The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 232 Poet
Zhongxiao Palace
Miss Wang dressed up carefully in the morning and went out with the old lady, Mrs. Wang and her mother.

The four of them went out in not only four sedan chairs, but also carriages for several maids and old women.

More than fifty people went out together, with family guards leading the way in front and behind.

There were old women and daughters-in-law following the sedan chair, and there was no need to avoid suspicion. Outsiders were free to watch.

Not everyone needs to abide by feudal ethics, but in feudal times, the status of such people is often very low.

When the sedan chair arrived at the gate of Prince Zhongxiao's Palace, someone quickly came down to greet it.

A woman in brocade clothes stood on the floor and said politely, "Old lady, Madam, Grandma, our master is entertaining guests. Let me take you to the backyard to see the princess."

Mrs. Wang sat in the sedan chair and said, "Okay, is that Lin Zhixiao's family outside?"

"Yes, I pay my respects to the first lady." Mrs. Lin Zhixiao paid her respects to Mrs. Wang again.

Although one of the couple is now a housekeeper and the other is a housekeeper's maid, and their daughter is also the prince's concubine, the couple are more cautious and dare not offend the Jia family.

We don't have to meet each other very often, so we should be polite to each other.

Mrs. Wang also said politely: "Well, you are blessed now."

Lin Zhixiao's family replied, "All daughters are capable and have a promising future."

Mrs. Wang also relied on her daughter's face, and soon the sedan chair began to enter the palace. After walking a hundred steps, it stopped at the gate of the yard.

Lin Zhixiao's wife and several housekeepers took the women of the Wang family to Nuanyang Tower.

Miss Wang

Aunt Wang

Mrs. Wang

When three women from the Wang family came to visit, naturally another woman from the Wang family would come to entertain them.

Before they arrived, Wang Xifeng came out with her maid to greet them.

"The old lady, my aunt, and my aunt are all here. I received a letter yesterday and have been preparing since early this morning. The palace has only been here for a few days, so many places are still being cleaned up, and there are still a few places that have not stopped construction. It is estimated that it will take until next year to be repaired."

Wang Xifeng came over and held hands with her aunt Wang Fu-ren to show her closeness. Wang Fu-ren was Jia Yuanchun's mother and also Wang Xifeng's aunt. There was no hatred between them before, and their relationship was pretty good when she was in charge of the Jia family.

All of them were respectable people, and now they all walked towards Tianxiang Tower politely.

After exchanging pleasantries, Aunt Wang began to inquire about the inside information of the Prince Zhongxiao's Palace.

"I heard that the prince is entertaining guests. Who else in the capital can be a distinguished guest of the prince's family?"

Wang Xifeng was slightly surprised and looked at the woman beside her.

Zhen Ernai replied, "I heard from the housekeeper in the front yard this morning that the master is entertaining Western businessmen today. The master has always been interested in foreign affairs."

After hearing this, Wang Xifeng smiled and said, "I thought so. The prince bought a lot of Western clothes and some books for the family. I remember when I was a child, when I went to Ningguo Mansion to play, I often saw him reading some foreign books. Those books were crooked and looked like bugs crawling on them."

When the Wang family heard that Jia Rong was going to meet foreign businessmen, they lost interest.

Foreigners are rare to ordinary people, but not so rare to the Wang family.

Several people quickly went into Nuan Yang Tower as guests.

Soon, Aunt Xue, the daughter of the Wang family, also came to entertain the guests. Now, because of Xue Baochai, Aunt Xue was considered a woman of a certain status.

After everyone sat together, they quickly looked at each other.

Jia Yuanchun smiled and said, "Aunt Xue hasn't received an imperial decree yet. When Xue Pan gets promoted in the future, I'll ask the master to get one for you."

Aunt Xue smiled happily.

Xue Baochai said happily: "Thank you, Sister Yuanchun~"

The old lady looked at Jia Yuanchun and said, "Xue Pan and Xue Ke have both become officials, but your useless brother is still a nobody. Your father and I are worried about him now."

Jia Yuanchun said, "Let's go and try next spring. We can talk about it then. Our master is Baoyu's age and has just gotten married."

The old lady nodded and decided to try the imperial examination next year.

