Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

In the evening, Aunt Meng calmed down and came out to have dinner with Lin Daiyu.

After washing up after dinner, the two of them sat by the window to enjoy the cool air and chatted. They asked everyone else to go downstairs, and then they had a thorough chat.

The next day, Aunt Meng started to spend the "thank you gift" from Lady Jia that Yuanyang had sent her. Today she had wine, tomorrow she had snacks, and the day after tomorrow she was tired of the food at home and insisted on eating out at a designated restaurant.

Chunxian had long since swapped jobs with Xiaohong, and now only followed Zijuan to serve Lin Daiyu. Only Xiaohong was being ordered around by Aunt Meng, but she was not flustered, and even kept the public and private accounts clearly separated without any mistakes.

Half a month later, Aunt Meng asked for her own account book, which was clear and neat, and she was delighted. She showed it to Daiyu and discussed it with her.

Zijuan saw it all but said nothing.

On the second day of June, Aunt Meng specifically asked Xiaohong to invite Lin Zhixiao's family to come and asked her mother and daughter in person: "Your daughter is well-educated and has many skills. I would like to ask on behalf of Miss Lin whether she is willing to serve you for a long time."

Lin Zhixiao's family was stunned.

Xiao Hong was beaming with joy, and said hurriedly: "I have had this idea for a long time, but I didn't dare to say it, for fear that the young lady would despise me for being clumsy and talkative. If the young lady is willing to respect me like this, I would like to serve the young lady for the rest of my life!"

Then he knelt down and kowtowed, "Aunt, please tell the girl that not only me, but our whole family is willing to serve her!"

Aunt Meng smiled and pulled her up.

"How can this be possible?" Lin Zhixiao's wife denied in a voiceless voice, "We are the children of the Jia family, not outsiders like Qingwen! Moreover, all the relatives and old friends of the family are here, and your father is the housekeeper. How can the master let us go?"

"It's our family that did the hard work, but it's the Lai family that got the good results." Xiaohong retorted, and advised her mother, "I'm the only one in our family. In this family, my best future is to marry into the Lai family and become a housekeeper.

"But the Lai family has now provided an official. Lai Shangrong has the power of the two governments and was admitted through a formal examination. How can his family look down on me?

"Or should I be the young masters' concubine? Second Madam Lian is so powerful. Being a concubine to Second Master Lian means I am tired of living!

"Master Bao seems to have a bright future, but he is a weak-willed person. His wife may not be able to choose a capable woman to support him for the next thirty or fifty years. If I become his concubine, can I defeat Xiren or can I defeat his wife?

"Besides, I was brought up by my parents and taught myself many skills. Am I going to be confined to a small room and wither and die like Aunt Zhao and Aunt Zhou?

"I don't want to! I'm even more unwilling!"

Xiaohong said this and started crying.

Aunt Meng sighed and patted Xiaohong's head, looking at Lin Zhixiao's family: "Think about what I said. This child is really good, I can't bear to let her go with the girl, so that she can go out in the future.

“I can have a successor to my skills.

"But if you two were still in Rongguo Mansion, you should also understand that Miss Lin would not take Xiaohong away.

"Go back and discuss it with your old man, and give me an answer in two or three days."

So, he could go out with Miss Lin and become an apprentice to the palace's female official? !

Lin Zhixiao's wife was heart-pounding. She said that she would discuss it with her husband, and hurried back, trying to persuade Lin Zhixiao in every way possible.

Naturally, Lin Zhixiao was unwilling to leave - even Lin Zhixiao's family might not know how powerful the second steward of Rongguo Mansion was and how majestic he was when he went out.

In the end, Lin Zhixiao's wife got anxious, closed the door tightly, and yelled at him with her neck straight, "On the night when the queen came to visit her parents, the emperor went out of the palace in plain clothes, brought only three or four people, and secretly came to see Sister Lin in person!

"How do you know that Sister Lin's future prospects will definitely not be as good as Rongguo Mansion?! What if?! What if she is more promising than the queen, won't our daughter also rise with the tide?

"Besides, the queen talks about her glory, but how much benefit her family has received? Others may not know, but don't we know? Three to five thousand silver coins are not enough for a few dinners and drinks for the gentlemen!

"The hole in the mansion is so big, no matter how we try to fix it, even if money falls from the sky, it can't be filled! Taking advantage of such a good opportunity, if we don't retreat quickly, are we waiting to be buried with him!?"

Lin Zhixiao sat silently for a long while, then slammed the table and threw the bench in annoyance: "I have so many things to do, so much money, and so many lives to worry about! Madam and Second Master, you will never let me leave the house even if you kill me!"

These words made Lin Zhixiao's legs go weak and he fell to the ground, bursting into tears.

The next day, Lin Zhixiao found an opportunity and came to Lixiangyuan. He stood at the back door and kowtowed to Aunt Meng: "We are all willing to follow Miss Lin, but I am afraid that the master and his wife will not let us go."

"That's none of your business." Aunt Meng asked him to stand up with a smile, "As the saying goes, a man who knows the times is a hero. Your family is all good."

From that day on, except for the expenses of the Jia family for Lin Daiyu, all the food, clothing and personal property of Lin Daiyu were handed over to Xiaohong for management. Zijuan also said nothing.

Xiao Hong was like a chicken with its blood pumped up. In three days she went through all the things one by one, registered them, and put them away in boxes and warehouses.

On the fourth day, he asked Lin Daiyu for permission to sort out her books and essays.

Lin Daiyu was overjoyed and asked her how she wanted to organize them. Xiaohong blushed and said that she wanted to count them all, classify them, and record which books were on which shelf, so that the girl could find them easily and they would not be lost easily.

Lin Daiyu clapped her hands and was excited, so she joined her to clean up. Zijuan wanted to help, but was stopped. She advised Lin Daiyu to "be careful not to hurt your waist", but was ignored.

Zijuan lowered her eyes and left.

Aunt Meng was very happy to see the master and servant busy, but she was worried that Xueyan would be unhappy, so she asked her to drink with her in the evening.

Unexpectedly, Xueyan was very open-minded and did not feel that her power and favor were taken away. Instead, she asked Aunt Meng curiously: "Aunt, since you are willing to take Xiaohong's family away, why don't you ask Sister Zijuan's family?"

Aunt Meng sighed, "There's nothing I can do. Zijuan has no ambition."

Xueyan was stunned.

"With His Majesty's remembrance of Lord Lin, and with the love that Supervisor Tao has for the young lady, and the young lady herself being as pretty as a fairy, anyone who follows her will have a bright future.

"Xiaohong has been trying her best to show off in front of me and the girl for this future. If I say we are moving away, do you think she will abandon her family to follow the girl?"

Aunt Meng asked softly.

Xueyan nodded without hesitation: "She will definitely do it! That day, when she saw that the shop had made more than 10,000 silver coins in half a year, her eyes sparkled green! I saw it!"

"But will Zijuan know how to do it?"

"..." Xueyan thought for a while, then pouted and said, "Sister Zijuan is gentle, and she has a large family. Her brothers and sisters are all mediocre, and her parents rely on her. She can't leave!"

"so……"