Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 2 Placement
"this--"

Mrs. Xing felt extremely embarrassed after hearing this. She exchanged a glance with Wang Shanbao's wife quietly, but before Wang Shanbao's wife could say anything, she heard the sobbing maid say, "Madam, you don't know, my brother has had a very hard time these years. When the master was alive, his clothes were never too short. But every day, whether it was early or late, he would always eat for a few hours, and most of the food was half-cooked, which made my brother lose his appetite and is now weak.

After the master passed away, the mistress became even more demanding. Not only did she eat better than the servants, but she even had no clothes for the four seasons. This time, I had to pawn the jade pendant I'd worn since childhood to scrape together enough money for my trip to the capital. I'm not afraid of the concubine laughing at me. If she hadn't taken me in today, I'm afraid I'd have to sleep on the streets with my servants."

The maidservant continued to shed tears after she finished speaking, and even the young man who was sitting upright had red eyes.

Seeing this, Mrs. Xing's words of recommendation were on the tip of her tongue, but they stopped. She thought to herself: "His family helped me before. If I refuse now, it will only ruin my reputation if word gets out. And who knows if my nephew has the letter from that day? If he shows it to demand repayment, it's likely to cause another disturbance."

He then glanced at Wang Shanbao's wife, who sighed and said, "I have always been following Madam. I used to think that Madam had married a good family and would live a life of luxury. I never thought that my brother would suffer so much."

He sighed and continued, "My brother is the Madam's nephew. It is unreasonable for Madam to ignore him when he comes to seek refuge this time. But my brother also knows that the eldest master is the master in charge of this family, and Madam is the second wife. All matters, big or small, need the eldest master's approval... So, my brother might as well wait for a while. When the eldest master comes back, Madam can talk to him about it.

If the master agrees, I'll stay at the mansion first; if not, then I'll stay at the old house with my third aunt and eldest uncle for a while?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Siyuan stood up and bowed, saying, "Then I'll trouble you, Auntie."

Mrs. Xing said quickly, "Why bother? Brother Yuan is really an outsider."

At this moment, Qin Yujia hurried in and replied, "Madam, the master has returned home and is now going to the study."

As soon as she finished speaking, Madam Xing suddenly stood up, opened her mouth, glanced at Chen Siyuan, and then said, "Madam, take care of it first. I'll go talk to the master."

Wang Shanbao and Chen Siyuan agreed and watched Madam Xing hurried out of the main room. Madam Xing had just emerged and whispered to Qin Yujia, "How does the master look? Has he had any wine?"

Qin Yujia hurriedly replied, "No. The master seems very happy. I heard that he spent two hundred taels to get a fine fan from the previous dynasty. He is currently examining it in the outer study."

Mrs. Xing breathed a sigh of relief and led a group of maids and old women out of the third ceremonial gate. In a blink of an eye, they arrived in front of the outer study.

Just then, the maid Qiutong came with tea. Without waiting for Qiutong's greeting, Mrs. Xing picked up the teapot and went straight inside. After a quick look, she saw the eldest master Jia She, with a smile on his face, leaning sideways to examine the fan, nodding repeatedly as he read.

Mrs. Xing breathed a sigh of relief and went forward to pour some tea. Then she heard the eldest master, Jia She, say to himself, "Excellent, excellent! This black orchid painting is truly marvelous! There are very few fans left by Mr. Song Qiao. This black orchid painting is only two hundred taels now. Who knows, in ten years it might even be worth three hundred taels!"

Mrs. Xing hurriedly flattered, "So, Master, you've got a great treasure today?"

"Baby?" Jia She glanced at Mrs. Xing with a smile and said, "How can a woman like you know the beauty of it?"

Mrs. Xing smiled and said, "Master, you are right. I can't even read a few words, let alone read. I just like the beautiful painting on this fan."

"Hmph, how can you describe the beauty of Mr. Song Qiao's fan? The most wonderful thing is the artistic conception... Well, I can't explain it to you." After a pause, Jia She reluctantly put the fan down, glanced up at the flattering Mrs. Xing, and asked, "What's the matter?"

"This..." Madam Xing put down the teapot, hurriedly sat down nearby, and said in a low voice, "Master, you don't know, but I have a cousin who married far away in Yangzhou more than ten years ago. Master, you also know that my family is poor, and it is thanks to my cousin's help that we have been able to survive. Just now, I suddenly saw my cousin's son coming to see me. After asking, I learned that my nephew has been living in hardship since my cousin passed away. Now that he can no longer make ends meet, he pawned his personal belongings and came to the capital for refuge. This... Master, please take a look..."

Jia She's expression immediately changed. He thought the man was here to ask for money and said, "It would be fine if it was your own brother or sister, but why is your nephew coming too?"

Mrs. Xing secretly twisted her handkerchief, her face full of bitterness, and begged, "Master, please have mercy. Brother Yuan seems to be a good person. He is fourteen or fifteen years old now. He will be able to find a family in a few years. Besides, I owe my cousin a lot, Master..."

