Chapter 122 Chapter 122

"Uncle San, it's not that I don't want to, but I just haven't had much money these years. I'm often spending more than I earn in the Hanlin Academy, and I have to use the money at home. After my parents left these years, they haven't given us any income from our hometown. Almost all of it was spent on my sister's marriage and household expenses. We still have some surplus this year because we didn't hold any operas or banquets. Last time, Brother Qing took two hundred taels from me, and he hasn't returned it yet? How about this, Uncle San, I'll talk to Yao Niang, and I'll take out two hundred taels from the account and give it to you. You're our matchmaker." Shen Linfeng was financially lax in his early years, and this incident caused Yao Niang to ignore him for several days, saying that he was not a man who could live a decent life.

Elder Shen San was somewhat incredulous: "Is your life so difficult?"

Shen Linfeng said: "It's not easy to live in the capital. If it was really good, the second and third wives wouldn't lend money at high interest."

Of course it is enough for daily use, but the life that the Shen family has to live is not ordinary. After Yao Niang and Shen Linfeng discussed, the couple also have to save up dowry for Fu Jie'er. Since Zhi Ge'er has given birth to a child for a few years, there is naturally no need to have another child, but the couple plans to have another child in the future.

Even if they have two sons and the two sons marry and have children, they still have to keep some for themselves and their spouse to support them in their old age.

Yao Niang also said that she still has a long way to go in her career and she doesn’t know what the future will be like, so she has to prepare some money for emergencies.

In fact, Shen Linfeng still doesn’t know how much money is left in the family. Anyway, he is responsible for bringing money home, and Yao Niang takes care of his food, clothing, housing, transportation and social life.

But he couldn't be completely stingy towards Mr. Shen San, so he still gave him some.

Third Master Shen didn't want to talk about money anymore, because he was quick to notice that Shen Linfeng mentioned the matter of the third house's loan. So he casually spoke a few words to Shen Linfeng and went straight back to Qingyi Garden.

Although Third Master Shen was gentle and kind, he told Lu Shaner about this matter when he returned to the Third House: "Fei Linfeng, I don't know about these things. I only know about those people in the Second House who lent money at interest."

Lu Shaner thought that with the way the Shen family was using it, they were all unproductive people and didn't understand economics, so how could it be enough? It would be strange if it was enough, unless they started to save money.

So she said, "Master, calm down. I heard that they have stopped doing this, so let it go. Besides, what can you really do to them?"

In fact, Lu Shaner also hated those who lent money at high interest rates. Living in the market, she often saw people who had to sell their children because they had no money to pay back after borrowing some money. But she had no other choice. These things could not be stopped.

As a stepmother, she couldn't say anything.

How could Mr. Shen not know this? He first called several of his married sons and reprimanded them, and especially said to Sanlang: "I originally thought that you would be able to make some progress in your studies by going to Beijing, but I never thought that you are getting worse and worse, and you have contracted many bad habits."

He really felt that he had been in the official career for so many years, but his sons were like this, and he even had the idea of ​​retiring, and he wanted to focus on disciplining these children. But now of course it is not possible. However, strangely enough, the three legitimate sons are not very good, but the illegitimate son, the fifth son, seems to be quite talented.

He had to be considerate of the fourth child. He said to Lu Shaner, "It looks like a unicorn child is going to be born in my family."

"It would be great if that were true." Lu Shaner said with a smile.

After failing to borrow money, Shen Linfeng told Yao Niang about this matter. Yao Niang said, "The third room has almost emptied the second room's things, and you still ask whether to buy it or not. If you really give this money, you won't be able to return it in the future. If you don't return the two hundred taels, a house costs more than ten thousand taels. If you give a few thousand taels, this money is equivalent to giving it away for free."

"But I'm afraid that there are too many people in the third room, so what if they borrow the second room? After a while, maybe they can occupy such a big house." As the eldest son, Shen Linfeng had seen such things happen frequently in his hometown. At first, he was helping others look for houses, and then he finally got one.

Or maybe someone forges a land deed and sells it to someone else when they see that the owner is not around, and when the real owner comes back, it's too late to regret and someone is already living there.

Yao Niang nodded: "You think more deeply than I do. But if the second house agrees, we can't say anything. This is how things are in the world. As the old saying goes, we should secure our own wealth. As for others, there is no need to carry their coffins to our house and cry."

If the Third House is too rebellious, the Second House might deal with them after it rises. Yao Niang does not want to get involved in these consequences, unless both families find the eldest son Shen Linfeng to make the decision.

Yao Niang added, "If there is a quarrel between the two families in the future, you should come out, otherwise you won't be able to say anything now."

"That's what I said. I'll have to trouble you with the matters at Yao Niang's family." Shen Linfeng said with a smile.

Yao Niang said, "You are my golden turtle son-in-law, why are you saying this? I have been watching the group of people hired from outside recently. If some of them want to go out, I will let them go with grace, but after I tell them, most of them are unwilling to go out again."

"When I go home, maybe I'll sell it again." Shen Linfeng shook his head.

Yao Niang also said, "Yes, that's what I thought, but I want to redeploy the staff. Fortunately, my sister and brother are now born, so I can just transfer them over to serve them."

The world is not good now. Yao Niang wanted to let some girls go back so that they could at least be innocent in the future and have children without being slaves. They were unwilling to go out. One girl told the truth, saying that although her parents were very good to her now, if she really went back, she could not guarantee that she would not be sold again.

