to reflect light and insulate."

"The tall tower has windows on all sides of the roof, which, when exposed to sunlight, form a chimney-like effect, drawing air upward from the semi-basement below."

"In short, all the designs have been carefully considered. I have worked in the Ministry of Industry for quite some time. The current Minister of Industry and several assistant ministers were all trained by me."

Shi Xiangyun praised: "Everyone knows how amazing you are! You don't have to brag about yourself all the time!"

Jia Rong said bluntly: "If I don't praise you, how can you know how great I am? I am great in so many ways, and you only know a part of it! Besides, this is what you asked, I am only responsible for answering it."

Wang Xifeng smiled and said, "That's what I wanted to know. Thank you, Your Majesty, for answering my question~"

Everyone was looking at this place with a smile. Although the style of this house was different from the houses they had lived in before, it was obviously not where ordinary people lived.

Whether it is the materials used or the grand style, it is worthy of the status of a royal palace.

Jia Rong added, "You can look around. Not only are the furniture and floors here nice, but I actually added a lot of my own designs. For example, a water plant was built in the mountains, and pipes were laid from the mountains to our house. The rooms of the grandmothers and ladies all have running water."

"To the left is hot water, and to the right is cold water. You can go up and take a look. It will be convenient for you to take a shower or wash your face in the future."

Shi Xiangyun stood up quickly, "I'll go take a look! No wonder Qingwen didn't come down after going upstairs, it turns out there are so many fun things!"

Tanchun also became interested, "How come there is still hot water available?"

Jia Rong smiled and said, "Of course we cook it ourselves. You will get used to it slowly. It will definitely be more comfortable here than before."

Everyone soon began to curiously visit this large building.

There are three similar buildings in the Zhongxiao Palace. The one in the front yard is Jia Rong’s Baicao Pavilion, which is mainly used by Jia Rong to rest and work.

The Nuanyang Tower in the middle courtyard is mainly where Jia Yuanchun, Lin Daiyu and others live.

In the backyard is Tianxiang Tower, where Youshi, Qin Keqing and others live.

Nuanyang Building is the largest place and is also used for gatherings.

Tianxiang Tower is a place with a beautiful scenery and is used for private play. Most of the rooms inside are for leisure use, and there is also an indoor swimming pool.

Baicaotang is a workplace as well as a place to store books and medicinal materials.

The living quarters for maids were smaller, while the houses for women of status like Lin Daiyu and Jia Yuanchun were much larger, especially the bedrooms, which were more than twice as large as before and had a bright glass window on the balcony.

Soon everyone fell in love with this new home in the palace and had a lively dinner together.

The next morning, when Lin Daiyu opened her eyes, she saw the bright sunshine.

Getting up from the soft blue-white bed, Lin Daiyu looked at the bright white area on the balcony and couldn't help but feel better.

"Miss, wake up."

Zijuan walked over from behind the screen, saw Lin Daiyu sitting on the big bed, and came over to help her get up and change clothes.

Lin Daiyu looked at the time and it was already half past six.

"The prince has been resting at home for a while. He said he has to clean up the house today and has no time to come over, so let the ladies play by themselves."

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "Then let's look around today. Have you found anything interesting?"

Zijuan helped Lin Daiyu comb her hair. "We found a lot of fun things, but there is only hot water here, and the room is neither hot nor cold. The maids who used to light the stove and feed the birds have no work to do. They are worried about being driven away."

Lin Daiyu frowned and looked around, and found that there were already four maids making the bed, and even there were two more maids sweeping and mopping the floor than usual.

Zijuan added, "It's not just the lower-ranking maids. The master recently arranged for an embroiderer to handle all kinds of needlework in the house, and there is also a special laundry room. Now the maids who do laundry and needlework have nothing to do."

Xueyan came in empty-handed, walked to Lin Daiyu and said, "Miss, the hot water in the bathroom is ready, you can go over and wash your face."

Lin Daiyu quickly understood the situation.

Because Jia Rong always liked to do things that would make things convenient for everyone, the maid who used to do that job lost her original job.

For example, the woman who emptied the toilet lost her job after Jia Rong invented the flush toilet.

Now Jia Rong concentrated all the tasks of washing clothes, mending clothes, boiling water, etc., and set up a special tailoring room and laundry room.

