The Red Mansion Big Liar.

Chapter 489 Opportunity
"Marry Yun Yi?"

In Madam Xing's room in the east courtyard, she squinted at her brother and sister-in-law and said with disdain, "Aren't you afraid of your tongue being blown away by the strong wind?"

"This……"

Xing Zhong and his wife looked at each other in bewilderment. They knew that they were marrying above their station, but Mrs. Xing's surname was also Xing after all, and they never expected that she would be so ruthless.

Xing Zhong said shamelessly: "It's all up to human beings!"

Madam Xing sneered, "Even the second wife's daughter and the second girl can only be his concubines. You really dare to think so!"

"What!?"

This sentence was like a drop of water falling into a boiling oil pan, which immediately caused an uproar in the hearts of Xing Zhong and the other man.

There is no one in the world who is completely useless. Although Mrs. Xing is a little materialistic, her virtue of obedience is unmatched.

In the past, she obeyed Jia She's words, but now, she has become like Zhang Yunyi from the inside out, and has transferred this obedience to him.

Although she was Yingchun's nominal mother, she did not feel the slightest bit embarrassed when talking about Yingchun being a concubine. She did not think there was anything wrong with belittling her own brother and sister-in-law in this way. Instead, she felt somewhat proud of it.

Bring out a girl's extroversion to its fullest.

Seeing Xing Zhong and his wife were so shocked that they were speechless, she seemed to still feel unsatisfied and said sarcastically, "Don't just open a dyeing factory after you give them some color. Don't you think you are such a nobody? You really think you are a nobody! You treat that pearl hairpin as a treasure, but for Yun Yi... it's not a rare thing! Don't you see that every girl has one and wears it on their heads?"

She originally wanted to say it was nothing, but when she thought about Yuanchun and others who had also given it as a gift, she changed her tone.

Xing Zhong glared at his wife and said angrily, "Why didn't you tell me this?"

He turned to Madam Xing and bowed, smiling and saying, "Sister, calm down. We are just daydreaming."

"It's good that you understand!" Madam Xing squinted at Xing Zhong and said with some pride, "Xiu Yan is my niece after all. He treats her differently just for your elder sister's sake!"

Although she knew that Mrs. Wang was also on the same boat, she did not know about Aunt Xue's existence.

The second branch of the Xue family was obviously separated from him by a layer, unlike Xing Xiuyan who was his own niece. However, when Zhang Yunyi mentioned sending the fabric, he glanced at him intentionally or unintentionally, and naturally attributed the credit to himself.

"Hmm?" Xing Zhong's eyes suddenly brightened when he heard that.

The more Mrs. Xing showed off Zhang Yunyi's wealth, the more excited he became.

However, even the two young ladies of the Rongguo Mansion could only be concubines, and Mrs. Xing's words were full of disdain, so she did not dare to have any delusional thoughts.

Now, hearing that his elder sister had some favor with Zhang Yunyi, he couldn't help but feel hopeful again.

"Big sister is right! We didn't understand clearly before. In fact, being a concubine of the Marquis is an honor to our family!"

Xing Zhong swallowed his saliva and said carefully: "If you can make this happen, I, as your younger brother, will not want the family property and will use it all to honor you. After all, the second girl is not your biological daughter, and Xiuyan is your niece after all..."

As for the first sentence, Mrs. Xing was only somewhat tempted. After all, the Xing family's assets were only worth a few thousand taels of silver at most. After turning to Zhang Yunyi, she didn't think much of the assets.

Besides, the property is in her hands, and if Xing Zhong wants it, she has to be willing to let it go.

In comparison, the latter sentence made her more excited.

She was just Jia She's second wife, and Yingchun had never been raised by him. Not only was there no feeling between them, but there was no blood relationship at all.

But Xing Xiuyan is her niece without a doubt.

Although Xing Xiuyan had no makeup on and was dressed poorly, she was still her niece after all.

Even if you don't care too much, it is impossible for you to ignore it like Jia Baoyu did.

It can be seen that Xing Xiuyan's dignified and elegant appearance cannot be concealed under her simple clothes.

