Taigong Liu shook his head, "Mr. Liu Yuan may not know that since you were nominated by the Golden Palace and became the number one scholar, the price of houses in this street has increased by 60% in an instant."

Shi Zhongkui suddenly frowned.

Although the Liu family's yard also has three entrances and is the same length as his own house, the front door faces the street and the back door also faces the street.

But the width is one-third smaller, and the size and layout of the house are that of an ordinary brick house.

It's worth fifteen thousand taels of silver and has been burned with high incense.

Shi Zhongkui could only give up, and then thought that at worst, he would build a few more rooms next to the house in the front yard.

"Mr. Liu, give this junior a few days to think about it. Let's do this for today."

Upon hearing this, Taigong Liu understood that Shi Zhongkui had refused.

With a sigh, he stood up, handed over his hands, and left with his little baby.

"Master," Yu Shun whispered, "Speaking of the house, I heard that the housekeeper of the second wife's natal family is also building a garden."

When Shi Zhongkui heard this, he thought of Lai's yard.

The Jia family built the Grand View Garden. Although the Lai family's garden was not as grand as the Grand View Garden, it still had springs, rocks, trees, pavilions and pavilions, and was really spacious and neat.

Even when Jia Mu went to visit the garden, she felt that it was something to behold.

There were even some parts that shocked Jia Mu.

Thinking of this, Shi Zhongkui smiled.

As for Shun Dao, "I heard that Lai Shangrong, the grandson of Lai's family, has been freed from slavery. Find someone to test him and test him.

If he has the ambition to make progress, then secretly instigate him to donate his official position."

Yu Shun nodded quickly, "Yes, sir, I know how to do it."

After Yishun left, Shi Zhongkui sneered, saying that he couldn't take care of Lai Da and Lai Er, the two servants of Ning Rong and Ning Rong.

But Lai Shangrong escaped from slavery and became an official empress again.

As long as he dares to stretch out his hand, life and death will all depend on him.

And when the Grand View Garden is built, the Lai family's garden will almost be built as well.

------

As the grandson of Lai Shangrong, he has been treated the same as Jia Baoyu since he was a child.

Since his family has money but no status, Lai Shangrong will certainly want to compare himself to the Jia family.

After being instigated by others, I went home and asked Aunt Lai to donate her official position.

If you just want an official position, as long as you find the right person, two to three thousand silver can be enough to donate a seventh-grade official.

As for being like Jia Rong, who got the rank of fifth-grade dragon guard for only one thousand two hundred silver, that must be overthinking.

Dai Quan doesn't want anyone's money.

He had told Jia Zhen at the beginning that the third brother of the Marquis of Xiangyang, Fatty Feng, the governor of Yongxing, was also seeking an official position.

No matter how much money Fatty Feng made, Dai Quan ignored him and gave the two vacant positions to Jia Rong and the third brother of the Marquis of Xiangyang.

In other words, this is wooing and gathering powerful forces.

Lai Shangrong, an ordinary person who was freed from slavery as a gift from the Jia family, could not even dream of becoming a Dragon Guard, let alone 5,000 taels, or even 10,000 taels.

------

Grandma Lai was helpless because of her grandson's troubles. At the same time, she also hoped that her grandson would have a bright future, so she couldn't help but seek out Jia Mu.

When Jia Mu heard this, she was only willing to donate a seventh-grade official to Lai Shangrong.

Otherwise, it makes no sense for a child born as a slave to have a higher official position than Jia Lian and Jia Rong.

Jia Lian, who accepted the task, was actually not very willing.

And unlike Jia Baoyu, who didn't care about anything, Jia Lian actually knew that the Lai family had made a lot of money from them over the years.

It's just that before, he kept trying to take advantage of the family's money, so of course he didn't dare to interfere with the Lai family's affairs.

Moreover, before Jia Yuanchun became a concubine, the Rongguo Mansion's annual expenses were only about 5,000 taels of silver to 10,000 taels of silver.

It's true corruption, but actually it doesn't amount to much money.

The Lai family focused more on the Jia family's fields and shops, so the farms and shops in Ning and Rong Prefectures suffered losses every year.

Until Yuan Chun, when she was granted the title of concubine, it was like a burning fire cooking oil.

In the past, under the banner of the Jia family, Lai Da and Lai Er were doing business outside, and their business was even bigger.

However, it is not easy for Lai Shangrong to donate his official position.

Firstly, he is not a scholar, secondly, he is not a noble son, and he is not even qualified to donate an official position.

