The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 92: Ning Mansion Factions
Jia Rong went to the Imperial Hospital to enjoy the cool air early in the morning.

He didn't care about the Ministry of War, nor did he lead a group of infantrymen from the capital to practice patrols, and everyone was happy.

The emperor knew that he didn't practice hard, but it didn't matter. He treated him like a mascot. As long as nothing happened, it was fine.

It’s not that I haven’t thought about changing people, but it’s the same even if I change people.

Over the past decade in the capital, the effect would have been the same no matter who was replaced. Since Jia Rong could hold the position firmly, he should continue to be so, and no one wanted to touch him at all.

If there was a person who really did his job well and led the army to run around all day, the emperor would not be able to sleep well.

After all, if we get serious here, the assassins on the opposite side will definitely get serious as well. Then how can I, as the emperor, defend against the assassins?
Jia Rong was not just wasting his time. He did lead the imperial physicians and achieved some results. For example, if a child caught a cold, they would be cured just by following his instructions.

In addition, he knew that Jia Rong took kickbacks from the Imperial Hospital and took some medicinal herbs home all day long, but he didn't say anything.

For the royal group represented by the emperor, corruption is not a big deal as long as the disease can be cured.

Jia Rong was late and left early every day. He only spent three hours a day doing things that interested him, and the rest was just a perfunctory effort.

The emperor worked fourteen hours a day, was busy with state affairs day and night, and did not dare to leave the palace to escape the summer heat.

In the Ning Mansion garden, Yuanyang, Xiren, Ping'er and Qingwen were taking a walk together.

Yuanyang said as she walked, "The master has high standards. He wants to find pretty and sensible maids. The grandmothers and wives have said that they want to find some obedient and well-behaved maids."

Ping'er didn't say anything, but she knew who these words were meant for.

Xiren was called here today by Yuanyang, who knew that Xiren used to be a maid in the same room with Qingwen, so she asked her to come over and persuade her.

Qingwen was also there when Yuanyang served the old lady, but their relationship was average.

Xiren said, "Qingwen, you should control your temper. It's true that the master dotes on you, but you should also be careful not to embarrass the other ladies."

"I know!" Qingwen responded, looking ahead and saying quickly, "Look ahead! It looks like Master Bao! I'll go check it out!"

Qingwen quickly walked out.

After they saw her walk away, Xiren sighed, "She and I don't have a good relationship. She doesn't like me and looks down on me and Master Bao. I don't like her temper either."

Ping Er asked, "Who does she have a better relationship with?"

Xiren said: "She doesn't get along well with anyone. Apart from Master Bao and Master Rong, I don't see many people who like her. It's the same with Master Bao. She relies on Master Bao's favor to be lazy and arrogant."

Yuanyang said, "I think she and Yinglian have a good relationship."

Xiren said: "Yinglian gets along well with everyone. The ladies and wives all like her."

Yuanyang smiled bitterly, "It depends on her own luck. We are so busy every day that we really can't take care of her."

Ping Er joked, "They are all aunts, so who is in charge of whom?"

The three of them smiled and caught up with Qingwen together, and saw Qingwen standing in front of them, peeking at the front.

When the three of them got closer, they saw Lin Daiyu walking in front and Jia Baoyu following quickly behind.

"Sister Lin! Sister Lin! I wrote a poem. Would you like to take a look at it?"

Ping Er saw the two people walking away, so she asked curiously, "Has Master Bao recovered his spirit? I saw him a few times ago as if he had lost his soul."

Xiren naturally heard Jia Baoyu's affectionate and joyful call of "Sister Lin" just now.

"The Second Master has recovered a long time ago. Seeing how distraught he was, the Master and the Madam did not dare to blame him. At present, Master Rong has received the Emperor's favor, so it is not difficult for him to live in the Rongguo Mansion again."

"The master and mistress don't force him to study and become an official. His former sisters are all together. Master Rong is very busy and has no time to take care of him. He has no worries at all now and can play freely every day."

