The Red Mansion Big Liar

When she said this, she suddenly shuddered, causing her body to shake.

"Do you think that the money was not sent to the Wang Palace at all, but was used to fill the hole in the East Palace?"

"Although this case was only rumored later, Brother Yi is close to the emperor, so he might have heard about it a long time ago. It's not unreasonable for mom to worry."

Baochai frowned slightly and said thoughtfully, "But if that's the case, we shouldn't mention it anymore."

"Why can't we bring it up? Your uncle has been promoted now. Besides, our family's money didn't come from the wind. We've already lost money on the sugar. Even if he's using it to help others, he should at least tell us."

She held Baochai's hand and sighed, "Now that your aunt's family is well off, it's time to give you more dowry. Your brother is useless, so we have to prepare more money. We can't just let him take money from our family in various ways, can we?"

"Tell me quickly, who is the blind person who dares to take money from our family?"

Before he finished speaking, Xue Pan walked in.

Although Aunt Xue shouted happily, she did not dare to really fall out with Zhang Yun逸. Seeing Xue Pan asking about it, she was afraid that her son would get carried away and cause trouble that would not end well.

He immediately winked at Xue Baochai and covered up by saying, "It was a few servants at home who had dealt with me and your sister."

Xue Baochai didn't wait for Xue Pan to respond and interrupted him, "Didn't my brother go out? Why are you back now?"

Xue Pan was so distracted by her that he forgot to ask further questions and complained instead, "It's still that Baoyu! The old lady and aunt wouldn't let him go out, so they blamed me and asked me to go to the government office to burn paper for that Qin Zhong."

He became angrier and angrier as he spoke, "I saw it earlier in the academy. He was having an affair with Qin Zhong, and they were inseparable. He wouldn't let my son get involved... and now he's blaming me!"

Aunt Xue didn't wait for him to finish and shouted angrily, "What nonsense are you talking about! How dare you say such a thing? If someone hears it and delays your sister's marriage, I will punish you!"

"My son is not wrong!" Xue Pan said disapprovingly, "You saw how sad he was crying a while ago."

Aunt Xue didn't allow him to continue talking nonsense, so she picked up a round fan on the table and hit him in the face.

"Shut up now!"

However, he was his biological son after all, and although the fan in his hand was not very powerful, it seemed as if he was fanning him with a little less force.

"I just said a few words, and I didn't wrongly accuse him. Why don't you blame Baoyu for having affairs outside?"

Seeing this, Xue Baochai frowned deeply and said angrily, "Brother, please be quiet! Regardless of what Baoyu is like, we are guests at your house. If others hear us, they will say that we don't know how to be guests."

A loving mother often spoils her son. He was not afraid of Aunt Xue, but he was a little scared of his younger sister.

Seeing that she had a sullen face and did not refute Baoyu's actions, he stopped nagging her.

"Forget it! It's not enough that everyone in this mansion is protecting him, you guys are also speaking for him, and I'm too lazy to tell the difference!"

After saying that, he left angrily.

After being disturbed by his actions, the mother and daughter lost the mood to talk.

After a long silence, Baochai advised, "Mother, don't worry. As for Brother Yi, we should wait and see what happens."

……

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 123: Changes in Ning Mansion

Do not check, I don’t know, I’m scared.

Because the Ministry of Works was involved with the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Revenue was involved with the Ministry of Personnel, even the Ministry of Rites was not clean, everyone in the capital felt insecure for a while.

As the situation escalated, most of the court was implicated, and even several former cabinet ministers who had already retired were implicated.

In the end, the saying "the law does not punish everyone" came true. In order to avoid having no one to use, Emperor Zhengqing had no choice but to let it go.

The case was confined to the Ministry of Works. As for the Ministry of Revenue's review fraud and the Ministry of Personnel's selling of official positions and titles... as long as the amount was not large, they would just turn a blind eye.

As there were many people involved and the amount of money involved was huge, it was impossible to complete the case in one go. It took more than a month for the dust to settle and the amount of money involved in the case to be clarified.

This day.

Ningguo Mansion, main courtyard.

Jia Zhen, Jia Rong and everyone in the Ning Mansion looked at the Jinyiwei who were coming in and out, busying things in the warehouse, and they were all so frightened that they dared not breathe.

Zhang Yunyi, who had just returned from the court, got off the carriage, strolled leisurely, and came to the crowd, smiling and said: "Brother Zhen, don't worry, I have fulfilled my mission and have asked the emperor for mercy. This money was not obtained legitimately, so it should be returned in full."

