Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 262: Sooner or later, it will be replaced (Second update, please support)
The residence of the chief minister of the cabinet, Wan'an Mansion.

The Second Assistant Liu Ji and the Minister of Rites Zhou Hongmo paid a visit together.

When the emperor basically did not interfere in government affairs, did not hold court meetings, and even neglected court affairs, such meetings would become a common means for the cabinet to complete some private plots and deal with state affairs.

Starting from the Chenghua period, the cabinet's powers gradually increased, and its interference in the six ministries and local affairs increased.

Nowadays, many things that cannot be accomplished in the Cabinet Duty Room are discussed and implemented in such private occasions.

"Youzhi, do you mean that from now on, we should gradually lean towards the Crown Prince in our work?"

Wan'an looked at Liu Ji with a puzzled look, wondering why the other party made such a suggestion.

In the cabinet, Liu Ji was known for his treachery, cunning, cruelty and viciousness. He was also very experienced in dealing with political opponents, often seizing their weaknesses and pursuing them relentlessly, and then killing them with one blow.

Liu Ji reminded him, "Master Wan, haven't you heard some rumors recently? His Majesty may be... seriously ill."

Wan'an is already seventy years old and claims to be old to outsiders, but he is young at heart. What he does is quite "advanced". He is very fond of studying the art of sex and is famous for his superb flattery and climbing up the social ladder.

"Don't talk nonsense."

Wanan rebuked hurriedly.

Zhou Hongmo on the side lowered his head, looking evasive.

Seeing that Liu Ji was looking directly at him and had no intention of changing his words, Wan An immediately became serious and asked solemnly, "Where did you hear the news?"

Liu Ji turned his gaze to Zhou Hongmo.

Zhou Hongmo looked around and lowered his voice, "It's like this. I had an in-depth discussion with the people from the Imperial Hospital before, and I just learned that Your Majesty has been taking medicine for the past six months, and many of his symptoms are similar to those of the late Concubine Wan... Perhaps Your Majesty's illness has been prolonged, but it is difficult to cure."

"That means……"

Wan'an only said half of his words, as if waiting for someone to add to them.

Liu Ji nodded and added, "In the past, Your Majesty would never let the Crown Prince hold office in the Wenhua Palace, but now... even the Eunuch Tan of the Imperial Household Department is trying to please the Crown Prince. I have seen this with my own eyes...

"Previously, Jinyiwei Commander Zhu Ji committed a crime, and the Crown Prince only mentioned it casually, and Qin Chang seemed to be willing to give him a lighter sentence. I thought he would be fined for three months, but in the end he was only fined for one month."

Wan An frowned and asked, "Does the prince want to recruit the Jinyiwei?"

"That's not necessarily the case."

Liu Ji analyzed, "But it seems that the prince has someone behind him who can help him... Otherwise, how could the prince always suppress Liang Fang in the previous fight, making Liang Fang unable to catch his breath now?"

"Um……"

Wanan fell into deep thought.

Zhou Hongmo also said at the right time: "Your Majesty suddenly transferred the Crown Princess's father Zhang Luan to be the Minister of Honglu Temple, which seems to be intended to pave the way for the Crown Prince...

"I also heard that Li Zisheng once hosted a banquet for Zhang Luan at his home, and specially invited Ni Yue, the lecturer of the Eastern Palace, and Qi Zhang, the junior minister of the Imperial Household, to accompany him, intending to clear the way for Zhang Luan to become an official."

Wan An nodded and said, "There's something wrong with the wind direction."

Liu Ji continued, "Your Majesty has mentioned the issue of changing the crown prince many times before. Although most of them were casual complaints or hints, their intentions were self-evident. But recently, have you heard your Majesty say anything about changing the crown prince?"

"Ugh!"

Wan An sighed and said, "Now we can't even see the emperor, where can we get the news?"

"But... haven't you noticed? No one in the court mentions Yi Chu anymore."

Liu Ji said solemnly, "The passing of Concubine Wan may be a major turning point. It seems that the Crown Prince has gained the emperor's favor overnight. If we don't turn around now, I'm afraid it will be too late when something really happens."

Wan An suddenly laughed: "I have met Zhang Laizhan before. He is an interesting person. It would be nice for us to get to know him better."

Liu Ji couldn't help but smile bitterly when he heard this. Are we talking about the same thing?
I told you that the prince would soon take the throne, but you told me that you wanted to have a close relationship with Zhang Luan?
They are totally unrelated, okay?
Liu Ji said: "I accidentally helped the prince with Zhu Ji's problem and told Zhu Ji that it was the prince who secretly helped him through the difficulties. If he encounters a critical situation, perhaps Zhu Ji also knows how to grasp the direction of the wind."

"Hey, you have a lot to do..."

Wan'an is obviously not a high-level prime minister. He is the best at muddying the waters, but he really doesn't like others doing small things behind his back.

Liu Ji sighed: "This is also to pave the way for our future, so that we won't be at a loss when something happens!"

