Chapter 47 Can Farming Avoid Confiscating Property?
As the moon rises, the Milky Way twinkles.
A gentle breeze swept through the stream outside Rongyue Courtyard, carrying a touch of coolness, and brushed against our faces, sweeping away the heat of early summer.
“Sister, no wonder everyone is scrambling for Rongyue Courtyard. If I knew how good Rongyue Courtyard was, I would have snatched it too.” Wang Xifeng stretched comfortably. In Rongyue Courtyard, she could finally let down her guard and be carefree.
There are at least eighty or a hundred major and minor matters to attend to every day in the Rongguo Mansion, and she handles twenty or thirty of them. Even if she streamlines and distributes the tasks among her subordinates, she still has more than a dozen things to deal with personally every day.
Wang Xifeng felt like a firefighter, putting out fires on one side and extinguishing fires on another. Wherever there was a mistake, it was her, the matriarch, who was responsible.
Because of her previous prestige, the servants of the Rongguo Mansion treated her like mice before a cat, which saved her some trouble.
Even so, she still felt it was unbearable to keep going every day, and thinking about her fate, she often felt it would be better to just wrap things up now...
It was only after recognizing Yuan Hongqu that she felt there was some hope for the future.
Yuan Hongqu handed her a glass of red wine.
Wang Xifeng raised her eyebrows.
"1982 Lafite?"
Upon hearing this, Yuan Hongqu stumbled and nearly spilled the wine in her hand on Wang Xifeng. It's truly amazing that she could come up with such a thing!
"You wish!"
Wang Xifeng laughed heartily, then suddenly had a brilliant idea.
"If we start making a batch of wine every year from now on and accumulate it slowly, maybe in the future our family's red wine will be an inexhaustible supply of 1982 Lafite."
She knew that her older sister Yuan knew how to make wine, and that Yuan even knew how to make the wooden barrels and corks for storing wine.
"Sister Yuan, how about we plant grapes?"
Yuan Hongqu sighed, "Having a die-hard fan who knows me too well traveling through time with me is really not a good thing!"
"The ginseng hasn't even been grown yet, and you're already thinking so far ahead!" Yuan Hongqu didn't have any grand ambitions; she just wanted to take good care of Daiyu.
She didn't want to be as tired as she was in her previous life.
"Sister, I think if the Rongguo Mansion were to prioritize farming and scholarship from now on, and become a family of scholars and farmers, we would probably avoid being raided again. But if we only farm, how can those fields support so many people, hundreds of people in total!"
Wang Xifeng felt that she had found a broad and promising path.
"The women's virtue class was changed to a flower and gardening class a few days ago. The mansion even specially invited a teacher from the imperial estate to teach it. Even Baoyu has to learn it."
Wang Xifeng was smug, because it was only at her strong suggestion that this course was successfully introduced into the Rongguo Mansion's curriculum.
"I think farming may be the only way for the Rongguo Mansion to survive."
She had read many farming novels, and with Yuan Hongqu by her side as a powerful cheat code, she felt that God wanted her to lead the Rongguo Mansion to farm, as this was the only way to save these people.
Yuan Hongqu looked at Wang Xifeng speechlessly, seeing her full of enthusiasm, and couldn't bear to dampen her spirits.
Could it be that the success of cherry tomatoes has boosted her confidence?
A cherry tomato drove Jia Baoyu mad to grow ginseng, changed Jia Lian's nature to tend the farmland, and made Wang Xifeng believe that farming was the only way out for the Rongguo Mansion.
Did I give her some wrong hint?
"Feng'er, wake up." Yuan Hongqu couldn't help but remind Wang Xifeng.
Don't think it's that simple.
"Think about it, who initially suggested that you go into loan sharking?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Xifeng felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her head. She jolted awake from her beautiful dream of vast vineyards and fertile fields.
"It's Zhou Rui's family's."
"How dare she, a mere servant, do something like bewitching the mistress of the house?"
"It's thanks to Madam Wang's support!" Wang Xifeng suddenly realized the situation.
“You’re not entirely stupid,” Yuan Hongqu said meaningfully.
"You've been in charge of the household all these years, and you've contributed the majority of the dowry. Before you, did the wives who were in charge of the household also contribute in the same way? Logically speaking, the Rongguo Mansion has been a noble family for generations. Even if the family property was divided and the assets were reduced, how could it be like this? Where did all the money in your family go?"
Wang Xifeng shook her head.
"I only recently realized what was going on. I originally thought she was my aunt and would never cheat me."
"But now the company is terribly in debt. I don't know if the debt was already there when she took over, or if it only started flowing out after I got it. So, I don't dare go to her..."
Wang Xifeng took a small sip of wine. It was slightly astringent at first, but the aftertaste was sweet and mellow, and the aroma lingered in her mouth for a long time.
She thought that drinking wine would only make her more sorrowful, but to her surprise, the wine made her feel refreshed and even a little happy.
"Sister, is this wine you brewed yourself?" Wang Xifeng asked impatiently.
Yuan Hongqu did not reply, which can be taken as an admission.
Wang Xifeng perked up immediately, but she didn't dwell on the wine issue. Since it was brewed by her sister Yuan herself, it wouldn't be difficult for her to ask for some to drink in the future.
The most important thing now is to hear if Sister Yuan has any ideas on how to stop the financial losses incurred by her as the housekeeper.
Yuan Hongqu's speculation in this direction was merely a guess; she dared not be entirely certain that it was Lady Wang's doing. However, it was clear that Wang Xifeng's decision to cultivate the land was wrong.
So what if they farm? They keep hundreds of powerful servants at home, and those servants act more like local minor officials than any other servant.
These people are mostly good; they use the reputation of the mansion to commit evil deeds outside.
While it's true that you have to consider the owner before beating a dog, there's also the saying that a person raises a dog that reflects their character.
If a dog bites someone too often, the owner will face a lot of trouble.
"Since they don't dare to go to her, those people below will have to rely on what slips through Lian Er Nai Nai's fingers to make a living, right?"
"The most urgent task for your household is not to make a statement to the Emperor, nor is it to farm. It is to purge those parasites from your household and then establish a good reputation. If you have a good reputation, when the Emperor wants to take action against you, won't he have to think twice?"
Seeing that Wang Xifeng remained oblivious, Yuan Hongqu couldn't help but speak out:
"You haven't heard about the official protection talisman outside? Do you think that's a good reputation?"
Wang Xifeng asked in confusion, "Isn't it said that the four great families are very powerful and have immense influence? That's just how it is in reality."
"Jia is indeed a name; his halls are made of white jade, and his horses are cast in gold. What a fine reputation! I doubt even the current emperor has a hall built of white jade or horses cast in gold."
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