Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 237 A scholar dies for his confidant
Zhang Yanling went into the house to get something.

Zhang Luan said to Tan Ji with a hint of apology: "My child usually likes to do those weird things. Eunuch Tan, please don't be surprised."

"Um!?"

Qin Jiben was still looking in the direction Zhang Yanling left, but he couldn't help but look away when he heard this.

I thought to myself, how dare I be angry with you two, father and son?

One of you is the future father-in-law of the emperor, and the other is the future uncle-in-law of the emperor. Your status is far higher than mine... Besides, even if you do a lot of weird things, as long as you can help the prince, I will be very grateful. What's so strange about that?
Not long after, Zhang Yanling came back holding a wooden box.

Zhang Luan glanced and asked, "Did you bring it back?"

Zhang Yanling put the wooden box on the table and said, "Isn't this obvious enough?"

Tan Ji asked hurriedly, "I wonder what it is?"

"Oh, a little diversion."

Zhang Yanling asked with a smile, "Eunuch Tan, do you want to open it and take a look?"

When Qin Ji heard this, he felt a little discouraged.

After all, he was going back to her parents' home to get something for her. If her family refused to let him see it, he couldn't check it himself. Doing so would violate the rules of hierarchy between master and servant and make him seem unworthy.

But he was really curious about what was inside...

If it was some strange and lewd thing containing banned ingredients, then whether Qin Ji was "aiding and abetting the tyrant" was secondary, and it was hard to say whether it could pass the palace inspection.

Zhang Luan looked at his son, then at Qin Ji, and finally swallowed his saliva. He stared at the brocade box eagerly, as if he also wanted to know what was inside.

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Eunuch Tan must be worried that there are things like telescopes and soap in here. If they are discovered during the palace inspection and reported to Liang Fang, it will be bad for the Zhang family and the prince, right?"

"what?"

Qin Ji was startled for a moment, then realized that Zhang Yanling was trying to give him a way out, and nodded helplessly, "I do have this concern."

Zhang Luan immediately said, "Open it, open it, and don't cause trouble for Eunuch Tan."

Zhang Yanling smiled and casually opened the lid of the wooden box.

In fact, there are only three things in it, to be precise, just two books and a silver mirror.

"This one……"

After reading it, Qin Ji looked puzzled.

Zhang Yanling introduced: "This is a mirror. It is usually convenient and light to hold in your hand. If it is placed in the sun, the effect of this mirror is equivalent to that of a bronze mirror. However, if it is placed in a dimly lit place, the mirror will be much clearer, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as being able to see every detail."

Qin Ji was surprised and said, "Could it be similar to the small round mirror that the Crown Princess gave to the Queen Mother..."

“They are all made by the same master craftsman.”

Zhang Yanling explained.

"Tsk tsk, no wonder, no wonder."

Qin Ji said with emotion, "In fact, the Crown Princess should have only had that one round mirror, but in the end she gave it to the Queen Mother without reservation, showing the filial piety of the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess. If you send another one into the palace now, I think it will surely... comfort the Crown Princess."

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "It's alright. We will hire someone to make more later so that all the ladies in the palace can have one soon."

When Qin Ji heard this, he smiled and said nothing more, then turned to look at the two books.

Zhang Yanling said, "Sister, you can read. Since you have nothing to do in the palace now, why don't you read some books to kill time? Isn't that okay?"

"Ah? This doesn't seem good..."

Qin Ji obviously does not support people who read idle books.

"Eunuch Qin, are you worried that if this book falls into my sister's hands, it will inevitably be seen by the prince? And then it will affect the prince's studies?"

Zhang Yanling asked with a smile.

Qin Ji nodded in agreement: "Young Master, since you understand, it seems that I am being too nosy."

Zhang Yanling said: "Sometimes, it is not a bad idea to have some leisure and entertainment. The prince is not young anymore, shouldn't he have some private space? Why does he have to read the works of sages during his leisure time?
"In fact, in my opinion, if there are no leisure books to read, the prince might get infected with some other bad habits. It would be better..."

