Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 296 The trend is irreversible (asking for monthly votes)
The emperor summoned Liang Fang to the Qianqing Palace and did not allow anyone to enter the inner hall to disturb him.

Even Qin Chang and Wei Tai had to wait outside, while Chen Gui stayed and refused to leave.

Faint crying sounds were heard coming from inside the house. Perhaps Liang Fang was complaining to the emperor, which made Chen Gui, who had heard it, very nervous.

Wei Tai asked, "Why are you shivering? It's already April, don't you wear more clothes before going out?"

"The weather is a bit cool today, what do you think, Eunuch Tan?"

Chen Gui couldn't help but shiver again, and then he cleverly used jokes to ease the awkwardness of the situation.

Finally, Liang Fang walked out from the inner hall of the Qianqing Palace.

Liang Fang didn't look very disappointed at this moment. She even bowed to the three people standing at the door, but said nothing. She straightened her clothes and left.

Chen Gui turned around to look at Liang Fang's back and asked curiously, "Just let him go like that?"

"Cut the nonsense."

After Qin Chang finished speaking, he went to the inner hall of the Qianqing Palace to ask for instructions.

Chen Gui also wanted to follow in, but Wei Tai stopped him with his hand, which probably meant that Chen Gui was not qualified to meet the emperor at this moment.

After a while, Qin Chang came out from the inner hall and waved his hand to signal other eunuchs to go in and serve first, while he called Wei Tai to go to the duty room of the Silijian to work.

Chen Gui came uninvited and hurriedly followed.

When they arrived at the place, Qin Chang breathed a sigh of relief and then ordered: "Draft the decree."

Wei Tai took the pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and asked while grinding the ink: "What is the decree? Is it about Liang Fang?"

Tan Chang nodded and said, "Liang Fang's behavior was improper, so he was demoted to the junior supervisor of the Nanjing Imperial Household Department and will be assigned to Nanjing today. As for Wei Xing, he was dismissed and sent to Ningxia for further employment..."

"This……"

Upon hearing this, Wei Tai stopped what he was doing, frowned, and asked, "He committed such a crime, but he was only demoted to the position of Junior Supervisor of Nanjing Imperial Household Department? What about the silver he embezzled before? I'm afraid it must be tens of millions of taels!"

"Your Majesty didn't mention it, how did we know about it?"

Qin Chang was somewhat helpless.

Chen Gui quickly interrupted: "What about me?"

Qin Chang said impatiently: "You are not the head of the Imperial Household Department. Why are you so anxious? Someone will take over Wei Xing's job. You might as well go back and ask Chen Xi. From now on, all matters concerning the Imperial Household Department will be handled by him."

"Yes Yes."

Chen Gui was very happy.

After all, Chen Xi is his backer. Previously, the second Chen was suppressed by Liang Fang, so even if Chen Xi was in charge of the Imperial Household Department, he still had to act according to Wei Xing's mood.

"What about the people and things involved in the Wanhe Temple case? And how will the reconstruction be handled?"

Wei Tai asked again.

"You'll have to ask that Immortal Master Li about this matter. His Majesty must have assigned this task to him."

Qin Chang analyzed, "Today is the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, and the eighth day is Buddha's Bathing Festival. I'm afraid even if we work day and night, we won't be able to make it in time. I think the Queen Mother will cancel her trip out of the palace to worship Buddha this year."

Wei Tai sighed: "This matter... is obviously a good thing, but why can't I be happy when I hear it? Liang Fang has committed many evil deeds, and he has been in control of the palace affairs for so many years, but now he has only been punished to go to Nanjing and demoted... Alas, if you put it this way, that guy really has the emperor's favor."

Qin Chang didn't care that Chen Gui was listening attentively beside him, and said directly: "For a towering tree like him that once blocked out the sun and sky in the palace, it is not easy to fall down in just a few months. Do you still want to uproot it all at once?"

Wei Tai thought it made sense and said with a smile, "It can only be said that who made him offend the Queen Mother?"

"Wrong! Big mistake!"