The family did not keep pets like the other wealthy families who liked to keep birds, dogs and cats, which led to more and more maids falling into the crisis of unemployment.

Lin Daiyu had no other choice but to console him by saying, "We are not short of money, and this palace is three or four times bigger than before, so there must be a place where we can use someone."

Zijuan nodded, "Miss is right."

Zijuan and Xueyan are not worried about losing their jobs. Their daughters are already Jia Rong's women, and they can be considered half of Jia Rong's women.

Things like staying by the bed and sleeping with the husband are part of the job, so naturally there is no need to worry about being kicked out.

Lin Daiyu went downstairs to eat quickly. The accommodation in the palace, whether it was three meals a day or clothing, food, housing and transportation, was of the highest standard anyone had ever seen. Even the Princess of Jinling and the women of the Dai Wang family were reluctant to leave.

After breakfast, Jia Rong walked in when everyone was chatting and laughing in the hall.

Xue Baochai quickly called out, "Master, aren't you busy today?"

Jia Rong came over and said with a smile: "You are too busy, so come here to rest and then go back to work in the afternoon."

Seeing Jia Rong coming to rest, Miaoyu, who had always been insignificant, stood up and said, "Why don't you go to my room for some tea? I have been disturbing the palace for several years, and I haven't thanked the prince properly yet."

Jia Rong and others looked at Miaoyu. This nun had indeed been eating and drinking for free for many years.

"Okay, I have nothing to do." Jia Rong agreed readily.

Seeing this, Xue Baochai, Shi Xiangyun, Lin Daiyu, Tanchun, Yingchun and Yuanchun also agreed.

Miaoyu used to live in Four Seasons Garden, but now everyone in Four Seasons Garden lives in Nuanyang Tower.

Some maids also lived in the dormitory building in the nearby courtyard. Jia Rong built a dormitory building specifically for those people and arranged female inspectors to check the dormitories regularly to prevent theft.

Life is much more convenient nowadays and there is no need to run errands all the time. Not only are the maids in the way, but some women who do not belong to Jia Rong also seem to be in the way.

Miaoyu's room is full of antique charm. It is not as clean and simple as the rooms of ordinary monks, but more like the room of a lady from a wealthy family.

Everyone sat down in the small living room, and soon Miaoyu began to make tea for everyone.

Jia Yuanchun looked at the tea set on the table and said, "This table looks familiar, but I can't remember where I've seen it before."

Jia Rong said, "I got the tea set from the Empress Dowager. The Emperor doesn't like to drink tea and doesn't use it. I told the Emperor and he gave it to me. He also gave me the Empress Dowager's things. I kept it in the Zhongxiao Palace and asked someone to find a room to put it."

Jia Yuanchun nodded.

"No wonder, it turns out I saw it before when I went to the Queen Mother's place."

After hearing this, Miaoyu quickly said, "If the princess likes it, I'll have someone move it to her room."

Jia Yuanchun smiled and shook her head.

"I usually just need to drink water quietly, I don't have time to drink tea, and the prince and our children don't know how to make tea, it would be a waste to use it. I heard that Master Miaoyu is very good at making tea, so this thing is not worth the dust."

Miaoyu smiled and said, "In that case, I will accept it."

Soon Miaoyu continued to make tea for everyone, and everyone watched her how to make tea.

The more they read, the more confused they became. Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai thought there was something wrong with them, but when they looked at Jia Rong, they found that he was smiling faintly.

The two of them looked at each other and immediately knew that there was a problem.

Jia Yuanchun actually knows about tea. She has plenty of time and has received formal education as a lady from a noble family. She also fits the image of a legitimate daughter of a noble family more than Shi Xiangyun and Lin Daiyu.

Not only that, Jia Yuanchun also had a lot of contact with princesses and empresses dowagers.

Saying that you don’t understand tea is like saying that you haven’t read many books. It’s all just modesty.

Compared with Jia Rong, he naturally seems incompetent.

In fact, Jia Rong also knows about tea.

It is impossible for a scholar to be without this.

Especially senior officials who need to socialize.

The emperor, who was trained as an emperor since childhood, certainly understands tea, but he doesn't care about it.

