The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 84 Filial piety
It was the perfect time of spring in March, and when Jia Rong woke up the sun was already high in the sky.

Starting this month, Jia Rong will not go to work.

It’s not that the matter of scaring the emperor to death was exposed, but that Jia Rong’s grandfather Jia Jing died, committing suicide.

It would have been fine if he had practiced Taoism, but he even had the guts to make and eat the elixirs he was making at random, and ended up eating them to death.

Family filial piety is coming!

One year of mourning!!!
Jia Rong lay on the bed, looking at the beautiful scenery outside, recalling how many times he had experienced filial piety.

I feel that sometimes life was difficult for the ancients. They were filial and unfilial. No wonder they had so many unfilial descendants.

If modern people did this, the first official would not be willing to do it. Then three years plus three years plus one year would be eight years. If he was thirty years old and it was a good time, he would be in prison for the rest of his life.

Jia Jing's funeral was naturally a simple one. Now that everything is done, he will return to his hometown for burial after he has had enough rest.

Just as I was lying there bored, a clean woman wearing a pearl hairpin on her head and a kind and approachable-looking girl walked in together.

Yuanyang looked at Jia Rong lying there, "My Lord, how busy were you last night? It's almost noon and you haven't gotten up yet."

Ping Er said, "Master got up in the middle of the night and went to play somewhere. You said he should sleep, so he should sleep well. At most, you can let him accompany you. Why did he have to run around?"

Yuanyang laughed and said, "Stop talking, Qingwen is embarrassed."

Qingwen came in, holding a basin of water, and said, "It's not like I haven't seen him before. I saw him at the eldest lady's, at Sister Yuanyang's, and here too. Every time he looked so disgraceful."

Jia Rong was naked and was not afraid of being seen by the maids.

This is what a maid does. Qingwen is not a maid who only sells her art and not her body. She is now a second-class maid in Jia Rong's mansion, and the indenture is in Jia Rong's hands.

Unless Lady Jia Yuanchun protects her and doesn't let Jia Rong do it, it would be legal for Jia Rong to take her body, and there would be no point in suing the authorities.

Grandmother Jia and Jia Yuanchun would not stop Jia Rong. Instead, they hoped that Jia Rong would use his strength on the maids and servants to avoid harming their own family.

Not only Qingwen was in the room, but also Jia Rong's personal maid Yinglian and the messenger maid Lin Hongyu, all of whom were lifelong maids who had sold themselves into slavery.

Several girls looked at Jia Rong lying on the bed without feeling shy.

Qingwen had long since adapted to life here and had begun to help Jia Rong dress.

Jia Rong looked at Qingwen who was dressing him.

"When I asked you to come here, I asked you to help Ping'er, but now you don't have a fixed place. Everyone likes you and asks you to help. I can see you everywhere. I think you should just choose a place here."

Qingwen said unhappily, "Then I'll go serve the old lady."

Jia Rong smiled and said, "The old lady has given you to me, how can I let you go back? But if you really want to go back, you can. I can help you talk to her."

Yuanyang laughed and said, "Master, don't do whatever she says. Qingwen is busy here and she can go wherever she wants. If she goes to the old lady, she will have to take everything back. Besides, Yinglian's mother treats her as her daughter, and we sisters treat her as our own sisters. She is just being naughty. Don't pay attention to her."

Qingwen turned around and went to the bed to find a pair of pants for Jia Rong and didn't say anything more tough.

Ping Er laughed and said, "Yinglian and Qingwen were both sold from childhood. Yinglian's mother recognized Qingwen as her daughter. Qingwen ran around at home, but she always had a home to go back to. If she went to the old lady's house, she would be busy."

Lin Hongyu said: "I go back when I have nothing to do. There is nothing wrong with going back home. It is better to stay with the grandparents. I can gain more experience and learn things."

Jia Rong put on his clothes under the help of Qingwen and the watchful eyes of several other maids, and Yuanyang came over to help him comb his hair.

"Master, how long will you be at home to observe mourning this time?"

Jia Rong said, "It won't be long. The coffin will be placed in the temple first, and we will go back to bury it next spring. Who of you wants to go back?"

Yuanyang said: "I want to go back. I haven't been back for a long time."

Ping Erh said, "Sister Feng has long said that she wants to go back to visit her family."

Lin Hongyu said, "Master, I heard one thing. The old lady wanted Xiren to be Baoyu's aunt. She called Xiren over yesterday and told her about it. Xiren agreed. Master Bao looked a little absent-minded."

Jia Baoyu's marriage has now become a troublesome matter.

