Chapter 343

Count's mansion.

Everyone in the hall saw Jia Cong listening to Wang Xifeng talk about the origin of the matter, but didn't speak for a while.

Jia Zheng couldn't help asking: "Now that the family has encountered such a big event, Brother Cong often enters the palace to discuss with the Emperor, and knows something about the Emperor's heart. Is the method of Lian'er's wife feasible?"

Jia Cong asked: "Does the Master know that after the new law was promulgated, the Emperor punished five high-ranking officials of Grade 4 or above, and made their corruption and law-breaking public?"

Jia Zheng felt awe-struck when he heard this and said: "Naturally, I know. These five high-ranking officials were pillars of the imperial court, all holding important positions. I didn't expect them to be convicted overnight."

Jia Zheng said to Jia Mu again: "Old Ancestor, one of them is Shi Zhe of the seventh branch of the Shi family, who was promoted from the Ministry of Revenue to the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue last year."

Jia Mu was shocked when she heard this and asked hurriedly: "Zhe ge'er of the seventh branch, he is a promising one. He was also convicted by the Emperor?"

Shi Zhe of the seventh branch of the Shi family was a legitimate jinshi. Except for the two marquises of the direct line, Shi Zhe was the most capable in the Shi family, rising from a white body to the high position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

He was one of the most outstanding disciples among the twelve branches of the Shi family in the Love Shenjing.

Jia Zheng was an official by inheritance, the only noble descendant in the Ministry of Works. Although he had good popularity, he was a marginalized figure in political affairs.

Hearing this, Jia Mu and Jia Zheng both showed shocked expressions.

When it is late at night and people are sparse, candles are everywhere, doors are opened and closed, and the troubles of attracting thieves are inevitable, so one must be on guard.

But the Rongguo Prefecture, after all, had people he cared about and loved. He said these words of admonition, which could be considered as doing his best.

Even Wang Xifeng, Lady Wang, and other women in the inner courtyard who lacked official experience and only valued money also changed their faces.

Lady Wang said to Wang Xifeng: "It is reasonable for you to reduce expenses, but those sisters of yours are already very simple. If you cut them again, I really can't bear it."

"The Emperor made his charges public. He has already been put in the death row, and will be exiled to the Qiongzhou sea cliff after autumn. I was afraid that the Old Ancestor would be sad, so I didn't mention this matter..."

Jia Mu naturally understood Wang Xifeng's intention and said: "But whenever you are on night duty, drinking and gambling, it is very easy to cause trouble. You must be on guard. If you find one, you will deal with one, no need to be lenient!"

No one would tell him these political secrets, so as not to cause trouble, because everyone knows that Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao has been disgusted and excluded by the old nobles like the Four Kings and Eight Dukes since he ascended the throne...

Jia Mu had a deep impression of this side-branch nephew, and Shi Zhe's wife often came to the Jia mansion to walk around.

Jia Cong glanced at Wang Xifeng. This Sister Feng's brain is indeed easy to use.

"One is for the stability of the family, and the other is to save some expenses."

Actually, Jia Cong has now been granted a title, moved out of the mansion, and established a residence. Although he has blood ties with the Rongguo Prefecture, he is already like two families in his official career.

Jia Cong said: "Shi Zhe and the other four officials are all famous for opposing the new policies implemented in May, often slandering the Emperor's new policies in the court and the wild, and their own crimes were exposed, so they were severely punished."

Jia Mu ordered not to delay the summer tax, and the mansion's income would be reduced by a lot. Wang Xifeng's first reaction was to cut the population and reduce expenses, which can be considered a first-class shrewd housekeeper.

And Jia Zheng is addicted to talking about books and classics daily, and is not keen on these political secrets, so he doesn't know the details of why these five officials were suddenly convicted.

As for whether Jia Mu and other parties can listen to it, that is not something he can control.

Jia Cong saw the shock on Jia Mu and Jia Zheng's faces, knowing that they all understood his words.

Now is the first summer tax collection after the implementation of the new policy. The imperial court must attach great importance to it, and for the actions of opposing the new policy, it will definitely not be lenient!

Even if the Rongguo Prefecture collapses, it will not harm him in any way.

If the Jia family watches the wind and waits for the situation at this moment, deliberately delaying the official summer tax, and holding a fluke, it will definitely leave a handle for resisting the new policy. Those five high-ranking officials are the lessons of the past..."