Seeing Jia She sipping his tea silently, Mrs. Xing's eyes moved. Suddenly, she caught sight of Qiu Tong standing in front of the study door. She bit her lip and whispered, "Master, I see that Qiu Tong is becoming more and more promising. Why don't you take Qiu Tong in as your concubine?"

"Hmm?" Jia She was startled, turned his head and glanced at Qiu Tong, and saw Qiu Tong turned her face away with a look of reluctance, and his heart couldn't help but move.

"master?"

"Hmm... Hmm." Jia She couldn't help but think, and said thoughtfully: "Since you say so, send someone to find Feng Yatou and find a house in the back to settle your nephew first. As for the rest, we can talk about it later."

Mrs. Xing was immediately overjoyed. She stood up and said with a smile, "Then I'll ask Brother Yuan to come and thank the master." Jia She was completely focused on Qiu Tong at the moment, so how could he want to see such an unrelated poor relative? She said immediately, "That's not necessary. Brother Yuan must have traveled all the way, so let him go and settle down for now. We can talk about it later when we have time."

Seeing Jia She's cunning eyes constantly scanning Qiu Tong, Mrs. Xing knew what he was thinking. She cursed Jia She inwardly for being shameless, put on a smile, and flattered him a few times before getting up and leaving.

Let’s not talk about the situation in the outer study, but Mrs. Xing hurried back to the main room. At this time, Chen Siyuan had two cups of tea and some snacks, and was chatting with Wang Shanbao, the housekeeper.

Seeing Madam Xing quickly enter, Chen Siyuan hurriedly stood up to greet her. With Jia She's words, Madam Xing felt incredibly confident. She casually waved him to sit down, then took a couple of sips of tea before saying, "Master has agreed. Madam, send a message to Miss Feng to tidy up the house."

Wang Shanbao's family quickly agreed.

Chen Siyuan also stood up and bowed to express his gratitude: "Thank you, auntie, for taking me in."

Mrs. Xing waved her hand and said, "We're family, so we shouldn't talk about different things. The master wanted to see Yuan'er just now, but when he thought about how tired he must have been after such a long journey, he gave up the idea and just told him to settle down first and see him again another day."

Chen Siyuan couldn't help but thank him, his eyes were red and he was very grateful.

Wang Shanbao's wife came out and assigned Qin Xian's wife to do the job. Qin Xian's wife went out through the black varnished main gate and entered the Rongguo Mansion through the east corner gate. She passed the stables and entered the inner house through the small corner gate. She walked around Mengpo Zhai and Lady Wang's courtyard, and entered the small back gate from the quiet guest house in the northeast. She then went through the corner gate again, passed the three small side rooms where Grandmother Li Wan taught her three sisters-in-law, and soon arrived in front of the large varnished screen wall.

After going around and entering the half-door, they found themselves in the residence of Second Mistress Wang Xifeng. Inside, they found several maids waiting to see them. Just then, they saw the curtains open and Ping'er emerged. Qin Xianjia hurried forward and bowed, saying, "Miss Ping, the First Mistress sent me to look for Second Mistress."

Ping'er asked curiously, "Sister-in-law Qin, I wonder what the eldest lady ordered?"

Qin Xianjia then explained the whole story and finally said, "The Madam has told the Master about this and he has agreed."

Ping'er remained expressionless and said, "In that case, I'll go tell Grandma. Please ask Sister Qin to wait for a while."

Qin Xianjia hurriedly agreed, and Ping'er parted the curtains and went back inside. Entering the western room, she saw Wang Xifeng pursing her lips, frowning, working on an abacus, evidently still working through her accounts. Ping'er didn't dare interrupt, so she stood by.

After a moment, the clacking of the abacus stopped. Wang Xifeng looked up and said, "Why are you back again?"

Ping'er then said, "Madam, I just ran into Qin Xian's family when I left the house. They said they had received instructions from the eldest master and mistress to find a housing complex to house the relatives who had come to stay."

"What relative?"

"He said he was the nephew of the eldest wife's cousin, and he came from Yangzhou."

Wang Xifeng couldn't help but sneer and said, "It's true that all kinds of people are here to ask for money."

Ping'er knew the Second Mistress's temper, so she kept silent.

After a long pause, Wang Xifeng said, "Well, since the Master has spoken, let's just do as he says."

"Yes," Ping'er agreed, then said, "Then, Madam, where can we find a suitable place to stay? One is the guesthouse in the northeast, and the other is next to Lixiang Courtyard, but it's a bit old."

Wang Xifeng then said, "That guesthouse is still useful, the one next to the Pear Fragrance Courtyard. Did that beggar come here on his own?"

Ping'er said, "He said he brought a maid with him."

Wang Xifeng said, "Then we'll assign two maids to do the rough work, and take care of all the meals as usual. We won't have to worry about anything else."

"Yes."

(End of this chapter)