The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 93 Qingwen
National mourning is over, but family mourning continues.

It is still a hot summer outside, with cicadas chirping and hot winds blowing.

Jia Rong came back from outside in a sedan chair, walked out of the sedan chair quickly, and walked into the yard quickly.

First, he took off his official uniform. It was really a torture to wear the loose uniform in the stuffy sedan chair.

Lin Hongyu quickly came out with an umbrella to provide shade for Jia Rong.

"Master, I figured that you would be back soon, so I'm waiting in the alley at the entrance of the courtyard. The wall is high and the wind is strong here, so it's cool here."

Ning Mansion is also a large courtyard with high walls and narrow roads, with many cool alleys designed in it.

After Jia Rong entered the inner courtyard, he no longer needed to care about propriety. He went straight to his own courtyard with his upper body naked.

"I want to quit my job and rest at home. I have to go to work all the time in this hot weather. Every time I think about going out wearing this clothes and hat, I don't want to go."

Lin Hongyu hurriedly advised: "How can Master have such an idea as Master Bao? There are thousands of people in our family, plus hundreds of people in other families, all of whom rely on Master as the pillar of support. If Master is idle, Madam, Grandma and us will be worried."

Jia Rong and Lin Hongyu walked into the alley and felt much more relaxed.

There are four gates in front of Ning Mansion. In addition to the main gate in the middle, there is also the west corner gate on the left, the east corner gate on the right, and the street gate of Huifang Garden on the westernmost side.

Jia Rong went directly to the east courtyard where he lived from the east corner gate. After entering the gate and passing the stables, servants' quarters and study, he arrived at the main courtyard where he lived. There was a courtyard in front of the main courtyard and between the study, where Yuanyang, Ping'er, Xiaohong and others lived, making it convenient for them to serve him.

The street-facing gate of Huifang Garden is not close to Huifang Garden. At the entrance is the residence of elderly single women such as maids and wet nurses, which corresponds to the servants in the stable.

After passing the alleys guarded by old ladies and the courtyards where people often bask in the sun at the doorstep, you will reach the ancestral hall after walking a few dozen meters. Then you will pass several high-walled courtyards before reaching the garden at the back.

Normally, no outsiders are allowed to enter here. Only female wet nurses and old women are patrolling here, and the gates of the courtyards on the road will be closed at night.

Xue Baochai and Aunt Xue lived here. When Xue Ke came in, he was watched by the maids, and when he went out, he was also watched by the maids.

There was naturally no problem for Jia Rong to let him in, as the real lady lived in the big garden at the back.

In the past, reducing the number of slaves was a sign of wealth not matching one's position, but now all the pomp and circumstance is still a bit petty compared to those of princes and nobles.

When the two of them walked from Qingliang Hutong to a location near the front yard, they saw two maids playing with a cat in the Qingliang alley.

Seeing this, Yinglian and a girl quickly stood up.

"Master, this is Qianxue, the maid who used to work with Qingwen. When the people from the mansion went to Jinling to recruit people, they saw that she had worked as a maid in the mansion before. She was of the right age and had done nothing unclean, so they brought her here for you to take a look."

Jia Rong looked at the girl, who was about sixteen or seventeen years old, and said, "I don't remember her. She seemed to be Jia Baoyu's maid, right?"

Lin Hongyu said quickly: "Master has a very good memory. She is the maid in Master Bao's room. She was originally the maid who served Master Bao."

Jia Rong thought the girl was ordinary and had no impression of her.

"Then let's go back to Jia Baoyu." Jia Rong didn't like having too many servants following him.

At present, Xiaohong, Yinglian and Qingwen are enough, and we don’t spend much time at home every day.

When Xiaohong heard Jia Rong say this, she knew that he was not satisfied with his appearance and first performance.

"Yes, sir."

Xiaohong was not familiar with this maid, and Qingwen, who lived in the same courtyard with this person, was not willing to come out and wait for the master to come back and help speak as soon as possible. So this was the only way.

Xiao Hong said, "Then let's go back at night and let her help with some work first. The master can go into the house to rest. The water is ready. It's cold here. You can't stand here if you sweat."

Jia Rong entered the courtyard quickly and ignored the maid at the door.

While they were talking at the door, the people in the yard had already guessed that Jia Rong had returned.

Yuanyang changed her clothes and came out of the east wing, and entered the main room with Jia Rong.

