The Red Mansion Big Liar.

Chapter 2 Murdered?

When he first came here, Zhang Yunyi was only concerned with how to save his life and ignored the fact that he had traveled to the world of the Red Mansion.

Only when he saw Jia Jing did he suddenly realize that the original owner's biological mother was Jia Daihua's illegitimate daughter, and that she was Jia Jing's sister.

Logically speaking, given the status of the Zhang family, even the concubine's daughter of the Ningguo Mansion could not afford to marry her.

However, she and Jia Jing are not from the same mother, and their age difference is too big, so there is not much brother-sister relationship between them.

In addition, Emperor Zhengqing succeeded to the throne as a cousin, which made his cousin Prince Yi Zhong dissatisfied and he rebelled. Although Jia Daihua, the then governor of the Beijing camp, did not participate in the rebellion, he was suspected of negligence.

Fortunately, Emperor Zhengqing had just ascended the throne and was afraid of causing unnecessary backlash, so he did not start a war. He simply left Jia Daihua idle and eventually chose Wang Ziteng, who had been guarding his own vassal state and had served under the Jia family, to take over the post of Jiedushi of the Beijing Camp.

However, even so, the Ning family had lost their power, and there were few who were willing to form an alliance.

This is how my cheap old man, who was only a fifth-rank official at the time, was able to get married.

Jia Jing, who had never been appointed as an official, was so disheartened that he chose to become a Taoist in order to save his face.

This was originally a helpless move, but unexpectedly, Emperor Zhengqing, who had only been emperor for ten years, also became fascinated by this. By accident, Jia Jing became a close minister to the emperor.

In his previous life, when he was reading "Dream of Red Mansions", he could never understand why Jia Jing, the inheritor of the Ningguo Mansion and a successful Jinshi, gave up his title and official career to devote himself to Taoism.

He did all these ridiculous things, but when he died, Grandmother Jia cried so sadly.

Now Zhang Yunyi finally understood that he was accompanying the emperor in practicing Taoism.

However, the Ningguo Mansion, which had regained power, looked down upon the Zhang family as a marriage partner.

As far as the original owner remembered, the two families rarely interacted with each other, and since his mother passed away several years ago, they had almost stopped communicating.

If the cheap father had not told the original owner before writing the letter that if the emperor punished him, he should seek refuge in the Ning Mansion, the original owner would have almost forgotten that he had such an uncle.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yunyi couldn't help but feel a little confused. After his cheap father was beaten to death, the original owner also went to Ning Mansion to report the death, but he couldn't even get in the door.

The seventh day is almost over, and Jia Jingcai comes here alone. Isn't that too insincere?

His experience in his previous life told him that human society is like a monkey hanging on a tree. As long as you climb high enough, you will see smiling faces everywhere. But if you are at the bottom, even if you stick your neck out, you can only get the cold butts of others.

I have offended the emperor, and the Ning family is trying to avoid suspicion, so there is nothing to complain about.

Although his previous judgment was wrong, by chance he managed to find a shortcut to climb up.

Otherwise, you can only spend your whole life in an office like the Imperial Observatory, and the highest you can get is only a fifth-rank supervisor.

Want to make a lot of money with modern knowledge...

An innocent man is guilty of possessing a treasure. Without the corresponding strength, he will only attract covetousness. Spending money to avoid disaster is a small matter, but if things go wrong, you may even lose your life.

As for relying on the Jia family?

Not to mention that the Jia family will fall sooner or later, Zhang Yunyi knows better than anyone that this family is probably even more ruthless than outsiders.

A blacksmith must be strong himself. Only by breaking free from the shackles of the Imperial Observatory can he remove the ceiling above his head.

Otherwise, not only yourself but also your descendants will be stuck in this circle.

While Zhang Yunyi was still thinking about how to use this opportunity to climb up, Jia Jing had already approached.

Chong Daiquan bowed slightly and said, "We serve the emperor, how can we just enjoy leisure? Years ago, I refined a furnace of elixir for the emperor. Today, the elixir is ready. As soon as I came out of retreat, I heard the bad news about my brother-in-law. I didn't expect that I would be a step too late! However, I have been concentrating on practicing Taoism for these years and have not taken time to take care of this nephew."

At this point, he looked at Zhang Yunyi, concerned but not without complaining, "Your father had such a big accident, why didn't you go to the mansion to mourn? If someone had helped take care of him, this wouldn't have happened."

Zhang Yunyi secretly complained, how can you not eat or sleep when refining the elixir? It's okay for ordinary people not to know about my business, but how could Ningguo Mansion not know?