Jia Lian thought about it and finally remembered that Li Wan's father, Li Shouzhong, was a wine sacrificer in the Imperial College.

As soon as Lai Shangrong was admitted to the Imperial Academy, it was impossible for Shi Zhongkui, the third in command of the Hanlin Academy, not to know.

He even pretended to give Lai Shangrong advice and asked him to use the money to find someone from the Ministry of Rites.

Using the excuse of donating money to renovate the tribute courtyard, he finally obtained the qualification of supervisor.

As long as you can graduate, you will be qualified to be an official just like Juren.

As for the problem that the ceiling for promotion of prison students is higher than that of ordinary people, it is not within the scope of Lai Shangrong's consideration at all.

Anyway, in his opinion, as long as he is willing to spend money, becoming a county magistrate will be enough to honor his ancestors.

If you are willing to spend more money, even if you can't become a prefect, it would be good to be a co-prefect or an official.

After Shi Zhongkui read Lai Shangrong's article, he realized that even though this guy was pampered, he still knew that he was just a slave.

Even if your talent and hard work are not enough, and you have a sense of crisis in your heart, after seven or eight years of reading, you will be able to memorize at least four books.

If the Lai family was born in the north or northwest, Lai Shangrong could memorize the Four Books, and it would not be difficult to become a scholar.

It's a pity that since the Lai family is a slave of the Jia family, their native place is naturally in Jinling.

As a wealthy place in the south of the Yangtze River, if you want to be a scholar in Jinling, it is as difficult as crossing a single-plank bridge.

In other words, Jia Lian made the right decision for Lai Shangrong to go to the Imperial Academy.

Moreover, the more money Lai Shangrong spends, the more he will be interested in making money when he becomes an official in the future.

Either corruption or violation of the law is enough to sentence Lai Shangrong to three thousand miles of exile.

------

Three days after the wedding, you are expected to return to your parents’ home.

But Shi Zhongkui married two wives at one time, so it was impossible for him to run two wives in one day.

We can only take Xue Baochai back to Xue's house first.

For the new uncle and his daughter to go home for a family visit, the Xue family prepared extremely honorable arrangements.

Not only the relatives from Jinling have been staying in the capital, waiting to come back this time, but even Wang Ziteng has taken leave and is waiting at the Xue family.

Xue Pan and Xue Biao went directly to the house and personally invited Shi Zhongkui and Baochai to return home.

After drinking Lingtao wine and sleeping for half the afternoon, Baochai and Yingchun woke up one after another. They were shocked at first, and then they found that their clothes were still there, and they felt relieved.

Otherwise, serving their husbands together would not only be a contempt and humiliation for the two ladies, but Baochai and Yingchun would really have no shame in seeing each other in the future.

Then the two of them noticed that their whole bodies seemed to feel sticky, and they even had a faint smell.

Baochai knew this was normal because she had drunk it once, so she hurriedly comforted the panicked Yingchun.

Yingchun heard Baochai say that she had drank it once before because she had a fever, but she didn't feel jealous or think too much about it.

After all, I wasn't sick before, and now my husband is giving me a drink, so it doesn't mean he's being treated differently.

The two called the maid to prepare hot water for washing.

Moreover, the first day after the wedding was the ninth day of the Lunar New Year. The two of them were embarrassed to invite Shi Zhongkui openly, but they slept peacefully all night.

But the next day, when Shi Zhongkui saw the two charming daughters-in-law wandering around in front of him, he couldn't help it.

So during lunch break in Baochai's house, Sister Baochai virtuously helped Shi Zhongkui untie his coat, and then he was hugged by Shi Zhongkui.

So when Yingchun heard about the return home, she directly asked Shi Zhongkui to take Baochai to meet the Xue family first, and wait until the sixth day after the wedding to return to the Jia family.

The customs of returning to one's parents' home vary from place to place. It may take three days, six days, nine days, or even one month to return.

The purpose of returning to my natal family is not only to allow me to have more contact with my natal family.

I also saved it to see if the newlyweds are sweet, and to give the bride some time to relax.

In order to avoid hurting the bride during the passion, it also gives the bride a chance to ask some private questions.

Xue Pan and Xue Biao, who came to pick them up, felt relieved immediately when they saw Baochai coming to the main hall of the middle courtyard with a happy smile on her face.

After returning to Xue's house, Baochai was still reluctant to separate from Shi Zhongkui. After being urged several times by Xue Baoqin and the housekeeper's wife, she reluctantly followed to Aunt Xue's house.

Walking into the backyard, Baoqin hugged Baochai's arm and said with a smile, "Sister, you have changed."
To be continued...