Not only can he please Zhang Yun逸, but he can also add help to his rear house, which is killing two birds with one stone.

However, she did not rush to agree, but pretended to be pretentious and said: "Taking a concubine is like taking a beauty. Not to mention Qin, You sisters and Xiangling in his room, even the maids in the room are better than one another.

"My sister-in-law has seen it today. Which of the two girls in our family is not outstanding? I will help Xiuyan dress up later. If she wants to please Yunyi, she can't be too ugly. If I like her, I will tell him later!"

Although it is far from what was expected, times have changed.

Just having a glimmer of hope was enough for Xing Zhong and his wife to be grateful. They nodded repeatedly and responded, "Hey! Hey! Thank you for your concern, sister!" When Mrs. Xing heard the word "worry", her bones softened.

He thought to himself that even if the plan failed, after all this, Zhang Yunyi would be able to gain people's hearts a few more times, so it wouldn't be a wasted effort.

……

Tiangongyuan.

Zhang Yunyi, who was in the duty room, never thought that the Xing family was more anxious than himself.

He returned to the yamen early not just to avoid the Shura scene, but also because he had official business.

At this moment, he was listening to Gu Wenhui's report.

"Sir! I just went to the Ministry of War..."

Gu Wenhui paused, and said, "Minister Li said that firearms and armor should be used for border troops and garrisons first. For the time being, we can only allocate 500 firearms to our railway guards."

"Didn't you tell him that it was the emperor's intention?" Zhang Yunyi frowned.

"Yes! But Minister Li said that everything has its priorities. Since the emperor has ascended the throne, he should naturally put the country first."

"Great! What a great saying of putting the world first, that's really high-sounding!"

Zhang Yunyi slapped the armrest of the chair heavily, as if he realized his own mistake, and then he sighed and said, "Forget it! Minister Li is right. We can't sacrifice public interests for personal interests. Five hundred is five hundred!"

After sending Gu Wenhui away, he thought to himself, I haven't been holding a grudge against you for avoiding suspicion last time, but this Li Congwen has taken the initiative to trip me up.

Things in this world are not straightforward and cannot be made clear by simply talking about right and wrong.

Although it was Li Congwen himself who deliberately avoided suspicion and was unable to participate in the Jiangnan plan, thus missing out on the subsequent great achievements.

But if it was King Zhongshun, Gu Dashou and others, it would be fine if they only got the first credit.

Li Congwen felt very upset that Zhang Yun逸, the youngest who joined the group the latest, had the upper hand.

Originally, the overall situation was undecided, and since everyone belonged to the same faction as King Qin, he did not dare to make any trouble.

But now that the King of Qin has ascended the throne, the situation is completely different.

After a little thought, Zhang Yun逸 understood Li Congwen's mentality.

However, although he was unhappy, this was also a good opportunity for him.

The firearms at that time were far inferior to those of later generations. Not only was the shooting distance far less than that of bows and crossbows, but they also needed to be loaded with gunpowder and projectiles, had an extremely slow firing rate, and there was also the risk of explosion.

It was for this reason that he proposed to the emperor that the railway guards be equipped with firearms to prevent the theft of the rails.

On the one hand, it is because of the various shortcomings of firearms, which are not as sensitive as bows, crossbows, swords and guns.

On the other hand, it was also an attempt to leave a reasonable excuse for future modifications of firearms.

Difficulties and opportunities coexist. Although Li Congwen deliberately tripped himself up out of jealousy, it also gave him an opportunity.

Although firearms are not as sensitive as bows and crossbows, they are still weapons after all. In order to avoid arousing Emperor Wanlong's suspicion, he deliberately did not hide his anger.

The purpose was to make the emperor think that he proposed to produce firearms out of righteous indignation and with the mentality of fighting for his dignity.

Gu Wenhui could be considered an old acquaintance of the emperor. There might have been other intentions behind arranging him to be under his command.

The reason why I acted so furious just now was deliberately acting for him to see.

In addition, Li Congwen's incident also reminded him that in the past, everyone was from the Qin Wang faction, so at least they could ensure that the general direction was consistent.

But now, we must be on guard against others.

……

(End of this chapter)