Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 505: Can't Even Drink Soup
Qin Mansion, living room.

Qin Ji asked someone to make ginger tea for Qian Neng, while he and Qian Neng sat down opposite an octagonal table.

With the money, his men brought in a wooden box of moderate size. When they opened the lid, they saw neatly arranged shiny silver ingots inside. Each ingot weighed twenty taels, twenty in total, for a total of about four hundred taels.

"It's really heavy..."

After Qian Neng took the wooden box from his men, he staggered and almost fell forward. He held his breath, his face flushed, and reluctantly put the silver box on the eight-immortal table. Then he smiled and said, "How about you weigh it..."

Qin Ji took a glance and thought, that's right, it's full of top-quality silver and weighs dozens of kilograms, no wonder you can't hold it steady.

Tan Ji shook his head and said, "No merit, no reward. Please take it back, Eunuch Qian."

When Qian Neng heard this, he felt that Qin Ji was not willing to help, so he pushed the wooden box aside. He thought that Qin Ji's eyes would follow the movement of the silver box, but he found that Qin Ji had already turned his head away.

After seeing this scene, Qian Neng had a rough idea in his mind.

He changed his expression to one of pleading, and said in a sad voice: "Mr. Tan, you are highly respected in the palace. Every time I came back to Beijing, I wanted to come and visit you in person. Unfortunately, you were in the East Palace at that time, and you were a garrison commander, so it was not easy for me to come and see you casually."

Qin Ji nodded: "As a servant of the Crown Prince in the East Palace, I should abide by the rules and not meet anyone casually."

"That's right... Because of the incident with Eunuch Liang, I was removed from my post as the garrison commander of Nanjing. I had no choice but to return to the capital and wait. I lived in fear all day, waiting for the court's decision."

Qian Neng said with a sad face, "But I have been working wholeheartedly for the court and have never dared to be partial. I have not committed any faults, let alone a crime.
"I have been waiting like this until now, but there is no further news. I don't know when I will be reinstated, so I just..."

Qin Ji was curious.

He was also wondering, you Qian Neng and Liang Fang were so close that they were almost like kin, why was Wei Xing thrown into jail and convicted, while you were not in any trouble?
Was he just dismissed from his position as Nanjing garrison eunuch by the imperial court?
Who didn’t know that you have power and money, and that you are a local emperor in Nanjing?

Now that you are down and out, you come to me. I am just a newcomer in the Imperial Household Department. How can I help you?

Qian Neng continued, "Now, when the old people in the palace learned that I came to visit them, they all refused to let me in, showing no mercy at all. After all... we are all colleagues, and our situations are different from those of the outsiders. We should sympathize with each other..."

"Eunuch Qian."

Qin Ji interrupted Qian Neng and said seriously, "I have no right to ask about your affairs, and I don't know how to ask. There are some things you should keep quiet about."

Qian Neng smiled and said, "Do you think I'm here to ask for reinstatement? No, no... I'm just here to keep in touch."

Qin Ji thought, are you kidding me?
How can you say something like this that even children wouldn’t believe?
Qian Neng said, "I will never ask you to do anything, because I know that Mr. Qin has just joined the Imperial Household Department. Even if he can pass on the message, there are still a few eunuchs above him who are putting pressure on him."

Qin Ji thought, hey, I don’t like to hear that.

Even if this is true, why do I feel like you are looking down on me?
"That's it."

Qian Neng said, "I want to ask you about the situation in the court, so that it will be convenient for me to do the next thing. I don't ask for a regular job after I return, but even if I can be assigned an idle job... What do you think?"

Qin Ji nodded and said, "Yes, if you can work for the court, why should you care about what job you do? Didn't you know from the first day you entered the palace that your job is to serve others?"

Qian Neng smiled and said, "Why not say that we know ourselves best? To put it bluntly, we are different from ordinary people. We have always existed to serve others. It is because the master likes us that he may assign us a good job. But in the end, we may not even be as good as a dog in someone's house."

Tan Ji felt unhappy.

You really dare to say anything and stab yourself in the heart. Is that really okay?

"Eunuch Tan, may I ask if there is a new candidate for the Nanjing garrison eunuch?"

Qian Neng asked tentatively.

I'm not asking you to do anything, I'm just asking you about the situation you know at the moment, that should be okay, right?
Tan Ji remained silent.

Qian Neng begged, "I just want to ask around. Besides, before the new eunuch in charge arrives in Nanjing, won't he need to learn from an old man like me? For example, what are the local factions like, how to suppress those monsters and demons... Others may not be familiar with them, but I am, and I can definitely provide some convenience."

"It hasn't been decided yet."

Qin Ji said directly, "Your Majesty has not been interested in Nanjing's affairs recently. Some ministers in the central government even proposed to remove the eunuchs in charge of various places. Your Majesty is considering this matter carefully."

Qian Neng tried to dissuade them: "That won't do! If the local affairs are completely handed over to civil officials and military officials, there will definitely be a big mess, and it will be a huge trouble.

"Since the Battle of Tumu, the power of the military officials has been greatly weakened, and their status in the court has gradually declined. Compared with those civil officials, it is really difficult for them to accomplish anything... On the contrary, those of us who work in the palace can be fearless and calm when we go to the local areas."

Qin Jixin said, isn’t that right?
Wherever we eunuchs go, we are always cursed for disturbing the local area, bullying the people, deceiving our superiors and hiding the truth from our subordinates... We have a lot of bad reputations. Aren't they all given by the literati?

