Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 200: Unraveling the Mystery (Second Update)

"Dad, even if you know there's something wrong with this thing, you can't retreat."

Zhang Yanling said helplessly.

Zhang Luan's eyes widened and he shouted, "What are you talking about again? Are you taking advantage of me because I drank a little? Give me some time."

Zhang Luan held his head, feeling like it was about to explode.

My classmate invited me to drink, begged me to treat his elderly family member's illness, and gave me a gift at the same time. Now it became stolen goods and would bring me a huge disaster?

Who am I provoking?

Zhang Yanling said: "If you retreat, it will let the Peng family know that you are prepared, or you will implement some plans in advance, and you will not give us time to prepare and respond.

"Only if you pretend to know nothing will they think you have been tricked and are happy to join in. Only then will they let down their guard and we will have time to turn things around."

Zhang Luan was about to get up and leave, saying, "Then I'll go ask Minister Li, he should know something."

"Dad, you can't go anywhere now and you can't ask anyone. It's best to pretend nothing happened in front of others." Zhang Yanling hurriedly stopped him.

Zhang Luan was even more surprised and asked, "Even Li Zisheng can't help? He should help me now, right? Will he just watch me fall into someone else's trap and do nothing?"

Zhang Yanling asked anxiously, "Do you know who did this? They were able to use the relationship with Lord Peng to deliver a royal item to you. Do you think this is something that an ordinary person can do?"

"Yeah."

Zhang Luan seemed to have sobered up. He sat down in frustration and said with an annoyed look, "From what you said, there are only a handful of people in the court who can do this. Could it be the remnants of Concubine Wan? What is their purpose... Oh, are they targeting the Crown Prince?"

At this point, Zhang Luan looked at his son with eager eyes, as if asking, do you think Dad’s analysis is correct?
Zhang Yanling nodded and said, "Dad, you are right about this. We are not qualified to be targeted by others yet... Even if we are deliberately framed, it is aimed at the prince... But what do you think this piece of stolen goods can do to the prince?"

Zhang Luan said as a matter of course: "It can... affect the marriage. I am a thief, how can the prince of the Eastern Palace marry a thief? If the marriage is cancelled, the prince will not get married, and will be laughed at..."

"Dad, you should have a higher vision... What kind of logic is this? No matter how badly my reputation is damaged, it has nothing to do with the prince. Besides, if the marriage with me fails, can't the prince choose another family's daughter as his concubine? How can someone use such a stupid method to try to overthrow the prince?"

Zhang Yanling was speechless.

He knew the nature of those politicians very well. If they wanted to overthrow the Crown Prince, they had to hit the target with one blow. It would be extremely stupid to just target the Crown Princess's family... and the Crown Princess's family who were not married at that.

Zhang Luan frowned and said, "Then we can frame the crown prince as a thief... Say that the crown prince ordered the people in the East Palace to steal items from the palace and send them out of the palace to us."

Zhang Yanling shook his head and said, "If these things are definitely used by the emperor in the palace, no one would dare to steal them openly, and they were given to you in front of everyone. That means... this thing is neither used by the emperor nor..."

"Hey, what are you saying? It's yes and it's no, so is it or not?" Zhang Luan's mind was a mess at the moment, and he could only think along the lines of his son's words.

Zhang Yanling said: "This is most likely a tribute from someone else."

Zhang Luan suddenly realized: "I understand. The things have not been delivered to the palace yet, so they are not considered as imperial items... Then can I accept them or not?"

Zhang Yanling smiled bitterly: "Dad, why are you still so confused... Now that the tribute is in your hands, do you think you can accept it openly?"

"Cough cough..."

Zhang Luan suddenly felt ashamed.

Zhang Yanling said, "Whether it was something that came out of the palace or something that was lost along the way, the Crown Prince is not capable of stealing it, and he would never do that. No matter how foolish Your Majesty is, you would never believe that the Crown Prince would steal something that was used by the Emperor and send it outside the palace, and then openly present it to you in front of others."

