Since Jia Zheng was dismissed and Jia Yu moved into Rongxi Hall, Jia Lian jumped from the prince's personal guard to the fourth rank of the imperial guard with a knife after the new emperor ascended the throne, and the status of the entire big house in Rongguo Mansion has risen.

After thinking about it again, Li Kun intended to show weakness to Xifeng, and wanted to transfer the housekeeping power in her hand to Xifeng, and she herself would be satisfied as long as she could manage the affairs of the second room. Only Xifeng had no intention of accepting the messy official affairs of Rongguo Mansion, so he comforted Li Kun and only let her manage it with peace of mind. Xifeng didn't accept it, but Li Kun didn't dare to entrust it anymore, except for the affairs of the second room, such as courtesy, checking accounts, sending people to Zhuangzi, buying New Year's goods, etc., all came to discuss with Xifeng.

After going back and forth, the relationship between Li Kun and Xifeng is much better than before. Yuan Chun used to rarely go out of the door of Rongqing Hall every day except for learning rules, practicing the piano, and teaching Baoyu, but now he also comes to Xifeng every now and then to talk to him. Looking at the surface alone, the relationship between Xifeng and Yuan Chun seems to have become a lot closer.

Seeing that it was the end of winter, it was time to make a New Year's ceremony, Li Kun hurriedly came to Xifeng to discuss.

Although Xifeng didn't read the public accounts in the house, because he had read the original book, he also knew that Rongguo Mansion was just bright on the surface, but in fact, there was only an empty shell left. Not to mention the balance of payments, I am afraid that the fiscal deficit is very strict.

Li Kun brought all the prepared gift list to Xifeng to see, but he didn't want Xifeng to hold the gift list and muttered for a long time without speaking. Li Kun originally confidently thought that he had done a good job, and he had come according to the routine of previous years, but now he looks at Xifeng like this, which is a little bottomless.

Li Kun had to speak tentatively: "Sister Feng, what do you think?" But what's wrong with these gift lists? ”

Xifeng had already made up his mind in his heart to let Li Kun take the initiative to subtract a few points from these gift lists, put the gift lists on the table, picked up the tea cup and took two sips and said with a smile: "I look good at these gift lists, is it made by my sister-in-law herself, or is it according to the example of previous years?" ”

"Naturally, it is based on the example of previous years, from the old lady's housekeeper to the big lady's housekeeper in front, and then to our wife's housekeeper, it has always been like this." Li Kun smiled.

Xifeng nodded slightly: "So, for so many years, we have had a lot of dealings with the rest of the Four Kings and Eight Princes. Outsiders say that our family has a big business, Zhong Ming Ding eats, look at this thick New Year's gift list, it seems that this is true. ”

Li Kun's face froze, Xifeng didn't look at the public accounts, but she had read all the account books in the past ten years since she was a housekeeper. Twenty years ago, the Rongguo Mansion was indeed beautiful, but since the death of the old Guogong, it has been worse every year, and by five years ago, it had broken the balance of payments and relied on borrowing money from the household department to live. At this time, the New Year's gift to Beppu is so rich, looking at the scenery, I will go to the household department to borrow money in March next year.

Seeing that her face was not good, Xifeng smiled and continued: "I don't know where the silver in our house comes from?" I've heard that there are a lot of people who don't have enough money in the government to spend and go to the household department to borrow silver from the treasury. ”

"This ......" Li Kun hesitated for a moment and clenched his handkerchief: "Naturally, I borrowed it." Both the big lord and the lord have borrowed it. ”

"How much did you borrow?" Xifeng said lightly: "Since our family has so much money for the New Year's gift, I don't think we will be short of money to pay back the household." She said it so easily, as if paying back the money was as simple as saying a word.

Li Kun paused and decided to tell the truth: "In the past ten years, the eldest lord and the old man have borrowed a total of about 100,000 taels of silver. There are still 16,000 taels of silver left in the public account of our house, and the Zhuangzi shop can collect a total of 4,000 taels a year. The old lady, wife, girl, old man, and grandfather in the house need nearly 5,000 taels of silver for a year's expenses, plus the monthly money of the maids and mothers-in-law in each room; A total of 5,000 taels are required for a year to celebrate the New Year's holidays; The birthday gifts of the old ladies, wives, girls and lords of each province require a thousand taels of silver a year; This is not counting the annual expenses of the provinces to add imports and red and white affairs. Now that the lord has been dismissed, the uncle is still studying in Taixue, only the eldest lord and the second master have silver in the house, and the total amount of silver for the eldest lord and the second master is 1,500 taels a year. ”

Xifeng drank tea slowly, although he knew that Rongguo Mansion had no money because he had read the original book, but he didn't expect to be so poor. According to this momentum, if you don't borrow money, you won't be able to sustain it for another year or two. Oh, I can't sustain it anymore, and now I owe 100,000 taels of silver to the household.

