Chapter Seventy-Three

  Master Wang is the best example himself. If it weren't for the immense wealth of the Wang family and the boundless power in his second brother's hands, Master Wang wouldn't be living so comfortably in Jinling City like a fish in water; all this is inseparable from wealth and power.

  Although Jia Zheng's father is indeed a bit unreliable, after all, he still has the title of Grand Master Rongguo; besides, he also has the hereditary title of First-Class General.

  Jia Xun's household consisted of a daughter born to a concubine, Jia Yingchun, and a young son also born to a concubine, Jia Tan. The hereditary title would eventually be passed down to Jia Xun, the eldest son, while his own daughters would marry out. In the main house of the Jia family, aside from Jia Zheng and Lady Xing, Jia Xun and Wang Xifeng were the most prominent couple.

  Apart from Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng's marriage, the matchmaker was none other than his own sister; this is what Old Master Wang valued and appreciated the most.

  But I don't know, if Master Wang knew about his own sister's thoughts and intentions; would he still look favorably on this marriage?

  It turned out that Mrs. Wang was willing to help her niece and Jia Lian because she had ulterior motives.

  Originally from Jia Min's marriage to San Chao's return, the performance of Jia Zheng and Wang Fu made Grandma Jia extremely disappointed; especially Jia Min's crying and Jia She's eye medicine. Although Jia Zheng and Wang Fu still followed Grandma Jia and lived in Rongxi Hall.

  The power of the house still lies in Madame Wang's hands, but Old Lady Jia is no longer as she used to be; all matters are left to Madame Wang and Jia Zheng to decide for themselves, except for some trivial matters. For anything slightly more important, Old Lady Jia would let Madame Wang make a decision only after reporting back to her.

  To put it bluntly, it seems that the master and mistress of the house are still Madame Wang and Jia Zheng; but in reality, the power has already been taken back by Old Lady Jia.

  Mrs. Wang had taken charge of the household not long after marrying Mr. Jia, and she had been in charge for many years with great fanfare; now that she was at this age, she would suddenly face the crisis of being stripped of her power to take charge of the household at any time, and Mrs. Wang would never be willing to fall from her position as the mistress of the house.

  The old saying goes that the longer an official is in office, the more he becomes infatuated with power; the rights he has struggled to obtain are about to be handed over to others so easily? Madame Wang was unwilling to accept this and wondered how she could firmly grasp power in her own hands.

  You really can't say, there is pressure and there will be motivation; so Mrs. Wang thought day and night, and finally found a good way; that is to use the method of intermarriage to marry her own niece into the Jia family, who doesn't listen to her aunt? At that time, she and her niece will join forces, and this Rongguo Mansion will still be hers.

  Mrs. Wang thought to herself that her eldest son was weak and sickly, not to mention he had already married Li Wan; her second son Baoyu was still a child, the only suitable person in the Jia family was the grown-up Jia Lian from the first branch of the family, who had also reached marriageable age.

  On the Wang side, Mrs. Wang's first thought was Wang Xifeng, why? Who else could it be if not Wang Xifeng, who is good at controlling everything despite being illiterate?

  It turned out that Mrs. Wang had been married to the Jia family for over a decade, while Old Master Wang had lived in Jinling City for many years; the siblings hadn't seen each other for over a decade, and their only communication was through letters.

  Especially in the past two years, Wang's eldest son Jia Zhu has been bedridden with illness. As a result, Madame Wang had not exchanged letters with her elder brother for a long time and naturally did not know about the changes in her niece.

  Mrs. Wang's impression of Xue Baochai had always been that she was illiterate, not knowing a few big characters; her conduct and temperament were no different from those of a boy, with a bold and decisive style, speaking and acting with many tricks up her sleeve, stepping on twelve heads at once.

  Jia Lian was still quite young, but he also had a fondness for beauty; Wang's elder sister-in-law was a great beauty, and as the daughter of such a beautiful woman, she naturally couldn't be unattractive.

  Wang Xifeng's appearance is quite suitable, and her age is also comparable to Jia Yuanchun; marrying Jia Yuanchun would be a perfect match in terms of social status. After Wang Xifeng marries into the Jia family, she can let the two sisters help with managing the household together. Originally, there was an unwritten rule in the Jia household that although younger generations were in charge, major decisions still rested with their elders.

  To put it bluntly, in the future, the one who will be giving orders and making decisions in the Jia household will still be Lady Wang; while Wang Xifeng and Jia Lian are just executors.

  Mrs. Wang was also a person who acted quickly and decisively, since the idea had already been decided; she first found an excuse to let Jia Lian come over to the second house as her assistant, and used this as an excuse to have Jia Lian move over and live with the second house together; until Jia Lian was familiar with all the major and minor matters in Rongguo House, she then brought up the matter of Jia Lian's marriage to Wang Xifeng.

  Although Old Lady Jia was no longer too fond of Madame Wang, she still quite approved of the proposal regarding the marriage between Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng.

  In Mrs. Jia's words, the Jia and Wang families were originally related by marriage; now if Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng successfully arrange a marriage, it would be an even better thing with kinship added to kinship; most importantly, the Jia and Wang families can be said to be of equal social status; this is also a very suitable match.

