Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 540: To Defend My Father’s Honor
When Zhang Luan heard Queen Mother Zhou mention the issue of her great-grandson, his mind began to stir.

It seems that things are not simple!

Is this a hint to me that I should find a concubine for my son-in-law so that he can have children sooner or more?

My daughter is indeed the empress, but if she cannot give birth to the eldest prince soon, it is hard to say whether she can sit on the throne of empress smoothly and continue to bring glory to our Zhang family in the future.

Just like now, who still remembers Empress Dowager Qian’s family?

As the legal wife of Emperor Yingzong and the mother of Emperor Xianzong, when people today mention the empress dowager of the previous dynasty, who would think of the wise and virtuous queen who shared weal and woe with Emperor Yingzong?

Who doesn’t regard Queen Dowager Zhou as the legitimate queen?

But in reality, does she really deserve it?

Afterwards, Zhu Youtang and his wife came over to have lunch with Empress Dowager Zhou and Zhang Luan, but the atmosphere at the table was very depressing.

It is obvious that Zhu Youtang is a cautious person.

He didn't have much to say when facing his elders. Even the things he wanted to say to his father-in-law before, he had to keep his mouth shut now, for fear of disturbing Empress Dowager Zhou's meditation.

However, Empress Dowager Zhou was quite tactful. She asked Zhang Luan to leave as soon as lunch was over, meaning that she wanted him to talk about some private topics with Zhu Youtang and his wife.

"Father, you too, never pay attention to avoiding suspicion. Why do you run to Qingning Palace for no reason?"

After coming out from Queen Mother Zhou, Zhang Yu frowned and looked at his old father, and began to complain.

Zhang Luan said unhappily, "Do you think I am happy? You said that the Empress Dowager sent someone to invite me home, how can I not come? I also want to be an idle person... Others don't know what kind of personality I have, don't you, as my daughter, know it too?"

Zhang Yu looked back at the towering palace of Qingning Palace and was also puzzled: "I don't know what the Empress Dowager means by always inviting you to the palace... Could it be that she wants to ask about the affairs of the court?"

"do not know."

Zhang Luan shook his head. "Maybe she did it for me?"

"Father, what did you say?"

Zhang Yu was a little confused for a moment and couldn't help but look at Zhang Luan again.

Zhang Luan's face turned red, and he said quickly: "Oh, it's nothing, just pretend I didn't say anything... By the way, what does His Majesty mean by summoning you today? Is there anything important you want to tell me?"

"No."

Zhang Yu flatly denied it, and then explained, "It's just that I heard that you entered the palace and came to Qingning Palace. I thought that you, as a father, came to the palace to visit your daughter, so I told His Majesty and asked him to invite you over."

"Oh, that's not right. The Empress Dowager is our elder after all. She invited me to be her guest, but you insist on interfering. This will make the old lady unhappy." Zhang Luan said.

Zhang Yu asked with a dark face: "Are you teaching me a lesson?"

Zhang Luan said, "How dare I? You are the queen, and even if I am your father, I still have to worship you like an ancestor."

Zhang Yu snorted, "I thought you didn't want to come here. I guess I was overthinking it. I was thinking about how to help you out... It seems like you really want to come and pay a visit to the Empress Dowager?"

"Ahem... My son, just think that I said something wrong, okay? Actually, I don't want to come... I really don't want to come, but I have to come!"

Zhang Luan immediately admitted defeat and said with emotion, "As a father, I really have no choice. You said that Your Majesty has just ascended the throne and needs support, and the support from the Empress Dowager is particularly important. In addition, I want to build relationships for you... The most important thing is that you are still pregnant. If you can give birth to a grandson, who else do I need to ask for help? I will be so proud of myself, right?"

Zhang Yu said angrily: "Father, is this something you should care about?"

Zhang Luan blushed and said, "Damn it, I want to hold my grandson, but you won't let me say that? It seems that the child you gave birth to is not of my Zhang family's bloodline, right? If it doesn't work, I'll ask Yanling to come... and let him diagnose you.

"Our Zhang family does rely on you for now, but in the future, we'll have to rely on your belly! You should also give your father a face and give birth to a child soon, so that your father won't have to run around begging for help every day."

……

……

Since Zhu Youtang returned directly to the Qianqing Palace to handle government affairs after lunch, Zhang Luan briefly drank some tea in the Kunning Palace and then said goodbye to his daughter. Zhang Yu did not try to keep him.

On the way out of the palace, Zhang Luan suddenly remembered that he had been to the government office only a few times since he took office as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, so he decided to leave the palace through Chengtian Gate and Chang'an Left Gate and take a stroll around the Ministry of Revenue first.

This was also the first time he came to the Ministry of Revenue after being injured.

Of course Zhang Luan didn't want to work in the office. He went there today just on a whim, to go through the motions and meet his colleagues to make themselves familiar with them. Then he wanted to go home and continue to be an idle person.

