Chapter 303

At the second gate,

Jia Jing's analysis of Xing Xiuyan's name left everyone present with varied expressions!

Baichai, who had been silently watching Jia Jing's every move from the side, couldn't help but flash a glance in her moist, almond eyes.

She recalled how Jia Jing had once called her the crystal‑clear snow of a mountain recluse, yet now he compared Xing Xiuyan to the bearing of a mountain hermit!

Who knows whether Third Brother favors the mountain recluse more or the mountain hermit more!

Meanwhile, facing the youth's gentle words before her, Xing Xiuyan's cheeks quietly flushed with a faint blush!

She wanted to answer with a sentence, but held back by her shy nature, she wanted to speak yet stopped!

Jia Jing also didn't continue chatting with Xing Xiuyan further, after all it was their first meeting; a brief mention was enough.

He turned his gaze to the side, where Tan Chun with her beautiful eyes and delicate brows stood, and instructed:

"Third younger sister, Cousin Xing Xiuyan has just arrived; we should still look after her more at the mansion."

That sentence obviously carries a deeper meaning!

Upon hearing this, Tan Chun glanced at the plain cloth hairpin and dress; Xing Xiuyan, whose attire among the sisters looked somewhat shabby, instantly blushed on her fair, smooth face.

Of course, it's not that she was treating Xing Xiuyan poorly.

Since Xing Xiuyan came to Rong Guo Mansion, she has been giving her the same monthly allowance of two taels of silver as the Jia Mansion sisters, according to their standard!

Moreover, she gets along very well with Xing Xiuyan, greatly admiring her refined and elegant nature; a few days ago she even took the initiative to give her a rather valuable jade pendant.

But… with Aunt Xing, who is greedy for money, Xing Xiuyan's monthly allowance is basically siphoned off and deducted by her.

As Tan Chun understands it, each month when the mansion's stipends are distributed,

Lady Xing would then, in the name of Xing Xiuyan's parents, have her turn over one and a half taels, leaving only half a tael for her own use.

Under such circumstances, Xing Xiuyan naturally continues to live in poverty and straitened means!

Although Tan Chun has heard much about this from elsewhere, she also finds it awkward to intervene.

After all, Lady Xing is not only Jia Jing's nominal mother but also invokes filial piety; Xing Xiuyan herself has never complained, so Tan Chun would have no grounds to interfere even if she wanted to.

At this moment, facing Jia Jing's seemingly meaningful admonition, Tan Chun did not over-explain; she merely gave a slight nod of her head and replied decisively:

"What Third Brother said, I, the younger sister, have kept in mind!"

Jia Jing, of course, understands the reason for Xing Xiuyan's poverty.

Lady Xing, who only knows how to greedily grasp wealth and goods, is likely so because after Jia Jing straightened up the Jia mansion, and additionally her maid Wang Shanbao's household was expelled from the mansion,

she lost her avenues for making money, so she set her sights on Xing Xiuyan's monthly stipend of two taels.

Even compared to the original where only one tael was deducted, Lady Xing now goes further, deducting one and a half taels.

Of that, only half a tael goes to Xing Xiuyan's parents, while she keeps one tael for herself as an "introduction fee"!

Having such an aunt as Lady Xing, Xing Xiuyan does not know whether she is fortunate or unfortunate.

If one says unfortunate, without Lady Xing she would not have been able to come to the Jia mansion, nor would she have this monthly allowance.

If one says fortunate, there's really nothing to say—whoever has such a stupid and greedy relative would not feel lucky!

Not only Xing Xiuyan, but also Yingchun, Jia Lian, Jia Cong and others, having Lady Xing as their stepmother, have previously endured days of dire hardship!

Take Yingchun, for example—her birth mother died early, and she was raised from childhood in the Rongguo mansion.

Logically, since Lady Xing raised her from childhood to adulthood, even though she is not her birth mother, she ought to have deep feelings for her.

Even Lady Wang, upon seeing Yingchun mistreated by the Sun family, would feign sorrow and shed tears, but Lady Xing is certainly not like that.

