At the Duke Liguo's Mansion, Liu Biao never expected that his grandson, who had been decided to be exiled, suddenly seemed to have another future.
He looked at his grandson in front of him, twirling the ring on his hand, and a smile gradually appeared on his face.
"Grandpa~"
Liu Xianglian also smiled, "Please help me, Grandfather."
He still needed his grandfather's help with the three matchmakers and six betrothal arrangements before the marriage.
"Hmm~, did you see the girl from the You family?"
"yes!"
Liu Xianglian himself was satisfied.
Seeing his grandson's ears turn red, Liu Biao couldn't help but smile, "Okay, although the You family's family background is a bit low, Grandma You and Jia Zhen are still good."
The most important thing is that it was Shen who arranged this marriage for his grandson.
"I have asked Liu Zhong to invite the official media."
Liu Biao really has no money now. "Grandfather can get the rest for you, but the betrothal gift..."
"The grandson will come out on his own."
Liu Xianglian quickly interjected, "What do you think of thirty-two lifts?"
"Can!"
It’s too little, and it’s not good for their family’s reputation.
Liu Biao agreed, "When you have time, go to the Jia family more often. The You family has no male heirs, so you are almost the son-in-law of Old Man You. Supporting a family requires more than just violence. Although your mother left behind a lot of property, my Liu family has also been rich before, right?"
The four kings and eight dukes, each one of them was once very powerful.
But what about now? Except for Prince Beijing, who has royal blood and has always been treated preferentially, the other families, namely the Jia family, have successfully transformed.
No, it doesn’t seem to have completely transformed.
It was just that the emperor trusted the Jia family again because of Madam Shen.
Liu Biao is sometimes quite confused.
How come the Jia family is under the nose of the retired emperor and has the emperor's trust?
Shen's attacks here and there almost turned the entire Jia family into a laughing stock.
Is this...destruction followed by construction?
Waving his hand to let Liu Xianglian leave, Liu Biao kept reviewing the rise of the Jia family.
In the end, I could only sigh.
The Liu family cannot follow the Jia family’s path.
There are no brilliant people among the descendants of the Liu family, but there is no one like Jia Zheng who is a hopeless case.
Each of them has his own ideas, and they all think that their way is the best and that the tribe should support them.
But the Liu family...
Liu Biao closed his eyes and let go.
The emperor is still a wise ruler.
If you have the ability, rely on yourself! This night, some families are happy, while others are sad.
Even the second and third sisters of You Jie were engaged. After watching her brother write another long piece of calligraphy, Baochai returned to her room feeling somewhat melancholy.
She thought about her own life from You Erjie and You Sanjie.
The person of the Jia family who is about the same age as her is Jia Rong.
Baochai had seen him from afar several times and knew that he was a man of both civil and military talents.
But she had already been engaged a long time ago.
Although Qin Keqing's family background was not very good, she saved Mrs. Shen's life.
Even the Queen Mother liked Madam Shen more because of her care and concern for her from time to time.
In the school, the girl was indeed outstanding.
Baochai sighed softly.
My mother always placed her hopes on my eldest uncle, wanting to get her into the palace.
But even if she could enter the palace, given her family background, she could only go through the minor selection.
Baochai has read the palace reports these days. Many palace maids who were selected as minors have been released from the palace.
Her Majesty the Queen must vigorously rectify the Salesian Bureaus in various places.
All the palace maids who left the palace were sent to the Salesian Bureau.
Even if they run the Salesian Bureau extremely well, what’s the use? Baochai tossed and turned in bed, thinking about the consequences of entering the palace and not being favored by the emperor.
She will also waste time in the palace, and eventually be released and sent to the Charity Bureau.
By that time, she might not even be as good as You Erjie.
what to do? The next day, after breakfast, Shen Ning saw Baochai while taking a walk.
"Baochai greets her aunt!"
She followed Jia Zhu and the others in calling her.
"Why are you being polite? You're here quite early today!"
In the past, didn’t Baochai always accompany Aunt Xue to handle affairs until the 9th hour? Coincidentally, this was also the time for Yingchun and the others to return to the academy after finishing their work at the East Palace.
"Yes, there is not much to do at home today, so I came here early."
The Xue family's business is related to both the Jia family and the Wang family. The better the relationship between the two families, the more profits the shopkeepers will report.
Baochai had long seen through the reason behind this.
Therefore, when her mother sent expensive gifts to her uncle's house, she could only pretend not to see it.
She advised.
They lived in the Jia family, but in fact, cousin Wang Xifeng provided more help to the family.
If there is anything, just give her a call and she will immediately ask Wang'er to accompany you.
