Jia Lian fell into a deep sleep. When he was drowsy, 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. Jia Lian opened his eyes and saw a pair of dripping eyes. Big eyes, with childishness and curiosity, stared at him.

Jia Lian suddenly smiled, turned over and sat up, waving to the little girl in front of him: "Come here, give me a hug for my father."

It was he and Wang Xifeng who 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, she hesitated, and leaned against the 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. Hou, the eldest sister is still young and hasn't seen Mr. Hou 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 day of July 7th, the Qiao Qiao Festival.

However, Grandma Liu has not yet entered the Grand View Garden, and has not seen Sister Qiao yet, so Sister Qiao does not have a maiden name yet.

Jia Lian thought about giving Qiao Jieer another nice name, but later he thought about it and didn’t. 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 voice 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 called You haven't been home for more than half a year. When the eldest sister is recognizing people, she is naturally not close to you now, and you can't blame others."

Jia Lian smiled and asked: "Can you talk now? ?”

He had just seen that the little girl could walk on her own.

"It's true that I can speak, but she has a coy personality and is nothing like me. It took me a long time to coax her to speak."

Wang Xifeng said with a smile, and then said to her Sister Qiao, who was forcibly held in Jia Lian's arms, taught her: "Quick, call me daddy. Ask your father to buy you something fun..."

Maybe Sister Qiao still has some impression of Jia Lian, After only struggling for a while, he stopped. He raised his head and glanced at Jia Lian for a few times. When he saw that Jia Lian was looking down at her with a smile, he looked ashamed and hid under Jia Lian's elbow, but did not answer.

"You little girl, why don't you call me daddy?It’s only been over half a year and you don’t recognize it? "

Wang Xifeng came forward and urged.

She didn't want Jia Lian and Sister Qiao to get separated.

"It doesn't matter. She probably won't be traveling far away for a short time after she comes back this time. There's plenty of time for her to speak, so don't be in a hurry. ”

Jia Lian was very open-minded. He picked up the little girl and teased her for a while, winking at her. Soon the joyful look rekindled in the little girl’s eyes. He laughed.

When Wang Xifeng saw this, he rolled his eyes, waited for a while, and then said to the wet nurse: "You can take the eldest sister down, Mr. Hou 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, tell them, Ask them to gather people from both houses and gather in the front yard in Xuchu? ”

　“Hmm. ”

“To give everyone reward money? ”

At noon, when Jia Lian came back in a hurry, she also asked hastily whether there would be some reward for such a big happy event, so that everyone would be happy.


"That's one thing, but I have more important things, and I just need your help. "

Jia Lian said, and took the opportunity to discuss with Wang Xifeng.

Although Wang Xifeng was surprised by Jia Lian's idea, he had no objection. He just said: "Speaking of which, 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 for happy events, you should be receiving money from the official, but you are selfless and do it out of your own pocket. "

Wang Xifeng had settled her account very clearly. 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. After coming down, the wife also said that the money in the official position was not enough now, so she wanted to use all those things as official expenses.

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 in Rongqing Hall before.

Jia Lian saw that Wang Xifeng still looked a little aggrieved, so he took her hand and asked her to sit down. He came to the kang and said with a smile: "As expected, our Second Grandma Feng is still smart, even the old lady and the madam can't compete with you, she does it beautifully. ”

How could Wang Xifeng wear such a high hat?He said anxiously: "There is no way I can't compete with you. For your sake, the old lady and my wife know that you are the one who can earn the most money in the family now. They are afraid that they will be pushed into trouble and we will make a fuss." Separate the family.

However, the family is indeed no more wealthy now than before.

Last winter, as soon as the money from the villagers in various places was handed over, everyone immediately had their own Place to go.

Also, you don’t know, the garden at the back is 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. It's an average mansion.

However, it was built so well that the money spent greatly exceeded the budget.

Not only did the general's money almost run out, but also, his wife I also borrowed 80,000 taels of silver from Sister-in-law You in Dongfu, so that I can survive until today!"

"Eighty thousand?"

Jia Lian was surprised at first. They say that the garden at the back is basically completed, it just needs to be decorated.

In Jia Lian’s calculation, it would be strange 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 the family had become poor. On the contrary, just from the celebration banquet held for him, he knew that the family was as wealthy as ever.

It turns out that the money was borrowed from Dongfu.

"Yes, a total of eighty thousand taels! When we started to be short of money, my wife asked Sister-in-law You to borrow fifty thousand, and later she borrowed thirty thousand."

As Wang Xifeng spoke, his eyes lit 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, the ready-made gold and silver in her hands is over one hundred thousand, 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.

Now, she thinks 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 aA lot of Jia Lian's private money.

There must also be someone like that kid Zhaoer. 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 unscheming.

I didn’t expect her to be like this. You have the courage to lend us the entire treasury of Ningguo Mansion."

Wang Xifeng felt 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’s just a helpless move.

