Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 106 Don’t let the wealth go to outsiders (please vote for me)
Lizi provincial government residence.

Shen Lu and Pang Qing were standing beside Li Zisheng, and Pang Qing was narrating the situation regarding the selection of the Crown Princess of Shuntian Prefecture.

"Someone will come to visit your house tomorrow. Are the banquet hall and drinks ready?"

Li Zisheng doesn't seem to care much about the primary election. He is still arranging preparations for the New Year's party at home.

Pang Qing said, "Tomorrow is New Year's Day. After the ministers come to the palace to celebrate the New Year, there will definitely be a large number of people coming to visit. We have made proper arrangements in all places in the palace. We can receive more than a dozen ministers at a time, and we have divided them into different courtyards according to their ranks. When the time comes, I can see who I want to see and who I don't want to see, and we can all be isolated from each other without being noticed by others."

Shen Lu reminded: "Tomorrow is also the day for the Crown Princess re-election. I heard that except for Shuntian Prefecture, there are very few people in the surrounding prefectures and counties who should be elected as Crown Princesses... I wonder if what I said is true?"

Li Zisheng looked indifferent. "It's not a bad thing to have fewer candidates. From the top to the bottom, who wants more candidates? Aren't they all just making their own plans?"

Pang Qing reminded: "Master Dao, this seems disrespectful."

Li Zisheng said, "I didn't mention any names. This is the current situation. The daughter of Zhang Laizhan's family didn't encounter any misfortunes during the preliminary selection, right?"

Pang Qing said, "I have specifically asked about this, and the names have been reported. We will wait for the re-selection tomorrow. At that time, the Ministry of Rites will only do some external selection. As long as your manners are in accordance with etiquette, and your voice and appearance are not too different, there will be no big problem."

"it should be no problem?"

Li Zisheng glanced at Shen Lu.

What I mean is, after all, it was you who introduced this person, and now in the selection of the Crown Princess, I have done my best to help her. If the result is that her appearance and behavior are unsatisfactory, it will be difficult for me to continue to help her.

Shen Lu was originally quite confident, but now he became hesitant. After all, he had never met Zhang Yu in person.

"I think there's no problem." Shen Lu said.

Li Zisheng frowned: "It's best if there is no deviation at all. Sometimes relying on some external reputation is not enough to show the essence. Now the choice is the Crown Princess, and I have not made any other preparations for the selection. You must keep a close eye on it."

"Yes, today is New Year's Eve. I will visit Laizhan's residence and find out the truth." Shen Lu said.

Pang Qing beside him laughed and said, "From what Shen Jingli said, you haven't even met the person yet, and you are so confident?"

Shen Lu said helplessly: "After all, she is still an unmarried lady from a wealthy family, so it's not easy to meet her casually. But I heard from my roommates that this girl is outstanding in talent, appearance and behavior."

Li Zisheng said: "Don't just follow what others say, you have to verify it yourself. I don't want to end up making a fool of myself."

Pang Qing said cheerfully, "With Master Dao here, any girl who is of the right age should be selected, right?"

"That's the truth."

Li Zisheng said, "But if someone is too abrupt, others will suspect whether there is a private transaction involved. I want to be upright and not afraid of the shadow. And a woman with strange behavior, even if she is lucky enough to stay in the East Palace, do you think she will be favored by the prince?"

Pang Qing thought about it and nodded in agreement.

An ugly girl, or a girl whose behavior is not like that of a lady from a noble family, even if she is forcibly included in the "selected three" and finally kept in the Eastern Palace through connections, she will still be an unfavored concubine.

Such a woman will definitely not bring any benefits to Li Zisheng.

Li Zisheng was still hoping that the future Crown Princess would speak well of the Crown Prince and persuade him in his heart.

You can't even touch the prince's pillow, how can you persuade him to stay with you?
……

……

With instructions from Li Zisheng, Shen Lu rushed to Zhang's house in a hurry.

When he arrived at Zhang's house, he happened to see the Hui merchants giving gifts to Zhang Luan. This time the gifts were different from before, and they brought some servants directly.

If Shen Lu had seen this scene in the mansion where the Zhang family was about to move, he would not have been surprised. However, the alley in front of him was just a very narrow alley with a low door lintel, which looked a bit awkward.

"Laizhan, what's going on?"

Shen Lu walked over and asked directly.

