"Two thousand are missing, how could this happen?"
Faced with this unexpected result, Jia Zhen was a little frightened and asked quickly: "Did the prince take something away from it?"
"If that's what the prince wants, I'm afraid it's not just a loss of two thousand."
Jia Lian smiled and said casually.
Jia Zheng nodded upon hearing this, "You are right. As a prince, he should not do such a disgraceful thing.
The two thousand taels were probably intercepted by Han Zhe.
But no matter what, he is the person close to the prince, so it is not good to offend him for such a trivial matter."
Jia Zheng was worried that Jia Lian would be angry and impulsive, so he advised him.
If these close ministers around the prince are offended, who knows when he will set a stumbling block or something like that, then the gain will outweigh the loss.
Regarding Jia Zheng's worries, Jia Lian smiled and said: "What I said is true, it's only a mere two thousand taels of silver. It's really not worth anything."
In fact, according to Jia Lian, if Han Zhe did it alone, it would be easy to handle. I am afraid that Han Zhe may not dare to do it alone, and there is no telling how many people around the prince may have benefited from the profits.
If he goes to war over these two thousand taels of silver, it may indeed cause unnecessary trouble and offend many people. Perhaps this is the reason why the other party dares to take away his two thousand taels of silver.
No more, no less, two thousand taels, within the range that normal people can tolerate.
Jia Lian really didn't intend to argue with these people because there was no need.
But this small incident made him feel that the prince might not be worth working for him.
The prince obviously wanted to win over him that day, so he promised King Beijing three thousand taels of silver. He also intended to have a better relationship with the prince. In order to take care of the prince's mood, he even made a special trip to give him a
Famous paintings passed down from generation to generation.
The result is this.
If the two thousand taels were given by the prince, it means that the prince is not open-minded and has no foresight.
If not, it was someone behind his back who did it, which also means that the prince's subordinates did not know.
The so-called lack of intimacy means that the relationship between him and the prince is shallow, and there is no point in complaining to the prince. Therefore, the mute suffers a loss... It is not considered a loss, it is regarded as a guarantee fee for the prince.
After all, if he asks the Zhou family for it himself, the Zhou family may not necessarily give it to him!
So he didn't care much and asked people to carry the money home.
Wang Xifeng is becoming more and more obedient now. According to her words, there is nothing she can do with the money given to her. So it is better to let her take care of it, make the ladies happy, and gain some unexpected gains.
…
Two days later, it took several people to lift the money and moved it to Sister Feng's children's courtyard. Such movement would naturally attract the attention of the whole house.
Mrs. Wang was numb and a little lucky. She still remembered that day she said that Jia Lian could not collect the 10,000 taels of gambling money. Who would have thought that she had no intention of collecting it herself, but asked the prince to take action...
Fortunately, I shut up early that day, otherwise my wife's face would have been lost.
However, this Jia Lian was as if possessed by a monster. How long had it been since he had already established a relationship with the prince?
If this continues, who will be able to cure him in the future...
In Sister Feng's Children's Hospital, under the publicity of the women who brought the money in, the matter of the two boxes of silver naturally became known to everyone immediately.
Wang Xifeng was not there, so Ping'er took the initiative to carry all the things into the inner room and rewarded them with two slings of money. The women who worked as coolies went out happily.
When Tanchun saw it, he smiled at Daiyu and said, "Now, the second sister-in-law Lian's family is very rich!"
Daiyu and Tanchun were sitting and playing chess. Hearing this, he glanced at her and replied: "This may not be a good thing."
"How do you say this?"
"Since ancient times, it has been said that wealth should not be revealed in vain. It is also said that one person is rich and noble, and everyone claims it.
Now that everyone knows they have made a fortune, won’t they be remembered?
Not to mention anything else, it’s annoying enough to have the autumn wind blowing five dozen times across the mountain, so it’s better not to be rich.”
"Haha, that's unreasonable."
The gossip of the two sisters happened to be overheard by Jia Baoyu.
"What Sister Lin said is that money is an external possession. If you need so much, you can do it as long as it is enough."
Tanchun was dissatisfied and said hurriedly: "Then according to Brother Bao's words, how much is enough?"
"Then I don't know. The money in my house is managed by Xi Ren, and I don't know how much I use in a month. Besides, if I want to buy something, I just have to tell my wife, the old lady, and I don't have to spend any money myself. .
In my opinion, I won't be able to use one or two hundred taels of silver throughout the year."
He does not mean that.
Whatever Jia Baoyu needs, he only needs to talk to Jia Mu and others, but Tanchun only has the two taels of silver at his disposal every month.
Ever since she was a child, she often had times when she didn't have enough money and felt in a pinch.
Especially, she has a biological mother who is shallow, philistine and mean. Whenever she sees that she is doing better, she wants to beat her up!
She was quite upset about this.
Thinking of this, Tanchun no longer had the interest to discuss this topic with Jia Baoyu.
