Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 328: Being in the Game

Zhang Mansion.

Qin Yun handed over the envelope-like gift that Zhu Ji had asked him to give to Zhang Luan.

Zhang Luan was about to open it to take a look, but Zhang Yanling held his hand.

"Dad, no reward without merit. Why should Commander Zhu give us a gift? Don't even look at it. Just return it directly." Zhang Yanling advised.

Zhang Luan returned the item to Qin Yun without a second thought and shook his head, saying, "I'm not going to take it."

Qin Yun said in embarrassment: "I am here on orders. I hope you, Lord Zhang, will not make it difficult for me. This is just a small reward from Commander Zhu to thank you.

"It's probably because you helped Commander Zhu in the previous hunt for the missing Jing army, and he just wanted to express his gratitude."

Zhang Luan glanced at his son and asked, "Destroy the Jing Army? What is that?"

Zhang Yanling was also somewhat bewildered: "My father had no idea about this matter."

"It is said that the Crown Prince once mentioned this during a hearing at the Wenhua Palace, helping Governor Zhu to avoid punishment. Governor Zhu may have thought that the Crown Prince would not help without reason, and he must have been influenced by you, Lord Zhang."

Qin Yun explained patiently.

Zhang Luan said with a smile: "I didn't do anything, and you're giving me a gift? After hearing what you said, I can't accept it... This matter has nothing to do with me at all."

Qin Yun begged, "Master Zhang, please accept it."

"This one……"

Zhang Luan couldn't help but look at his son.

Obviously, accepting gifts has always been Lao Zhang's dream. Any ordinary citizen would have such a mentality of becoming an official and getting rich.

Seeing that Qin Yun was determined, Zhang Yanling didn't want to go too far, so he said, "Then Dad, please open it and take a look. If it's too valuable, we won't accept it."

"it is good."

Zhang Luan finally couldn't help it and opened the envelope. When he saw what was inside, the expectation on his face suddenly turned into embarrassment.

It looks like a letter, and when you open it it is really just a letter.

However, this letter had no heading, which meant that no names were mentioned, and there was a lot of text on it. Punctuation marks were not popular in that era, and only Zhang Yanling, a freak, intentionally used them when writing stories and plays. Both the prince and the emperor were a little uncomfortable at first, but soon found that it was too convenient to read. Later, they had some difficulty reading other books. Now all the words on the letter were mixed together, and Zhang Luan seemed to have a headache.

"My son, please take a look at what this means."

Zhang Luan asked in confusion, "Is this a gift list? It doesn't look like one!"

Zhang Yanling took it and looked at it, then nodded and said, "It is indeed a gift list, and it is a generous gift."

Qin Yun, who was standing next to him, came forward to take a look, also with a puzzled look on his face. Given his cautiousness, he should have left at this moment, lest the Zhang family think he had ulterior motives. But driven by curiosity, he just wanted to find out the truth.

"These are the confessions and evidence of several people involved in the Liang Fang case who were previously seized. After their property was confiscated, it was bought at a low price. Commander Zhu is going to give part of it to you, father."

Zhang Yanling explained.

"is it?"

Zhang Luan couldn't help but wanted to take the thick stack of letter papers and take another look at it, but Zhang Yanling blocked his way with his hand.

Zhang Yanling frowned and asked, "Dad, don't you believe me?"

Zhang Luan asked: "What's going on?"

As he spoke, Zhang Luan glanced at Qin Yun, meaning, Son, is it because Qin Yun is beside you that it is inconvenient for you to explain too clearly?

Zhang Yanling sighed, "Isn't this obvious? When Liang Fang fell, so did those people who worked for him in the capital.

"Liang Fang couldn't even keep his own property. The land under his name, which was originally awarded to him by His Majesty and Concubine Wan, and bought with his own savings, are now directly under the management of the imperial farm. If Liang Fang is like this, what do you think will happen to the people he protects?"

"Correct."

