Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 289 Never stand idly by
Qingning Palace.

After Zhu Youtang paid his respects, he left.

Queen Mother Zhou immediately sent for Chen Gui to come over...for no other reason than that this matter involved the Imperial Household Department, and her confidant Chen Gui happened to be from the Imperial Household Department, so she naturally wanted to get to the bottom of it.

In fact, after Chen Gui heard that the prince was going to Qingning Palace that day, he rushed here. On the way, he met the person who came to deliver the message, and immediately followed him to Qingning Palace.

"Ancestor."

Chen Gui noticed that Empress Dowager Zhou looked unhappy.

He thought to himself, what Zhang Hanlin said was right. Something is going on, but he didn't even tell me what it is... How should I deal with it?

Queen Mother Zhou asked, "Chen Gui, I want to ask you, how much do you know about the Wanhe Temple?"

"Where? Wanhe Temple... What's going on in Wanhe Temple?"

Chen Gui looked confused, and then quickly changed the subject, "Grandmaster, it's not that I don't want to say it, but I really don't know what you are talking about, so it's hard to answer. How about... you give me a heads up?"

"Why is it so difficult to talk to you? I will go to Wanhe Temple on the eighth day of this month. Aren't you aware of this?" Queen Mother Zhou continued in a suggestive tone.

In fact, she was waiting for Chen Gui to confess to her.

But Chen Gui was indeed unaware of this, and hurriedly said, "Of course I know about this. You have been to Wanhe Temple many times in the past few years, and the palace has indeed made such arrangements this year."

"Just making arrangements? Nothing else?"

Queen Mother Zhou was a little annoyed.

If I can't agree with you, don't blame me for causing trouble for you.

Chen Gui seemed to understand something at this point, and said hurriedly, "The court allocated funds to rebuild Wanhe Temple. The task was assigned at the beginning of the year, and the construction period is a bit tight. I heard that a lot of money was spent. His Majesty is very concerned about your visit to Wanhe Temple."

"Yes, I have a good son. I remember his mother would go there to worship Buddha every year. I did tell him before that Wanhe Temple was very old and asked him to renovate it if he had some spare money...How come they spent so much time renovating it and just painted it casually to fool me?"

Queen Mother Zhou continued to remain silent.

Chen Gui said: "No... No, this renovation cost a lot of money. I heard that the entire renovation cost a lot of money, and they even specially added a golden body of the Buddha."

"haha, really?"

Queen Mother Zhou said sarcastically, "Are you really that dedicated? Let me ask you, where did you spend all the money?"

When Chen Gui heard this, no matter how confused he was, he understood that what Zhang Luan had told the prince was the tricks that existed in the reconstruction of Wanhe Temple, which involved the Imperial Household Department. In addition, he, the eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, was a man of the Empress Dowager Zhou, so the Zhang family came to find him.

Zhang Luan was helping both the prince and Chen Gui.

Chen Gui knelt on the ground with a plop and kowtowed repeatedly: "Grandfather, please understand that I have no chance to get involved in the work of Wanhe Temple. Wei Xing has been in charge from the beginning. After all, it involves the allocation of money and grain from the inner court, as well as the employment of personnel, and even the occupation of the Beijing camp. Wei Xing has the help of Liang Fang, the eunuch who is in charge of the 3,000 camps, so it is more convenient and appropriate to do things. This matter has never fallen on my head."

"Is that right?"

Queen Mother Zhou glared and asked.

Chen Gui kowtowed like crazy: "It is absolutely true... If I were to take on this task, even if I had the courage of heaven, I would not dare to fool around in the place where you are going to worship Buddha. You should also know my character. I am devoted to you and would never dare to lie to you."

Queen Mother Zhou asked coldly, "I don't even know if anyone has deceived me, how do you know?"

Chen Gui's face wrinkled up, looking as ugly as a bitter gourd, "The ancestor has hinted at this point, if I still don't know, then I really deserve to die.

