The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 69: Frivolous Person
Wang Xifeng quickly took people to find Lady Jia.

No matter what, Mrs. Xing is Wang Xifeng's mother-in-law. If she goes over to compete with her alone, it would seem that she doesn't know the rules.

This matter can only proceed with the help of Old Lady Jia, who has to mediate justice.

As soon as Wang Xifeng arrived at Lady Jia's room, she found that Mrs. Wang had already arrived, and Mrs. Xing was also there.

One step slower!
Wang Xifeng soon realized that Lady Wang was also going to intervene in the matter.

This was not unexpected. After all, one hundred thousand taels of silver is not a small amount.

Wang Xifeng's own dowry was only about 30,000 or 40,000 taels of silver, so she knew very well how much help 100,000 taels of silver could bring.

Grandmother Jia looked very unhappy. She looked up and saw Wang Xifeng coming in.

"Your mother-in-law told me that she didn't know where Master She's money was. I heard that you just called the people in Master She's yard to question them. What happened?"

Wang Xifeng said quickly, "After a rough calculation of the money lent out, the antiques bought, and some other things, there are about five or six thousand taels left."

"Master Zheng and Second Master spent a lot of money on the trip. When they arrived in Jinling to handle the funeral, they borrowed some money from other houses. I remember that Master Rong has a lot of business in Jinling. I thought I would talk to Ping'er when he goes there. Master Rong can write a letter to ask them to get some money from there. We can give it directly to Ning Mansion to avoid carrying the money out of the city. The inspections outside are strict these days, and it is inconvenient to carry the money out."

Wang Xifeng handled things in an orderly manner and no one could find any problems.

Jia She’s funeral lasted for a long time, and everyone feels tired when it is mentioned now.

Grandmother Jia nodded and said, "Let's do it."

Wang Xifeng agreed and stood aside.

Now is the time when Lady Jia is in charge.

Although this old woman had no face at all when Jia Rong was around and had to endure being scolded, she was indeed the old lady when Jia Rong was not around.

Grandmother Jia looked at Mrs. Xing.

"How much do you know about Master Xie's affairs?"

Mrs. Xing said awkwardly, "I am a woman, I don't ask about his affairs. You should ask Master Rong about this matter. He has a good relationship with the master and knows a lot."

Grandmother Jia scolded, "You don't know this, you don't know that, it's so easy to be a lady. Your master is always careless and has ruined his health, and Master Rong can give him some advice. But you are by my side every day but you keep it a secret from me. Otherwise, how could I send off a young man when I am old?!"

Mrs. Xing had a hard time saying, "I tried to persuade him, but he didn't listen. He even beat me up when I said too much. How could I dare to say anything more? I could only go along with him."

Grandmother Jia was even more angry, "You are the one who upholds the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, but now the fool is gone, leaving a few foolish heads to settle this foolish account!"

Wang Xifeng said quickly, "Madam, these 100,000 silver coins cannot just disappear. Let me check again. We found 20,000 or 30,000 silver coins before, and now we have 5,000 or 6,000 silver coins, which means 30,000 or 40,000 silver coins."

"Including antique jewelry, it's more than 40,000. I just don't know if there's any money left elsewhere."

"How about we wait until Second Master and Master Zheng come back?"

Grandmother Jia sighed and said, "It will be the end of the first month of the lunar year when they return. I should not have gone back like that. Now there is no man in the mansion who can take charge of things."

Although women are in charge of the home, the matter of one hundred thousand silver coins is not a small matter and it is something that men should take care of.

Wang Xifeng suggested, "Why don't I ask Master Rong to come over this afternoon to help. We are all masters from the same family, so there is no need to be so shy when he comes to check the accounts."

Mrs. Xing said, "Will he be willing? I see he is very busy now. People line up to give him money every day."

Wang Xifeng laughed and said, "He is not an official, so who would give him money all day long?"

Seeing that Wang Xifeng didn't understand, Ping'er explained, "Madam, you haven't been to Ningfu much recently. Master Rong knows a lot of high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen in Jinling, Suzhou, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, etc. After coming to Beijing this time, the city is under strict control, and Master Rong helped arrange accommodation for many people. During the New Year holidays, he visited more than a dozen families every day, and at least ten thousand taels of silver were earned."

Wang Xifeng was stunned. She had always thought that her family was rich, her dowry was generous, and that the man she married was not much different from Jia Rong.

Mrs. Wang retorted, "How can there be so many? It's not like no one has asked our family to do things for them over the years. It's impossible that there are so many."

However, Wang Xifeng believed it and thought it was just more or less.