Qingwen frowned, "So do you usually accompany him?"

Xiren sighed again and said sadly, "He didn't have me in his eyes. The house was not lively enough without the maids. The mistress saw that she was not in good spirits at that time, so she sent Caiyun, Xiaxia and Jinchuan to take care of her. One of the maids beside the old lady also left."

"The maids in the room are boring. He still only has Sister Lin in his eyes and heart."

"In the past, when Master Rong was free, he didn't dare to come over. Since your Master started working, he has come here more frequently."

Yuanyang said speechlessly: "No wonder I can see him at the old lady's place every day when I eat. I guess the old lady is also in a very difficult situation, but the master doesn't say anything, so the old lady doesn't act like a bad person."

Jia Rong really didn't care about this matter. The garden was not considered Jia Rong's inner residence, but Qin Keqing and Youshi's residence were.

The three sisters are all Jia Baoyu's sisters. Li Wan is his sister-in-law. His mother and grandmother all live there. He is only fourteen years old and knows to leave before dark, so Jia Rong doesn't care about him.

Qingwen asked, "Don't you know, Grandma?"

Yuanyang said: "Grandma must be worried about my brother. He looked like he was going to die after being punished a while ago. It's only been a few months, so it's hard to say anything harsh."

Qingwen shook her head helplessly, "This Second Master, forgets the old when he finds the new."

Xiren said, "Alas, of the sisters in the courtyard, only Musk Moon and I stayed. The others begged the Second Master to keep them, but the Second Master seemed to have lost his soul. No one could help him and no one paid any attention to him."

Qingwen remembered Jia Rong's previous evaluation of Jia Baoyu. He was usually a cuckold when his sisters really encountered problems.

Qingwen couldn't help but said, "You are an aunt there, but you are still eating the food given by Master Rong." This was very hurtful. Fortunately, Xiren knew that she was a maid, so she said helplessly, "What can I do? I just hope to stay by his side."

As these people walked forward, they did not think that someone was coming from behind them a few dozen meters away.

Jia Yuanchun and Mrs. Wang went to see the old lady together. When they saw the people in front of them, they recognized them.

"It's Yuanyang, Ping'er, and Qingwen. I can't see one clearly. It doesn't look like Yinglian."

Jia Yuanchun withdrew her gaze and was no longer curious about who it was.

Xiao Hong's eyesight improved a little, and she smiled and said, "It's Xiren from Master Bao's room. Master Bao should have gone to pay his respects to the old lady."

Jia Yuanchun didn't know what to say about Jia Baoyu, so she started talking about Qingwen.

"Qingwen and Xiren Yuanyang are both from the old lady's family, but their personalities are very different."

Mrs. Wang was surprised and said, "It's strange to say that Qingwen is Baoyu's roommate. How come I didn't know her before? It was only when Master Rong picked her that day that I knew about this girl."

Xiaohong's appearance was not outstanding among the maids, and the maids in the Jia family were replaced very quickly. It was difficult for a girl with this appearance and temperament to stand out, so it was not surprising that she was not recognized.

Qingwen was different. With her pretty face, delicate figure, and dress, and being a second-class maid in his son's room, it would be strange if he didn't recognize her.

Mrs. Wang's maid Caixia explained, "The maids in Master Bao's room all know that Madam hates those who wear gaudy make-up and speak in a light tone, so Qingwen dares not to stand out. Every time Madam goes to Master Bao's room, she hides. It's like she doesn't recognize him."

Mrs. Wang finally understood who Qingwen was, and consoled Jia Yuanchun, saying, "Why do you care about that girl? Your master is just trying to be new. She is just like the other girls out there, and that's all she has."

Jia Yuanchun shook her head. "She's not arrogant. She's respectful to us. She's just a little arrogant in front of the master. Forget it. As long as the master likes her, it's better than going out."

Mrs. Wang doesn't want to take care of anything now.

