The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 78 Yuanchun Shows Off Her Power
On the last day before the New Year, Wang Xifeng came to the Jia Mansion with her confidants.

Soon Wang Xifeng came to Ping'er's yard and was taken into Ping'er's bedroom by a maid.

"Master, the Second Mistress is here!"

The maid shouted into the room through the curtain.

When Wang Xifeng heard this name, her face looked strange.

"It's the Second Madam!" Ping'er quickly drew aside the curtain, and when she saw Wang Xifeng, she said happily, "Second Madam, please sit down and wait. The master went to court early this morning, and I have already told the First Madam what I said yesterday. I will go with the Second Madam after I have packed up."

Wang Xifeng sat in the warm room, looking at the golden clock and a floor-length dressing mirror in the room.

The mirror is wrapped in wood and stands on the ground. It can reflect the whole person. The wood looks precious and is carved very finely.

The room was not big, but it was warm. The bedroom was smaller, and there was a small couch outside for meeting guests and chatting, as well as a compartment for the maids.

Although there were not many pieces of furniture in the room, it looked crowded, and many of them were not gifts from Wang Xifeng.

"I'm relieved to see that you're doing well. Are these things prepared for you by Master Rong?"

Ping Er sat in front of the dressing table packing her things and said with a smile, "These were all given to me by the master and my sisters, and also by the dowry given by the second mistress. Yuanyang and I have added a lot of things to our rooms. The master said that we should each have two maids first, and then we can arrange more when we have children in the future."

Wang Xifeng stood up and walked over. When she looked down, she saw Ping'er's dressing box.

The dressing box looked very exquisite. Just by looking at the carved patterns you could tell it was not cheap, and there were a lot of jewellery inside the box.

After Ping'er dressed up, although she was not as beautiful as Wang Xifeng in her heyday, she was much more glamorous than the young ladies and wives of ordinary wealthy families.

Wang Xifeng smiled and said, "You really married a good man."

After hearing this, Ping'er said softly, "Second Madam, after you left yesterday, I asked the master why he gave me 10,000 taels of silver, and the master told me the reason."

Wang Xifeng was shocked, "Oh? What's the reason?"

Wang Xifeng only thought it was because of her son, and was a little worried that the bold Jia Rong would tell the whole story. If that happened, she would be too ashamed to face anyone, so she could only stay with Jia Rong with her son.

Ping'er quickly told Wang Xifeng what Jia Rong had said yesterday.

After hearing this, Wang Xifeng was stunned for a long time, then she took a few steps back, sat on the edge of the bed, and sighed deeply.

"He is really a hundred times better than the Second Master. I was not blind at the beginning. I was just unlucky."

Wang Xifeng admitted that she was not lucky. She had chosen Jia Rong at the beginning, but Jia Rong looked down on her and did not know her good points.

It's too late to know it now.

Wang Xifeng felt that it was too late for Jia Rong to regret now, but it was not too late either, after all, the two of them had a child by accident.

Ping'er has now become the master, and has officially become a member of the master's family from a maid, and she is also very good to her maid.

Yuanyang and Ping'er have not forgotten their old friends and will invite them to come and play.

Ning Mansion is more lively now. Sanchun has grown up a lot and prefers the relaxed environment here.

Shi Xiangyun, Lin Daiyu and others also often came here to play. Although Xue Baochai was living under someone else's roof, she soon found that this place was more comfortable than Rongguo Mansion.

Jia Rong did not discipline her, nor did he set any rules for her, as if he was not taking her as a concubine.

Considering Jia Rong's status as the third place in the imperial examination and the head of the Duke's Mansion, she must be marrying above her station.

This was true even when her family still had some money. Did Jia Rong need money? No!

With the Xue family's financial resources, becoming a concubine would be considered marrying up, so Jia Rong doesn't need to go to great lengths to please them.

When Ping'er, Wang Xifeng and Jia Yuanchun arrived at the accounting office, they found that Mrs. Xing and Mrs. Wang had hurried over with the housekeeper. "Madam, what happened again?"

Jia Yuanchun was a little worried.

Mrs. Wang said, "It's alright. I heard that Master Rong was going to give the Rong Mansion 10,000 taels of silver, so I came here to watch."

Mrs. Xing looked at Wang Xifeng and complained, "Why didn't you tell me about such a big thing?"