"In fact, I also want to take on this task to fulfill my filial duty to my ancestors, but Liang Fang and Wei Xing have so many entrenched forces in the palace, and they are so powerful that I have no say in the Imperial Household Department."

Empress Dowager Zhou asked in confusion, "Isn't your brother Chen Xi in charge of the Imperial Household Department?" "Eunuch Chen has stopped taking care of things a long time ago."

Chen Gui explained, "Grandfather, you should know that Eunuch Chen Xi had to obey Eunuch Liang Fang. Eunuch Liang had both soldiers and money. He was in charge of all the affairs in the palace. He was the most trusted confidant of Empress Wan. When we, the eunuchs, saw him, we dared not even breathe."

Originally, Queen Mother Zhou was just speaking in a questioning tone.

When he heard Chen Gui mention Concubine Wan, his anger suddenly flared up.

"The Wan family has passed away, why are you still mentioning her?"

Queen Mother Zhou was furious.

Chen Gui said with a sad face, "Empress Wan is no longer with us, but Eunuch Liang is still using her remaining power to bully others. If it was really Eunuch Liang who did this, he even dared to fool you, the ancestor. What can't such a person do? I... I feel wronged... Woo woo woo..."

Chen Gui is smart.

When he realized that the current matter was not only for the Crown Prince, but also for his own bright future, he used his many years of experience getting along with Queen Mother Zhou to accurately target Queen Mother Zhou's disgust points with every word he said, and pretended to be aggrieved and pitiful, and finally even burst into tears.

"What are you crying for? You are already so old. Why are you crying? Aren't you ashamed?"

Queen Mother Zhou frowned and scolded.

Chen Gui cried, "I feel that I am incompetent and failed to stop the evildoer's plot. I almost damaged your virtue. I feel wronged and blame myself. I also know that I lost my composure and it's ugly to cry, but I really can't help it."

"Ugh……"

Queen Mother Zhou sighed and shook her head, "I thought that with you in the Imperial Household Department, there wouldn't be any trouble. Who would have thought that they would go so far. Didn't they target my grandson before? Didn't they still want to bring up the issue of changing the crown prince after the death of Mr. Wan?"

"Ah? It seems... yes."

At this moment, Chen Gui suddenly understood that the main reason why the Zhang family asked him to come to the Queen Mother to assist was to help Queen Mother Zhou develop rich associations.

I really didn't say anything, I just blamed myself a few times and cried a few times, but the words were not said by me, I just responded twice.

You can't accuse me of stirring up trouble, right?

Queen Mother Zhou's face was grim. "They are just a group of servants. It would be fine if they were arrogant and domineering on weekdays, but now they have developed to the point where they are bullying their masters. I can no longer stand by and watch. Is Li Zisheng here?"

"Master Li..."

Chen Gui couldn't understand why Queen Mother Zhou suddenly linked the matter to Li Zisheng. Was she asking Li Zisheng to help deal with Liang Fang?

The problem is that Li Zisheng was recommended by Liang Fang, so there is absolutely no way he would agree!
"I want to ask you a question. Are you here?"

Queen Mother Zhou asked impatiently.

Chen Gui answered cautiously: "He is here, but he is currently meeting the emperor in the Qianqing Palace. I don't know when he will be free..."

Queen Mother Zhou smiled coldly and said, "It is I who will be wearing the imperial seal tomorrow. It shouldn't be too much for me to meet the host of the ceremony in advance, right?

"Go, wait at Fengtian Gate. When you see Li Zisheng coming out, immediately invite him here and tell him that I have something to discuss with him about tomorrow's celebration. Ask him to come over to talk."

"Yes!"

Chen Gui bowed his head and accepted the order, then went to ask Li Zisheng for advice with a lot of doubts in his mind.

(The Writers Association held a meeting today, so this chapter is a little short tonight. I will try to make up for it tomorrow. Thank you all for your subscription and monthly ticket support!)

(End of this chapter)