The Red Mansion Big Liar

After leaving the yamen, he took out a silver note and handed it to one of the older yamen runners.

"Take it for tea, brothers!"

"Sir...sir, you really put us down!"

The group of yamen runners were flattered.

However, although they refused with words, their eyes betrayed them.

How much do the favors owed by those high and mighty people have to do with people like him at the bottom of society?

The older bailiff hesitated for a moment, but still took it.

"Sir! Where are we going?"

"Huazhi Lane!" Zhang Yunyi waved his hand and stepped into the carriage.

A group of yamen runners guarded the carriage like stars surrounding the moon, trotting forward all the way.

……

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 211 Tracking

Zhang Yun逸 got off the car at the entrance of Huazhi Lane and assigned tasks to a group of yamen runners.

Then, eight men stood guard around the yard, and four of them followed him into Ma Dao Po's house.

These yamen runners bowed and noded before him, but when facing Ma Dao Po, they were as ferocious as wolves and tigers.

As soon as he entered the door, he rushed into the house, and in a moment, he tied up the frightened Ma Dao Po tightly.

Seeing that the yamen runners easily subdued Ma Dao Po, Zhang Yun逸 couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Although he trained diligently, he had no martial arts skills and was worried that their plan would be exposed and he would be outnumbered and controlled by others.

After all, the ancient times were not as peaceful as the modern times. These quacks and wandering Taoists were able to roam the streets, so they must have some tricks.

Going to the government office to seek help was, on the one hand, convenient, and on the other hand, out of caution.

At this moment, seeing that Ma Dao Po was easily subdued and trembling with fear, he became more and more certain that she and the monk were just playing tricks to fool people.

"I have something to ask her, you guys go out and keep watch first!"

"Sir, this group of people are very good at playing tricks. If she refuses to speak, leave her to us. We will make sure she tells us everything!"

Some of the yamen runners were quite discerning and they roughly guessed what Ma Dao Po did for a living just by looking at the furnishings in the house.

While reminding Zhang Yunyi, he did not forget to give Ma Dao Po a threatening look.

After the four people left, Zhang Yunyi calmly said, "Ma Dao Po! The affair between you and Aunt Zhao has been exposed!"

When Ma Dao Po heard this, she immediately kowtowed and said, "My Lord, please forgive me! I was blinded by greed and bewitched by Aunt Zhao, but I never intended to harm anyone. I just wanted to take this opportunity to make some money. I hope you will spare my life!"

"Tell me! How did you come up with such evil intentions and how did you conspire with her? If you tell me the truth, I will let you go!"

Thanks to the criminal investigation dramas in his previous life, he also learned some interrogation techniques.

He did not rush to ask the monk or the Taoist priest, but first judged the truth of their words through her conspiracy with Aunt Zhao.

Hearing that there was still a glimmer of hope, Ma Dao Po did not dare to hide anything and immediately confessed everything that had happened.

After being offended by Lady Wang, she turned her attention to Aunt Zhao.

Originally, he just wanted to coax and deceive Aunt Zhao to get some money out of her, but when he saw that Aunt Zhao was like a frightened bird, he decided to have the best of both worlds.

On the one hand, after this incident, Mrs. Wang would definitely not dare to neglect it in the future.

On the other hand, he could also make more money from Aunt Zhao.

Of course, she didn't dare to really harm Jia Baoyu, and she also planned to treat Mrs. Wang as a long-term meal ticket, so the monk and the Taoist priest appeared.

"I know the importance of this matter. How dare I harm the son of the Duke's Mansion? I was just blinded by the silver. I dare not keep the silver and the loan note, including the silver from the Rong Mansion as a thank you, for myself. I will hand them all over to you, sir. I hope you will show mercy!"

With this introduction, Zhang Yun逸 was able to change the topic without making any noise.

"What is your relationship with that monk and Taoist priest?"

"I was a fellow disciple of theirs in my early years, and I practiced at the Qiyun Temple in the suburbs of Beijing..."

"Where are they now?" Zhang Yunyi asked in a deep voice, "If I can find them, I can deal with you as appropriate!"

"I know..."

After finding out the monk's hiding place, Zhang Yun逸 summoned the yamen runners guarding outside.