Daiyu saw Tanchun's thoughts and whispered to Tanchun: "Don't pay attention to him. He is a rich and idle person, how can he know the life of our poor family.
According to me, as long as money is not enough, one hundred taels a month is not too much, and one tael a month is not too little, you can live on."
Although Daiyu meant well, Tanchun still felt speechless after hearing this.
She looked at Daiyu and thought to herself, "You are from a poor family?"
Don't think we don't know, Uncle Lin is afraid that you will be wronged in our house, so he will have people send you money and things every half a month!
In the past, the old lady was afraid that you didn't have enough money for things, so she often gave you more. Now, even the old lady knows that you are rich, so she doesn't give you more money...
Daiyu didn't know what Tanchun was thinking, so she quietly looked back with innocent eyes.
"My aunt and Miss Bao are here."
Hearing the noise coming from the entrance of the courtyard, Tanchun and others hurriedly looked outside. Sure enough, it was Aunt Xue coming with Baochai, so they hurriedly stood up to greet her.
…
After Jia Lian finished the crowning ceremony, he returned home without staying outside for long.
When I first entered the courtyard, I saw that the courtyard was full of fragrance, including the fragrance of flowers, wine, and even beauty.
"Brother Lian is back!"
When everyone in the courtyard saw Jia Lian coming back, they all hurriedly came up to congratulate him, and each said something auspicious and festive.
Jia Lian responded one by one, then came to the top and bowed to Aunt Xue: "I have met Aunt Xue."
"Today is a good day for you, so you don't need to be polite. But we are here to bother you again."
"Auntie is joking. Both I and Feng Yatou wish that Auntie and Sister Baochai would come over and disturb us every day."
"Haha, what he said is right. I have wanted to invite my aunt and sister Baochai over several times, but you have all refused. Today, I have invited you."
Wang Xifeng had already prepared lunch. At this time, she agreed with Jia Lian, then tilted her head and said to Jia Lian: "Go back quickly and change your clothes."
Jia Lian was also wearing the crown and gown prepared by Jia Zheng. Although it looked very figure-like, it was not suitable for dining.
Gu value
Jia Lian nodded and went into the house as instructed. Wang Xifeng asked Ping'er to greet people outside and followed Jia Lian into the house.
In the inner room, while Wang Xifeng was undressing Jia Lian, she stared at the two boxes with an excited expression and said, "How much are these in total?"
"Eleven thousand taels."
"Well, how can it be eleven thousand taels? Isn't this ten thousand sent by the Zhou family?"
"There are also three thousand taels given by the prince."
"Oh... hmm?"
Wang Xifeng immediately noticed something was wrong. How could ten thousand plus three thousand be eleven thousand? Did she think she couldn't count?
Jia Lian glanced at her and said, "What, you think you're too young?"
Wang Xifeng's expression paused for a moment, changed a bit, and said with a smile: "How could it be possible? Second Master Lian is willing to take these home and I have already burned them in high incense. How can I think they are too little?"
I was afraid that you only took two thousand and it was not enough, so I asked, if it was not enough, it would be okay to take more. After all, the second master Lian took so much money home and there was no room for it at home, so he had to lose something.
It’s better to go out.”
Jia Lian smiled. This Sister Feng always said the same thing. She was clearly questioning why he wanted to deduct two thousand. Seeing his displeasure, she immediately changed her tune.
"Don't be so arrogant to me. I'll tell you the whereabouts of the two thousand silver coins later.
I have one thing to ask you. During the New Year, I heard that the clothes I made for Yingchun and the others were already finished. Can I send them to Yingchun and the others?"
"Not yet, but it's all finished and placed in the west wing. I'm going to let them take it home after today."
"Well, that's very good."
After a while, I changed my clothes and came out to prepare for dinner.
Because in this compound, except for the cross-shaped road in the middle, which is paved with bluestone, the four separated areas are all dirt, with some flowers, plants, trees and the like planted in them.
Wang Xifeng arranged the three tables in the east, west and north directions. Although the layout seemed reasonable, it did not meet Jia Lian's wishes.
"There is neither a theater troupe nor a storyteller today, so why should the tables be spread out like this? It would be better to put three tables together and have us all sit around together. It would be more atmospheric."
Hearing what Jia Lian said, Jia Baoyu was the first to raise his hands in agreement.
"Haha, I wanted to say this before, but seeing how hard Sister-in-law Lian arranged it, I felt embarrassed to disturb her arrangement.
If it’s really boring to sit together, why don’t we sit together and have everyone sit together, chatting, laughing, and making drinking orders? Wouldn’t it be interesting?”
Jia Baoyu almost clapped his hands and applauded.
In fact, it was divided into three tables. Daiyu had been sitting at the same table with the Sanchun sisters early in the morning, and he couldn't join him. He went to sit with Baochai, but he was afraid that Daiyu would be angry...
It's better for everyone to sit together.
