The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 90 Laughter
My daughter is worried...

Xue Baoqin and Xue Baochai have been very worried recently.

The three Xue family women sat together.

Aunt Xue looked at the two older girls.

"Baoqin is eighteen years old this year, but the master still hasn't said when she will be?"

Xue Baoqin smiled and said, "I'm not in a hurry, and neither are the Xing sisters. The Li sisters are in a hurry, but there's nothing we can do. We are still in mourning."

Aunt Xue saw that she was not anxious at all, and looked at her daughter again.

"Alas, these past few years have been anything but smooth. Not a single year has been easy. Something has happened every year. I dare not delay any longer."

The national mourning period has to last for a year, and the family mourning period also lasts for a year. Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai are not sure what Jia Rong thinks about family mourning, and they figure that nothing big will be accomplished this year anyway.

If you want to be a concubine, you have to queue up.

Xue Baochai said: "Sisters Yuanyang and Ping'er have been waiting for several years, and even Sister You Er and Sister You San have been waiting for two years. There have been a lot of things going on recently, so just be patient and wait."

How could Aunt Xue not know this?

While they were chatting, Xue Baochai's maid walked in.

"Miss, Madam, Master Xue Ke is back. He said he is now in charge of the herbal medicine shop in the capital. The master asked him to come over to meet him."

Xue Baoqin and the others stood up quickly. Aunt Xue brought the two girls into the room, lowered the curtain, and then said, "Please come in."

There is no need for Aunt Xue to avoid suspicion as she is already old.

After the two young ladies were seated inside, Aunt Xue and her maid sat on the couch and waited.

Not long after, Xue Ke came in.

After Xue Ke came in, he stood in the main hall at the entrance, just where he could be seen from the door.

Standing at the door, he greeted Aunt Xue who was sitting in the middle room and said, "Aunt."

Aunt Xue is not everyone's aunt, but only the one who is related to Jia Baoyu.

Aunt Xue nodded and said with a smile, "I'm glad you're back. I haven't seen you for three or four years. When you got married, we were caught up in some things and didn't congratulate you. I'm glad you're back. I'll make it up to you tomorrow."

Xue Ke said quickly, "Aunt, you are too polite. We got married in another place and don't know what's going on in the capital. We dare not publicize it. Please don't congratulate me. I wonder if my sister is okay?"

Xue Baoqin said from behind the curtain: "Brother, don't worry. Everything is fine in the mansion. I have no worries about food and clothing here. The sisters in the garden treat me very well. They are from a scholarly family and are generous. Brother should also do more for the master and take on some responsibilities."

Xue Ke said respectfully, "Yes."

Xue Baoqin asked again: "How is mother?"

Xue Ke replied, "I'm fine. I've been in poor health for the past few years. My wife, Sun, is back home taking care of my mother. The master asked me to come back to handle the medicine business in the capital and Jinling. It's a good opportunity for me to come home often. If I'm better and can walk, I'll bring you to the mansion."

Xue Baoqin sighed, "That's good. Thank you for your hard work, brother."

Xue Ke replied: "Don't worry, sister, everything is fine."

Xue Baochai asked, "Second brother, is the medicinal materials business that the master asked you to manage the former Xue family's business?"

Xue Ke replied: "No, it's the business of the Imperial Hospital and the Imperial Pharmacy, not the Xue family's original business, but the business divided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The master said that there were too many unclean medicinal materials business at home, so he didn't redeem it." The Xue family's business had long been sold out by the Xue mother and daughter in order to save their son. Now there is no Xue family business anymore, it's all the Jia family's business.

Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai also understood that this was the right thing to do, but they were a little unwilling and asked a question casually.

Xue Baochai asked again: "Don't you do funeral business?"

Xue Ke replied, "The master said that it's not good for us to have too big a business. We are in charge of life but not death. If we do the medicine business and the funeral business, people will hate us. So we lost those businesses and didn't take them back. Now we only manage the grocery business and the pawnshop business."

Aunt Xue said, "Your brother is now in charge of the rice shop on the street outside. He has made great progress since he came out of prison. Although it cost a lot of money, our family is still here, and the Xue family will definitely revive in the future."

Aunt Xue took the opportunity to praise her own family. Although her surname was Wang and she and her son and daughter lived in the Jia family, they were members of the Xue family.

Xue Ke said, "Yes."

They chatted a little more about their hometown, and Xue Ke left some money for his sister before leaving.

Aunt Xue asked the maid to see the people off. After they had left and the gate was closed, Xue Baoqin and Xue Baochai came out again.

After Xue Baochai came out, she said, "It's not easy to meet each other normally. We can only meet during the New Year or other festivals."

Xue Baoqin smiled and said, "That's good enough. It's just that the master doesn't care about this. In the family, let alone men from other families, even men from the family are not allowed to see each other. Where the young ladies live, there is not even a servant, only maids and old women."

Aunt Xue said, "This is the outer house, not the inner house. The inner house is where the ladies live. When you meet guests, you have to go to the special hall. How can you just meet them in the house?"

Both of them are not yet entrepreneurs and they don't live in a decent place.

Xue Baochai said, "Although it's not an inner residence, it's much better than living on the street when I was in Rong Mansion."

Aunt Xue didn't respond, she just smiled and walked away.

The place where we lived before was not a good place. It was not a good place with convenient transportation and you could come and go as you please. For a big family, such a place where you could come and go as you please was disrespectful.

Moreover, the place where Duke Rong's body was kept was in that courtyard, and the people living nearby were all old women and servants.

Every day, Xue Baochai went out from the yard at the northeast corner of the street, walked around and entered the Rong Mansion through the back door, and then went to Jia Baoyu and the old lady's room. It was not tiring to run back and forth.

Now that my relationship with the Rong family is average, I just need to take care of myself every day.

Xue Baoqin said, "My brother brought me a box of local specialties and asked me to share them with the girls in the mansion. Let's go to the garden to find Miss Lin and the others. It will be more lively now."

Aunt Xue smiled and said, "Okay, go ahead. I just need a rest."

Aunt Xue could not count on the Wang family, and her relationship with everyone in the Jia family had become strained because of her good-for-nothing son. Although they could still talk to each other as usual, there was no need to be as close to them.

In the past, he relied on the affairs of Xue Baochai and Jia Baoyu, and at the same time relied on the power of the Jia family to gain a foothold.

Now his daughter has become Jia Rong's temporary concubine, and his son is learning how to do business in Jia Rong's shop. They have almost everything they want, and they are just waiting for Guoxiao to come and get married.

Aunt Xue is currently only worried about her children's marriages. There is no problem with her daughter's marriage, and she doesn't force her son to get married, as long as he finds a decent family.

When Xue Ke saw that even his own sister had to avoid suspicion, Jia Rong was boating on the lake with his two sisters-in-law, a younger aunt, and an unmarried girl from the Marquis's mansion, without even a maid.

The lake in the garden is heated by the sun, the breeze blows on your face, the water droplets are cool, the lotus flowers are in full bloom, beauties are by your side, and laughter and joy are endless.

(End of this chapter)