Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 282 A Different Script
Zhu Youtang was very happy. He went back to see his young wife at noon and told her Xie Qian's high evaluation of his poems.

Zhang Yu was not very happy after hearing this. She pouted and asked, "Why do you want to ask Mr. Xie about this?"

"Yu'er, I want to make you famous... The great scholars in the Hanlin Academy are so sure of your talent in poetry. As long as they spread the word, everyone in the world will think you are a talented woman unparalleled in the world."

Zhu Youtang showed an expectant expression that said "Please praise me soon".

But he didn't know that his way of pleasing his young wife would not be recognized by her.

Because in Zhang Yu's view, those poems were not originally written by her. Although the fame has been firmly placed on her, she knows her own worth very well. And what she is pursuing now is not to become a talented woman for the world to comment on.

"Prince, you have to think about your future first."

Zhang Yu advised earnestly, "Only when your position is stable can I enjoy the good life with you. As for fame and so on, they are all external things. Why pursue them?
"You asked Mr. Xie about poetry. He might have praised you just to appease you. Maybe he didn't really think so in his mind."

Zhu Youtang was moved: "It turns out that you, Yu'er, always think about me and never think about yourself." Having said that, Zhu Youtang looked at his wife with some emotion in his eyes.

Zhang Yu was a little surprised.

She clearly did nothing but said a few casual words, but her husband thought that her sentiments were so noble and was so moved?

This is too outrageous!
"OK OK."

Zhang Yu comforted him, "Just ask. It would be great if I can help you indirectly. By the way, didn't you say that my father has entered the Imperial Academy? Doesn't he have many opportunities to come to the palace? Well, it would be great if you could see him more often. He would definitely be able to give us good advice."

Zhu Youtang nodded: "I want to do this, but my father only asked my father-in-law to go to the Hanlin Academy to revise books, and did not let him serve in the Eastern Palace. It is not easy to bring up this matter."

"Oh."

Zhang Yu felt a little disappointed.

Zhu Youtang said sympathetically: "You must be missing home... You have been in the palace for a long time and have never had the opportunity to go back and visit. I can understand this very well.

"Alas, unfortunately I don't have any good solution. Since I was born, I have rarely had the opportunity to leave the palace. Occasionally I go out only to participate in sacrifices or something. If possible, I will definitely find a way to let you go home."

"Maybe later."

Zhang Yu forced a smile, "It will get better eventually... I don't think we have to wait too long."

Although her old father and brother often mentioned the "half-year period", they never mentioned it in front of her, for fear that she would say something wrong in the palace. But Zhang Yanling still told her that as long as she could survive the initial period of loss, the Zhang family would prosper in the future.

Being in a maze and unable to see the outcome often makes us feel confused and helpless.

Zhang Yu felt deeply the dangerous environment in the palace, but for her, all she could do now was to wait patiently.

……

……

Liang Fangfu's residence.

Wei Xing reported to Liang Fang all the recent developments of Li Zi Province, especially the fact that Li Zi Province was about to replace a group of messenger officials for the court and make a lot of money from it.

"... Most of the officials who were driven out were from Deng Changen's faction, or those who were not close to Li Zisheng... Why do we feel that the people impeached by Zhang Luan are all targeted... It seems that none of those who are close to Li Zisheng were impeached, and no one lost their job this time."

Wei Xing is familiar with the inside story.

In the eyes of the ministers in the court, all the officials were the same, none of them was good, so there was no problem in impeaching anyone of them.

Only this group of treacherous officials knew which faction the Chuanfeng official belonged to, and Wei Xing was one of the few people who knew the inside story.

Liang Fang's face was full of gloom: "We suspected early on that Zhang Luan had defected to Li Zisheng. Didn't you realize that after Zhang Luan entered the capital, Li Zisheng suddenly became capable?

"You know, in the past year, he was suppressed so severely by Deng Chang'en and Zhao Yuzhi. His Majesty summoned close ministers to the palace several times, but Li Zisheng was not among them. But at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, he prophesied several things in succession. Since then, his momentum has been unstoppable."

"Are you trying to say..."

