The Red Mansion Big Liar.

Chapter 492: Trapped in a cocoon
Wait until Xue Pan and Xue Ke leave.

Madam Mei could no longer hold back her complaints, "Kid, didn't we already agree on this? How can you let it go so easily? If Zhang Yunyi really..."

Mei Pi said disapprovingly, "If they can really invite someone here, then it naturally shows that they have a close relationship. My son was not very satisfied with this marriage to begin with. If we withdraw, not only can we ease the relationship, but we can also let him accept a favor. It's killing two birds with one stone, so why not do it?"

He said calmly, "It is better to resolve a feud than to create one. He is now in the limelight, and my father has offended him. If we can't resolve it, even if he doesn't do anything, everyone in the capital will avoid us in the future. Where can we stay?"

"But even if he accepts this favor, it would be good enough if he doesn't hate your father..."

Mei Pi said confidently, "Mother, you don't understand. Everything depends on human effort! That's why my son wants to invite him to a banquet. As the saying goes, don't hit a smiling person. My son should be more respectful at the table. He can't just turn his face away. Invite three or five friends to witness it. Someone will spread the word for us."

"What can we do about it?" Mrs. Mei hesitated.

"It's easy to get things done if someone above you has someone, so who wouldn't give my son some face when the time comes?"

"You... aren't you afraid of being exposed by him?"

"Who would be so blind as to ask such a question? Isn't Jia Huan just..."

At this point, Mei Pi looked at his mother with a guilty look, and changed his words: "My son has to go out for something."

He had heard about Jia Huan from Zhou Huaide.

Although he scoffed at Jia Huan's statement, he felt that it was unlikely that Zhang Yunyi would give him special care just for a concubine.

However, everyone in the Taoist school believed it to be true and spread the story in such detail that he also wanted to follow suit.

Mei Lian impeached Zhang Yun逸, so wasn’t Jia Zheng dismissed from office because of this?
Jia Huan was able to fabricate these lies and become successful in the study of immortality, so why couldn't he do the same?
Anyway, who would be so blind as to go and ask the real owner about this matter?

Of course, he would not be as stupid as Jia Huan. As long as he was more subtle, there would be no need to worry about others not making up stories.

However, he couldn't help feeling guilty about having to bring up his mother, so he took the opportunity to slip away and set an ambush for his friends.

Mrs. Mei thought he was going out to fool around again, and asked hurriedly, "Where are you going at this time?"

Mei Pi kept walking and said, "Father's funeral can't be too shabby. I have a few good friends here, so I have to invite them to help out."

After saying that, he left the house without looking back and went straight to Zhou Chengru's residence.

Coincidentally, he had just arrived at Zhou's house when he saw Zhou Huaide returning from the Immortal School.

He followed in immediately and begged for mercy.

Although the Zhou brothers had been unwilling to deal with Mei Lian since he got into trouble, they had to consider the situation when they were caught red-handed.

While welcoming Mei Pi into the side hall, he said, "I asked my father the other day, and the emperor intends to grant amnesty to the whole country. It's a pity that my uncle was unlucky and didn't make it to the amnesty. Brother, please accept my condolences!"

"Thank you for your concern, Brother Zhou!" Mei Pi bowed slightly, but changed the subject, "However, everyone has their own destiny. The Marquis was loyal and righteous and recommended my father to the Emperor, but my father was ungrateful... and instead became jealous, which led to this disaster. We can't blame others."

When it comes to gratitude and jealousy, he shook his head and seemed to be hesitant to speak.

The two brothers of the Zhou family looked at each other in surprise when they heard the loving father and filial son.

I could only laugh and say, "Brother Mei, I hope you can think positively!"

Mei Pi saw the expressions of the two and said, "I came here today for no other reason than to wait for my father to be buried in peace. I want to make amends on his behalf and host a banquet for the Marquis. I would like to invite you two to join me. Do you have time?"

"Has the Lord Chief Priest agreed?" Zhou Huaide asked without thinking.

"Of course!" Mei Pi swore, "Although my father repays kindness with hatred, the Marquis is magnanimous and knows that my mother and I are innocent, so he will naturally not vent his anger on us."

At this point, he shook his head and said, "Speaking of which, my family is related to the Marquis. My father arranged a marriage for me a long time ago. It was the niece of the younger sister of the second wife of Rongguo Mansion. At that time, my father was frustrated, so he invited the Marquis to his mansion. We drank and talked happily. We drank too much and stayed overnight..."

