Chapter 551: Speaking Freely and Lingering Fragrance

Rongguo Prefecture, Rongqing Hall.

Jia Mu's words had just reached the critical point when a maid outside passed on a message, saying that Xue Yima had come to pay her respects, so Jia Mu's words were cut off.

But Wang Xifeng was a clever person, best at observing expressions and adapting to circumstances.

Just now, Jia Mu said that Jia Cong had reached the age and needed women in his room to serve him, and her gaze had inadvertently looked at Yuanyang, although she later used the excuse of having Yuanyang change the tea to cover it up.

But the shyness that Yuanyang could not hide on her face, even her ears were red, how could she hide it from Wang Xifeng's eyes.

Wang Xifeng thought of the time when the Old Duke wanted to take Yuanyang as a concubine, which caused a huge disturbance.

Among them, it was rumored that Yuanyang had taken a fancy to Third Brother Cong, so she would rather die than follow the Old Duke.

Yuanyang's stupid sister-in-law had even said with certainty that Yuanyang was secretly in love with Third Brother Cong and had even secretly made shoes for him, although it was later said that Yuanyang making shoes was on behalf of Yingchun. In short, it was a muddled account.

This matter was later suppressed by the Old Matriarch, and the Old Duke naturally didn't get his wish.

But clever people in the inner household like Wang Xifeng and Lady Wang all saw that Yuanyang's relationship with Third Brother Cong was probably not simple, but everyone was hindered by the Old Matriarch's face and no one dared to say anything.

Wang Xifeng only truly understood just now after seeing Jia Mu's expression and Yuanyang's abnormal reaction. It turned out that the Old Matriarch was as clear as a mirror and had long had a secret move.

Just now, the Old Mistress pointed out Zhi Shao, because that girl has a special status and is someone who cannot be bypassed. She left another vacancy, saying she wanted to choose someone steady. Isn't this meaning obvious? She is sending a trusted maid to Cong Lao San to bury a network of connections by his side.

The Old Matriarch had thought of this move a year ago, but had kept it secret. Ginger was truly spicier when it was old; her thoughts were truly deep enough.

It was just that, would such a clever person as Third Brother Cong not see the Old Matriarch's intentions? I fear it wouldn't be so easy to submit.

Besides Zhi Shao, the people in his room—Wu'er, Qingwen, Zhen Ying Lian, and the newcomer Lingguan—were all confidants who had traveled north and south with him.

Even her own Ping'er had to stand behind. Would he take Yuanyang, with whom he had no feelings, into his room? I fear it would be very difficult.

Wang Xifeng was pondering this, while Lady Wang, who had been a daughter-in-law for decades, understood Jia Mu's meaning. The Old Matriarch wanted to arrange confidants in that brat's room.

Such routines were common in large households. Aunt Zhao in the Master's room was originally the Old Matriarch's confidant maid, who was given to the Master when she was young, just like Sister Xi Ren was given to Baoyu.

Aunt Zhao was pretty and easy to bear children when she was young, but fortunately, her character was vulgar and unbearable, and she was a complete fool. Otherwise, Lady Wang's life would not be easy.

Not to mention Wang Xifeng and Lady Wang's respective considerations.

After Xue Yima entered the hall, she chatted with Jia Mu about daily life, and even joked with her sister, her expression warm and natural, as if the incident with Baochai that day had never happened at all.

Lady Wang looked at her sister's expression and smile, and felt somewhat puzzled in her heart. She had proposed that the Xue family move out of the Rongguo Prefecture as soon as possible that day.

Several days had passed, but there was still no movement from her sister. She didn't know what medicine was buried in her gourd?

Xue Yima chatted with Jia Mu and others for a while, then changed the topic and said: "I came today to pay my respects to the Old Matriarch, and there is an important matter to discuss with you."

"Since our family moved from Jin Ling to the Love Shenjing that year, thanks to the care and consideration of the Old Matriarch and the Lady, we have borrowed the Jia family for several years. I feel that we have truly disturbed you for too long, and I feel very uneasy in my heart."