Wei Xing paused and asked, "Is this Zhang Luan the person that Li Zisheng relied on, as we analyzed earlier? The two of them benefited each other. Zhang Luan helped Li Zisheng get promoted, and Li Zisheng helped Zhang Luan's daughter choose the Crown Princess... Until now, they have been cooperating with each other. It seems that Zhang Luan is impeaching Li Zisheng, but in fact, they are just playing a double game. Are they a group of people?"

Liang Fang nodded heavily: "That's right! Considering all aspects of the situation, it is possible!"

"but……"

Wei Xing added, "Didn't we send people to investigate Zhang Luan some time ago? Anyone who has come into contact with him can tell that he is a low-level person. He doesn't speak or act in a proper manner in front of others, and he has no family education. His young children, who are still young, actually imitated those dandy boys and went to fight with the son of the elder family, so much so that even the newly opened shop of his family has closed down now."

Liang Fang frowned: "What if he was pretending?"

"Not like."

Wei Xing shook his head and said, "Look, the eldest son of the Peng family came to our house again, saying that a batch of wood he had recently transported to the capital was pushed into the water by someone who came to make trouble. Although it was fished out later, the wood is unusable."

"Huh!? Can't we use wood in the water? I remember that after the wood in the forest was cut down, it was thrown directly into the river and floated downstream. Then people would salvage it, dry it, cut it, and use it later. How can it be useless after being soaked in water?"

Liang Fang asked with a frown.

Wei Xing sighed, "This wood is exposed to the wind and sun, and it's OK to get wet in the rain, but if it's dried and then soaked in water, it will be a little unstable when used for construction, especially when building temples and Taoist temples. It's a bit difficult to ask him to transfer wood and stone from other places, but using this batch of wood directly... To be honest, even if it has never been soaked in water, we found that... the quality of this batch of wood is not very good."

"What do you mean?"

Liang Fang asked doubtfully.

"Let me put it this way. It was fine before soaking in water. But after soaking, I suddenly realized that this batch of wood was originally of low quality. It was coated with something that made it shiny and brighter, but after being soaked in water, its true colors were exposed. It would fall apart if you touched it with your hands."

Wei Xing was also quite helpless.

Originally, they were relying on Peng Mianfu to make money for their family, but it turned out that this contractor was completely unreliable.

Liang Fang snorted, "What if the Zhang family knew about this a long time ago and deliberately went to cause trouble, letting people know that his batch of wood is rotten wood?"

Wei Xing rejected this speculation: "Even our family doesn't know, how can the Zhang family know? I think there is only a personal grudge between them...

"You don't know, Peng Mianfu is now clamoring to get back at his old lord. This time he was very generous and sent a much more generous gift than before. But soon after, we heard that Lord Peng was about to retire. Now that we are tied to him again, isn't it a bit... too unwise?"

Apparently, even Wei Xing understood this matter.

The Peng family is unreliable. They are the kind of pig teammates who are greedy for money but do not do good or serious work.

“When we were buying the wood, besides the Peng family, who else came to make an offer?”

Liang Fang suddenly asked.

"It seems to be... someone from the Baoguo Mansion."

Wei Xing was a little embarrassed. "But in the past few years, the Baoguo family has been in charge of the Beijing Camp. They have been making things difficult for us when it comes to occupation. We also had a bad time with them regarding the command of the Three Thousand Camps, so we didn't give the business to them."

Liang Fang asked thoughtfully, "Could this be related to the Baoguogong Mansion?"

Wei Xing thought for a moment and nodded, "Are you saying that the Baoguo Mansion harbored resentment about the purchase of wood and stone materials and deliberately sent someone to cause trouble? Are they in cahoots with the Zhang family?"

Liang Fang waved her hand: "When you have time, check to see if the two families are connected. It is also possible that it was done by Zhu Dongyang, the son of the Duke of Baoguo. Now he is in charge of the business of the Duke of Baoguo's Mansion... These soldiers have always been greedy for profit, maybe they are interested in the identity of the future relatives of the Zhang family?"

"Okay, okay, I'll check it out right away." Wei Xing said.

"Keep an eye on Li Zisheng and see what he's been doing lately. If we don't want to fall out of favor, we must first suppress him. The circle around His Majesty is so small. If he gains power and takes over the power of purchasing tribute, it won't be long before we really fall out of favor."

……

……

Outside the city, there is Zhang Mansion's villa.