Qingwen came out of the main room, holding a small basket for sewing. When she saw Jia Rong coming in, she smiled and said,

"You smell like sweat and you're not wearing any clothes. What will it look like if someone sees you like that?"

Jia Rong didn't care about this kind of thing. Yuanyang, Ping'er and Xiaohong who came out all frowned. This was obviously something only a lady could say.

A few words may be unintentional, and others will not take it to heart, but this girl Qingwen exudes arrogance from the inside out.

She really didn't lose her temper with others, nor did she beat or scold anyone, or offend anyone.

However, this attitude and the desire to climb up the social ladder disgusted the women who were born as maids.

Jia Rong had no time to care about these things. After sitting down, he took out a yellow cloth package from his clothes.

"Today, a foreign envoy sent something to the emperor. I happened to be there to help talk about the medical skills of the two countries and to promote the prestige of our country. The emperor gave me the watch that the foreign envoy presented as tribute."

"There are three watches in total. I'll give you one. When you work, just use it to check the time."

Jia Rong spread out the yellow cloth, inside which were three silver pocket watches.

"I'll teach you how to tell time. For example, it's 3:30 in the afternoon now. The two needles look like this. Xiaohong, come over and squat and watch. You learn to hold them first, and then I'll teach them slowly."

Lin Hongyu happily walked to Jia Rong and squatted down, looking at the pocket watch that Jia Rong opened. The needle tip in the mirror was indeed moving.

Yinglian took her maid to fetch some water, and asked the kitchen to cut some watermelon and wash some grapes and peaches to cool off.

Jia Rong kept a pocket watch for himself to check the time, one for the maids to use for daily checking, and the other one was kept at home as a backup.

Ping Erh suddenly said, "I remember Second Madam also had a watch for telling time, and later gave it to Master."

Jia Rong also remembered this incident and said with a smile: "Give me two, a clock and a pocket watch. The smaller one has been broken for a long time, and the larger one is still in Yuanchun's room."

As Jia Rong spoke, he picked up the spare watch and handed it to Ping'er, "Give this to the Second Mistress. Her housekeeper also has to check the time, so that she won't be thinking about making money all day long. I will help with the dowry for her son and daughter." Ping'er took the watch. Now she knew that the son was Jia Rong's, but she was not sure about the daughter. However, Jia Rong was not the kind of person who was afraid of meeting people, so it seemed that she was not.

The most convincing thing is that there are more men than women in Jia Rong's family, and it is very difficult for his family to have a daughter.

After receiving it, Ping Erh said, "Master is spending money lavishly again, should we go to see Grandma more often?"

Jia Rong said directly: "Don't worry about our affairs. I accompany the emperor in the court every day. I have to deal with all kinds of annoying interpersonal relationships, chat about boring things with people I like or don't like, and deal with a lot of government affairs."

"It's enough for her to just be at home and have some free time. It doesn't matter whether she manages the household affairs or not. It's fine as long as there are no fights or quarrels at home. If I don't do my job well as an official, something bad will happen."

"There's only so much time in a day. Let me be happy for a while. Don't bother me. Don't always mention her around me. If I want to go to her place, why would I come here?"

Ping Er quickly smiled and said, "Don't be angry, Master. I was the one who said too much."

Jia Rong also smiled and said, "I am not an angry person. You don't have to be so cautious. Keqing was as cautious as you when she first entered the marriage. We have been married for seven or eight years. You should treat your home as your own. Who would be so cautious in their own home for fear of offending others?"

Ping'er had nothing to say, Yuanyang also smiled and said nothing. Lin Hongyu smiled and said, "Master, you don't know about us. Sister Yuanyang, Sister Ping'er, and I are all family-born children. Our parents are servants of the Jia family. We were born servants. Qingwen is almost the same as us. She was a servant bought by the Jia family. Our family taught us to be careful in our conduct in the mansion."

Jia Rong understood what Xiaohong said.

Qingwen is not only a servant, but also a servant's servant, but she is the most careless when doing things.

"Xiaohong, don't always bring up the servants' rules. I don't care about Qingwen's affairs, so don't bring them up either."

"Besides, others are slaves, but you are all half masters."

Xiao Hong said quickly: "Don't dare to think like that. We are now stewards and maids, which is much better than serving maids. How dare we have such a beautiful dream."

