Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 519 Outrageous
All the way to Qingning Palace.

When they really arrived at the place, Zhang Luan became calm, as if he had accepted his fate. He began to smile warmly, paid his respects to his step-aunt, and spoke a string of auspicious words.

Queen Mother Zhou was extremely enthusiastic and insisted on pulling Zhang Luan to sit down and talk together, and she wanted him to talk close to her.

This made Zhang Luan extremely nervous.

I was already injured and feeling extremely uncomfortable, and now it was even worse. I felt a pain in my heart.

He has been comforting himself in his heart, as the saying goes, there is gain and loss... How can there be so many things in this world where we only see the fruits but not the sowing and cultivation?

Relax!
Now that we are here, we should make the best of it…

Zhang Luan suddenly felt like he was a commodity being exhibited.

"Laizhan, I heard that you were injured and was very worried. I wanted to visit you in person, but it was a little inconvenient." Empress Dowager Zhou said with a smile.

Zhang Luan smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry to bother you, aunt. I'm old and weak, and I can still fall when I walk... Alas, I'm not as good as I was when I was young."

Queen Mother Zhou shook her head and sighed, "You are still talking about old age? What about me?"

"Grandfather, you are not old, not at all."

Chen Gui quickly moved forward with a smug look on his face.

Queen Mother Zhou pursed her lips and said, "Old or not, don't I know what's going on? You are young, your body can hold on, and if you are injured, you can slowly recover. You just need to rest for a while and you will be fine. If I get injured, I'm afraid I will never get better!"

Zhang Luan consoled her, "Aunt, please take care of yourself. There is nothing missing in this palace, and the younger generations are all filial and good. You don't need to worry about anything. I don't think they will easily fall like this with their nephew... This injury is also caused by my lack of composure."

"I'm also wondering... You're such a grown-up, but you don't even look carefully when you walk?"

Queen Mother Zhou said with emotion, "The court cannot do without you, and my good grandson also needs your assistance. Everyone in the palace is watching. How many important matters will be delayed by your injury?"

Chen Gui hurriedly reminded: "Grandfather, Minister Zhang has been busy handling official business recently. Even when he was recuperating at home, he was not idle."

"I have also heard that the emperor asked you to take charge of the case of Liang Fang and his followers... What do you mean? Tell me everything quickly."

Queen Mother Zhou acted calm and asked Zhang Luan to explain state affairs to her.

Zhang Luan didn't think there was anything wrong with this.

Perhaps in his opinion, being able to deal with this aunt as soon as possible and go back early is better than anything else.

As for leaking court secrets?
I'm sorry, but for me, Zhang, the so-called Zhongzheng Theory does not exist at all. I do whatever I want, and even my son and son-in-law can't stop me.

"That's it."

Zhang Luan said, "Everything is to show your majesty's benevolence. We have pardoned those who can be pardoned, and we have tried not to cause any killing. But some people have done great evil things in the past, and have caused public outrage, so they must be killed, such as Deng Changen and Zhao Yuzhi, oh, and the evil monk Jixiao."

Queen Mother Zhou smiled and said, "I won't say anything about others, but what about Li Zisheng?"

"This……"

Zhang Luan was a little confused for a moment.

Do you, the Empress Dowager, still want to get rid of the ally who once trusted you and supported you?
Isn’t this too unkind?

Queen Mother Zhou said, "I heard that the minister who was impeached the most in the court was actually Li Zisheng. He previously controlled the government and even the appointment and dismissal of officials had to go through his channels. The Ministry of Personnel became a mere decoration... Now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, shouldn't we make some changes?"

Zhang Luan said: "Everything is going on the right track. Minister Li is now only in charge of the Yintaisi and no longer interferes in other matters. Isn't this a change?" As he spoke, Zhang Luan thought, Li Zisheng's abuse of power was the result of your son's indulgence, wasn't it?
The purpose, of course, is to make money for the emperor!

Otherwise, how did they maintain the huge expenses inside and outside the palace?

Now it’s all Li Zisheng’s fault?
You royal family members are so heartless!

"Then Lai Zhan, how do you think we should deal with Li Zisheng?" Queen Mother Zhou said with a smile, "Just say what you think, don't be restrained."

Chen Gui, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but shrink back when he heard this.

That feeling seemed to make him break into a cold sweat for Zhang Luan.

No wonder you looked so worried when you came here. Did you guess that you would be troubled by the Empress Dowager?

It seems that you are really good at calculating.

Zhang Luan, however, acted as if nothing had happened, because he was not worried about the evaluation of Li Zisheng at all, and he immediately said bluntly: "Li Shangshu may have made mistakes, but his crime is not punishable by death. Moreover, he successively made suggestions on the Ningxia and Taishan earthquakes, the heavy fog in the capital, and the death of Concubine Wan, which stopped the trend of changing the crown prince in the palace and outside the palace in time. He also helped me to take down Liang Fang and Peng Hua, and completely extinguished the arrogance of the crown prince change faction. He has done a favor to Your Majesty.

"Therefore, I think we should look at the issue dialectically and not be too harsh on Minister Li."

"Oh."

Queen Mother Zhou smiled and said, "Your statement is quite novel. Look at the problem dialectically? Does it mean looking at a person from both the positive and negative sides? Well, it does make some sense... It's rare that someone still speaks for Li Zisheng at this time. It seems that he has helped you a lot before."

"Don't misunderstand me, aunt. I am just talking nonsense according to my own thoughts. Whether Li Zisheng is guilty or not, and how he should end up, are all matters that the court will discuss in the future. I don't want to rely on friendship to protect him, but as a friend, I can't make up stories and deliberately frame him. It's good enough to have a clear conscience."

Zhang Luan said this with a shameless look, patting his chest.

When Chen Gui heard this, he felt puzzled again.

Did you, Zhang Luan, take the wrong medicine?

Where has the cautious and humble attitude you had when you came here gone?
Are you letting yourself go now?
Can't you be more restrained in front of the Empress Dowager? Why not agree with the old lady and say something bad about Li Zisheng? Why do you have to be so weird, right?

Look at how embarrassed you were when you came here. Are you really sick?

Queen Mother Zhou smiled and nodded, without commenting on Zhang Luan's words. She then picked up the Buddhist beads on the table, held them in her hand, and fiddled with them for a while before saying, "Laizhan, you came at the right time today. I want to show you something good."

"What?"

Zhang Luan suddenly became nervous.

After the official business was discussed and everything went smoothly, Zhang Luan breathed a sigh of relief.

But in the blink of an eye, it involved private matters, and Zhang Luan's breathing became much more rapid.

Queen Mother Zhou smiled and said, "You have never seen the tribute from the Southern Kingdom before. This time I will let you broaden your horizons."

Zhang Luan shouted in his heart, what haven’t I seen?

Aunt, please forgive me.

Can't I just admit that I haven't seen it?
Let me go now!
"Come here, prepare a vegetarian banquet. I want to invite my nephew to dine with me. Also, inform everyone that there is nothing important today, so no one should come in to disturb me... I want to chat with my nephew!"

Queen Mother Zhou gave the order excitedly.

Zhang Luan was heartbroken, and looked at Chen Gui in despair as he went down to deliver the message. He thought it was all over, whether he could return safely or not depended entirely on how he dealt with the situation. He was so unlucky!
(End of this chapter)