Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 287 Husband and wife are of the same mind
Forbidden City.

The inner hall of Duanjing Hall.

As night falls, the candlesticks in various locations in the hall are lit, bringing light to the dark space.

Jiang Cong stood behind Tan Ji, his face full of respect.

Sitting in front of the two men were Crown Prince Zhu Youtang and Crown Princess Zhang Yu.

Zhu Youtang was holding a letter that Jiang Cong had just brought into the palace, and he was reading it carefully.

Qin Ji and Jiang Cong thought Zhu Youtang would tell them to do something after reading the letter, but Zhu Youtang just waved his hand after putting it down and said, "Go back and have a rest first. We'll talk tomorrow if there's anything else."

"Yes."

Tan Ji took Jiang Cong out of the inner hall of Duanjing Palace.

After the people walked away and the footsteps could no longer be heard, Zhang Yu asked, "What's the matter?"

Zhu Youtang casually handed the letter to Zhang Yu. Zhang Yu took it and immediately studied the letter in her hand. She glanced at it and said in surprise, "Hey, this is my father's handwriting."

"Ah."

Zhu Youtang immediately spoke up to explain what he had learned, "My father-in-law told me that on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, the Empress Dowager will go to Wanhe Temple to burn incense. Because when she went there a few years ago, she thought it was a bit dilapidated and disrespectful to the gods and Buddhas, so my father specially allocated funds for people to do repairs in advance."

Zhang Yu immediately found the key point in Zhu Youtang's words and asked, "Could it be that someone is planning to rebuild Wanhe Temple?"

"Yes!"

Zhu Youtang nodded and said, "Although your father did not tell me who was so bold, he pointed the finger at Liang Fang between the lines, thinking that Liang Fang was behind it. Under the pretext of rebuilding Wanhe Temple, that guy sought personal gain and manipulated it. He even ignored the fact that the Empress Dowager was devoted to practicing Buddhism and passed off inferior products as good ones, blaspheming the gods."

"Oh."

Zhang Yu was smart enough to know that he shouldn't add any of his own opinions at this time. Just like the letter in his hand, it seemed that his old father was just stating objective facts without mixing in much personal opinion.

Zhu Youtang seemed very angry: "The letter said that the reason why the Royal Grandmother wanted to rebuild the Wanhe Temple was to complete her merits, but someone was blinded by greed and used old bricks and wood from old city walls, temples, and houses to rebuild it. The quality is even worse than the original ones. If the gods and Buddhas are really spiritual, wouldn't it ruin the Royal Grandmother's pious heart?"

Zhang Yu echoed, "These people are really too presumptuous. What should we do?"

"I...I don't know either."

Zhu Youtang hesitated.

He has always been a non-confrontational person and has never had a competitive spirit.

It’s not that he doesn’t have the ability, but that he doesn’t think about it and has never thought about it.

Zhang Yu asked tentatively, "But everyone knows that you are kind and filial. How can you not expose this kind of thing? At least you should persuade the grandmother not to go to that blasphemous temple? Or ask father to send someone to investigate and find out what happened?"

"Can……"

Zhu Youtang looked afraid and said timidly, "If I do this, will Liang Fang's gang... take the opportunity to retaliate?"

Zhang Yu got furious when he heard this. He stood up and shouted, "Why are you afraid of them? You are the crown prince! They are just a group of servants! Now the servants are bullying their master and what they are doing is not human. As the young master, shouldn't you teach them a lesson?"

Sister Zhang is not the kind of person who would suffer a loss.

When I married into the Eastern Palace, the prerequisite I proposed to my brother was that my husband could not have concubines… Now that I can even control the Crown Prince easily, why should I be afraid of you little Karamis?
"Yu'er, calm down, calm down! Let's sit down and talk properly." Zhu Youtang saw his wife's strong side and for some reason, he felt an inexplicable admiration for her.

When will I be able to be like my wife, with the determination and courage to stand up and protest?