Even though her salary was only ten taels, it was increased after Jia Yuanchun's salary increase. Although her salary was ten taels, it was not like Wang Xifeng had never done business worth thousands of taels of silver.

Just by talking and asking someone to do something, he could earn two or three thousand yuan. It wouldn't take three years to make a hundred thousand silver coins! That was disrespecting the Duke's Mansion!
It's the same everywhere outside. In a place like Beijing where money is flowing like water, it's too easy to make 10,000 taels a day! !
Wang Xifeng couldn't hear clearly what Lady Jia, Lady Wang and Lady Xing were talking about. She didn't need to serve Lady Jia at dinner at all. After going back and dressing up, she twisted her waist and hips and got into the sedan chair to find her lover.

Jia Rong was seeing off guests at the door. When he saw Ping'er and Wang Xifeng's sedan chair approaching, he nodded and motioned for them to go in first.

Wang Xifeng went to the study to wait for Jia Rong, and Jia Rong came after a few minutes.

"What are you here for?"

Jia Rong looked at Wang Xifeng, and then at Ping'er who looked embarrassed.

Wang Xifeng smiled and said, "What else can I do? I've sent someone to you~"

Jia Rong frowned, not liking things that lacked passion or excitement.

"I have a lot of things to do today, so I'll cancel all the activities tonight." Jia Rong canceled all the activities that were not difficult or challenging.

The heat is not enough, you need to stir-fry for a while longer.

Ping'er was a little disappointed, but seeing Jia Rong's serious expression, she knew that he really had something to do today.

Wang Xifeng also thought so, and really believed that Jia Rong was causing too many troubles.

"There's no rush. Every day is a good day." Wang Xifeng sat down to talk, rubbing her belly with one hand, and said with a smile: "I heard Ping'er say that you can collect tens of thousands of silver coins a day."

Jia Rong sat down and crossed his legs, saying casually, "It's just these few days. If I don't make 300,000 or 400,000 yuan a year, how can it be enough for my whole family to eat and drink?"

Wang Xifeng joked, "I think it's more than 500,000. Master She has more than 100,000 or 200,000. How could Master Rong have less?"

Jia Rong said angrily, "Don't worry so much about how much money my family has. If someone asks me, just say it's 20,000 taels a year. I'm afraid that others will see that I'm living a good life and worry about it all day long."

Wang Xifeng smiled and said, "Okay, I'll remember this. If anyone asks me about this next time, I'll just say that I only make 20,000 taels a year and I'm so poor that I can't even afford to eat."

Jia Rong didn't want to pay attention to her. "If you have anything to say, please tell me quickly. I have other things to do."

Wang Xifeng did not dare to delay and quickly stated her purpose.

"First, I want you to write a letter to Jinling and ask for some money to help with the funeral as soon as possible. We will make it up to you later."

"Secondly, it's hard to check the accounts without a man, so I want you to go over and settle Master She's messy account."

Jia Rong raised his hand and said, "The matter of borrowing money is easy. I will write a letter to ask Jinling to lend 5,000 taels for emergency use. I will arrange for the people, so you don't have to worry about it."

"Forget about going over to help. I'm very busy. The people I'm receiving these days are friends and guests who can help me in the future. Don't bother me with your family's trivial matters!"

Wang Xifeng was disappointed and had no choice but to go and pick up Qiaojie, whom she had not seen for several days.

Qiaojie went back and stayed there for one night. The next morning, she urged Wang Xifeng to send her back to play again.

Wang Xifeng put her daughter down and watched her fight with her nephews for toys. Then she smiled at Jia Rong and Jia Yuanchun who were eating, "My daughter here looks just like your daughter. She can't stay away for a day."

Jia Yuanchun smiled and said, "When she has a younger brother, she will definitely stay at home to accompany him."

Jia Rong did not want to continue this topic, and said to Wang Xifeng: "You are not in good health. You got up early and went to bed late a while ago to deal with the funeral, and now you are busy with many things for the New Year."

"If you tire yourself out, it will be counterproductive. It would be better to let Ping'er, Yuanyang, Tanchun and Baochai help you. This will give the girls a chance to learn how to manage a household, and it will also let everyone know that it is not easy for you to be the head of a household."

Wang Xifeng was indeed very busy, and her heart was warmed when she heard Jia Rong's caring words.

"Okay, since Master Rong said so, I must take good care of myself. Even if not for myself, I must think about the baby in my belly!"

Wang Xifeng glanced at Jia Rong with an expression that showed that he was breaking the law knowingly and flirting by the stove.

However, Jia Rong felt that this woman was really dangerous. She actually played with fire in front of someone else's wife. She had no sense of risk at all. She was frivolous and did whatever she wanted without thinking about the consequences!
(End of this chapter)