Back then, Jia Cong did not help the convicted disciples of the Shi family in Jin Ling, and Shi Zhe's wife complained in front of Jia Mu.

He also said: "The Emperor is determined to implement new policies to strengthen the country and settle the people. This is the trend of governing the country."

The atmosphere in the hall was a bit oppressive, and everyone was calculating how to overcome the difficulties in front of them.

Jia Mu patted the chair back and scolded: "It's not easy to be a high official, and he doesn't know how to cherish his blessings, actually doing such things, wasting his future in vain."

Jia Mu and Jia Zheng have heard stories about the world outside, and after thinking carefully, they also feel that Jia Cong's words are reasonable.

After a long while, Jia Zheng said: "Old Ancestor, although according to the national law, summer and autumn taxes will provide a lot of silver, it can ensure the peace of the whole mansion and not fall into crime, which is a long-term plan."

Jia Cong suddenly said: "Old Ancestor, Master, Shi Zhe practiced favoritism and fraud, indulged his clan members, although he had faults, it was not a capital crime. The reason why he fell into this situation is for another reason."

Jia Mu could only sigh: "It can only be so. Feng girl, don't delay the summer tax matter. Just do what you should do. It's impossible to hide anyway."

"I haven't seen great wealth, but it's better than their sisters. If you want to cut, start with me."

Such a character was actually convicted by the Emperor, and Jia Mu didn't know it at all.

Wang Xifeng suddenly said: "Old Ancestor, recently the old women and maids on night duty in the mansion often gamble and drink. Whenever there is such a thing, there will always be omissions."

These words of Jia Cong, let alone Jia Mu, Jia Zheng, and others, were shocked.

The daughter-in-law's meaning is to investigate secretly, and find those who don't understand the rules, have sharp mouths and lazy hands, have few errands, and love to cause trouble, and drive them all out.

These five high-ranking officials were convicted. On the surface, it is said that they each have their own crimes. In fact, it is the Emperor killing the chicken to warn the monkey. This is to sacrifice the flag for the implementation of the new policy!

It's just that the clan members used his power to do some bad things. This is a common thing in the officialdom, and it's not a capital crime. How can the crime be made public, his official career cut off, exiled to Qiongzhou, and the punishment be so heavy.

But Jia Mu and Jia Zheng were born in noble families after all, and had been influenced by official families for half their lives. Although Jia Cong had scruples and didn't make it clear, they still quickly heard the root cause.

Jia Mu spends her whole day in the inner courtyard, not knowing anything about the outside world;

The Rongguo Jia family is the leader of the founding nobles, and every move is bound to be watched by the world.

Jia Zheng said: "The Investigation Court found that Shi Zhe practiced favoritism and fraud, accepted benefits from the Jin Ling clan, helped them occupy the fertile land of others in Jin Ling, and had a loss of virtue."

Wang Xifeng understood Lady Wang's meaning when she heard this. She didn't feel sorry for the sisters like Daiyu, Seeing Tan Chun, and Xichun, but was afraid that she would also cut the expenses of Baoyu.

As for cutting from Lady Wang, it was just beautiful words that could be heard, and no one would take it seriously.

The mansion's phoenix, Baoyu, has ten first-class and second-class maids in his room, not to mention wet nurses, rough maids, and servants, totaling twenty people.

Baoyu's style is much bigger than the Old Lady's. Lady Wang also knows how much expenses this will cost throughout the year, so she said this first.

Jia Mu naturally heard her meaning. She has always spoiled Baoyu, so she naturally wouldn't have anything to say.

Jia Zheng doesn't understand the common affairs of the family, and doesn't understand the tricks of the inner courtyard, so he naturally can't hear the meaning in his wife's words.

According to Wang Xifeng's meaning, even if half of the people in Baoyu's room were cut, it would be enough.

Wang Xifeng thought of this and couldn't help but look at Jia Cong, thinking that Third Brother Cong is a Count, but there are only four personal maids in his room, and only Wu'er and Qingwen are maids in the true sense.

Zhi Shao and Zhen Ying Lian, one received the Empress's gift and took the young lady's monthly allowance, and the other is a child bride raised with a collar, neither of which is a proper maid. Even so, he is still an official and granted a title.

The second master usually dislikes Baoyu for messing around in the pile of girls, but the Old Lady and the Lady put so many maids in Baoyu's room. It would be strange if he didn't mess around.