The more Jia Yuanchun watched, the more uncomfortable she felt, especially when she discovered that Miaoyu used a colorful cup to hold tea.

Jia Yuanchun frowned and asked in confusion: "What kind of cup is this?"

Miaoyu smiled and said, "It is a small five-colored covered bell from Chengyao."

Lin Daiyu, the master of complaints, whispered at this time: "It's very expensive."

Only people who understand tea can understand her sarcastic tone.

Jia Rong, Xue Baochai, Jia Tanchun, Shi Xiangyun and others all laughed when they heard it, but they remained restrained and did not laugh out loud, and soon returned to their normal state.

Jia Yuanchun frowned and said nothing.

Miaoyu smiled and said, "It is indeed difficult to find. I usually use a green jade bowl for tea. Sister Daiyu, how about using this rhinoceros cup?"

"Okay." Lin Daiyu covered her face with a fan and held back her laughter.

Jia Yuanchun was even more confused when she saw Miaoyu taking out two pure green teacups from a box and putting them down one after another, and then taking out an antique teacup that looked like a wine glass.

Especially when I saw Miaoyu making tea directly with freshly boiled hot water, I was even more confused.

When Miaoyu handed the tea to Jia Rong, Jia Rong took it.

When Miaoyu handed it to Jia Yuanchun again, Jia Yuanchun did not take it.

"I don't drink Lu'an tea."

Jia Yuanchun usually drinks Lu'an tea, which is a special product. However, if she has eaten some greasy food for breakfast, drinking green tea at this time will easily cause diarrhea.

Miaoyu also ate with them, so she should know this.

Miaoyu smiled and said, "This is Laojunmei."

Laojunmei is a black tea that can relieve greasiness.

Jia Yuanchun then took the teacup and believed that Miaoyu should have some understanding of the tea ceremony, but she was not sure how much.

"What kind of water is this?" Jia Yuanchun looked at the tea in the cup and then looked at Miaoyu.

Miaoyu smiled and said, "It's the rain water stored last year."

Jia Yuanchun fell completely silent.

Mountain spring water is the best for making tea. How can you use rain water to make tea?
Pure white utensils are best for tasting tea. If you want to try the yellow and white color of the tea, how can you allow blue and white to mess it up?

This woman drinks tea from an antique cup, just like a nouveau riche drinking tea from gold and silver cups. How vulgar and tasteless!

The tea set for brewing tea should also be made of magnetic sand. It’s not that we can’t afford copper or iron teapots, but there are certain rules for drinking tea.

Jia Yuanchun didn't want to drink it at first, but when she saw Jia Rong take a small sip from the green teacup, she could only drink half a sip for the sake of face.

After drinking, he didn't want to stay. "The ignorant kids downstairs are making noise again. I'll go check it out. Master, you can play with the girls."

Jia Yuanchun stood up and said goodbye.

After Jia Yuanchun and her men left, Miaoyu smiled at Jia Rong and said, "I still have a cup of good tea. If you can tell what kind of water it is made of, I will admire you."

Jia Rong nodded, "Okay, take it out quickly and let the sisters have a good meal."

Miaoyu quickly went into the room to prepare. Lin Daiyu quickly pushed Jia Rong with her hand, covered her mouth with her fan and whispered:

"No wonder you don't come here usually!"

Jia Rong smiled and said nothing.

Soon everyone waited for Miaoyu to come out, and then they all quietly watched to see what she was going to do.

After Miaoyu poured tea for the six people, she asked with a smile: "Did you figure out what it is?"

Yingchun and Tanchun were both silent.

Xue Baochai and Shi Xiangyun were both thinking about it.

Lin Daiyu asked curiously, "Is this also last year's rain?"

Miaoyu sneered, "So you are also a vulgar person who can't even taste water. This is the snow on the plum blossoms that I collected nine years ago when I lived in Xuanmu Panxiang Temple. I collected a blue and white jar in total!"

"I usually don't want to eat it myself, so I have been burying it underground. I took it out to entertain the prince when he came after we moved this time. The rainwater from the previous year is not as light as the snow from the plum blossoms. How can I eat it?"

These words not only silenced Lin Daiyu, but also Yingchun, Tanchun, Baochai, Xiangyun and others.

