Jiang Xingjian smiled, lowered his head and fiddled with his abacus.
Lin Jiayue was dissatisfied with his actions and pressed down the abacus beads with a snap. Jiang Xingjian frowned slightly but did not show any signs of anger.
"I said I have a way to bring money to the Hou Mansion, don't you believe me?"
Intrigued by Jiang Xingjian's indifferent look, Lin Jiayue said: "I have...managed several shops, so I still have some experience. I'm not saying I'm better than others, but I'm no better than a single store." A young lady from the back house who has no family background should still be quite powerful."
Jiang Xingjian took a deep breath: "Don't mention this again in the future. It is not etiquette for a woman to appear in public, let alone a matter involving businessmen."
"Why can't women get involved in business affairs? From Suhe to Shangjing, we don't see many women walking outside. There are not many women selling cheese and gouache on the streets."
"Girls from aristocratic families are different from common people. Just remember this."
Seeing that he couldn't bear to break these rules with her, Lin Jiayue curled her lips, but when she saw Jiang Xingjian's eyes, she suddenly remembered the rhinoceros horn ruler that Grandma Li had pulled out because of her "winking".
Lin Jiayue was inexplicably irritable, playing with the charcoal sticks in her hands, and finally couldn't help but say: "Actually, I really have a very good idea, which can make the Hou Mansion make a lot of money."
"The Marquis Mansion can open a brothel and collect beauties from all over the world. I can help them become famous and make all the men in Beijing flock to them and spend a lot of money to meet them."
"The brothel can not only make money, but also collect a lot of information. After all, there is a mixed bag of people here, and there are countless high-ranking officials and people who come and go. In this way, all the big and small affairs in Beijing, as well as the gossip, can be in the hands of the Hou Mansion. When the time comes, these information can be sold or Let the Hou Mansion make a lot of money."
"Of course, the brothel in the Hou Mansion must be elegant and elegant, and it cannot be for everyone..."
"enough."
Jiang Xingjian slapped the table, the veins on his forehead bulging fiercely.
Lin Jiayue blinked and looked innocent: "What's wrong?"
"You go down first."
The freehand aura in the room receded one after another, and the look of shock and disdain on his face before leaving the room has not faded.
Jiang Xingjian pressed her eyebrows, her face full of irritation.
"Do you even know what you're talking about?"
"What...what happened?"
Isn't it normal for her to have a brothel with her status? Why did Jiang Xingjian have such a big reaction?
"If I exchange my skin and flesh for the glory and wealth of the Hou Mansion, I would rather the Hou Mansion fall apart tomorrow. This is such an outrageous thing, don't mention it again."
Lin Jiayue's face turned red: "I didn't ask those women to engage in flesh-and-blood business. I just said that we can build such a place to give Beijing officials a place to relax, listen to ditties, and watch singing and dancing..."
Jiang Xingjian felt that she had a severe headache: "As a woman, you open your mouth and keep your mouth shut. How did Grandma Li teach you the rules?"
"Such a dishonorable business, you..."
Grasping the pen in his hand tighter and tighter, Jiang Xingjian suddenly understood at this moment why his grandmother and mother were so critical of Lin Jiayue.
In the past, he only felt that she was a little too lively. Although she didn't know etiquette, she was clear-minded, pure and kind. Those slightly intimate actions were not out of frivolousness, but just because she was emotional without knowing it.
But today, when she categorically said that she wanted to open a brothel, Jiang Xingjian realized that she lacked character.
Jiang Xingjian's jaw tightened, and it took him a long time to utter the sentence "unjust wealth and honor," but it was like a floating cloud in my mouth and he never spoke again.
Lin Jiayue refused to accept it and explained over and over again that she had no intention of letting the woman do sex business.
Annoyed by her pestering, Jiang Xingjian said: "In the previous dynasty, it was common for officials to have sex with prostitutes, and officials were obsessed with having fun, which caused the court to relax. Therefore, all the brothels in our dynasty are government buildings, and all the women in them are the family members of felons."
"The law of our court clearly prohibits officials from sleeping with prostitutes, regardless of public or private banquets. Those who seek out singers to accompany them will be imprisoned for two years and punished with a cane of eighty years. Officials who stay with prostitutes are a crime as bad as murder. Even if they are pardoned, they will not be dismissed from office."
"What you said, 'big things, small feelings, and gossip can all be in the hands of the Hou Mansion.' Do you know that if you reveal even half a word of this, tomorrow the Hou Mansion will be labeled as disobedient and treasonous?"
"It is Dongchang's full-time job to investigate, investigate, investigate and investigate injustices and rumors about officials in large and small government offices. Now that the Hou Mansion has stepped in and acted on behalf of others, what does it want to do?"
"Lin Jiayue, before you talk nonsense, can you consider the safety of the nearly thousands of people in the Hou Mansion?"
Jiang Xingjian's face was ashen, and the raging anger was suppressed in his chest, leaving him nowhere to vent.
"I'm sorry, I...I didn't mean it, I really don't understand."
"I just saw other people doing this, and I thought it was okay..."
"In the past few days, I asked Huai Su to teach you what to say and what not to say. You are still ill, so you need to take good care of yourself."
After Jiang Xingjian finished speaking, he waved his sleeves and left.
Lin Jiayue choked up and said: "I really didn't mean it, I just wanted to help you."
Jiang Xingjian paused, but didn't stop for a moment.
He came all the way to the main courtyard of Lanting. Heng Zhi Heng Wu was drying books in the garden. When they saw him coming, they both lowered their heads, as if they had never seen him before.
Although she was treated like this by the maid, Jiang Xingjian didn't know why. As soon as she entered the main courtyard, most of the depression in her heart dissipated.
After thinking for a moment, he walked in.
Song Wan was reading in the study, with a plate of red bean cakes beside him. Jiang Xingjian only saw that the top piece was missing a small semicircle, thinking that she had tasted it previously.
He coughed lightly to get rid of the slight discomfort.
"Is something wrong, husband?"
Song Wan put down his book, stood up and gave up the seat of the study room.
"nothing."
Seeing his serious expression, he was obviously a little unhappy, but he didn't talk about Song Wan and had no intention of asking.
After making tea and putting it in Jiang Xingjian's hand, Song Wan was just about to find something else to do when he heard him say, "I have something I want to talk to you about."
"What's going on in the house?"
She turned around and sat down, but did not sit next to him.
Jiang Xingjian clenched his fist slightly and said in a low voice: "Someone suggested that the Hou Mansion open up money and make a living."
"Just that?"
"Um."
"If it were just that, you wouldn't react like this, but because the business proposed by that person is not very safe?"
Jiang Xingjian did not answer her.
Just looking at Song Wan, he felt that all the anxiety and annoyance in his heart were washed away. Jiang Xingjian suddenly wanted to know how she would view the issue of open source.
"If you ask me, what kind of livelihood can the Hou Mansion find?"
Song Wan thought for a moment and said after a moment: "Where virtue lies, the world will return to it, and I think profit will be the same."
"If you want to make a living with long-term benefits, you probably have to do business in preventing people from dying, relieving people's difficulties, rescuing people from troubles, and relieving people in emergencies."
Jiang Xingjian was shocked when he heard this.
He thought that the character of a woman should also be like this.
