Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Chapter 52 Compromise

The last point Jia Lian made was also what he cared about most.

Wang Xifeng has many flaws, but most of them are simply due to her distinct personality and are not serious. Jia Lian actually has no intention of destroying Wang Xifeng or turning her into a simple, good woman.

However, among all her shortcomings, or rather, among the problems that her personality might cause in the future, there is one thing he cannot accept.

Ruthless and cruel, they treat the law as nothing and human life as worthless!

From loan sharking to arbitrarily taking on lawsuits, murdering witnesses, and cruelly harming You Erjie, resulting in the deaths of both mother and child...

These are all sins that Wang Xifeng in the original novel cannot erase!

Ironically, she did all these things for petty gains, such as a few thousand taels of silver, or just for momentary pleasure, leaving others with a huge handle against her. This can only be described as somewhat foolish.

Everything else is negotiable, but if Wang Xifeng continues to break this rule and even he can't control her in the future, he will eventually have to consider whether to give her a letter of divorce or a letter of settlement.

Of course, this is just a hypothetical situation, and he doesn't want it to be like this.

However, it is clear that Wang Xifeng could not accept this at this time.

She had been perfectly fine, but suddenly her face turned ashen. She glared at Jia Lian, her expression dark and menacing: "What do you mean by that? When have I ever harmed anyone? Explain yourself clearly!"

Wang Xifeng was furious and also somewhat saddened.

She didn't understand. Although she knew that she was a bit flamboyant and had offended more people, in all fairness, it was clearly Jia Lianqian who had done more bad things in the past!

Why should he use such prejudiced words to oppress her?

Does Jia Lian already consider her a sinner?

From beginning to end, all she did was send his two maids away... Compared to what he did, what was that?

Jia Lian knew that Wang Xifeng couldn't understand, after all, she was not yet twenty years old and was still a law-abiding daughter-in-law of the Jia family.

Her lawless audacity probably began to swell after she made money from lending money and earned three thousand taels of silver for nothing with just a letter, and eventually became uncontrollable.

He brought this up now to remind Wang Xifeng and give her a warning, so that if she encounters the same situation in the future, she can remember his words and think twice before acting.

"I've already said these last two points, I'm just telling you for your own sake. You don't need to agree to them now, just keep them in mind."

Let's start by signing the first of our three rules.

Wang Xifeng stopped speaking and sat quietly on the bed without uttering a word.

Jia Lian knew this wasn't the time to feel sorry for her, so he said, "This is between the two of us, so there's no need to write down terms and make a fool of ourselves. Let Ping'er be our witness."

Without waiting for Wang Xifeng's nod, he called Ping'er in and told her about the three rules he and Wang Xifeng had agreed upon, though he only mentioned the first one.

Ping'er was naturally quite surprised to hear this. She glanced at the two of them and saw Wang Xifeng sitting on the bed, looking somewhat aggrieved but not objecting. She silently made a note of it. Then, seeing that her two masters had no further instructions, she withdrew.

"You don't need to stay here anymore. Turn off the light in the outer room and go back to sleep."

"Yes..." Ping'er replied to Jia Lian, thinking to herself: Second Master has indeed changed. He's much more considerate and better than before. No wonder even Second Mistress has started to listen to him...

After Ping'er left, Jia Lian noticed that Wang Xifeng was still sitting and not saying anything. Fearing that she would catch a cold, he wanted to pull the quilt up to cover her.

Wang Xifeng stubbornly pushed him away, raised her head, and asked with teary eyes, "Tell me seriously, what have I done? In your heart, how am I a bad person? Why are you so wary of me? Or do you really hate me that much?"

Jia Lian knew that if he tried to argue or explain to her at this point, he would likely remain unconvinced until dawn. Therefore, he looked at her with a sneer and said, "Yes, I am quite dissatisfied with you. As a wife, how dare you refuse your husband? You deserve a beating!"

……

The next morning, Wang Xifeng was full of energy and sat in front of the dressing mirror, carefully touching up her eyebrows.

Hearing a noise behind her, she turned around and saw that Jia Lian had woken up. She smiled at Jia Lian, revealing a dimple, and then, without stopping what she was doing, called out loudly, "Ping'er, your second master is awake. Why don't you come in and serve him?"

As he spoke, Jia Lian jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed), pressed himself against her from behind, and stared intently at her reflection in the mirror.

"Stop fooling around, the girls saw it..."

Wang Xifeng slapped the hand that had slipped off her shoulder and gave a coquettish laugh to her reflection in the mirror.

After Ping'er helped Jia Lian get dressed, she instructed, "Ping'er, go and call those two maids in. I have something to tell you."

Ping'er nodded, and with a wave of her hand, Qingwen and Xiangling came in.

They arrived early in the morning, but didn't dare to wander in because Ping'er was guarding them.

Wang Xifeng turned around, leaning against one arm, her less-than-elegant posture only highlighting her majesty.