Zhang Luan nodded and asked, "What does Commander Zhu's gift have to do with this matter?"

Zhang Yanling said: "The property of Liang Fang and Wei Xing had a clear destination and ownership, and there were not many places where they dared to tamper with it. However, the two had too many followers, and there were many confusions in the confiscation and distribution of their property. And this is precisely the biggest flaw in this case involving money and property."

"Oh."

Zhang Luan seemed to understand but not quite, but he could only pretend to understand.

Zhang Yanling tilted his head and asked, "Captain Tan, do you know the inside story?"

Qin Yun thought for a moment and replied, "I am not involved in this matter and don't know much, but it is said that many industries have been acquired by dignitaries at low prices."

“That’s what I mean.”

Zhang Yanling shook his head and said, "In general, the money of the corrupt officials went to the court and was shared by the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Treasury; while the property of their followers was obtained by the people handling the case.

"Some people who got involved will also get a share. The gifts on the list are probably what Commander Zhu gave to your father."

"What?"

Zhang Luan asked, "Why is there still something for me?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Who made us participate in the whole process of Liang Fang's downfall? If you don't receive anything from me, and you start a dispute with Commander Zhu in the future, how will he explain it?"

When Qin Yun heard this, he understood what was going on and quickly persuaded him, "Master Zhang, if that's the case, you must accept this gift.

"You don't have to worry about anyone investigating, because most of Liang Fang's followers are wealthy families in the capital, or people who work for them. They rely on Liang Fang, a towering tree, to survive. If Liang Fang falls, no one will stand up for them. And this does not involve corruption or abuse of power, so you can take it with peace of mind."

Zhang Yanling also advised: "Dad, Captain Tan is right. It would be a waste if you don't accept this gift. If you accept it, no one will say anything."

Liang Fang fell, and all of Liang Fang's white gloves and brokers were liquidated by the Jinyiwei. Their properties were directly confiscated and then packaged and sold.

Then a lot of people became rich.

Zhang Luan couldn't help swallowing his saliva and asked, "How much is that? Is it really okay if I accept it?"

Zhang Yanling smiled coldly and said, "Even if we shouldn't touch these things, or even if our family doesn't lack these things, I would like to ask Dad, whether you accept these things or not, will it affect the overall situation? Or, if you want to do something, what can you do?"

"what?"

Zhang Luan was speechless. He didn't even know where the money came from. His son's question was far beyond his scope.

Qin Yun said firmly: "Master Zhang, I will not return this gift for you no matter what."

"That's fine."

Zhang Luan was relieved. Since his son agreed and Qin Yun insisted, he instantly lost his psychological burden. His nature of wanting to take advantage took over, and he immediately said with a smile, "I'll take it first and see what good stuff it has... By the way, we need to go get it ourselves later, right?"

"Ah."

Zhang Yanling nodded and said, "It involves land and houses, as well as slaves and valuables, and most of the gifts are real estate... Oh, that is, land and houses, which are things that cannot be moved. As for the rest, I guess Commander Zhu will send someone to deliver it later."

"Oh, that's fine, Captain Qin, I'll trouble you with everything."

Zhang Luan said with a smile.

Qin Yun quickly cupped his hands: "These are what a villain should do."

At this time, Qin Yun finally understood why Zhu Ji treated him as his own.

Because he can communicate directly with the Zhang family and even come to the Zhang family to give gifts... and he, Qin Yun, has the internal minister Qin Chang as his backer, and many things cannot be brought to the surface. Only a "second-generation official" with a very deep background like him is qualified to do such a thing.

Zhu Ji would never tell these things to ordinary people who came from the Jinyiwei.

Qin Yun finally realized that asking him to interrogate the criminals and helping him to make money were actually all to "make things convenient" for him.

……

……

Tan Yun left.

Zhang Luan took his son to the study, closed the door, and went to the window to look out, like a thief.

"Son, what do you think? Should we accept this?"