Xue Baochai asked curiously, "Will Master Bao be willing to take the imperial examination? When I advised him to study before, he looked scary."

Lin Daiyu also knew about Jia Baoyu's situation.

Xiren, Tanchun and Yingchun, who were sitting in the distance, also knew that Jia Baoyu didn't like these things.

Mrs. Wang then smiled.

"You have misjudged Baoyu. Baoyu is willing to take the imperial examination and wants to have a good chat with his brother-in-law about poetry and prose. He always praises the prince as a hero and a good man."

Miss Wang also praised, "Second Master has always played well with Master Liu and his family. He also had many contacts with the Beijing King and Gongshun King's family. He just likes powerful people. He has praised the prince's poems many times."

Mrs. Wang looked at her daughter and said, "I heard that the prince usually studies and practices calligraphy in the study. Baoyu has read a lot of books, but he has never had a good teacher. Why not let Baoyu study with the prince? It just so happens that the prince has nothing to do recently."

Jia Yuanchun was embarrassed and really didn't want to continue this topic.

Jia Rong hated Jia Baoyu very much and didn't want to say anything to him, let alone take him to study.

Wang Xifeng saw Jia Yuanchun's dilemma and took the initiative to help her out.

"The prince has been very busy lately. The more he is on duty, the easier it is for him. The busier he is at home, the more he is doing research on medicinal herbs and alchemy. Several of our children have to be vaccinated against smallpox, and the master is watching over them all."

"Usually the master only comes here at night. He won't come when he's busy. The Princess of Shu and the Princess of Liao wanted to come visit us, but we declined."

Wang Xifeng clearly didn't want Jia Baoyu to come.

Since they are all members of the Wang family, Mrs. Wang, Aunt Wang, and Miss Wang are naturally unhappy.

Fortunately, everyone remained decent and after chatting for a while, they started playing cards.

Jia Yuanchun, Wang Xifeng, Mrs. Wang, Aunt Wang, and the old lady were playing cards together.

Miss Wang and Xue Baochai came out and chatted with their sisters at a nearby table.

Miss Wang said to Yingchun, "Xichun came to visit Rong Mansion yesterday and talked to me a lot. She asked me and Sister Yingchun to help plead with the prince. Xichun wanted to come back and reunite with her sisters."

Yingchun is the most easily persuaded and cannot afford to lose face.

But this was a thing of the past. When Yingchun heard this, she quickly said, "You should ask the master about this matter. I can't make the decision."

Tanchun knew Yingchun's temper and looked directly at Miss Wang.

"The matter of Xichun was decided by the master. You should ask Yingchun to plead for her. It is better for you to go by yourself. The master does not like us to meddle in outside affairs."

Miss Wang sighed after hearing this and said, "I said too much."

Shi Xiangyun asked curiously, "Is Xichun doing well?"

The others were also curious about this. Currently, they have little contact with the outside world and don’t know whether Xichun is doing well.

Miss Wang said helplessly: "She has no worries about food and drink, and her mother-in-law's family doesn't make things difficult for her. It's just that it's too boring and dull outside, just like becoming a nun."

Shi Xiangyun thought Jia Xichun was having a miserable life, and said unhappily, "Marrying someone means becoming a nun, so you have to serve your mother-in-law when you eat at home, right?"

Miss Wang said embarrassedly: "It's not that we don't need it, it's not like this every day. The old lady and the wife said that when there are no outsiders, we can just sit down and eat. They said that this is how it is in your family."

Shi Xiangyun frowned and said, "But the master said so himself. He said that there are no rules in our family. We can do whatever we want behind closed doors. Our wife is not the master's biological mother, so our family is not that strict."

"Although our family is like this, we still know what the outside world is like. The master often tells Xichun to abide by the rules of the outside world after getting married. We can't always use our family's rules to demand other families and bully others."

Tanchun asked curiously, "How is Xichun doing?"

Miss Wang hesitated for a moment.

"She's probably better than me. She has money to spend freely. She can go out and play whenever she wants. I heard that she went out to visit some girls she knew, but later on those people ignored her. It's boring to be alone, so it's better for her to be with you guys and have some fun."