"These days, I have asked people to clean and repair the Xue family's old villa in the Love Shenjing. Once everything is ready, we will move there to live. At that time, I invite the Old Matriarch to come and visit."

When Xue Yima said this, Lady Wang felt relieved. Her sister could finally move out, saving Jia Cong from finding Baochai to mess around with, which was disgusting to look at. She wouldn't have to see it and feel annoyed in the future.

Jia Mu and Wang Xifeng were both shocked when they heard Xue Yima's words. The Xue family had borrowed the Lixiang Courtyard for several years, and the people of the Jia family had already become accustomed to it.

Hearing Xue Yima suddenly say she wanted to move out, they both felt very surprised.

In fact, according to Jia Mu's wishes, it would be refreshing for the Xue family to move out, saving Xue Yima and her daughter-in-law from conspiring on the "Gold and Jade Connection," always instigating Baoyu to marry Baochai, and ruining her plans.

But although she thought so, she naturally couldn't say it. After all, the Xue and Jia families had been friends for generations, and now they were relatives by marriage. This face and sentiment had to be maintained.

Jia Mu asked, "The Aunt has been living well, why suddenly move out? Is it because the servants in the prefecture have been negligent? Tell me carefully, and I will definitely teach those who don't know etiquette a lesson."

Xue Yima hurriedly smiled, "What is the Old Matriarch saying? The family upbringing in the prefecture is strict, and the people coming and going are very polite. There is absolutely no such thing as what the Old Matriarch said."

"Although relatives are close and harmonious, like one family, our family has disturbed the prefecture for too long, and I truly feel uneasy."

Jia Mu smiled, "Aunt, these words are too distant. Not to mention that the Xue and Jia families are Jin Ling noble families, and this generation is also relatives by marriage, how can there be such politeness."

"Your family is even wealthier than ours. It's just that you live in a courtyard here. The grain, rice, and various expenses are all paid by your own family. Speaking of which, it is our Jia family that has been slow to treat you."

"How can I bear what you said about disturbing?"

Wang Xifeng didn't care much about Jia Mu's polite words, but just calculated in her heart, the Xue family had been living well, why did they suddenly propose to move out?

Moreover, Wang Xifeng also noticed something strange. Xue Yima proposed to move out, but her own sister, Lady Wang, didn't say a word on the side.

She neither persuaded Xue Yima to stay nor explained the reason to the Old Matriarch. This was somewhat too contrary to human sentiment and common sense...

In fact, Wang Xifeng could detect that something was wrong, and Jia Mu, an old woman who had rolled in the inner household for a lifetime, naturally detected that the scene was tricky.

Jia Mu even vaguely felt that there was a trace of estrangement and alienation between the two sisters that was unclear compared to the past.

This made Jia Mu's heart move slightly. Could it be that the "Gold and Jade Connection" they were conspiring had encountered some situation she didn't know about? Otherwise, why would the Xue family's Lady suddenly want to move out?

But these were just Jia Mu's own speculations, and there was no real evidence. It was just that one thing was certain: as long as the Xue family's Lady moved out of the Rongguo Prefecture, the "Gold and Jade Connection" would mostly be gone.

Jia Mu could think of this, and Wang Xifeng, a clever person, naturally guessed it without any difference. But she thought one layer more: what happened to make Xue Yima want to move out?

Wang Xifeng didn't believe Xue Yima's statement about disturbing for too long.

If the Xue family were truly that sensible, they should have followed closely when the Lady moved out of the Rongguo Prefecture, and wouldn't have waited until today.

Wang Xifeng smiled, "Aunt, don't talk about moving out. You have lived in the Lixiang Courtyard for several years. Everyone is close and harmonious, and we are already like one family. Living together is lively."

"Moreover, Sister Baochai is generous and wise, and has always been close and friendly with the sisters in the family, and is very popular. It is good for the sisters to be companions. Who would be willing to let you move out suddenly?"