Zhang Luan asked nervously.

Zhang Yanling nodded affirmatively: "Yes, why not?"

Zhang Luan felt relieved and asked expectantly, "Are you sure you're not being sarcastic?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and asked, "Dad, why do you say that?"

"Tsk tsk, that's what I think... You always consider the overall situation when doing things. Whenever you encounter something that only involves a little bit of immediate profit, you will definitely oppose it, and you always have your reasons...

"I feel there is something evil about this matter. Why does your father feel that we are in cahoots with them? There is no such thing as a wall that is impenetrable. What if it is exposed in the future?"

Zhang Luan said with emotion.

Zhang Yanling nodded in praise: "Dad, you have made progress."

Zhang Luan laughed and said, "So you are just pretending in front of Qin Yun, right? I was wondering, why would you be interested in such a small favor?"

"Dad, you are wrong. We must accept this gift."

Zhang Yanling said confidently.

"What?"

Zhang Luan’s smile froze there.

"Then, Dad, do you know how many people are sharing the spoils this time? What are their backgrounds? And how much silver did they share? And what is their status in the court? What is their opinion on this matter? If you don't accept it, don't you worry that someone will make things difficult for you in the future?"

Zhang Yanling asked rapidly.

"..."

Zhang Luan was completely speechless.

Zhang Yanling added, "As the saying goes, it is easy to dodge an open spear but hard to guard against an arrow from the dark. We can fight Liang Fang back and forth because he is in the open and we are in the dark. But if you insist on not taking it, it is equivalent to making enemies with a group of people hiding in the dark. If they want to hurt you with a hidden arrow, how can you avoid it?"

Zhang Luan smiled bitterly and said, "I just don't accept gifts, and I won't expose them. Why should I make things difficult for them? Besides, didn't Tan Yun say so? What's the point of me exposing them? It's not Liang Fang and Wei Xing's property. Is there anyone who will take care of these unfortunate people?"

"Oh, Dad, you have answered all the possible questions yourself..."

Zhang Yanling said, "Since you know there is no problem behind it, why don't you take it? What would those people who made a fortune hiding in the dark think if they heard about it? Would they think that you were planning to wait for the prince to gain power in the future and find an opportunity to settle accounts with them?"

"This one……"

Zhang Luan didn't know how to respond.

Zhang Yanling sighed, "It seems that this Jinyiwei commander Zhu Ji is not a good person!"

Zhang Luan laughed and said, "He is the commander of the Jinyiwei, a lackey of the emperor. How can he be a good person? Do you think you can easily control the commander of the Jinyiwei? He has the power given by the emperor. It is as easy for him to control your father as an ant."

"Haha." Zhang Yanling laughed, "Dad, you are no longer a commoner. Don't always look at things with the mentality of ordinary people."

Zhang Luan asked, "If you think it's inappropriate, we can accept the gift and send it to the crown prince. Let the crown prince give it to His Majesty and let His Majesty know that someone has embezzled a large amount of his property... I can still do this."

Zhang Yanling asked, "Dad, are you ready to fight them to the end?"

"I... I am listening to you, right? You don't have to worry. The worst that can happen is death. I have let it go. I am the father of the Crown Princess. Who should I be afraid of?"

Zhang Luan looked righteous.

"Okay, Dad, stop talking about this."

Zhang Yanling said, "This is Zhu Ji's gift to you for bringing down Liang Fang. Now is not the time to settle accounts with them. We need to investigate the mastermind behind the invisibility, and I think it has nothing to do with Li Zisheng."

"I also don't think it was Li Zisheng who did it."

Zhang Luan nodded and said, "But how could Li Zi Province not get any benefits? They gave it all to me, how could they not give it to Li Zi Province? Who would believe that?"

Zhang Yanling said: "Now is the time to share the spoils. Even if we know there is something wrong with this matter, we are in the middle of it and there is nothing we can do. After all, we are powerless people."

(End of this chapter)