Chapter 799: Disaster Reveals New Troubles

Count's Mansion, Jia Cong's Courtyard.

In the study, Lingguan added new charcoal to the incense burner and fanned the flames to ensure the room didn't lose its warmth.

Zhen Ying Lady Lian brought in freshly brewed tea and personally served it to Jia Cong and Xue Baochai before both of them exited the study.

Xue Baochai detailed the matter of Yuchun, saying: "Qin Yong's reputation is poor. I've heard that he is not a good person. If Yuchun were to be married to him, she would truly be ruined."

Jia Cong thought of the day he left Rongqing Hall, when Yuchun looked at him with a helpless and pitiful gaze.

At that time, he had been a bit confused, not knowing the reason, but now he finally understood. She wanted his help but didn't know how to speak.

Although he hadn't had much contact with Yuchun, having only spoken a few times, he could see from her words and actions that she was a clever and outstanding maid.

It would be truly inhumane to let such a clear and well-behaved maid be trampled by a scoundrel like Qin Yong.

He said: "Last time when Sheyue had an incident and was driven out of Jia Baoyu's room by the Second Xue Yima, the Second Xue Yima wanted to match her with Qin Yong, but Sheyue refused to die.

Later, I heard the Second Sister-in-law talk about Qin Yong. This person is the second son of Qin Linjiang Xian, with a dissolute and vicious temperament, drinking and gambling all day, causing trouble, and arguing with his parents when he has no money.

But Qin Linjiang Xian's eldest son died young, leaving only this one son, so Qin Linjiang Xian's wife is very indulgent toward Qin Yong.

It is said that Qin Yong also has a history of theft and fraud. Although he is also a family-born servant, his reputation in the mansion is very poor. Experienced stewards in the mansion dare not assign him any tasks.

So he is over twenty years old and still has no proper business, a grown man who only relies on eating his parents' idle rice."

Xue Baochai said: "Brother Cong is right. I have also heard from experienced old women in the West Prefecture that maids who reach the age will be released for marriage.

But these maids all know Qin Yong's evil reputation and all try their best to avoid him, fearing to have any connection with him.

Moreover, the lifelong partners of these maids are generally matched with servants who have proper duties, are diligent, and are valued by their masters.

Because Qin Yong has a poor reputation, he has never received any duties, so naturally, no one would marry their maid to him, which is why he is still unmarried at over twenty."

Jia Cong said: "Given Qin Yong's situation, it is truly suspicious that the Second Xue Yima would treat him this way."

Xue Baochai and Jinchun were both confused when they heard this, not knowing what Jia Cong meant by "suspicious."

Jia Cong said: "The Second Xue Yima is also an experienced woman who has been the mistress of the house for many years. She is a person with quite a bit of scheming.

Since she knows Qin Yong's bad reputation, she should know that any maid married to him would be ruined and suffer.

Even if Qin Linjiang Xian's wife pleaded, and she wanted to win over the couple, finding an ordinary maid to marry Qin Yong would have been fine.

Why would she repeatedly raise Qin Yong up and marry such outstanding maids as Sheyue and Yuchun to him?

These two are the most outstanding maids of the Second Branch. This is too unreasonable.

Sheyue offended the Second Xue Yima and was driven out of Jia Baoyu's room. It is somewhat understandable that the Second Xue Yima wanted to vent her anger on her.

Yuchun has served the Second Xue Yima since she was a child and has always been trusted and used by her. Now she is the only first-class maid by her side.

Now that the Second Branch has become a side branch, according to the family customs, the public treasury will no longer allocate first-class maid quotas to the Second Branch.

Now that Seeing Cai Xia and Seeing Caiyun have entered Jia Baoyu's room, Yuchun is the Second Xue Yima's only first-class maid. She is the Second Xue Yima's face.

Without a first-class maid by her side, the Second Xue Yima's status would drop a notch."

Xue Baochai deeply agreed with Jia Cong's words. Great families are not like ordinary households.

The status of women in the inner house is different in terms of daily expenses, decorations, clothing, and maid configurations, which outsiders can see at a glance.

Jia Mu is the person with the highest status in Lady Rongguo and is a Duchess of the State, so she uses eight first-class maids daily.

All other expenses have fixed quotas and cannot be wrong by a single bit. These are the dignity of a Duchess, and great clans view them as the etiquette of clan law.

Wang Furen was originally the mistress of Lady Rongguo, and her husband was the legitimate son of Lady Rongguo who inherited the mansion, so their expenses were halved, and they only used four first-class maids.

Younger generations like Jia Lady Lian and Jia Baoyu can only use second-class maids. Even if Jia Mu gave Sister Xi Ren to Jia Baoyu, because she is a first-class maid, her monthly allowance can only be hung in Jia Mu's room.

The hierarchy of expenses is strict and cannot be wrong by a single bit.

Jia Cong was originally the same as Jia Baoyu. After entering the West Prefecture, the Liu Wuer and Qingwen given by the family were also second-class maids.

It was not until Jia Cong was granted a title and established a mansion, and later inherited the Lady Rongguo Mansion, that he became the master of the two Jia mansions, and his status was on par with Jia Mu.

Liu Wuer and Qingwen, who are by his side, were only recently promoted to first-class maids; Zhen Ying Lady Lian is not even counted as a maid, but a foster child-bride wearing a neck ring, and Lingguan, who came later, is also not in this category.