Zhang Yu said solemnly, "My father has written to me, which shows that he is also angry. He thinks that Liang Fang dared to risk the world's disapproval and interfere in the affairs of the royal family as a family slave. He even repeatedly instigated Your Majesty to replace your position as the crown prince. It would be unsatisfying if I didn't kill this kind of person."

Zhu Youtang lowered his head and said, "My father has punished him for what happened before. I heard from my wife that His Majesty has not allowed him to enter the palace recently."

"Take advantage of his illness to kill him."

Zhang Yu said resolutely, "When the wall falls, everyone pushes it. He has obviously lost power now, but he still dares to steal the royal property so blatantly. He is rebellious! Go and bring up this matter with father!"

"I……"

Zhu Youtang was obviously a little afraid of trouble.

Zhang Yu pulled her husband's arm and encouraged him with a little girl's demeanor: "Prince, you see my father is not afraid of trouble. He impeached Liang Fang and Li Zisheng successively before. Who did he do it for? He has been working hard for the court for only a few days, and he is also working for you. Why can't you understand him?"

Zhu Youtang said, "I admire your father's actions. I have also asked several gentlemen what they would do if they encountered such a thing. Although they did not say it clearly, I can see that they are afraid of getting into trouble, so they will only protect themselves and dare not submit a petition. But your father... is brave and fearless."

"That's it. My father has already reported the situation to you. You clearly knew about the dirty deeds of Liang Fang and the others but didn't bring them up. This would be unfilial to the Empress Dowager and disloyal to His Majesty. Why don't you fight back and live up to your reputation of loyalty and filial piety?" Zhang Yu was not polite at all and spoke directly to the point.

"I'm afraid of seeing my father..."

Zhu Youtang spoke out what he feared most in his heart.

Every time he saw his old father, he was extremely nervous.

His socially phobic personality, in which he keeps strangers away, is caused by his father, the emperor. If he were to confess his true feelings to this strict father whom he fears from the bottom of his heart, he would probably be so terrified that he wouldn't be able to utter a word.

"You, you..."

Zhang Yu was somewhat angry at her for not fighting back, but when she finished reading the second half of the letter, she frowned slightly.

Because the second half of the letter seemed to guess that the prince would have such a reaction, and directly gave a "solution", but because the wording was rather obscure, Zhu Youtang did not grasp the essence of it.

"Ok?"

Zhang Yu let out a surprised sound.

"Yu'er, what's wrong?"

Zhu Youtang asked with concern.

"I read this letter, and for some reason, I felt that it didn't seem to be written by my father. This..."

Zhang Yu didn't finish her words, because she found that although the letter was written in her father's handwriting, the writing style was clearly that of her second brother. Her honest father suddenly had courage, but where did he get so many wisdom and tricks?

Zhu Youtang quickly took the letter back and read the second half carefully. After savoring it carefully, he couldn't help but frowned: "Your father said that the Royal Grandmother will soon be promoted to the title of Imperial Insignia, and will definitely look forward to the protection of the gods and Buddhas... If the Royal Grandmother knew that the actions of those servants had affected her practice, the Royal Grandmother would definitely not tolerate it... What does this mean?"

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Prince, isn't this very clear? You don't need to go to the Emperor, you can go directly to the Empress Dowager and explain the situation."

"Ah! Is that what you mean?"

Zhu Youtang suddenly realized that his brain was not enough.

Zhang Yu had a smug look on his face and smiled sweetly, "Maybe my father has thought of this. You don't want to expose this matter to the emperor, so he has thought of a way out for you. As long as you tell the imperial grandmother about this matter in the name of loyalty and filial piety, the imperial grandmother will deal with Liang Fang for you."

"Oh, so that's it."

Zhu Youtang's eyes lit up, and the whole world seemed to become clear.

Zhang Yu smiled and asked, "You won't be afraid now, right?"

"Not afraid."

