The Red Mansion Big Liar

"If the sky falls, there will be someone tall enough to hold it up! The idea was from the master, so why are you afraid?"

Mrs. Xing complained to herself, if you were willing to take on the responsibility, why would I hesitate?

But she said, "Master is right. I am also worried that it will damage Master's reputation if it gets out..."

"Reputation! How much is reputation worth? As long as things can be accomplished, what does it matter if a little reputation is lost?"

He pointed at Madam Xing's nose and said, "You! Go to the East Mansion now and tell the master that I will invite him to my house in a few days!"

"Master!" Mrs. Xing exclaimed in horror.

"What? You dare to go against the master's will?" Jia She said with a bad face, "The master lets you remarry just because you are obedient..."

"No, no, no!" Madam Xing shrank her neck when she heard that. "Master, please forgive me! That's not what I meant!"

"Then what do you mean?" Jia She's expression softened a little.

"Master, you don't know! Yesterday in the East Palace, I heard that Lian Er and the others wanted to invite him to their house... This matter is risky after all. The second girl is their sister after all, and they should also help. Besides, Brother Yi is also doing business with his wife. If something happens to her, there will always be concerns..."

Since Jia She had made up his mind, she was powerless to stop him.

However, if this happened in the East Courtyard, even if Jia She could keep his word, she would not be able to escape the blame.

In this case, it would be better to let Jia Lian and his wife take the blame.

Hearing this, Jia She narrowed his eyes, twirled his beard, and said thoughtfully: "It's easy to deal with Lian Er, but what if the news leaks out from my wife..."

"We don't have to just tell them. When the time comes, the master can find an excuse to call them over halfway..."

Madam Xing paused, then gritted her teeth and said, "Why not just hide it from the second girl as well? We can just use the excuse that Brother Yi is over there and ask her to go over and meet him. We can also ask the people around her to bring the wine we prepared and drink a couple of glasses with her..."

"After all, they live in the second house, and we don't have anyone to support them. Nothing will go wrong, right? What if he notices something is wrong and runs away..."

"Master, don't worry! Siqi, the maidservant beside the second girl, is the granddaughter of my concubine, Prince Shanbao. Let her take charge of locking the door, and she will make sure nothing goes wrong!"

"Okay!" Jia She immediately made the decision, "The master will trust you again, but don't let anything go wrong again! You keep a close eye on that side, and I will do my best. I will not go out for a while. If he goes to the banquet, come and inform him in time, don't miss it!"

Mrs. Xing dared not hesitate any longer. She patted her chest and said confidently, "Master, rest assured! I will keep my eyes on you!"

……

"What took you so long? I thought we wouldn't be able to get any help!"

While Jia She and his wife were keeping a close eye on Yun Yi, Li Wan, who had been waiting anxiously, finally saw the person.

The young swallow threw herself into his arms like a fledgling.

Zhang Yun逸 did not expect that the emperor was in such a good mood for conversation. Not only did he invite him to stay for lunch, but after the meal he also talked about all sorts of things and asked about the plans for Tiangong Academy and Xianxue.

Naturally, he would not spoil the emperor's mood because of Li Wan, so he reported all the work patiently and in detail, which has been delayed until now.

He didn't know that Li Wan had made many arrangements before coming. He took her into his arms and kissed her.

I thought it was not easy for her to come out, so I planned to take my time and be gentle with her first, so that she wouldn't feel that I only had desire but no love, and that my mind was full of dirty tricks.

Unexpectedly, his small gesture was a misleading expression of his feelings.

While Li Wan responded enthusiastically, her hands were already impatient to get to the point and untie the jade belt around his waist on the python robe.

Seeing that Jia Lan was about to finish school, she silently calculated the time and estimated that she could barely finish her class. How could she be willing to waste her time on such meaningless things?

Zhang Yunyi had no idea what she was worried about and couldn't help but laugh.

He secretly complained in his heart, why does the eldest lady of the West Mansion always seem to have no idea where to eat next?

However, having said that, he did not act pretentiously.

He wrapped Li Wan like a conjoined twin, stumbled and fell on the bed.

……

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 277: All the organs are complete (Additional update )

"Ouch! Hurry up and clean up, Lan is coming after school!"

Zhang Yunyi couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. He finally understood why Li Wan was so impatient before.

Because the ownership of Ning Mansion was settled, he came back a little late and had no chance to breathe. In addition, he had calculated the time and knew that his son would come over later after school. Although Li Wan was anxious today, she did not dare to ask for too much.