Ma Dao Po hurriedly took out a bag of silver from the cupboard and handed it over along with the IOU for five hundred taels written by Aunt Zhao.

Zhang Yun逸 looked down upon the loose change and handed it all to the yamen runner who was traveling with him.

This made all the yamen runners beam with joy.

They took Ma Dao Po and rode non-stop to the hiding place of the monk and the Taoist priest.

As the saying goes, partial listening leads to ignorance, while listening to both sides leads to enlightenment.

Although he had confirmed from Ma Dao Po that the two were not masters who played around with the world, Zhang Yunyi was still extremely cautious as this concerned his future and destiny.

He planned to find out the whereabouts of Zhen Shiyin through these two people, and then verify it through him.

Because of this plan, Zhang Yun逸 was much more polite when he arrived at the Taoist temple of the Broken-Foot Taoist and the Bald-Head Monk.

Although he still sent people to guard the surroundings, he did not break in. He only allowed four yamen runners to escort Ma Dao Po and accompany him into a slightly dilapidated Taoist temple.

The two men had just made some money and were enjoying delicious food and wine in the temple, feasting heartily. When they saw the bailiffs escorting Ma Dao Po in, they sobered up a little and fell to the ground with horror on their faces.

Zhang Yunyi did not ask the bailiff to step forward and subdue the man. Instead, he said calmly, "I have something to ask you two. If you tell me the truth, not only will I not blame you, I will also reward you handsomely!"

After hearing this, the two of them turned their worries into joy and agreed quickly.

Only then did Zhang Yun逸 ask about Zhen Shiyin's whereabouts.

"This..." The monk and the Taoist priest looked hesitant upon hearing this.

Ma Dao Po at the side rushed to shout: "I know... I know..."

Originally, the monk and the Taoist priest were worried that Zhen Shiyin might have some other connection with the matter and that his crime would be even more serious.

I heard Ma Dao Po speak first, and the three of them started talking one after another, explaining the whole matter clearly.

It turned out that the three men had not been driven out of Qiyun Temple at that time. The Broken Foot Taoist was out traveling and saw that Zhen Shiyin was a little crazy and stupid, so he tried to deceive him with words.

He originally hoped to make some money, but unexpectedly, Zhen Shiyin, who had lost his beloved daughter, actually relied on him and followed him all the way back to the Taoist temple.

Instead, because of this, he was accepted as a disciple by the master of the three men.

Afterwards, the three were expelled from the sect due to their misconduct, but Zhen Shiyin remained in the temple.

Finally, Ma Dao Po added, "Junior Brother Zhen is now at Qiyun Temple. I saw him a few years ago. I will take you there right now. I only ask that you show some leniency..."

"Let's go! If what you said is true, I can forgive you for what happened."

Zhang Yun逸 was in a good mood as he had no worries and had learned the whereabouts of Zhen Shiyin.

However, this kind of deception and fraud is just a way to avoid disaster for families like the Rong family, but for ordinary people, it can lead to the destruction of their families.

He pointed at a monk and a Taoist priest and ordered the accompanying yamen runners, "Take the documents of these two people and find a Taoist temple to settle them. If they dare to make trouble again and do such deception and fraud, they will be punished for multiple crimes!"

"Then I..."

Zhang Yunyi looked at her and said with a half-smile, "Aren't you Baoyu's godmother? Since I'm letting bygones be bygones, you can just do what you're supposed to do!"

Because Ma Dao Po had explained it before, Zhang Yun逸 learned that she, through the monk and the Taoist priest, implicitly attributed Jia Baoyu's madness to Mrs. Wang's previous neglect.

And Wang Xifeng, who has always been disrespectful to gods, was also used as an excuse.

Since Ma Dao Po has already laid the groundwork in Rong Mansion and he has a strong grasp on her, it would be a pity to just abandon her. It would be better to let her continue to play her role well.

You never know when it might come in handy.

……

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 212 Family Reunion

Rong Mansion, the Xue family courtyard in the northeast corner.

Jia Zhen put his arm around her shoulder and said sincerely, "To be honest, I feel bad about this, but you know my brother's situation. He still relies on the sugar quota to make a living. Can you tell my aunt..."

Zhang Yun逸 was busy dealing with his worries and had no time to care about Jia Zhen who was secretly doing bad things.

Instead, it gave him the opportunity to continue stirring up trouble.

