The Red Mansion Big Liar.

Chapter 387 Taking advantage of every opportunity
Zhang Yunyi didn't know that his words of comforting Xiangling were overheard by Jiao Xing, thus damaging his reputation.

He did take Xiangling's simple nature into consideration and didn't want her to know about the things that were going on behind the scenes.

Therefore, the matter was concealed from Lady Xing, Lady Wang and Aunt Zhao.

However, he did not want Xiangling to misunderstand that he did not trust her, so he had to sell Wang Xifeng out.

After comforting Xiangling, he rushed to Rong Mansion, carrying the pearl hairpin he had taken from Jin Chuan.

By then, the play had already ended and everyone was preparing dinner in Rongqing Hall.

Jia Baoyu had long forgotten the scolding he had received earlier and was in high spirits. However, when he saw Zhang Yunyi, he suddenly became as wilted as an eggplant hit by frost.

When others saw him coming, they were overjoyed.

Among them, Aunt Xue was grinning from ear to ear, while Baochai unconsciously rolled up her sleeves, revealing a little bit of the beads on her wrist.

Zhang Yunyi bowed to Lady Jia and the others, and then explained, "Don't be offended, Sister Xue. Elder Gu had something to do today, so he asked me to go over and discuss it."

Although the Jia family were heroes of the founding of the country and could be considered an old noble family, the right to speak in ancient times was ultimately in the hands of scholars, and they could not compare to Gu Dashou, who had been in the cabinet for more than ten years and held a high position and power.

In addition, he was worried that the nobles and military generals would become too powerful and, once they had secured their throne, would inevitably place more emphasis on civil officials than on military affairs.

It has been nearly a hundred years since the founding of the Great Xia Dynasty, and the dynasty is entering a stage where civil officials are more important than military officials.

Otherwise, Jia Zheng would not have had to sharpen his head and immerse himself in the group of literati.

Hearing that Zhang Yun逸 was invited by Gu Dashou, Jia's mother felt honored.

Xue Baochai, Tanchun and others also felt awe.

Before Baochai could say anything, Aunt Xue rushed in and said, "Business is more important. Business is more important. How can you let Brother Yi delay business for such a small matter?"

Baochai waited for Aunt Xue to finish speaking before she bowed gracefully, raised her wrist slightly, and said, "Thank you, Brother Yi!"

Zhang Yunyi nodded slightly, took out the prepared pearl hairpin from his bosom, turned to Li Wan and said, "I was negligent and asked my sister-in-law to make up for my share of the money. It seems too strange to return the silver. Why don't you take this pearl hairpin as an apology? I hope my sister-in-law will not blame me!"

His attitude was just right. Even Lin Daiyu, Tanchun and others would only think that Xiangling should go back and tell them the truth. He had to come out of courtesy.

Although Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai also had such concerns, they thought that it was better for them to come than not to come.

Grandmother Jia was even more delighted after hearing this, and said to the still hesitant Li Wan, "Brother Yi is right. We are all family, so we shouldn't be so distant. Why don't you go and thank Brother Yi!"

This had been discussed beforehand, and Li Wan had been pretending to be nice. Now with Lady Jia's permission, she stepped forward with a smile and took the pearl hairpin.

She didn't know that Zhang Yunyi was going to go along with it. When he took all his effort to take the hairpin, she boldly used her body to cover her and scratched Zhang Yunyi's palm with her fingertips.

Fang looked at him with a look of affection and said, "Thank you, Brother Yi!"

Twenty taels of silver in exchange for a valuable pearl hairpin, there was no need for Li Wan to hide the joy on her face.

Others just thought it was this reason and didn't take it seriously.

Only Mrs. Wang frowned. While Lady Jia was asking everyone to sit down, she glanced at the two of them and then turned to look at Tanchun.

Although she didn't know it, her eldest daughter-in-law had already become like herself, and had taken on the shape of Zhang Yunyi from the inside out.

But I understand the principle of being grateful for what you have received.

He couldn't help but worry that Li Wan would turn a blind eye to him.

In addition, she had a deep understanding of Zhang Yunyi's character, and she was increasingly worried that he would take this opportunity to seduce her widowed eldest daughter-in-law.