Unexpectedly, he had just sat down in his own public corridor of the Ministry of Revenue, and before he had even warmed up, he received a notice saying that Xu Qiong, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was coming to visit him.

Although Zhang Luan didn't really want to socialize, he and Xu Qiong were related after all. There were not many people in the court who could directly help him, and Xu Qiong was one of them, so he still patiently called people in.

"Laizhan, is your injury healed?" As soon as Xu Qiong entered the room, he looked at Zhang Luan's injured leg.

Zhang Luan was a little embarrassed and explained, "I can walk now, but I'm not fully recovered. I'm still recovering... My ankle has been hurting a lot lately, and I was wondering if the injury has spread to the bone marrow... The outer layer of bone has healed, but pus is oozing out from the inside?"

"what?"

Xu Qiong frowned when he heard this.

He could hear that Zhang Luan was clearly shirking his responsibility. He probably didn't want to work or attend court, and he was even unwilling to report to the yamen.

In this state of mind, Zhang Luan exaggerated his injuries, which were not too serious, as much as possible, as if he would be a cripple for the rest of his life, and that the Ming court had caused him a serious work-related injury and would have to support him for the rest of his life.

Zhang Luan seemed to know that the injury theory he just mentioned was untenable, and quickly changed the subject: "If you have something to say, just tell me directly. I just came to the government gate to take a look, and then I will go back to the mansion to continue recuperating."

Xu Qiong nodded, sat down across from the desk, and asked seriously, "I heard that you are going to be in charge of the Yellow River project?"

Zhang Luan was very surprised and asked, "Is the news spreading so fast? It's not even a matter of time... Besides, isn't it said that there are many procedures to pass the plan? How come even you know about it?"

"Don't worry about how I know this. I just want to ask you if this is true." After all, Xu Qiong has been an official for many years and his personality is still relatively calm.

It is actually hard to stand Zhang Luan's outspokenness and even his willful and lascivious character.

However, Zhang Luan relied on this set of tricks to gain a foothold in the officialdom, and given their close relationship, he couldn't correct each other, so he could only bear it for the time being.

Zhang Luan sighed, "That's right... Your Majesty wants to repair the Yellow River and change its course, eliminate the impact of floods in a short period of time, and make the Central Plains the granary of the Ming Dynasty again. So I took out a plan and reported it to His Majesty, who asked the Imperial Household Department to send it to the cabinet for review. They said that this matter needs to be verified first to see if it is feasible, so the matter stopped here."

"Is that so... Laizhan, why do you have to make yourself unhappy?"

Xu Qiong asked with a frown.

"You are… not… happy?"

Zhang Luan asked in surprise, "You mean I shouldn't get involved in this matter, I should stay out of it and pretend I don't know, right?"

"Ah! I know your personality, Lai Zhan... You are kind-hearted, especially towards His Majesty and the Queen. If they ask for something, you will be willing to help them to the end, but you must do everything within your ability."

Xu Qiong gave careful instructions.

Zhang Luan shrugged and said, "Of course I know that I should do what I can when encountering things. Isn't it because I think I am... okay?"

"Do you know anything about river engineering?"

Xu Qiong was surprised and confused.

Zhang Luan thought to himself, I don’t understand, but my son does, so why don’t I just listen to him?

"Know a thing or two."

Zhang Luan said shamelessly.

"Is it that Li Shangshu from the Yintai Division who is helping you with this matter?"

Xu Qiong asked again.

"Well... uh... sort of."

Zhang Luan replied after hesitation.

"I see."

Xu Qiong seemed relieved and said, "Minister Li helped you a lot before, and you also owed him a lot, so it's completely understandable that you did this. But... the situation is extremely complicated now, and there are countless memorials impeaching him in the court. It's only a matter of time before he falls. You'd better not get involved with him too much, especially with river engineering. He himself doesn't understand much, so how can he guide you?"

Zhang Luan asked, "You mean to say that Li Zisheng doesn't really know anything about river construction, and he deliberately told me that he could help me, but in fact, he just..."

When Xu Qiong heard Zhang Luan calling Li Zisheng by his name, he probably guessed that Zhang Luan no longer thought highly of Li Zisheng, so he nodded and said, "Yes, Li Zisheng is extremely cunning. He may want to take advantage of your attitude towards this matter to gain personal benefits for himself. You have to be on guard."

"Um!?"

Zhang Luan was bewildered.

He was thinking, wasn't it because of Li Zisheng's favor that you, Xu Shiyong, were transferred from Nanjing to the capital to serve as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel?

You were quite grateful to him before, why now...

It seems like he has turned against me so cruelly!
My name is Li Zisheng Daming, and we have a close relationship that we almost wear the same pants, but what's going on with you?

Do you really want to be ungrateful?
(It’s the middle of the month, please give me some monthly tickets, thank you for your generosity!)
(End of this chapter)