Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 683 Announcement
The old Zhang family.

Zhang Luan continued to lie in bed pretending to be sick.

Actually, I'm just catching up on sleep.

He is now in a state of having his day and night reversed. At night he is like a night owl, full of energy and very agile, and he seems to have forgotten that he is a patient.

When he returned home during the day, he would stop and fall asleep as soon as he got to bed, feeling sick.

If there were guests visiting, he would pretend to be a grandson in front of them, walk unsteadily, and pretend to be seriously ill, and then continue to sleep soundly after the guests left.

Because of his irregular work and rest schedule, he had dark circles under his eyes and a sallow complexion all day long. People who didn't know the inside story really thought he had an incurable disease. Some even thought he was just forcing himself to entertain guests and sympathized with him by letting him rest more.

For example, Qin Ji, who looked honest, always asked him about his well-being every time he came, and told him to completely put aside the affairs of state, rest in peace, and not waste his energy in vain.

When Zhang Yanling returned home that day, it was still dark. He heard that two groups of guests had come to his house that day, but it seemed that the latest military intelligence from the northwest had not yet been reported.

"Second Master, the master is sleeping soundly, you'd better not go in."

The maid guarding the gate of Zhang Luan's recuperation yard was quite conscientious. Perhaps she had been repeatedly instructed by Zhang Luan to stop all outsiders from entering, resulting in even Zhang Yanling becoming the target of the blockade.

Zhang Yanling asked in surprise: "Is my father still asleep?"

The maid stared with innocent eyes, not knowing what to say.

Zhang Yanling listened carefully and vaguely heard snoring coming from the room. He said quickly, "I have something important to tell my father. Please make way."

"If the Second Young Master insists on going in, the Master and the Madam will definitely punish me, so please spare me!"

The maidservant cried out in pain and almost knelt down to Zhang Yanling.

Zhang Yanling stopped walking after hearing this, raised his hand and said, "Okay, then I won't embarrass you and won't break in. I'll just shout in the yard... Lao Zhang, Lao Zhang, come out quickly! Something big has happened in the northwest!"

Because the sound was so loud, almost everyone in the house could hear it.

Even Jin peeked over from the moon gate. She was ready to scold, but when she saw that it was the sensible younger son and not the older son who was always causing trouble outside, she felt relieved and turned away without saying a single word.

"What's the fuss about?"

Zhang Luan finally woke up and a voice came from the bedroom.

The maid walked to the door and said with a sad face, "Master, the second young master must come to you to talk, and I can't stop him."

"Why are you stopping him? Is this your first day entering the Zhang family?" Zhang Luan put on his clothes, exuding a strong smell of waking up. He opened the door and appeared in front of Zhang Yanling.

Zhang Yanling looked at Zhang Luan with an arrogant look as if saying, "I'm just here to cause trouble, what can you do to me? Hit me if you dare!"

Zhang Luan waved at the door: "Come in."

Zhang Yanling shook his head and said, "Dad, you better come out and talk... Your room smells like medicine residue and stinky feet, plus the alcohol coming out of your mouth. I can't stand it."

Zhang Luan frowned and shouted, "You are slandering me. I have been very respectful recently, bathing and changing clothes every day, very pious. What on earth is wrong with you?"

"Oh, Dad, you don't want to sleep?"

Zhang Yanling avoided the question and was not in a hurry to say it.

Zhang Luan was so angry that his teeth itched, but he had no choice but to glare at him and said, "If your father wants to continue sleeping, will you keep yelling in the yard?"

Zhang Yanling shrugged and said, "You'd better calm down and continue to lie in bed pretending to be sick, because people will come to visit you soon, and they may come in an endless stream."

"What?"

Zhang Luan asked in confusion, "You went to the palace to ask for an official position for your father? In my impression, it seems that this only happens when you are promoted to a higher position, right?"

"It's not much different from a promotion... Li Zisheng listened to you and won a battle in the northwest." Zhang Yanling said, "He killed and captured more than 50 elite Tatars, which is a great achievement." Zhang Luan's eyes widened as if he sat up in shock from an illness, and asked in great shock: "He won the battle against the Tatars? Are you kidding me?"