Because he was worried that his actions that day would arouse Zhang Yun逸's suspicion, he did not dare to delay too much.

That day, he found some time to find Xue Pan and told him everything about Zhang Yunyi's embezzlement of the two families' joint funds.

He had made a lot of calculations and knew that the situation was stronger than the person. The Xue family relied on their status as imperial merchants in the inner court, so they had no choice but to swallow their anger when faced with him who came to collect debts by taking advantage of the power of others.

He even didn't dare to look for Zhang Yunyi.

Xue Pan was skeptical and asked, "No way? Why haven't I heard of it?"

"Can I still lie to you? You only need to ask and you will know. It's just that silver..."

"Silver is a small matter!"

Before he could finish his words, Xue Pan just said this and ran to the backyard angrily.

Jia Zhen knew Xue Pan's character well. With these words, even if Aunt Xue had some rebellion, he only needed to provoke her with some words and Xue Pan would be unable to save face and would obediently give the silver.

Feeling guilty, he was afraid that Aunt Xue would question him, so he ran away in a hurry.

As soon as he left, Xue Pan rushed into Aunt Xue's room.

"Mom! Did Brother Yi secretly embezzle the money he had in partnership with our family?"

Aunt Xue didn't bother to cover up when Xue Pan suddenly questioned her, and blurted out, "You...how did you know that?"

"Okay! Okay! How dare you hide this from me! I treated him as a brother, but he turned out to be such a mean person who said one thing and did another!"

"My son, please be quiet!"

Although Aunt Xue usually yelled a lot, when she saw Xue Pan was angry, she was worried that he would go to Zhang Yun逸 in a rage and cause trouble for his family.

At this moment, he kept persuading her, "This is his business, so it's not a big deal if he gets a smaller share. If he gets estranged from us and makes trouble for us in the inner court, that would be a big deal... Besides, we've also withheld the money for the sugar, so it's even."

It would have been fine if she hadn't said anything. As soon as she said it, Xue Pan got even angrier: "You still dare to say it! Brother Zhen has come to our house, and for this little bit of money, he has made his son lose face!"

He felt extremely embarrassed when someone came to his house to collect the debt for more than ten thousand taels of silver.

"Ah!" Aunt Xue exclaimed, "Whose intention did he say?"

When Aunt Xue heard that Jia Zhen was coming, she was worried that it was Zhang Yun逸's instruction.

"Who cares who said that? This isn't a big deal. He's just paying off a debt for Brother Zhen. Even if he tells us the truth, how can we refuse? But my son can't stand him being like this. He says one thing to our face and another behind our back."

"Okay, okay! How can everyone be as straightforward as you?"

Aunt Xue warned, "He is working in the inner court and is favored by the emperor. Even though your uncle said some harsh words last time, the old lady and your aunt were still careful. How can we afford to offend him?"

Although Aunt Xue was not present that day, Xue Baochai saw it with her own eyes. Although there were reasons for it, Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang were worried about Jia Baoyu.

But if Zhang Yun逸 wasn't so capable and could be ordered around, why would he need to be so careful?

"That's all! It's just that my son is ashamed to be associated with such a man. Don't ask me to entertain him again in the future!"

It's not that he's stupid, nor is he so stupid as to not know the difference between the important and the unimportant. He just doesn't know how to turn around and just goes straight ahead.

"As long as you don't provoke him, I'll do whatever you want!"

Aunt Xue was afraid that he would have a quarrel with Zhang Yun逸, so she did not dare to force him.

"Brother Zhen is having a hard time making ends meet right now. If we keep defaulting on his payment, it would seem like we are bullying the weak. Besides, if we keep asking for payment, how can he have the nerve to play with him in the future?"

"Forget it! Forget it! Since he has come to ask for it, let's just consider it as a loss to avoid disaster. Tomorrow I will ask the bank to calculate the money, and you can just give it to him."

Jia Zhen's plan of taking advantage of the power of others was indeed correct. Aunt Xue had never thought that he, who relied on Zhang Yunyi's support, would dare to do bad things behind her back.

Only then did Xue Pan stop.

In fact, it cannot be said that he held a grudge against Zhang Yun逸 for this. It was just that he had always been outspoken and felt that he had made the wrong friends, so he felt resentful.