"Sister Feng?" Seeing that Xifeng didn't speak, Li Kun called her carefully.

Xifeng put down the teacup and smiled: "Let's pay back the money owed to the household department first." ”

"Huh?!" Li Kun was instantly dumbfounded.

"Put the New Year's gift aside for the time being, and in the future, borrowing money from the household department is something that can never be done again, and I will look back like the old man and the second master. Let's pay back the money owed to the Ministry of Accounts first. In this world, there is no reason not to pay debts. Xifeng repeated it again, the words were clear and very calm.

"But we don't have that much silver at all," Li Kun wrung his handkerchief: "And I heard that other mansions also ask the household department to borrow money to live, and no one else pays it back, so let's not do this." ”

Xifeng couldn't help but be happy when he heard this: "The common people still know the truth of repaying debts, but our dignified prince's mansion is playing tricks and not paying back the silver?" My sister-in-law is also a person who has read books, doesn't she understand this truth? And how much money is owed to the household? In case one day the top is investigated, my sister-in-law can turn over the laws of Daqi and see what fate our house can end. Not to mention anything else, at least it is certain that it will affect Brother Zhu's career. ”

Li Kun's heart suddenly burst: "But we don't have the money to pay back." ”

"We can't maintain this superficial scenery anymore, don't we also take out a lot of silver to buy New Year's gifts for various prefectures?" Xifeng looked at Li Kun with a smile.

Li Kun suddenly realized, saying so much, it turned out that she was waiting for her here, and it was all caused by this rich gift list.

After thinking about it, Li Kun finally picked up the stack of gift lists: "There are still many inappropriateness in this gift list, I will take it back and consider it again." ”

"Sister-in-law, hard work," Xifeng personally changed a cup of tea for her: "We are not as good as before, not only these gift lists have to be considered, but even the weekday expenses in the house have to be considered to come up with a new charter, what does my sister-in-law think?" ”

"What my sister said is that as the saying goes, open source and reduce expenditure, we have no source to open now, so we can only throttle first." The second room still has Mrs. Wang's body to make up for it, but the public account is getting more and more ugly, if the regulations are not changed, the Rongguo Mansion will fall apart in two years. And Xifeng has already said that he will not let such a thing as borrowing money from the household department happen again, Li Kun believes that Xifeng will do what he says.

In the afternoon of the same day, Li Kun brought the gift list that had been reduced by three points after deliberation to Xifeng, and Xifeng didn't say anything this time, and asked Li Kun to go to the silver to buy it, and reminded Li Kun to come up with the regulations for throttling. The old lady and Mrs. Wang have both been sick lately, and it will be a year after they learn that the annual gifts sent to the prefectures have been reduced by three points.

In the evening, Jia Lian came back, and Xifeng mentioned the matter to Jia Lian. Jia Lian was very much in favor of Xifeng's decision, he had been with the new emperor Qi Zhen for several years, so he naturally knew Qi Zhen's temper. "We still have to do our best to repay the money owed to the Ministry of Households," Jia Lian lay on his back on the bed: "My father and second uncle borrowed so much silver from the treasury and squandered it, and the fact that the Emperor Taishang did not pursue it does not mean that the seventh master did not pursue it." Moreover, the situation in the northwest is not very stable, and I am afraid that troops will be used in two or three years. ”

"There are also the four kings and eight princes, these old yellow calendars," Jia Lian thought for a while and then said to Xifeng: "The emperor didn't like to deal with these people before he ascended the throne, even if I rescued the driver twice, but the emperor didn't have any important intentions for our house, and all the favors were only on me." We'll be farther away in the future, and you're doing a good job. ”

"Persuade the master to let him stop borrowing money from the household department, and ask the master to bother more," Xifeng smiled: "Feng'er is only afraid that this matter will not be done well." ”

"Feng'er, don't worry, this matter is on the master." Jia Lian grabbed Xifeng and rubbed it on her face, very intimate. Xifeng didn't know what Jia Lian said to Jia Yu, anyway, Jia Yu never went to the household department to borrow silver after that. But that's another story.