Zhang Yanling said, "I don't know whether it's true or not. Huai En reported it to my brother-in-law... My brother-in-law is in a good mood. I guess someone will come to the palace soon. Because my brother-in-law said that the first credit for this battle was not Li Zisheng, but you."

"Hahaha……"

Zhang Luan had a smug look on his face, twirling his beard and laughing, "It wasn't me, it really wasn't me, it was you, my son."

Hearing this, Zhang Yanling wondered why his father was being a little modest today. But then he heard Zhang Luan say, "It's just that your father took the credit for you in advance, and I'll return it to you when the time is right...hahaha..."

Zhang Yanling rolled his eyes when he heard that, and wanted to pick up a brick from the ground and throw it at that smug face.

Lao Zhang's shamelessness seemed to have reached a new level at this moment.

After saying all this, Zhang Luan ran into the house so fast that one of his shoes even fell off.

"Quick, quick, bring the medicine stove over here and boil the medicine immediately. The stronger the smell of medicine in the room, the better. I am a sick patient, and people must be sure that I am really ill."

While greeting, Zhang Luan said to Zhang Yanling who was following him, "My son, you don't know that your second uncle came to my house today and complained to me that the local officials in Xingji were disrespectful to him.

"He also said that I looked pretty good and didn't look sick. I think he could see something. After all, he and I are brothers and grew up together. He knows me well."

Zhang Yanling asked, "Dad, you feel that your ability to pretend to be sick is not good enough, so you deliberately enhance the external environment and create an atmosphere of illness to make people believe that you are a real patient?"

"Correct."

Zhang Luan nodded and said, "The more similar, the better."

"But... Dad, I think it would be better for you to go back to the court and show off... What I mean is, don't you plan to show up in the court in person, teach a lesson to those people who look down on you and desperately submit petitions to impeach you, and ridicule them in person?" Zhang Yanling suggested.

"what?"

Zhang Luan was almost at the bedside. Hearing this, he turned around and looked at his youngest son with a puzzled look in his eyes. "My son, you don't think that I am such a vengeful person, do you? I don't have that much energy to argue with that group of people. I like to repay evil with kindness the most."

Zhang Yanling said, "Dad, no matter how hard you try, you can't be in the same trench with them. The best way is to show off your power in front of them as soon as you gain the upper hand, and show a certain degree of arrogance, so that they can only sulk but can do nothing. At the same time, it also makes others feel that you have no intention of going along with them."

"you……"

After hearing this, Zhang Luan seemed to understand something, but his grasp was not accurate enough.

Zhang Yanling sighed, "Father still lacks the arrogance of a powerful official... If you want to avoid suspicion from His Majesty and to escape unscathed in the future, you must show some differences from those Confucian officials. Otherwise... There are already so many Confucian officials who are Jinshi graduates and behave in a proper manner in the court, what else do you need to do?"

"I……"

Zhang Luan touched his head and said in a daze, "My son, I must be very sick. Why do I even have an accent when I hear you speak...Are you really speaking human language?"

"hehe."

Zhang Yanling sneered.

The old guy is even starting to get classy with his satires?
Zhang Luan said, "What you said is old news to me. You just want me to draw a clear line between myself and the civil officials, so that your brother-in-law won't be suspicious and can use me with confidence in the future... After all, the more arrogant I am, the less likely I am to form cliques and factions, and the more I will be a loner. Is that what you mean?"

Zhang Yanling said, "Okay, Dad, that's all. Will you attend the court meeting tomorrow?"

"Don't go."

Zhang Luan seemed determined to give up, with a stubborn look, "Father doesn't like that kind of occasion. Even if I get military merit by chance, what's the use? Firstly, father doesn't have the ability to command the battle, and secondly... even if I do, that's not what I want to do.

"By the way, um, why haven't you brought the medicine furnace yet? Second brother, go outside and keep watch. If anyone comes, stop them first. I'll clean up the mess for you. Even if you're pretending to be sick, you have to act like it's serious."

(End of this chapter)