Life outside is not as good as life in the mansion. We have clothes for all four seasons, a monthly allowance, delicious meals, and the host never beats or scolds us.

Yao Niang didn't expect their demands to be so low. She sighed slightly and said to Shen Linfeng, "If you ever become the ruler of the country, you must improve people's livelihood. Look at my grandfather who repaired the river and benefited many people. Only when the people live a better life can there be true peace in the world."

"The words of a virtuous wife are truly valuable advice." Shen Linfeng liked Yao Niang because she was like this. Even when the farm's business was poor and she didn't have as much money as before, she never complained and always said that things would be better in the future, which made Shen Linfeng happy.

The husband and wife are together.

It is also said that after Lu Shaner came back, she had been taking care of the baby, and Qingda was a little uncomfortable with having a mother-in-law on her side. However, the only thing she could control now was power, and there was nothing she could do but to maintain it with difficulty.

But in fact, there are many other sources of income in the Sanpinbutang days, just like now when the weather is hot, people will send ice as a gift. Yao Niang usually asks the housekeeper to collect the invitations and give them to Shen Linfeng, and Shen Linfeng will return them when necessary.

The couple actually have a lot of businesses, but Yao Niang doesn't like to mess around.

After Shen Linfeng went to the study, Yao Niang asked Qing Dai to come over and said, "The girl named Zhu'er who serves my son, the two wet nurses told me that she would easily refuse to take care of him when they asked her to do so. She would also steal food and ignore my son. First, let her stop her job and interrogate her carefully. If the wet nurses are just making up stories to exclude dissidents and the two wet nurses have bad intentions, then drive her out. If she is really like this, let her parents take her out."

She knew that although Qingdai had a bad temper, she was fair and impartial, so she was asked to investigate such cases.

Soon the truth was found out. It was the two wet nurses who squeezed out Zhu'er. The wet nurses were paid six taels of silver a month, while Zhu'er was paid one tael of silver a month. When she was tired from breastfeeding at night, she ordered Zhu'er to hold the baby. Zhu'er did it at first, but later the two of them went further and further, even stealing the furnishings in her brother's room and selling them. Zhu'er discovered this secretly, and the two of them turned the tables on her.

Yao Niang would definitely not tolerate them. One of them was born in the family, and the other was hired from outside. She slammed the table and said, "I have been so kind to these two, but they stole my property and caused trouble in my home. Someone, drag them away and beat them with 20 sticks, then send them away. If there are people like this again in the future, I will never tolerate them."

The two wet nurses knew they had gotten into trouble and kowtowed desperately. The hired wet nurse said, "Grandma, my family of ten depends on me for their livelihood. You are the most kind-hearted person."

"Since you know that this job is hard to come by, but you don't work honestly, I am now only asking you to return the property and not asking you to pay any money. This is already a special favor to you." Yao Niang snorted coldly.

The servants acted quickly, and the two wet nurses were disappointed. Zhu'er knelt down and kowtowed to Yao Niang: "If it weren't for the eldest lady, I would have been framed by them."

Yao Niang looked at her and said, "You are not wrong. You saw these two people stealing, but you were unwilling to tell me. You just wanted to protect yourself. If it were normal, I would naturally let you go according to the family rules, but we are the most kind-hearted family, so I will forgive you this time. Now you don't have to go to your brother's place. I have found another job for you. The old gardener in Huaman Garden is old, so you can go there and be with the flowers."

When Zhu'er first heard that Yao Niang wanted to drive her out, she wanted to die, but now that she was looking at the garden, she hurried to thank her.

After dealing with these three people, Yao Niang asked Hong Xiu to be the wet nurse of Zhi Ge'er. Hong Xiu married Xiao Qing and became Gu Ma's daughter-in-law. Hong Xiu was steady and down-to-earth, and was just right to take care of Zhi Ge'er's room in the future. As for the other wet nurse, Rong An's younger sister was chosen.

However, Yao Niang also warned these two people: "I believe you all know my character. If you do your duty well, I will respect you in the future, and you will have more blessings in the future. If you pretend to obey me but secretly disobey me and harm me, I will not show any mercy. Not only you, but also your family members will be implicated."

The two of them said they dared not, but Hongxiu knew that these words were spoken to Rong An's younger brother and sister-in-law. She had already received instructions from Yao Niang that the young man's room must be handed over to her in the future.

Lu Shan'er felt terrified by the thunderous means, but the servants beside her laughed and said, "The eldest lady in the first house is really fair and just. Nothing can escape her eyes. The servants privately call her the Fair Lady."

Lu Shaner glanced at her and said, "Grandma has been the housekeeper for so many years, and her reputation is so good? How come she sounds more famous than our grandma?"

This person had just joined Lu Shan'er, so of course he knew everything: "You don't know this. Our Grandmother Qing is very strict with people. When something goes wrong, she pushes the blame on the subordinates. She usually makes trouble and hopes that everyone will fight. Then she will come out to uphold justice and be a good person. Now the needlework room has been closed down, and the monthly salary is often not paid. The eldest wife is very generous in paying the monthly salary. They support so many people and often send generous holiday gifts."

Lu Shaner said, "The eldest wife still has money."

The man laughed and said, "Not really. It's just that the grandmother there is very kind. She even allocates money to support some lonely elderly people. No one would care about other families. The servants of the first house all feel sorry for the master's family. They say that the master's family treats them too well and they are afraid that they will ruin the first house."

Lu Shan'er thought that Concubine Yan was really good at brainwashing. She had never heard of a servant feeling sorry for his master.