readsfreenovel Chapter 152 The Concubine of the Lin Family in Dream of the Red Chamber
Chapter 152 The Concubine of the Lin Family in Dream of the Red Chamber
These past few days, Jia Min has been going to the Jia family mansion every day because Jia Shishi is "ill." However, she only took Daiyu and Congyu there once on the first day, and then she didn't let the two children go anymore.
The reason was still that irresponsible Jia Baoyu. Knowing that Lin Daiyu had already been betrothed and that everyone was already so old, he still had no sense of the proper separation between men and women. He ran up to Jia Min and the others and said some outrageous things, which frightened Jia Min so much that she had someone cover his mouth and drag him away.
That very day, Jia Min told Jia Shi that if Jia Baoyu didn't discipline him properly, the Lin and Jia families should sever ties, lest they drag the Lin family down with them. After saying this, she took Daiyu and Congyu back to the Lin residence.
Lady Jia was also startled by Jia Baoyu. She hadn't expected him to say such things. This matter was too serious. She abandoned her usual kindness and sent all the servants who had heard the words, except those in her own courtyard, to the estate for safekeeping. She also ordered the servants in her own courtyard to keep quiet.
Once the person in charge gets angry, no servant is afraid. Not a single word of the news from that day was leaked out. This was the first time that Jia Shishi had been so disappointed in Jia Baoyu. She couldn't bring herself to punish him, so she asked his father, Jia Zheng, to discipline him.
Later, Old Madam Jia sent another message to Jia Min, saying that this time she was really sick and had been frightened. After all, she was old and had already been angered by Jia She, and now she had been frightened again, so she was bedridden.
Since Wang Shi was confined to the Buddhist hall again, Wang Xifeng is still in charge of the Jia family. Yes, Jia Lian still married Wang Xifeng. After all, because of Wang Shi, the reputations of both families were ruined at that time, making marriage quite difficult.
This marriage was arranged by Wang Ziteng, the head of the Wang family, who personally assured them that Wang Xifeng had already thoroughly studied the Four Books for Women and the law at home, and would definitely not be like her aunt. The Jia family couldn't find a daughter-in-law of better social standing than Wang Xifeng, so they reluctantly accepted the marriage.
Wang Xifeng is indeed different from the one in the original novel. Although she is still shrewish, she is well-versed in the law, which is why Wang Shi never gave her the power to manage the household. Moreover, Wang Xifeng can usually persuade Jia Lian.
Everything in the world is interconnected. Jia Lian and Jia Zhen were close friends, and he was often nagged by Wang Xifeng, so his behavior naturally became more restrained than in the original story. As a result, Jia Zhen stopped having incestuous relationships, and Qin Keqing did not die young. People are fearless because they are ignorant!
This series of changes led to Jia She and Jia Zhen's current rewards. The most outrageous thing between the two households was Wang Shi's matter. This time, Wang Shi entered the Buddhist hall, and she can forget about ever getting out of there again.
Moreover, because of the loan sharking issue, after Jia She locked the person in the Buddhist hall, he also made Wang Xifeng and Jia Zheng accompany him to open Wang's private treasury. After all, settling the loan sharking issue would cost money; it wasn't something that could be resolved simply by burning all the IOUs.
Jia She was unwilling to use public funds for this, and Jia Zheng had no money, so he opened Wang Shi's private treasury and divided her dowry according to the dowry list. Well, the remaining amount was 300,000 taels of silver, not to mention the things that were embezzled from the public treasury. Moreover, they also saw the documents showing that the clan's ancestral land had been sold.
If there hadn't been more important matters to attend to, Jia She would have insisted on letting Wang Shi die of illness. Later, with the intervention of Jia Shi, Jia She was only allowed to take 25 taels of silver and some items from the public treasury, leaving the rest to the second branch of the family.
From the moment Wang entered the Buddhist hall, Wang Xifeng took over managing the Jia family. Well-versed in the law, Wang Xifeng was a shrewd person. Even in her boudoir, she knew about how her aunt had harmed her husband's younger sister. Therefore, after marrying into the Jia family, she was wary of her aunt.
After all, she had been visiting the Jia family mansion frequently since she was a child, and she had a clear understanding of the situation within the mansion. If the eldest branch of the family did not have a legitimate grandson, then Madam Jia would definitely find a way to pass the title to Jia Baoyu.
Therefore, when she married into the Jia family, her uncle, Wang Ziteng, prepared a maid who knew medicine as part of her dowry. She was also very careful when she first entered the Jia family. Sure enough, on the second day of her marriage, they found many things in her and Jia Lian's courtyard that were detrimental to having children.
Jia Lian angrily told Jia She, but Jia Shi, the head of the Jia family, was very powerful. Since the matter of Jia Min had not affected Wang Shi, it would be even more useless for the unpopular Jia She to make a fuss.
Therefore, Jia She simply moved Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng to his east wing, saying to the outside world that it was for the two to fulfill their filial duties, and the eldest son's family basically did not care about the affairs of the mansion.
Now that Wang Shi has entered the Buddhist hall and Xing Shi is no longer of great use, Wang Xifeng has taken over as the head of the household. Wang Xifeng is very efficient in managing the household, and she managed to straighten out the affairs of the mansion in just over ten days.
The former unruly servants were either sent to government offices or sold off by Jia She. The remaining servants were those with fewer problems, and the missing manpower was all newly transferred from the estate.
Wang Xifeng established some rules as soon as she arrived, and with the lessons learned from those who were punished, the servants in the mansion are now very obedient, which is why she was able to get things in order in a very short time.
The second time the Jia family announced that Jia Shi was ill and invited Jia Min to their residence, it was Wang Xifeng who personally visited to invite her. After all, they were mother and daughter, and Jia Min was worried about her elderly mother, Jia Shi, who was already eighty years old.
In the following days, Jia Min went to the Jia Mansion at dawn every day and did not return until almost dark. After half a month, Jia Shishi finally recovered. Having just recovered from a serious illness, she had lost all her spirit, which relieved Jia She. He could never win against his mother when she got angry.
In this life, some people still owed money, so the national treasury was not empty. Therefore, the emperor did not issue the so-called decree to allow the concubine to visit her family. In the original story, the emperor issued the decree to allow the concubine to visit her family in order to earn money to replenish the national treasury.
After Jia Shi recovered, Jia Min stopped going to the Jia family mansion. As Lin Daiyu's wedding date approached, Jia Min had endless things to say to Lin Daiyu. After a few days, Daiyu was so overwhelmed by her mother's nagging that she went to her father, Lin Ruhai, who finally stopped Jia Min from doing so.
Jia Min has only two children. Daiyu was away from home for a few years, and she hasn't been back for many years. Now her daughter is getting married again, and she is really worried. What if her daughter doesn't live well in her husband's family?
The Prince's Mansion is related to the imperial clan. If Daiyu suffers any grievances in her husband's family, her own family won't even be able to support her. How could Jia Min not be anxious? She could only take advantage of this time to talk to Lin Daiyu more about these domestic disputes, hoping that things would go more smoothly for her after she got married.