Jia Lian fell into a deep sleep. When he was lost in the lake, he noticed something touching his eyes and nose.
"Nanny, please take the eldest sister away and let the Marquis have a good rest."
This was Wang Xifeng's voice. When Jia Lian opened his eyes, he saw a pair of big eyes staring at him with childlike interest and curiosity.
Jia Lian immediately smiled, turned over and sat up, waving to the little girl in front of him: "Come here and give me a hug for dad."
It is his and Wang Xifeng's daughter. The little girl has pink makeup and is very delicate both in appearance and dress. She is obviously the little princess of the family.
Seeing Jia Lian waving to her, the curiosity in the little girl's eyes faded, and she hesitated a little, then leaned against the wet nurse behind her.
Seeing the embarrassment on Jia Lian's face, the wet nurse couldn't help but smile and said, "Don't mind, Mr. Marquis, the eldest sister is still young, and she hasn't seen Mr. Marquis for a long time, so she is a bit disappointed."
Of course Jia Lian wouldn't mind. When he left Beijing, Sister Qiao couldn't even walk on the ground. Now that more than half a year has passed, I'm afraid her impression of him is even worse.
Speaking of which, Grandma Liu should have helped me come up with the name Qiao Jieer, which corresponds to the birth date of July 7th, the Qiao Qiao Festival.
However, Grandma Liu has not yet entered the Grand View Garden and has not met Qiao Jieer yet, so Qiao Jieer does not have a maiden name yet.
Jia Lian had thought about giving Qiao Jieer another nice name, but then he thought about it and didn't think of it. Anyway, most people at that time came up with names for girls late. If he missed Grandma Liu's choice of names, he, the father, would just make up for the name "Qiao Jie".
Wang Xifeng, who was touching up her makeup in the back room, heard Jia Lian's words and walked out. She saw that Jia Lian was barely able to hold Sister Qiao with the help of her wet nurse. She immediately laughed and said, "Who told you not to go home for more than half a year? When the eldest sister is recognizing someone, she naturally doesn't get close to you now, and you can't blame anyone else."
Jia Lian smiled and asked, "Can you speak now?"
He just saw that the little girl could walk on her own.
"It's true that she can talk, but she has a coy personality, which is nothing like me. It took a long time to coax her to talk."
Wang Xifeng said with a smile, and then taught Sister Qiao, who was forcibly held in Jia Lian's arms: "Quick, call daddy, ask your daddy to buy you something fun..."
Xu Qiaoqiao still had some impression of Jia Lian, so she only struggled for a moment and then stopped. She raised her head and glanced at Jia Lian for a few times. When she saw that Jia Lian was looking down at her with a smile, her little face was ashamed, and she hid under Jia Lian's elbow. , and did not respond.
"You little girl, why don't you call me daddy? It's only been more than half a year and you don't recognize me anymore?"
Wang Xifeng came forward and urged.
She didn't want Jia Lian and Sister Qiao to get separated.
"It doesn't matter. She won't be traveling far away for a short time after she comes back. There is plenty of time for her to speak. There is no rush."
Jia Lian was very open-minded. He picked up the little girl and teased her for a while, winking and winking. Soon the joyful look rekindled in the little girl's eyes and she started to giggle.
When Wang Xifeng saw this, she rolled her eyes. After waiting for a while, she said to the nurse: "You can take the eldest sister down. The Marquis and I have something to say."
The young wet nurse took Sister Qiao from Jia Lian's arms with a smile and took her out.
"I heard from Lin Zhixiao's family, do you order them to gather people from both houses to gather in the front yard at Xu Chu?"
"Um."
"To give rewards to everyone?"
At noon, when Jia Lian came back in a hurry, she also asked briefly if it was such a big happy event and she would give everyone some reward to make everyone feel happy.
Jia Lian just told her not to worry about it, he had already made arrangements.
"That's one thing, but I have something more important, and I just need your help."
Jia Lian said, taking the opportunity to discuss with Wang Xifeng.
Although Wang Xifeng was surprised by Jia Lian's idea, she had no objection and just said: "Speaking of it, now there is no distinction between the eldest master's side and the second master's side in the house. The two sides are in one place.
For things like giving out rewards to everyone for happy events, you should be using money from the official, but you are selfless and do it out of your own pocket. "
Wang Xifeng calculated the accounts very clearly in her heart. Seeing that Jia Lian didn't take it seriously, she immediately said: "You don't know. In the afternoon, the empress in the palace and the empress dowager gave you a reward. My wife also said that now the official I don't have enough money, so I want to use all those things as official gifts.
I also instigated the old lady. If I hadn't reacted quickly, those things would have been put into the official treasury by now. "
Jia Lian raised his eyebrows: "Then how did you deal with it?"
Wang Xifeng briefly talked about what happened at Rongqingtang.
Jia Lian saw that Wang Xifeng still looked a little aggrieved, so he took her hand, asked her to sit on the kang, and said with a smile: "As expected, our Second Grandma Feng is smart. Even the old lady and the madam can't compete with you. She does it beautifully."