Thanks to her cousin, Baochai felt that she had regained complete control of this shop in the capital.
But my mother always values my uncle's family more.
Even though the second uncle ignored them, the eldest uncle would only send a letter when he came back.
"Are you going to visit your cousin's wife to see the baby?"
"Yeah, I just walked past it."
Shen Ning smiled back at her.
"Then I'll go with you. I met with everyone a few days ago."
Baochai naturally held Chen Ning's arm, "Brother Zhu's Lan'er changes almost every day."
"That's how all kids are."
Shen Ning was more curious about why she was looking for her, "When I was a child, I saw the wind grow."
“I see!”
Baochai smiled, "Last time my cousin's wife said that the baby's name had not been chosen yet. I wonder now..."
“It’s still not done.”
Shen Ning won't take the blame for this.
Vine, Mu, banana, nettle, vine, shrub...
There are so many possible names.
But Jia Zhen was overwhelmed by the choices.
Originally, she wanted to make the decision, but this guy seemed to be a father for the first time, and she was too lazy to discourage his enthusiasm.
"It's up to them, as long as they decide before the first birthday."
The little girl didn't tell her why she came, so Shen Ning didn't know how to ask.
When the two men went to You's room, the little guy was asleep.
He looks a little fatter than when he was just born.
Chen Ning touched his little hand carefully, without quarreling with him, and took Baochai to the outer room.
"Mother, my sisters are doing a good job of housekeeping."
Mrs. You didn't want to leave her son for a moment. "Why don't you let them take care of him as before?"
"As long as you can let them take care of it, I have no problem with that."
Shen Ning doesn’t care.
Learn more and see more, at least they will be able to manage their own wealth in the future.
No matter in which era, having money is the confidence.
Youshi left the household chores to Yingchun and the others to practice on, but she still had to take care of her own dowry and the property that was later transferred to her from the Lai family.
Just like the original body, even though the housekeeper power was given to Youshi early on, her own dowry and the property given by her mother-in-law were not given away.
These things will not be handed over until the moment of death.
Chen Ning sometimes feels that ancient people lived more clearly than modern people.
Many elderly people nowadays give their money to their children at an early age, but due to favoritism, the distribution is not fair. When they need money to save their lives, no one will give it to them.
In the Dream of the Red Chamber, the Lin family was wiped out. Some people say that if Lin Ruhai had adopted a son, Lin Daiyu would not have had such a hard life.
Shen Ning sometimes feels quite ridiculous.
Lin Ruhai was not an adopted son, so of course he wanted to give everything to his daughter.
This is what he thought and what he did.
The problem was that Jia Zheng, as the uncle, was not a human being. He was both in power and allowed Wang to bully his own niece.
But Grandmother Jia was old, and she sacrificed Lin Daiyu for the sake of her so-called family.
But Baoyu, who has feelings for his daughter, is a wimp.
It was the combination of these factors that made Daiyu so miserable.
If any one of these three was stronger, things wouldn't be like that.
In fact, there is another person in the Dream of the Red Chamber who is in a similar situation to Daiyu.
Xia Jingui, whom Xue Pan married, also had no brothers.
The Xia family didn't want to have an adopted son.
He also wanted to give everything to his daughter Xia Jingui.
People in ancient times were not so obsessed with so-called adopted sons and incense, but in modern times many people are obsessed with them.
"Okay, I'll post it tomorrow."
You Shi didn't know how much Shen Ning had been thinking about at this moment, so she smiled and said, "Please ask them to continue to be my housekeepers and give them salaries."
Her sisters are in charge of the household, which saves her a lot of money.
Several major compradors in the Outer Court were all fired and their properties were confiscated.
Nowadays, compradors will compare products from three different stores. The things they deliver may not be perfect, but they are not so unusable that they can’t even be used.
Anyway, the cosmetics that Youshi used before cannot be used.
She has always been the one who spends extra money to buy it.
The money she spent on cosmetics alone amounted to dozens of taels of silver a year.
So Youshi was very generous in giving some salary to her sisters.
"Okay, when they get their salary, let them treat us to Tianxianghe's roast duck."
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law smiled at each other.
Tianxianglou was opened by the two of them as a partnership.
Baochai felt that there was something wrong with their smiles, but she was now concerned about the salaries of Yingchun and the others.
In fact, since becoming the housekeeper, Yingchun and others have benefited a lot.
I don’t know how much Madam Shen and Grandma You subsidized them.
But she helps her mother manage the household...
On this day, Baochai was in an extremely complicated mood.
But the little sisters were in a very good mood.