"Haha, son, after hearing what you said, I feel a little more confident... Hey, this thief is pretty stupid, maybe you are overthinking it?"

Zhang Luan breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Yanling shook his head, and suddenly his eyes lit up: "Since someone gave Dad this thing, it means that people related to the prince, such as the lecturers and attendants of the Eastern Palace, may have received similar things recently. Giving it to me may not be an isolated case."

Zhang Luan asked curiously, "Why would someone give away tributes? I don't understand. Don't those knowledgeable officials in the Eastern Palace know the benefits and disadvantages involved?"

"Dad, you have to know that the tribute is not just yellow coral, there are also many rare flowers and plants... If a rare flower or a piece of rare stone is cleverly designed and given to someone, will the person who receives the gift suspect that it is a tribute to the palace?"

Zhang Yanling asked.

"Of course not. Even I didn't expect yellow coral to be a tribute. This yellow coral... is it really not available among the people?" Zhang Luan almost burst into tears. "I've seen coral ornaments at your uncle's house before. Besides, the color is not all yellow and orange. Isn't there red in some parts...

"If what I was given was just a piece of strange stone, I would not even think of it as a tribute."

Zhang Yanling nodded and said, "This is exactly what I'm worried about. Since this gift can be given to you, it can also be given to others. Once the truth is revealed, many people will be implicated... Let's not even consider who sent the gift in the end. Just the fact that the matter involves so many old friends in the East Palace, do you think the prince will write a petition to save them?"

Zhang Luan asked, "Will it?"

Zhang Yanling said coldly: "Saving him is disloyal and unfilial; not saving him is unkind and unjust. We who are related to the Eastern Palace are using things presented to Your Majesty. We offend the royal family and should be held accountable... But the prince is kind and righteous, and he will definitely come forward to explain for us. But in the eyes of Your Majesty, who is stubborn and prejudiced against the prince, the prince is just letting people do evil and is extremely treasonous!"

"what?"

Zhang Luan was shocked.

"In this case, the person who is so painstakingly scheming and planning to harm us is about to be exposed." Zhang Yanling's face became even colder.

"Who?" Zhang Luan asked anxiously.

"Liang Fang."

Zhang Yanling said, "The eunuch in charge of the Imperial Stables is second only to the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department in the palace. Even the eunuch Wei Tai, who is in charge of the Eastern Depot, is not as high-ranking as him.

"Liang Fang rose to power by currying favor with Concubine Wan. Over the years, he has never stopped currying favor with Concubine Wan and is a loyal defender of her interests.

"Liang Fang has been collecting rare treasures from the people and sending them to the palace. Only he can find rare treasures like yellow coral... After all, even His Majesty may not have seen such a thing."

"Liang Fang, Liang Fang, such a sinister villain..."

Zhang Luan swallowed his saliva.

Zhang Yanling was very thankful: "Fortunately, he designed to give us yellow coral. If he had only given you a piece of strange stone, I might not have been able to figure out these things and would have been fooled by him without knowing it."

Zhang Luan said, "Yes, if what he gave me was a piece of rare stone, would I consider it a good thing? Who knows, he might just throw it away when he gets back."

"Yes, it is precisely because of my father's vulgarity that Liang Fang felt that he had to give you something that looked very valuable, so that you would know it was a treasure and would not be able to refuse it. That's why he gave you yellow coral... But when he gave others, he would just give some rare flowers or stones, or paintings by famous people.

"As long as he comes back and tells Your Majesty that these things that were supposed to be tribute were lost for some reason and ended up in the hands of some civilians, Your Majesty will send people to conduct a thorough investigation."

Zhang Luan followed the meaning of his son's words and asked, "The tribute happened to appear in the hands of someone related to the Eastern Palace. Your Majesty, can you not suspect that someone deliberately framed you?"

