Chapter Fifty-Three

  The mandarin duck had just lifted the door curtain when the voice of the wife was heard outside: "The old master and mistress have arrived. The old lady was just mentioning the old master and mistress, and you two happened to arrive."

  Those who can serve inside and outside Rongxi Hall are not the family members of the mansion; they are either the confidants of Old Lady Jia or have a clear understanding of the situation between Old Lady Jia and Jia Zhen, the mother and son.

  In this Jia's mansion, there are many people who flatter and fawn over others, the old woman who just spoke didn't sound very enthusiastic; it can be seen that she was mostly being perfunctory.

  Yuan Yang had never seen this legendary figure who indulged in food, drink and pleasure, idling away his days without a care; hmm... how to put it? This man, barely thirty years old, had sparked an unexpected word in Yuan Yang's mind - lecherous!

  How disgusting! This is indeed obscene!

  Jia Yu - courtesy name Enhou, is the eldest grandson of Rongguo Gong Jia Yuan; The successor to the title of Rongguo Duke Jia Daisan; The eldest son of Old Lady Jia; Demoted to inherit the title as a first-class general, it can be said that since Jia Yu inherited the title, he should naturally take on the heavy responsibility of revitalizing the family business.

  However, after Jia Daisan's death, Old Lady Jia doted on her youngest son; as a result, Jia She, who had not received attention from Old Lady Jia for some time, naturally became self-indulgent and started living a life of indulgence in pleasure and luxury, which accelerated the decline of the Jia family.

  Jia Zhen was quite handsome when he was young. They say that sons resemble their fathers; just looking at Jia Lian's good looks, it's not hard to guess what Jia Zhen looked like when he was young.

  These years Jia Zhen has been indulging in wine and lust, unable to extricate himself. Isn't there a saying that goes like this: Can one's air of confidence change their appearance?

  Time had taken its toll on Jia Zhen, and he no longer possessed even a fraction of his former elegance; instead, he became more and more disreputable with each passing day.

  "Master and mistress." Yuanyang greeted Jia Zheng and Mrs. Xing with a slight bow, saying: "The old lady had just ordered me to go invite Master and Mistress, but it so happens that Master and Mistress have come on your own."

  "You little girl are quite clever, how come I've never seen you before? It seems like I haven't seen you around here before?" Jia Zhen was in a good mood at this moment, after hearing Yuanyang's chatter; he couldn't help but stop and take a look at her.

  Because Yuanyang is now just a 7 or 8 year old little girl, Mrs. Xing loves to eat sour pickled mustard; however, she wouldn't go so far as to not get along with a 7 or 8 year old little girl.

  So when the master of the house stopped to talk to Yuanyang, Mrs. Xing did not get angry for no reason; if it were a young maid in her teens trying this out, Mrs. Xing would have to smash her own vinegar jar.

  "In response to the old master's words." Yuanyang didn't look down on Jia She just because he wasn't favored by Old Lady Jia, after all, a master is still a master; even if a servant managed to get into a good position, they were still just a servant.

  Even if Jia Rui couldn't get on the good side of Old Madame Jia, others only needed to move their lips to deal with a servant like him.

  Yuanyang stepped forward and said: "My name is Yuanyang, I followed Lai Taizi into the mansion yesterday; today I'm serving under Old Madame's orders."

  "Mr. and Mrs., if there are no other instructions, I will withdraw first." Yuyang made a courtesy to Jia Zhen and Mrs. Xing, then said: "The old lady sent me to invite the two gentlemen and ladies over, if not, I'm afraid the old lady will get angry."

  Yuanyang's words made Jia Zhen's heart happy, hehe... So the second master and Wang Shi haven't arrived yet? His own opportunity has come again.

  "What's going on? Old Master and Madame Wang still haven't arrived yet?" Jia She asked casually.

  "Tell the old master, it's not over yet!"

  "All right! Then you quickly go and call Second Brother and Second Sister, lest Old Madame hurry back!" Jia She hastily sent off Yuanyang, he himself also anxiously went into Rong Xuan Tang to get in touch with his own partial mother.

  Jia Zhen followed Mrs. Xing into the Rongxi Hall, where Old Lady Jia was sitting alone in boredom; but as people age, they tend to like lively scenes, and now Old Lady Jia was no exception.

  Mrs. Jia glared at the fact that it was already this late, yet not one of her two unfilial sons had shown up; Mrs. Jia's anger was immense!

  Just about to lose my temper? Then I saw our family's eldest and his wife, the two of them, lift up the door curtain and walk in.

  "The son (daughter-in-law) is paying respects to the elderly lady!"

  Jia Zhen and Mrs. Xing were unusually in harmony this time, speaking with one voice.

  "Ah, Elder Brother and everyone has arrived, come sit down!" The usually stern Matriarch Jia surprisingly smiled warmly at Jia Zheng and Mrs. Xing, with a completely loving and doting expression.

  Jia Zhen and Mrs. Xing exchanged a glance, both of them feeling a sudden chill run down their spines; uh... the old lady seemed to be acting strangely, could she have been possessed by an evil spirit?

  Jia Zhen and Mrs. Xing also coincidentally had a tacit understanding!

