The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 67: The Arrogant Son-in-law

Jia Rong went to Mrs. Xing's place and found that the busy Wang Xifeng had gone to Mrs. Wang to discuss the affairs of the Wang family. So he took Ping'er around and entered Rong Mansion and went to Jia Zheng's yard.

Mrs. Wang was having dinner, accompanied by Wang Xifeng, and Li Wan was serving her.

After being a daughter-in-law for many years and finally becoming a mother-in-law, Mrs. Wang enjoyed her life with a clear conscience. Since she married into the Jia Mansion for more than 20 years, she had to stand behind her mother-in-law and serve a group of old and young people at meals every day of the year.

That's how the rules were passed down, and whenever these people sat down to eat in the future, their daughters-in-law would serve them.

While they were eating, the voice of a maid was heard outside the door.

"The son-in-law is here! The wife is eating in the room. Is the son-in-law looking for the wife?"

"I know she's eating, go in and talk!"

When Mrs. Wang heard Jia Rong's words in the room, her face darkened.

Sure enough, not long after, the unruly Jia Rong lifted the curtain and came in.

Jia Rong was dressed well and looked respectable, with a bright look in his eyes, but he always gave people the feeling that he had bad intentions.

"Mom, why are you eating alone again?"

Jia Rong sat directly opposite Mrs. Wang and called her mother.

Mrs. Wang was not happy at all, and said, "What's the matter, Master Rong?"

Wang Xifeng had already stood up, and Li Wan also stood there obediently without saying a word.

Jia Rong looked at Wang Xifeng and Li Wan, "Aunt and sister-in-law, please sit down and talk. We are all family. Don't be so unfamiliar."

How could Li Wan not know that Jia Rong was deliberately making trouble with Lady Wang, and she was afraid that she would be involved in the affairs between her mother-in-law and son-in-law.

"I'll just stand there. Did Master Rong go to see the old lady?"

"No, come, sit down and talk." Jia Rong patted the stool next to him, motioning Li Wan's big butt to come over and sit down.

Mrs. Wang said angrily, "Just tell me what you have to say."

Jia Rong was not willing to give in. He smiled and said to Li Wan, "Mother is too old-fashioned. Yuanchun has been as boring as you in the past two years. She follows rules all day long. Rules outside, rules at home, and rules at bedside. No wonder Master Zheng goes to see Aunt Zhao all day long."

Mrs. Wang was so angry that her blood pressure was about to rise. She wanted to stand up and curse, but when she saw Jia Rong's completely indifferent face, she knew that no matter how angry she was, she could not scare this wild boy who had no father or mother!
And now her daughter is in this man's hands. Madam Wang suppressed her anger and said, "Did you come here just to humiliate us?"

Jia Rong said indifferently, "Yuanchun and I have a good relationship. Please don't stir up trouble. I can't ask you to change, and I can't ask Yuanchun to change. Look at Yuanchun's children, and you will know how we can have fun together. She is not like you, always talking about rules."

Wang Xifeng saw that Mrs. Wang was already in a state of embarrassment, so she finally said, "Master Rong, what on earth is the matter with you? I see that you brought Ping'er with you, so you are probably here to see me, right?"

Seeing that Wang Xifeng saw clearly, Jia Rong smiled and said, "Come, come, sit down and talk. Jin Chuan, go get me a pair of chopsticks. The last time I came to eat was last time, and my mother also ate with me at that time."

Mrs. Wang could only sit there and do nothing, having no idea what to do with this disrespectful son-in-law.

"Sister Feng, please sit down." Jia Rong invited Wang Xifeng to sit down.

Wang Xifeng didn't want to sit down at this time, and quickly looked at Mrs. Wang.

This is a struggle between Jia Rong and Mrs. Wang. Anyone who surrenders to either side will be hated by the other side.

Mrs. Wang, who was a Buddhist, had calmed down. She knew it was useless to get angry.

The old lady couldn't do anything about this boy. If she really made him angry, she would probably be beaten up by this stupid boy.

Mrs. Wang nodded to Wang Xifeng, and then said to Li Wan, "You sit down too and eat with us."

Not sitting down at this time would be a lack of respect, so Li Wan carefully sat between Jia Rong and Mrs. Wang.

The servants were tactful enough to prepare more bowls and chopsticks, and served new dishes.

After everyone sat down, Jia Rong explained his purpose with a smile.

"I was originally looking for Sister Feng, but it's good that Madam knows. I have a good relationship with Master She. When we were having a drink together before, Master She got drunk and said that he had at least 100,000 or 200,000 taels of silver."

Mrs. Wang quickly forgot her previous unpleasantness and her face became solemn.

"Impossible." Wang Xifeng denied it directly. "The master usually spends so much money, not to mention buying maids and concubines, and spending money all the time. How can he have hundreds of thousands of yuan?"

Mrs. Wang also nodded. "That man likes to talk nonsense when he drinks. Don't take it seriously."

Jia Rong said seriously, "Look at you guys, how much do you know about men's affairs? If what he said was just drunken nonsense, why would I come here to talk to you about this?"

Wang Xifeng looked at Jia Rong with a gleam in her eyes, "How did Master Rong know about this? Yesterday, Master Lian and Master Zheng wrote to me and asked me to send over two thousand taels of silver. It seems that they don't know about this either."

Mrs. Wang was thinking about this matter.

Jia Rong looked puzzled, "You don't know either? Didn't you and Uncle Lian count the master's money?"

Mrs. Wang looked at Wang Xifeng, suspecting that Wang Xifeng had hidden the money.

Wang Xifeng was not willing to take the blame, even though she did hide some money, it was just a matter of etiquette. After all, the money should be given to the young couple!

"Indeed, we did count it, but the accounts all match up. There is no such thing as more than 100,000 taels of silver. It's barely less than 20,000! At the time, Master Zheng and my mother-in-law were there, and we all counted together. It's all my fault for not calling Master Rong along, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to figure out this confusing account!"

Wang Xifeng cried out in injustice anxiously, saying that she dared not take the blame for the money issue, otherwise she would have to pay out of pocket to make up for it.

Mrs. Wang then said, "I was there at the time, and the silver and pawn notes only amounted to ten thousand taels. There were some valuables, but I kept them all and will distribute them after the funeral is over."

Jia Rong said, "In that case, I won't interfere. But I heard that Master She often helps people with things, and accepts money from outsiders and promises to help people get promoted to officials. I know this is true. If Master She owes money outsiders, it will affect the reputation of the Jia family. You can deal with it as you see fit."

Wang Xifeng still cared about money. "We believe what Master Rong said, but we just can't imagine that Master She has more than 100,000 taels of silver."

Jia Rong smiled and said, "Master She has had more than one wife and concubine. We can ask a few of them one by one, and ask the servants who work under him, and then we will know the truth."

"Also, Uncle Lian often does things for Master She. You can just write to him and ask him. How can an outsider like me know as much as you guys do?"

Mrs. Wang said quickly, "We should ask the eldest wife about this matter. It's just in time for you and me to go talk to the old lady. It would be more appropriate for the old lady to ask about it."

Jia Rong smiled and said, "I'm very busy. This matter has nothing to do with me. I have too many guests to entertain and too much money to spend. How can I have time to fool around with you? Goodbye!"

Jia Rong didn't even eat a single bite of the meal. After he had sat down to warm himself up, he left in a cool manner, which made Mrs. Wang so angry that she even felt full.

Every time the women of the Jia family wanted to show their affection to Jia Rong, Jia Rong would respond with the cold shoulder and play tricks on them.

(End of this chapter)