After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 756 Decline
Haitang's impression of the Zhang family still remains in her previous life.

As soon as the almighty Empress Zhang entered the harem, she began to exclude dissidents and placed her confidants in various important positions in the palace. In her previous life, Haitang was transferred from the Library to the Merit Bureau just because she had never pledged loyalty to her. Not long after she had made contributions, she was directly escorted out of the palace. As for the credit for inventing the new loom, it naturally would not fall on Haitang herself.

However, Haitang has been here for so many years and has lived in Chang'an, which is relatively close to the Central Plains, for five years. Her grandmother Ma and her aunt Zhou Ma have invested in a weaving business. She is relatively familiar with the current textile machinery and technology, but she has never seen any new improvements in textile machines, at least not using the innovative technology from her previous life. It can be seen that Empress Zhang did not promote the new loom she made. It is not known whether this empress is short-sighted or does not care about people's livelihood technology. As the mother of a country, she is definitely not competent, let alone virtuous.

The Zhang family was able to cultivate an empress, Zhang, who also gave birth to the late emperor. This was already the peak of their career. Later, his family sent daughters to the palace one after another, but the daughters of the Zhang family during the late emperor's reign could only be one of the four concubines, Concubine De. The current emperor's concubine, Concubine Zhang Gong, was not even one of the four concubines. It can be seen that the most glorious period of the Zhang family has passed. Concubine Zhang Gong had only two princesses and was not favored by the emperor. In the harem, Concubine Sun was the only one who dominated, and in recent years, Concubine Xu was the only one who was favored. She had no role at all. The fact that the Zhang family was able to hold on until recent years before showing signs of decline can be said to have a solid foundation.

Considering Concubine Sun's overbearing and intolerant style, she could tolerate Concubine Zhang Gong probably because the latter did not give birth to a prince and was not favored by the emperor. To some extent, the reason why the Zhang family has been rich and prosperous for so many years is that they pose no threat to the Sun family and have always been docile, so the Sun family is too lazy to deal with them, right?
How did Concubine Xu see that the Zhang family could be of help to Jin Jiashu?
The Zhang family is not without descendants. They also have many forces and followers under their command. There are even many merchants under their name, and even time-honored shops and imperial merchants. But with such a large force, they can't cultivate a person who can have a say in the court. You can imagine the political resources of his family.

Haitang asked Cuiguo, "Who is behind that powerful company that forced Jishengtang and Luo's company to give in?"

Cuiguo thought for a moment and said, "It seems to be from the Sun family. I heard that he is a young master from a branch family, and he is very powerful. The young master I served before, when he was a child, once accompanied the young master of the main family to play outside. He met him and had a grudge against him, and suffered a great loss. My aunt once privately scolded that young master Sun, saying that he was raised by me. I guess he was also born by my aunt, right?"

Haitang raised her eyebrows, and was even more speechless about the Zhang family. The founder of Jishengtang, a branch of the Zhang family, was also a legitimate child, but he was ranked low and failed to study, so he was arranged to go into business after the family split. But no matter what, Jishengtang is also the property of the Zhang family's legitimate bloodline. When they encountered a business led by the illegitimate children of the Sun family's branch, they could only choose to give in. The Zhang family was too weak and was no match for the Sun family.

What kind of help can the Zhang family provide to Jin Jiashu? ! Apart from the name of a maternal family and the vanity of an old royal family, what can the Zhang family do to help Jin Jiashu? ! If the Sun family wants to take Jin Jiashu out because of Concubine Xu and the Eighth Prince, can the Zhang family protect him? !
If the Zhang family can't do it, then what's the point of this engagement? !

Was Concubine Xu blinded by the superficial glory of the Zhang family, or did she really think that the Zhang family would openly clash with the powerful Sun family for the fiancé of a niece from a side branch? !

Haitang doesn't think the Zhang family has the courage to do so, nor does she think the Sun family will really give the Zhang family this face.

She hummed twice in her heart, thinking that she would tell Jin Jiashu about this when he came home next time, to prevent him from being fooled by Concubine Xu, Ma Shangyi and others in the future, sacrificing his marriage but not getting the benefits he wanted.

But on second thought, Haitang felt that she still knew too little about the Zhang family, and she couldn't talk about the things in her previous life. She had to get more information to make her words more credible. With this in mind, Haitang pretended to be interested in the wealthy families in Beijing and continued to ask Cuiguo about the Zhang family.

Unfortunately, Cuiguo's understanding of the Zhang family was limited. She was a maid who served the young master, and a young master born out of wedlock. Even if the young master went out to serve as an attendant for the young master of the Zhang family, he would not take the maid with him. On the contrary, the young ladies of the Luo family had the opportunity to go to the Zhang family to attend some banquets and serve as a foil or supporting role for the daughter of the Zhang family.

Cuiguo had heard from several young ladies who served Miss Luo that the two young ladies of this generation of the Zhang family were about the same age and both were very beautiful. The young lady from the second room was the most outstanding, but unfortunately she lost her father early and her status was lower. The young lady from the first room had a high status, but her talent and appearance were not as good as the cousin from the second room. When she was selected as the consort of the seventh prince, she could not compete with the daughters of other families and was eliminated early. The Zhang family originally intended to let the young lady from the second room be the concubine of the seventh prince, but the plan was shelved because the candidate for the main wife had not been decided yet. Now, the two young ladies of the Zhang family are over sixteen years old, and their marriages have not been settled yet!

There was a young lady in the Luo family who was originally a servant of the eldest daughter of the Zhang family. However, because her marriage was arranged early and her husband's family was also respectable, she once said some disrespectful words in a proud manner. As a result, the news reached the ears of the eldest daughter of the Zhang family. She was severely ridiculed at a banquet, and her marriage was not saved. She had to marry someone far away in disgrace. Her mother is still being treated coldly in the Luo family!
The Zhang family's power over the Luo family is clearly visible.

Cuiguo couldn't say anything else except the gossip she heard in the inner house of the Luo family. Instead, Xiangcao vaguely remembered something related to the Zhang family: "Two years ago, several noble carriages came to our village, saying that they were going to the nearby imperial mausoleum for a funeral. It was almost noon and the sun was very strong, so they borrowed a few clean houses in the village to rest. At that time, I heard from the aunts in the village that the nobles who came seemed to be the family of the imperial concubine... I think their surname was Zhang, right?"

Cuiguo said hurriedly, "Was it the year before last? The old concubine of the Zhang family died of illness the year before last. The court held a funeral and arranged for the concubine to be buried next to the tomb of the late emperor. The master, mistress, young masters and young ladies of the Zhang family all went, and the Luodong family also went to the funeral. I didn't go out with the young master, but my father and brother went with him. I heard from them that they seemed to rest at a farm at noon. So it was your village?"

Haitang asked Xiangcao: "Where is your village? Is it close to the imperial mausoleum?"

Xiangcao shook her head, "It's still far, more than ten miles away. But there is a small road next to the imperial mausoleum that can be used by carriages. It's closer than the main road. The old concubine two years ago seemed to be buried not far from our village, almost next to the imperial mausoleum. So the people who went to the funeral came to our village, right?"

Haitang raised her eyebrows again, wondering if Concubine Zhang had offended the emperor? She was obviously of high rank and had given birth to Prince An, but after her death, she was arranged to be buried in a corner of the previous emperor's mausoleum. If the Zhang family was so unpopular with the emperor, how much of their former glory could they still have?

Concubine Xu Xian arranged such a Yue family for her own son. Was she really out of her mind? !

(End of this chapter)