Wang Xifeng was not willing to wear such a high hat, and said anxiously: "Why can't you beat me? The old lady and my wife don't look at it for your sake. They all know that you are the one who can earn the most money in the family now. They all Afraid of getting too worried, we decided to separate.
However, the family is indeed no more wealthy now than before.
Last winter, as soon as the money from Zhuangzi in various places was handed over, it all went to its own destination.
Also, you don’t know, the garden at the back was built to perfection under the supervision of the master. I went in and took a look a while ago, and it really felt like I was entering a fairy home.
However, it was built so well that the money spent greatly exceeded the budget.
Not only was the general's silver almost depleted, but his wife also borrowed 80,000 taels of silver from Sister-in-law You of Dongfu, so that she could survive until today! "
"Eighty thousand?"
Jia Lian was surprised at first, saying that the garden at the back was basically completed and only needed decoration.
According to Jia Lian's calculations, if Jia Zheng, a kindhearted gentleman, was given full authority to supervise the production, it would be strange if the slaves below were not greedy for ink.
Therefore, the previous budget should not be enough.
However, after he came back, he did not find that his family had become poor. On the contrary, just from the celebration banquet held for him, he knew that his family was as wealthy as ever.
It turned out that the money was borrowed from Dongfuzhi.
"Yes, a total of 80,000 taels! When we first started short of money, my wife asked someone to borrow 50,000 taels from Sister-in-law You, and later she borrowed 30,000 taels."
Wang Xifeng said, his eyes lighted up.
Eighty thousand taels of silver, in the past, was a figure that he could not even imagine.
After all, based on her dowry and the hard work she saved in the first two years of marrying Jia Lian, the total cash in her hand was less than 8,000.
But now, she doesn't really care.
Now, she has over one hundred thousand ready-made gold and silver in her hands, not to mention other valuable belongings and some fixed assets.
The money came from different sources, but it was all the wealth that naturally accumulated in the family after Jia Lian became successful.
Nowadays, she feels that her yard is too small. Because, in addition to the main house, the several empty houses in the backyard are now filled with all kinds of valuables!
She is a real rich woman.
And she also knew that not all of Jia Lian's assets were in her hands.
If nothing else, she knew that there was a lot of Jia Lian's private money in the room between the Aqin sisters.
There must also be some from that boy Zhao'er. They also opened a restaurant called Zuixianlou in Xicheng City behind my mother's back.
She didn't see any money exchanges there.
She didn't care too much about this, she praised: "At first I thought Sister-in-law You was a stuffy talker, timid and without scheming.
It's unbelievable that she has the courage to lend us the entire Ningguo Mansion's treasury. "
Wang Xifeng was surprised, but Jia Lian sighed secretly.
As one of the people who knew You best, Jia Lian couldn't understand why You was willing to lend this silver and so much.
It was just an act of desperation.
Nowadays, there is not a single male in Ningguo Mansion.
And the You family itself has a weak foundation. If they want to keep Ningguo Mansion, they naturally dare not offend Rongguo Mansion.
Therefore, even if all the official treasury was spent, she had to borrow it.
After all, even if Rongguo Mansion is short of money, it is only temporary and will naturally recover in the future.
By then, with the dignity of Rongguo Mansion, it is unlikely that the money borrowed will not be repaid.
But if you don’t borrow...
Now the Rongguo Mansion is working hard to build the Grand View Garden. At this time, the Ningguo Mansion obviously has money and will not help. If the Ningguo Mansion has something to do in the future, the Rongguo Mansion will probably not help.
It's impossible for You, a woman, to see these things clearly, so she borrowed them very decisively and generously.
Suddenly he won the great favor of a group of people headed by Jia Mu and Mrs. Wang.
Of course, Jia Lian also knew that Youshi was not afraid that Rongguo Mansion would not return it, and there might be his reasons for it.
She was pregnant with his child, and the Ningguo Mansion's money was the money of their orphans and widows. Even if Rong Guofu doesn't want to pay it back, I'm afraid Jia Lian won't agree.
If You really thinks so, Jia Lian will be even happier.
"Since she is affectionate and righteous, if our house recovers in the future, the money will naturally be returned."
Without saying anything more at this point, Jia Lian returned to the previous topic.
"As for the fact that my wife wants the Queen Mother's reward to go into the official treasury, it doesn't matter even if you didn't stop her at the time.
The reason why I don't use the official money this time is because I have my own plan.
But if they are jealous of even a little reward, then I will naturally not be polite to them. "
When Wang Xifeng heard this, he immediately asked: "How much money did you get out this time?"
"About eight thousand taels." Jia Lian didn't hide it and said it bluntly.
"so much!"
When Wang Xifeng heard this, she felt a little regretful. When she was in Rongguo Mansion, she should have asked Mrs. Wang to take the reward from the Queen Mother. In that way, they could immediately withdraw eight thousand taels of silver from the official, wouldn't they have made a profit instead?
She felt a little distressed: "Actually, whether you want to distribute reward money, compensate those who died in battle, or build some kind of 'Loyalty Shrine', it is all considered official business. Official affairs must be handled by the public. We should still get the money from the officials." Take it.”
Wang Xifeng persuaded seriously, and there was a shadow of a money fan on Honglan's face.
