This son-in-law is wicked in a good way!

Without the stimulation of the storybook, Lu Ruoxue immediately felt drowsiness creeping in, overwhelming and intense.

But Zhang Ping'an had already taken the bed, so she had no choice but to lie down on the table and fall into a deep sleep.

Zhang Mansion.

Zhang Wu excitedly rushed back early in the morning.

"mother!"

"I ran into that good-for-nothing Zhang Ping'an yesterday. He actually stole our silver, but luckily I managed to get it back."

"How are you going to reward me?"

In the living room, Zhang Wu boasted to Shen Qiuyue for his credit.

"How much did you manage to retrieve?" Shen Qiuyue put down her teacup, her face full of doting affection.

"Eighty taels in total!" While others would omit the small amount, he concealed the larger sum and only reported the small change.

"Mother, after Father finishes his morning court session, you must tell him to reward me with a few hundred taels of silver to spend."

Shen Qiuyue rolled her eyes at him and laughed, "Fine, a few hundred taels isn't enough. My son wants to practice martial arts, so I'll give you at least a thousand taels."

Zhang Wu was overjoyed: "Thank you, Mother! I will definitely practice martial arts diligently!"

Including the three thousand taels stolen from Zhang Ping'an, the total amount was a huge sum of four thousand taels.

Zhang Wu has always been a big spender, and he has never been this wealthy before.

Then, he happily went back to his room.

After a while, Zhang Xuanling finished the morning court session and returned to the living room, looking somewhat worried.

"Master, what has happened in the court?" Shen Qiuyue brought over a cup of tea and stood behind Zhang Xuanling, gently massaging his shoulders.

"His Majesty suddenly ordered us to draft a national policy regarding the Northern Mang. Even the previous dynasty couldn't solve the problem with the Northern Mang; what can we possibly do?"

"I wonder what's gotten into His Majesty that's suddenly gone mad?"

"Shh, sir, keep your voice down. It's probably just a symbolic request for opinions. Just write whatever comes to mind." Over the years, Shen Qiuyue has come to highly regard Zhang Xuanling's abilities.

Of course, this only refers to political abilities.

"By the way, the third brother is back. He said he snatched back a lot of stolen silver from Zhang Ping'an. You should reward him handsomely."

puff!

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xuanling suddenly spat out a mouthful of tea.

"What did you just say!" Zhang Xuanling stared at Shen Shi with wide eyes, his expression as if he wanted to devour her.

"Master, what's wrong with you... It's just that we snatched back eight hundred taels of silver, why are you so agitated?" Madam Shen gave Zhang Xuanling a reproachful look.

Since it concerned the Empress, Zhang Xuanling couldn't explain, and could only glare at Shen Shi resentfully: "What do you know!"

"Where is that bastard third brother? Bring him here right now!"

Without being called, Zhang Wu, having learned that his father had left court, had already rushed over on his own.

"Father, you were looking for me?"

"I just happened to make some contributions to the family, you don't need to be too excited, just give me a few thousand taels as a reward."

Zhang Wu rubbed his hands together and walked into the living room with a happy smile.

Making a contribution? And you get a reward of several thousand taels of silver...

Zhang Xuanling's heart clenched painfully.

"You wicked beast! Your fourth brother married into the Prime Minister's household long ago; how could he possibly have had the chance to steal money from home?"

"I'm sure you're just greedy and framed him on purpose so you can take the opportunity to rob him!"

Zhang Xuanling pointed at Zhang Wu and suddenly shouted.

Zhang Wu's smile froze on his face, and he was completely dumbfounded.

Shen Qiuyue was also taken aback, looking at Zhang Xuanling with a puzzled expression.

Shen Qiuyue was very unhappy when he took Zhang Qi to the Prime Minister's residence to apologize last time.

When asked why, Zhang Xuanling stammered and said nothing.

"Master, what's wrong with you lately? Why are you suddenly showing favoritism towards that bastard Zhang Ping'an?"

Zhang Xuanling hesitated, knowing that if he told Shen Qiuyue the truth, given her personality, it wouldn't be long before the whole city knew.

If this gets back to the Empress, he'll probably lose his head.