She calculated the timing just right. Just as things had calmed down, Youshi came from outside to urge her.

However, she was no match for Zhang Yunyi after all, and the afterglow on her face was still there.

As Zhang Yunyi put on his clothes, he smiled and said, "I'll go and delay for a while, you can wait a while before leaving!"

Just after passing the hall, they saw Suyun leading Jia Lan out from the inner gate.

"Uncle Yi!" Suyun was quick-eyed and saluted quickly.

Jia Lan also bowed quickly and said, "Lan'er greets Uncle Yi!"

Zhang Yunyi had a warm face and smiled, "Study hard and take care of your health. Have you been practicing the exercise your mother taught you?"

He patted Jia Lan's head with one hand, and took out the Nine Dragon Pendant from his arms and handed it to him with the other hand.

"Uncle Huiyi, Lan'er practices every morning and evening..."

"Okay! Do a set for Uncle Yi to see if there are any movements that are not in place."

"Uncle Yi, please give me some advice! One, two, three, four..."

Jia Lan shouted slogans and did radio gymnastics in a very methodical manner.

After he finished a set of radio gymnastics, Zhang Yunyi estimated that Li Wan should have almost finished cleaning up, so he smiled and said, "Not bad! Uncle Yi still has to go to the front yard to meet guests, you can walk around before going to eat."

He held the python robe and jade belt in his hands and walked towards the front yard with the gait of a dragon and a tiger.

Jia Lan watched him leave the inner three gates, then looked at the Nine Dragon Pendant in his hand and put it to his nose to sniff it.

I couldn't help but wonder, why do the smells on Zhang Yunyi and the Nine Dragon Pendant seem familiar?

He subconsciously looked towards the hallway where Zhang Yunyi appeared, and something suddenly dawned on him.

Last time, I saw my mother holding the folding fan given by the emperor and playing with it for a long time. This time, she must be even more reluctant to let it go.

Although the orphan and his widow had enough food and clothing in the Rong Mansion, they were not eligible for such good things bestowed by the emperor.

I heard from my aunts that my mother was invited by her aunt, so she probably had to ask her aunt to invite Uncle Yi to thank him in person.

……

Let’s not talk about how Jia Lan guessed, but let’s say Zhang Yun逸 came to the front yard.

Not only did all the subordinates from Tiangong Institute come here upon hearing the news, but even Zhang Dehui and Zhang Cheng also came.

When he was promoted, all his subordinates would come to congratulate him.

Although the treatment at Tiangongyuan was not bad, his son's full moon celebration was coming up, and he didn't want to add burden to his subordinates.

There is no need to elaborate on all those compliments.

After everyone was seated in the hall, Zhang Yunyi began to speak: "I came to the palace today to express my gratitude. The emperor has high hopes for us. Not only did he invite me to have lunch, but he also kept talking with me until now."

Then he called out his name and asked, "Shang Rong! How is your study of immortality going?"

Lai Shangrong bowed quickly and said, "My Lord! The school building is almost finished. I am studying your teaching materials with a group of teachers!"

Pinyin is a good thing. Zhang Yunyi sorted it out a little and added some simple mathematics to use it for the time being.

Only after these students have a certain foundation will he let them get in touch with some knowledge of physics and chemistry.

“We also need to speed up the construction of laboratories around the school buildings and strive to complete them before the end of the year.”

He himself did not have much theoretical knowledge, so he planned to combine theory with practice and let students summarize for themselves by doing experiments.

"Yes!" Gu Wenhui stood up quickly, "I have already selected several locations and am arranging construction according to your request!"

"It's time for the glass factory to develop some new products. I'll have a few of the old craftsmen try to plate silver on the glass. The glass mirrors made will be a hundred times clearer than the current bronze mirrors!"

"I've remembered this and will pass the order down right away!" Zhang Hua quickly stood up and responded.

Seeing that his son was now entrusted with an important task, Zhang Cheng was quite pleased. He also stood up and said, "The guano business has been almost handed over, and the grafted fruits have also achieved some results. It may take another year or two for peaches, pears, and the like. I brought some grapes here today..."

Zhang Yun逸 presented the guano business to the emperor and only retained 20% of the profit rights. This business was run by him alone, and since he had made contributions as a gift, Emperor Zhengqing simply allocated the business to Tiangongyuan.

