Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 242: More Than One Weirdos

Zhang Mansion.

Li Zisheng brought Pang Qing to the door, and then Li Zisheng was welcomed by Zhang Luan into the main hall of Zhang's family to discuss important matters, while Pang Qing was left in the yard.

Pang Qing saw the Zhang brothers coming over to greet the guests, and smiled and bowed: "Young Master, Second Young Master, long time no see."

"Butler Pang, right? I often hear my father mention you. I have heard of you for a long time."

Zhang Heling was still that outgoing and friendly person, not at all shy.

Pang Qing asked with a smile: "Why, your father often mentions me?"

"That's not true... It is said that Butler Pang is the de facto head of the Li family and has a big business in the capital. If you have time in the future, you must remember to help us brothers make a fortune."

Zhang Heling seemed to speak without restraint, which made Pang Qing feel a little uncomfortable.

The main reason was that he usually had too much contact with those sanctimonious adults, so when he first came into contact with such a seemingly innocent boy, he found it a little difficult to adapt.

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Mr. Pang, don't listen to my elder brother's nonsense. We are all laymen in business and we dare not cooperate with a big shot like you and hold you back."

Pang Qing asked, "Have you two started doing business at such a young age? Oh, I remember, your father seemed to have mentioned it before..."

Having said that, he looked at the Zhang brothers with a smile, especially Zhang Heling who looked more reckless.

Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that Pang Qing was cheating, taking advantage of the two brothers because they had no experience in dealing with people and could not withstand his tricks.

Zhang Heling really took the bait and said with a smile, "It's nothing, just a small business with a few thousand taels of silver as capital."

When Pang Qing heard this, his smile faded, and he said with emotion: "Even in the capital, a few thousand taels of silver is not considered a small business. I wonder what kind of business you are running?"

"us……"

Before Zhang Heling could finish his words, his younger brother pulled him hard from behind. Then he seemed to understand something, and spoke smoothly without pausing, "It's just a small business, such as buying some medicinal herbs and selling them at the right time to make a profit, or buying some local specialties and selling them when the price is high, that's all."

Pang Qing nodded: "Zhang Honglu made his fortune by practicing medicine, so it makes sense for him to do business in medicinal materials... As for local specialties, many families in the capital are doing it, but can they do it on a scale as large as several thousand taels of silver?"

"Look at how serious you are. Can't you just brag?" Zhang Heling pouted and asked, "Butler Pang Da, your business should be very big, right? The kind worth tens of thousands of taels of silver?"

Pang Qing felt that he was a little overwhelmed.

The guy opposite is not only stupid, but also brainless. He speaks without thinking, without considering the consequences.

He is such a person, but he also has an inexplicable shrewdness. As for where the shrewdness lies, he cannot describe it. He was obviously taking the initiative to get the other party to talk, but he was led by the nose by the other party unknowingly. He always felt that he was talking to a fool, but vaguely felt that the other party had him under control.

This feeling is indescribably weird.

"My Lord, you are joking. I never do any business. If I do, I would only do business with no profit." Pang Qing said with a smile.

As the chief steward of the Li Mansion, Pang Qing received countless people who came to give him gifts every day. Nothing could make more money than selling official positions and accepting bribes. It could be said that it was a business with no capital investment.

"A business without capital? Bandits? But I haven't heard of any robberies in the capital recently..."

Zhang Heling has a very straightforward mind, and his words seem to be uncontrollable when he opens them, and nothing comes out of his mouth.

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Zhang Yanling quickly pulled his brother and said apologetically: "Mr. Pang, please don't mind. My elder brother has not read much. I am sorry for offending you."

Then the younger brother forcibly dragged his older brother to the inner courtyard.

Pang Qing stood there, looking at the backs of the two funny brothers, his face almost wrinkled as if he had eaten bitter melon.

Bandits?

Pang Qing thought about it carefully and found that this description was quite fresh.

But if you look closely, it seems that the business you do is no different from that of bandits.

Is the eldest brother of the Zhang family really stupid, or is he pretending to be crazy and deliberately mocking me?
broken!

The Zhang family is full of weirdos. The father is like this, and the son is also like this... This family is really unfathomable!
……

……

In the main hall of the Zhang Mansion, Li Zisheng was also experiencing the words and actions of this eccentric head of the Zhang family.

