The Red Mansion Big Liar.

Chapter 189: New Year's Day Miscellaneous Events

Seeing that Zhang Yun逸 was stubborn and unyielding, Jia Zhen also began to have other ideas.

However, it was almost the end of the year, and he was the head of the Jia family. He also had to work with the Rong Mansion to plan a series of matters such as sacrifices and New Year's wine, and he could not be distracted for the time being.

Although he is only a fifth-rank Dragon Guard now, it is still a title. In addition, compared with the past, the salary and spring festival rewards are also a considerable income. He will have to make a trip to the Ministry of Rites.

By the time all matters were settled, it was already approaching New Year's Eve.

Last time, the Ning Mansion returned the dirty silver and also exchanged a lot of valuable items for it.

Because the ancestral hall was located in Ning Mansion, the sacrificial ceremony had to be grand and ceremonial, so some items had to be moved from Rong Mansion to serve as a temporary facade.

They were extremely busy for a while, and even Youshi was burdened with doing some record-keeping and inventory work.

Although the Ning Mansion has fallen into decline, the Jia family ancestral hall is still in the mansion, and the New Year's Eve sacrifice can only be held in the Ning Mansion.

The Lantern Festival banquet was scheduled to be held at the Rong Mansion.

First of all, New Year’s Eve and Lantern Festival are equivalent.

Secondly, the Ning Mansion is weak now, and there are no relatives or friends worth making time for. But it is different for the Rong Mansion. In addition to the four kings and eight dukes who have always been on good terms with them, there are also two in-laws from the Wang family and the Shi family who come to visit.

Scheduling the evening banquet with the Ning Mansion on the Lantern Festival also frees up a day to facilitate receiving outside guests.

Compared to the busy Jia Zhen, Zhang Yun逸 has been relatively free during this period.

As for official business, since I had originally planned to take some time off to go to the hot spring villa, I had dealt with a lot of official business in advance. What remained were nothing more than assessments, performance, approval of notes and other matters.

In terms of private life, because Li Wan rarely went out and fell ill after returning, they had no chance to meet.

Yu Shi could have helped to pass on the message, but she had been busy with the preparations for the New Year recently, and she had formed an opinion about Li Wan's excessive demands, so she only went once to visit the sick.

While Youshi was busy in the East Palace, Wang Xifeng was naturally the main person in the West Palace. Ping'er had to share some tasks and was also busy.

Xiangling was pregnant again, and he still stayed by her bedside for one night every ten days as usual, telling her stories and chatting with her.

Because You Erjie didn't have a reliable personal maid, he simply let You Erjie move into Dengxian Pavilion temporarily, and let Baozhu and Ruizhu serve her in Tianxiang Tower and Dengxian Pavilion respectively as usual.

The two maids therefore ate more and took up a lot more.

It is worth mentioning that Jia Qiang returned to Beijing on the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month with twelve little actors.

Zhang Yunyi took the time to take a look.

However, these actors were originally of low status, and neither in the original novel nor now have they any names. They are only referred to by the roles they play, so there is no way to verify this.

However, although the name could not be verified, Zhang Yunyi still saw some clues.

Na Lingguan and Lin Daiyu do bear some resemblance, and Fangguan, who plays the leading female role, is one of the most beautiful among the twelve.

After the opera troupe in the Grand View Garden was disbanded, Fang Guan was able to stay with Jia Baoyu because of her good looks. With these two pieces of evidence, Zhang Yun逸 felt more at ease.

He had no intention of standing his last shift well, and as it was the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, he had no intention of going to the government office. He simply asked for leave on the last day and took the New Year holiday early.

Because of her hatred towards the Jia family, it was impossible for Qin Keqing to participate in the Jia family's annual sacrificial ceremonies.

morning.

Zhang Yun逸 did not rush to get up. He held Qin Keqing and Baozhu in his arms and chatted with them, whispering in their ears for a while before getting dressed and washing up with the help of the two.

Because he almost failed to subdue Li Wan, he not only resumed his morning exercise that had been delayed due to the heavy snow, but also increased the intensity of exercise.

After practicing in the garden for more than half an hour, he was covered in sweat. He then returned to Dengxian Pavilion and took a bath and changed his clothes with the help of You Erjie and Ruizhu.

Just after breakfast, Yu Shi sent someone to report.

"An old man named Jia Hua from Xinglong Street came to visit."

When he heard the name, Zhang Yun逸 was stunned for a moment before he realized that it was Jia Yucun.

When he went to the dock to pick up the boat, he left Jia Yucun with a suspense, but he forgot about it after he came back.

The Qin family was wiped out, and the Jingzhao Yin and the patrol battalion were both punished by the emperor and dismissed for their poor performance. However, Jia Yucun, who came to Beijing to report on his work, got an opportunity.

