The Red Mansion Big Liar.

Chapter 237 Grass Snake Gray Line
Before going to the yamen, Zhang Yun逸 moved to Rong Mansion and found Lai Da.

As soon as they met, Lai bowed and said, "Sir! Why are you here?"

Zhang Yunyi nodded slightly and said, "There is something I need you to keep an eye out for."

Although Aunt Zhao was willing to submit, the situation on Jin Chuan's side was unclear, and he did not want to expose his relationship with Aunt Zhao.

In addition, it was not easy for her to pass on the message, so Zhang Yunyi found Lai Da.

As the chief steward of Rong Mansion, Lai Da was aware of all matters in Rong Mansion, no matter how big or small, it was difficult to hide them from his eyes and ears, and it was easy to transmit information.

Moreover, everyone in the Rong family knew very well that he promoted Lai Shangrong.

It would be most appropriate to let him handle Jin Chuan's matter.

Hearing that he had something to do, Lai Da showed joy on his face and said respectfully, "Master, just give me your orders!"

He was most afraid that Zhang Yun逸 would not be able to use him. As long as he had some good qualities, he would not worry about his son not being valued.

Zhang Yunyi did not get straight to the point, but instead started to talk nonsense: "Xiangling is about to give birth, and I don't have many capable maids..."

“Don’t worry, sir!” Lai Da had obviously misunderstood Zhang Yunyi’s meaning. Before he could finish, he rushed to say, “I will go back and pick out a few capable and thoughtful people from my family and send them to the East Palace to serve…”

Zhang Yunyi glanced at him and said indifferently, "Why? Is there someone in the mansion who is as capable and thoughtful as Qingwen?"

"This……"

Even though Lai Da was used to handling matters in public, he didn't know how to answer for a moment.

The reason why Qingwen is so rare is not simply because of her beautiful appearance.

More importantly, it is because of her excellent embroidery skills.

Not to mention the gold-colored pheasant fur coat that Baoyu had worn out, even the duck-cheeked fur coat that Grandmother Jia gave to Xue Baoqin was also worth a fortune.

Just in terms of materials, all used are the small tuft of crest feathers on the top of the wild duck's head. The entire cloak may require no less than a thousand wild ducks.

Sewing the tiny crown feathers on silk and fur requires a lot of gold and silver threads and labor.

The key is that this kind of delicate work cannot have any mistakes.

Whether it is Suzhou embroidery, Shu brocade, or kesi, these high-end fabrics have their own weaving methods. How to insert the needle and how to thread the thread, even if you are very talented, it takes days of practice to become a skilled worker.

Even princes and nobles had to do mending, let alone the impoverished nobles like the Jia family.

However, a dying camel is bigger than a horse. Even if the four major families are in decline, some commonplace things for them are shortcomings for some people who have no background and suddenly become rich.

The reason why Xiangyun was able to supplement her family's livelihood by sewing and mending was because she was used to using silk and satin in her early years.

In ancient times, needlework was a compulsory course for every woman.

And people like Qingwen are one in a million.

Talent and training are both indispensable.

In the early years, the Jia family had not yet shown signs of decline, and Lai Ma was able to rely on her relationship with Lady Jia to find some good materials for Qingwen to practice on.

Now, let’s not talk about whether we have the ability or not. Even if we do, it is not something that can be achieved overnight.

Qingwen had been given to Lady Jia as a rare treasure by Nanny Lai, so it was naturally impossible for her to get her back, so she gave her to Zhang Yunyi instead.

Fortunately, Zhang Yunyi did not mean to force him. Seeing that Lai Da was a little at a loss, Fang patted him on the shoulder and said, "Master, you just need someone who is careful and considerate. It doesn't necessarily have to be Qingwen. But, after all, the eldest sister-in-law is from a small family. She can't be as considerate as the old lady and the mistress, who have a good family background and have been trained."

Hearing what he said, Lai Da also breathed a sigh of relief: "This is a simple matter. I will go back and talk to the old lady and the wife about it..."

He just thought that Zhang Yunyi was too embarrassed to ask for someone.

Zhang Yunyi raised his hand and interrupted, "Although the old lady and the mistress have no reason to refuse, the people in their house are also used to it. We can't let them give it up just because of Xiangling."

At this point, he changed the subject and said, "However, I don't think Jin Chuan has the look to stay in the mansion for long. Please help me keep an eye on her. If Madam really sends her away, remember to inform me immediately."

Anyway, this kind of foresight is not the first time he has done something like this, so he doesn't mind doing it one more time.

On the contrary, with the appearance of a charlatan, even if the Lai family wanted to turn against them, they would have an extra layer of concerns.

With the experience of Xiangling's search for her relatives and Wang Xifeng and Jia Baoyu's madness, Lai Da did not find Zhang Yun逸's words strange.

He patted his chest and assured, "Don't worry, sir. I'll take care of it."

"Yes!" Zhang Yunyi nodded and said, "The government office is planning to build a fairy school recently. I plan to let Shang Rong gain some experience. You can give him more advice later."

The matter of Jin Chuan is just a trivial matter to him now.

If it weren't for the relationship between Jia Zheng and Jia Baoyu, according to his original plan, he would just ask for the person directly, and there would be no need to go through so much trouble.

It is the affairs of the yamen that are the foundation of his life and require more effort.

Thinking and doing are two different things. Even if it is under the guise of studying Taoism, all other things are inferior except for studying.

In the eyes of scholars of this era, the so-called Taoism is just a minor subject.

Although there will always be brave men under great rewards, he wants to use the study of immortality to cultivate a group of talents who can be entrusted with important tasks and help him in the future.

If you only lure people with huge profits but don't have the support of interest and the drive to delve deeper, you will get half the result with twice the effort.

Therefore, in addition to recruiting some people who had no hope of passing the imperial examinations from the public to stop criticism, the selection was mainly made among the descendants of craftsmen.

On the one hand, they have set a good example and have the temptation to cross classes, so they don’t have to worry about them not being willing to study hard.

On the other hand, these children of craftsmen have been exposed to the world and have no shortage of relevant practical knowledge, but they lack theoretical guidance.

As for Lai Shangrong, he also went to school and could write and do math.

Zhang Yunyi planned to arrange him to teach the recruited children of craftsmen in the Xianxue, how to read and write, and some simple knowledge of mathematics.

On the one hand, we can make the best use of it, and on the other hand, we can just give him a gilded role and then promote him later, which can be regarded as a return of favor and justify Lai Da's recent performance.

"Yes, yes, yes! I will remind Shangrong to try his best and go all out, and not let you down!"

Upon hearing that his son was going to be promoted, Lai Da responded hurriedly, bowed lower and lower, and even changed the way he addressed his son from "little man" to "little".

After explaining the matter, Zhang Yunyi did not stay any longer and turned around and left the Rong Mansion.

Lai Da escorted him all the way to the east corner gate. After he sent Zhang Yun逸 to the car, he bowed deeply and saw him off respectfully.

When Zhang Yunyi's carriage went farther and farther away, he held his waist, slowly straightened his body, looked at the receding carriage, frowned and pondered for a long time, then shook his head and turned back to the mansion.

……

(End of this chapter)