Let's say that Xifeng got up the next day and drew up a few separate gift lists in the name of her and Jia Lian, including those who went to the palace, those who went to Lin Ruhai's mansion in Yangzhou, those who went to the princess of Jin, those who went to the Shen Taiyi Mansion, Zhong Qi and Xiao Yang's mansion, and then asked Mama Qian to prepare. Xifeng didn't want to care about the messy relationship in Rongguo Mansion before, she just had to manage her own part.

At the end of the month, the New Year's gifts have been sent to various prefectures, and the maids and maids trained by Xifeng have also achieved great results, and they are assigned by Xifeng to work as errands in various parts of the big house. There were only two ordinary-looking fifteen-year-old maids left, and there was nowhere to go. One of the two maids learned to comb her hair, and the other learned to match clothes, and she was praised several times by Mama Qian, thinking that she could serve by Xifeng's side, but she didn't want to be sent by Xifeng to Rongxi Hall to serve Mrs. Xing.

"You must serve your wife with your heart, and you must dress her up as brightly as possible. Well done, I'll have your share here. This is Xifeng's only request for the two girls.

The two maids hurriedly responded, and they all understood that Second Grandma Lian was asking them to help Mrs. Xing defeat the concubines around the eldest master. Then the two maids were personally taken by Xifeng and sent to Mrs. Xing of Rongxi Hall.

The skills of the maids around Mrs. Xing are mediocre, I never expected Xifeng to be so caring, and pulled Xifeng to talk about a big talk. In the early morning of the second day, after the two girls named Dongmei and Lamei, whom she had given her, combed her hair and matched her clothes, Mrs. Xing felt that she looked much better than usual. Not only did she feel this way, but even Jia Yu praised her for looking more energetically than before, and rested in Mrs. Xing's room that night.

Mrs. Xing naturally likes Xifeng more, but what Mrs. Xing didn't expect even more was that this was just the beginning.

Three days before the Chinese New Year, Xifeng brought Mama Qian and Qing'er Cui'er to Rongxi Hall again. She actually took her own silver to make four clothes for Mrs. Xing, two good mink furs, four sets of fashionable jewelry, and two boxes of rouge gouache, all of which were of the highest quality.

Mrs. Xing is not ugly, and suddenly she has a good daughter-in-law who dresses her up with good clothes and jewelry, plus people who move into Rongxi Hall are in good spirits on happy occasions, and the minions of the big house are governed by Xifeng and are obedient and don't have to worry about Mrs. Xing, and the previous crampedness and promise are gone. At this time, Mrs. Xing suddenly realized a truth: in Rongguo Mansion, she didn't care if the old lady liked it, as long as Xifeng was good to her, she could live a very comfortable life. Look at the rouge gouache and rouge gouache that Xifeng gave her clothes, jewelry, and jewelry, which is better than what the house does for the wives and girls according to the season.

Mrs. Xing almost left tears, after marrying into Rongguo Mansion for so many years, she has been in a very embarrassing situation without children and daughters, and Xifeng is Mrs. Wang's niece, she once thought that her life would be even more embarrassing after Xifeng married in. But I don't want Xifeng to respect her more than anyone else, and she has to be sincere. Although she is not her daughter-in-law, Xifeng treats her like a close relative. Her daughter-in-law is not only beautiful, good housekeeper, but also money, and the most important thing is to be good to her and filial piety. It's just that why did Xifeng treat her so well? Mrs. Xing was a little puzzled, so she always felt apprehensive in her heart, and always felt that maybe one day Xifeng would ignore her if she was unhappy.

On Chinese New Year's Eve, everyone was lively in Rongqing Hall. Mrs. Xing saw that Xifeng's face was not very good, so she hurriedly came over and worried: "What's wrong with Feng'er?" But uncomfortable? ”

"It's okay, don't worry, wife, there are a few days a month, just drink some brown sugar ginger tea." Xifeng tugged at the corners of her mouth and gave her a smile.