Zhang Luan looked over when he heard the voice. He was very curious to see Shen Lu. Why didn’t you even say hello? You asked me what happened right away?
Zhang Luan replied: "It's a coincidence. During this big festival, a Huizhou merchant who had some friendship with me before sent me a batch of New Year gifts. He said that he had prepared a house for me outside the city and had carefully selected some servants... Alas, I couldn't refuse such a kind offer..."

Shen Lu said quickly: "No merit, no reward. These merchants know how to take advantage of opportunities. You can't let them divert your attention... Listen to me, you can't accept this gift."

"This... you don't want to accept it?" Zhang Luan immediately felt that Shen Lu came to his house to sabotage him.

My biggest ambition in life, Zhang, is to become successful. From devoting myself to the imperial examinations to engaging in speculation and profiteering nowadays, aren't I serving my life creed?

If you don't take advantage of it, you're a bastard!
Shen Lu said sternly: "If you want to accept it, you have to wait until the selection of concubines for the Eastern Palace is finalized."

Zhang Luan smiled and said, "If I am selected, I won't accept this gift. But if I am not selected, given my family's situation, I am afraid that no one will come to give me gifts anymore... Is that right?"

"Ah, this..."

Shen Lu was speechless for a moment.

People have finally got the chance to accept generous gifts, but you force them to refuse. If their daughter fails to be selected as the Crown Princess, it will be a big problem whether anyone will come to give gifts in the future.

At this moment, Xu Gong, the right-hand man of Shopkeeper Qin, came over and greeted with a smile: "This is Shen Jingli from the Silver Desk, right? I have heard of your name for a long time."

Shen Lu frowned and asked, "How do you know me?"

Xu Gong said: "You are an official in the court. Although you act low-key, you are well-known. Many people in the capital want to meet you, but unfortunately they have no way to meet you."

"Then... why did you come to give gifts? Is it related to the prince's selection of a concubine?" Shen Lu was already feeling a little uneasy, and he asked immediately after hearing this.

Xu Gong looked at Zhang Luan and said, "We have known Master Zhang for a long time. When we were in Xingji, we saw with our own eyes that Master Zhang came out to save the world and save the people from the plague. Everyone in our company admired him very much. We sent him daily expenses more than once or twice, purely to express our respect."

"correct."

Zhang Luan smiled and said, "You have many misunderstandings, Ruxue. What do they know about the prince's selection of concubines? Huizhou merchants are very trustworthy. I helped them in the past, right?"

Xu Gong was stunned. When did you help us?
But he understood that this was just a topic and he had to go along with it, so he smiled and nodded: "That's right."

"look."

Zhang Luan smiled, meaning, "Don't hinder my plan to get rich anymore."

I will accept this gift today no matter what.

Shen Lu was quite helpless and shook his head, saying, "Let's do this first. Let's go in and talk. I have something important to tell you."

"This……"

Zhang Luan was just about to have a good talk with Xu Gong, but Shen Lu couldn't help but pull him in to inquire about the situation of his niece Zhang Yu.

Xu Gong was quite tactful and said with a smile: "Master Zhang, do you want to bring him into the mansion and use him as you please, or should I place him in a separate courtyard outside the city first?

"These people know the way to the other courtyard. The carriage outside the gate will be exclusively for your use. You can take it out of the city at any time. My boss also said that we were too rushed to prepare gifts before the New Year, so we didn't think it through in detail. I will make up for it later."

"besides?"

When Zhang Luan heard this, he thought it was really strange.

Not only did he give her a house, servants, and silks and satins, but he even said that there wasn't enough time to prepare them and that he would send more later... He was too enthusiastic.

Xu Gong said: "My boss admires Mr. Zhang the most. Huizhou has also started to grow medicine to prevent and treat smallpox. All this is thanks to Mr. Zhang's miraculous healing skills. It can be regarded as a reward from the merchants of Huizhou to you."

"Ruxue, look how enthusiastic the merchants from Huizhou are. I feel a little embarrassed." Zhang Luan finally felt that he had shown his face in front of his brother-in-law.

Shen Lu said anxiously: "Let's go in and talk."

Zhang Luan then waved his hand and said, "Then send the person to the courtyard outside the city first. I will go over to take a look today and tomorrow when I have time."

Xu Gong handed over a wooden box, opened it and showed it to Zhang Luan: "This is the land and house contract, as well as the personal contract, etc. Please accept it."

"it is good."

Zhang Luan took it without hesitation.

The seventh update is here! Today's update is over. I'm begging for subscriptions and monthly tickets! Please support me, thank you very much!



(End of this chapter)