Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 65 Everyone is Drunk in the Mire

The air was filled with tension.

Liang Fang was a man of great wisdom. He tried to suppress his anger. His mouth corners slightly raised, his eyebrows raised, and his voice suddenly became calm. He asked, "Then... will there really be an earthquake in Mount Tai?"

"Ha ha……"

Deng Changen sneered and said, "In my opinion, this is nonsense."

"Humph……"

Liang Fang snorted, her face becoming even more annoyed. "Since this is nonsense, His Majesty will definitely hold him responsible after verifying that there was no earthquake. What is your purpose in coming to tell us this in advance?"

"This……"

Deng Chang'en suddenly realized that Liang Fang was not someone who could be easily dealt with.

His original purpose was to find someone to teach Li Zisheng a lesson, but looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, there were very few people who could put pressure on Li Zisheng. Even Tan Chang, the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, did not dare to do anything to Li Zisheng.

The only exception is Liang Fang.

Liang Fang was Li Zisheng's guide into the palace and he also controlled the imperial guards. He was considered a representative of the powerful faction, so it was easy for him to teach Li Zisheng a lesson.

But Liang Fang is not easily fooled.

Seeing Deng Changen hesitated and looked embarrassed, Liang Fang turned her head away and said, "We will investigate this matter in detail. If someone deliberately uses disasters to hinder the court affairs, we will punish them. But if some people want to fan the flames and spread rumors to cause trouble, we will not sit idly by."

Deng Chang'en saw that he had no choice but to speak, so he quickly explained: "My Lord, you have misunderstood me. I have no other intentions. I am just upset...

"Now we all know the intentions of His Majesty and Lady Wan, but there are still some people who are stubborn and refuse to change their ways. We all want to persuade Minister Li, but it is difficult. Only you, eunuch, have the ability to influence him and get him back on the right path."

Liang Fang suddenly glanced at Chen Xi, who was sitting next to him motionless with his eyes closed and looked calm, and asked, "Eunuch Chen, what do you think about this?"

Chen Xi opened his eyes, sat calmly on the guest seat, and shook his head slightly: "I am old and don't want to be involved in so many things. If His Majesty really wants to change the crown prince, we are just serving a different master, which doesn't make much difference. But for some people, the impact is too great."

Liang Fangying's eyes flashed coldly, and he asked, "Do the people you mentioned include our family?"

Chen Xi smiled faintly and did not comment, but he was secretly complaining in his heart.

You want me to get involved?
The most I can do is help with introductions and do things for people in exchange for money, but don't try to get any words out of me.

Liang Fang raised her teacup and took a sip, then said, "Alright, you guys came to visit us and brought us generous gifts. We shouldn't have neglected you, but I'm really busy with work today, so I don't dare to stay with you any longer. Sorry for the rudeness!"

Deng Changen bowed and said, "I don't dare to trouble you, sir. I just hope that I will have the opportunity to visit you in the future and listen to your teachings!"

"You can come anytime. A great figure like Mr. Deng is usually hard to invite. Why be so polite? You've come to our house today. Look, haven't we put aside other things and are here to welcome you? You don't have to worry!" Liang Fang said with a sinister smile.

An old face that looks like it's smiling but not smiling, it's really creepy!

When the guests came in, Liang Fang did not go out to greet them, but when they saw them off, she personally escorted them to the door of her home.

After watching the two go away, Liang Fang put away her fake smile, turned back to the house with a tense face, and then the sound of a teacup falling to the ground and breaking was heard in the main hall.

……

……

"Everyone says you shouldn't have come... I'm sure you've seen what happened just now. Liang Fang is an old fox, and he's very thoughtful. Li Zisheng is his disciple after all. Will he abandon Li Zisheng and listen to me?"

Chen Xi had some complaints about visiting Liang Fang's house.

Originally, Chen Xi had a high position in the palace, but now Deng Changen was above him. Since Deng Changen had come to ask for favors in person and gave him a generous gift, Chen Xi had no choice but to introduce him to Liang Fang. But Chen Xi obviously didn't want to see other people's faces, especially since he and Liang Fang had some grievances and entanglements, but others didn't know about it.

Deng Changen smiled and said, "Eunuch Chen should have figured it out, right? In fact, Eunuch Liang has taken my words to heart... Otherwise, why would he be so polite and personally escort me out of the mansion?"

Chen Xi rolled his eyes and asked, "Does this make you think he will become enemies with Li Zisheng? Not necessarily!"

"Haha."

Deng Changen smiled smugly, "Li Zisheng's plan to protect the crown prince was a mistake. Now, in the palace, apart from the lecturers in the East Palace, who is willing to help?"

Chen Xi thought about it for a while and shook his head, meaning that there was really no one.

"It's not that the Crown Prince is unpopular, but that he has been isolated for too long, almost like being imprisoned... No one knows the Crown Prince. A Crown Prince whose movements are unclear, whose mind is questionable, and who is always cautious will most likely be mean and ungrateful even if he becomes a ruler in the future. How many of the great scholars in the court can consider themselves to be upright?"

Deng Chang'en seemed to see through everything and spoke freely.

Chen Xi nodded in relief: "From the inner court to the cabinet, and even the six ministries, everyone is drunk in the quagmire and can't get out."

……

……

Sunset West Mountain.

The Shen family's carriage, carrying the Zhang brothers, slowly headed towards Beijuxianfang where the Zhang family was located.

On that day, the two brothers went to see the gentlemen. Shen Lu was introduced by his friends and met four gentlemen in succession. After the meeting, the man went back first. The coachman of the Shen family was very considerate and insisted on sending the two brothers home before going back to report.

"Second brother, I think the levels of those teachers are very average and they should not be able to teach us." Zhang Heling said in a condescending tone.

Zhang Yanling glanced at him and said, "Brother, those teachers are all students. They have taught students for many years and have many students all over the world. How could they not be able to teach you and me?"

Zhang Heling curled his lips: "Isn't he just a scholar? Dad is also a scholar, what do you think he can teach us?"

Zhang Yanling thought to himself, Zhang Luan really hasn't set a good example for the younger generations in the family. He even looks down on your own son. He's really going backwards as he gets older.

"I'll study if I don't go anyway."

Zhang Heling was insistent, showing his true self, "I eat well and have fun at home, but I'm going to study. Are you bored?"

Zhang Yanling said, "I don't think those teachers have any intention of accepting us as their disciples, so let's not get carried away. When we go back, we can just say that we didn't do very well in the exam and they didn't think highly of us."

"Hey, I told you... you don't want to go either, right? We're the same. Don't act pretentiously in front of me anymore."

Zhang Heling instantly felt mentally balanced.

Zhang Yanling smiled and did not answer.

He really didn't want to study.

I have spent most of my time reading in my two lifetimes and have almost become a nerd. Why do I need to study again when I come to ancient times?
Or read the Four Books and Five Classics?
As the future uncle of the emperor of the Hongzhi dynasty, the title of duke or marquis can be easily achieved without having to take the imperial examination. Why bother with such thankless tasks?
Zhang Yanling looked at his big brother who was so powerful that he seemed to have found a role model for life. At worst, he could just eat and wait for death. He could live a happy life today. It was quite pleasant to think about it...

Decades later...

Life needs some changes.

(End of this chapter)