Pang Qing personally led the troupe's carriage to the gate of the mansion, and Zhang Luan came out with his son Zhang Yanling to greet them. Because he was afraid that his eldest son would cause trouble, Zhang Luan did not bring his eldest son this time. "Mr. Pang."

Zhang Luan came over from a distance and greeted him warmly.

Pang Qing smiled and bowed: "Zhang Hanlin, you are too polite. You are highly respected in the court now, so how dare I call you sir? The second young master is here too?"

Zhang Luan glanced at his son and thought, Old Pang is indeed not a simple person. He knows that my youngest son is capable and he even greeted my youngest son alone!

"The troupe has been brought here... According to what Zhang Hanlin said, the troupe only recruits those with good singing skills. They have read the script you gave them before, and they all praised it as rare in the world and the only one they have ever seen. However, they may need more guidance from you on the singing method and tune."

As Pang Qing spoke, he called over the owners of several opera troupes.

Although they are called troupe owners, they are now all employed by Li Zisheng, and even their indentures are in Li Zisheng's hands.

"Lao Zhang, Lao Wang, Lao Li..."

Pang Qing's way of addressing these class owners was very simple.

"Hurry up and kowtow to Master Zhang."

Several troupe leaders knew that Zhang Luan was an official, so they kowtowed and greeted him.

Zhang Luan was somewhat uncomfortable, so he pointed at a few people and asked, "What are they doing?"

"If you have any questions, just tell them."

Pang Qing said, "They have a lot of people, and they are staying here with you, so it is inevitable that they need some expenses. The Taoist asked me to withdraw 100 taels of silver from the account. If it is not enough, please give me another call."

"That's enough, that's enough."

Zhang Luan declined, "Actually, we don't need that much."

Pang Qing smiled and said, "Take it first, return the excess and give the excess back! Also... there are women in this troupe, and these women have been carefully selected, but... you must be careful."

Zhang Luan said, "I understand. If I didn't know that this matter was of great importance, I wouldn't have come here in person. Lord Li, please be at ease. I will send them back in the same way they were sent here. There will be absolutely no problem."

"You won't... give instructions personally?"

Pang Qing was very curious.

It was because you proposed to send the people here that Li Zisheng and I were worried that you, a guy who loves the taste of sex, would inevitably have bad thoughts after living with these women day and night, or even... be unable to control yourself.

Zhang Luan smiled and said, "Let my son give us some pointers... Don't underestimate Yanling because he is young. He is very sensible."

"Yes, Mr. Pang, don't worry, my father asked me to teach them about opera."

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Make sure the play is well staged, so that no matter where they perform in the future, they will be able to win applause. This troupe will also be able to make money in the future."

"The second young master is really...extremely intelligent. Zhang Hanlin, you really gave birth to a good son. It's really enviable." Pang Qing complimented with a smile.

Pang Qing didn't believe that the Zhang father and son could come up with anything, so he wanted to watch it live. He and Zhang Luan went into the yard and stood aside, watching Zhang Yanling teach the specific singing methods, singing styles, movements, etc. of the play to several musicians, who recorded the tunes and things to pay attention to during the performance.

After reading it, Pang Qing was shocked. He returned home that day and waited until dark to meet Li Zisheng. He immediately told him the "strange story" he had seen.

"...Master Dao, after listening to the singing style and lyrics, I was so shocked that I dared not listen any longer." Pang Qing made a direct comment.

"Don't dare to listen?"

Li Zisheng put down the tea bowl in his hand and asked curiously, "Why, are there really treasonous words?"

"No, look at the lyrics, 'The birds on the trees are in pairs, the green water and green mountains bring smiles, I pluck a flower and wear it in my hair.'"

Pang Qing took out the play and gave it to Li Zisheng to read.

Li Zisheng frowned, "It sounds like that. How come you are so pretentious in these few sentences? What? You are acting like an actor in less than a day? Should I send you to the palace later?"

Pang Qing smiled bitterly: "How can the Taoist still have the mood to laugh and talk at this moment? It's just that the tune is too pleasant to the ears, so I can't help but sing along...

"It's actually like this. You see, the Queen Wan in the palace just left a few days ago. Here are the birds in pairs and the lady wearing flowers. If Your Majesty heard it, wouldn't it remind Your Majesty of the sad past?"