Qin Chang shook his head and said, "He didn't offend the Queen Mother, but... the Crown Prince."

"Oh."

Wei Tai understood immediately after hearing it.

Chen Gui, who was standing nearby, seemed to be inspired as well. After thinking about it carefully, he felt that what Eunuch Qin said made a lot of sense. Wasn't Liang Fang's mistake this time because she underestimated the prince's power?

He thought he could easily control the prince and even wanted to continue to push for a change of crown prince. However, the prince easily punished him by sending him to Nanjing to serve as the junior eunuch of the Imperial Household Department.

Chen Gui asked, "My two eunuchs, judging from the current situation, the group of people around Liang Fang...are scattered like monkeys when the tree falls, right?"

Tan Chang shouted, "Don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask."

Chen Gui couldn't help but ask, "Liang Fang was exiled to Nanjing, so who will be in charge of the Imperial Horse Administration? Who will take over his position?"

Qin Chang pretended not to hear and went straight to the public corridor behind the duty room of the Imperial Household Department.

Chen Gui was ignorant and wanted to chase after him to find out more, but as expected, he was stopped by Wei Tai again.

"Eunuch Chen, why are you asking so many questions? In a few days, when His Majesty's imperial edict comes down, won't everything be clear? What impact will it have on you if you know it one day earlier or one day later? Anyway, you just need to be replaced as the eunuch of the Imperial Stables." Wei Tai seemed quite impatient.

Chen Gui's face was embarrassed, but he could only sigh and shake his head helplessly. He stared at Qin Chang's back for a long time, and only bowed and left after he disappeared.

……

……

Zhang Mansion.

Zhang Luan was like a frightened bird, daring not to go anywhere. Watching his son coming in and out, he felt envious and jealous.

"Be careful when you go out."

"Come back soon..."

"Father may have something to ask you."

"If the prince sends someone, someone in the family will have to agree... Otherwise, you, the second brother, should not go out. Let your eldest brother go?"

"My son is finally back."

It's only been two days, but Zhang Luan feels like he's going crazy.

Fortunately, that afternoon, Li Zisheng came in person again, and he went through the back door, wanting to keep a low profile, and it happened that the Zhang brothers also returned home at this time.

Zhang Luan took Zhang Yanling to greet the guests, and he exclaimed in amazement: "Did you know that Li Zisheng was coming and came back early to support your father?"

Zhang Yanling rolled his eyes and ignored him.

……

……

The back room of the Zhang family.

Zhang Luan asked Li Zisheng and Pang Qing to sit down, while he sat at the other end. What was different this time was that even Zhang Yanling had a seat, but he could only sit behind Zhang Luan.

"Laizhan, your son is very strong and vigorous. It's a pity that I don't have a daughter, otherwise I would definitely marry my daughter to him." Li Zisheng looked at Zhang Yanling with a smile, and it seemed that he liked him more and more the more he looked at him.

Zhang Luan was frightened.

I thought to myself, could it be that Old Li has taken a fancy to my son?

What should I do if he asks my son to take him as his teacher or godfather?
"He's a bit impatient, but he is really smart. However, I'm afraid that his cleverness won't be to your liking." Zhang Luan said with a smile.

Li Zisheng glanced at Pang Qing.

Apparently, Pang Qing had reminded him several times about Zhang Yanling's miraculous behavior, asking him to pay attention to this resourceful little genius beside Zhang Luan.

Li Zisheng said with a smile: "I won't keep you in suspense any longer. The Liang Fang case has been decided."

"How's that Liang Fang?"

Zhang Luan's eyes lit up and he asked expectantly.

After all, this concerns his personal freedom for a period of time in the future, so he has to take it seriously.

"I was punished to be sent to Nanjing and demoted to the position of Junior Supervisor of the Imperial Household Department."

Li Zisheng introduced, "He will leave Beijing before nightfall today. Before leaving, he returned all the official stores and distant stores and farms in Yongqing County that His Majesty had previously granted him, as a form of atonement."

"What?" Zhang Luan asked in surprise, "Just a demotion?"