"Qingwen, right? You were originally bestowed upon your second master by the old lady. You should have been settled according to the provisions for a concubine. However, your second master dotes on you and said that you are too young to take you into his room right now. So he made you work as a maid for now. When you are old enough, he will make you his concubine."

However, although you are a maid, you are different from other maids. From today onwards, you and Xiangling don't need to worry about anything else. You don't need to follow me around. Just take turns keeping watch in the room at night. If guests come, just help pour them a cup of tea."

Upon hearing this, Qingwen glanced at Jia Lian, who was sitting on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed). Seeing that Jia Lian did not object, she nodded in agreement.

Wang Xifeng casually raised her hand and said, "As for your monthly allowances, according to the rules of our Jia family, there are two allowances of one tael of silver in my room. One is Ping'er now, and the remaining one will be given to Qingwen."

As for Xiangling, according to the rules for head maids, she receives one string of cash per month…

Jia Lian then spoke up, saying, "Their monthly wages will not go through the official channels; deduct them from my allowance."

Like Wang Xifeng, he received a monthly allowance of five taels of silver.

Since he didn't want Wang Xifeng to control Qingwen and Xiangling, he naturally didn't want Wang Xifeng to do him this favor, especially to let Qingwen take over her position as one of the two main maids. Otherwise, she would inevitably feel cheated every time she thought about it.

Wang Xifeng glanced at him and smiled, "That's fine, at least the others in the mansion won't complain that we're taking up too much of the government's money. Just don't complain that your allowance isn't enough in the future."

Jia Lian chuckled. If he was living off the few taels of silver the manor provided, he might as well just lie down and wait to die, and not have to do anything.

At this moment, Qingwen also pulled Xiangling to kneel down and express her gratitude to the two masters.

Although it wasn't quite what she expected, upon closer reflection, it wasn't bad.

She used to be a lowly maid earning 500 yuan a month, but now she earns 1 tael, which is equivalent to skipping two grades.

Moreover, by listening to Wang Xifeng, she would not only no longer have to do chores, but also no longer have to serve Wang Xifeng. This would be even more comfortable than being a concubine!

Most importantly, she could finally breathe a sigh of relief. No longer a concubine, she wouldn't have to compete with Wang Xifeng for the right to stay overnight with the Second Master, thus avoiding directly offending Wang Xifeng…

Although she wasn't too afraid of competing for favor with Wang Xifeng, it was best not to offend such a domineering and ruthless mistress as Wang Xifeng.

First, we should establish a stable foothold here. Then, when we become concubines in the future, we won't have to be afraid of the second mistress anymore!

The clever Qingwen quickly devised a plan.

Wang Xifeng then smiled at Ping'er and said, "From now on, with these two helping you keep watch outside at night, you'll have an easier time and won't be as tired as before. Alright, take them downstairs to make arrangements... Remember to have someone fetch water for your second master to wash up."

"Yes……"

After Ping'er and the other two left, Wang Xifeng looked at Jia Lian and asked, "Are you satisfied now?"

Jia Lian smiled; he was indeed quite satisfied.

Or rather, Wang Xifeng wasn't as difficult as he had imagined; if he spoke to her earnestly, she was still willing to listen.

Seeing how cooperative she was in arranging things for Qingwen and Xiangling, he couldn't help but feel a little regretful. Had he been too harsh in his words last night? He shook his head. It was all for the sake of long-term stability; he couldn't let his heart soften and indulge her again.

He laughed and said, "How could I not be satisfied? What, does Second Madam Lian want me to reward you?"

He stepped forward and made a move to pick her up.

"Go away, stop fooling around. Don't you know what time it is? I still need to go to the old lady's room. Are you coming or not?"

"I think I'll pass. The old lady is probably annoyed with me right now, so why bother her? I'll get ready and go check on the master's courtyard."

Wang Xifeng asked curiously, "Didn't I hear that you beat up that Taoist priest, and Master was furious and gave you a death order not to come in again?"

"It doesn't matter whether you go inside or not; it's the same as bowing in front of the door."

Wang Xifeng then mocked, "I wonder where you learned your stubborn temper from? How come you're being so filial? Did you do something wrong?"

Jia Lian glanced at her but didn't say anything.

Wang Xifeng was just joking casually and didn't think much of it. Jia Lian was happy to go and pay his respects, so what did she have to say?

But then I suddenly remembered something, "Oh right, yesterday afternoon, Aunt Zhao came looking for you, and at that time..."

Wang Xifeng rolled her eyes at Jia Lian and continued, "Ping'er stopped me at the time, but she told me later. I was angry with you last night and forgot about it."

Granny Zhao was Jia Lian's wet nurse, but Jia Lian had weaned her for so many years, and he had long since let her go out to enjoy her retirement.

Therefore, Jia Lian didn't care much and simply said, "She must have something to ask of you. At noon, set up an extra table of wine in the room and invite her over for a drink."