Putting all the heavy broken silver ingots into their pockets and covering them with their hands, Zhang Yong and others looked at Jia Lian with increasingly respectful and flattering eyes.
Mr. Lian is indeed a generous and trustworthy person!
If you follow people like this, you will definitely have a promising future.
"Originally, I said that I would give you a vacation when we arrive in Yangzhou, and I will not break my promise. However, my wife is still in the period of rest, and it is not convenient for you to go out and enjoy yourself at this time. Otherwise, if you miss something after drinking, even if I If you don’t blame me, you have lost the affection of relatives and the dignity of our government. When I return after sending my aunt’s coffin to Suzhou for burial, I will give each of you two days’ leave.”
When Jia Lian said this, everyone agreed.
Wang Dashuan, who likes to answer questions the most, even laughed and said: "It is our blessing to be able to follow the second master and do things for the second master. How can we worry about whether it is fake or not? If I am not afraid of his jokes, I will follow him down this trip. Yangzhou, for us, is equivalent to a long vacation. Hey, we can still get the silver reward from the second master...so the second master should stop talking about lies or not, which makes us feel uneasy. "
His words were echoed by others.
Originally, these people were basically not close associates of the masters in the mansion. They spent their days doing nothing in the mansion and living with their meager monthly money.
Who would have thought that the second master would go to Yangzhou for a funeral this time, but instead of taking his usual entourage with him, he would choose them instead?
What's even more rare is that Jia Lian did not treat them badly in life during the journey south. Everywhere he went, Jia Lian ordered them to eat whatever they wanted. When Jia Lian stayed in an inn, he would also give them money to live in a wing next to them. This practice of eating and living together moved them and admired them.
Now Jia Lian has indeed kept his promise and rewarded them with a lot of money...
At this moment, Jia Lian's position in their hearts has reached an extremely high position. They are almost all thinking in their hearts that after returning this time, they must find a way to stay by the second master's side no matter what!
Hearing their words of loyalty, Jia Lian smiled.
This was also the reason why he chose these people to go south with him. How could those powerful servants in the mansion be bribed with just one or twenty taels of silver?
Just like Mrs. Wang's companion Zhou Rui's family. Grandma Liu took Qiu Feng twenty taels of silver from Wang Xifeng and wanted to take out a piece of silver as a reward for Zhou Rui's family for guiding the way. Unfortunately, Zhou Rui's family looked down upon her and refused to take it.
This shows how wealthy the powerful second masters in the Rongguo Mansion are!
Correspondingly, Jia Lian knew that the money in the official treasury of Rongguo Mansion was decreasing year by year. If he were the head of the family, he would definitely not be able to help but use those blood-sucking insects to provide disaster relief.
It's a pity that he is just a housekeeper for others now, so he can't do anything that offends others for the time being.
Maybe, if those people become more greedy and absorb enough oil and water, they may become even fatter when they are slaughtered in the future.
After the benefits were given, Jia Lian recruited the youngest Wang Teng and Feng Fei and said: "I will arrange a task for you these two days. When you have nothing to do during the day, go to the city and inquire about Yangzhou City. If you find out which liquor store has the best wine, especially spirits, please contact me."
Both Wang and Teng agreed, and they wanted to ask, didn't the second master just tell me that during the mourning period of my aunt, everyone was not allowed to drink alcohol? Why did he start asking about alcohol again in such a short time?
"The eldest man has always been fond of wine. It's rare for me to go to Jiangnan, so I want to bring some of the best and strongest wine back for the eldest man to enjoy."
Jia Lian explained.
It is said that Jiangnan has fine wines. After a visit, it is natural to bring something good back to Jia She.
He even thought about whether to buy two "good horses" in Yangzhou. They must be the kind of top-notch horses that have experienced people, are very charming, and are very good at seducing people's soul and extracting their marrow.
Just think about it.
It would be very unpleasant to spread the news about my son soliciting prostitutes for me. The key is that I don’t know if Jia She likes this type of person like he did before...
…
In the next two days, Jia Lian almost never left the gate of Lin Mansion.
In addition to coordinating the transportation of Jia Min's coffin to Suzhou, he just stayed in the courtyard and let Zhang Yong teach him exercises and basic fighting skills.
During this period, the children of the Lin family, headed by Lin Biao, invited him out many times to "play", saying that they wanted to invite him to experience the difference between Jianghuai Fengyue and Kyoto.
Jia Lian naturally knew their true intentions, but he didn't bother to expose them, and always shied away from them.
The last time they gathered together in the courtyard, half-pulling and half-persuading, they actually tried to force him out of the house. However, Zhang Yong exposed his arm muscles and roared lightly, scaring them all to the point of peeing. I didn't dare to harass him.
In response, Jia Lian was not polite at all, but inadvertently mentioned a few words in the old housekeeper's ear, believing that the old housekeeper would help him reach Lin Ruhai's ears.
By early morning on the third day, everything was ready.
At the gate of the Lin family, Jia Lian came to Lin Ruhai and whispered: "Uncle, the time has come."