Except for her, who has to help her mother with the household chores, everyone else will receive a post from Grandma You.
After returning home, Baochai inevitably mentioned this to Aunt Xue.
"I think Grandma You mainly wants to save some private money for her two sisters."
Aunt Xue didn't think too much about it, nor did she pay much attention to her daughter's bad face. She just felt that Youshi was taking public money for her own benefit. "She took the money from Ningguo Mansion to please her mother-in-law and sister-in-law, and at the same time, she was open and aboveboard and let her two sisters benefit from it as well."
This is what is considered scheming.
Aunt Xue looked at her daughter and said, "You should learn more from me."
Why is it that Youshi is able to gain a more and more stable position in Ningguo Mansion? It's not just about today's children.
“This scheme and method…, I’m afraid Mrs. Shen didn’t see it.”
Aunt Xue sighed, "From this point of view, your cousin Feng is far behind. They are all sisters-in-law in this family, and she has to go over from time to time to help the sisters-in-law solve their problems."
As a result, she was very happy.
"No wonder the You family has fallen into such decline. She was able to marry into the East Palace and help her two sisters find good husbands."
Unfortunately, her daughter Baochai is far from being comparable to Youshi.
Aunt Xue also hopes that her daughter can be like Mrs. You and support the family.
"I heard that she also saved up a lot of dowry for You Erjie and You Sanjie."
Aunt Xue sneered, "Everyone says that Madam Shen is extremely smart, but I think she is just so-so. Youshi moved her things to her parents' home in front of her, and she also..."
"Mom~"
Baochai interrupted, "Second Sister You and Third Sister You are not Grandma You's biological sisters. She can consider them because Old Lady You treated her very well before. How could Madam Shen not know the situation of their family? She is also thinking of the kindness that Old Lady You showed to Grandma You."
How can everything in this world be determined solely by interests? Baochai goes to school at Ningcuixuan. From the floor heating in Ningcuixuan to the door curtains, window screens and other details, one can deeply feel Mrs. Shen's care for the girls.
"My uncle is favored by the emperor, but he is still my uncle, and we are ourselves."
Her mother felt much more proud because of her uncle.
That won't work.
The Jia family and the Wang family are not completely incompatible, but they are not much different.
"Let's not talk about us living here. Just talk about my brother and me. Just think about it, if we can't go to school here, what will happen? Who can control my brother? Can you still point to my second uncle?"
My second uncle spent his time eating, drinking, whoring and gambling.
Cousin Wang Ren followed suit.
What can my brother learn if he goes to his uncle's house?
"You always tell us about your uncle, but when he came back to Beijing, did he ever say he would meet us outside and talk to us?"
There is only a little bit of love when we meet.
He didn't even see her, but just took money from her...
Baochai was actually very upset.
Their family had several shops in Jinling that were taken over by the Wang family.
When she came to Beijing, her mother gave her a lot of gifts.
With so much silver, Baochai felt that it would be better to give it to anyone rather than to her uncle's family.
"Don't you know what's going on with the Jia family and your uncle? You keep mentioning it. If this gets to Mrs. Shen's ears, do you think Cousin Zhu and Cousin Feng will still let us live here?"
It's impossible.
Although cousin Zhu is also very good to her mother and very close to her.
However, Cousin Zhu was only closer to, loved, and respected Madam Shen, his aunt.
The same goes for cousin Feng.
She didn't have any children yet, so she wasn't affected when the Wang and Jia families were at their worst. Firstly, it was because the wife of Lian's second sister was quite nice and always protected her, and secondly, it was because Madam Shen never took her anger out on her. Instead, she felt that she was implicated by her family and supported her a lot.
If she were cousin Feng, who is not the mother-in-law but is better than the mother-in-law, she would also be sincerely filial.
Why is it that their Xue family is worthy of Cousin Zhu and Cousin Feng to defend them at all costs, regardless of the fact that they are such good elders?
"Mom, my brother has already started to learn the laws of Dazhao."
Baochai had no way to deal with her mother.
She is also her daughter. When her father passed away, she was younger than her brother.
But towards her brother, she just doted on him, even though she knew it was wrong, she still doted on him regardless.
But for her...
"Just have more faith in him, he will get better and better."
Although they couldn't learn from Madam Shen, the third and fourth aunts of the Jia family were also very good at teaching their sons.
Both Min Jianbai and Lin Changan are striving to be both civil and military.
"Don't think about us relying on my uncle's family all day long."
Baochai advised her mother, "If he can study for a few more years there, and if he can't take the civil service exam, it will definitely not be a problem for him to maintain the family business." (End of this chapter)
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