The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

"I've met my mother!"

Jia Huan bowed respectfully and greeted her properly, not wanting to give Lady Wang any opportunity to criticize him.

Some people enjoy finding these small loopholes to mess with, to show off their different status, and to make those they target understand the seriousness and cruelty of etiquette.

"Okay, sit down and let's talk!"

Madam Wang nodded, having no intention of directly causing trouble for Jia Huan.

At this point, Jia Huan was no longer the little brat she used to manipulate at will.

After a careful look, if one were to set aside any prejudice, one would truly have to praise him: What a handsome and dashing young man!

Jia Huan was fourteen years old at this time, or sixteen in the traditional Chinese age reckoning, which would be considered an adult in the Great Qian Dynasty!

He is already over 1.8 meters tall and exudes a strong and capable aura.

Even without bulging muscles that fill out his clothes, he still gives off a powerful and intimidating vibe that's not to be trifled with.

With a handsome face, a full and spirited demeanor, bright eyes, and a high forehead, he was someone of extraordinary character at first glance.

Whether intentional or not, he has a certain martial arts aura about him.

Madam Wang didn't feel threatened at all!

"The public finances have been completely separated, and you must hand over the Rongfu Estate, which you control!"

Regardless of her inner thoughts, Madam Wang asked calmly, "So, when will the handover be completed?"

As she said this, she didn't notice Zhou Rui's wife standing next to her revealing a smug smile.

"Mother, I have something to ask you before I tell you this!"

Jia Huan's expression remained unchanged, and he asked sincerely, "I don't know, Mother, are you aware of the agreement I made with my second sister-in-law when I took over the estate in the manor?"

"Oh, you and Feng Lazi have a promise? Tell me about it?"

Lady Wang frowned slightly, clearly displeased with Jia Huan's refusal to answer and his subsequent question.

But what Jia Huan said piqued her interest, and figuring out the details wouldn't be difficult.

"Mother, it's like this!"

Jia Huan smiled and nodded, then slowly recounted what had happened: "The eight managers of the estate were too greedy, and in the end, their property was confiscated and they were all handed over to the authorities!"

"The silver alone that was confiscated amounted to over two hundred thousand taels, not even counting other valuables. In total, it's at least four hundred thousand taels of silver, if not more!"

"Just from the wealth confiscated from these stewards' homes, one can tell how badly they've ruined the eight major estates. They can barely maintain a balance between income and expenditure, and even need the manor to provide some assistance from time to time!"

Upon hearing this, Madam Wang was deeply moved and couldn't help but recall the events of the eight major estates.

She knew, of course, that the estate managers were no good and that they would give her thousands of taels of silver every year.

I was in a pretty good mood, thinking that the eight stewards were quite perceptive.

But after the managers of the eight manors were raided, she was in a bad mood and remained angry for several months before gradually calming down. It turned out that those managers had embezzled even more!

How could she tolerate such a thing? It was like being slapped in the face by those managers!

In the end, it turns out he was the clown himself. And he even smugly became a shield for these estate managers to shirk their responsibilities—it's utterly outrageous!

It could be said that Jia Huan's unhurried introduction brought back her initial anger and embarrassment.

However, Madam Wang was very good at maintaining appearances and did not reveal her true emotions.

Jia Huan ignored all of that and continued, "Back then, my second sister-in-law was furious with those estate managers and didn't want to get involved in that mess, so she came to me!"

"My second sister-in-law made a demand: that all eight estates be handed over to me for management, but I must pay her 80,000 taels of silver in rent every year!"

Seeing the slight change in Madam Wang's eyes, he solemnly said, "In other words, the annual rent for each estate is ten thousand taels of silver!"

"so much?"

Madam Wang was genuinely surprised and frowned, saying, "Isn't this a bit of an exaggeration?"

"It's not an exaggeration!"

Jia Huan shook his head and said, "I do have some talent in business, and I also have a good relationship with the Ning family. I can sell grain directly to the Ministry of War through the Ning family's channels!"

"If those eight estates can be managed well, the annual rent of 80,000 taels of silver can still be paid, and there will even be a surplus!"

Madam Wang glanced at Jia Huan with some surprise, not expecting this boy to have such abilities.

