The Red Mansion Big Liar.

Chapter 168 Giving Gifts
"Didn't I tell you to wait in front of the government office?"

In the Ning Mansion's hall, Zhang Yunyi sat in the main seat and spoke to Lai Shangrong below him.

Lai Shangrong bowed and stepped forward, handed over a stack of banknotes with both hands, and said respectfully: "Master, you have been very kind to the Lai family. This is a little gift from my father. Please don't despise it!"

Because Xier had a mission to complete, she came back late, and Zhang Yun逸 did not arrive at the front yard on time, so Lai Sheng and Lai Shangrong, uncle and nephew, had to wait for a long time.

Looking at the respectful uncle and nephew Lai Sheng, Zhang Yunyi nodded, pointed at the table and said, "If I don't accept this money, I'm afraid you won't feel at ease. Well, just leave it there!"

"Yes!" Lai Shangrong agreed and respectfully placed the banknote on the table.

I have to say, the head follows the butt. As long as you don't stand on the Jia family's side, the Lai family is still quite pleasing to the eye.

Although he is a bit opportunistic, he also knows how to judge the situation.

Zhang Yun逸 knew it very well. Judging from Lai Da's performance yesterday, if he had this intention earlier, he would not have delayed it until today. It is likely that this stack of banknotes was thanks to Zhou Xiangui's episode.

However, he did not regard the Lai family as his own. It was enough for them to understand his manners.

He turned to the little girl outside and ordered, "Ask the sister-in-law to come over."

Then he turned to Lai Sheng and said, "You know the location of the manor, so go find Zhang Cheng to make the deal. You should keep an eye on the caustic soda business with the Xue family."

At this point, he paused and said in a deep voice: "Don't say I didn't warn you. I'm also reminding you not to bring the bad habits of the mansion to my business!"

He took a quick glance at the stack of banknotes. It was at least eight thousand taels, if not ten thousand. Not to mention that the Lai family also had a garden half the size of the Grand View Garden.

The Lai family had been slaves in the two governments for several lifetimes, so needless to say, they knew it was impossible to earn this much money just by relying on monthly wages.

"Don't worry, sir! I will never cheat or lie when I work for you!"

Lai Sheng didn't even try to explain and just said he didn't dare.

This was completely different from his performance the last time he took over his job.

Zhang Yun逸 couldn't help but look at Lai Da with a higher opinion. Needless to say, this was probably his suggestion.

The reason why he mentioned this was not because he was worried that the Lai family would take advantage of the situation and do something to his business.

On the contrary, if they really did this, they could take the opportunity to investigate the Lai family. Not only could they make them spit out the money, but they could also justify not giving Jia Zhen a share of the profits.

However, now is not the time to attack the Lai family, so I plan to give them a warning first so that they will be quiet for a while.

This will make it convenient for him to enter and exit Rong Mansion.

In fact, he was worrying too much.

Firstly, the Lai family had been slaves for several lifetimes and now they had no shortage of money, so what they wanted most was to get rid of their slave status and bring honor to the family.

Now that Lai Shangrong has a background and Zhang Yun逸 is willing to support him, they naturally dare not create trouble.

Secondly, ducks are the first to know when the river water warms in spring. The people in the Jia family may not have a thorough understanding of the situation in the two mansions as well as these servants.

Needless to say, the Ning Mansion only has a nominal title of Dragon Guard, which cannot even be inherited.

As for the Rong Mansion, although Yuanchun was about to marry into a royal palace, the construction of the Grand View Garden had emptied all of her savings.

The more times like this happened, the more embarrassed the situation became for these slaves.

While they were talking, Youshi heard the news and came running with a brocade box.

She thought Zhang Yunyi reminded her to go to Rong Mansion to deliver a round fan, and when she saw Lai Sheng and Lai Shangrong, she couldn't help feeling a little confused.

Zhang Yunyi explained a few words, pointed at the table and said, "Sister-in-law, please put this away."

Then he stood up and left with the two of them.

The Lai family was quite wealthy, so Lai Shangrong did not dare to ride with him and brought his own carriage.

Zhang Yun逸 only ordered Yu Lu to prepare a car for Lai Sheng and rush to the farm outside the city.

As for Youshi, she counted the silver bills on the table, thought about it, and did not take them back to keep them. Instead, she put them in her arms and rushed to Rongfu with the brocade box containing the round fan.

When he arrived at Rongqing Hall, he told Lady Jia his purpose.

Grandmother Jia immediately sent someone to the green gauze cabinet to call Daiyu.

