The Red Mansion Big Liar

Although Aunt Zhao was younger, prettier, and had a curvy figure, and was quite charming, compared to Madam Wang, she seemed a little thin in front of Madam Wang.

After being scratched by her like this, Jia Zheng felt a little distracted.

Coincidentally, at this moment, the servant came in with food and wine. He quickly pulled his hand back and said, "Let's eat and talk at the same time!"

When Mrs. Wang saw this, she knew it was almost certain.

Knowing that he couldn't save face and had to wait until after dinner, he took his time and waited until the servants had served the wine and food before ordering, "All of you go down! I'll talk to the master for a while!"

She placed the great man in front of her on Jia Zheng's shoulders, leaned against his back and poured him a glass of wine, while she asked softly, "Master, please tell me, what is the emperor's commendation?"

Although judging from Jia Zheng's behavior, there would be no surprises, but since he hadn't heard it with his own ears, he was still worried.

"It turns out that we were worrying too much. I have devoted myself to the Ministry of Works over the years. The emperor is very observant, so how could he not know?"

At this point, he picked up the wine glass, drank it all in high spirits, and said: "My eldest sister will soon marry Prince Ning as a concubine!"

Mrs. Wang was relieved when she heard this. She was immediately delighted and said with a smile, "Where is the imperial edict? Master, please take it out and show it to me!"

Speaking of the imperial edict, Jia Zheng looked surprised and said, "A woman's opinion means that an oral order is not an imperial edict? The emperor's words are golden, so how could they be false?"

Seeing that he looked unhappy, Madam Wang was worried that everything would be ruined, so she hurriedly said, "Please forgive me, Master. I am not as knowledgeable as you, and I have never heard the emperor's golden words, so I can't help but feel uneasy!"

Jia Zheng's expression eased a little, and he said disdainfully, "What do you know? This time, the emperor not only decided to let my eldest sister be the concubine of Prince Ning, but also wanted us to have a grand wedding. If we set a date early, and we are not well prepared, wouldn't we be letting the emperor down?"

He was immersed in his own world, not caring whether others understood him or not.

Fortunately, Mrs. Wang had already seen through everything, otherwise, she would have been left with nothing but confusion.

"Yes, yes, yes! This is all because the Emperor cares about us!"

"I have just informed my mother. You should start to do it tomorrow."

At this point, he remembered that he had not yet told Madam Wang what preparations to make, and said with a little confusion: "I heard from the emperor that the blueprints for the villa to be married are being made by Brother Jing's nephew Brother Yi. Remember to send someone to urge them tomorrow so that they can start work as soon as possible."

"Isn't it a bad idea to urge him?"

Mrs. Wang had a lot of grievances in her heart but couldn't say them out loud. Jia Zheng's words were exactly the same as Zhang Yun逸's, and he had obviously contributed to this.

However, she and Lady Jia were worried that if Jia Zheng knew that they had used the back door, it would cause trouble, so they had already agreed to keep it a secret.

And now, because of that ulterior motive, the credit was deliberately attributed to him, and it is even more difficult to explain the reason.

Jia Zheng disagreed and said, "What's wrong with that? As a minister, I should devote myself to serving Your Majesty. Since he has received the imperial order, what's wrong with us urging him to do his job?"

"Although he received the emperor's order, the blueprints were drawn by him after all, so he must be familiar with the garden. If we can ask him for some advice when we start construction, the construction of the garden will go more smoothly..."

Jia Zheng thought for a moment and said in a deep voice, "Forget it! In that case, send someone to ask him tomorrow to see when he is free. Set up a table of wine and food in the mansion and ask Baoyu to have a meal with him."

Mrs. Wang knew that he relied on his status as an elder, and seeing that he was a little impatient, she did not dare to persuade him anymore.

I could only think about how to make amends for him while putting my worries aside and drinking with him.

She was showing her support, and Jia Zheng was also very proud of himself. In a short while, he was already drunk, and then he helped him back to the room.

He could not wait to order: "Jinchuan! Quick! Help the master wash up and get him to bed!"

……

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 96: Old in body but not in heart

The next day.

It was already past noon when Jia Zheng slowly woke up.

He is nearly fifty years old, and although he is not in a position to pursue the enemy bravely, Mrs. Wang is like a long-awaited rain after a long drought, and she repays her kindness with a spring.

This made Jia Zheng quite pleased with himself and he regained some of his self-confidence, even as an old man reminiscing about his youth.

However, his body was not strong enough to do that, and he had a few drinks last night, so he was unable to get up in the morning.

At this moment, he slept until he woke up naturally and was fully rested. Thinking back to his heroic performance last night, he couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly, a hint of satisfaction on his face, and a surge of ambition and passion in his heart.

Thinking of this, my mind couldn't help but drift back to the graceful curves of the woman squatting in front of me last night, and the smoothness of her toes when her slender jade fingers rubbed them.