Qian Neng asked hopefully, "Then... Eunuch Tan, does His Majesty have a candidate in mind?"

"do not know."

Qin Ji shook his head. "It's no use asking me. Your Majesty has never mentioned this matter to me."

"Oh, so what's the status of the cases of Eunuch Liang and Eunuch Wei? I heard they have been sentenced to death?" Qian Neng asked nervously.

Qin Ji was very curious: "Why are you trying to find out about this?"

Qian Neng shook his head and smiled bitterly: "You know that I was previously considered to be a follower of Eunuch Liang, but at the beginning of last year, I don't know what happened... My adopted son was doing business in Beijing and somehow offended Eunuch Liang and Eunuch Wei. Not only did they send people to beat my adopted son, they also turned against me..." "Oh?"

Tan Ji was very confused.

You are just biting each other like dogs, fighting among yourselves?

Qian Neng sighed, "At that time, Liang Fang sent people to Nanjing to reprimand me, saying that I should find a telescope and Huangshan mica. Later, he even said that he would remove me from my position and sent his people to impeach me... He treated me very badly. Later... I don't know how, Liang Fang was... banished from the capital. Later, when the new emperor ascended the throne, he was directly imprisoned... It's really unpredictable!"

Qin Ji stroked his smooth chin and asked, "So, you are not his follower?"

"Alas, we are all working for the court, so what is the difference between parties? I have always worked for the court and Your Majesty, but because Liang Fang is so powerful, sometimes I have to give in."

Qian Neng quickly defended himself.

Qin Ji was thinking in his heart, you old man really know how to pretend.

Back then, you purchased tributes for Liang Fang from all over the country, spending so much money from the imperial treasury. If it weren't for you, people in the palace wouldn't have to live on coarse food now.

Now you are pretending to be my grandson?

Qian Neng said, "So how far has the case of Liang Fang and Wei Xing progressed? Has it been closed?"

Qin Ji instantly understood Qian Neng’s thoughts.

He was thinking that Qian Neng seemed to want the case to be resolved as soon as possible, and it would be best if Liang Fang could be sentenced to death earlier, so that he could sit back and relax and live the rest of his life in peace.

This is the evil of human nature.

Qin Ji said bluntly: "This case is under trial. I don't know exactly when it will be concluded."

"You don't know this? You are a great official in the Imperial Household Department!" Qian Neng looked unconvinced. He complained first and then asked, "Can you tell me what stage this case has reached?"

"The preliminary verdict is death penalty, but Your Majesty also took into consideration that many of Liang Fang's actions were instructed by the late emperor, and it is not that he took the initiative to do evil, or that he just did something bad with good intentions."

Qin Ji introduced the situation he had learned, "Your Majesty may pardon Liang Fang's death sentence."

"Wha...what? A pardon for the death penalty?"

When Qian Neng heard this, he was not only unhappy, but his face was filled with fear. He asked in a lost voice, and then widened his eyes and said, "How... how... is it possible? Even Liang Fang... who is such a traitor and a great villain who strongly advocates changing the crown prince... doesn't have to die?"

Qin Ji couldn't help but smile when he heard this. He thought to himself, "Now you call Liang Fang a traitor and a villain, but before you called him closer than your own father, you are really heartless!" He immediately said, "In fact, whether Liang Fang lives or not depends entirely on the attitude of one person in the court."

"Huh!? Didn't His Majesty want to pardon him? How come there is a new turn of events?"

Qian Neng looked puzzled.

"Now it's not about your Majesty's attitude, but about the attitude of Zhang Guozhang."

Tan Ji said seriously.

"Zhang Guozhang? Does he have such a great influence?"

Qian Neng was completely confused.

Could this matter involve an unrelated father-in-law?
Qin Ji seemed to be deliberately pushing things away. After all, as a famous "good guy" in the palace, to put it bluntly, he was like a person with a tight tongue. He wanted to push everything onto others and didn't want to care about good or bad things.

"It is Zhang Guozhang. His Majesty has said that if Zhang Guozhang says that a person should be killed, then he should be killed. If he should not be killed... then a certain amount of pardon should be granted."

Tan Ji said.

Qian Neng's face was full of disbelief, and he asked in astonishment, "Your Majesty is so obedient to Zhang Guozhang's orders?"

Qin Ji said: "You don't listen to Zhang Guozhang on everything, but when it comes to some criminals from the previous dynasty, or some people who have committed crimes and deserve to be punished, Your Majesty trusts Zhang Guozhang's judgment very much."

"Ah, I understand... The downfall of Eunuch Liang was due to this father-in-law Zhang, right?" Qian Neng seemed to have suddenly realized.

Qin Ji smiled mysteriously: "I didn't say anything."

"Yes, yes, you didn't say anything." Qian Neng immediately understood and continued, "Then please take a closer look. Is Zhang Guozhang planning to kill Liang Fang, or..."

Tan Ji shook his head and said, "You asked the wrong person."

Qian Neng was stunned at first, but then he realized that Qin Ji was completely pushing the blame onto Zhang Luan.

If you don't want to care about it, just find someone to take the blame for him?

Now even Qian Neng looked down on Qin Ji. As the prince's palace attendant, and now working for the Imperial Household Department, he was truly the best among the new nobles. As long as he was willing to fight for it, he would have the seal of the Imperial Household Department at his fingertips in the future. But if you were so afraid of things, how could you become a high-ranking official in the future? And how could you fight against Huai En and Qin Chang, who were the vested interests?
You deserve to be a good guy all your life. When others are eating meat, you can't even have a sip of soup.

(End of this chapter)