Li Zisheng glanced over and said teasingly, "You are quite attentive and are even trying to figure out His Majesty's intentions... You? Do you know what His Majesty cares about and what he doesn't care about?"

"This... I really don't know, I just think the lyrics are inappropriate." Pang Qing said with his neck stiff.

Li Zisheng mocked: "Do you have more insight than others? Are you as far-sighted as him? This time we are sending a woman to the palace. If I don't sing something that can attract His Majesty's attention, do you think His Majesty will look at women outside the palace differently and accept them with a smile?"

"what?"

Pang Qingxin said, you really understand the thinking of that Zhang Banxian.

"What? Am I wrong?"

Li Zisheng felt that he understood Zhang Luan's good intentions.

Pang Qing said, "Master Dao, I'm afraid you are just blindly believing and following others. You think that Zhang Banxian is capable in some areas and that he can do everything well. But if something really goes wrong, the responsibility will fall on you."

"Go away! Can you say something nice?"

Li Zisheng cursed, "Your bad mouth should be sewn up with needle and thread to avoid polluting people's ears! I sent a troupe to perform in the palace because some of the lyrics reminded His Majesty of Lady Wan, and you think I have to take responsibility, right?
"Nonsense! Don't you think about it? Can you write Journey to the West and The Scholars? Even if Lai Zhan's plays are not good, they are still a hundred times better than what your pig brain can come up with."

"This... I have to admit that I can't write a play, or maybe I'm just worrying too much. But everything I do is for your sake."

Pang Qing looked aggrieved.

Li Zisheng waved his hand and said, "Okay, leave the writing and rehearsal to Lai Zhan. I'm relieved. Oh, by the way, what play are you rehearsing?"

"Oh, it's called 'The Legend and the Cowherd', which is adapted from the previous play 'Dong Yong Meets the Fairy'. I've seen it, and it's basically the same as the previous one in terms of content. It has seven fairies and the union of humans and fairies. It looks quite good. I'm just afraid it's not appropriate to sing it to Your Majesty at this time." Pang Qing shook his head.

"Wow, a human fairy is married... a mortal man and a fairy... not to mention Your Majesty, even I want to see it with my own eyes."

When Li Zisheng heard this, his eyes widened.

Pang Qing said, "Master Dao, you have only heard the general idea. There is really no need to be so enthusiastic... If this play is really staged, the effect may not be very good."

"Don't you understand this?"

Li Zisheng was like a demigod, talking about his theory, "Writing a play is different from writing a story. A story requires a new story to give people something new to read.

"Watching a play is very different... The people singing on the stage are all mumbling. If you don't listen carefully, you won't know what they are singing. If a new play is played and Your Majesty has never heard it before, how can you quickly get into the play and be immersed in it?"

Pang Qing showed an embarrassed look on his face: "According to Daoye's idea, wouldn't it be enough to arrange an old play for His Majesty?"

"Pah, you are ignorant."

Li Zisheng cursed, "If it's an old play, Your Majesty would be too lazy to watch it. This requires a combination of old and new, new ideas, and something Your Majesty likes in it, just like a hook, firmly hooking Your Majesty's eyes, making Your Majesty gradually fall into it and unable to extricate yourself..."

As he spoke, he made movements with his hands, as if he was demonstrating it to Pang Qing.

After watching it, Pang Qing blinked and asked, "Master Dao, your movements are like fishing. Are you treating His Majesty as a fish?"

"Fuck off, I'm talking to you seriously."

Li Zisheng cursed, then said, "Okay, everything is handed over to Lai Zhan, why are you so concerned? Just arrange the play and let His Majesty watch it. As long as it does not violate taboos, even if it is a bit unconventional, it is not impossible. Oh, I have been very busy these two days. Don't bother me with the affairs of the mansion recently. I have enough to do with the affairs of the court."

"Master Dao, why are you so busy?"

"The Silver Office is not a big deal, but it is about giving the Empress Dowager a badge. I am in charge of it. Everything must be arranged and scheduled in advance. Do you think it is a free job? But if this matter is handled well, the position of Minister of Rites will beckoning to me. Then I will definitely get a third orphan back to take charge. Hey, who said that being born a Taoist priest, you can't be a high-ranking official?"

(End of this chapter)