As the saying goes," The wind inside the wall is roaring outside the wall." Especially in these big families, the slightest movement was also big news. On this day, Madam Wang came out of Grandmother Jia's place with red eyes. In just a cup of tea's time, the news spread throughout the entire residence.
Xi Feng naturally knew about it quickly and quickly dismissed the daughters-in-law who were about to talk about it, then closed the door and talked about it with Ping 'er.
Xifeng was Lady Wang's niece and had married into the Jia family. She was naturally close to Lady Wang, and even her mother-in-law could not catch up. After hearing this, he quickly asked for the reason.
Ping 'er thought for a moment and shook her head, saying,"Speaking of which, it's also strange. In the past, whatever news in the residence could escape our eyes, but today's matter, even after asking several times, he said he didn't know.”
" Why are you saying all this nonsense?" Xi Feng asked anxiously." Let me ask you. Have you asked Yuanyang?" What did she say?"
Ping 'er said," Why didn't you ask? I think this old lady would never leave the mandarin ducks. The first person I asked was her." In the end, Yuanyang also said that she did not know and only said that they had eaten. The old lady asked the lady to talk and asked the girls to go back to send Baoyu.”
Xifeng frowned and thought for a moment." There's no Yuanyang who doesn't know about the old lady. She sent Baoyu there, so someone will tell her when she gets back. She won't know if you ask her, so there's nothing they can do." What about Madam's side? What did the few close ones say?”
"That's why I said it was strange. I went to ask, but the maids over there didn't seem to know anything." When I asked, she said that there was nothing strange about Madam. After she went back, she washed her hands and face, lit incense and recited scriptures as usual, and asked Huan 'er to copy the Diamond Sutra.”
"You still want Huan 'er to copy the scriptures?" Xifeng's mind raced when she heard this, but she still couldn't understand it in the end. She only clenched her fists and thought. Ping 'er didn't dare to disturb her, so she lightly took thick clothes and put them on her. She also moved the small stove on the ground closer, washed her hands, and sat with Xi Feng.
At the second watch, Ping Er heard the sound of the night watch and woke up. When she saw Xi Feng, she was still thinking. She called out twice,"Grandma", but Xi Feng did not answer. She quickly went around to pull her. Xi Feng was pulled back and woke up with a cry."I was actually confused. Forget it, if I can't figure it out, then I won't think about it. Where's your Second Master? Is he back yet?"
Ping 'er said," Isn't it the second watch? Second Master hasn't come back yet. I'm afraid he's late for the social gathering."”
"You still don't know him?" Xi Feng scoffed. The abalone store had been tainted by its stench for a long time, let alone a bunch of people. He said that he was just sizing us up and didn't know. I couldn't be bothered to say it. If I didn't say it, everyone would be bored.”
Ping 'er said as she made the bed," I asked the door to be left open outside. It doesn't matter when Second Master comes back. Grandma just needs to settle him down first."”
"What door?!" Tell them to shut it down. No one is allowed to enter or leave after the second watch!”
Xifeng and Ping 'er had always slept late. When they settled down, the entire Jia residence was like a big thing that had let out a sigh of relief. They lay there lazily, only occasionally patrolling the night. Those who woke up at night moved lightly between the pavilions, gardens, and mountain pavilions.
That night, Yuanyang did not dare to sleep. When Grandmother Jia turned over, she was alert. When Grandmother Jia sighed, she was worried.
After an unknown period of time, Yuanyang persuaded him,""Old Lady, don't worry. Perhaps you'll receive a reply early tomorrow morning, or the wife of the Wang family and the Shi family will come personally. Old Lady still has to see her personally. Old Lady should go to bed early, or else she won't have the energy, right?”
Grandmother Jia sighed and pulled Yuanyang back.""Yuanyang, you have been the most filial to me all these years. Come to think of it, the year you came to my side was the year Min went to Suzhou. In the blink of an eye, it has been so many years, and Min is no longer around.”At this point, Grandmother Jia's eyes reddened and a teardrop fell on the silk quilt. Seeing this, Yuanyang's heart ached and she choked as she called out,"Old Lady."
"Fortunately, I still have you." Grandmother Jia rubbed her eyes and patted Yuanyang's hand."You're still young and don't know anything. You don't know the importance of what happened today. A family like ours may look wealthy on the outside and not lack anything, but in fact, it's not that good. From his grandfather's generation, the family business that he built on the battlefield, generation after generation, no one can support the family. We women have been scheming and worrying, but isn't it all for this family business?”