He had intended to let everyone in the mansion see the direction of the wind, so he did not lower his voice, and everyone in the mansion could hear it clearly.

A trace of displeasure flashed across Jia Zhen's face, but he dared not speak out his anger. He smiled and said, "Thank you for your trouble, cousin. It's just that there is still some deficit..."

Since it's about returning the stolen money, of course everyone should take care of their own business. The plate is so big, if you return less, others will naturally have to give more. Who would hide the embezzled money for the Ning Mansion?

Therefore, the official treasury of the Ning Mansion not only failed to pay the full amount, but also suffered a deficit of more than 100,000 taels.

Jia Zhen naturally hoped that Zhang Yun逸 could help, but he made a wrong calculation.

Before he could speak, Zhang Yunyi's expression changed and he said, "Brother Zhen, don't blame me for saying that. You are too unkind. When you asked me to plead with the emperor, you didn't tell me this number. I ended up getting into trouble when I pleaded with the emperor!"

When talking about the request for mercy, Jia Rong, whose face was bruised and swollen, immediately became thoughtful, and then a look of complacency emerged on his face.

Jia Zhen knew that he was in the wrong, so he lowered his head and admitted his fault, saying, "It's my fault, brother. Please don't blame me. You can see that the mansion really can't afford so much money, and my brother was in a hurry..."

Zhang Yunyi said arrogantly: "To put it mildly, this matter is a cover-up, and to put it seriously, it is deceiving the emperor! Fortunately, the emperor trusts me, otherwise I would have been hurt by you!"

When they heard the words "deceiving the emperor", everyone in the Ning Mansion was stunned. Seeing the Jinyiwei looking at them from a distance, they couldn't help but shrink their necks.

Jia Zhen quickly apologized, "My cousin, you are a magnanimous man. If I have done anything wrong, I will slowly apologize to you later. But this time, please help me. The emperor has set a deadline of three months. If you can't pay it back, your crime will be even more serious!"

Although he was given a lenient sentence, he could not just return the stolen money and get away with it. Now Jia Zhen was no longer a third-rank general, but a fifth-rank dragon guard.

If the crime is more serious, not to mention the title, I'm afraid he will be stripped of all his honors.

He looked around and shouted to the second door, "Where's the wife? Call her over!"

He just thought that Zhang Yun逸 was angry with him because he concealed the amount of money, so he thought that the fault was only his, and he would not be angry with Youshi.

Besides, we have to calm him down before he will let go.

Although Youshi knew what had happened long ago, since such a big thing had happened in the mansion, she naturally could not pretend that nothing had happened. However, with the Jinyiwei outside, it was not convenient for her to show up in public, so she had been waiting for news at the second gate.

Hearing Jia Zhen shouting at this moment, he immediately walked out from inside the door.

"There are many people outside. The master and Yun Yi have something to say. Let's go inside and talk!"

This was exactly what Jia Zhen wanted. Although there were maids and servants who rushed over after hearing the news, they were still no match for the main courtyard, where the Jinyiwei were still present.

If your arm is broken, tuck it into your sleeve to avoid losing face.

"Yes, yes, yes! It's inconvenient to talk outside. Cousin, let's talk inside."

Zhang Yunyi didn't want Youshi to show up in public, and he just saw a maid peeking inside, so he reluctantly went in through the second door.

After entering the second gate and coming to the eaves of the side house, Jia Zhen hurriedly shouted at the servants who were watching: "What are you looking at! Why don't you get out of here and go back..."

Zhang Yunyi waved his hand and said without question: "People are in a panic right now. They won't be in the mood to do anything if we ask them to go back. It's better for them to stay. At least they know what happened and have a better idea of ​​what's going on. They won't cause any trouble."

Jia Zhen was afraid of angering him, so he ignored him and did not dare to refute. He could only wink at Youshi and say, "I am wrong in this matter. Cousin, please help your brother for the sake of your sister-in-law."

Because Zhang Yun逸 had already promised to plead with the emperor to ensure that she would not be implicated.

Faced with Jia Zhen's request, he was feeling embarrassed as to whether he should plead for him.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Yunyi nodded and said, "For the sake of my sister-in-law, I will temporarily put aside the things that my cousin had concealed before. But my cousin has caused Yunyi so much pain this time, I dare not believe your words anymore. From now on, I will only talk to my sister-in-law..."

As he spoke, he pushed open a stag-roofed room beside the second door, stepped inside and said, "Outside is not a place to talk, sister-in-law, you should come in and talk! After we have discussed it, we can come out to meet my cousin, how about that?"

He was asking questions to Youshi, but his eyes were looking at Jia Zhen.

