It was late at night, and when she heard the sudden sound of horse hooves outside, Aunt Xue quickly asked Baochai to set the table, and she hurriedly went out with others.
As he approached the gate, he saw his son Xue Pan welcoming Jia Lian inside. Behind the two of them, there were some servants carrying four or five boxes sealed with red colors through the door.
Aunt Xue understood something clearly as soon as she saw him, but after stepping forward to greet Jia Lian, she pretended not to know and asked.
Xue Pan asked with a smile: "Mother doesn't know? Brother Lian said that before their family built a garden, we helped them buy wood and stones, and the balance of more than 7,000 taels of silver was not given to us, so we brought it here by the way."
I can't say that it's only a few thousand taels of silver. With the relationship between our two families, why bother with these things? There is no need to give it, and Brother Lian doesn't agree. Not only did he not comply, he also said that he had prepared another thousand silver coins, saying that he would use them to buy wine for the guys and boys who helped him last year! "
Aunt Xue glanced at Xue Pan, her son was quite generous in this regard, he would give up seven or eight thousand silver if he said he didn't want it!
I helped the Rongguo Mansion purchase materials last year. I thought that in the past two years and for many years to come, I would be protected by the Jia family, so I had no intention of making any profit from it and basically treated it as my own business.
Therefore, all the money spent was actually paid from one's own account. Even though their Xue family has a lot of property, they can't afford to lose seven or eight thousand taels of silver so casually...
But, if it were other relatives, that would be fine. If it was the Jia family, it would be okay. The Jia family is a respectable family. In the past two years since they came to Beijing, they have always taken good care of them and never said they wanted to take advantage of them.
This is why she, with her two children, lives next to the Jia family's second residence with peace of mind.
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but sigh, my son is not as useless as others say, at least he knows how to have a good relationship with the Jia family!
So Aunt Xue smiled and said to Jia Lian: "Brother Pan, you are right. Based on the friendship between our two families, a few thousand taels of silver is really not worth anything. If you must give it, just send a few slave boys to hand it over. You need to send it here in person."
"It's not like I made a special trip to send it here. It wasn't an invitation from my aunt. I just happened to bring it here."
"This...even so, the thousand silver is waived. How can you help a relative with some small things and ask for benefits? Otherwise, I, my aunt and uncle, would be too embarrassed to invite you in for a drink."
When interacting with aristocratic families, the most important thing is respectability. Jia Lian also understands this truth, so he said casually: "Auntie, you are so polite. The slaves and guys have worked hard, so they should get some benefits, so that it can last long."
Just to reward a few slaves would not cost one thousand, but Jia Zheng and his wife guessed that the Xue family had little profit from purchasing so much wood last year, so they wanted to use this excuse to give an extra thousand.
Although a big business of 10,000 to 20,000 taels is really nothing. Mrs. Wang would like to give more, but unfortunately there are still many things to do at home, and the official treasury is really not rich.
After all, the relationship between the two families is unusual, so there is no need to be too cautious. It is better to express something than to say nothing at all.
Seeing that Aunt Xue was silent for a while, Xue Pan interrupted and said with a smile: "What is long-lasting is not long-lasting, my mother is right, a little money is not worth escorting you personally, wearing a red ribbon."
Those who knew said it was wood money, but those who didn’t knew thought you were hired by my family...uh, hehehe..."
Xue Pan laughed honestly, because Aunt Xue had stared at him when he was talking nonsense.
"Aren't you injured? Not only did you hold your body up properly in the room, but you came out and acted so horribly, it's a sinister attempt to commit suicide."
What Aunt Xue hates most is that her stupid son has no idea and talks nonsense without thinking.
Even Jia Lian glanced at Xue Pan in surprise and said to himself, I really want to give it to you, but I don't know if you will accept it or not.
"Hahaha."
Xue Pan also knew that he had said the wrong thing, so he laughed, and then said with a flattering smile to Aunt Xue: "If someone else comes, I will be too lazy to come out. Isn't it difficult for Brother Lian to come to our house? Of course I will It’s time to entertain him well.”
Xue Pan's injury was indeed just a superficial wound. Although Liu Xianglian became violent after drinking wine, she knew Xue Pan's identity and did not dare to kill him.
As for why Xue Pan was sent back on a horse by someone from the Rongguo Mansion, it was more that he failed to flirt and was beaten by an actor instead, feeling that he was too embarrassed to see anyone.
So after Xue Pan finished speaking, he stepped forward and personally invited Jia Lian into the hall.