  Actually, Jia Zhen and Mrs. Xing were thinking too much, this Old Lady Jia was completely because she was too bored alone; happened to see Jia Zhen and Mrs. Xing coming into Rongxi Hall, due to excessive excitement; inevitably a bit over-enthusiastic.

  After Jia She and Mrs. Xing accompanied Old Lady Jia and chatted with her for a while, the anxious hearts of Jia She and Mrs. Xing finally calmed down.

  At this time, Jia Zheng and Wang Shi had still not appeared, so Jia She knew his chance had come.

  "Old lady, how come it's already this late; second brother and second sister-in-law haven't arrived yet? Looking at the time, Meizi and her husband will be arriving soon too. As the elder brother and sister-in-law, they're not even here! Old lady doesn't know if brother-in-law will think that our Jia family is looking down on him, isn't this a slap in his face?"

  Jia Zhen's words were extremely skillful, he didn't directly speak ill of Jia Zheng and Wang Shi in front of Old Lady Jia; Jia Zhen knew that his own mother loved his own sister the most, so he used Jia Min and Lin Ruhai as an excuse; this would certainly make Old Lady Jia very angry.

  This way of hoodwinking the couple, Jia Zheng and Wang Xifeng, would be much more effective than if Jia She had bluntly stated it.

  Hehe... I think my recent studies have made great progress! Jia Ze gave himself 32 likes with a smile.

  As soon as Jia Zhen said this, the smile on Old Lady Jia's face suddenly became somewhat frozen; her old face turned from white to red and then from red to black, a truly magnificent sight.

  "Hmph... This old two is even more skilled at putting on airs than my wife." As expected, Lady Wang was extremely angry; however, she only casually scolded Baoyu and Xiren a few times before dropping the matter.

  But it's just these simple few sentences of complaint, Jia Xun is also very happy; hehe... after all, Jia Min and Lin Ruhai couple have not arrived yet, Jia Xun believes that until Jia Min and Lin Ruhai couple arrive, it will truly become lively.

  At this time, Jia Yuanchao didn't entangle himself either. He and Mrs. Xing accompanied Old Lady Jia in Rongxi Hall, chatting with her; if this scene fell into the eyes of an uninformed person, it would indeed be a deep and harmonious picture of mother-son affection.

  Time was passing minute by minute, and Jia Zheng and Wang Shi still hadn't arrived; however, Lai Da, the chief steward of Rongguo House, hurriedly walked in from outside.

  "When it comes to the old lady, the old master, and the mistress, the young mistress and her new husband have already arrived; at this moment they must have entered the second gate and are walking towards Ronghui Hall."

  Lai Da is the son of Lai Ya's mother, who was a maid accompanying Old Lady Jia. This Lai Ya was one of Old Lady Jia's most trusted people; naturally, this Lai Da also had a certain status and position in Rongguo Mansion, except for the few masters of Rongguo Mansion; it is Lai Da, the big steward, who is the most prestigious.

  Jia Xun immediately felt happy when he heard Lai Da's words; Hehe... his own sister and brother-in-law were really too powerful, great that they came!

  Hehe... Jia Min and Lin Ruhai arrived a step earlier than Jia Zheng and Wang Shi, which was exactly what Jia She wanted; Jia She thought that his sister and brother-in-law were really too powerful, hmm... He decided that when he had time another day, he would definitely invite his brother-in-law to have a good drink.

  As expected, the mother of the house suddenly became anxious: "Quickly go and see why the second master and second mistress have not arrived yet?"

  One of the maids responded and was about to leave, but was stopped by Old Lady Jia: "Lai Da, you personally go take a look at what Lao Er and Wang Shi are up to. Hurry!"

  Mrs. Jia surprisingly didn't trust the maid who went to call them, but instead personally instructed Lai Da to go and hurry up Mr. Jia and Madame Wang.

  "Please be at ease, old madam. I'll go and invite the second master and second mistress to come over." As much as Old Lady Jia doted on her daughter Xiangling, Lai Da was well aware of it; without needing further prompting from Old Lady Jia, he hastily took his leave from Rongxiu Hall.

  "Damn it... damn it!"

  Mrs. Jia was anxiously pacing back and forth in the Rongxi Hall, now she could only hope that Lai Da would hurry up and bring Mr. Jia and Mrs. Wang over before Mian and Lin's couple arrived; otherwise this trouble would be big.

  Jia Min has been spoiled since childhood, even if Lin Ruhai doesn't mind; Jia Min probably won't let it go easily, especially after Wang entered the house. For years, there has been a discord between the sisters-in-law, and today's incident would make Rongguo House really lively.

  It has to be said that the person who knows her own daughter best is indeed always the mother, and this statement is not false in the slightest; isn't Old Lady Jia precisely the person in this world who understands Xiangyun best?

  It wasn't long before Jia Min and Lin Ruhai, the couple, arrived at Rong Xitang. At this time, Jia Zheng and Wang Shi were still nowhere to be seen. Jia Min had been holding in her anger for several days and hadn't found a place to vent it. Now, Jia Zheng and Wang Shi had delivered themselves to her doorstep, making it impossible not to feel unlucky.