Jia Rong said, "Baoyu is fourteen years old, and Xiren, as I remember, is sixteen, which is almost right. We can talk about getting married later, or we can take a concubine first." Nowadays, there is no need to consider whether the two are well-matched, because they are not a good match anyway.

Jia Baoyu's job is not to bring honor to his family, but to carry on the family line.

Mrs. Wang only wants to have a grandson now. Jia Rong can marry a maid as a concubine, so it is not shameful for Jia Baoyu to do the same.

There are no longer any formalities like those of a duke’s family.

"It will take another half a year, or until next year."

Jia Rong talked about the problems Jia Baoyu encountered when taking a concubine.

It is still the national mourning period, and Jia Jing's case is also considered a family mourning period, so Jia Baoyu has to avoid suspicion no matter what.

After getting dressed, Jia Rong started to eat lunch.

She was accompanied by aunts such as Yuanyang, and served by maids such as Qingwen, Xiaohong and Yinglian.

While they were eating, Xue Baochai walked in.

Seeing this, Jia Rong said, "Baochai, have you eaten yet? Sit down and eat with us."

Xue Baochai smiled and said, "Master, I have eaten. After my brother recovered from his injury, he knew how to do things properly. Yesterday he went to ask the old man in the pawnshop who had followed my father for many years for advice. He said that the price of paper money would increase next year, so he planned to take him to the south to buy various yellow and colored papers for funerals."

Jia Rong stretched out his hand and said, "Sit down and talk. Do you think there is nothing wrong with this?"

Xue Baochai sat down politely. In the past few months, she had already realized her position and future, and knew that the Xue family must rely on the Jia family.

"Please give me some advice, sir!"

Xue Baochai called him "Master" before she officially entered the marriage. She also knew that the marriage could not go on during the period of national and family mourning, so she did not rush it.

Jia Rong ate his meal and said slowly, "Let me ask you a question first. If the pawnbroker takes your brother to the south to do business, who will take care of the business in the pawnbroker?"

Xue Baochai frowned and said quickly, "I plan to let his son take care of it. This man is an old man cultivated by my father. He should not plot against us. Besides, I think there is money to be made in the funeral business. I won't lose money. That man also said that he can earn several times the interest."

Jia Rong said, "I have redeemed your family's business in the past few months. Although it is under my name, you will definitely give it to your child when you have one, or give it to your brother when he becomes successful. I don't care about these things."

Xue Baochai said quickly: "Thank you, Master!"

Jia Rong continued, "Don't be in a hurry to thank me. Find out the business situation of your family first, otherwise you will lose it again."

Xue Baochai nodded seriously, "Please give me some advice, Master!"

Jia Rong said, "The first is food, clothing, housing, transportation, and daily necessities. Not only does this consume funds, it is also easy to falsify. It is hard to prevent what is going on when you see it every day. It was OK when your grandfather and father were around, but it is definitely not OK for you and your brother now, and neither can I."

"The second is the pawnshop business. There are more things going on there. It cannot be contained without some complicated official relationships. Your family used to rely on the reputation of the Duke's Mansion to barely maintain itself."

"Later, when Xue Pan's incident happened, someone bought the business and started it on their own. Without anyone to look after it, it was easy for the city's soldiers and bandits to come and make trouble with fake bills or inferior goods and demand money. When I later asked someone to buy it back, these people agreed directly because they knew they couldn't control the business."

"The third business we are going to do is the funeral business."

Jia Rong looked at Xue Baochai and saw that she was listening attentively, so he smiled and said, "You still don't understand even after all this. No wonder you were fooled."

Qingwen came over and said, "Master, I have been listening for a long time, but I can't hear that there is anything deceiving. Could it be that the several times interest rate is a lie?"

Xue Baochai was also a little at a loss, not understanding what was wrong.

Jia Rong explained, "Your family has three businesses. The old man runs one of them and makes money steadily. He relies on the big tree you and your daughter worked so hard to find to enjoy the shade. He makes a lot of money without any effort. Not only does he make money himself, but he also lets his son take control. Then he uses your brother, the young master, to interfere in the other two businesses."

"He has taken all the pawn ticket codes, big clients, and business from the pawn shop, and he still refuses to stop. He is old and still wants to take more. I would beat such an old man to death if I see him."

"Tell Xue Pan to just run the rice shop honestly and stop messing around."

Upon hearing this, Xue Baochai knew that her family was in no position to control the people under her. Even with Jia Rong as their backer, she was unable to control a group of parasites, let alone without Jia Rong.

(End of this chapter)