Wan An looked contented: "I am already too old to care about the affairs of the court. It is best not to look for me now... If you want to curry favor with the prince, you can get close to him when you preach in the East Palace. You can also find opportunities to interact with the prince's close ministers. Tan Ji and Jiang Cong are both deeply trusted by the prince. The rest... I don't need to say more, right?"

"you……"

Liu Ji frowned.

I mean well and am thinking about our future, but you actually want to be a hands-off boss?
"Is there anything else? As I said before, have the appointments of local officials in Henan and Shandong been properly arranged? Many of them are our students, and they gave a lot of tributes when they came to Beijing this time. I guess you received a lot of them?" Wan An asked.

Liu Ji glanced at Zhou Hongmo and immediately reminded him, "It's not easy to say this openly."

"Hey, what's the big deal? It's uncultured to take the money and not do the job! Taoist Priest Li hasn't been involved in the Ministry of Personnel's affairs recently. I heard that it's all handled by Xu Qiong, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. You have to think of a way to recruit him." Wan An instructed.

"Xu Qiong...has a bad reputation among Confucian officials."

Liu Ji didn't want to get too close to Xu Qiong.

Wan An sneered, "Why are you pretending? It's fine as long as you can do things for us. What's the point of having a good or bad reputation? Is your reputation outside necessarily good? I don't know what people in the court are talking about you. If the prince really rises in power in the future, don't let you be the first one to go down."

"..."

Liu Ji was speechless for a moment.

He stared at Wan'an in a daze, as if asking, I originally wanted to turn my heart to the bright moon and wholeheartedly help you, Lord Wan, but in the end, the one who wanted me to go down the most was you, Wan, right?

Wan An muttered, "Okay, okay, I have to chat about love with Uncle Wan these two days, so I don't have time to deal with the trivial matters of the court. Don't bother me if you can handle it yourself." After saying that, he waved his hand, meaning that you can go, I don't want to see you out.

Liu Ji had no choice but to leave in disgrace. Even Zhou Hongmo left later than him, because Zhou Hongmo had a close relationship with Wan'an, which Liu Ji envied.

"If the prince really takes the throne, let's see who will go down first! He thinks he is the prime minister and occupies a high position, but he doesn't know who is the one being scolded the most and the harshest by the outside world. Humph, sooner or later, your position will be mine."

After walking out of the gate of Wan Mansion, Liu Ji looked back at the lintel of the Wan family's door, and then left.

……

……

Liang Fangfu's residence.

In the past two days, Liang Fang had been waiting for the emperor to reward him for his contribution to the storybooks, but time passed and there was still no reply. Just when he thought that Li Zisheng had stood him up, Wei Tai came to his house in person and returned all his storybooks.

"Eunuch Liang, I used to think you were quite capable, but why are you so rash now?"

Wei Tai spoke with a bit of contempt, meaning that Liang Fang, you have come to this day?
Liang Fang asked in bewilderment, "What do you mean?"

Wei Tai teased, "Seeing that others have made contributions by presenting a storybook, you also want to present one in the same way? Don't you think about why the emperor rewarded him after reading the storybook?"

Liang Fang was confused for a moment. The prince presented a storybook and was rewarded by the emperor. Was it because the emperor thought he was filial?
Or is it that the prince is better at flattering his superiors?
"Eunuch Wei, you are not trying to say that His Majesty has no intention of changing the crown prince and that I should give up this idea as soon as possible, right?" Liang Fang said almost gritting her teeth.

"Am I talking about the prince? How come you can't understand any good or bad words?"

Wei Tai asked angrily.

"you……"

Liang Fang was speechless for a moment.

Wei Tai said, "I'm talking about the prince's father-in-law, Zhang Honglu. He got his position by offering his stories, and now he's considered a top figure in the court. Aren't you following in Zhang Honglu's footsteps and offering his stories? Are you just imitating the Crown Prince?"

Liang Fang felt even worse after hearing this.

If it was only Zhang Luan who did it, even if Zhang Luan was the prince's father-in-law, he wouldn't feel anything. But the problem was that Zhang Luan's action was clearly to win the prince's favor, and he felt very unhappy when he thought about it, and he had to imitate him.

"What on earth do you want to say?"

Liang Fang said impatiently.

I, Liang, am not afraid of the Chief Eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, the Director of the Eastern Depot, and the second-in-command of the Internal Affairs Bureau, who are feared by others. It is still unclear who is the head of the Internal Affairs Bureau.

Wei Tai leaned over and reminded in a low voice: "Isn't it because your majesty read the storybook and felt happy, and his condition was greatly relieved, so..."

"Um!?"

Liang Fang couldn't help but frown.

"I heard that Zhang Honglu is a famous doctor who can even cure stubborn diseases like smallpox. Now famous doctors from all over the country want to visit him and ask him for medical advice. Now he has been promoted to the Minister of the Honglu Temple, but you still don't know why? Haha..."

