Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Xiaohong excitedly went to find Lin Daiyu, handed over the purse, and said, "I checked the banknote in front of the steward, and it is 13,000 yuan."

Daiyu said "oh", motioned her to put it there, and then called Xueyan.

Xiao Hong thought for a moment and continued, "I didn't expect there were so many. I was shocked." But the manager looked normal and said that Supervisor Tao was very concerned about the girl's shops and that they were now managed by the manager himself.

"From what he said, it seems that he wants to use this money to buy more properties. He also mentioned that the court punished several corrupt officials the other day, and there are several small but very good manors in the suburbs, which is quite interesting."

"Then just let him take care of it." Lin Daiyu casually handed the purse to Xiaohong again, with a gleam in her eyes.

Xiaohong hesitated for a moment, watching Xueyan hopping in, looking young and ignorant. She bit her lip, took the purse with both hands and put it back in her arms, lowering her head and saying:

"Tao Jian is naturally sincere to the girl, and the girl trusts him, which is a good thing. But since ancient times, money has moved people's hearts. Tao Jian doesn't care. This steward handles such a large amount of money every day, but he can't say that he can really not have any selfish thoughts.

"I heard from Sister Zijuan that although the land in Gusu was used to run a private school for the clan, the accounts were all managed by the old housekeeper, Grandpa Lin Jing. Even so, the girl also said privately that she would ask Grandpa Lin Jing to send someone to Beijing every two or three years to report the accounts to you.

"It's the same here in Beijing now. Even if it's all under Tao's supervision, you should still take a look at it every once in a while. Even if it's not to check for omissions, at least it will make them alert and afraid."

Lin Daiyu looked her up and down, smiled and said, "As expected of a housekeeper's daughter, you have both knowledge and ability. I don't know how to check the accounts, but if you are willing to check them, I will give them all to you tomorrow. What's wrong with that?"

"That's right!" Qingwen ran in while talking, glared at Xiaohong, and said, "Now it's just that she has an excuse to go home, so it's convenient for her to go in and out, so all the things outside are entrusted to her.

"But she is from the Jia family, not my Lin family! Although I didn't learn seriously when I was with Master Bao, I have sorted out those calligraphy books many times. My dear girl, if I learn to write, can you let me do your job outside?"

Lin Daiyu looked at Qingwen and smiled: "What's wrong with that? But you can't write yet, so can't we let the account accumulate interest after you learn it? Let Xiaohong take care of it first. If she can't do it well and you learn to write, I will let you take care of it, okay?"

Although Qingwen was unwilling, she just gave in. She turned around and pulled Xueyan to teach her a lesson: "You followed me all your life in vain! You can't even do these!"

Xueyan pouted and said nothing.

Aunt Meng, who had been listening for a long time, came in with a smile on her face. She first asked Xiaohong to return the purse, then asked Xueyan to put it away. She then asked everyone to leave and talked to Daiyu in private.

"You have to live your life on your own. No matter how complicated the household chores are, you have to be patient and learn them. Otherwise, how can you manage the household in the future? The servants below can only be well-behaved for a day, but not for a lifetime. You have to understand it yourself to control the villains."

After Aunt Meng finished speaking, she smiled and said, "I'm not good at this. But according to Supervisor Tao's personality, once I have recovered the girl's health, I'm sure I'll find a female teacher for this kind of work. There's no need to be too anxious."

This should be something that the mother should teach her daughter personally. If the mother had not died early, why would the maid, aunt, and uncle have the turn to worry about it?

Lin Daiyu couldn't help but think of Jia Min. She felt sad, but without saying much, she turned around and went to the mourning hall to burn paper and offer incense.

Aunt Meng felt so distressed when she saw this that she couldn't help but write another letter to Supervisor Tao.

The next day, Supervisor Tao asked Xiaohong to bring back a small package, which contained a reply to Aunt Meng, a letter to Lin Daiyu, and a thick envelope with unknown contents.

Aunt Meng read her letter first, and her face immediately turned ugly. She reached out to take the thick envelope, read it herself, and was so angry that her face turned blue and her whole body trembled. She went back to her room angrily.

Lin Daiyu and Zijuan looked at each other, both of them not knowing what was going on. When they asked Xiaohong, Xiaohong was also at a loss: "This thing was given to me by Supervisor Tao at home today, and he didn't let me see it. I don't know what it is either."

When Lin Daiyu heard that Tao Jian was at home today, she asked him if he looked well.

Xiao Hong smiled and said, "Tao Jian is fine, he's just busy. I caught up with him when he went home to change his clothes.

"It was just right that I went there and asked about the girl's situation. I also asked about the relationship between our family and that Taoist Ma. Fortunately, I went there, otherwise others might not know."

Lin Daiyu's heart was moved, and she asked with a smile: "I don't know either. Tell me about it."

Xiaohong told Daiyu everything she had heard: "This man had no contact with our family before. When Master Bao was born, he was holding a baby in his mouth, so the family was worried that he would be too delicate to be raised. Later, he was indeed weak and sickly, and the family became anxious.

"My mother forgot whether it was Zhou Rui's family or someone else who said that it would be better to find a poor and strong family outside and adopt a godmother as a foster mother. I think that would help.

"This Taoist Ma travels around the mansions of various dukes and marquises, and speaks to people in a human way and to ghosts in a ghost way. Everyone is happy to take care of her. When the wife of the young Marquis Shi heard about our family's affairs, she recommended her to come here.

"It's strange to say, Master Bao was very sick from the time he was born until he was one year old. I don't know how many medicines the wet nurse, Li Ma, drank, so that her milk could cure him and save his life.

"After she accepted Ma Dao-po, she often acted like a ghost, burning talismans and casting spells at every turn. Master Bao, on the other hand, was a little better.

"But isn't our East Mansion's master a Taoist? And there's also the Taoist priest Zhang Shenxian, who is the substitute for our Duke Rong at Qingxu Temple. Both of them look down on Ma Dao Po, saying that she is a pervert. Naturally, the East Mansion treats her indifferently.

"Our old lady is kind and generous, and my wife is a devout Buddhist. If she is kind to Ma Dao Po, she will often come to our house. Sometimes she also sells wild herbs, and the maids and concubines have more contact with her.

"I heard from my mother that in the past few years, not only Aunt Zhao, but even the Madam would often call her into the room to talk. The Lai Xi family, the Lai Wang family, the Zhou Rui family, all of them have made friends with Ma Dao Po."

When Xiao Hong said this, Lin Daiyu frowned and lowered her voice. She asked timidly, "Miss, I have told Supervisor Tao all these things, but I didn't get into trouble, did I?"

Lin Daiyu came back to her senses, pulled the corner of her mouth and shook her head: "No. I thought of something else. Go on, what else?"

"Also...Also, Supervisor Tao asked me if I knew who interacted most with Ma Dao Po during the time when the girl was away. How would I know that?

"I also asked Supervisor Tao if the woman had been caught. Supervisor Tao smiled and said that the woman had taken too much ill-gotten gains and was murdered by criminals for her money, so she died a long time ago.

"Tao Jian also said that the girl helped him a lot and that this matter has nothing to do with us, so he asked us not to mention it again."

Xiaohong is very good at talking.

Lin Daiyu listened for a while and nodded gently: "I understand."