Now, 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 it costs all the official treasury, she has 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 we 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 but will not help. In the future, if the Ningguo Mansion has something to do, the Rongguo Mansion will only Even if you are afraid, you will not be able to help.

It is impossible for this woman, You, to see these things clearly, so she borrowed them very decisively and generously.

Suddenly he gained great favor from a group of people headed by Jia Mu and Mrs. Wang.

Of course, Jia Lian knew better that Youshi was not afraid that Rongguo Mansion would not return it, and there might be his reasons.

She was pregnant with his child, and the money from the Ningguo Mansion 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 thought so, Jia Lian would 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 on this point, Jia Lian returned 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 it at the time.

"The reason why I didn't use the official reward this time Silver, I have my own plans.

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 spoke frankly.

"So much!"

When Wang Xifeng heard this, she felt a little regretful. In the Rongguo Mansion before, she should have let Mrs. Wang take the reward from the Queen Mother. In that way, they If you can immediately withdraw 8,000 taels of silver from your official position, wouldn't you make a profit instead?

She felt a little distressed: "Actually, whether you want to distribute reward money, or 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. This We should get the money from the officials."

Wang Xifeng persuaded seriously, with the shadow of a money-lover on his rosy 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 mansion are now 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 is spent. Even the old lady and the wife’s private husband have spent a lot.

We are different from them. What they saved is worth every penny less, but we are still young and will have a lot of opportunities to make money in the future.

Whether it is distributing reward money to everyone, or sponsoring guards, or building Zhongyi Temple, it is all It’s time to win people’s hearts, and I don’t want the master and his wife to get involved.

Secondly, the officials are short of money now. If you want to withdraw money from the officials, you will have to fight with the master and his wife. It is troublesome and must not be done. Get enough money.

As for the pension of personal guards and other matters, it is related to my prestige. I don’t want to make any mistakes, so it is better for us to provide the money ourselves.

Three..."

When it came to the third number, Jia Lian laughed.

"Aren't you always thinking about my private lover who is hiding outside? I have no intention of letting you pay for it this time, all I use is my private money.

I have used up all the money in my hand. Isn’t it just convenient for you to control me?”

Wang Xifeng listened carefully at first, but upon hearing the third point, a pair of willow-leaf eyebrows suddenly raised, and she sat down He stood up and stared at Jia Lian.

"Please tell me clearly, when did I want to control you?

" Most of the money in this family is earned by you, IBut I never denied it. Moreover, since you became an official, when did I say no to you when you wanted to use money?

When you say such words now, it is obviously to gouge out people's eyes.

Don’t you want me to take care of your family’s money? Just say it straight, don't use such roundabout curses! ”

Wang Xifeng sat next to Jia Lian, his eyes burning with anger and unspeakable grievances.

It is Wang Xifeng’s nature to be irritable.

And the grievance is that today's Wang Xifeng lacks a sense of security in her heart.

Although the former Jia Lian was ineffective, she was still under her control. She was not afraid that Jia Lian would not want her.

Now, if Jia Lian changes his mind, he can just wave his hand and kick her away.

That’s why he is a little more sensitive.

Jia Lian originally just wanted to have a fight with Wang Xifeng It’s a joke.

I didn’t take money from Wang Xifeng before, just for convenience. Now I just make fun of Wang Xifeng. Who would have thought, this woman is too worried.

Look 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, do you still want to cry?" ? "

"Who wants to cry? "

Wang Xifeng threw her elbow in Jia Lian's arms, that's all.

"You said it was a joke now, but just now I saw that you were serious. .

I’m not joking with you. If you dislike me, just say so. I’m not that shameless, and I will definitely rely on you. ”

Those words were said, but when I think of the things that happened when 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, no matter how hard my heart is, She couldn't help but become fragile, and couldn't help but shed a few tears.

Who can understand her heart?

She was in love with the phoenix crown and robe that Jia Lian had earned for her. She is happy, but sometimes when she calms down, she feels that if she gains something, she will lose something.

She is very possessive. In the past, Jia Lian basically belonged to her alone, but now, although Jia Lian has become so good , even perfect, but it is difficult to belong to her alone.

She understands and has a premonition.

For example, Jia Lian came back from the grassland last time I brought back a pair of sisters.

This time I returned to Beijing, and I also brought one with me.

It happened that it was a gift from the princess, and she was not even qualified to refuse.
< br/> She was even very sensible and didn’t ask any questions.

It was like this before, but now that Jia Lian has been granted the title of Marquis, how many more things like this will happen in the future?

Does she know that apart from having the advantage of being married to Jia Lian, she has no other advantage.

Let’s just say that the princess wanted to steal the bride and caught her committing the crime. If Jia Lian hadn't protected her, it's not certain whether she would have survived, let alone 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?

In the past, 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 raised his eyes and saw that she was playing with the cups and saucers in the tea room. Ping'er, I don't know when he disappeared.

But the curtain that was originally rolled up at the door has already 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 on the floor.