Wei Tai's face was full of pride.

Liang Fang finally understood and asked in surprise, "You mean, Your Majesty is planning to keep Zhang Luan by your side to treat your Majesty at critical moments in the future, replacing those idiots in the Imperial Hospital?"

Wei Tai was somewhat surprised when he heard this: "Why does Eunuch Liang have such a big prejudice against the people in the Imperial Hospital?"

"Bah, that bunch of cowards, idiots, and quacks! If it weren't for them, Queen Wan wouldn't have passed away so early... If Queen Wan were still alive, why would she let those incompetent people jump around in front of Your Majesty?"

Liang Fang said viciously.

Only then did Wei Tai realize that although Liang Fang seemed to be close to the people in the Imperial Hospital, she actually hated them because of the death of Concubine Wan.

Wei Tai smiled and said, "How about...Eunuch Liang and that Mr. Zhang spend more time together?"

"Eunuch Wei, you may not know our family's position, right?"

Liang Fang said in a rebellious tone, "Even if we reconcile with Zhang Honglu, we will never give him the opportunity to curry favor with him, let alone give him the opportunity to help the prince again."

"Oh, Eunuch Liang, you don't mean to say that you are planning to let His Majesty's plan fail? Not allowing Zhang Honglu to go to His Majesty... to diagnose the illness?" Wei Tai asked in a tone of watching the fun.

"I didn't say that. Stop accusing me here."

Of course Liang Fang couldn't admit it.

But that's what he meant.

Wei Tai smiled and said, "That's all I have to say. His Majesty asked me to bring you all the scripts that Eunuch Liang presented to you. He also told me to work hard in the future and not to always think about taking shortcuts. His Majesty is still very generous to an old man like you, so don't make yourself unhappy again."

"Is this also what Your Majesty said?"

Liang Fang asked coldly.

"Ha ha……"

Wei Tai continued to sneer in response, then stood up and said, "There is one more thing. The prince has been doing very well in Wenhua Palace recently, and even His Majesty praised him highly. Eunuch Liang, do you understand the reason behind this?"

Liang Fang became even more annoyed after hearing this.

The prince was listening to government affairs and receiving praise from the emperor, which meant that the day when the prince would be in charge of government affairs was not far away.

By then, talking about easy storage will be just a pipe dream.

Liang Fang was only a step away from completely losing his power.

……

……

After meeting Wei Tai, Liang Fang immediately called Wei Xing over and explained the situation to him in general.

Wei Xing was very surprised when he heard this: "Your Majesty appointed Zhang Laizhan as the Minister of the Honglu Temple because of his ability to cure diseases? It sounds very mysterious..."

"I was also confused at first, but Wei Tai's words really touched my heart... When I think about it carefully, his words do make some sense and are not groundless."

Liang Fang analyzed, "This is also the character of His Majesty. He does not put things on the table. He just makes sure to be prepared for any eventuality and keeps everything under control."

Wei Xing said: "Zhang Laizhan is helping the prince present a storybook, and he is also an official in the court. He is really too dangerous. Why not... kill him?"

Liang Fang cursed: "He is a fourth-rank official in the Ministry of Rites. You want to kill him just like that? What were you doing before?"

Wei Xing was so disappointed that he didn't know how to respond.

"Now that he is in this position, it is not easy to bring him down. Your Majesty is still waiting for him to step up at the critical moment and wait for him to heal and save people. Unless..."

Liang Fang began to make various hints.

Wei Xing pondered for a moment and asked, "You mean, as long as Your Majesty thinks that he can't cure diseases and is just a wandering charlatan, will you... ignore him?"

"Ah."

Liang Fang nodded.

It seems to be saying, you finally understand the trick, and my training of you is not in vain.

But Wei Xing's expression quickly turned ugly, probably asking, how should this matter be resolved?

Liang Fang said: "I clearly remember that the Zhang family seems to have had a feud with Lord Peng's son?"

"That's true." Wei Xing said.

"Then the matter is simple. Let Peng handle it. We must make a big fuss. It would be best if everyone in the capital knew about it, but we must not let people think that it has anything to do with our family... We must make Zhang lose his reputation and cause the world to laugh at him. People in the medical field will be ashamed to associate with him. We must not involve other people in the matter, and we must not make it seem that it has much to do with the prince. Let's do it step by step!"

Wei Xing's eyes lit up and he smiled, "I see. Let the prince suffer a loss. He thought someone could help him, but in fact, his fangs were pulled out by us first. Great."

Liang Fang said, "We must act without delay. Now that His Majesty is ill, we have to act quickly. Humph, no wonder the Crown Prince is gradually showing his edge now. It turns out that he can't wait to show off himself... We must not give him any more opportunities."

Earlier, Liang Fang seemed unhurried in dealing with the issue of changing the crown prince, but when he realized that the emperor's health was in danger and he might even die soon, he began to seize the time to implement his plan, especially while he still had some power and influence.

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(End of this chapter)