"You're just a woman, you wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you."

"In short, you should avoid provoking Zhang Ping'an in the future. Even if he bullies you, you have to put up with it."

Zhang Wu complained, "Dad, why? That good-for-nothing fourth brother, why should we be afraid of him?"

Zhang Xuanling impatiently scolded, "Just do as I tell you to do! Why are you asking so many questions!"

"You're coming with me to the Prime Minister's residence right now to apologize to Zhang Ping'an!"

"What! You want me to apologize to that good-for-nothing Zhang Ping'an? Dad, are you possessed by a demon?!"

"You go if you want, I'd rather die than go!"

Zhang Wu tilted his head back, displaying a heroic spirit as if he were facing death without fear.

"Fine, you've got guts. I'll kill you right now, so you won't drag the whole Zhang family down with you!"

Zhang Xuanling didn't hold back and picked up a rattan cane from the corner of the wall to whip the person.

"Ah, Dad, you're really hitting me... Mom, please save me..." Zhang Wu cried for help while dodging.

"Hmph, weren't you quite spirited just now? How come you chickened out after only two hits?" Zhang Xuanling chased after him, panting heavily.

"Master, please stop! Look how badly you've beaten the child..." Shen Qiuyue cried with heartache, jumping up and down in a panic.

"If he doesn't apologize to Zhang Ping'an today, I'll beat him to death!" Zhang Xuanling's face was full of anger. Ever since he came back last time, he had already told his family not to provoke Zhang Ping'an again.

Unexpectedly, his third brother, who had been wandering around outside, got him into trouble again.

Zhang Ping'an is currently enjoying the emperor's favor; his family is not to be trifled with!

Even if we want to deal with him, we should wait until he loses the emperor's favor.

Seeing that his father was determined, Zhang Wu immediately cowered: "Dad, stop hitting me! I'll apologize! I'll go apologize to Zhang Ping'an right away!"

Zhang Xuanling then gave up, sitting down in a chair, panting, his face gloomy.

At this moment, Zhang Qi, the eldest brother with his head wrapped in a white cloth, limped in.

Seeing Zhang Wu's aggrieved expression, he immediately felt a sense of schadenfreude.

"Third brother, let me give you a heads-up: before you meet that good-for-nothing Zhang Ping'an, you'd better make yourself look as pathetic as possible."

Zhang Wu rolled his eyes dismissively: "Tch, bro, what do you mean? That piece of trash Zhang Ping'an wouldn't dare hit me, would he? I'd give him ten lives and he wouldn't dare lay a finger on me!"

He didn't believe that his good-for-nothing younger brother, who had been bullied by him since childhood and had to fawn over him, could turn the world upside down!

"Fine, whatever you want. Anyway, your older brother already warned you." Zhang Qi revealed a strange smile.

Xiangfu.

With Lu Chongyang absent, Su Xiu'e received Zhang Xuanling and his son as usual.

In the Lu family's living room, Su Xiu'e looked at Zhang Xuanling with some doubt.

"Lord Zhang, if there's anything you need, why not just send a servant? Why bother coming all the way here yourself?"

Since the two families were related by marriage, Su Xiu'e was still very polite.

Zhang Xuanling smiled awkwardly: "Madam Lu, my unfilial son wronged Ping An yesterday, so I brought him here specifically to apologize to Ping An."

"Oh?"

Su Xiu'e frowned slightly, her heart filled with suspicion.

What's going on with Zhang Xuanling? He's gotten addicted to apologizing to his son...

"Lord Zhang, Zhang Ping'an is not at the Prime Minister's residence. He went out yesterday and did not return overnight."

Speaking of this, Su Xiu'e's face turned somewhat cold.

As a son-in-law who lives with his wife's family, not returning home for one night is a major taboo.

Although the Lu family did not treat him as their son-in-law, he was still nominally so.

"Madam Lu, could you send someone to fetch him and tell him that I brought his third brother to apologize to him?"

The word "apology" was emphasized very heavily.

Zhang Xuanling only wanted to satisfy Zhang Ping'an as soon as possible; if Zhang Ping'an complained to the Emperor, his knees would suffer again.