Youshi was the same. Although she had Jia Zhen's tacit approval, she was really worried that he would lose face in front of the servants as he acted so blatantly.

When Jia Zhen heard this, his face turned pale and blue.

But when his eyes met Zhang Yunyi's, he was immediately defeated.

As if she was worried that he was getting impatient, she pushed Youshi and urged him, "Why are you still dawdling? Your cousin is calling you to come in!"

You was caught off guard and stumbled immediately. Zhang Yunyi, who was inside the room, was quick-witted and quick-handed. He immediately stepped forward and caught her in front of the door of the ear room.

Then, in front of everyone's astonished eyes, he openly hugged Youshi, turned around, raised his heels, and slammed the door shut.

Yu Shi was still in a daze, but Zhang Yunyi had already carried her directly to sit on the table in the room.

Then, her legs were lifted high, her body leaned back, and she closed her eyes involuntarily.

"Ah!~"

She let out a cry of surprise as she lost weight.

When he opened his eyes again, he stretched his neck with difficulty and said with a complicated expression: "This way...he won't be unable to get down..."

"Get away from me!"

Before he finished speaking, Jia Zhen's scolding voice was heard outside.

Zhang Yunyi chuckled: "I don't know whether he can come down or not, but my sister-in-law can't come down for a while."

"But... um!~" Yu Shi wanted to say something else, but after saying just one word, she could no longer continue.

Zhang Yunyi also groaned, and said with a smile on his face: "Don't worry, sister-in-law, you are still the mistress of this mansion, but the Ningguo Mansion is about to change!"

……

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 124 Double Act

After having a profound and simple conversation with Youshi for half an hour, he finally felt at ease and went out with her.

During this period, he briefly recounted the emperor's decision to deal with the matter to Youshi.

He also emphasized how he pleaded with the emperor to ensure that she would not be implicated in order to save her.

This made Youshi burst into tears of gratitude.

Afterwards, he whispered to her in her ear, interjecting his thoughts and all the arrangements for the future.

Naturally, You would not object, and she immediately took practical actions to show that she would fully cooperate.

He was not worried that Jia Zhen would eavesdrop in public.

When I came out, I saw that he had a gloomy face and was twenty feet away.

After all, she was carried into the house in public, and although Youshi felt a little uncomfortable, she tried her best to suppress it.

However, since I was too close, I could still hear some noise.

If Jia Zhen had not been worried that some servants might eavesdrop after he left, he would not have even been able to stay in the courtyard.

But he had to choose between face and substance, so he had no choice but to turn a deaf ear and stay away from it.

At the same time, he also sent the servants who were nearby further away.

Seeing the two of them coming out, he hurriedly put on a smile and went up to them and asked, "Did you come up with a conclusion?"

"I have discussed with my sister-in-law that we will make some money within three months to make up for the shortfall."

These tens of thousands of taels of silver would not cost Ning Fu his life.

Although Ningguo Mansion was built by imperial decree and did not belong to the Jia family, the family would not be unable to repay the debt whether they sold the farm and land or asked Rongguo Mansion for help.

The reason why Jia Zhen relied on him was simply because he wanted to get something for free.

Based on this point alone, it is certainly impossible for Zhang Yun逸 to humiliate him so openly.

The key is Qin Keqing's matter, which gave him peace of mind.

Everyone in Ningguo Mansion knows Jia Zhen's feelings for Qin Keqing.

Since he allowed Jia Rong to divorce his wife and agreed to let her be his concubine, if it were Youshi, she would probably just swallow her anger.

Of course, the more important thing was that the previous statement of deceiving the king made him feel fearful.

Once you have a falling out with Zhang Yun逸, then begging for mercy will likely become adding fuel to the fire.

Therefore, as long as the matter could be settled and he could pay some money to make up for the deficit, Jia Zhen could only accept the loss of face.

Hearing that he was willing to take out money to make up for the shortfall, he didn't care about losing face, and said with a smile on his face: "Hey! My cousin is a man of his word. I feel relieved with your words!"

"Of course! In front of so many servants, I will not go back on my word."

He then changed the subject and said, "But, cousin, you also know that the only property I have acquired has been handed over to my sister-in-law. This amount of money is not a small sum. Even if I find someone to transfer it, it is impossible to get it out of thin air. There must be some collateral, right?"

After he said this, Jia Zhen was immediately unhappy. The first thing he thought of was that Youshi and Zhang Yunyi were colluding with each other to take possession of the land. Besides, he had originally planned to let Zhang Yunyi bear the debt for him, so how could he be willing to mortgage it?