Zhang Yanling shook his head: "If the loss of these things is related to the disciples of the Eastern Palace lecturer? And in the capital, not only we have them, but also people have bought these things on the market. What do you think... His Majesty would think? Wouldn't he think that these tributes were actually occupied by someone in disguise and sold or privately transferred?"

"This……"

"The authorities are the most confused!"

Zhang Yanling said, "When His Majesty encounters these things, he will definitely not think calmly, and he already has a prejudice against the crown prince. If he is given an excuse to change the crown prince, he will really take action.

"In the past, because there were people in the court who spoke for the prince, he had to suppress his thoughts. But if today... all those who spoke for the prince were involved in the case, who would dare to speak for the prince?"

"I'll fuck you uncle!"

Zhang Luan was shocked, and he stamped his feet while exclaiming, "This is so unfair! The righteousness of the world has been lost!

"How is Liang Fang framing the Crown Prince? He is clearly trying to silence those who oppose Your Majesty's change of crown prince. The tribute is sent to potential opponents in a trick, and whoever speaks out will be investigated and punished. The result is naturally that everyone will be silent! Some people may even be convicted for this!"

Zhang Yanling nodded and said, "Yes, even if His Majesty finds out that this is a frame-up, he will avoid talking about it, or even pretend to be ignorant. As long as His Majesty can complete the plan of changing the crown prince, and there will be no opposition in the court, even if His Majesty knows the inside story, he will still choose to reward Liang Fang out of great joy."

"Insidious, so insidious!"

Zhang Luan exclaimed, "The people in the court are treacherous. I, your father, really fell into the trap without knowing it."

"Dad, will you dare to accept gifts casually in the future?"

Zhang Yanling took the opportunity to criticize his old father.

"No... son, you... from now on, if there is anything, your father will not make decisions on his own, and will listen to you. Is that okay? But you really have to understand your father this time. Your father really didn't do this on purpose... This plan is too profound. If you hadn't revealed it to me, I would never have figured out the tricks behind it even if I had to think about it for the rest of my life.

"Besides, who would have thought that the family of the dignified Pavilion Master is also Liang Fang's lackey?"

Zhang Luan looked at his son eagerly, as if trying to ask for his forgiveness.

Zhang Yanling said: "Peng Hua has both good and bad reputations. On the surface, he has nothing to do with Liang Fang, but in fact, he is very close to his fellow Jiangxi people such as Li Zisheng and Deng Changen, and is also good friends with the Prime Minister Wan An. It is only natural that he has connections with Liang Fang and other remnants of Concubine Wan who recommended monks and Taoist priests to enter the palace.

"This time, I think Liang Fang used his connections to force the Peng family to get involved. Actually, Peng Hua, as the former Chancellor of the Chancellery, was also the prince's teacher. I heard that he once taught the prince the Great Learning. But now his family is involved in the action against the prince. This is simply a disgrace to the teacher!"

At this point, Zhang Yanling asked, "After what happened, Dad, will you listen to me now?"

"What are you talking about? Tell me the solution."

Zhang Luan glared at his son and said anxiously.

"We can't directly intervene in this matter."

Zhang Yanling analyzed, "We are not only against Liang Fang, but even against His Majesty, because Liang Fang is doing this mainly to help His Majesty complete the plan of changing the crown prince."

"Then... let's go find Li Zisheng right away. He wants to curry favor with the crown prince the most, so it would be most appropriate for him to speak on this matter."

Zhang Yanling continued to shake his head: "No, no. This matter is of great importance. Liang Fang must make sure that not a single leak leaks out. With Li Zisheng's connections, it is impossible for him to be completely unaware of it. Moreover, the two of them rely on each other, so it is hard to say whether they are in cahoots with each other in this matter."

"Then...inform the prince?"

Zhang Luan continued to ask.

"The prince must be informed so that he can be mentally prepared and respond in advance. But none of this can come from our mouths."

Zhang Yanling said, "The gift has been delivered to us, and others may have accepted it. The only thing we can do now is to... strike first."

(Second update, please give me a monthly ticket!)
(End of this chapter)