But Li Zisheng is different from Pang Qing. He will not reflect or ponder. Now he has determined that Zhang Luan in front of him is a real master and he must rely on him.

"...Laizhan, this incident is quite regrettable. I was only following the emperor's order to hand over the telescope to Liang Fang, and I had no intention of helping him. Who would have thought that in the end, His Majesty would intentionally favor Liang Fang...

"Thinking that the fellow had committed such a serious fault, and even bullied the emperor in person, Your Majesty was actually very clear in his heart, but he actually let him go and pardoned him. You don't know how stunned I was when the result came out.

"Liang Fang is a very vicious person. As long as he is in the palace, there will be no peace in the Eastern Palace. Even I am worried about the prince, but I have no solution..."

Li Zisheng felt that Zhang Luan, as the prince's father-in-law, was determined to assist the prince, so he expressed his position so clearly.

My heart is entirely devoted to the Crown Prince, but the Emperor is determined to protect Liang Fang, so there is nothing I can do.

Zhang Luan hesitated and said, "So...Eunuch Liang is fine now?"

Zhang Luan actually didn't think much of this. He was just summarizing what Li Zisheng said. But to Li Zisheng's ears, the hidden meaning in Zhang Luan's words was too strong. Just looking at his puzzled expression, he seemed very unwilling.

Li Zisheng thought that Lai Zhan was expressing his dissatisfaction with me for not taking harsh measures against Liang Fang.

"You can't say it's okay."

Li Zisheng said solemnly, "Your Majesty spilled the elixir he presented to you all over the floor, which is enough to show that Your Majesty has lost trust in him. He also said that he should not come to see you at will in the future. This is a sign of his loss of power."

"Oh."

Zhang Luan nodded in understanding.

I thought to myself, it turns out that everything my son did was targeted at Liang Fang.

Although he failed to overthrow Liang Fang in one go, my son is still very capable in making the emperor's favorite ministers lose their trust.

But after hearing this "Oh", Li Zisheng felt that Zhang Luan was still not satisfied.

"Laizhan, tell me what you think. This is your house, so you don't have to worry about the walls having ears."

Li Zisheng was also very anxious.

I've told you so much, why don't you just give me the straight answer... What do you want?
I have become a part of the conspiracy, and you have tormented me like this with a telescope, and you still refuse to tell the truth?

Do you want me to show you my true heart?
Zhang Luan asked: "Then... is the tribute case considered to be settled?" "This..."

Li Zisheng was a little unsure of himself now. Every time Zhang Luan said something, he would ponder it carefully. But he still couldn't taste the meaning, so he could only continue to ask in an exploratory tone: "Laizhan, do you think it's over? Or not?"

"It should be over, right?"

Zhang Luan asked back.

"You say it's over, and it's over!"

Li Zisheng smiled.

Zhang Luan looked rather embarrassed.

Why do I ask you, but you keep asking me?
Didn’t you come to my house today to inform me of the latest situation?

The way you do things makes me feel very conflicted and passive!

Li Zisheng waited for a long time, but didn't hear anything from Zhang Luan, so he asked, "It's over, what will happen next?"

Zhang Luan roughly felt that Li Zisheng must have come to ask for advice again.

Thinking of this, and recalling the tricks his son had taught him, Zhang Luan immediately cleared his throat and said, "Now that it's over, will Eunuch Liang have any more moves next?"

Li Zixin exclaimed "Oh my god".

As expected, Lai Zhan has something interesting!
Things that I had been unable to understand became clear to me immediately after he explained them to me!
"Laizhan, tell me, what will Liang do next? Just tell me, I will help the prince to resolve the disaster and will never let him suffer any more injustice."

Li Zisheng almost patted his chest and guaranteed, "I stand wholeheartedly on the side of the prince. Let's work together to help the prince achieve his great cause!"

"I... still need to consider it."

Zhang Luan felt a little embarrassed when he said this.

The so-called "need to be considered" probably means "I still need to ask my son for his opinion. Whatever he says is the best way. It's useless for you to ask me now."

Li Zisheng nodded and smiled: "When will there be results?"

"Tomorrow."

