Red Mansion: Holding Space and Marrying Like the Sea

The carriage slowly approached the main gate and stopped, the servants retreating to the side. Several wives hurried forward and carefully drew aside the curtains. Wang Xifeng stepped gracefully from the carriage. She held onto her personal maid, Feng'er, with one hand, while two other wives, holding the handles of the lampshades, followed closely behind her. Together, they escorted Wang Xifeng into the mansion.

Upon entering the Ningguo Mansion, Wang Xifeng was greeted by numerous wives of the family, offering warm and attentive hospitality. Then, with dignified demeanor, she slowly and gracefully entered the Dengxian Pavilion mourning hall in Huifang Garden. When she caught sight of the coffin, grief instantly washed over her. Her eyes welled up, and tears streamed down her face like beads from a broken string.

At that moment, many servants stood silently in the courtyard, heads bowed, ready to burn paper offerings as instructed. Wang Xifeng, suppressing her grief, ordered with a slightly trembling voice, "Hurry and serve tea and burn paper!" Suddenly, a clear and resounding gong rang out, followed by a chorus of instruments, a melodious melody filling the room. Meanwhile, a servant had already deftly brought a large, comfortable armchair and carefully placed it before the mourning hall. Wang Xifeng stepped forward, gracefully seated herself on it, and then burst into tears, heartbroken and unwavering.

The cry was like a thunderclap that split the sky, instantly echoing throughout the house, everywhere, men and women, and every corner. Hearing Wang Xifeng's heart-wrenching wail, everyone rushed to work, hastening to join her in wailing and wailing. For a moment, the entire place was filled with wailing and grief.

Not long after, Jia Zhen and Youshi sent someone to comfort Wang Xifeng. After some kind words of persuasion, Wang Xifeng gradually subsided. Lai Wang's wife then respectfully offered her a cup of fragrant tea to rinse her mouth. After rinsing her mouth, Wang Xifeng slowly stood up, bid farewell to her relatives and friends one by one, and then walked into the porch alone.

After entering the main hall, Wang Xifeng checked the list one by one. She found that almost everyone involved in the various matters had arrived, except for one person, who was responsible for welcoming and seeing off the guests. Wang Xifeng immediately ordered this person to be summoned. Soon, he arrived hurriedly, his face filled with fear and guilt.

Wang Xifeng sneered, her gaze fixed on the man before her with a piercing gaze. "I was wondering who was delaying us, and it turns out to be you! Normally, you seem more respectable than the others, but I never imagined you'd disobey my orders today." The man shuddered with fear and quickly bowed, explaining, "I usually come early every day and have never been late. But this morning, after waking up, I felt it was still early, so I thought I'd take a nap. Unexpectedly, I dozed off, and ended up being a little late. Please, Madam, be magnanimous and forgive me this time."

As the two were talking, they suddenly saw Wang Xing's wife from Rongguo Mansion walk in. She was seen peeking at the door, as if wanting to peek inside. Seeing this, Wang Xifeng temporarily put aside her thoughts on how to deal with the person in front of her and asked, "Wang Xing's wife, what are you doing here?"

Wang Xing's wife was extremely anxious and wanted to clarify the matter with Wang Xifeng immediately and make sure it was settled. She hurried into the house and said, "I'm here to get a ticket to collect the silk thread and to arrange for a taxi and sedan chair!" As she spoke, she respectfully handed a note to Wang Xifeng.

Seeing this, Wang Xifeng gestured to Caiming, who was standing nearby, to read aloud the contents of the notice. Caiming's clear voice echoed, "Two large sedan chairs are needed, four small sedan chairs, and four carriages. In addition, a number of cords of various sizes and a certain amount of bead thread weighing several kilograms are required." Wang Xifeng listened carefully, silently checking the numbers against the required items. Finding that everything matched up perfectly, she nodded with satisfaction and instructed Caiming to quickly complete the registration. She then found the corresponding card from the pile of matching cards in the Rongguo Mansion and tossed it to Wang Xing's wife. Wang Xing's wife took the card and happily left.

