The Red Mansion Big Liar

But the arrow is on the string, and she can only take advantage of the open and secret struggles between the first and second wives to buy time.

"What? She dares to pick our peaches?" Madam Xing grabbed Yingchun and said, "Come on! Follow me to the old lady and tell her what I said! I want to see..."

"Madam, you can't do that!" Siqi said in surprise. "Madam, think about it, for the old lady, the young lady and the third lady are both granddaughters, and she has always... the young lady is not as favored as the third lady. If this matter gets out, if the second lady makes the decision for the third lady, it will be too late to regret it!"

She originally wanted to say that the old lady was partial to her, but when the words were on the tip of her tongue, she realized that something was wrong, so she changed her words and said that Yingchun was not as favored as Tanchun.

"How dare she!" Mrs. Xing shouted angrily, "The master spent a lot of money on this..."

Before she could even mention the silver, she realized that Jia She not only did not pay a penny, but actually made a small fortune from the old lady.

Seeing her stop talking abruptly, Siqi thought she was persuaded, and hurriedly said, "Although the master spent money, we are still a family after all. Even if the old lady really changed her mind, can the master still use that little money to make trouble? But once this matter is reported to the old lady, it will be hard to say!

Although the Third Miss had this idea in mind, there was no reason for her to take the initiative to find the old lady and the second lady to talk to them. She could only work hard behind the scenes. Although she could stop them for a while, she couldn't stop them forever. However, she was unintentional and kept a close eye on them. We only have one way in and out, so the progress was slow. Madam, please give us some more time."

Madam Xing shook off Yingchun's hand and said, "Give you some time. It's easy to say. Who can..."

Grandmother Jia still hoped to make this marriage happen, so she asked Zhang Yunyi for help.

With the pressure from Lady Jia, Jia She was also pressing for his life, but there was no need to say these words to Yingchun and her servants. She stopped talking, took a deep breath and said, "You guys tell me how to deal with it!"

"I discussed this with the young lady yesterday. As soon as Master Yi entered the garden, the third young lady pestered him to tell stories, and she stared at us. We could only ask someone else to pass a message to Master Yi..."

Seeing that she had been fooled, Siqi quickly told the whole matter of finding Yuanyang as external aid.

After hearing this, Mrs. Xing couldn't help but complain: "At the beginning, I said that you should live in the thatched cottage, but the old lady..."

At this point, she remembered that it was inappropriate to make up stories about Lady Jia in front of the two of them, so she quickly stopped talking.

He then pondered and said, "Yuanyang is the old lady's household after all. If you go there, not only will it be hard to convince her, but it will also arouse suspicion. It would be simpler for me to go directly to the old lady and follow your explanation."

Seeing that they had finally gotten away with it, Yingchun and her servant couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Mrs. Xing did not delay and rushed to Rongqingtang without stopping.

Although Grandmother Jia didn't know why she came, she wanted to ask about the progress of the marriage, so she sent away the irrelevant servants.

Mrs. Xing was thoughtful and deliberately kept Yuanyang. After the others left, she told Lady Jia her purpose of visit.

Seeing that Grandmother Jia did not make any comment, she continued, "The second girl has always been soft-tempered, and Siqi has a hot temper. I think that Yi'er's family business needs a steady person to manage it..."

Yuanyang, who was standing by, blushed unconsciously. She had never expected that what she had been longing for could come so easily.

Mrs. Xing had already received information from Siqi and also noticed her expression.

I thought that after so much preparation and Yuanyang's willingness, Grandmother Jia would not be reluctant to give up a maid.

Unexpectedly, the result was beyond their expectations.

But Grandmother Jia shook her head and said, "Others can do it, but Yuanyang can't!"

When Mrs. Xing heard this, she immediately became anxious: "I see Yuanyang has no objection, why don't you..."

Before she could finish, Grandmother Jia raised her hand to interrupt her and said, "If Brother Yi has a lot of assets, then how can Prince Ning's Mansion not have some? Moreover, Prince Ning is the heir to the throne, so there must be a lot of imperial edicts coming and going in the mansion. If the eldest lady doesn't have a steady man by her side, won't people laugh at us?"

"This..." Mrs. Xing and Yuanyang were stunned at the same time.

Unlike Yuanyang who was frightened and at a loss, Mrs. Xing became increasingly indignant at Lady Jia's favoritism.

At the same time, he became more convinced of Siqi's suggestion that something unexpected was going on, and he did not dare to tell Tanchun about her little thoughts.

She stood up and said goodbye, "What the old lady said is very true. I will go back and discuss it with the master!"

……

(End of this chapter)

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 Yun逸 had no intention of forcing anyone to do anything, and saw that Lai Da was a little at a loss.

Fang patted his shoulder and said, "Master, you just need someone who is attentive 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)

Chapter 238 Jin Chuan is wrongly accused

It's already May.

The enrollment of Xianxue has come to an end, which surprised Zhang Yunyi.

Although no scholars with official titles were recruited, there are probably quite a few who can write and calculate.

Most of these people were illegitimate sons of princes and ministers in the capital who had no hope of passing the imperial examinations.

Perhaps they did so because of the emperor's favor; or perhaps it was because of their big family's political acumen that they didn't put all their eggs in one basket.

Zhang Yun逸 did not object to this.

Regardless of whether he could cultivate a few outstanding ones among these unsuccessful illegitimate sons, at least with this relationship, he could be considered to have been somewhat integrated into the officialdom of the capital.

Compared with the princes and ministers who signed up enthusiastically, the Ning and Rong mansions, which were close to the water, did not have a single sign-up.

Zhang Yun逸 couldn't help but sigh that the decline of the Jia family was not without trace.

In addition, the acres of sacrificial fields used in the spring ploughing ceremony are already covered with plump ears of corn.

According to the report of Zhang Cheng and others, it is roughly estimated that the yield per mu is about 600 kilograms.

This was not the era of later generations when the yield per mu was thousands of kilograms. A yield of over 500 kilograms per mu was considered top-quality fertile land.

And six hundred kilograms can be said to be unprecedented.

Of course, this was due to the role of bird droppings, and also because Zhang Yunyi added alum water.

More importantly, the fate of officials in Shuntian Prefecture has been linked to the output of the sacrificial fields.

The runners of the government office took turns on duty almost twelve hours a day, wishing they could take care of every seedling.

Even the officials sent their own maids and servants to participate in it.

With such careful care, not only is there no drought or flooding, but there is also no disturbance from pests and diseases, so the growth is naturally very gratifying.

For this reason, not only was Emperor Zhengqing ecstatic, but all the officials of Shuntian Prefecture, led by Jia Yucun, also came to the palace with gifts of thanks to express their gratitude.

While Zhang Yun逸 was busy with government affairs, Jia Baoyu was bored and had nothing to do.