The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 57

Soon, Yuanyang called all the women who were in charge of cooking in the kitchen. Under Jia's mother's personal interrogation, these cooks dared not hide anything, and unanimously pointed the finger at Laiwang's daughter-in-law, saying that the reason why they treated Mr. Huan so harshly was all ordered by Laiwang's daughter-in-law and had nothing to do with them.

Laiwang's daughter-in-law was ashamed, knelt down on the ground, kowtowed and pleaded guilty, while slapping her mouth fiercely, she said: "Your servant deserves to die. I used to have some troubles with Ping'er. Later, Ping'er was sent to serve Mr. Huan, so I wanted to take revenge on her. It wasn't against Mr. Huan. I deserve to die. I was infatuated with ghosts for a while. Please forgive me, old lady."

This Laiwang daughter-in-law is quite loyal. Seeing that the situation is over, she actually took everything on herself and did not betray Wang Xifeng. She even played a clever trick by only admitting that she had conflicts with Ping'er and denying that she was targeting Jia Huan.

At this moment, Wang Xifeng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and pretended to curse: "You are fooled by lard, you actually did such a foolish thing, you don't have to worry about the kitchen from now on, and you don't even apologize to Mr. Huan!"

Laiwang's daughter-in-law immediately rushed to Jia Huan's face, kowtowed dryly and said: "Damn you, slave, I was confused for a while, please have a lot, please spare this time, slave, I kowtow to you."

Jia Huan looked at him coldly, pleased in his heart, took two steps to the side, and said indifferently: "I can't stand it, but I'm very surprised, what's wrong with you and Ping'er? You have worked tirelessly to eat half a month's leftovers for me."

Mother Jia's complexion became even more gloomy. She thought it was just a meal or two, but she didn't expect it to be more than half a month. For such a long period of abuse, Feng girl and Zheng's daughter-in-law really don't know?
At this moment, Mother Jia had vaguely guessed what was going on. Although she was old, her eyes were open.

Jia Zheng was also blushing at the moment. Aunt Zhao told him about the mistreatment of Jia Huan in the kitchen, but he didn't take it seriously. Firstly, he didn't want to interfere in the affairs of the rear house.

As a result, the incident broke out at this time, and Jia Huan had been abused for more than half a month, which was simply too much. The key point was that the uncle, Jia She, stood up for Jia Huan. Undoubtedly, it seemed that his father was too incompetent, so Jia Zheng was ashamed and annoyed.

Jia Amnesty obviously came prepared, and said with a sneer, "Brother Zheng doesn't know. This evil maid has done a lot of bad things. I've heard that she enriches her own pockets and often takes the ingredients from the public kitchen home to enjoy or sell them for profit. I guess there are more unknown deeds behind the scenes."

Laiwang's daughter-in-law was shocked, and she didn't care that her forehead was still bleeding, she argued anxiously: "The servants are not corrupt, and they are not enriching their own pockets!"

"Don't dare to talk stubbornly. If you don't see the coffin, you won't shed tears." Jia She snorted coldly, and bowed to Jia's mother, "Mom now sends someone to search Wang's house, so I can see that my son has not wronged her."

Jia's mother was angry at this time, and nodded when she heard the words: "Yuanyang, you and Lin Zhixiao's family will go to Laiwang's house to search. If there are any private possessions, they will be taken to the government immediately for disposal."

Laiwang's daughter-in-law was so frightened that she fell limp on the ground on the spot. Managing the kitchen is a fat job. There are five to six hundred people in the Rongguo Mansion, and they spend hundreds of taels of silver every day to purchase rice, grain, meat and vegetables.

So Yuanyang and Lin Zhixiao's family led a search, and they found a lot of dry food ingredients in Laiwang's house, including fresh beef and mutton, which were obviously bought and sold today, and the most delicious part was taken home by her privately.

Jia Mu was so angry that her seven orifices were filled with smoke, and she pressed her crutches hard and said, "It's hard to guard against house thieves by day and night. Come here, and push out this lawless and wicked maidservant who harms the public and enriches private interests.

Laiwang's daughter-in-law was so frightened that she hugged Wang Xifeng's thigh: "Grandma save me! Grandma save me!"

Wang Xifeng was startled and angry, apparently she didn't know that Laiwang's daughter-in-law was secretly enriching her own pockets, and what she found was probably the tip of the iceberg. She had greedy in private, even more than herself.

But Wang Xifeng is angry, but people still have to protect her. After all, Laiwang's daughter-in-law is her right arm and right arm, and she knows too many secrets, and Laiwang has arranged for her to put loan sharks outside. Just spare her life!"

When Jia Mu was young, she was also a person with strong wrists and a hard heart, but now she is much more merciful when she is old, and she obviously didn't want to cause trouble, so she took advantage of the situation and said to Wang Xifeng: "Forget it, first hit [-] boards, and then kick you out of the house. You are not allowed to come in again, and all the money and things you have embezzled will be confiscated."