Meanwhile, just as Wang Xifeng was about to open her mouth to say something, four stewards from the Rongguo Mansion filed in. They too had come to claim something, each bearing a request. Still unhurried, Wang Xifeng asked Caiming to take each request and read it to her. Soon, Caiming had finished reading the contents of all four. Wang Xifeng listened intently, her brow furrowed slightly. She pointed at two of the requests and said, "You've miscalculated the costs for these two items. Go back and recalculate them before coming to me to claim them." With that, she mercilessly tossed the two requests to the ground. The stewards, brimming with joy at the prospect of receiving their desired items, were met with disappointment. Dejected, they picked up the requests and left.

At this moment, Wang Xifeng suddenly caught sight of Zhang Caijia, standing nearby, gazing at her intently, as if he had something to say. So, Wang Xifeng took the initiative and asked, "What are you doing here?" Zhang Caijia, beaming, stepped forward, quickly pulled out a note from his bosom, and presented it to Wang Xifeng with both hands, replying, "Second Madam, the carriage and sedan chair we've just finished, and I've come to collect the tailors' wages, which total several taels of silver." Wang Xifeng took the note, quickly glanced over it, and after confirming it was correct, handed it to Caiming, asking her to record it and keep it in the archives.

On that day, after Wang Xingjia respectfully handed over his card and carefully confirmed the purchases were correct, and after receiving the comprador's guarantee that they were completely consistent, he cautiously went with Zhang Caijia to collect the necessary items. At the same time, another person came forward to report that they needed to withdraw money to purchase paper materials and carry out mounting work for Baoyu's outer study.

Wang Xifeng, seated in the hall, listened to these words and immediately ordered the invitation to be accepted. She then had the attendant record the details in a register. She secretly decided to wait until Zhang Cai's family paid the full fee before distributing it to the person in charge of this matter.

But at this moment, Wang Xifeng's face suddenly darkened. Her glare swept across the hall with a fierce look, and she began to speak: "If he falls asleep tomorrow, and I fall asleep the day after tomorrow, won't I be too? If this continues, won't no one in the mansion be able to work properly in the future? I originally wanted to forgive him, but if I let him off easily this time, I'm afraid it will be difficult to control him if he makes another mistake in the future. It would be better to punish him severely now, so as to make an example of him and correct the atmosphere." Before she finished speaking, her eyebrows stood up, her face full of anger. She slammed the table and shouted, "Come, take this man out and give him twenty lashes!" Then, she threw the Ningguo Mansion plaque in her hand to the ground and said sternly, "Go and tell Laisheng that from this month on, he will be deprived of a month's salary and food rations!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was terrified into silence. Seeing Wang Xifeng's fury, they knew the gravity of the situation and dared not delay. The servants tasked with dragging the offender quickly sprang into action. Some rushed out to pull the person away, while those carrying counter-signs to deliver orders quickly departed to carry out their duties. Though the man being punished was unwilling, he had no choice but to allow himself to be dragged out of the hall and given a full twenty strokes of the cane. Even so, after the beating, he had to endure the pain and return to the hall to kowtow and express gratitude.

Fengjie said sternly, "If anyone makes a mistake and delays things tomorrow, they will be given forty lashes of the cane. If they make a mistake again the day after tomorrow, they will be given sixty lashes of the cane. If anyone wants to be beaten, just keep delaying!" After saying these harsh words, she waved to the crowd and ordered, "Disperse."

The people standing outside the window shuddered at these words and dispersed to get busy according to their duties. At this time, the stewards of Ningguo Mansion and Rongguo Mansion were busy coming and going, constantly collecting and returning badges. Those who had previously been whipped for their mistakes, feeling guilty, left the scene with their heads lowered and faces full of shame. After this incident, everyone truly experienced the powerful methods of Fengjie, and from then on, no one dared to be lazy or slack. Everyone was fully focused and conscientiously performed their duties to ensure that nothing went wrong. As for what happened next, we will not go into details here.

Seeing so many people gathered today, Baoyu worried that Qin Zhong might be wronged. So he quietly discussed with Qin Zhong their plan to go and visit Fengjie. Qin Zhong looked hesitant and whispered to Baoyu, "She's very busy and doesn't like to be disturbed. I'm afraid she'll be annoyed if we rush over like this." Baoyu replied nonchalantly, "Why would she dislike us? Don't worry, just follow me." Without further ado, Baoyu took Qin Zhong's hand and headed straight for the main hall.