"If you're not feeling well, don't stay up, let the maid help you back." Mrs. Xing hurriedly said.

"Don't get in the way, everyone is here, it's not good for me to go."

"What are you afraid of, I'll go and tell the old lady." Mrs. Xing doesn't look at the old lady's face now, she feels that her waist is a lot harder, and she no longer has the cowardly posture she used to talk to the old lady. After talking to Xifeng, he went to the old lady's side and returned to Xifeng's situation with a smile.

The old lady saw that Xifeng's face was indeed not good, and she secretly said bad luck in her heart, and she was also very reluctant to see Xifeng, so she waved her hand to let Xifeng go back and rest.

Xifeng confessed, put on a fox fur and left, went back to drink a bowl of ginger tea and fell asleep. After Jia Lian heard that Xifeng was gone, he was always uneasy, thinking that Xifeng was very uncomfortable every time he came back, and he would come back after a while.

Jia Yu drank a few glasses of wine, pulled Jia Lian and said with a smile: "Good son, go back and see your daughter-in-law." ”

Jia Zheng pouted, looking down on his eldest brother and nephew. A man should have the appearance of a man, Jia Zheng glanced at Jia Lian with disdain.

Jia Lian didn't see Jia Zheng's eyes, went to the inner room to confess to the old lady and took the little maid away, and before leaving, he didn't forget to tell Jia Yu's new personal servant: "Persuade the old man to order, don't let him drink too much." ”

When I returned to the small courtyard, I saw Mama Qian tiptoeing out with Qing'er Cui'er.

"Your grandma slept?" Jia Lian lowered his voice.

"Grandma came back and drank ginger tea and lay down, just asleep at this moment." Mama Qian replied in a low voice: "Before Grandma lay down, she said that we should also be lively." ”

"Alright, let's all go down, and I don't need you to wait." Jia Lian thought about it and admonished: "You can be lively, but you are not allowed to drink to avoid mistakes, and you are all quiet, don't make noise about your grandma, she is uncomfortable." ”

"Yes, Second Master." Mama Qian squatted down and saluted, and then took the maids down.

Jia Lian entered the house lightly, opened the tent and saw Xifeng frowning slightly, and felt distressed in his heart. After thinking about it, he put down the tent, lifted the quilt in addition to his coat and got into the quilt, turned sideways to look at Xifeng's sleeping face, and slowly stretched out a big hand in the quilt to cover Xifeng's lower abdomen, and used the temperature of the palm to dissolve the slightest coolness in her body.

"I'm not, I'm not a demon...... Xifeng made a little sound in his throat, and he actually frowned and struggled, muttering two words, but Jia Lian didn't hear what it was.

"I'm not a demon!" Xifeng sat up suddenly, and a layer of fine sweat appeared on his forehead. Looking at the wilderness and snow fields around her, she was not burned on the fire by a demon woman and a monk before she reacted to it, and only then did she have an extremely realistic dream.

Before Xifeng could think about why he had such a dream, he suddenly fell into a warm embrace and was tightly encircled in Jia Lian's arms.

"Feng'er, don't be afraid, I'm here, don't be afraid." Jia Lian hugged Xifeng tightly.

Xifeng stretched out his arms and wrapped his arms around Jia Lian's neck and lay on his shoulder.

"What's wrong with Fang Cai, what nightmare did you have?" Jia Lian asked softly.

"I don't know why I dreamed that someone was going to burn me, saying that I was a demon." Xifeng asked himself if he had never done anything bad in his life before and after, why did he have to be burned to death?

"Don't be afraid, dreams are all reversed. Feng'er must live a long life and stay with me for a long time. Jia Lian's delicate kiss fell on her forehead, eyelids, and the tip of her nose, listening to his low and hoarse voice of comfort, the uneasiness in her heart finally slowly faded, and a sweetness surged up, and she took the initiative to kiss Jia Lian back for the first time.

"You're not feeling well, go to sleep." I don't know how long it took, Jia Lian reluctantly let go of Xifeng, helped her lie down and encircled her in his arms, and put one hand on her lower abdomen to bring her a trace of warmth.

But why do you have nightmares like that? Xifeng thought in a daze before going to bed, moved in Jia Lian's arms, found a comfortable angle, and slowly fell asleep. Xifeng didn't know at this time that the lame Taoist priest was about to come to the door.