  Jia She saw that Old Lady Jia had already agreed, and the daughter-in-law to be married was a talented girl from a good family; not to mention the good family background, it was also a marriage between relatives. It is said that the eldest daughter of the Wang family was intelligent and clever, and her character and behavior were far superior to those of Jia Zhu. Jia She naturally felt delighted and gladly agreed.

  As for Mrs. Xing, hehe... She was only the second wife of Jia Zheng and not Jia Lian's biological mother; in this matter, Old Lady Jia and Jia Zheng had already agreed, so naturally there was nothing to do with Mrs. Xing.

  The only thing that can be said is that Mrs. Wang's idea was not bad, and the abacus was also calculated to be 'crackling' loud; however, Mrs. Wang made a mistake in one thing, which is that this current Wang Xifeng is no longer the original illiterate and shrewish woman, it can only be said that Mrs. Wang's calculation was a bit too early.

  Hehe......It's just unknown, in the end, who will outsmart whom?

  The cunning and scheming Wang's wife vs the nine-tailed spirit fox Qingling, it's just unknown who will win or lose between this old fox and the fox spirit. This match is really making people look forward to it.

  "Sir, it's just that from now on, we really have to go through with this marriage between our family and the Rongguo House; our daughter will be married off to a place as far away as Beijing, and it'll be hard for us to see each other again."

  After listening to Old Master Wang's analysis, Zhou Shi wasn't very opposed to this marriage; the only thing that made her feel a little dissatisfied was that the Rongguo Mansion was far away in the capital city, while she and her family lived in Jinling City. What if she missed her daughter in the future?

  As soon as Zhou said this, even Old Master Wang started to get a bit worried; however, since Old Master Wang was a man after all, his perspective on things and his view of his own wife were naturally different; their starting points for looking at things were not the same, so what they saw was also not the same.

  "Madam, you don't have to worry about this. Aren't my second and third brothers always living in the capital? My second brother has been exceptionally fond of our family's Feng'er since childhood. When the time comes, I'll write a letter to ask him to take good care of Feng'er."

  Master Wang believed that with the support of Wang Ziteng, even the old lady of Rongguo Mansion would give a little face; his own daughter would not be looked down upon by her husband's family in the future.

  Haha... this ginger is still spicy after all these years!

  "Master, you are indeed more perceptive than I; in this regard, I am far inferior to you." Although the two had already been husband and wife for many years, Zhou Shi's gaze towards Master Wang still held a hint of reverence; this greatly satisfied Master Wang's masculine ego.

  "Madam!" Old Master Wang emotionally grasped Zhou Shi's hand and called out, the already elderly Zhou Shi and Old Master Wang suddenly became like a young couple, affectionately calling each other terms of endearment.

  Wang Xifeng brought Ping'er in just as they saw their own father and mother's pink bubble-covered scene.

  "Cough...cough..."

  Wang Xifeng cleared her throat, and was extremely envious of the affection between Wang Ye and Zhou Shi; this was also why Wang Xifeng was willing to act as the daughter of Wang Ye and Zhou Shi.

  At that time she was still the nine-tailed fox Qingling, this kind of affectionate and unregretful love; has always been what she pursued, and also what she yearned for.

  The sudden cough startled Wang Lao Ye and Zhou Shi's couple who were unprepared.

  "Heh heh... Ah, Feng'er, you're here." Old Master Wang stroked his beard and said to Xue Baochai with some embarrassment.

  Zhou's family couldn't help but glance at Old Master Wang with a hint of embarrassment, and said with a scolding expression: "Master, look at yourself, you've made Feng'er laugh now, haven't you?"

  "Feng'er has seen Father, and Mother too!" Wang Xifeng curtsied to Mr. Wang and Madame Zhou, then smiled slightly and said: "Father and Mother's feelings for each other are still so good, it's really making countless people jealous!" The last sentence of Wang Xifeng was clearly laced with a hint of teasing.

  It's also Wang Xifeng's good fortune to be born into such a family; with Old Master Wang and Madame Zhou as parents, she has been spoiled rotten by their leniency. If it were another family, she would have been scolded severely for her behavior, which would still be considered mild.

  "Slave and maid servant pay respects to Master and Mistress!" Ping'er also followed closely behind and made a courtesy to Wang Gong and Zhou Shi.

  "My child, how did you come?" Madame Wang warmly grasped Xue Baochai's hand and had her sit down close to herself; then with a loving expression asked: "It's already this late, have you come over here to discuss something with your father and mother?"

  Her own daughter knew herself, seeing Wang Xifeng leading Ping'er to hurry over; Zhou Shi and Lao Ye exchanged a glance, and in their hearts they had already guessed some of Wang Xifeng's intentions.

  As expected, Wang Xifeng raised an eyebrow and smiled brightly at Zhou Shi and Old Master Wang: "What? Shouldn't it be Father and Mother who have something to say to me? Could the daughter have misunderstood?"

  Wow... as expected of the famous Phoenix Sister from Dream of Red Mansions, this is quite a straightforward statement; indeed very neat and efficient, not dragging on at all - so refreshing!