Youshi handed over the brocade box like presenting a treasure, and said with a smile: "Yesterday, your elder brother Yi came back and told me to bring this round fan given by the emperor to you as a return gift today!" Lin Daiyu curled her lips and declined: "No gift without merit. Yesterday I was thanking elder brother Yi, but today I cannot accept this gift. Please forgive me, sister-in-law!"

Yu Shi hit a snag and felt a little unhappy.

His little sister had used many tricks to get these four round fans bestowed by the emperor, but Zhang Yunyi still refused to give them to her. And when he met Lin Daiyu yesterday, she asked him to send one to him.

How could she not see the difference?

Jia She and his wife were eager to arrange things for Yingchun, and Jia Zhen even broke up with them for this. Now she only had Zhang Yunyi in her eyes, and she couldn't help feeling sorry for him.

Grandmother Jia was a shrewd person and could see that Youshi looked suspicious, but she was just embarrassed because she was in front of her.

Because the two governments were not on good terms with each other, Zhang Yunyi was worried that Youshi would take the opportunity to deceive him and make him feel resentful.

He smiled at Daiyu and said, "Take it! Brother Yi is not an outsider. When your mother was still married, he had a deep relationship with her. I'm afraid he specially asked your sister-in-law Zhen to come here because of their friendship."

She just said it casually to give Lin Daiyu an excuse to accept the gift.

Anyway, the two of them are of similar age, so even if they can't find out about this old story, they will just think they are ignorant.

Lin Daiyu still felt confused because she had never heard Jia Min mention it.

However, on second thought, her mother was the legitimate daughter of the Rong family, while Zhang Yunyi's mother was a concubine's daughter. The deep sisterly love that Lady Jia mentioned might have helped him.

However, in order to save face in front of Mrs. You, it was not easy to say it out loud.

She pondered in her heart that her mother had never mentioned it, so it might be just a trivial matter, but Zhang Yunyi and his mother had been thinking about it all the time.

Yesterday, Baochai and others praised his character a lot in their conversation, and they were full of praise whenever they mentioned his support for the Ning Mansion.

At that time I thought it was an exaggeration, but now it seems to be true.

She stopped being pretentious and bowed to You Shi, saying, "Brother Yi is so thoughtful. I'd like to trouble you to thank him for me!"

Lin Daiyu can still be confirmed, but whether Youshi knew about the Ning and Rong mansions at that time is unclear.

She had some doubts in her heart. Lin Daiyu was so delicate and didn't look like the type Zhang Yunyi preferred.

After hearing what Grandmother Jia said, he suddenly felt enlightened and believed it to be true.

He immediately smiled and said, "Brother Yi is a person who cherishes the past and cares about the old lady. If there is anything inconvenient for the old lady in the future, just let her know. He is now working in the inner court, so he is close to her. Apart from other things, he will never lack the best ginseng."

Although she was not clear about the old events, she had never heard of this kind of person in Ning Mansion before Zhang Yunyi became successful.

The two families almost cut off contact, which shows the situation his mother was in in the Ning Mansion before she got married.

He actually had the same idea as Lin Daiyu.

Although a drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring, ginseng in this era is a scarce commodity that can save lives, especially high-quality ginseng, which is even harder to find.

Besides, Grandmother Jia also has some top-quality ginseng, and if Zhang Yunyi were to buy it, it would seem that he was seeking repayment for a favour.

However, Grandmother Jia thought this was a great opportunity to increase her activities, and before she could refuse, she said, "Then I'll trouble Brother Yi to bear the burden a little more. The ginseng I have here is a bit old, and its medicinal properties may not be as good as those in the inner palace!"

"Look at what the old lady said. I will tell him about this later! He is a very kind-hearted person. Not to mention the relatives in the mansion, even the elderly people in our two mansions, he will consider the face of the old lady and the master and the wives and help them if he can."

Yu patted her chest, making a rustling sound like pounding paper, and pretended to complain, "The Lai family is really too polite. It's just to help his brother, but they have to give him money. It's as if he is helping because of the money!"

"Oh?" A trace of relief appeared on Jia's mother's face. "So Brother Yi agreed?"

She did not doubt Zhang Yunyi's purpose, and the Lai family was unsure about asking Zhang Yunyi for help.

So I set up an outpost here with Lady Jia, hoping that she could give some help.

Only then did Grandmother Jia give the task of picking up Daiyu to Lai Da. She originally planned to let them go to Piaopiao Feng first, but unexpectedly he agreed.

Lai Sheng was stripped of his job in Ning Mansion, but Lai Da happened to go to him, so he agreed to the job and felt that it was his credit.

I feel more and more that Zhang Yunyi is a decent person and he is pleasing to the eye.

……

(End of this chapter)