If Yuanchun's factor wasn't there, it would be fine. It would give Zhang Yunyi more thoughts and he would pay more attention to the affairs of the mansion.

She was old, and she knew very well that although Zhang Yunyi was very addicted to being the second master, he might not be able to do so for long. In fact, in this respect, she was not as good as Aunt Zhao.

With Li Wan, the mansion now has a successor.

However, if he did so, he was worried that Yuanchun might make a mistake and give him the opportunity to take advantage of her.

But Tanchun was different and accepted Zhang Yunyi's gift without any hesitation, which made her happy.

Originally, given her relationship with Aunt Zhao, she had to be somewhat wary of Tanchun.

But a while ago in Mengpo Zhai, Zhang Yunyi vowed to guarantee the two of them to live in harmony.

When Jia Huan has achieved success in his studies at the Immortal Academy, he will at least be guaranteed an official position and allowed to set up his own business so that he will not dilute Jia Baoyu's property.

With this guarantee, she and Aunt Zhao not only temporarily reached a consensus on interests in winning over Zhang Yunyi, but also reduced their wariness of Tanchun.

During the dinner, she saw Zhang Yun逸 chatting and laughing with the other girls, but Tanchun didn't talk much with him. This idea became more and more certain in her heart.

He originally wanted to use the same trick again and use another excuse to keep Zhang Yun逸, but he was worried that it would happen too frequently and would arouse Lady Jia's suspicion.

Only then did he suppress his impulse, and wait until everyone had eaten and drunk their fill and left the place, before he reached out to Tanchun and said, "Come with me, I have something to tell you!"

Taking Tanchun back to Rong Xi Tang, she had some private conversation with Tanchun.

Fang dismissed his attendants and said, "Feng girl is pregnant now. I am too exhausted to take care of her. I want you to help share some of the burden. You don't need to worry about other things. Just guard the gates of the mansion, especially the garden, to prevent any disturbances. Are you willing?"

This was like a perfect gift for one's sleep. Not only did it make it easier for her to communicate with Zhang Yunyi, but she could also legitimately inquire about his movements.

Tanchun was overjoyed when she heard this and said quickly, "It is a daughter's duty to share Madam's worries."

Mrs. Wang thought she had finally found a reliable helper, but she didn't know that Tanchun, who had left Rong Xi Tang, couldn't help but take a deep breath.

I was thinking about informing Zhang Yun逸 of the good news.

What they didn't know was that after they left, Grandmother Jia only kept Zhang Yunyi and Yuanchun, chatted with them for a few minutes, and then let the two go back together.

Zhang Yunyi, who was always good at taking advantage of others, saw that Tanchun was called away and sent Yuanchun all the way to the Grand View Tower.

Seeing Zhang Yunyi escorting her all the way upstairs, Yuanchun couldn't hide her shyness and said, "Brother Yi, go in and have a cup of tea before going back?"

Facing Yuanchun's invitation, Zhang Yunyi shook his head, but changed the subject and said, "No need to drink tea, but the mirror will be delivered in the next few days, and I have a few words to tell my sister."

After he said that, he pushed open the door of Hanfang Pavilion and walked in alone.

When Yuanchun saw this, her cheeks suddenly turned red, not knowing whether it was because she drank alcohol at the dinner or for some other reason.

Fortunately, it was night time and the light from the lantern was not bright enough to reveal the abnormality on her face.

After hesitating for a moment, Fang Chong said to Baoqin, who was holding the lantern, "I will talk to Brother Yi about something. You can go back to the house first!"

Baoqin just nodded when she heard this and went back to the main room without saying a word.

Yuanchun took a deep breath and just as she stepped into the house, she felt her waist tighten and a hot wave reeking of alcohol hit her in the face.

Before he could even scream, his mouth was blocked tightly. A tingling sensation rushed to his head. He moved his hands subconsciously twice before being pressed tightly against the wall by Zhang Yunyi.

In her early twenties, when hormones were surging, Yuanchun's mind went blank as she was pressed against Zhang Yunyi's burly body and felt each other's heartbeats.

The hands that were aimlessly moving around unconsciously rested on Zhang Yunyi's broad shoulder blades.

……

(End of this chapter)