"Now Brother Cong is in charge. He is also young and likes liveliness. If he hears this, he will definitely not agree."

Lady Wang's eyebrows twitched slightly when she heard this. She felt somewhat disgusted. It was fine for Feng Yatou to say some polite words, but why did she have to bring up that brat?

When Xue Yima heard Wang Xifeng's words, her expression moved slightly, but she didn't pick up Wang Xifeng's words. Although she was smiling, she revealed a trace of discomfort.

It was just that in Wang Xifeng's eyes, her eyes lit up slightly, seeming to detect some flavor, but she wasn't very sure in her heart.

Jia Mu had to interject on the side, saying, "Feng Yatou is right. Although Brother Cong is young, he is in charge now. The sisters have always been close."

"Knowing that the Aunt is going to take the young masters and young ladies away, and that there will be fewer companions in the future, he will definitely be reluctant."

Seeing that she and the Old Matriarch had said such polite words, Xue Yima still smiled and declined, but her insistence in her words had softened by a few points.

Looking at her aunt again, her face was already wrong, and she seemed not to know what to say.

Wang Xifeng sneered in her heart. She had already weighed it up. Xue Yima didn't truly want to move out. The matter must have been stirred up by her aunt for some reason.

She knew very clearly in her heart that although the Second Branch had lost its position of legitimacy, her aunt had never given up on this family property.

Wang Xifeng didn't know the real reason, but her aunt stirring up this matter before her eyes must be beneficial to their Second Branch, which meant it was disadvantageous to the First Branch, or even harmful.

Since the pros and cons were like this, Wang Xifeng couldn't let this matter go smoothly. Anyway, Xue Yima living in the prefecture didn't use any public silver. It was a favor that didn't cost anything.

Wang Xifeng laughed heartily, "Old Matriarch, now Brother Cong is in charge, we can't let him hide and be idle. The etiquette of entertaining guests should be done by him, the master of the house."

"We can't always let the Old Matriarch worry for him. Let him come out and say a heartfelt word. Aunt should give us some face and stay."

Lady Wang's face changed when she heard this. She used words to restrain her sister, which made her unable to save face and move out.

But as long as Jia Cong intervened in this matter, with his cleverness, he would definitely guess that she was forcing her sister to move out of the Rongguo Prefecture because he seduced Baochai. With that brat's shamelessness, how could he be willing to let go of a beautiful woman like Baochai? He would definitely find various excuses to let her sister's family continue to stay.

Lady Wang felt suffocated when she thought of this. It was all because of Feng Yatou's broken mouth, who always loved to make trouble out of nothing, and insisted on involving that brat.

Jia Mu also felt that Wang Xifeng was meddling when she heard her ask Jia Cong to come over to talk. It would be fine for a few people to exchange pleasantries and deal with the scene. Even if they moved out, it would be refreshing. Why create more complications?

It was just that Jia Cong was the master of the house after all. Since Wang Xifeng brought up this topic, it would be unreasonable not to let him come over.

Now that Jia Mu had accepted the reality that Jia Cong had inherited the title and was in charge, there was no need to create estrangement with her grandson over such a small matter. The face that should be raised should still be raised.

She had to say, "Feng Yatou is right. Since he is in charge, he should worry more. He hides in his room to read every day, and he probably doesn't know anything about the Aunt's movements."

Wang Xifeng saw that Jia Mu had let go, so she naturally had to go with the flow. Now the First Branch was in charge, so how could she let the Second Branch's aunt restrain things behind her back.

She had to secretly help Third Brother Cong establish his prestige, so that her aunt wouldn't think the First Branch was easy to fool, and have delusions in the future.

She said to Ping'er beside her, "Go and call your Third Master over. Ask him to persuade the Aunt. Everyone has lived together for so many years, and we are all one family. How can we bear to move out like this?"

Xue Yima breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Wang Xifeng's words, but Lady Wang on the side looked as restrained as usual, but the Buddhist beads in her hand had stopped turning...