Why not use mountain spring water...

At this time, Qingyun came in from outside, "Master, the princess said that the child was naughty and went to Baicaotang to make trouble, so she asked you to go and take care of it."

"Okay!" Jia Rong quickly made an excuse to leave, and said to Miaoyu, "Next time, we will drink tea alone, without bringing along those tasteless girls."

Miaoyu said happily, "Then we'll entertain the prince another day."

Jia Rong quickly left quietly with a few girls who kept their heads down and remained silent.

After walking out of this floor, out of the hall and into the courtyard, Jia Rong asked Qingyun, "Did a little kid really mess up where I was working?"

Qingyun smiled and said, "No, the princess went to the backyard and asked me to call the master and the girls out."

Jia Rong was relieved now.

Xue Baochai finally laughed, "I'm so depressed..."

Lin Daiyu said unhappily, "It's all your fault. I got scolded."

Yingchun frowned and said, "Why is she such a person? Is she a liar or is she deliberately playing tricks on us?"

Tanchun said, "I remember the master once said that she was a proud and arrogant person."

Lin Daiyu nodded quickly, "I remember that too."

Jia Rong smiled and said, "She was forced to become a nun by her family, not because she wanted to. Seeing that Leng Ao was actually thinking about love just like Xichun, and seeing your aunt living a comfortable life all day long, and seeing Daiyu become a princess, she must feel bad."

Xue Baochai smiled and said, "It's hard to deal with spring sickness. Our master can definitely cure it."

Lin Daiyu joked: "A short-haired monk and a long-haired nun, what a perfect match."

Shi Xiangyun said: "No wonder I had a good relationship with Xichun before, it turns out you can talk to each other."

Jia Rong thought of Xichun, "How is Xichun doing recently?"

Several people shook their heads.

Jia Rong said, "She was very busy recently, but now that she's married, she's someone else's daughter-in-law, so we shouldn't worry about her. The day after tomorrow is the old lady's 80th birthday, do you want to go?"

Several people looked at each other.

Shi Xiangyun hesitated for a moment and said, "I want to go and take a look."

Jia Rong smiled and said, "Don't be shy. Just go whenever you want. Don't go back dozens of times a year like Yuanchun did before."

The women were relieved.

Jia Tanchun said, "I'll go and see them. It's a good opportunity for me to meet my father and mother as well. I won't go back until the New Year."

Jia Yingchun didn't say anything and didn't want to go back.

Lin Daiyu said, "I'll go and take a look."

Jia Rong said directly: "Then let's all go. It's not appropriate for you to go alone. You have to go with a man. We, Yuanchun and Fengjie will be enough."

Everyone quickly decided to go and celebrate the birthday tomorrow, and sent someone to inform Jia Zheng in advance.

Everyone in the Jia family returned to live in Rongguo Mansion. The old lady, Jia Baoyu, Jia Zheng and others also lived in their original houses. Jia Rong's children also returned to Ning Mansion to attend school.

Everything seemed to be back to the way it was.

However, the future heir of the Jia family must be Jia Yuanchun’s son.

Jia Zheng's life was pretty good. Not only did he take in a new concubine, but his work also became much easier.

As a high-ranking official in the imperial court, his current income is already very high. Combined with the income shared by everyone, it is enough to support the entire Rongguo Mansion.

The Ministry of Industry has made a lot of money over the years.

After receiving the news from his servant, Jia Zheng quickly returned to report the good news.

The old lady was extremely happy when she heard this. She hadn't seen any guests from outside for more than half a year. She had been staying indoors since Xichun's wedding and looked several years older.

"Amitabha! The prince will bring people here the day after tomorrow, so there must be nothing to worry about. Let them prepare more banquets and make it more lively!"

Jia Zheng also happily agreed, "Yes, I will ask someone to invite a troupe and some friends and old acquaintances."

The family lived a hard life. They dared not spend money recklessly, let alone show off, and even relatives were afraid to visit.

Even Jia Rong felt that he should give a little help.

After all, Jia Rong is a kind-hearted person who is willing to help others. He has never stood idly by when the Jia family is in trouble.

No matter how unhappy the old lady is, she won't be happy for many years.

(End of this chapter)