The two brothers of the Zhou family listened to his story, and their expressions changed from shock to surprise, then to amusement, and finally they said in awe: "Brother Mei has this relationship, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Alas!" Mei Pi shook his head like a rattle. "You know my father's temper. How can he admit that he got it through the backdoor? Besides, although my father is ungrateful, I can't repay kindness with enmity. Jia Zheng also participated in the impeachment, so this marriage is naturally invalid!" "That's true!" Zhou Huaiwei thought of Mei Lian's reputation and laughed. He glanced at Mei Pi and said meaningfully, "Brother Mei is a real person. I didn't make a mistake!"

Zhou Huaide on the side shook his head and smiled: "Actually, Brother Mei, you don't have to do that!"

Seeing the two of them looking at him, he shook his head and said, "This month, we have a new batch of new students in our Immortal Academy. Among them, several of them are seniors who are guests of Jia She of Rongguo Mansion. I heard from them that Jia She personally admitted that he let his second wife recommend herself, so our chief priest showed special favor!"

"No wonder Jia She was only demoted, but Jia Zheng was dismissed. It seems that a concubine is not as good as a wife!" Zhou Huaiwei suddenly realized and looked at Mei Pi in confusion, "Since the mansion has such a relationship with the Marquis, why did your father..."

Mei Pi secretly groaned in his heart. He originally thought that Jia Huan was just using Jia Huan's talent as a banner, but he didn't expect that Rongguo Mansion would do even more than he thought.

Even Jia She admitted it without hesitation, which made the lies he made up less convincing.

He had no choice but to bite the bullet and make excuses, saying, "Jia She didn't even participate in the impeachment, but he was still demoted. My family is more distantly related to him, and my father was recommended by him, so he was the instigator..."

Although his brain raced, he couldn't think of a better reason for the moment.

However, considering the context, the Zhou brothers had another layer of speculation.

Although Zhou Huaiwei doubted the truthfulness of Mei Pi's words, since he came to ask for help with such confidence, he must have something to rely on, so he did not ask any more questions.

Zhou Huaide laughed and said, "If it weren't for the intercession of the Lord Jijiu, Jia Zheng might have been able to hold on until the amnesty, and still retain his position. But now, due to some strange mistake, he has been demoted to the lowest position."

At this point, he added in a pretentious tone, "But who told our Lord Jijiu to like this? After all, they are close to each other, and Jia Huan's mother must have put in a lot of effort. Although Jia Zheng repays kindness with enmity, not only did he not implicate his son, but he was promoted by Lord Jijiu to the ninth rank of student!"

Although Prince Ning had lost power, the Zhou family was no longer as powerful as before and was no longer able to compete with Jia Huan and Wu Qi.

But after all, there was a conflict, so it is inevitable that there will be some bias in what we say.

Not only did he not mention Jia Huan's contribution to smelting, but he attributed the reason for his promotion entirely to Aunt Zhao.

The speaker has no intention, the listener has the heart.

Upon hearing that Jia Huan was promoted to a ninth-rank student, Mei Pi couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

Zhou Huaiwei, who was standing by, was well aware of the conflict between his brother and Jia Huan, and joked: "Although Jia Huan has no one above him, his mother still has someone above her! I think, brother, you'd better give in to him in the future in the immortal school!"

"What the elder brother said is absolutely true!"

The two brothers winked at each other, glanced at Mei Pi, and laughed, "Brother Mei, you said so, right?"

Mei Pi's mouth twitched, and he smiled bitterly, "Brother Zhou is right."

Zhou Huaiwei continued to probe: "By the way, since Brother Mei has this relationship with the Marquis, I believe the Marquis will come to offer condolences, right?"

Hearing the doubt in Zhou Huaiwei's words, Mei Pi could only bite the bullet and say, "Of course..."

I originally thought that Jia Huan was the same as myself, but I didn't expect that it was actually true and he was even promoted.

This undoubtedly put him in trouble.

Although the Zhou brothers might not dare to ask Zhang Yunyi for confirmation, the big talk had already been said. If they saw that Zhang Yunyi was partial to one person and not to the other, they would inevitably suspect that they were lying.

The only thing to do now is to take things one step at a time. First, go find Xue Ke, and then add a request for Zhang Yunyi to come and pay his respects, and deal with it for now.

He had something on his mind and didn't want to stay long, so he said goodbye and left quickly.

He then went to Rongguo Mansion, found Xue Ke and Xue Pan, and repeated his request.

However, Xue Pan refused to accept it as soon as he heard it, and said angrily: "Who is your father? How dare you ask Brother Yi to go to pay his respects? I'm giving you face, right? Get out now!"

……

(End of this chapter)