Laiwang's daughter-in-law is like a mourning concubine, but it's not bad to save her life, and she doesn't dare to cry anymore.

Soon, Laiwang's daughter-in-law was taken down by several strong servants and beat her hard with [-] boards. Her skin was torn apart and her flesh was rotten.

Jia Amnesty was extremely happy at the moment, and finally enjoyed the pleasure of being the master of the family. Taking advantage of the situation, he said: "As the saying goes, food is the most important thing for the people, and the kitchen is important. In the future, it must be managed by fair and honest people. My child thinks that Wang Shanbao's family is very suitable."

As soon as this remark came out, Madam Wang and Wang Xifeng both looked down. Wang Shanbao was the wife of Mrs. Xing, and Jia She was full of grandiose words, but in fact he arranged for his cronies to manage the fat vacancy of the kitchen. It was really useless. No wonder he was so active in standing up for Jia Huan.

Mother Jia is a shrewd person, how could she fail to see Jia She's intentions, but after this incident, it's not a bad idea to ask Jia She to insert someone in, to balance things out, she nodded and said: "Then let Wang Shanbao's family manage the kitchen."

Wang Shanbao's family was overjoyed, and immediately stepped forward and said: "Don't worry, old lady, the slaves will definitely manage the kitchen in an orderly manner."

Jia's mother said lightly: "That would be the best, but I'll say something ugly, if you dare to imitate Wang's daughter-in-law, you can do the same. You can be careful."

Wang Shanbao's family hurriedly smiled and swore to show their loyalty, but they didn't know that she was ugly, and her smile was like a greedy African hyena, which made people look annoying, so Jia's mother sent her away impatiently.

It is said that Mrs. Xing, Mrs. Xing, is the successor of Jia She. She has no children and usually only knows how to flatter Jia She. Everything that passes by her is severely underhanded.

As soon as this remark came out, even the youngest Jia Lan guessed what the eldest wife was thinking.Wang Xifeng lowered her head, looking ashamed, but sneered in her heart. This person wanted to take power, but he was too impatient. Unfortunately, the more impatient, the more counterproductive it will be.

Sure enough, Mother Jia said sarcastically, "Substitution? Who do you think is better to replace?"

Sensing dissatisfaction from Jia Mu's tone, Mrs. Xing swallowed the word "I" back, and said with a smile: "Of course it's the old lady who made up her mind, and my daughter-in-law is just giving a suggestion."

Jia Mu said calmly: "Although I am old, I am not old and confused. Feng girl has been in charge for almost two years. I take care of it quite well, but there is always a gap in every secret, and it is normal for some mistakes to be made."

Mrs. Xing blushed and was speechless in embarrassment!

Jia Huan shook his head secretly, Mrs. Xing is too greedy, and she is a proper pig teammate. This little thing can't shake the old lady's trust in Wang Xifeng. She is so whimsical, which is really touching.

Jia Amnesty was obviously also very annoyed, the breakthrough he had torn open with great difficulty was blocked again by the stupid Mrs. Xing, so his face was gloomy, but it was not easy to explode under the eyes of everyone.

But at this moment, Aunt Zhao suddenly let out a dry howl, knelt down on the ground and cried, "Madam Feng withheld my monthly money and didn't pay it, I beg the old lady to decide!"

Wang Xifeng's heart suddenly rose again, but Jia She and Mrs. Xing were overjoyed. Aunt Zhao's assist was really wonderful, and it was just in time.

Wang Xifeng hurriedly said: "Where did my aunt start talking about it, but it's only a few days late, why did she hold it back?"

"Then Huan'er and I didn't get paid last month's monthly payment, so what should we say?" Aunt Zhao was obviously going all out, and planned to take this opportunity to beat the dog in the water.

Wang Xifeng was at a loss for words at once, let her be eloquent, and couldn't find a suitable reason for a while. Madam Xing was about to make trouble when she saw this, Madam Wang finally came out to save the scene, and said calmly: "I am to blame for this. On the fifteenth day of last month, I went to the temple to offer incense and lit lamps for Baoyu, Huan'er, and Lan'er. I paid for the remaining five taels of money myself."

As soon as this remark came out, all the maids and women naturally praised it one after another, but Aunt Zhao was dumbfounded.

Wang Xifeng's face brightened immediately, and he said hypocritically: "I'm actually to blame for this, I didn't explain it clearly to my aunt at the time."

Mother Jia nodded and said, "Since it's a misunderstanding, it's good to explain it clearly, but you also have something inappropriate, Feng girl, so you have to pay attention in the future."

Wang Xifeng smiled and said: "Understood, there are hundreds of people in our mansion. Although there are not many things to do every day, there are always dozens of things. I forgot about this when I got busy. Auntie, grandma, I'm sorry, I will pay you a month's money later from my own pocket. Let this be an apology for this negligence."

(End of this chapter)