Count's Prefecture, Jia Cong's Courtyard.

With the spring imperial examination approaching, Jia Cong's daily homework was arranged more compactly. Originally, every afternoon, he would come out for a walk.

Yingchun was afraid that he would spend too much effort, so every afternoon she would bring the sisters to his courtyard, saving him the trouble of going out.

Every time the sisters came over after a meal, either Lin Daiyu would play the zither for pleasure, or Yingchun would accompany him in a game of chess to relieve boredom.

It was just that a game of chess took too much time. Yingchun was worried about delaying his work, so the two often played for the time it took to drink two cups of tea, and Yingchun would stand up and stop the game. The two often took several days to finish a game, which was quite interesting.

Every time Xiangyun came over, as long as she caught a gap, she would pull Jia Cong to chat aimlessly, using it to be happy.

Xing Xiuyan generally followed Xiangyun, mostly just listening to the fun on the side, only occasionally saying a word or two to Jia Cong.

Now she had just passed the age of twelve, but her actions and manners already had the indifferent style of a crane in the clouds, fresh and elegant, gentle and pleasant, making people feel peaceful and happy.

This afternoon, Jia Cong and the sisters were spending time as usual. After sending off a group of people and doing homework in the study for half an hour, he saw Ping'er enter the courtyard alone.

Ping'er told him about the events in the Rongqing Hall. She was also a clever person. Wang Xifeng saw that the scene was wrong, and she naturally saw the trickiness in it.

She also mentioned Xue Yima taking her leave of Jia Mu and the Xue family preparing to move out of the Jia family, but her sister, Lady Wang, who was present, didn't say a word to persuade her to stay, which was very strange.

Jia Cong thought of the incident between him and Baochai that day, and he could guess the cause of the matter.

It was just that Xue Yima specifically went to the Rongqing Hall to take her leave today, and finally involved him in coming forward. Whether there was any mystery in this, he could naturally taste a few points.

But regardless of the intention of Xue Yima's actions today, or whether she truly wanted to move out of the Jia family, these were not important to Jia Cong.

What was important was that his words and actions with Baochai were clean. If Lady Wang used such a groundless crime to restrain the Xue family from moving out of the Jia family, wouldn't he, the master of the house, become a decoration?

In the future, Lady Wang would definitely push her luck and create other transgressions.

Rongguo Prefecture, Rongqing Hall.

Wang Xifeng leaned on a soft chair, letting Feng'er hammer her slightly sore legs. Jia Mu and Xue Yima were chatting, only Lady Wang's expression was somewhat restless.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside the hall, and the curtain at the door was lifted by a maid.

Jia Mu and the others saw Jia Cong wearing an indigo-bottomed jade orchid dark-patterned round-collared robe, handsome and clear, with a free and easy demeanor, followed by the pretty and graceful Ping'er. The two set each other off, which was very pleasing to the eye.

Yuanyang, standing behind Jia Mu, looked at the radiant Jia Cong and then at Ping'er beside him, thinking that the two of them had already set their status, and couldn't help but feel a sense of emptiness.

Jia Cong bowed to the Old Matriarch and said to Xue Yima, "When I came, I heard Ping'er say that the Aunt wanted to move out. Everything was fine before, is there anyone who has neglected the Aunt?"

Lady Wang heard Jia Cong's words, and out of a guilty conscience, she felt that Jia Cong was pointing at something...

Xue Yima smiled, "Brother Cong, don't overthink it. Everyone inside and out is very good. It's just that I have disturbed the prefecture for too long. Now I am cleaning up the separate villa at home, so I might as well move back."

Jia Cong laughed, "Since the Aunt moved into the Lixiang Courtyard, when I lived in the Qingzhi Study, I was the Aunt's neighbor. Counting it, it has been several years. The two families have always been harmonious and are like one family."