After hearing this, Shi Xiangyun, Lin Daiyu and others no longer felt sympathy for Xichun. At this time, the old lady came over.

"That girl is just making a lot of noise. You don't have to bother with her, or she'll ruin your reputation."

Shi Xiangyun and Lin Daiyu stood up and made room for the old lady.

After the old lady sat down, she pulled Shi Xiangyun and Lin Daiyu to sit down.

"You are blessed to be able to spend your life together in a lively atmosphere."

The old lady smiled and said, "Thinking back to when I was young, I was also very lively with a group of sisters all day long."

"At that time, my father was the Minister of the Chancellery, a high-ranking official in the civil service. The Jia family had already conferred two dukes, and the Xue and Wang families were also at their best at that time."

"Before I got married, I had been in Jinling, playing happily with the sisters in Jinling every day. I was probably the same as Xiangyun at that time, but not as talented as Xiangyun."

Shi Xiangyun smiled and said happily: "That old lady must be the most beautiful!"

The old lady smiled and said, "That's not the case. I have many sisters who are prettier than me, and many of them are talented women. But later on, everyone will encounter various things."

"It may be that they met the wrong person, or they are in poor health, or their spouse is not getting along, or something happened at home and they were implicated."

"Everyone gets married and leaves home, and never comes back. I also left Jinling and went to the Duke's Mansion in the capital to be the great-grandson's wife. In a blink of an eye, I was the only one left."

Jia Yuanchun and Wang Xifeng, who were at the card table, hurried over from the game.

Wang Xifeng said quickly, "Old Ancestor, this is really bad. He came here and said these spoiling words to the girls after losing the card game. Our girls are all fine. The master treats them like treasures."

Jia Yuanchun comforted her, saying, "Old lady, please don't dwell on the past. Both Jia's mansions are still there, and our hometown in Jinling is also thriving. The prince is a doctor who is helping the world and accumulating merit for the Jia family. In the future, Baoyu will surely pass the imperial examination."

Jia Yuanchun and Wang Xifeng quickly comforted the old lady and took her back to play cards.

There was no way out this time. Aunt Xue, Wang Xifeng and others could not win, so they could only lose a few times and let the old lady win to make her happy.

After seeing the old lady off in the evening, Wang Xifeng sighed, "I'm so tired. I can't come here every day."

Jia Yuanchun smiled bitterly, "It's not that I wanted them to come, it's just that the master said something too much, and now she doesn't want to come to see the guests."

Wang Xifeng quickly said to Lin Daiyu who was following her: "Next time, let Sister Daiyu receive the guests. Why don't you, the princess, do it? Why do you make me, the second wife, work so hard?"

Lin Daiyu didn't want to be so tired, so she smiled and said, "I don't want to be like that, Second Madam is still the best."

The three of them took the maid back to Nuanyang Tower. When they entered the house, they saw Jia Rong, Shi Xiangyun and Xue Baochai sitting together and laughing.

Wang Xifeng laughed and said, "Master is really willing to come out. As soon as he came out, I saw him surrounded by beauties. I am so envious!"

Jia Rong said casually, "I don't mean to hide from anyone. I just finished discussing business."

Lin Daiyu walked over to sit down opposite Jia Rong and asked curiously, "What's the matter?"

Jia Rong smiled and said, "I translated some of my poems and famous quotes into English and gave them to a Western merchant. I also printed a lot of them and asked him to sell them to England. I have been in contact with many foreign nobles and celebrities over the years, especially some princesses and ladies."

After hearing about the collection of poems, Tanchun became even more interested.

"Take it out quickly, let us have a look!"

Jia Rong shook his head and said, "You certainly can't understand it, so I'll just say a few words. They all conform to the foreign format, which is different from what we have here."

Tanchun and others looked at Jia Rong expectantly.

"it is good!"

Jia Rong's collection of poems mainly contains famous quotes that insult women, but of course he cannot tell these to Lin Daiyu and others.

Fortunately, there were only about a hundred curse words, and Jia Rong couldn't remember more than that, so he added some insignificant verses of poetry.

“I don’t want to just survive, I want to live meaningfully.”