At this point, the conversation was interrupted, but the meaning was very clear. Your prince usually doesn't read idle books, but spends every day with my sister. The young couple tosses and turns without restraint night after night. Do you think this is a good thing? With the prince's small body, can he withstand the nightly conquests and extravagant spending?

Qin Ji thought about it and found that it made sense.

Even if he doesn't read idle books, he will be addicted to pleasure. With the prince's weak body, he might collapse suddenly at any time... And I'm afraid that if the prince becomes addicted to the things between husband and wife, he will ascend the throne in the future, first with three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two concubines, and then with three thousand beauties in the harem... I'm afraid that in a few years...

"What book?"

After Qin Ji changed his way of thinking, his horizons immediately broadened a lot.

Zhang Yanling introduced: "Oh, two books. One is called Journey to the West, and the other is called The Scholars, which you may not like. The prince can read it from time to time. It may be helpful for his future governance."

Qin Ji asked: "Why have I never heard of these two books?"

Zhang Luan laughed and said, "Not to mention that Eunuch Tan has never heard of it, I have read for decades and have never heard of it... Son, where did you get this book from? You know, normally, books cannot be brought into the palace casually, because they may be banned books."

Zhang Yanling rolled his eyes at his old father, as if to say, now you understand?
Any book that a "universal scholar" like you has not read must be a banned book, right?

Zhang Yanling patiently explained: "Of these two books, the first one, Journey to the West, was for my sister to read. It tells the story of a stone monkey that popped out of a piece of stone left after Nuwa repaired the sky. It first occupied a mountain and became the king, then went around looking for a teacher to learn skills. After gaining great magical powers, it was recruited by the Heavenly Court. However, it could not stand the loneliness and rebelled against the Heavenly Court, and was conquered by the Jade Emperor.

"The story of a rude monkey who made a big fuss in the Heavenly Palace and was invincible. As a result, he was suppressed under the Five Finger Mountain for 500 years by Tathagata Buddha invited by the Jade Emperor. Later, he assisted the Eastern Monk to obtain Buddhist scriptures in the West and finally achieved enlightenment."

"This one……"

Qin Ji thought about it and said to Zhang Luan, "I think it's a legendary interpretation of the Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang's journey to India to seek Buddhist scriptures. Books that promote Buddhism should not be considered banned books!"

Zhang Luan nodded and asked, "Then...what about that unofficial history?"

"This is a book about the awakening of officials. It talks about the ecology of officials, such as how they pass the imperial examinations to become officials, and how they use all means to become officials. Some people even drive themselves crazy in order to pass the imperial examinations. Each chapter talks about the accumulated problems in the officialdom, but it just makes many things concrete... Well, generally speaking, it uses fabricated characters and stories to describe the various aspects of the officialdom."

Zhang Yanling roughly summarized it. Although The Scholars was written during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, it is a story about the Ming Dynasty. Even the rules of officialdom are based on the Ming Dynasty. It has a strong warning effect in the present. Of course, this warning is not for the common people, but for the reference of the superiors.

After listening to his son's story, Zhang Luan immediately said to Qin Ji, "Is this book finally banned?"

"This……"

Qin Ji thought about it carefully, but still shook his head, "If this kind of book is circulated among the people or officials, it may be a little inappropriate, but if it is shown to the prince, it can't be considered a banned book."

Zhang Luan was very curious. This is a description of the officialdom ecology. It makes me feel thrilling just by listening to it. Maybe if any point is not written well, it will involve the corruption of the court. How can you think you can show it to the prince?

You old eunuch...you are so hypocritical.

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Dad, the prince is the heir to the throne of the Ming Dynasty. He shoulders the heavy responsibility of the Ming Dynasty's rise and fall. Isn't it good to let him understand the rules of the Ming Dynasty's officialdom and even see some things that ordinary people can't see?"

Zhang Luan said, "Hey, hey, hey, my son, how old are you? Have you ever been an official? Do you know what the real officialdom is like? You actually want to use this book to teach the prince? Even if we have the ability, we can't use it in inappropriate places. Everyone has their own specialty, don't you know?"