"Jinchuan, the master is awake, help him wash and change clothes!"

A sudden voice interrupted his thoughts.

It was Mrs. Wang, who was wandering alone in front of the mirror, who caught a glimpse of him sitting up in the mirror.

Seeing Jin Chuan holding the basin and pushing open the door, he regained his serious look and asked, "Why didn't you call me earlier?"

Mrs. Wang's face was flushed with joy, and she smiled and said, "Don't I want the master to sleep a little longer?"

"Nonsense! The emperor just bestowed his grace yesterday, but he missed the roll call today. Doesn't this make people think that the master is taking advantage of his favor and getting arrogant?"

"It's all my fault! I'll prepare dinner tonight and apologize to the master!"

Mrs. Wang surrendered herself and turned around, looking at him eagerly.

Unexpectedly, Jia Zheng did not look at her. Instead, his eyes followed Jin Chuan who was busy running around. He said absentmindedly, "Let's talk about it later!"

Mrs. Wang couldn't help but frown.

Last night, she had wanted to drink some wine with Jia Zheng to cheer him up, but he got in the mood and drank two more cups. So before going to bed, she specifically asked Jin Chuan to soak his feet to wake him up.

At that time, I felt that the look in his eyes when he looked at Jin Chuan squatting on the ground was not right. I thought it was because he was drunk, but now it seems...

She said calmly, "Master, what do you think of this girl Jinchuan?"

Jia Zheng's eyelids twitched unconsciously, and he said without comment: "It looks like a suitable one!"

"Yes! Baoyu's room cannot always occupy the maid in the old lady's room. I have told Baoyu that I will let her go over to serve in a while. What do you think, Master?"

Mrs. Wang was not there just to make things difficult for Jia Zheng. Baoyu was forcibly taken away to be raised by Grandmother Jia since he was a child, and was surrounded by Grandmother Jia's people. How could she, as a mother, be willing to be without even a hold on her son?

Jia Zheng felt short of breath when he heard this. Jia She might be able to snatch the maid from his son, but he couldn't wipe away his face. He could only say angrily: "This is a trivial matter in the backyard. You can handle it as you wish."

Jin Chuan, who was helping him to dress, trembled slightly when she heard the words, and her hands also began to tremble.

The clothes were thin in the summer, and she was excited, so her hands were not very nimble, so it was inevitable that there were some bumps, which made Jia Zheng very nervous.

But thinking that Mrs. Wang had already promised her to her son, she didn't say anything in the end.

After seeing Jia Zheng off, Mrs. Wang came to Lady Jia's courtyard.

It was the morning and evening visitation period, and Lady Xing, as well as Sanchun, Li Wan, Wang Xifeng and others were talking to Lady Jia.

After they exchanged greetings, Grandmother Jia slowly asked, "Your master told you everything last night, didn't he?"

Hearing the word "last night", Mrs. Wang blushed and said hurriedly, "Yes! The master urged me to hurry up and gave me instructions this morning, so I came a little late!"

"Well! This is a top priority for our family. We can't be careless. We should discuss it carefully. You are the eldest girl's mother, so you should tell them about this happy event!"

"Yes!" Mrs. Wang agreed, and then told everyone about Yuanchun's affairs, but she omitted the efforts she and Lady Jia had made behind the scenes.

Everyone was delighted to hear this, except Wang Xifeng, who felt mixed emotions.

Others may not understand, but she has been paying attention to the strangeness between the two of them, and her heart is as clear as a mirror.

At this moment, everything is still unclear. Am I thinking in the wrong way?

As long as Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang fail to reach a consensus, no matter whether it is Lin Daiyu or Xue Baochai in the end, the other party will always need to be promoted to compete with them.

This was the result of her long-cherished wish.

But when she thought about the loss she suffered at the hands of Zhang Yunyi, she couldn't be happy at all, and she just felt suffocated.

"It's okay to deal with things inside, as you and Feng Yatou are watching over them. But now that Lian Er is not at home, the two of them don't pay much attention to these things, so things outside are not so easy to deal with!"

Jia Zheng was indeed impatient to worry about these mundane affairs, but Jia She was eager to help. However, Jia's mother knew what kind of person he was, so she directly excluded the two of them.

When Wang Xifeng heard Lady Jia mention her, she finally felt better.

Building a garden is such a big thing, so naturally there will be expenses. Although she no longer has any worries for the time being, this incident has also served as a reminder to her.

Who can predict what will happen in the future?

Moreover, although this honor fell on the second wife, the cost of building the garden must still come from the government's budget.

For her and the first wife, this is tantamount to losing money to gain publicity.

A glimpse of Mrs. Xing's proud look made her feel even more irritated.

I secretly thought that no matter where I put the money, it would not be as secure as holding it in my own hands.