Jia Rong smiled and looked at Qingwen again, "Qingwen, didn't you tell her what I told you last time?"

Qingwen knew what was going on. She rolled her eyes and said, "Who would make people wait for steamed buns? Look how much she talks. We all live in this courtyard. I thought she knew it a long time ago."

Xiao Hong showed a surprised expression, "What's the matter?"

Jia Rong reached out and touched Xiao Hong's head. "You three maids are the only ones serving me. You are both steward maids and personal maids. I also let you three little maids eat and live with the two big maids. What do you mean by that?"

Lin Hongyu's legs softened and she knelt on the ground, and said excitedly, "Thank you, Master, for your mercy!"

Only those who have been slaves for generations, always looked down upon and never had a chance to rise up can understand how hard it is to get this opportunity.

For all the maids, this is the only chance to change their fate!!!
From now on, he is no longer a slave, and neither are his sons and daughters. Moreover, they can live a life of luxury and have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of their lives.

It can be said to be a revolutionary change!
Xiaohong, who was born a slave, knows very well how rare this opportunity is!
This is the only opportunity. I can't think of any other way to cross the class.

Jia Rong said, "Well, now you understand how happy Qingwen is, right?"

Xiaohong was even more confused. Before, she could say that Qingwen was just vying for favor and becoming arrogant because of it.

Now that she has been promised to be an aunt in the future, she still acts like a fool.

The more times like this happen, the more humble and careful you should be, and you should even kowtow to your grandmother when you see her.

That is to say, from Jia Rong's side, if it were any other wealthy family, or Wang Xifeng's former subordinates, Qingwen would definitely be beaten to death.

Xiaohong behaved more cautiously and respectfully. Not only did she thank them, she also gave the opportunity to Yuanyang and Ping'er to perform.

Jia Rong still did not like the maid Qianxue next to him. Jia Rong was very picky in choosing maids.

Either she is a pretty little girl like Qingwen, or she is sensible like Ping'er and Yuanyang, or she is someone like Xiaohong who is neither pretty nor ugly but has a smart mind and a clever tongue.

When Xiaohong took Xixue to Jia Baoyu's place, she hurried to report the news to Jia Yuanchun, and then gave Wang Xifeng a silver pocket watch to convey the news. She also told Jia Baoyu and Mrs. Wang that Yuanyang would not come today and that the master had received a reward from the emperor.

Run errands for Yuanyang, do things for Ping'er, help Yinglian with work, and keep a distance from Qingwen.

Yinglian was not afraid of being implicated. She was a maid raised by Jia Rong since childhood, and everyone in the Ning mansion treated her as one of their own.

Xiaohong had only been in the mansion for half a year when she became the coveted first-class maid. With the master's promise, she had a lifetime of hope and no longer had to worry about being arranged to marry when she got older.

Xiaohong just wants to be a good person now and doesn't want to be implicated by Qingwen.

Sure enough, when the five maids were chatting together in the evening, Yuanyang expressed her worries.

"In the same circle as our family, there has never been a maidservant who became a concubine. Baoqin is still considered a maidservant, but the rest of us were born as maids and servants."

"The eldest wife of the You family in our mansion, as well as the former eldest wife of Xing, and even Aunt Zhao and Aunt Zhou are all daughters of officials."

"The master now has five of us concubines who were born as maids. The Madam's family also has to save face. This will be troublesome in the future!"

Yuanyang and Ping'er's worries are not groundless worries, but basic common sense of this era.

Whether it was the sharp-tongued Xiaohong or the arrogant Qingwen, neither of them had the ability to talk back in the face of such deeply rooted rules.

Yinglian was speechless and didn't know what to do.

Ping Erh looked at him without saying anything, and sighed, "Forget it, forget it. The master doesn't follow these rules. No one can persuade him to do something that makes him happy."

"But we have to be careful in the future. When we meet grandmas, wives and girls, we should be respectful, especially in front of the eldest grandma. Don't always argue with the master. The master thinks it's fun, but others will just think it's impolite."

Ping'er was directly referring to Qingwen, as she was the only one who had done this here.

Qingwen said hurriedly, "I was sent here by the old lady, so I am considered the eldest grandmother's person. I know all the rules of the mansion, so you sisters can rest assured."

Qingwen only wanted to have a good relationship with Jia Rong and never thought about offending anyone.

(End of this chapter)