At this moment, she was already attracted by the annual rental fee of 80,000 taels.

That's no small sum. Even when she was managing the household back then, it would have taken her several years to amass that much money. It's truly unbelievable.

As for Zhou Rui's wife standing to the side, her expression no longer showed much confidence.

"At first, I didn't want to agree!"

Jia Huan's words made Madam Wang raise an eyebrow, her curiosity growing even stronger.

"After all, I know very well what kind of personalities the servants in the household have!"

Jia Huan bluntly said, "You're all talk and no action, greedy and insatiable. You want to take advantage of any opportunity you see!"

"What if I manage to run the eight estates smoothly and actually make money? Who knows if some stewards in the manor might try to take advantage of the situation?"

Madam Wang didn't react to these words.

However, Zhou Rui's wife, who was standing next to him, looked rather grim.

Damn it, she felt that Jia Huan was making veiled attacks, as if he were talking about her and her husband.

This is the best example of what it means for suspicion to breed evil.

"After my second sister-in-law learned of my concerns, she made a promise with me!"

Jia Huan continued unhurriedly, "Give me the management rights to my eight estates for ten years. Every year I will need to pay the public treasury 80,000 taels of rent. This year will be the third year!"

Madam Wang's face darkened, and she said calmly, "So, you don't want to hand over the management of the estate?"

The atmosphere in the flower hall instantly plummeted to freezing point.

Standing behind Madam Wang, Zhou Rui's wife immediately revealed a smug smile.

No matter how eloquently you, Jia Huan, speak, as long as you don't want to hand over the management of the estate, Madam will definitely not agree. Let's see what you do then.

"Mother has misunderstood!"

Jia Huan chuckled lightly and said directly, "It's not that I can't ask about the management rights of the estate, but I have some doubts and want to clarify them!"

He wouldn't be stupid enough to take the blame directly with Madam Wang!

Do you know what it means to "govern the country with filial piety"?

Regardless of whether he is right or wrong, directly going against his stepmother will not end well.

Even if I win, what good will it do? My reputation will be completely ruined!

You still want to take the military examination and enter officialdom? Keep dreaming!

The rules are the rules, and until he has enough power to disregard them, he can only obey them obediently; otherwise, all his previous plans will be in vain.

To achieve the ultimate goal, the time and effort required will need to be increased by at least tens or even hundreds of times, which is not an exaggeration at all.

You can analyze the pros and cons and reason with Master Zheng, but what reason can you have with Madam Wang?

Of course, Jia Huan couldn't ignore Lady Wang's obvious shortcomings; he had to make good use of them. What else could he do?

"Oh, do you have any questions?"

Madam Wang's face darkened, and she said impatiently, "Speak quickly, I don't have much time to waste with you!"

"What I wanted to ask was, what if we handed over the management rights of the estate?"

Jia Huan showed no anger, but calmly asked, "Can the person who takes over do what I did and hand over 80,000 taels of silver to the public treasury every year?"

"This one……"

Madam Wang hesitated for a moment, her expression becoming uncertain.

She has the nature of a Pixiu, possessing an extraordinary greed for money.

It's about an annual income of 80,000 taels of silver; it's impossible not to feel anything about it.

“Mother, the public funds are divided. Of the 80,000 taels of rent from the estate each year, 30% belongs to my second sister-in-law. She can’t possibly refuse it!”

Jia Huan continued, speaking in a deep voice: "If the entity that takes over the management of the estate can agree to hand over 80,000 taels of silver annually, then I will immediately hand over the management rights of the estate!"

"Otherwise, I'm worried my second sister-in-law will cause me trouble later!"

As he spoke, a helpless expression appeared on his face, and he said with a wry smile, "After all, it concerns 80,000 taels of silver!"

"Even if Mother doesn't care, the 24,000 taels of silver that needs to be given to Second Sister-in-law cannot be reduced by a single cent!"

Which eye of yours saw that I don't want money?

That's 56,000 taels of silver a year, not 560 taels!

Thinking of this, Madam Wang subconsciously glanced at Zhou Rui's wife beside her, her eyes flickering uncertainly.

It was Zhou Rui's constant instigation that led her to...

The management rights of the eight major estates were taken back from Jia Huan.

Now she had explained her thoughts and received a clear answer.