Yuanyang cried," Old Lady, don't say that. There's still Baoyu. Second Master Bao was born with a jade in his mouth. He must be very blessed."”
Grandmother Jia patted Yuanyang's hand and said,""I know. But Baoyu was still young. Before he grew up, someone had to support him. I raised the big girl since she was young. She's smart and sensible. She's like my Min 'er. She's my eyeballs. When we're at home, which one of them doesn't have seven or eight servant girls serving them? The big girl had a hard life. She asked me to send her to the palace. She didn't choose a concubine, but became a servant.”
"Old Lady…"
"Min 'er's life is also bitter. I valued Lin Ruhai and didn't care if his family was rich or not. So what if I married him? I've suffered too much. That Lin Ruhai just became a high official and I, Min' er, just received an imperial mandate.”At this point, Grandmother Jia was so sad that she burst into tears. Yuanyang couldn't help but cry. She wiped her tears and kept her warm.
At least Grandmother Jia had sobbed a little and calmed down. She said,"This family is just like that. It's not bad at all. It's just that what happened today sent a chill down my spine.”
Yuanyang also calmed down and advised gently,"Old Lady, don't think too much about it. The war outside costs a lot of money. I'm afraid that the Emperor is short of money and has sent people to the aristocratic families to think of a way. Didn't Eunuch Xia say that it's not just our family?”
Grandmother Jia shook her head slightly." That Eunuch Xia came here in plain clothes. He didn't come to deliver an edict, and his words can't be trusted. That's why I wrote to the Wang family and the Shi family." This is the first floor. The other one is that many aristocratic families have borrowed money from the royal family. Why did you start with my Jia family? That's what I'm worried about."
Yuanyang was puzzled." Why is Old Madam worried about starting with our family?"”
Grandmother Jia sighed." You're still young and don't know much about the aristocratic families outside. You don't understand what's going on outside. I've made you confused." Forget it, go to sleep. Tomorrow, tell the girls not to come to my place to pay their respects. Quickly send someone to read the letter and find Brother Pan for me.”
Yuanyang helped Grandmother Jia wash her hands and face. Grandmother Jia fell asleep, but Yuanyang couldn't sleep no matter what. She just lay there motionless like a warm stove. Her mind kept thinking about how the first thing she did made Grandmother Jia so worried. Why wasn't it good to be first?
When they thought of the concept of "first" and "first", Yuanyang suddenly thought of Shi Xiangyun.
She thought that Miss Shi was good-looking and talented. She was also straightforward. Every time she came, everything was eye-catching. When she thought of the head of the queue, she thought of her. Hu Xiangyun complained to Baoyu," It's been so long and you haven't asked the ancestor to send someone to pick me up. I'm afraid you've forgotten about me." The mandarin ducks trembled, as if they were about to be enlightened. However, when they thought about it carefully, they couldn't understand.
Yuanyang didn't sleep for the whole night. She got up lightly just as the sun rose. She put on her clothes and didn't bother to wash up. She quickly ordered people to wait for news at the door. She said that if there was a letter, she had to report it immediately. On the other hand, she sent people to Pear Fragrance Courtyard and said that she would wait there. When she got up, she invited Aunt Xue and Uncle Xue over for dinner.
After all the arrangements were made, Yuanyang washed up. After washing up, it was still not dawn. She combed her hair and thought about it. After a long time, she finally felt that it was related to 100,000 taels of silver. She had to let Second Grandmother know about this matter. She instructed the servant girls serving Grandmother Jia and quickly went to Xifeng.
"What?! 100,000?" Xi Feng was shocked and accidentally knocked over the teacup. Fortunately, Ping Er had been standing beside her and caught it with one hand. He didn't care that his hand was scalded and asked if Xifeng was scalded.
Xi Feng shook her head and said to Yuanyang,"How did this happen? They suddenly want so much. Even the imperial court doesn't torment people like this. What if there wasn't? Would the imperial court still want to eat people? There are so many great clans out there, who hasn't borrowed money? I don't believe that they'll be able to return the money.”
Yuanyang pulled Xifeng to sit down and advised,"I know what Grandma said. I don't understand the outside world, and I don't understand the matters of the imperial court either. However, from what I can see from Old Lady's intentions, I'm afraid this will happen sooner or later. Let Grandma know so that Grandma can prepare early. It's better than panicking when the time comes.”
Xi Feng pulled Yuanyang back and said," Good Yuanyang, no one in this family knows better than you and I. One hundred thousand taels of silver is definitely not something that can be taken out. Does the old lady have any way to get around this?”