Zhang Yanling shrugged and said, "Who said I wrote this book?"

"Who wrote that?"

Zhang Luan asked.

Zhang Yanling said: "Keep it secret."

"..."

Zhang Luan rolled his eyes and didn't bother to pay attention to his son.

Tan Ji, who was standing by, was greatly surprised when he saw it and asked, "Master Zhang, you don't know who wrote this book? Could it be that..."

Zhang Luan quickly explained: "Eunuch Tan, please don't misunderstand me. This book has nothing to do with me. I didn't even know about it until Yanling took it out."

"Too……"

Qin Ji felt very embarrassed.

He thought to himself, actually, I've already noticed that it seems that your son is more awesome than you and much better than you.

Before, I thought you might be pretending to be confused and letting your son take the lead, so that it would appear that everything has nothing to do with you and you can avoid being implicated.

I always thought you were a master at playing dumb, but now it seems...

You are not pretending to be confused, you are really confused, so confused that you are not even one-tenth as confused as your son.

This is too bizarre!

Qin Ji asked, "Is there nothing else?"

"Gone."

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "If we take these few things to the palace, it shouldn't cause any trouble to the Crown Prince and our Zhang family, right?"

"No, no!"

Qin Ji smiled and said, "It's just two books and a mirror. What's the problem? This is great... but it would be better if..."

Zhang Yanling took the initiative to join in: "Bringing such a small amount of things into the palace will make it seem that Eunuch Tan's motives for coming to my house are not pure, which will only arouse suspicion, right? Fortunately, my mother had the servants prepare a few boxes of moderate size, which contain some of my sister's things in the past. Please take them back this time."

"Oh, look, look... you guys are well prepared. I don't even need to bring it up. Just... hehe."

Qin Ji was very pleased.

Coming to the Zhang family's residence was like talking to a smart person. He didn't even have to point out the question; people knew what to do and even paved the way for him in advance.

If he left Zhang's house with only this wooden box, and Liang Fang found out, she would definitely suspect that he was plotting something here.

The situation is much better now. When we bring some of the Crown Princess's belongings from her parents' boudoir back to the palace, anyone who is interested can find out everything by asking the guards at the palace gate. Naturally, there won't be many suspicions.

……

……

Qin Ji didn't need the Zhang family to see him off when he left, because he really felt he was not worthy of it.

But the Zhang family was so enthusiastic.

Especially Zhang Luan.

It might be that Zhang Luan didn't have any official social engagements on a regular basis, and it was a rare occasion for someone who looked powerful and worked for the prince's son-in-law to come, so naturally he had to be as enthusiastic as possible. Of course, his main purpose in doing so was to curry favor with him.

But he had to save face and not lose face, so he behaved awkwardly throughout the whole process.

Qin Ji believes that the Zhang family is really good to him.

Being nice to me is fine, but being nice to the prince... is even more so, showing affection and loyalty, and this kind of person is the one I like to make friends with...

As the saying goes, I open my heart to others, so naturally I hope that others will treat me with care and sincerity.

So much so that when he was leaving, he murmured in front of Zhang Luan: "A gentleman will die for his friend."

Zhang Luan didn't hear clearly, but didn't ask any more questions.

After seeing the man off at the gate, Zhang Luan turned around and asked, "Son, did you hear what he said?"

"Dad, you were so close to him, but you didn't hear him clearly, and you asked me to tell you? Are you hard of hearing recently?"

Although Zhang Yanling didn't hear clearly, he guessed roughly from Qin Ji's lip shape. Some things didn't need to be told to Zhang Luan, because that would make Zhang Luan very proud.

Zhang Luan scolded, "You little bastard, you've become more capable now, haven't you? It's ok for you to meddle in officialdom affairs, but now you're even writing about it in miscellaneous books?

"Tell me, where did that book come from? Why didn't you let your father check it first?"

Zhang Yanling smiled innocently like a child and said, "I'll show it to you later, Dad. But I'm hungry now, so I'll eat first... Hey, Mom's cooking smells so good..."

(End of this chapter)