【Quick Wear】My Years as a Mother-in-law

Chapter 217 Grandmother Jia 19

Yun Xi thought of Qixianzhai, which was Jia Baoyu's outer study in the original novel, and Yun Xi called Zhang over.

"There's an open space to the north of my yard that's flush with the southernmost edge of Wutong Yard. Please build it into a large yard and add a few more rooms. My little girl will live there until she's seven years old. After that, she'll be moved to one of the smaller courtyards in the backyard."

Yun Xi thought carefully, "Let's clean up the Qixianzhai in front of Rongqing Hall and divide it into two courtyards, north and south. The northern one will still be called Qixianzhai and will be used by the brothers after they turn seven. The southern one will be called Qixiazhai. If one courtyard is not enough, we can use this one, or keep it for one of the brothers to live in when he gets married."

"And the courtyard in front of Qixianzhai where the wet nurses used to live. It's quite large. It's been renovated into three courtyards, north and south, and renamed Xiuzhu Courtyard, Baimei Courtyard, and Juqing Courtyard. This is where my illegitimate sons can live when they get married."

Zhang was a little hesitant, not for any other reason, after all, there was a large yard to the south of her courtyard that could accommodate her three sons.

"Mother, outside those three courtyards is Ningrong Street. People come and go every day doing business. It's quite noisy. Isn't that bad?"

It's no big deal. Yun Xi smiled. "Noisy? Don't worry. Just find some bamboos and trees to plant there and maintain the area. If you don't have a son out of wedlock in the future, those yards can be used as new homes for Lian'er and his family."

Zhang was stunned. "Give it to Zhu'er. Lian'er and the others don't need it."

Yun Xi looked at her, "What about Lian'er and Zhang'er? Where do you plan to let them live after they get married?"

"Well, before Hu'er got married, my daughter-in-law wanted to expand Wutong Courtyard slightly east and west to accommodate Hu'er and his wife. As for Lian'er and his wife, my husband and I discussed the idea of ​​demolishing the three summer rooms on the south side of my courtyard (originally Li Wan and Jia Lan's rooms) and the quiet room south of the servants' quarters on the east side (originally Aunt Xue moved to a quiet room in the northeast, which was Aunt Xue's residence after she moved out of Lixiang Courtyard, and it was separated from Lixiang Courtyard by a row of servants' rooms). In other words, the east side of Wutong Courtyard will be vacated to build two courtyards for Lian'er and Zhang'er to live in after their wedding."

"That's feasible, but you also need to renovate the three courtyards in the southwest corner and plant more trees and flowers." Yun Xi recalled and reminded her.

In the original novel, Jia Zong and Jia Huan were both illegitimate sons, but now the eldest son already has two concubines, and the second son already has three concubines before the fierce and vulgar Aunt Zhao appears. It is not known how many illegitimate sons there will be by then. At least they will have a place to live after they turn seven or get married.

Of course, the house can be given to the second wife's children to live in, but all expenses must be paid by the second wife. The area of ​​the second wife's side is not small. It's just that Yun Xi felt that Mrs. Wang did not know how to educate children and liked to suppress illegitimate children, so she made such arrangements.

Although she has never given birth to a child, at least she has experience...

"Yes, my wife understands."

Zhang was more prudent than Jia Min. When Jia Min was in charge of building the backyard, she finished it within a year. Neighbors and even the emperor inquired about it, and Jia She gave a long explanation. The gist of it was that the children were growing up and getting older, and the front yard wasn't big enough for them. So, they had to scrape together some money and take some private money from the old lady to build it. (In fact, it was big enough. Rongguo Mansion was very large, and if they renovated the front yard, they could have added quite a few more yards.)

The emperor actually trusted Jia She quite a bit. As he tightened his grip on power, he understood a lot more. He was willing to show more favor to Jia She, a sensible and caring man. So, he waved his hand and said that Rongguo Mansion could be built as he pleased. If anyone violated the rules in the future, they would just have to build an extra gate...

In order not to give others the opportunity to criticize, Zhang started to build it slowly, and it took three years to complete according to the urgency. Of course, this is a story for later.

Life in the Jia family was gradually getting back on track, but the Lin family was bustling with activity. Cui, who was content with having a grandson, handed over all the household affairs to Jia Min on the third day after she returned.

"Daughter-in-law, the houses you oversaw in your parents' home were very successful. I believe that small household chores will not be difficult for you."

In this way, Jia Min became the mistress of the house.

The first important thing was to move. Since the Lin family had lost their title, they could no longer live in the Marquis' Mansion. They needed to move to a three-courtyard house not far away. Fortunately, there were few people in the family, so the three-courtyard house was barely enough for them to live in. However, moving was very cumbersome and made her very tired.

The second thing was that the accounts needed to be checked during the mourning period. Jia Min's eyes went dark after dark. Ever since her father-in-law fell ill, her mother-in-law had lost interest in managing the family property. She took her father-in-law back and forth to Jinling and Shendu for medical treatment. As a result, many termites had appeared in these huge properties. After cleaning up these, when Jia Min was not paying attention, Fugui had grown a year older and had won a large inkstone during the "Zhuazhou" ceremony and was chewing on it...

"I'm relieved now that your sister's life is stable. Tomorrow is the Grand Princess's flower-viewing banquet. I've shamelessly asked for a nanny. Yuanchun and Fengchun are well-versed in the Four Books and Five Classics. Yuanchun loves playing the zither, while Fengchun prefers swordplay. At five and four years old, they should learn etiquette to avoid making a fool of themselves."

Yun Xi scolded Zhang, who was sitting below her, with a smile, "You're such a worry! Ning Xia next door and your concubine's daughter Shao Chun will also have to learn from them when they reach the age."

Jia Zhen and Jia Min got married in the same year, with their wedding on the eighth day of the eighth month. They had a little girl the following year. Ningxia is three months younger than Fugui. Gu Qinghe is pregnant again this year. Everything is fine on their side of the family. Since Fengchun was born, in more than three years, only one of Jia She's concubines gave birth to a girl named Shaochun in February this year.

Zhang said sincerely, "Thank you for your hard work for the family, mother. The farm sent us many young pigeons, and I kept them all for you."

Wang was silent...

"Okay, we'll try them all when the time comes. You two should dress up nicely tomorrow and come with me." Yun Xi didn't care about her second daughter-in-law and continued, "Bring Yuanchun and Fengchun with you to see the world."

She went to a banquet and brought back a nanny who was to be released from the palace. The 45-year-old Nanny Li served the Empress Dowager. She was experienced and open-minded. Seeing that the two girls of the Jia family were one innocent and the other lively and active, and very lovable, she agreed to let Yun Xi come back with her. The Jia family would provide Nanny Li with a decent life for the rest of her life.

Just like that, the girls' teachers were arranged. The school was under the charge of Qi Yanzhou, a Juren, and two Xiucai. Yun Xi felt relieved. As for Jingsi and Zhen Ming, where were they? One was a Xiucai from the previous class, and the other ranked 32nd on the Jinshi list. Both had already become officials.

However, they all had good relationships with the Jia family. Jingsi was related by marriage, and he had read a lot of the Jia family's books while teaching here. Zhen Ming passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi because he met Jingsi at the Jia family school and received his guidance. The same was true for Qi Yanzhou...

In addition, several students and two scholars were admitted to the clan school, and its reputation gradually spread.