Li Zisheng picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea and said, "This is already good... With his current power, demoting him first and then exiling him is a common routine. Besides, His Majesty has never thought of bringing him down in one go... If His Majesty needs someone to do anything to purchase tribute in the future, he will still summon him back to the court."

"That's a shame."

Zhang Luan shook his head and sighed.

Pang Qing asked curiously, "It sounds like Mr. Zhang is very dissatisfied with this result?"

Zhang Luan quickly said: "No, no, I'm quite satisfied."

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "So from the beginning, you planned to target him and make him unable to stand up again?"

"No, I..."

Zhang Luan was also confused at this moment.

Should I say I am satisfied or dissatisfied?

Li Zisheng said: "Your Majesty has been very kind to Liang Fang. Not only did he keep him in the court, he also gave the position of eunuch in charge of the Imperial Stables to his disciple Luo Xiang."

"Is this person the former eunuch supervising the Imperial Stables?"

Zhang Luan happened to hear his son mention this two days ago.

This Luo Xiang was not the Luo Xiang among the Eight Tigers later on.

He was an old man in the palace who had entered the palace as early as the Xuande period, and was promoted to the eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, and was later transferred by Liang Fang to the Imperial Horse Department as a supervising eunuch...

He is considered Chen Xi and Chen Gui’s old superior!
This person was in charge of the affairs of the three factories outside the Imperial Household Department in the early years of the Hongzhi period. He died in the second year of the Hongzhi period at the age of 62.

In the palace, he was considered one of the most respected eunuchs.

"Laizhan, you know a lot about these things." Li Zisheng said with emotion, "But it is common for the eunuch in charge to be punished and the supervising eunuch to take over."

"What about Ning Jin?"

Zhang Luan asked.

Li Zisheng frowned and asked curiously, "Why did Laizhan ask about this person?"

"No, just a casual question."

Of course, Zhang Luan was still thinking about what his son had said. The reason why the emperor dared to touch Liang Fang was because he had first dealt with Ning Jin, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Stables.

I thought to myself, if that was true, then why didn't Ning Jin get promoted, and instead Luo Xiang from Liang Fang's faction got promoted? Isn't that putting the cart before the horse?

Li Zisheng said: "I didn't pay much attention to it... Eunuch Ning has always been a recluse, and I haven't seen him many times. I haven't heard that this time he has anything to do with it..."

Zhang Luan replied casually: "Isn't he the commander-in-chief of the four imperial guards?"

"I see! Lai Zhan, what you said really enlightened me. Ning Jin is definitely not an ordinary person. He used to be very low-key, but this time he stood firm. If you say Liang Fang did nothing to banish Ning Jin, I will never believe it."

When Li Zisheng said this, his admiration for Zhang Luan deepened.

Pang Qing also analyzed: "Ning Jin is a person with actual military power in the Imperial Horse Administration. He can be said to be a figure who stabilizes the sea."

"Where did you learn this? What is this Dinghaishenzhen?"

Li Zisheng asked with a frown.

Pang Qing smiled and replied, "Isn't this mentioned in Mr. Zhang's Journey to the West? It was originally a rare treasure used by Dayu to test the depths of rivers, lakes and seas when he was controlling floods. After it was stored in the Dragon Palace in the East China Sea, it was called the Dinghai Shenzhen. Later, it was renamed the Ruyi Jingu Bang. It is the weapon of Sun Wukong. It can be enlarged or shrunk at will, and can even be put into the ear. Haha."

"you……"

Li Zisheng was a little confused after hearing this.

Is this book so popular?

Isn’t it said that only the emperor has the only copy?

Li Zisheng immediately looked at Zhang Luan and asked, "Laizhan, what's going on?"

Zhang Luan replied, "Oh, that's what I thought. I've already written this story, and I can't just throw it aside after showing it to the Crown Prince and His Majesty. Wouldn't my hard work be buried in the past?

"So recently I asked my son to open a storytelling hall in the capital, specializing in storytelling. Who would have thought that this business would be very popular as soon as it was launched? We have three storytelling sessions every day, and they are all packed.