Zhang Cheng originally had the opportunity to return to the inner court, but he knew how to advance and retreat. He knew that his son had already become an official, so he had to cling to Yun Yi's thigh.

In addition, he was also responsible for the grafting of fruit trees. Not only did he refuse to return to the palace, he also became a slave in the Zhang family, so he regarded himself as an old slave.

This kind of thing was not uncommon in ancient times, and some people even took their entire property with them to join the army.

On the contrary, when he mentioned the old slave in front of all his subordinates, not only he but also his son Zhang Hua felt somewhat complacent.

As they were talking, the servants brought up the washed grapes.

Ancient agriculture was greatly influenced by the environment. Oranges grown in the south of the Huai River are oranges, while those grown in the north of the Huai River are tangerines.

Rootstock grafting effectively avoids this situation. It simply takes advantage of the local fruit trees' adaptability to the environment and grafts varieties with good texture.

Zhang Yunyi took one, gently peeled off the lavender skin, took a bite, and the juice overflowed, with a sweet taste and a hint of sourness.

After being used to eating a wide variety of fruits in the previous life, the taste of these grapes can only be considered average, but for ancient times, they were a rare delicacy.

After all, transportation conditions were limited in ancient times, and even if there were good varieties suitable for various environments, they were not available in the capital.

Nowadays, grafting improvement has just started, but the results are remarkable.

"Great!" He waved his hand, "Go wash it and let everyone taste it, and send some to the back! Prepare some more later and send it to the palace."

Seeing that Zhang Cheng was praised, Zhang Dehui became a little restless.

He stood up immediately and said carefully, "Boss! It's not that Zhi Yanzhai doesn't work hard, but other bookstores, in addition to their own books and stories, mainly focus on the Four Books and Five Classics and the imperial examination articles. The boss has strict requirements for the selection of materials, and the price of the stories... I'm afraid..."

Nowadays, the trade routes for caustic soda have become increasingly mature, and there is no need for Zhang Dehui to personally accompany the team.

Because Zhang Dehui was familiar with business affairs, Zhang Yun逸 asked him to be responsible for matters related to Zhi Yanzhai.

When he bought Zhiyanzhai, his main purpose was to pick up girls and he never thought about making money. He was very particular about the choice of paper and ink.

After all, after this book is published, it will have to be distributed to a group of sisters for collection, so it has to look good.

However, this would increase the cost, and the shop on Zhuque Street would also be a considerable expense.

In order to make Zhi Yanzhai live up to its name, he only published the scripts adapted by Jinchai. Although the business had not yet begun, old shopkeepers like Zhang Dehui had already foreseen the loss-making outcome.

Seeing that Zhang Cheng's side was thriving and he had just joined the Xue family, he couldn't help feeling uneasy.

Zhang Yunyi didn't mind losing some money, but he still had to save his face. Although there would be dividends at the end of the year, he could also take out some money and lie about it as profit.

But even if he doesn't reveal his true identity in front of Jinchai, it will still affect his prestige in the hearts of his subordinates.

He pondered for a moment, waved his hand and said, "I have already made arrangements for this matter. You can discuss it with Zhang Cheng later and acquire two more farms outside the city and use them all to grow bamboo. In addition, the caustic soda can also be harvested 20% more than before."

Only when you run a household do you know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are. Only after you run a bookshop did you realize that paper was not cheap in ancient times.

Especially the best rice paper.

He remembered that in his past life, paper was mostly made of wood and bamboo, unlike today when it is still made of materials such as mulberry bark.

Although the ink absorption and touch of paper in the past were obviously not as good as rice paper for brushes, it looked better and was easier to preserve for printed books.

This is an elegant thing. Xue Tao of the Tang Dynasty was famous for her Xue Tao paper. If a similar paper could be made, the golden hairpins could name it.

This is much more elegant than buying bags for girls in my previous life.

Seeing that he was confident, Zhang Dehui said no more. Zhang Yun逸 said a few more words of encouragement before inviting everyone to take their seats.

Although he was promoted quickly, it would not be an overnight task to recruit talents.

However, although it is still a makeshift team, it is small but complete.

……

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 278 Who Are You?

"I see your granddaughter is becoming more and more capable. Does she think that she dares to argue with me because she has your support?"

While Zhang Yunyi was holding a banquet at home, Mrs. Xing did not dare to sit idle.

Because she didn't know when Jia Lian would host a banquet for Zhang Yun逸, she learned from her mistakes and after discussing with Jia She, she began to make arrangements.