"Don't worry, old lady! Although my granddaughter-in-law has never been involved in those things outside, she has never eaten pork but has seen a pig run away. I don't think it will be a difficult task. Besides, Lian Er has helped with those things before. As for the things that require exposure, we can just ask a few managers to handle them."

"Hey! Such a big matter cannot be handled without a person in charge. We can't just put all the blame on the servants. Although the master doesn't care much about these things, the eldest girl is his niece after all, and he is not like the second master who has official duties to attend to. It's just the right time for him to help check it out. I'll go back and talk to him later. I'm sure he has no objection."

Before Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang could say anything, Mrs. Xing started to sing a different tune.

Wang Xifeng was filled with resentment. She usually dared not say a word, but now she was fighting against herself without any hesitation.

But Mrs. Xing's words made sense, and as a daughter-in-law, it was difficult for her to refute, so she had to swallow her anger.

Wang Xifeng was not easy to talk to, but Mrs. Wang knew her uncle's character very well and was afraid that it would be better if he was not checking things. If he was checking, it would be bad.

He hurriedly said, "There is something I forgot to mention just now. Yesterday, the master said that the emperor gave the blueprint of this garden to Brother Yi to work on. He plans to let him help and bear more of the workload once the construction starts!"

Upon hearing this, Jia's mother immediately made the decision, saying, "That's great! Since the blueprint was drawn by him, he must have known everything that was needed, which would save a lot of trouble. Besides, Fengchenyuan knows best how to build this kind of garden. Although he is not in Fengchenyuan, he is still working in the inner court, and he is more familiar with people than we are."

"What the old lady said is very true. The master also thinks so."

The two of them sang in unison and the matter was finalized in no time.

Although Mrs. Xing was unwilling, she had to give up when she thought that Yuanchun was the real culprit.

She could only feel indignant in her heart. Grandmother Jia would rather trust outsiders than her own family.

Thinking of this, she unconsciously turned her gaze to Yingchun who had done the attack.

Although Grandmother Jia did not allow them to interfere, if they made Zhang Yun逸 their own person, wouldn't that be the same as interfering?

Although she had this idea before in Ning Mansion, before she proposed it to Jia She, she heard him complaining that Zhang Yunyi did not go to the front yard to accompany her, so she did not dare to tell him the idea.

This may be an opportunity.

……

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 97 Xifeng wants to make peace

It’s not that we can blame Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang. They believe that outsiders don’t trust their own family members. If Jia Lian was at home, they wouldn’t have made such arrangements.

Firstly, Jia She was not doing his job properly and did not know how to restrain himself, which led to his notoriety.

Secondly, they were also deceived by Zhang Yunyi's disguise and had a preconceived notion that he even gave all the income from the sugar produced from his one acre and three mu of land to the Ning Mansion. How could Jia She be compared to such a person who regarded money as dirt?

Wang Xifeng scoffed at the arrangement made by Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang.

Others may not know, but she knows very well that Zhang Yunyi is not a good person.

However, if she had to choose between Jia She and him, she would still choose to cooperate with Zhang Yun逸.

After all, Jia She was greedy for money, while Zhang Yun逸 was just lustful.

Moreover, as a daughter-in-law, she was naturally inferior to Jia She and had no way to bargain with him.

In addition, Zhang Yunyi had threatened before that he would set the price for Ping'er himself, so isn't the opportunity right in front of him now?

But when she thought about it this way, she felt that she had suffered a great loss.

She couldn't accept the fact that Zhang Yunyi didn't pay a penny and used the money from the Rong Mansion's treasury to exchange for his own maid, not to mention that he also molested her.

While she was thinking about how to turn the situation around, Lady Jia had already ordered them to leave.

"You all should go back as well! Madam will invite Brother Yi to come over tonight and ask him how much land he wants to allocate. Then we can choose a place as soon as possible and start preparing!"

Wang Xifeng hurriedly volunteered, "Let Ping'er go and invite them! I also have something to bring to Rong's wife."

Without thinking, Grandmother Jia said, "Well! You will have to deal with this matter in the future, so let Ping'er go and ask her!"

Mrs. Wang had no objection to this. It was obviously impossible for Jia Zheng to ask her to send someone to urge them, and it was actually Jia Mu's arrangement that was more appropriate.

After all, he needed a favor from someone, and it would seem disrespectful to ask an ordinary maid to make the trip. Ping'er's status was just right.

After leaving Lady Jia's courtyard, Wang Xifeng did not rush back, but accompanied Mrs. Wang back to Rong Xi Tang.

Fang asked indirectly, "Madam, I just thought about it. Should I talk to the old lady and wait for two more days? The emperor just summoned the master yesterday. Even if he immediately ordered Brother Yi to draw a map, I'm afraid there might not be any results now, right?"