"But my son still has his limits. He only asks the storyteller to preach the contents of the first few chapters of Journey to the West. He is absolutely not allowed to read faster than Your Majesty."

"You should have told me earlier."

Li Zisheng seemed very excited. "Your Majesty summoned me earlier and casually quoted the content of Journey to the West, saying that he wanted to discuss it with me in depth, but I have never read it before, so how can I explain it? If you had told me the content earlier, wouldn't I have saved myself from this dilemma?"

Zhang Luan smiled and said, "Then I will definitely give you a copy later, Minister Li."

"Yan laughed. I'm not even the Minister yet... But there's no need to hide it from our own people. It will be soon. The imperial decree should be issued in the next two days."

Li Zisheng smiled.

Li Zisheng heard that there was a script of "Journey to the West" for him to read. This way, after he studied it, he could sit down and discuss it with the emperor. He was so excited that he refused to leave and insisted on staying at Zhang's house for dinner.

Zhang Luan was a little embarrassed: "Since we didn't know you were coming, our house was not prepared, and I'm afraid we don't have good wine and food to entertain you."

"No need to bother, just a homely meal will do."

Li Zisheng said with a smile, "Laizhan, now that you have been promoted to a higher position, you wouldn't be reluctant to treat me to a meal, right?"

"No, no, I'm just afraid of neglecting Minister Li."

Zhang Luan looked apologetic.

Pang Qing smiled and said, "It has always been my dream to have a meal at your house. This time, Mr. Zhang has helped me a lot, and there are three of us... Sitting down and drinking and chatting happily is what I want to do."

Li Zisheng frowned and shouted, "Bingkun, what are you talking about? Are you trying to say that I should invite Lai Zhan instead of letting Lai Zhan invite me?"

"It's all the same, it's all the same."

Pang Qing looked quite embarrassed and said timidly.

"Yanling, go tell your mother to ask the kitchen to prepare well and bring out the royal wine that is treasured in our home." Zhang Luan said with a wave of his hand.

"No need for the imperial wine, any other drink will do. Last time... I passed out from drinking, the imperial wine was too strong. Oh, by the way, Wei Xing has been exiled to Ningxia, so Liang Fang will no longer be in charge of the Imperial Household Department's affairs."

Li Zisheng became even happier when he said this.

When Liang Fang fell, Li Zisheng expressed regret in front of outsiders, but he was very happy in private.

Because Liang Fang was demoted, Li Zisheng benefited the most.

……

……

Zhang Yanling went to the kitchen to pass on the message.

At this moment, Jin was watching several old women and maids working, while she herself was like an overseer, neither working nor leaving, just standing there with her hands folded.

"Li Zisheng is coming to our house for dinner again? Why doesn't he invite your father out for dinner? Why does he only bother us? Isn't he powerful? How dare he stay at someone else's house for dinner?"

Jin looked displeased.

Zhang Heling, who came with his brother, tried to persuade him: "Mom, I told you that you are ignorant. You don't know how arrogant Li Zisheng is. Others would not go back even if they wanted to invite him. But now Li Zisheng likes to come to our house and refuses to leave. Doesn't this just show how capable Dad is? Of course, the second brother is also capable, hehe!"

After saying this, he looked at Zhang Yanling with a flattering look.

Jin disagreed: "Is it a good thing for others to stay at our house for meals?"

Obviously, in Jin's thinking, since her husband's status has been promoted, he should be invited out for free food and drinks, instead of paying for others to come to her house for dinner.

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Mother, Li Zisheng really said that he wanted to invite Dad, but Dad is not convenient to go out recently. Do you want him to go out and have a good time and stay out all night?"

These words hit Jin's soft spot.

She immediately put on her apron and waved her hand, saying, "Little ones, stop making trouble here. Just eat. We can provide for you. As long as your father behaves himself, that's better than anything else."

(I will ask for another wave of monthly tickets in the middle of the month, thank you!)
(End of this chapter)