She seems to have a heart of iron, solely bent on greed for wealth and glory, aiding the dissolute patriarch Jia She in his lawless deeds, while the life or death of her own kin appears utterly unrelated to her.

She truly embodies the image of a wicked stepmother, too lazy even to pretend otherwise.

At that time, when she lectured Yingchun, she actually said:

"…That girl Tan is raised by a concubine; isn't your mother ten times better than hers? Logically you should be ten times better than her, yet you're not even half as good… Moreover, you weren't raised by me…"

It's shameless that she could utter such a remark, which clearly cannot be spoken in polite company!

If Lady Wang is a venomous woman with a Buddha's mouth and a serpent's heart, then Lady Xing is undoubtedly a brainless fool!

As for Lady Xing's character—stupid, greedy for wealth, and fawning on the powerful—

Jia Jing can only say: "Just wait; your good days with your sisters-in-law are still to come!"

Although he knows that these days Lady Xing has already shown signs of cozying up to him, often saying things like "my family's Jing'er" and so on.

But Jia Jing will not go easy when it comes to striking back, for after all, unity sought through struggle is the unity that endures.

Striking while pulling in is his code of conduct for dealing with those women of the Jia household who cannot discern inner from outer importance.

Silently passing sentence on Lady Xing and Lady Wang in his heart, Jia Jing fell silent for a moment, then said to Tan Chun:

"Like this: I will arrange for Xiuyan's parents to take a position as stewards on an estate outside the city, doing light work to ensure they have food and clothing."

"From now on, the mansion will simply continue to give Xiuyan her monthly allowance, and no one may deduct it under any other pretext!"

Handling this matter himself would be more convenient, and it would spare Tan Chun any difficulty.

Xing Xiuyan's parents, the couple Xing Zhong, are described in the original as "people steeped in dregs of wine"—their household is poor, they are vulgar and self‑seeking, and they lack affection and support for Xing Xiuyan.

This assessment comes from Baichai's inner thoughts:

"When Baichai first saw him, she noted his family's poverty; second, other people's parents are generally elderly and virtuous, whereas his parents are uniquely steeped in wine dregs, which is ordinary for a daughter's lot."

"'Wine‑dregs steeped' is a highly derogatory metaphor of this era; literally it refers to the lees left after brewing wine, extended to mean a foolish, shallow, insatiably greedy, utterly virtue‑less person."

The Tang‑era Chan sect once used "swine that eats wine dregs" to ridicule mechanical imitators, and Liu Ji's *Yulizi* also employed "stealing the dregs" as a metaphor for those who pick up others' scraps yet pretend to be erudite.

Baichai uses this to describe Xing Xiuyan's parents, meaning they are not only of poor character but also short‑sighted, knowing only how to seek profit.

From the original plot, the series of actions by Xing Xiuyan's parents in bringing their daughter to the capital to rely on Lady Xing is also far from clever.

When Baichai's mother approached them for a marriage proposal, they "blurted out 'excellent!' at the earliest opportunity," completely disregarding the daughter's wishes, solely because the other family was wealthy.

Moreover, although Lady Xing arranged for them to stay temporarily in the west wing of the Jia mansion, they remain destitute, even having to pawn items to get by, which also reflects their inability to manage a household and their dependence on others.

But how should one put it?

From Jia Jing's perspective, one cannot completely say how despicable Xing Zhong and his wife are just because of these.

In this feudal era, favoring sons over daughters is already the norm; it is not an exclusive problem of Xing Zhong and his wife.

Moreover, for an ordinary commoner family like the Xings, wanting to marry their daughter into a wealthy family to improve their life is also a common mindset among the general populace.

You cannot expect ordinary commoners who are already worried about their livelihood to talk about character and morality; that would be overly demanding.

Although the actions of Xing Zhong and his wife can be considered utilitarian, they are not entirely malicious.

Regardless, Xing Xiuyan's final outcome among the young ladies of the Grand View Garden should still be considered relatively good.