Yuanyang shook her head and said," I'm not afraid that Grandmother will find out. Last night, the old lady did not sleep at all. She even cried when she talked to me. I'm afraid it'll be difficult to go around this matter. Grandmother, you'd better prepare." I know it's not easy to get 100,000 taels of silver from the public school. I'm sure the old lady knows. As for Grandma, she always tried her best to prepare. He could go around it, or he could not, or he could take out as much as he could, just to be prepared.”
Once it was settled, Yuanyang hurriedly went to tell them. Xifeng and Ping 'er personally sent it out and pulled her back to thank her.
Yuanyang left. Xi Feng and Ping 'er returned to the room. Xi Feng could no longer sit still. The little girl saw Yuanyang come in to change the tea and bumped into Xi Feng. Xi Feng made an " aiyo " sound and did not flare up. She only stared at the girl hatefully. The servant girl hurriedly knelt down and begged for mercy, but she didn't get beaten or scolded. She raised her head slightly and stole a glance. She saw Xi Feng's eyes and her heart suddenly turned cold. She thought that she wouldn't be able to live.
Ping Er pulled the girl up and scolded,""Blind slut, why are you barging in? The hot tea almost scalded Grandma just now, and I haven't even settled the score with you yet, but you barged in! If you hurt Grandma, I'll take care of your dog life! I'm not going to settle the score with you today. Get out of here and find your mother to beat you twenty times. You're not allowed to eat today or tomorrow!”
The girl quickly thanked him in tears and ran away. It was only after a while that the crying stopped.
"Grandma, what should we do about this?" Ping 'er asked.”
Xi Feng sat down angrily." What else can we do?" she said." A hundred thousand taels of silver. Can we just spread our hands and say that we don't have one?" However, she quickly took back the money and prepared it. Fortunately, from Yuanyang's words, the old lady knew that the public high school could not afford that much. If they really could not push it over, the old lady…In our residence, other than Yuanyang, no one knows how much the Old Lady has, and who knows how much she is willing to give.”
"There are more than a dozen congratulatory gifts in front of us," said Pinger."There's still more than thirty thousand yuan left in the public treasury.”
Xifeng raised Juan Zi to fan her face and said,"What's the use of thirty to fifty thousand? I estimate that the old lady has twenty thousand. We have to gather eighty thousand.”
"Eighty thousand? How can there be so many?"
Xifeng pinched Juan Zi." How about this? We'll take back all the money that we've given out and see how much we have. Ping 'er, go close the door and take out the booklets from my cabinet. Let's calculate how much we're short.”
Ping 'er went out and closed the door. She instructed two reliable guards to guard the door. When he came back, he carefully opened Xifeng's cabinet with the key, took out the account book and Xiao Jin's abacus, and began to settle accounts with Xifeng on the Kang table.
The little golden pearl rattled for a while. Ping 'er noted down a number in her notebook and said,""Not counting the ones that were released this month, it's only around 60,000. It's still not enough.”
Xifeng twisted her neck and thought for a moment." We're still short. With four or five big ones from Fangtian, we should be done."”He slapped the corner of the table and said ruthlessly," Those from the small sects are enough. It's just that it's troublesome to collect them. I don't know when I'll be able to collect them all. This way, I'll be able to collect the ones from Fang Tian's side. That's about it." This was a big matter, and it was urgent. This was the only way.”
Ping 'er was stunned." We've put Fang Tian on the market for a long time, and the interest is not bad. What if he doesn't want to do it?"”
"Not doing it?" Xifeng snorted." I need the money urgently. If he brings it to me properly, I'll thank him. If he dares to argue with me, he won't live long!"”
"This…"
"Aiya, if he does something evil, we'll just sue the government and say that he owes money and doesn't return it. If he doesn't care about his face and charges me with high interest, and the contract is in our hands, I want to see his words in black and white! If there was no evidence, this was a false accusation! Are you afraid that I don't have the means to make up for it with his family assets?”
Xi Feng laughed and said," Fang Tian isn't such a blind person. Call Wang 'er over. I'll teach him a few words and let him bring someone to collect it."”Ping 'er answered and wanted to go. Just as she lifted the curtain, Xi Feng shouted," Wait." Ping' er came back and asked if there was anything else. Xi Feng just said that it was such a big matter in the mansion and she had to let Jia Lian know first. She called Ping 'er to send someone to find Jia Lian.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]