He was promoted to the position of Jingzhao Yin years ago.

However, Sansheng was a magistrate in the capital city, where there were many dignitaries and nobles. This position was a double-edged sword. But this position could also provide many conveniences. If used well, it could also help you get along with everyone.

Zhang Yun逸 had the Emperor and the King of Qin backing him, so he didn't have to worry about getting into any trouble by making friends with them.

He instructed Ruizhu to go to the pavilion on the mountain and ask Feng to go to the front hall, while he went there first.

"I haven't even come to congratulate you on your promotion yet, but you have to come to my house in person. Yun Yi is ashamed!"

"Master Zhang is in a serious condition. Master Zhang is busy all day long to help you. Yucun is just doing some unnecessary work. How can I trouble you?"

Jia Yucun bowed and smiled, "I should have come earlier to visit you and thank you for your kindness in picking up the boat, but I was busy with the government office and have been delayed until now. I hope you won't blame me!"

The Jingzhao Yin was a third-rank official, while he was only a fifth-rank Yuanwailang. However, Jia Yucun was humble in every way. With such shrewdness and tactfulness that he could bend and stretch, perhaps he would be able to thrive in the Jingzhao Yin position?
Zhang Yunyi thought to himself, but said modestly: "The capital is an important place, and the emperor has entrusted you with an important task. This shows that you are deeply trusted by His Majesty. Don't be modest."

After some greetings, the host and the guest took their seats.

Jia Yucun got straight to the point and said, "Last time, you said that I had a connection with you and asked me to go back and guess what it was. But I still have no clue. I don't know where it came from."

Zhang Yunyi took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "You will know in a moment."

As he was speaking, someone came in to report that Feng had arrived.

Zhang Yunyi quickly stood up and welcomed Feng in.

Jia Yucun did not dare to be negligent and quickly stood up, looking at Feng with a puzzled look.

The Zhen family was originally considered a scholarly family. Although Jia Yucun was familiar with Zhen Shiyin, he had never met Feng.

When he asked Jiao Xing to be his second wife, he also wrote a letter, so they didn't know each other.

"This is Madam Zhen from the Zhen family in Renqing Lane, Gusu City. She is also the mother of one of my concubines. Do you remember her, sir?"

"This……"

Jia Yucun was in a daze for a moment, then he bowed to Feng and said, "Mother-in-law, please accept my son-in-law's greetings!"

This sudden scene not only shocked Zhang Yunyi, but also made Feng at a loss.

As if he had noticed the two's surprise, Jia Yucun continued, "Jiao Xing often talks to me about my mother-in-law, but we are so far away from each other that we have no chance to meet!"

After he said that, Feng suddenly realized what was going on and said tremblingly, "It was the governor..."

Before she could finish, Jia Yucun interrupted her and said, "Mother-in-law, please don't address me like that. It really embarrasses me. I thought you were still in Ruzhou. If I had known that you were in the capital, I would have brought Jiao Xing with me to serve you."

Although Feng had some knowledge, her family had fallen on hard times after all. Jia Yucun had been the prefect of Ruzhou in his early years. Seeing him acting like this at the moment, although she understood that it was because of Zhang Yunyi, she still couldn't help being flattered.

At the same time, he had a new understanding of Zhang Yun逸, and he couldn't help but feel more fortunate that he did not use his power to bully others.

He hurriedly helped the kneeling Jia Yucun up.

Jia Yucun did not pretend to be serious anymore and stood up.

"Back then, my mother-in-law didn't abandon me and took Jiao Xing in as her adopted daughter..."

As if he could see Zhang Yunyi's confusion, he sighed and recalled the past while explaining the whole story.

Jiao Xing was originally just a maid in the Zhen family. Giving her this status as a concubine was already considered an honor, let alone being promoted to a main wife?
As the Zhen family fell into poverty, Jia Yucun wanted to promote Jiao Xing. They were even less likely to be arrogant, so not only did they remove her from the family, but Feng also adopted her as her daughter.

This kind of operation was actually not uncommon in ancient times.

When trying to establish friendships and use backdoors, there were even examples of redeeming prostitutes, taking them in as adopted daughters, and then catering to the officials' preferences and sending them to their homes in order to become close relatives of the officials.

However, at that time, Jia Yucun obviously only wanted to promote Jiao Xing and did not care about this relationship.

Otherwise, the Feng family would not have been stuck in Ruzhou forever.

Now, the reason for such an attitude is all because of Zhang Yun逸.

Although Zhang Yun逸 knew all this, he did not show it and instead had a very pleasant conversation with him.

By the time both the host and the guests had a great time and sent Jia Yucun out of the house, the two sides had already begun to call each other brothers.

……

(End of this chapter)