It happened that Sister Feng had just finished her meal. When she looked up and saw the two of them coming, a smile immediately appeared on her face. She joked, "Wow, look at your long legs. You run so fast. Come up quickly." Baoyu responded with a smile, "Sister Feng, I'm sorry. We came at the wrong time and disturbed your meal." Sister Feng's mouth corners rose slightly, revealing a faint smile. She then asked softly, "Are you enjoying your meal outside the house here, or did you go to the other side to eat?" Baoyu quickly replied, "How can I eat with those vulgar people here! We were originally on the other side. Qin Zhong and I accompanied the old lady to finish our meal before coming here." After that, he went back to his seat and sat down.

At this time, Fengjie had just finished her meal and was about to get up to stretch her muscles when she suddenly saw a daughter-in-law from Ningguo Mansion hurriedly walking in. The daughter-in-law came forward, bowed respectfully to Fengjie, and said, "Second Madam, I'm here to get the card to withdraw incense and candles." After hearing this, Fengjie smiled gently and said, "I've been thinking that you should come to withdraw it today, but I waited and waited and there was no sign of you. I thought you had forgotten about it. Fortunately, I finally remembered it now. If you had come a little later, you would really not be able to get it. If you really forgot, then the cost would naturally have to be borne by you all, which saves me a lot of worry." The daughter-in-law hurriedly smiled and explained, "Oh, Second Madam, you are right, we almost forgot. As a result, I suddenly remembered this matter just now, and I was so scared that I hurried over to jog. If I had been a step later, I'm afraid I really wouldn't be able to get it." After that, she took the card from Fengjie, thanked her profusely, and turned to leave.

Soon, people began to arrive to register and hand in their badges. Qin Zhong, observing this, asked curiously, "I see both governments use these badges for official business. What if someone forges one, embezzles the money, and then escapes? What will happen?" Hearing this, Sister Feng couldn't help but laugh. "What you're saying doesn't mean there's no law in this world?" Baoyu, overhearing the conversation, stepped forward and said, "It's strange! Why doesn't anyone in our family take these badges to do their work?" Sister Feng said, "You were still asleep when they came to take them. Let me ask you, when will you finish your study tonight?" Baoyu said, "I wish I could do it right now, but I'm helpless if they don't clean up the study quickly." Sister Feng smiled and said, "If you ask me, I guarantee it will be done quickly." Baoyu said, "Even if you ask for speed, it won't help. They'll find the right place naturally." Sister Feng smiled and said, "Even if they do, they'll need the necessary materials. If I don't give them the right badges, it'll be difficult."

Upon hearing this, Baoyu leaped at Fengjie like a monkey, eagerly demanding the nameplate, shouting, "Good sister, give me the nameplate quickly so they can get their things." Fengjie chided him, "My tired body feels like it's being pricked by thousands of needles. How can I bear such torture? Don't worry, I just received the paper for the papermaking today. They still have to wait to be summoned for what they need. Isn't that stupid?" Baoyu was half-believing and half-doubting. Fengjie then summoned Caiming and showed Baoyu the nameplate. In the midst of the commotion, someone suddenly reported, "Zhao'er, who went to Suzhou, is here." Fengjie hurriedly ordered someone to call him in. After Zhao'er had paid his respects to Qian'er, Fengjie hurriedly asked, "What brings you back?" Zhao'er replied, "Second Master sent me back. Master Lin passed away at the hour of Si on the third day of the ninth month. Second Master and Miss Lin escorted Master Lin's coffin to Suzhou and will not be back until the end of the year. Second Master sent me back to report the news, pay my respects, ask Old Madam's opinion, and see if Grandma is doing well at home. He also asked me to bring some large woolen clothes." Fengjie then asked, "Have you met anyone else?" Zhao'er replied, "I have met everyone." With that, she hurriedly withdrew. Fengjie turned to Baoyu and said with a smile, "Your sister Lin will be living with us permanently now." Hearing this, Baoyu frowned and sighed, "Oh, I wonder how miserably she has cried these past few days."