Wang Xifeng didn't want to pay attention to her at first, but then she thought of Jia Rong's reminder, and quickly wiped away her tears with a handkerchief.

"Master Rong knew that I used all my dowry to help the mansion with cash flow, so he gave me 10,000 silver coins to use. He also said that the East Mansion had a hard time because it had lived too well in the past, and he was afraid that everyone would be greedy after getting money again, and would think of asking others for money when they were out of money in the future, so he asked me to redeem my dowry first. If there is anything that cannot be handled in the future, I should ask the wife and the first wife for a solution, instead of letting me take care of everything alone and offend everyone."

After hearing what Wang Xifeng said, Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Xing felt a little embarrassed.

Wang Xifeng is rich and loves to show off her ability. She can do things that others in the mansion cannot do.

Now, she said in front of everyone that she would use the dowry to supplement the household income. Where would the Rong family put their face?

Jia Yuanchun knew that her mother had saved a lot of money for her unsuccessful younger brother. If she saved more money now, she would have more to give to Jia Baoyu in the future.

Jia Baoyu can't be an official, nor can he inherit the title, and it is not easy for him to inherit the family property. How can his mother feel at ease if she doesn't leave him some money?

"Brother Feng, don't cry. The master and I will make up for your losses. This money is a gift from the master. The three of us grew up together. I give it to you because of our relationship, not for anything else."

Jia Yuanchun became angry as she spoke, and she scolded Madam Wang and Madam Xing, "I gave the old lady ten thousand taels of silver as a reward before, and I also gave the Jia family ten thousand taels of silver as a betrothal gift when I was married. Which time was it not more than what the Rong family spent? But once or twice, it was all spent every time before it lasted long."

"Where did the money go? Can you explain it yourself?"

"Forget about spending money. Over the years, he has not studied for the imperial examinations, nor has he pursued a career in politics. All he does is waste his time at home in comfort and do some indecent things."

"We are short of money this year, we were short of money last year, we are short of money every year, the harvest is bad every year, where does all the money go every year? There are several masters and hundreds of servants in the mansion, isn't it enough?"

"I wouldn't say anything if they spent money to buy women and maids, but everyone, from top to bottom, wants to share the money, and they don't even look at what this family has become!"

"This money is from Ningguo Mansion to Brother Feng. If anyone gets a share of this money for Brother Feng, I will no longer recognize this relative! If you dare to come to the mansion, I will kick you out directly!"

After Jia Yuanchun got angry, Mrs. Wang felt embarrassed and didn't dare to say anything more.

Mrs. Xing also found it difficult to offend Jia Yuanchun, not because her mother was Mrs. Wang, but because her husband was Jia Rong.

Jia Yuanchun held Wang Xifeng's hand and said, "Don't worry, sister. I will get back everything you sold and pawned. I will never let you suffer any loss!"

Wang Xifeng wiped her tears and said, "Thank you, sister!"

The people from the Xue family helped to return the items in the pawnshop, and the people from the Ning Mansion also carried a few boxes of silver into the Rong Mansion and placed the silver in Wang Xifeng's room openly.

When Grandmother Jia knew about this, she sighed and said nothing.

When Jia Zheng, who was unemployed at home, found out about this, he felt extremely ashamed.

Jia Lian waited until Jia Rong got off work, and then went in with Jia Rong to complain.

"You don't know how powerful she is. Now I've given her money. I'm afraid my life will be even more difficult in the future."

Jia Rong laughed and said, "Second Master, forget it. I'm not saying anything bad about you, but you should just do the math and see how much money you stole from Feng-ge. You borrowed my money and stole her money, and you didn't allow me to help her make up for the dowry money that was emptied out over the years? At the rate you guys are spending money, it will be hard for your son to get married in the future!"

Jia Lian blushed, "Let's forget about this muddled account. I have my own difficulties, too. You don't know how hateful she is."

Jia Rong said, "Alright, I'll give you another five hundred taels so you can have a good New Year. The Ning and Rong mansions are one family. Now that you have inherited the title, even if you don't want to be an official, you should at least take care of the family and figure out where the money has been spent. Don't spend it like a bottomless pit. If you continue like this, I really won't help you."

Jia Lian smiled happily and said, "Good brother!"

(End of this chapter)