Besides, if he really didn't know, even if he seldom moved around, he wouldn't have stopped me at the door. He was probably worried about being implicated, so he would have informed the doorman long ago. Now he was arrogant at first but respectful later, just because he listened to my nonsense and saw that I was a rare commodity.

It was one thing to understand in his heart, but Jia Jing had said so before, and as a junior, he could not confront him directly, so he could only follow his lead and say, "It is the end of the year, and my uncle is not at home. I think the servants in the mansion forgot to inform my uncle and cousin Zhen."

Upon hearing this, Jia Jing flew into a rage and said, "These bastards have lost their dignity. I'll show you how I'll deal with these filthy people when I get back!"

After scolding him, he patted his shoulder, forcing a trace of warmth from his haggard face, and said, "Your parents are both dead, and now you are alone, which is inconvenient. I think after the funeral, you can come back to my house and live there, so that I can take care of you."

Zhang Yunyi said respectfully, "Now my nephew only has uncle as his relative, so everything is up to uncle!"

Although he was familiar with "Dream of Red Mansions" and did not want to have too deep entanglement with the Jia family, this relationship was not something he could break off just because he wanted to.

Besides, the Imperial Observatory had never had much money, so even if he became an official, his house had been burned down and he really needed a place to stay.

"Okay! Okay!" Jia Jing patted Zhang Yunyi on the shoulder and said with a look of satisfaction, "From now on, you can treat your uncle's house as your own home. Just stay here with peace of mind."

"Uncle, you have come at the right time. I will follow Eunuch Dai to the palace. I would like to trouble you to take care of things here first."

The Imperial Observatory cannot be transferred to another position without special permission. Only by winning the emperor's favor can he have a chance to escape from the cage. Zhang Yun逸 does not want to miss this opportunity.

Since Jia Jing wanted to make good use of the rare goods, it would be a good opportunity to arrange it for him first.

Unexpectedly, Jia Jing suddenly frowned and scolded, "Nonsense! Although there is no such thing as mourning in the Imperial Observatory, after all, the seventh day has not passed yet. Now that your father's body is still warm, you are in a hurry to enter the palace to see the emperor. Do you still want to keep this reputation?"

He had his own parents in his previous life, and he was not interested in his cheap father, and would not give up the opportunity to enter the palace to meet the emperor.

However, living in this era where filial piety is more important than anything else, he had no choice but to adapt to local customs and could only look to Dai Quan.

"Mr. Jing is right. I have indeed not considered it carefully. You are in mourning and the emperor has not summoned you. It is indeed inappropriate for you to enter the palace. I will wait until I return to report to the emperor before making any further comments."

Dai Quan, who had been indifferent just now, suddenly changed his attitude at this moment, and Zhang Yunyi couldn't help but feel puzzled.

It can be said that Dai Quan had overacted before, but if it weren't for Jia Jing, who would have let him back down?

Why did the situation change after Jia Jing stopped it?
If he remembered correctly, in the original novel, Jia Rong went to Dai Quan to donate money for an official position. Was he giving face to Jia Jing or helping Jia Jing cover up?

If it's murder for money, you can just take the money and leave, why bother killing people?
As the director of the Imperial Observatory, Bian Yi Laozi only studied astronomy and calendar and had no contact with state affairs, let alone court expenses.

But when he criticized the emperor, he described the expenses of building Taoist temples and palaces in great detail, so there could be something fishy going on.

The original owner was just a boy of seventeen or eighteen years old, with no grudges or hatred. It was very likely that he was strangled to death in connection with this matter. He was just afraid that he had something shameful in his hands.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yunyi was stunned. The first person he suspected was Jia Jing.

The two families had not visited each other for many years, so why did the cheap father ask him to take refuge in Ning Mansion before writing a letter? And Jia Jing happened to meet him by chance.

But then, he denied this guess himself.

The Ning Mansion was able to maintain its current status only because Jia Jing accompanied the emperor in practicing Taoism. It would be fine to accuse others, but accusing the emperor of practicing Taoism is like shooting oneself in the foot.

Moreover, as a man who had read A Dream of Red Mansions in his previous life, he knew very well the character of the Jia family. This kind of thing, writing a letter to the emperor directly, did not seem like something this family would do.

The less clue he had about the murderer, the more he wanted to climb up.

In this way, at least the murderer hiding in the dark will be afraid of the consequences of being exposed.

The iron must be struck while it is hot. Zhang Yunyi no longer hesitated and bowed to Dai Quan, saying, "Please allow me to report to you, eunuch. The late emperor has some instructions, which I need to present to His Majesty!"

……

(End of this chapter)