Zhang Luan thought that he could get the answer by asking his son, so he was very straightforward in giving Li Zisheng a deadline.

"it is good!"

Li Zisheng said excitedly, "A great man is a great man, he never drags his feet. I will be waiting for you at my house tomorrow. If it is inconvenient for you to come alone, you can come with Ruxue."

Zhang Luan asked cautiously, "If it's really inconvenient, can I let Ruxue tell you alone?"

Li Zisheng thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Is Laizhan on guard against Liang Fang? Don't worry. Even if he knows what you are plotting and wants to harm you, I will never let him succeed! But you should keep a low profile. I will wait for good news at home tomorrow."

……

……

Zhang Luan was extremely excited after sending Li Zisheng away. He quickly called his youngest son to the main hall and closed the door solemnly.

"Son, you are good at fortune-telling. Now guess what Li Zisheng is doing in our house?"

While Zhang Luan was speaking, he took out a large silver ingot from his arms and placed it on the table. He also raised his eyebrows at his son, meaning that this was a reward and the money would be his if he answered correctly.

Zhang Yanling looked mature and dignified, and rolled his eyes at Zhang Luan: "Dad, are you trying to beat around the bush with me, your son? I'm going to eat first."

"No, no. I'll tell you, isn't that enough? Hey, kid, you really don't give your father any face at all." After Zhang Luan sighed, he roughly told him the purpose of Li Zisheng's visit.

Zhang Yanling said, "Congratulations, Dad."

Zhang Luan looked puzzled and asked, "The tribute case just ended and I didn't get any substantial benefits. I don't know why you are so happy?"

"Dad has won the trust of the crown prince, and Li Zisheng has become more convinced that you are a mysterious master, and he will obey your words." Zhang Yanling smiled and clasped his fists.

"Prince... Li Zisheng..."

After twirling his tongue around in his mouth for a while, Zhang Luan let out a long breath and shook his head, "It's still unclear whether the prince knows about this person like me, so who cares.

"Now Li Zisheng is eager to know whether Liang Fang has any next plan! My son, your father has agreed. Tomorrow I will let your uncle go to his house to explain the situation. You can think it over before you speak."

Zhang Yanling said, "If sister follows the plan I mentioned, the prince should present the transcribed script to His Majesty in the next two days."

"Oh, they are the two miscellaneous books sent to the palace that day. They are called "Journey to the West" and "The Scholars"? " Zhang Luan asked.

"Yes."

Zhang Yanling nodded heavily.

Zhang Luan asked curiously, "It would be fine if we showed it to the Crown Prince, but why did we give it to His Majesty for his personal review? Wouldn't this make His Majesty suspect that the Crown Prince is not studying seriously and that your sister is being disrespectful?"

Zhang Yanling shook his head and said, "Dad, things are not as simple as you think. I wonder if Li Zisheng has mentioned His Majesty's illness to you before?"

"No."

Zhang Luan replied seriously, "He only said that His Majesty threw away all the elixirs Liang Fang presented to him, and said that he did not trust Liang Fang, but he did not mention the current condition of His Majesty."

Zhang Yanling nodded: "If I'm right, your Majesty's liver disease is already very serious. He will then develop cirrhosis and ascites. The full onset should be between April and May."

"now what?"

Zhang Luan asked.

"Now... although it has not been revealed how serious the illness is, liver disease will make Your Majesty hate oil, your appetite will definitely not be good, and you will easily lose your temper. At this time, we should find some spiritual comfort for Your Majesty so that he can temporarily forget the pain..."

"A woman?"

"No, no, Your Majesty is already seriously exhausted and I'm afraid he can't bear the pain of sex. And sex will greatly accelerate the progression of Your Majesty's illness. Anyone who offers a woman at this time will be courting death."

Zhang Luan rolled his eyes upon hearing this and said jokingly, "You are quite knowledgeable despite your young age. I wonder where you learned all this knowledge from..."

Zhang Yanling did not think there was anything wrong with his words, and said solemnly: "After thinking about it, the best way is to read some books and listen to some music. It must be something you have never read before, but it is very interesting. It can help your majesty calm down, divert your attention, and gradually calm your mind. Naturally, the father will be kind and the son will be filial."

(End of this chapter)