Jia Lian couldn't help but pinch her nose. It happened to be early, so he explained to her carefully.
"First, although the two houses in the house are now living together, the master and I are both officials in the court after all, so there must be conflicts in some places.
Now I am willing to let my wife and the others, just like the old lady, I want to maintain the stability of the family.
However, it does not mean that I will give up my right to speak in charge.
Nowadays, in order to build a garden at home, almost all the official money has been spent. Even the old lady and her private husband have spent a lot of money.
We are different from them. What they save is worth every penny less, but we are still young and will have plenty of opportunities to make money in the future.
Whether it's distributing reward money to everyone, or subsidizing the guards, or building a loyalty temple, this is a time to win people's hearts, and I don't want the old man and his wife to get involved.
Secondly, there is a shortage of money in the officialdom. If you want to withdraw money from the officialdom, you will have to fight with the master and his wife. This is troublesome and you will not get enough money.
As for the pension of personal guards and other matters, it is related to my prestige. I don't want anything to go wrong, so it is better for us to pay for it ourselves.
third……"
Speaking of the third one, Jia Lian laughed.
"Aren't you always thinking about my private lover who is hiding outside? I have no intention of asking you to pay for it this time. All I use is my private money.
I've run out of money. Isn't it convenient for you to control me? "
Wang Xifeng was listening attentively, but when she heard the third point, her eyebrows suddenly raised, she sat up and stared at Jia Lian.
"Tell me clearly, when did I want to control you?
Most of the money in this family is earned by you, I have never denied that. Moreover, since you became an official, when did I say no to you when you wanted to use money?
Now that you say such words, you are clearly gouging out people's eyes.
Don’t you want me to take care of the family’s money? Just say it straight, don't use such roundabout curses! "
Wang Xifeng sat next to Jia Lian, her eyes burning with anger and unspeakable grievances.
Irritability is Wang Xifeng's nature.
And the grievance is that Wang Xifeng now feels a sense of lack of security in his heart.
Although the former Jia Lian was ineffective, he was still under her control. She was not afraid that Jia Lian would not want her.
Nowadays, if Jia Lian changes his mind, he can kick her away with just a wave of his hand.
That's why it's a little more sensitive.
Jia Lian originally just wanted to make a joke with Wang Xifeng.
I didn't take any money from Wang Xifeng before, it was just for convenience. Now I am just joking about Wang Xifeng. Who would have thought that this woman is too worried.
Looking at her tearful eyes, Jia Lian could understand a little of Wang Xifeng's thoughts, so he held her in his arms and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, I'm just joking with you. Why, you still want to cry?" Can’t do it?”
"Who wants to cry?"
Wang Xifeng threw her elbow in Jia Lian's arms and didn't break free.
"You're saying it's a joke now, but just now I saw that you were telling the truth.
I'm not joking with you. If you dislike me, just say so. I'm not that shameless person and I will definitely rely on you. "
That said, but when I think about how I was threatened by the Queen Mother and disliked by the people of the Jia family, and now I am being held by Jia Lian, feeling the warmth of her husband's chest, my heart, no matter how hard it is, can't help but become weak, and I can't help but fall. shed a few tears.
Who can understand her heart?
She was happy that Jia Lian had earned her a phoenix crown and harem, but sometimes when she calmed down, she felt that with every gain, there would be a loss.
She is very possessive. In the past, Jia Lian basically belonged to her alone. Although the current Jia Lian has become so good and even perfect, it is difficult for him to belong to her alone.
She understood, and had a premonition.
For example, when Jia Lian came back last time, he brought back a pair of sisters from the grassland.
This time I returned to Beijing and brought one with me.
It happened to be a reward from the princess, and she was not even qualified to refuse.
She was very knowledgeable and didn't ask any questions.
This was the case before, but now that Jia Lian has been granted the title of Marquis, how many more things like this will happen in the future?
Did she know that besides having the advantage of being married to Jia Lian, she had no other advantage?
Let's just say that the princess wanted to steal the bride and caught her for the crime she committed. If Jia Lian had not protected her, it is not certain whether she would have survived, not to mention being the Marquis's wife.
"Hahaha, are you really crying?" Wang Xifeng cried, but Jia Lian laughed instead.
He held her pretty face and teased.
When Wang Xifeng saw this, he was furious. If he refused, he turned around and wanted to stay away from Jia Lian.
How could Jia Lian do as she wished and see his beloved wife with new red makeup, extremely charming and beautiful?
Before, he was just teasing with the little girl and never took any serious action. He no longer had to endure it. He turned over and pressed Wang Xifeng on the kang.
Although Wang Xifeng had been mentally prepared, she was still shocked at this time.
This is an outdoor heated kang. What if someone comes in and sees it?
"Don't worry, isn't Ping'er outside? She will be watching the door."
Sure enough, Wang Xifeng looked up and saw that Ping'er, who was playing with cups and saucers in the tea room, had disappeared without knowing it.
But the curtain that was originally rolled up at the door has fallen down.
Now, Wang Xifeng felt a little relieved and allowed Jia Lian to peel off the clothes she had just tried on, piece by piece, and gradually scattered them all over the floor.