"Although I inherited the title and am in charge of the house, I have been reading in the East Branch recently and rarely walk around in the West Branch, so I have been distant from the Aunt. Thinking about it, it is truly inappropriate."

"Since the Father, Lady, Sister-in-law Zhu, and Third Sister have all moved to the East Courtyard, this West Branch is much emptier than usual. Second Sister-in-law is inconvenient now, and the Old Matriarch is old and likes liveliness."

"In two months, I will finish my mourning period. At that time, I will definitely have to go to the office every day, and maybe even go on imperial errands. I fear I will have very little time in the prefecture."

"I originally thought that if the Aunt still lived in the prefecture, there would be an experienced elder in the house, and there would be someone to take care of things. The Old Matriarch can chat and play cards with the Aunt daily."

"Although we juniors have to walk around outside, we can feel at ease in our hearts. Speaking of which, the Aunt borrowing the Jia family has actually given me many benefits and conveniences."

"Moreover, Sister Baochai is generous and wise, and gets along closely with the sisters in the family, just like siblings. The sisters have more companions daily, which is truly rare."

"The Aunt's family saying they want to move out now, the family is reluctant. It must be that I am too young and didn't manage the house well, which made the Aunt feel estranged."

Wang Xifeng heard Jia Cong's words and praised him in her heart.

Third Brother Cong is an official after all. At such a young age, his thoughts are so transparent. These words are decent and intimate.

These good words are much more brilliant than a bunch of women being polite and not being able to scratch the itch.

Xue Yima borrowing the Rongguo Prefecture, in Cong Lao San's mouth, sounds as if the Jia family took advantage. Although he didn't force anyone to stay, by setting up this stage, everyone has their own face.

For the sake of the steps given by Third Brother Cong, Xue Yima could only happily comply. Perhaps the Aunt had long wanted to do this and was just waiting for Third Brother Cong's move...

Because Jia Mu had the idea that there would be no "Gold and Jade Connection," she was actually happy for the Xue family to move out. But now that the words were pushed to this point, it was also a matter of human sentiment, and there was nothing to say.

Moreover, even with her worldliness of having rolled in the inner household for a lifetime, she felt that Jia Cong's words were very decent. At such a young age, his language was meticulous, polite, and orderly, truly having the demeanor of a master of the house.

Although Jia Mu had loved Baoyu for a lifetime, she imagined that even if it were Baoyu, I fear it would be difficult for him to say such beautiful words, so she couldn't help but feel a little regretful...

Lady Wang felt powerless when she heard Jia Cong's words. She truly didn't expect that the brat would have such a good mouth for household affairs.

His words gave her sister enough face. Even if her sister truly wanted to move out, she would have to stay firmly. Moreover, who didn't know who between the two sisters? Her sister didn't want to leave in the first place, it was just retreating to advance.

This brat really mentioned Sister Bao, saying that the sisters were companions together. I fear it is true that they were secretly messing around together.

She really didn't guess wrong. As long as he knew her sister's family wanted to move out, he would definitely want to keep them. That little lecher wouldn't be willing to let go of a beauty like Sister Bao.

Since Jia Cong's words had laid the foundation, there was naturally no need for him to say anything else. Wang Xifeng joked and set the atmosphere. This kind of being able to handle both sides was originally what she was best at.

Xue Yima declined politely, Wang Xifeng coaxed, and Xue Yima agreed to stay, and smiled to thank Jia Mu and Jia Cong.

For a time, everyone in the hall except Lady Wang was happy...

Jia Cong's words kept Xue Yima, so he took his leave of Jia Mu. There was no reason for a man to sit in the hall with a bunch of women, so he naturally left to have peace of mind.

Coming out of the Rongqing Hall, he walked toward the small gate of the two prefectures, passing by the Lixiang Courtyard on the way, and couldn't help but think of that day, stumbling in the rain, with delicate and fragrant jade in his arms...

Just at this moment, at the gate of the Lixiang Courtyard, a graceful figure appeared through the flowers and willows... (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 552 =====