Chapter 144 Entering Ningzheng Hall
This is why Keqing and Wang Xifeng are of different generations, but are both called grandma.
Although Jia Cong was young, he was nominally the son of Jia Jing after being adopted into the East Palace, and he was also the only male master in charge of the East Palace, so it was normal for the servants to call him master.
After helping Youshi and Keqing up, Jia Cong said to the servants, "Everyone, get up!"
"Sister-in-law, let's not follow the etiquette at home and just call me Brother Cong. Otherwise, our family will seem distant."
You Shi smiled bitterly in her heart. If a younger generation inherited the East Mansion, she would at least be Jia Zhen's principal wife. Even if she was a second wife, she would still have a certain status. The younger generation would definitely be filial to her. But now Jia Cong inherited the East Mansion and was her nominal brother-in-law. As a sister-in-law, she lived in her brother-in-law's house. Wasn't it up to her brother-in-law to decide ? So, how dare she act so arrogantly in front of Jia Cong!
As for Keqing, Jia Cong just gave a reserved smile and said nothing more. Since they had already moved in, if there was anything they wanted to say, couldn't they just go to the room and talk in private?
"Let's not just sit here and watch. Otherwise, won't Second Sister-in-law say that we in the East Mansion don't know how to entertain guests?"
"Everyone get in the car and go straight to Ningzheng Hall!"
Everyone got on the car again, went through two small doors, went around the back of Cong Lu Tang and headed south, and went directly from the hall to the inside of the inner three gates and outside the inner ceremonial gate. Then everyone got off the car.
There was a maid leading the way, Jia Cong was walking in the front, Baochai and Daiyu were walking behind Jia Cong on the left and right, Yuanyang followed closely behind the two girls, and then the three girls walked side by side! Only Xiangyun was running around, looking around curiously, while Youshi and Keqing were the last to come along, accompanying Wang Xifeng and Li Wan.
After a moment, Xiangyun came directly to Jia Cong and said, "Third brother, is this Ningzheng Hall? It looks no different from Rongxi Hall in the West Mansion."
Baochai smiled and said, "What's so strange about this? When Duke Ning and Duke Rong were both awarded titles, this mansion was also built together according to the court regulations. Naturally, the main halls of the two mansions are exactly the same!"
Xiangyun's eyes rolled, "Sister Bao knows a lot. Has she come here secretly, or has she learned about it in advance to prepare for the future?"
"When we go in later, Baoya will sit directly on the high couch!" Daiyu at the side smiled softly with her hands covering her mouth, "Do you want us sisters to pay our respects to Baoya first?"
Wang Xifeng looked at the scene in front of her thoughtfully, and suddenly turned to Keqing and said, "My nephew's wife, why don't you go to the front to accompany and lead the way? I heard that you personally led the people to clean up Ningzheng Hall, so you are naturally very familiar with it."
Keqing's heart tightened, fearing that others might have heard something, so she quickly said, "Second Madam, you also know how to tease me? Today we are in our territory. If my wife and I don't get you drunk and teach you a lesson, you will come to our East Mansion to show off all day long!"
"Not bad, not bad!" Mrs. You smiled and nodded. "You poor fellow, I'll get you drunk first, and then I'll drag you to play dominoes. I'll make sure you lose and go back to the West Mansion crying!"
"Hahaha, who am I afraid of? At most, I can fight alone today. Besides, I have my dear sister-in-law to help me. How can I be afraid of your East Mansion?" As he said this, he directly took Li Wan's arm, "Sister-in-law, don't you think this makes sense?"
Several people laughed out loud!
After passing through Neiyi Gate and Neisai Gate, they saw Xiaoque'er and a few other maids from Chenwu Court waiting in the courtyard.
Seeing Jia Cong come in, the maids, big and small, hurriedly bowed.
Afterwards, Qingwen came forward and said, "Master, the inside and outside have been tidied, and our things are packed up as well!"
Jia Cong nodded and looked forward. Ningzheng Hall, like Rongxi Hall, was a five-room mansion. These five rooms were the highest places for receiving guests in the East Palace, and also the living place of the owner Jia Cong.
There are three small halls in front of the five main rooms, and the hall in Rongxi Hall is in the back, where Sanchun lives. The hall here is in the front, usually used as a small study or for meeting guests. If someone is not qualified to enter the main hall, but Jia Cong wants to show his closeness, he can receive them in the small hall.
As for ordinary people visiting, most of the time they will not enter the main courtyard, but will be received in the lobby of the front yard.
After passing through Baoxia, you will enter the main hall!
The plaque in the main hall was the same as that in the west mansion. It was a large plaque with nine red dragons on a green background. On the plaque were three huge characters - "Ning Zhengtang" followed by a line of smaller characters, "In a certain year and month, this book was given to Ningguo Duke Jia Yan!"
On the innermost side, there is a large rosewood table with a carved dragon pattern. In the middle of it is a three-foot-high green and blue ancient bronze tripod. On the left and right are two sets of glazed colored bottles as decorations. In front of the table is a small glass table with two rosewood chairs. On the ground, there are two rows of eight nanmu chairs, also with small jade tables to match them.
All other corners are filled with antiques, each of which is a priceless treasure.
Youshi pulled Li Wan to sit in the first seat on her left, and she accompanied her. Next to her was Wang Xifeng, and behind her was Keqing.
On the right are Baochai, Daiyu, Xiangyun and the other three sisters!
Xiao Que'er had already started playing in the yard with her maid. In the main hall, Xiangling stood obediently beside Jia Cong, while Yuanyang and Qingwen served tea to everyone.
"If you ask me, Brother Cong should have another seat next to him! Brother Cong is the heir apparent, so how can we use only one seat? I don't know which two will be lucky enough to sit next to me in the future."
As Wang Xifeng spoke, she glanced at Baochai and Daiyu! The two of them lowered their heads in shame to drink tea, but dared not say a word. This outspoken Feng Lazi really dared to say anything.
"My brother Cong has a good fate that is hard to find even with a lantern! Not only is he capable, but he is also a super-class earl! The most valuable thing is that after entering this door, you don't have to follow the rules. You will be a housekeeper directly. Your life is so good! If any of you are interested, you can bribe me, the second wife, in advance, and I will say a few good words for you."
It is not easy to be a new daughter-in-law in this era. Take Wang Xifeng for example. She has been married for many years and now she is not even qualified to sit down for meals.
He has to serve the elders and take care of his brother-in-law and the girls. He is busy every day and swollen legs and feet are common.
But on Jia Cong's side, he had no elders above him and only a younger sister, Xichun. So he didn't need to follow any etiquette when entering the door and was directly identified as the housekeeper's wife.
"You rascal, this is what you, as a sister-in-law, should say?" Yu Shi helplessly slapped Wang Xifeng in the face. "If you dare to say that again, I'll see how you perform when we have a drink later!"