Zhu Youtang patted his chest and said, "The Royal Grandmother is very kind to me. In front of her, I dare to speak and tell the truth. Besides, they clearly want to destroy the Royal Grandmother's Buddhist practice. The Royal Grandmother is so pious to Buddhism. If I knew about it and didn't bring it up, I would feel guilty."

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "This is my good husband."

These words solved Zhu Youtang's dilemma and made him feel proud of being a husband, which made him feel elated for a while.

Zhang Yu asked, "When are you going to tell the Empress Dowager?"

"Tomorrow morning."

Zhu Youtang did not hesitate, "This matter should be dealt with sooner rather than later."

"wrong."

Zhang Yu immediately corrected him, "Look, my father wrote that the construction work will probably be completed before the Buddha's Birthday, but because the paint needs some time to dry, Liang Fang and others should report it to the court before the third day of the first lunar month. After all, the Empress Dowager will be honored that day, and it would seem ineffective to complete the work after that."

"So what?"

Zhu Youtang seemed to have regarded his wife as his think tank.

Zhu Youtang now knew very well that if he asked Tan Ji or Jiang Cong about this matter, no matter how good their plans were, they would not consider him in every aspect like his wife did.

Because those people are very timid and fearful.

Otherwise, the Eastern Palace would not have had no presence in the imperial city over the years.

Zhang Yu said, "Then wait until they have completed their work. You don't have to go to the Empress Dowager to pay your respects these few days. When the time comes, go and explain the situation to her. If the Empress Dowager knew that someone wanted to ruin her business, she would definitely punish them given her character of not tolerating any sand in her eyes."

"Hmm."

Zhu Youtang nodded continuously.

The couple has reached an agreement on this matter.

"Yu'er, it's great to have you."

After putting down the letter, Zhu Youtang held his wife's hand tightly and said sincerely.

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "I also think it's great to have the prince by my side. In the past, I was always at home taking care of my parents, brothers and sisters. How could I have such a chance to fight with others? Now I need to put all my efforts into repelling our enemies. I want to fight against the evildoers with the prince."

How monotonous was life before?
After entering the palace, given Zhang Yu's personality, he immediately entered palace fighting mode.

Being able to stimulate her ambition, she naturally feels that her life is extremely fulfilling... and even her life has a direction.

……

……

Just when Zhu Youtang and his wife had made their plans and were ready to go to Queen Mother Zhou to file a complaint at a certain date as Zhang Luan had suggested, the Zhang family outside the palace were also making some moves, and this time it was still the Zhang father and son who took action.

"Dad, it's just ahead."

Zhang Yanling asked his father in a low voice, "Who will take over the residence of the eunuch Chen Gui, the Imperial Household Supervisor, you or me?"

Zhang Luan glanced at his son with a puzzled look on his face: "My son, what are you thinking about? Previously it was Tan Ji's house, and now it's Chen Gui's turn... Have you figured out the names of all the eunuchs who have private houses in the capital? If someone didn't know, they would think you were planning to become their godson, or even to enter the palace directly as an eunuch."

Zhang Yanling frowned: "Dad, can you be serious? How can you talk to your son like this? Do you want to have no descendants?"

Zhang Luan curled his lips and said, "Don't you have your elder brother at home? Can't he have a son? Oh, forget it, I won't talk nonsense with you, just go ahead. It's not appropriate for your father to come to your house rashly, but your father will bring people to watch at the door. If you still show up in half an hour, your father will rush in and rescue you."

"Haha, Dad, you're so funny! Don't you realize that this time when we come to visit others, we've upgraded our weapons?"

Zhang Yanling asked with a smile.

"What metaphor?"

Zhang Luan said this, then turned around and looked at the group of people that were brought over.

He suddenly felt that he was now a well-known and influential figure. After all, the last time he went to see Qin Ji, it was just the father and son, and they didn't bring any gifts, let alone any pomp.

But this time, he was surrounded by a large crowd, just like the powerful people of the time.

It was only a little over a month.

"Then I'll go."

Zhang Yanling said, "Dad, just wait for good news."

(End of this chapter)