Sisters Sanchun and Daiyu were saying goodbye, and immediately became interested when they heard the drinking order.
It's all because I usually eat with Jia Mu and pay attention to eating but not talking when sleeping, but it's different today.
Today, the only elder is Aunt Xue, and Aunt Xue is an easy-going person. Other than that, everyone is of the same generation, so there is no need to worry so much.
At this moment, with a table full of delicacies and a drinking order, that would be interesting.
So they all sat up.
Wang Xifeng was not annoyed and directly asked the maids to put the tables together and all the chairs in a circle according to Jia Lian's instructions.
"Aunt, please sit down..."
Jia Lian asked Aunt Xue to sit due north and look up.
Aunt Xue smiled and said, "You are the birthday girl today, so you should sit here. Just sit down and don't worry about me."
With that said, Aunt Xue took the seat on the right.
Jia Lian stopped being polite and sat down.
In this way, on his right hand are Aunt Xue, Baochai, Yingchun, and Xichun; on his left hand are Jia Baoyu, Daiyu, Tanchun, and Li Wan.
Wang Xifeng greeted everyone around and then took a seat at the southernmost seat.
There is no other way. The status of the married daughter-in-law is not even comparable to that of the sister-in-law, so she can only sit at the end of the table.
Although strictly in accordance with the requirements of filial piety, drinking is not allowed during the period of filial piety. However, wine has become an irreplaceable thing among the nobles, so there are very few people who can strictly follow this rule in the world. It cannot be done by non-confucian gentlemen.
.
Therefore, people in the world don’t actually take it that seriously when it comes to drinking in Xiaoqi. As long as it’s not like Jia Zhen in the original novel, where Xiaoqi still gathers people to solicit whores, gamble, drink, and cause shocking commotion, no one will be too harsh on her.
Therefore, rice wine is also served during the banquet.
After drinking his first glass of wine, Jia Lian took a quick look and suddenly smiled at Li Wan and said, "Sister-in-law, why don't you bring Lan'er with you?"
Li Wan didn't expect Jia Lian to still pay attention to Jia Lan, so he had to say: "He is very naughty. I let him read at home and didn't ask him to come."
"The way of civil and military affairs should be relaxed. Sister-in-law, it's better not to be too strict."
With that said, Jia Lian turned his head and said to Ping'er: "Go over and bring Lan'er over. Just say that I asked him to come here."
When Li Wan saw this, he opened his mouth. He couldn't say anything more, so he could only acquiesce.
Jia Baoyu didn't care whether there was one more person or one less person. He just wanted to play the game quickly, so he went to Jia Lian's side and whispered a few words.
Jia Lian glanced at him and nodded, "Please be patient for a moment. I have one more thing to tell my aunt."
Aunt Xue nearby heard this and looked over quickly.
Jia Lian smiled and said: "That's right. Auntie should also know that our house is preparing a garden for family members. Since it is a garden for family members, it is inevitable to build a palace.
To build a temple, a large amount of high-quality wood is needed.
Most of our family's mountain estates are located in the bitter cold areas of the Northeast, or in the south. If we send people to search for them, it will be troublesome, and it will not be enough.
We heard that my aunt's family is involved in the timber business, so our husband and I discussed it before and wanted to trouble my aunt's family to help us collect and purchase some wood, mainly high-quality pear wood and high-quality nanmu. I don't know.
Is it convenient for aunt?"
Aunt Xue didn't want Jia Lian to suddenly talk about business matters, so her mind suddenly started to move.
As an imperial merchant for decades, the Xue family has been involved in a wide range of industries, including the timber business, but it is not a big one.
"As for the timber business, our family does do it, but it's not a big deal..."
"That doesn't matter. Since my aunt's family has done this business, she knows more about it than we do.
Please also ask Auntie to take the trouble to help us contact some famous and reputable timber dealers to order these timbers. Auntie, rest assured that we will be responsible for all the required expenses and will not let Auntie suffer any loss."
"Whatever you say can help you, we should do our best, no matter what we say, we will suffer or not..."
When Aunt Xue was hesitating, she saw the look her daughter gave her and reacted immediately.
The three orphans and widowed children of the Xue family all stayed with the Jia family. Although it was said that Mrs. Wang was reluctant to leave their sister behind and had to keep them, who with a discerning eye wouldn't know that it was the Xue family who took refuge in the Jia family?
Nowadays, the Jia Mansion needs a large amount of wood to build a garden, which is an excellent opportunity to establish an interest relationship with the Jia Mansion.
So let alone saying that their family is in the timber business, they just don't do it. It's rare for the Jia family to ask questions about them, so they should take over this matter and help them get it done.
"Hahaha, later on you can write down a list of the type and quantity of wood you need and give it to me. We will take it back and add it all up. As long as we have it in our store, we will transport it to you as soon as possible.
Even if it doesn’t exist, we will ask our shopkeepers and clerks to help you find it as soon as possible.”