Chapter 229 Descendants
On the morning of the second day, Xu Xiaojuan brought the maids and servants to Ziyun Hall. The housekeeper had finished her reply, but she saw the second wife of the West Mansion, Bai Jingyu, sitting on the right side of the hall. She and Meimei each held a bowl of tea and talked.
Cui Xi had seen the eldest aunt coming, so she leaned over and whispered something in Mei Mei's ear. Mei Mei ignored her and waited for the maid to announce loudly:
"My aunt is here!"
Then he said to Cui Xi: "If you have anything to say, please come in and tell me!"
Cui Xi came to the entrance of the hall and bowed to Xu Xiaojuan, saying, "Please come in, auntie!"
Xu Xiaojuan walked into the hall, bowed to the eldest and second sister-in-law with a smile and greeted them. Meimei was not surprised and accepted it calmly: This is Xu Xiaojuan, they have quarreled and made a scene many times, but when they met the next day, it was as if she had forgotten everything and did not mention the past. She only talked about the present and could talk about anything as if nothing had happened. She is similar to Xu Junying in that plaster effect. Could this be a common problem in the Xu family?
I don't like this and I will never let Heng'er get infected with this bad habit!
This time, Xu Xiaojuan was straightforward and quick. In a few words, she told him about settling Luo's cousin in Jinhua Hall. She also conveyed the old lady's words, asking her sister-in-law to write a note to withdraw 500 taels of silver to be used to tidy up and decorate Xianglan Pavilion, and to buy two sets of good clothes for the two cousins, some jewelry, perfume, and various small items commonly used by girls.
After Xu Xiaojuan finished speaking, the hall was silent for a while. Before Meimei spoke, Bai Jingyu smiled and said, "If the eldest aunt hadn't said it was a cousin, I would have thought it was a master of the Hou Mansion who wanted to tidy up the yard for a wedding! The eldest aunt doesn't know, right? For a family like ours, if we don't want to alarm others, it costs five hundred silver coins to marry a concubine! That's what the master of our own mansion does. If the eldest brother-in-law marries a concubine, it shouldn't be the money from the Hou Mansion, right? The concubine of the Li family marries into the Xu family. What does that mean? It's a matter of face for both families. No matter how much the old lady loves her granddaughter, she shouldn't arrange it like this!"
Meimei almost spit out the tea in her mouth. Xu Xiaojuan's face turned red and white. She glared at Bai Jingyu: "Second sister-in-law, what a boring conversation you had! Who is going to marry a concubine? Our master... Li Zhao is studying hard and making progress without any distractions! The people who came yesterday were really from the Zhuang family. They are my grandmother's family members, that is, my father's uncle. How can we not pay attention to etiquette and treat them well? Is it so easy to be my aunt? I ran around for this matter, and you just sit here and drink tea and make fun of me!"
Bai Jingyu smiled and looked at Meimei: "That's good, you made me guess blindly! What do you think, sister-in-law?"
Meimei said, "Last night I only heard the housekeeper in the inner courtyard say that a guest came in, but I didn't see Jinhua Hall come to announce it. Because I was busy looking at the account book, I couldn't go to see the guest in person. Since it was said by my eldest aunt herself, it must be true. It's my cousin who came! Has she arranged to live in Xianglan Pavilion? I think it would be better to find another courtyard. After all, Xianglan Pavilion is too close to my eldest aunt's Yuehua Courtyard, and I'm afraid it will worry my eldest brother-in-law's studies. But since it was decided by the old lady herself, I can't intervene and make changes. But the matter of cleaning up and decorating the courtyard is not something that my eldest aunt needs to worry about. There are dozens of housekeepers in the Hou Mansion, and the maids are all waiting to be assigned tasks. Just give it to them according to the rules, and you won't have to spend a penny of silver - each The houses and furniture in the courtyard have been recently rechecked and are in good condition. If there is anything that needs to be purchased, the storehouse has everything. The girls will be given two pieces of silk and satin that they like, and they can make whatever they like. This summer, the mansion has bought three sets of clothes for each person. Since these two cousins are in time, we will make them! As for jewelry, we dare not give away expensive ones casually to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. Let the girls give them some new pearl and gauze flowers that they have collected and have not used. I will compensate the girls separately. Rouge and powder are sent from the palace. No matter how precious they are, they are the best! Cui Xi will now tell the maids to do it and ask the servants at Xianglan Pavilion to take them to the old lady for a look!"
Xu Xiaojuan was going to use the old lady's name to blackmail Meimei, thinking that Meimei still didn't dare to go against the old lady's wishes. However, she responded this time, and it was obvious that she was unwilling to take out the money again. She couldn't help but feel angry and disappointed. Seeing Cui Xi walk to the hall to call the housekeeper, she felt bored, and without saying much, she walked out of Ziyun Hall with her face raised.
After the maid who was in charge of the business left, Bai Jingyu shook his head gently: "My eldest aunt has such a temper and behaves like this, I can't tolerate her!"
Meimei leaned on the table with her hand on her chin, looking bored. "I can't stand her either! What can I do? I'll kick her out, and then let the old lady jump up and scold me. I can't stand it and make her angry to death. Then I'll make the sick eldest wife restless and make the unmarried sisters feel disappointed? Forget it!"
She looked at Bai Jingyu: "People outside envy the rich families for their splendor and wealth, but they don't know how uncomfortable it is to live in a house like this! I still have to live with it for the rest of my life, what can I do?"