"Listen to my advice. The world outside is just as fake as the world I give you. There are the same lies and deceptions. But in my world you don't have to be afraid of anything. I know you better than you do."

“Any place you hate but cannot escape from, any life you don’t like but cannot get rid of, is a prison.”

“Some birds are not meant to be caged. Freedom shines in every feather.”

Jia Rong's famous quotes bring about philosophical thinking.

Of course, Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai, Jia Tanchun and others definitely don’t know this, and this is only part of it.

The poems in Jia Rong's collection, which were sold both at home and abroad, that he was most emotionally invested in were those famous quotes that belittled women.

Saint Jia Rong: Women always talk nonsense and worry too much.

Saint Jia Rong: Women have the extraordinary talent of justifying their actions afterwards.

Saint Jia Rong: For women, silence is a beautiful and luxurious gem, but they don't have it.

……

Jia Rong unscrupulously injected his own true feelings into the plagiarized famous quotes.

It is estimated that no celebrity is willing to come forward to claim these words. After all, these people probably did not expect that their casual words would be remembered by others, and they do not want to publicize these sincere words and be labeled as insulting women.

But Jia Rong is a beast, he doesn't care. He is the kind of beast who will slap and kick a woman if she comes to have a quarrel with him.

On the one hand, Jia Rong cares a lot about his reputation, but on the other hand, he doesn't care at all.

In fact, he didn't care about his reputation at all. He didn't want to say it, but he didn't mind Lin Daiyu and others knowing the words he used to insult women.

Jia Rong would never tolerate scolding others if it made him happy.

**
After scolding women too much, especially when injecting emotion into it, Jia Rong would start to wonder if he was spoiling the women around him too much.

Jia Rong lowered his head and thought.

At this time, Lin Daiyu came over with a smile and asked curiously, "Brother Rong, what are you thinking about?"

Jia Rong listened to the interesting voice and suddenly felt that it didn't matter if she doted on him a little.

"I'm thinking about how to find an excuse to stay idle at home during the Mid-Autumn Festival. When Yuanchun and Fengjie go to the palace to have fun, it will be lonely with only a few hundred of us at home. Should I buy some more fireworks to play with?"

Shi Xiangyun said directly: "Just buy a hundred taels, no need to put too much."

Wang Xifeng smiled and said, "I think nothing else matters. What matters is that the master has been busy with court affairs and moving recently, and has not been able to spend enough time with the girls."

"If only one girl didn't get pregnant, it would be their own problem. But now Tanchun, Xiangyun, and Daiyu are all pregnant. It must be because the master didn't try hard enough, right?"

Jia Rong smiled and said, "It's my fault! I'll try harder tonight! From now on, the three of you and I will go to the front yard to sleep, and we can come back to live here when you get pregnant!"

Lin Daiyu, Shi Xiangyun and Jia Tanchun naturally had no objection.

Since you are already married, you should live together.

Jia Yuanchun reminded, "The Li sisters and Qingwen are not pregnant yet, so let's take them along. Yinglian, Xiaohong, and Xiuyan will also be due to give birth next month."

Jia Rong nodded. "Okay, I've considered the children's future situation. I'll teach them some math and engineering knowledge starting tomorrow. Even if they don't pass the imperial examination, they can open a workshop outside, or do accounting and business."

Jia Rong wanted his descendants to engage in science and engineering skills so that they could quickly occupy various research and scientific positions.

Being an official requires constant promotion and management, which is too troublesome. It is better to recruit science and engineering talents, which are less troublesome.

Jia Yuanchun frowned, but thinking that the title could only be inherited by one person in the future, she nodded and said, "It's good this way. It's best to pass on the title in a safe way. Not everyone is as suitable as you to be an official."

Jia Rong and Jia Yuanchun agreed, and naturally the others had no objections.

If Jia Rong's descendants did not become high-ranking officials, but instead became craftsmen or minor officials in the Ministry of Works, people would naturally think that this person had no intention of rebelling.

Not being an official is a hundred times better than being a craftsman.

The talented poet Jia Rong did not teach his son poetry or prose, but instead taught him various craftsmanship skills that were not tested in various exams. This can easily give people a feeling of self-pollution, as if he was forced to do so by the emperor.

(End of this chapter)