However, since Lady Wang has spoken, Wang Xifeng naturally won't touch this mold.

She knows the situation of the maids and old women everywhere, and it is not difficult to cut some people, so there is no need to make a fuss in Baoyu's room.

Not to mention other places, ever since Yingchun was picked up by Jia Cong to the East Mansion, she only took away one Xiuju, and the original maids and old women in the room were still idle in the mansion...

In the following days, the Jia mansion had a surging undercurrent.

Although Lady Wang didn't let Wang Xifeng touch Baoyu's expenses, Baoyu and Jia Cong were of the same age and were close to the age of dancing elephants, but they still hadn't entered school.

This was a big worry for Lady Wang, so she took the opportunity to clean up Baoyu's room.

She used the excuse of a cup of maple dew tea to drive away Xixue in Baoyu's room and retired Baoyu's wet nurse, Li Mama.

She also used the excuse of being unclean to drive away Baoyu's rough maid, Liang'er.

The vacant position was filled by Lin Zhixiao's daughter, Hongyu, who was transferred to Baoyu's room as a second-class maid, thereby winning over Lin Zhixiao, who was the chief steward of the Jia mansion.

It can be considered as showing the attitude of the mistress in charge setting an example and cutting expenses.

On this side, Wang Xifeng got the Old Lady's order to let Ping'er and Wang'er's wife handle the summer tax matter. Boxes of silver were carried out, which made Wang Xifeng's heart ache.

On the other side, the night investigation of drinking and gambling in the mansion caught four or five middle-aged old women, including Yingchun's wet nurse.

Wang Xifeng borrowed strength to exert strength, and Yingchun's wet nurse and daughter-in-law Wang Zhu's daughter-in-law, as well as the maid Lianhua'er who was not taken to the East Mansion by Yingchun, were all found excuses by Wang Xifeng and driven out of the mansion to work in the field manors outside the city.

Wang Xifeng is full of ghost shrewdness, knowing that Jia Cong didn't let these people follow Yingchun into the East Mansion, which means he looked down on their character.

Yingchun's wet nurse and daughter-in-law had stolen Yingchun's gold phoenix several times to pawn as gambling money. Although they redeemed it later and didn't cause trouble, many people heard the wind.

As for that Lianhua'er, although she was young, she was also a person who caused trouble, and she was usually annoying.

Later, these people wanted to go to the East Mansion to beg Yingchun for mercy, but they didn't even enter the gate of the East Mansion. Wang Xifeng knew Jia Cong's thoughts, so she didn't show any mercy when dealing with these people.

After such a storm, some people set a posture, won people's hearts, and some pinched rotten persimmons and saved expenses, all of which were safe.

Compared with the panic and chicken-flying-dog-jumping in the West Mansion, the East Mansion was peaceful.

Jia Cong's hands, in addition to the title property, were tax-exempt land, and his tax-exempt land was in Liaodong, where the new law had not yet been implemented.

I don't know how many noble families in the Love Shenjing were as troubled by the new policy as the Jia family.

But all these fluctuations and difficulties had no impact on Jia Cong's Count's mansion.

Count's mansion, Jia Cong's courtyard.

Today is the seventh day of the seventh month.

In the front courtyard, there was a sound of laughter. Under the eaves, two large copper basins were placed, one filled with clear water, and the other filled with fragrant soup boiled with cypress leaves and peach branches.

In the sunny place in front of the courtyard, several straw mats were spread.

Zhen Ying Lian's hair had just been washed, and it was draped there, radiating a dark, moist luster in the morning sun.

She knelt on the straw mat, her curved waist overlapping, having already shed some greenness, and began to show the attractive curves of a young girl.

She placed the books on the straw mat one by one, carefully opened each book, pressed it with plum blossom naked children, and dried it in the sun.

The wind blew her slightly wet hair by her temples, her small face reflected a intoxicating crimson, and she was humming a little song, which Jia Cong found quite pleasing to the eye.

The seventh day of the seventh month, the Qiqiao Festival, also known as the Daughter's Festival, is an important festival for daughters in a year. The women in the Jia mansion also have the habit of celebrating the Qiqiao Festival.

Drying books is an important ritual of the Qiqiao Festival.

Zhen Ying Lian is in charge of Jia Cong's study, so drying books is naturally something she must do today.

