The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 41: Unrecognizable Sadness

Jia Rong is very busy.

Jia She was not a good-for-nothing, and his death should be a great joy.

But the rules must still be followed, and you have to be a little sad.

After being busy until morning, Jia Rong said to Jia Lian, "Uncle Lian, you are the legitimate son of Rongguo Mansion, so you should go and inform the old lady."

The one who died was Jia Lian's father. Jia Lian nodded and said, "Okay, I'll trouble you with the things here."

Jia Rong said, "It's okay, we are all family."

Jia Lian quickly went to find the old lady and knelt down to tell her the sad story.

Jia Rong did not join in the fun and started to busy himself with various trivial matters.

When he was busy, Lai Da, the chief steward of Rongguo Mansion, came over.

"Master Rong, we don't have enough money to buy meat. We need to buy some venison, pork, mutton, beef, and fish."

Jia Rong said, "I have asked Lin Zhixiao's wife to buy it."

Lai Da said, "I guess it's not enough. I looked at the list and it's only enough for eight days. Master Lian said we should make it more presentable and have enough for 49 days."

Jia Rong frowned, "My father has only stopped for seven days, why should his father hold a grand banquet for 49 days?"

The people nearby felt a little uncomfortable when they heard this.

Jia Zhen's status was the lowest among the successors of the two governments.

It was Jia Rong who caused the trouble and ended the funeral early.

Otherwise, how could you treat Master Jia Zhen badly?

Lai Da is a smart man. As he is older, he can judge people well and he knows that Jia Rong is an unfilial person.

Seeing that he couldn't explain it clearly to Jia Rong, he said, "I'll go talk to Master Lian."

Lao Bideng was right in judging people. Jia Rong was indeed that kind of bastard.

Jia Lian, Jia Zheng and Jia's mother all knew about this matter, but they usually ignored it.

Lai Da didn't dare to argue with Jia Rong. He knew that Jia Rong was a vengeful person. So when they had a disagreement, he went to find Jia Lian to talk to him.

He was right, Jia Rong did hold a grudge.

Jia Rong narrowed his eyes, wondering whether he should destroy Lai Da's private residence.

After comprehensive consideration, I quickly decided to visit his home when I have time.

Morals, no.

The Rongguo Mansion is now a hole where money is spent like water. Although a lot of money has been saved because Yuanchun did not enter the palace, a bunch of masters spend money lavishly all day long, and a group of servants also treat the mansion as their own gold mine and silver mine, and work hard to poach people.

Everyone thinks about and solves problems based on their own interests.

Jia Rong is the same, and even worse.

Soon Jia Zheng, Jia Lian and Lai Da came together.

Jia Rong took the initiative to say, "I know you want to save face, and I want to save face too. Why don't we both take a step back and hold a ten-day funeral for Master She? The old lady can't stand the sound of gongs and drums and coming to pay respects all day long."

Can we both take a step back?
Jia Lian’s father died!

Jia Zheng, the cheap father-in-law, sighed and said, "The dead are the greatest. My eldest brother is the face of our Rongguo Mansion. Now that mother is here, we should follow the highest standards."

Jia Rong didn't think Jia She had any face.

At this time, Lai Da said again: "Second Master, what kind of coffin should I use?"

Jia Rong thought of something, so he took the initiative to say, "Whatever coffin my father used, let's use the same one this time."

Jia Lian's father died this time, and he stamped his feet anxiously and said, "You handled Zhen's affairs carelessly, even using the lowest quality willow wood for the coffin. I will handle my family's affairs myself! I will handle my father's funeral!!"

Jia Rong said helplessly: "Okay, I'll listen to you, then I won't care."

Jia Zheng said, "Don't be angry, Rong'er, you have been busy all night, go and have a rest and have a good sleep."

"Okay." Jia Rong listened to the advice and let it go.

The funeral was nominally organized by Jia Rong. He was the head of the clan, and many members of the Jia family came here just for his sake.

Jia She?

Many people don't want to come when they hear this name.

Although he was nominally Jia Rong, in reality he became Wang Xifeng's manager.

Wang Xifeng quickly took charge of the affairs here and sent dozens of people to receive those who came to pay their respects.

Each person is assigned his own tasks, and whoever receives the order is responsible for it.

The rewards are clearly defined, and the punishments for any offenses are agreed upon in advance.

It is stipulated that two shifts will take turns to perform in the morning and evening every day.

Money should be used for different tasks, and money collected and spent should be managed separately to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the opportunity to embezzle money.

Tell her clearly when each task is completed.

Some looked at the sacred cloth, some looked at the bowls and plates, some looked at the wine vessels, some looked at the carriages, some looked at the tributes, some looked at the candles and incense…

There are thousands of people in the government office, and they all have to arrange their respective work scope and working hours.

There are also various relatives who need to register to receive gifts. Whether to go directly to the meal or quickly call someone out to greet them must be told clearly to avoid neglecting the guests.

Inspectors and regular patrols were also necessary. Wang Xifeng quickly conducted a large-scale military exercise, using the people from the two mansions as her own men to command them back and forth.

Relying on the reputation of the Jia family, whenever the servants made mistakes and were pointed out, they would be punished according to the family rules. No one dared to resist, and they would all kowtow and beg for mercy in tears and slap themselves in the face.

This experience of holding great power made Wang Xifeng feel refreshed.

Of course, when it’s time to cry, I can cry quickly.