Bai Jingyu chuckled, "Look at your sad face. If you don't know, you'd be considered a bullied daughter-in-law! What's your position? The old lady can't hold you back. You just don't argue with her out of filial piety. The eldest aunt only made trouble here. She's not stupid. She's taken advantage of everything. If she continues to make trouble, it will do her no good. I'm in charge of the West Mansion, but it's really annoying!"
Meimei was curious: "What's there to worry about? Tell me, I've been feeling really bored lately!"
"My troubles are to relieve your boredom?"
Bai Jingyu stared at her, but could do nothing: "This time when the mansion was divided, the West Mansion got a great deal. There are many farms and shops in the city, cash in silver shops, and floating wealth in the open. Once these are divided, they will be handed over to me and Rulan to manage. We will set up a separate register to manage them. You also know that there can't be two tigers in one mountain, and there can't be two heads of the family in one mansion. Now that Rulan is pregnant, all the affairs of the mansion will be handed over to me. I must also be in charge of the West Mansion's internal affairs, because I am the eldest daughter-in-law of the second room. This is the convention. I will not give up this right, and I can manage the household affairs with fairness. But it has been less than three months, and the West Mansion has begun to be chaotic-naturally, it was from the master and the wife that the chaos started. The second master and the second wife are like the old lady in the Hou Mansion, weighing on me. ", we used to be a big family in the Hou Mansion, so we still had some concerns, but now we have our own small family. When the two elders want to withdraw money and property, they don't follow the rules at all and each gives their own slip. If I tell them, there will be a quarrel. The second master and the second wife accuse each other and ask where the money and property were taken and what they did with it? I know the second wife. My grandmother is still alive and her family needs subsidies. She tried her best to take some back, but I really don't understand the second master. Thousands of taels of silver were gone in a few days. He also spoiled Madam Yan too much. I heard that he bought farms and real estate for Madam Yan's family. When the fifth son needed a large sum of money, the second master came forward to get it... If this goes on, what will happen to the West Mansion? One day, we will have to divide the family, but I don't know how much we can really get by then?"
Meimei looked at her and said, "Aren't you a very capable housekeeper? The rules set in front of the whole family must be followed, and the Second Master and Second Mistress cannot violate them!"
Bai Jingyu smiled: "What's the use of me being so powerful? Just like the old lady and you, the old lady said she must, didn't you give it to her?"
Meimei shook her head: "I never thought that the Xu family would be in such a mess after the division!"
Bai Jingyu said, "That's true. If the Xu Mansion is not divided, there will be no chaos. This is because the first house is stable. The old lady favors the second house and indulges the second house. The second house is used to it. If the West House is divided, there will be chaos. No matter how much ancestral property is given, it will be useless. If the second and third masters don't divide the family early, one day they will get nothing! I am now trying my best to hold on to the family property and can't let them make too much trouble. The second master listened to me and saw the truth. Now he is of the same mind as me!"
"They are just three brothers, why did it become like this?"
Bai Jingyu smiled bitterly: "There's nothing wrong with the second and third masters. The fifth master is just spoiled and has no ulterior motives. It's the second master and the second mistress who started the chaos first..."
Meimei drank a sip of tea leisurely: "The second wife moves back to her parents' home, and the second master goes out to socialize. At most, he can go to those brothels to drink and play with girls. Can this squander all the family property? What you divided up is a mountain of gold and silver!"
Bai Jingyu said angrily, "Look at what you said! Do we really have to squander it all to count? Can the inheritance left by our ancestors only support this generation? It should at least provide for three generations of descendants! How can we allow this to happen without considering future generations?"
Meimei nodded: "That does make sense, but descendants will have their own blessings. Why think so much and so far? You only have one eldest sister. It's none of your business if she gets married!"
Bai Jingyu put down his teacup and glanced at her: "You are bullying me because I don't have a son. You look down on me, right? I must give birth to a son to show you!"
Meimei was startled, looking at Bai Jingyu's hand covering her belly: "You, are pregnant?"
Bai Jingyu smiled brightly: "Thanks to my sister-in-law, I was diagnosed yesterday and it has been a month!"
"No wonder he's trying so hard to protect his family property, that's why!"
Meimei teased her, congratulated her, and promised to have someone send a gift over later. Bai Jingyu just smiled and did not refuse. It seemed that she was still immersed in the joy of her sudden pregnancy and had not yet come to her senses.
At noon, lunch was delivered to Ziyun Hall, and Xia Lian came over carrying Heng'er. Bai Jingyu insisted on holding Heng'er, saying that she got pregnant after holding Heng'er last time, and if she held him again this time, she would definitely give birth to a son. Meimei was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, what a superstitious old man!
After inviting Bai Jingyu to have lunch together, Cui Xi came back and talked about the matters of Xianglanxie. She said that the old lady didn't say anything and approved the young lady's arrangement. It was okay not to pay any money, but she should remember to take good care of the relatives and not let the two cousins down.
Bai Jingyu said, "Tonight we will go to Jinhua Hall to serve dinner and meet these two cousins. But you can't really give them the same monthly allowance as the girls in the Xu Mansion. That's against the rules. There are many relatives in the Xu Mansion, and there are countless cousins. Will it be like this every time they come? This is also what the old lady is using to embarrass you. Don't take it seriously!"
Meimei nodded: "Forget it, we only have one eldest aunt, and we can only make one exception!"
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