"Well..." Lin Ruhai's eyes lingered on the wooden coffin for a long time, and she smoothed the white silk tied on it with her own hands, and finally sighed: "Let's go."
The housekeeper heard the sound and sang: "Qi Ling~!"
The mournful music sounded and the cries started...
All the mourners followed the lifted coffin and slowly walked out of the Lin family gate.
Both sides of the gray street were already covered with white lanterns strung up from bamboo poles, which looked extremely cold. But under the rows of white lanterns, there were green and white tents. In front of each tent, there was a small sacrificial table, and incense was burning in the cauldron.
It was a sacrificial tent set up by officials and gentry of Yangzhou Prefecture. At first glance, it seemed to have no end.
Some of those mansions sent family members and stewards to offer sacrifices on their behalf, while others came in person.
Jia Lian's task at this time was to help Lin Ruhai and say thank you to these people.
After exiting the section with sacrificial tents, the long procession began to move forward at a steady speed.
Jia Lian turned his head and looked at the small and thin figure in front of the coffin.
She looked so delicate, just holding her mother's spiritual tablet seemed to have consumed all her strength. Jia Lian was really afraid that a morning breeze would blow her down.
Thinking that there was still a long way to go outside the city, Jia Lian said to Lin Ruhai who was riding a horse: "Uncle, Sister Lin is very delicate, and her illness has not healed. I'm afraid she will be injured if she is exposed to the wind for such a long time." Basically, let her take the car."
Lin Ruhai glanced at her daughter and said, "That's fine."
Jia Lian then waved for someone to drive up the carriage.
"No, thank you, Brother Lian..."
In the past two days, Lin Daiyu had met Jia Lian several times, mostly in the mourning hall, so there was no initial strangeness.
When she heard Jia Lian's arrangement for her, she turned her head and firmly refused.
He knew that Jia Lian deliberately said that she was not recovering from her illness so that she could legitimately take a rest in the car.
But she knew that she was not sick, or in other words, she had always been like this, and being sick was her normal state.
Although she did feel a little tired after walking such a long way, behind her was her mother's coffin, and in her arms was her mother's spiritual tablet. At this time, she couldn't leave.
Firstly, this is her last chance to fulfill her mother's filial piety, and secondly, she can't let so many people underestimate her!
Lin Ruhai said lovingly: "Your second brother Lian is doing this for your own good. Everyone knows about your physical condition. Even your mother won't blame you for this. Just listen to him."
Daiyu only shook her head.
Jia Lian saw the firmness in Daiyu's eyes, and couldn't help but feel more pity in her heart, so she turned to Lin Ruhai and said, "Sister Lin has a sincere heart. In this case, let's follow her wishes."
In this way, although Lin Ruhai couldn't help but worry, she could only give up.
The long white dragon snaked forward and finally arrived at the South City Gate after more than half an hour.
Outside the city is a carriage that has been prepared to transport the coffin.
Although it was possible to cross the Yangtze River from Yangzhou to Suzhou via the Grand Canal, it would take a long time and would be inconvenient, so the Lin family decided to take the dry road and use a horse-drawn carriage to escort the coffin back to Suzhou.
Seeing her mother's coffin being carried onto the carriage by the tribesmen, Lin Daiyu burst into tears and could hardly stand. Fortunately, she was supported by the maids and nannies beside her.
Jia Lian hurriedly brought the carriage and helped Daiyu get into the carriage himself.
Daiyu did not insist anymore this time. She stood in the car and bowed to Lin Ruhai and then to Jia Lian. Then she entered the carriage with the spiritual tablet in her arms. Immediately, the sound of crying came from inside.
Jia Lian knocked on Xueyan, who was covering Bai Xiao, and said, "Why don't you go up and comfort your girl?"
"oh."
The silly girl then got into the carriage belatedly.
At this time, Jia Lian also got on his white-haired horse. After the coffin was securely tied to the horse-drawn cart, Jia Lian rode his horse to Lin Ruhai.
Lin Ruhai was being polite with the "Third Master" and others. When he heard Jia Lian say that everything was ready and ready to set off, he clamped the horse's back hard, approached and patted Jia Lian's shoulder: "I'm sorry for bothering you for this trip."
Jia Lian shook his head: "Uncle, my words are serious. This is what my nephew should do."
After saying that, he ignored the jealous looks of Lin Zhuo and others beside him and asked, "Uncle, is there anything else you need to tell me?"
Lin Ruhai shook his head and said, "You go ahead."
In fact, he also wanted to send his beloved wife off for the last journey, but he shouldered the mission of the imperial court and the favor of the Holy Emperor.
If he wants to leave Yangzhou, he must first request an order from the imperial court and obtain approval from the imperial court.
He didn't want to cause trouble for his personal affairs, and he didn't want the emperor to think he was frivolous.
Therefore, he could only hide his guilt for his beloved wife in his heart.
Until he saw that the mourning team had gone far away, Lin Ruhai stopped looking at her and called his entourage back to the Yamen.