Daughter's Festival, Jia Cong originally wanted to prepare a gift for each girl in the room, but when he asked them what they wanted, they all smiled and didn't speak.

Later, it was Zhen Ying Lian who said it. On the seventh day, you don't need to buy any gifts, just help her wash her hair once, which is more precious than any gift.

It was just that Qingwen scolded: "Hairy girl, usually looks honest, but actually not honest in her heart, but she is enlightened."

This made Jia Cong confused, but seeing the flushed face of Zhen Ying Lian when she spoke, it seemed a bit strange, and it was not a big deal, so it was fun.

It was just that after Jia Cong finished washing Zhen Ying Lian's hair, Zhi Shao changed the water and let Jia Cong wash her hair once, followed by Wu'er and Qingwen.

The figures were all pretty, the heads were drooping, the skirts were fragrant, the water was shining, the green silk was smooth, and the skin was fragrant, which was indescribably warm.

Jia Cong really did a hair-washing job, which led to laughter in the hall.

Today is the Qiqiao Festival. Yingchun invited the sisters to come over to drink tea and sit in her courtyard, and also asked Jia Cong to come over later.

At this time, footsteps sounded outside Jia Cong's courtyard, but it was Yuanyang who brought maids like Hupo, Hearing Zi Juan, Cuimo, Jin Chuan, and Seeing Cai Xia into the courtyard.

Smiles were different, plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, and bamboo, and the colors were colorful.

Some of them came with their own young ladies, and some were invited by Qingwen to thread needles and beg for cleverness.

Back then, Qingwen was also a maid in Jia Mu's room, so she was naturally very familiar with them.

When Yuanyang and the others entered the courtyard, they saw Zhi Shao, Wu'er, Qingwen, Zhen Ying Lian, etc., all with wet hair, and Jia Cong with his sleeves rolled up, his hands wet, and even water stains on his robe.

Everyone blushed, and couldn't help but laugh, but they were too embarrassed to speak.

Among them, a maid in green clothes and red jacket, with pretty eyebrows, had a crisp voice, and had a different kind of openness and no taboo.

Laughed and scolded: "Qingwen, you are so bold, today is such a clever trick, coaxing Cong Sanye Cong to wash your hair, what a good dream!"

Yuanyang and the others were originally blushing and holding back laughter, but hearing this maid break the words, they couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Qingwen was broken by someone, blushed, ran to block the maid's mouth, and pushed Yuanyang and the others out of the door.

A group of people gradually walked away, and Jia Cong still heard the sound of laughter.

Jia Cong asked Wu'er curiously: "The maid who spoke just now, I seem to have seen her, but I don't know her name."

Wu'er tucked her hair that hadn't dried yet, her face was a bit flushed, and said: "Cong Sanye doesn't know her name, which is normal, because she hasn't come to Qingzhizhai before."

"She is the maid of the second lady, Jin Chuan. Her temperament is open and loves to laugh, but she has no sense of propriety. Actually, her heart is very good. Cong Sanye, don't blame her."

Jia Cong was stunned. This maid is Jin Chuan...

Jia Cong asked again: "Wu'er, why did Jin Chuan say it was a good dream when I washed your hair?"

Wu'er blushed when she heard this, didn't answer, and ran back to the room.

She naturally didn't have the face to tell Jia Cong that the custom of celebrating the Qiqiao Festival in Su Yang is that unmarried women wash their hair with liquid pulp mixed with water, which can not only be youthful and beautiful, but also get the lover they wish for.

Otherwise, why did everyone let Jia Cong wash their hair...

Zhen Ying Lian is from Su Zhou, and this method is probably what Mrs. Feng said. Qingwen is also from Su Zhou, and learned an excellent embroidery skill since childhood, so she could call out Zhen Ying Lian's intention in one bite.

Zhi Shao had practiced in Yangzhou for two years, so she naturally knew this custom, so Wu'er knew it too.

Young ladies wash their hair on the seventh day of the seventh month, a special custom in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. On the Qiqiao Festival, wash hair with liquid pulp of trees mixed with water. Legend has it that it can make women youthful and beautiful, and can also let unmarried women find their ideal lover as soon as possible. This custom is related to the belief in "holy water" on the seventh day of the seventh month. "You County Annals": "On the seventh day of the seventh month, women pick cypress leaves and peach branches, and boil soup to wash hair."

(End of chapter)