Jia Rong, on the contrary, became more free, and in order to avoid trouble, he took the initiative to find Aunt Xue.

Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai were talking to the other female relatives nearby.

Many dignitaries came this time, and Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai also joined in the fun.

Jia Rong approached the two and said, "Aunt Xue, please keep an eye on your son and don't let him cause trouble."

Aunt Xue asked carefully, "Did Xue Pan get into trouble?"

Jia Rong said: "Not yet, but I feel he will."

Baoyu walked over and said, "How can you say such things about others for no reason? It wasn't your money that Second Brother spent on the funeral for Master, why are you so angry? And you're still saying bad things about others!"

Baoyu wanted to scold him, wasn’t it your uncle who died?

Mrs. Wang glared at Jia Baoyu and said, "Baoyu, go away and don't get in the way here."

Jia Baoyu was not wrong this time. Mrs. Wang just didn't want Jia Baoyu and Jia Rong to have a conflict, so she said that to protect Jia Baoyu.

Jia Rong said, "I don't want to quarrel. If you don't believe me, come with me and see. If he can avoid trouble, I will help him deal with the trouble in Jinling."

Xue Baochai was moved when she heard this, "What trouble?"

Jia Rong said directly: "Don't worry about your troubles for now. I can solve any of your troubles. Go and see first. Your brother has arrived."

Jia Rong brought Aunt Xue, Xue Baocha, and Lady Wang and Jia Baoyu to the front.

As soon as I got here, I heard Xue Pan say, "I heard you are looking for a coffin?"

Jia Lian sighed, "It happened so suddenly that I wasn't prepared. I looked at several coffins but I was not satisfied with any of them. I wanted to find the best one."

Xue Pan said, "I have a fine coffin in my shop. It is called 樯木, which comes from the Wang Mountain in Huanghai. If it is made into a coffin, it will last for ten thousand years without any damage."

"This coffin was brought by my father. It was originally wanted by the Yi Zhong Wang Lao Qiansui, but he committed a crime and couldn't use it. No one dared to bid for it later. Since you want it, you can use it."

Jia Rong walked over and said, "Xue Pan, your mother is calling you to come home for dinner."

Xue Pan looked behind him and when he saw Jia Rong, he subconsciously took two steps back and hid behind Jia Lian and Jia Zheng.

At this time, Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai realized the problem. Although Jia She was a duke, he still could not use the prince's coffin.

The feudal hierarchy of kings, princes and nobles was very strict, and the king was greater than the duke.

Although the dead are the greatest, sometimes such things are very sensitive.

Jia Rong clenched his fist and said to Xue Pan, "Go kowtow! And then go back quickly!!"

Xue Pan subconsciously wanted to kneel down and kowtow, but just as he was about to kneel down, he remembered that the direction was wrong, so he quickly ran to kowtow to Jia She.

Jia Lian felt very uncomfortable when he saw Jia Rong coming to make trouble again!

"Uncle Rong! Why do you always disrupt my father's funeral? How can you be so mean?" Jia Lian was really angry!

Jia Rong was speechless. You have glorified your father a hundred times!

If I had known earlier that I would not let him take a concubine, I should have let Jia She beat him again before he left.

Jia Rong said, "If I make trouble, your funeral will not be held. I don't care about anything else, just don't cause trouble for the Jia family and bury him according to the standards of a duke. Otherwise, I will take those who are willing to follow the rules and go back to sleep."

“Who do you think wants to accompany your father for 49 days in the cold weather? Believe it or not, I will be the bad guy. Just wait and see how many people will stay!”

Jia Rong's threat was bland.

Seeing that a joke was about to happen, Jia Zheng took the initiative to say, "This time, the four princes and eight dukes from our two mansions are all here. Don't quarrel and bring shame to the Jia family. I think we should use the best fir wood."

The other elders and helpers of the Jia family also came to persuade Jia Lian.

Why not persuade Jia Rong?
Everyone knows that it’s impossible to persuade him. Even his father couldn’t be persuaded that time, let alone this time it’s Jia Lian’s father.

Jia Lian knew what was good and what was bad. Although he was a little angry at Jia Rong's harshness and ruthlessness, he did not insist on using the coffin that Xue Pan mentioned for the prince.

In short, under everyone's persuasion, I finally walked down the stairs.

Jia Rong had no intention of competing with Jia Lian. He just felt that there was no need to make such a big deal about it. He was not doing it for fun to embarrass Jia Lian. Instead, he wanted to save Jia Lian and the Rong family money and trouble.

The two men had different ideas about the funeral and couldn't agree on the reasoning, but they both restrained themselves from fighting, and in the end, out of sight, out of mind.

After that, everyone in the Jia family was busy. Monks and Taoists came and went, banquets were held non-stop, and expenses flowed like water.

Jia Rong was very upset because he had borrowed the Ningguo Mansion's territory and streets.

Fortunately, he didn't have to pay for the banquet himself, so Jia Lian felt much better.

The problem over there is that they still don’t know how to save money.

Being too lazy to kowtow and not attending the funeral, Jia Rong lay comfortably in Youshi's room, watching Youshi massaging his legs.

At this time, Youshi was serving Jia Rong while wearing a red phoenix coronet and bridal robe, which represented her status as a noble lady.

In fact, this woman has a high status and is considered a respectable person in the daily activities of Ningguo Mansion.

Jia Rong touched her head and said, "Move up a little."

(End of this chapter)