Because Zhi Shao received gifts bestowed by the Empress, the Jia family dares not even more to view her as a maid, and her monthly allowance was set at two taels, the same as the young ladies; these are all the displays of status befitting Jia Cong as the head of the household.

Xue Baochai thought of how her aunt, ever since moving to the East Courtyard and losing the authority of the mistress of the West Mansion, had been harboring resentment in her heart, and she valued the prestige of the past all the more.

Yu Chuan is her only first-class maid; how could she give her away so easily?

……

Jia Cong continued, "That is why I find it suspicious; this does not fit the second aunt's usual character and style."

"How could it be that when Qin Linjiang Xian's wife pleaded, the second aunt did not directly refuse, but only used the excuse that Yu Chuan had not yet reached the age of fifteen to delay and put it off?"

"You must know that this kind of reason is fundamentally useless; Yu Chuan will grow up eventually, and this is merely holding Qin Linjiang Xian and his wife in suspense for a while longer."

"The second aunt has actually already decided in her heart to betroth Yu Chuan to Qin Yong; this is simply exchanging gold for rotten copper, which is inconceivable and cannot help but make one suspicious."

Upon hearing these words from Jia Cong, Xue Baochai also had an awakening in her heart and felt that the matter was indeed somewhat unusual.

She said, "Younger brother Cong's words make a lot of sense; I had only thought that aunt was using Yu Chuan to win people's hearts, and I had not thought of this layer at all."

Jia Cong said, "A gentleman understands righteousness, while a petty person understands profit; but where there is something abnormal, there must be a root cause."

"Although I cannot see the truth of it now, the relationship between the second aunt and Qin Linjiang Xian's couple, or perhaps this Qin Yong, cannot be as simple as winning over people in the household."

"There must be some entanglement that others do not know about; otherwise, she would not offer such heavy profits."

……

Xue Baochai was startled in her heart as she listened; she carefully pondered Jia Cong's words and vaguely felt that his guess must be correct.

Although she is considered a sharp and wise person, she is after all confined to the inner chambers, and her knowledge and considerations are limited; she does not have the worldly experience of younger brother Cong on the outside, whose considerations are more comprehensive and meticulous.

Beside them, Seeing Jin Jin Chuan listened to Jia Cong's words and became increasingly anxious and uneasy; she had not expected that her younger sister's matter would be even more thorny than she had thought.

She was terrified and restless in her heart, and could not help but kneel on the ground, saying, "Cong Sanye, my life was saved by you, and now my younger sister has also become entangled in disaster."

"Although my younger sister does not say much on ordinary days, she has a fierce temper in her bones; if she is pushed too hard, she will definitely choose a desperate path."

"I beg Cong Sanye to show mercy and save Yu Chuan as well; we sisters will never forget Cong Sanye's benevolence and righteousness for the rest of our lives, and we will repay Cong Sanye even if we have to work like oxen or horses."

Jia Cong saw her looking like rain-drenched pear blossoms, her pretty face showing both indignation and, even more, helplessness and confusion, and his heart softened slightly.

He helped her up and said, "I am the head of the two mansions; since I have already learned of an injustice in the household, I will not sit idly by."

"I have spoken with Yu Chuan several times, and she is a decent maid; if she herself is unwilling, I will not let anyone force her."

"I have my own ways to handle this matter; you should not spread the word for now, just keep it in your own minds."

Xue Baochai asked, "I wonder what good method younger brother Cong has?"

Jia Cong said, "Currently, the first and second mansions have not yet divided the household, and the contracts of the second mansion's maids are all kept in the public treasury; in theory, the public treasury can manage and control them."

"But Yu Chuan has been the second aunt's personal maid since she was a child, and her status is different from other maids."

"Furthermore, there is the Master's face to consider, and the old lady is sitting above; with so many people watching inside and out, it is not good to intervene bluntly, so as not to stir up unnecessary waves."

"Actually, the easiest way is for me to speak with the Master; as long as he does not approve of Yu Chuan's marriage, this matter will absolutely not come to pass."

"It is just that although doing so is satisfying, if the second aunt knows that I intervened in this matter, she can do nothing to me."

"But she would vent her anger on Yu Chuan, and she would likely suffer in the second mansion in the future; even if we could think of other ways, it would be much more troublesome."

"Therefore, we can only put effort into Qin Yong; if he were a good person, there would truly be no way to start, but since he is a treacherous and vile person, the matter becomes much simpler..."

……

Xue Baochai and Seeing Jin Jin Chuan saw that Jia Cong was confident, and both set their minds at ease; seeing that the sun was about to set, Xue Baochai took her leave and departed.

After Xue Baochai left, Jia Cong's thoughts continued to churn; there were some things he had not fully explained to Xue Baochai just now.

Given Wang Furen's character, she seemed to be overly biased toward Qin Linjiang Xian's couple and the notoriously disreputable house-born slave Qin Yong, which made him secretly alert in his heart.

Actually, saving Yu Chuan was not too difficult for Jia Cong, but he did not want to take the unknown aspects behind this matter lightly.

Recently, Wang Furen had caused quite a few incidents, whether it was her intentional collection of the Zhen family's hidden silver or her attempt to get involved in the business of the Xinchun Firm.

Wang Furen's skill in calculating, her coveting of wealth, and her greed for private gain are evident; although she is not too clever.

But her restless style is extremely dangerous in a large household; once there is the slightest carelessness, it is very easy to bring disaster to the family.