Now that her son has just recovered and the Rong Mansion has also recovered a little, Mrs. Wang eats vegetarian food and chants Buddhist scriptures every day, praying that nothing will happen.

Not only did he not care about anything himself, he also advised his daughter not to care about Jia Rong. Jia Rong could do whatever he liked. He was such a promising man, so why did anyone need to care about him?

No one wanted to take care of anything here, while in the small courtyard over there, Youshi was discussing important matters in the mansion.

Youshi didn't know about Wang Xifeng and the Wang family. Jia Rong and Jia Yuanchun had forbidden others to continue spreading the news. The reaction on this side was also slow, so naturally they didn't know what was happening at the time.

Youshi felt that it was normal for Wang Xifeng to come to her side. They knew each other before Jia Rong got married, and she helped cover for him later. They were all on the same side.

Like Jia Rong, she does not have much respect for morality and family rules, and is very cold towards her stepmother who only wants to enjoy herself and her two unrelated sisters who want to climb up the social ladder.

Third Sister You sat with the three men for dinner, drank a glass of wine and said, "Mr. Bao has been coming to work more regularly these days than Mr. Bao. Fortunately, there are fewer guests these days. Otherwise, it would be a joke if it got out, and it would not be good for Miss Lin's reputation."

You Erjie said softly, "He is the eldest grandmother's brother. Why are you saying that? The master and the eldest grandmother have their own ideas."

Youshi smiled and said, "Don't worry about it, or you will offend both sides."

Wang Xifeng didn't know what to say. Not only did she stop associating with old lady Wang Fu-ren, but her relationship with Jia Yuanchun was also not good.

Fortunately, it was easy for Youshi to accept Wang Xifeng. After being trained by Jia Rong for many years, Youshi no longer liked to meddle in other people's affairs, so all the big and small matters in the yard were directly handed over to Wang Xifeng.

When Jia Rong came back in the evening, Jia Yuanchun entertained Jia Rong alone and invited him to her room for dinner.

Jia Rong asked curiously, "What's wrong? Normally, if I didn't come, you wouldn't invite me over like this and delay my going to play with other sisters."

Jia Yuanchun looked at the maids serving the dishes. The children had been taken away by Baoqin to play somewhere else. Apart from the couple, there were only their maids.

"It's Baoyu's business. He always pesters Miss Lin. I wonder if I should ask him not to come over in the future? Otherwise, it will ruin the reputation of Miss Lin and our family."

Jia Yuanchun has been in the mansion for many years, so naturally she has a group of trusted subordinates and some insiders.

Many of the maids in Youshi's courtyard were arranged by Jia Yuanchun. After hearing some things today, they took the initiative to tell Jia Rong.

Yuanyang felt something was wrong. They had discussed Jia Baoyu's affairs today, but they didn't expect that Jia Yuanchun knew about it.

Qingwen and Xiaohong didn't feel anything.

Xiaohong was not involved in this matter, and Jia Baoyu's matter had nothing to do with her.

Qingwen felt that Jia Yuanchun would talk about this matter sooner or later, and it would be fine to talk about it at any time.

Jia Rong laughed when he heard this and said, "What's the big deal? Miss Lin is innocent. I've already told her that. She thinks it's okay, so I can't seem to disbelieve her."

"Baoyu is in good health. I can see how careful your father and mother, especially your mother, have been in front of me recently. Wouldn't it be nice to give her some face?"

Jia Yuanchun breathed a sigh of relief. "It's good, we all know that the master has a kind heart, but he is a little worried that Baoyu will ruin the reputation of Ningguo Mansion."

Jia Rong doesn't think he has a good reputation.

"I am not unreasonable. Baoyu is a piece of jade. When it is among women, it is jade stained with the smell of powder. When it is elsewhere, it is another kind of jade. But no matter what, it can never become fine iron that can withstand falls and blows."

"I don't expect him to help me, just keep him out of trouble."

Jia Rong picked up his chopsticks and ate the food. "Let him do it."

(End of this chapter)