Later, Aunt Xue greeted the housekeeper and mother-in-law, took care of Jia Lian's entourage, and then followed her into the main hall.
In the main hall, when Jia Lian stepped in, he saw a medium-sized square table near the window, full of delicacies, and four or five maids and two or three servants scattered on the ground around it.
The Xue family has only a small number of daily servants, which is completely incomparable with the Rongguo Mansion.
It stands to reason that even if the Xue family does not bring many servants to the capital, with the Xue family's wealth, even if they hire slaves in the capital, it will be just a piece of cake.
But they don't know whether they behave in such an ordinary way to save money, or to avoid publicity and to avoid attracting attention.
"You have an unusual status now, and I am inviting you alone today, so you should sit here..."
Aunt Xue treated Jia Lian as a big shot. She didn't regard herself as an elder at all, and even asked Jia Lian to sit upright.
Jia Lian was speechless. It would be fine if he was someone he was not familiar with. It was okay to decide the seats based on his position. But Aunt Xue is a close relative, and this is still the Xue family. If he sits in front of Aunt Xue openly and spreads the word, he will be the only one who loses face.
So he naturally gave in to Aunt Xue. Seeing that Aunt Xue was so polite, Jia Lian took action directly, held Aunt Xue's arm and asked her to sit down.
As for Jia Lian's direct attack on Aunt Xue, the people around him showed no reaction at all.
Aunt Xue is not only Mrs. Wang's biological sister, but also the biological aunt of Jia Lian's daughter-in-law. Jia Lian, the niece-in-law, is a close relative in front of Aunt Xue, so there is nothing wrong with helping the elder.
Even Aunt Xue didn't think much about it. She was even very happy and satisfied with Jia Lian's behavior. She even looked at Jia Lian and smiled after sitting down.
Only when Jia Lian sat down and put his hands under the cover of the table did he unconsciously rub his palms. No wonder Jia Baoyu always likes to rub herself against Aunt Xue and others, and the feeling is really extraordinary.
A young boy of twelve or thirteen years old brought a small jar of wine.
"Come. Brother Lian, try my wine! This is a good wine that I have kept secretly for a long time. I have been reluctant to drink it. Only now that you come, can I be willing to take it out."
Xue Pan treats ordinary people like a dull overlord, but he still respects people who are obviously stronger and have a higher status than him.
The theory goes that he has been in Beijing for a while, and is familiar with the children of the eighth house of the Jia family. Only with Jia Lian, although he had met several times and tried to invite Jia Lian to communicate with him several times, Jia Lian seemed to be busy and unwilling to talk to him.
There were even two times, such as the time when Jia Lian's father died, and he and Jia Lian had some unpleasant troubles in the Jia family temple.
At that time, he thought that Jia Lian was a person who liked to put on airs and was a bit disliked, so he did not take the initiative to get close to Jia Lian later. Because at that time, although Jia Lian had some status, he had not yet reached the point where he considered himself unattainable.
But now, Jia Lian has become a marquis, and Xue Pan's feelings have changed immediately.
Those "pretentious" behaviors in the past became easier to understand immediately!
And when he thought about it carefully, he felt that Jia Lian was not being pretentious. Not to mention, Jia Lian rescued him from Liu Xianglian's hands this time. What I didn’t say was that all this kindness must be put into wine.
"What are you drinking! You are still injured, just pour wine for your second brother Lian."
Aunt Xue watched happily when Xue Pan poured wine for Jia Lian. When Xue Pan turned around and poured wine into his own glass, she became unhappy and stopped her smile and scolded him.
"Oh, my God, can you not spoil the fun! For one thing, I don't know the injuries on my body. Secondly, it's a rare occasion that second brother Lian comes to visit, and you still don't allow me to drink two drinks? One for three, and one for second brother Lian. What’s the fun in drinking? Didn’t you tell me before that when Brother Lian comes over, you’ll be there to serve me? Now I’m here to spoil the fun again.”
Xue Pan was not afraid of Aunt Xue at all. While replying to Aunt Xue, he continued to pour himself a full glass of wine.
Aunt Xue blushed a little, feeling that her son didn't give her any face in front of Jia Lian.
Jia Lian then smiled and said, "Auntie, let Brother Pan drink two glasses of wine. I don't think there's anything serious wrong with Brother Pan. I guess it'll be fine."
"That's right."
Aunt Xue could only glare at Xue Pan bitterly, and just as she was about to say something, the door opened behind her and three or four people walked in.
The first person was Xue Baochai, the daughter of Aunt Xue.
Jia Lian looked over and his eyes lit up slightly.
