Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 365: Snuggling for Warmth
Wenhua Hall.

That afternoon, Zhu Youtang was still listening to Liu Ji talking about state affairs. They were all trivial reports from local officials, and there was no suggestion on how to deal with them. It was like a unilateral declaration to let Zhu Youtang know what had happened.

Of course, Liu Ji had no intention of asking Zhu Youtang for his opinion.

There were no other lecturers from the Eastern Palace present, only Tan Ji was standing aside and listening.

The most focused person in the whole audience was Zhu Youtang, because he wanted to share the worries of his old father and do things for the court. Unfortunately, what Liu Ji was saying to him was not intended for him to understand at all.

"Your Highness, His Majesty has previously issued an order for you to come here to discuss state affairs on the third, sixth, and ninth days of every ten days. Now we need to change that. After all, summer is over and it's almost autumn, so your studies will become much busier. So from now on, you will come here on the second and sixteenth day of every month, from morning to afternoon, one day at a time."

Liu Ji finally informed Zhu Youtang.

Zhu Youtang was a little unhappy and asked, "To finish a month's work in two days, isn't it... too tight? If there is urgent government affairs, is there a possibility of delay?"

Liu Ji smiled and said, "Your Highness, you are worrying too much. The affairs of the court are all handled by the relevant departments. You don't need to worry too much... You just need to know what happened in the court. If you ask too much, I'm afraid it will be difficult to report to His Majesty."

"Why?"

Zhu Youtang asked curiously.

As the crown prince, he naively questioned why he couldn't listen more and ask more questions. Liu Ji could only smile and remain silent.

In Liu Ji's opinion, maybe the emperor felt that the prince did not understand anything from attending court sessions, so he decided to let him attend only twice a month. Or maybe the emperor felt that the prince was incompetent and planned to remove him from the position of crown prince.

In short, Liu Ji felt that the prince in front of him probably posed no real threat.

Unexpectedly, before Liu Ji left the palace gate, Wei Tai came to convey his imperial decree.

When Liu Ji saw Wei Tai, he stepped forward and bowed: "Eunuch Wei, are you here to discuss court affairs with the Crown Prince? I have finished my lecture today and I am about to leave. You should leave as well."

"hehe."

When Wei Tai saw Liu Ji, he felt disgusted for some reason.

In his opinion, the downfall of Qin Chang was due to the conspiracy of Liu Ji and Wan An, and now the cabinet seemed to be riding on the head of the Silijian... As the prime minister, he had the power to approve documents, and in theory he could suppress these two cabinet ministers. But who made the Silijian lose Huai En? Now even Qin Chang was idle by the emperor, resulting in the new Wei Tai having a low sense of presence and not being respected by the civil servants?
"Lord Liu, are you going to leave the palace? Please go in!"

Wei Tai returned the greeting respectfully, but showed no intention of moving.

Liu Ji looked at Wei Tai in surprise, and Wei Tai smiled in response.

Liu Ji immediately shook his head and left, but his heart was full of confusion.

……

……

After Liu Ji walked away, Wei Tai hurried into the Wenhua Hall. At this time, Zhu Youtang was organizing the manuscripts.

In order to ensure that he could better understand the affairs of the court, Zhu Youtang had the good habit of taking notes. However, because Liu Ji had said a lot of things before and they were very complicated and unrealistic, what he recorded was intermittent. He didn't understand many things in the first place, and after taking notes, he could not understand them even more.

"His Royal Highness."

Wei Tai walked over and bowed respectfully.

Zhu Youtang greeted with a smile: "Is this Wei Daban? Mr. Liu has already left. Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

Wei Tai said, "Your Majesty has ordered that you leave the palace for something... You need to follow his orders and complete the task in the next few days... After that, I will go to see the Minister of Revenue, Li Min, and inform him of Your Majesty's decision."

"what's up?"

Zhu Youtang seemed very confused.

Why does it feel like today's hearings are a little different from before?
Delegating tasks?

Wei Tai nodded to Qin Ji.

Qin Ji wanted to leave tactfully, but before he could turn around, Wei Tai continued, "It's the Tongzhou warehouse deficit case. I heard that the Crown Prince mentioned it in front of Elder Liu. Later, the two elders reported it to the Crown Prince here, asking him to investigate the matter strictly."

"It seems... that's what happened. At that time, I said that we should investigate it in detail and report the results to Father, but I never said that I would investigate it myself... I am not qualified to make such a decision."

Zhu Youtang explained patiently.

Wei Tai said, "This time, His Majesty asked you to investigate. To make things easier, Minister Li of the Ministry of Revenue will cooperate with you. If you have any questions, you can consult with two of the lecturers in the Eastern Palace. And... your father-in-law, Zhang Taichang, you can also go to his house for advice if you have any questions."

Zhu Youtang stood up suddenly and asked, "Is this matter serious?"

Wei Tai smiled and said, "It is a bit serious, and it has reached the point where a thorough investigation is necessary. However, the details are up to you, the prince, to find the answer yourself, and I cannot say anything.

"In order to make it easier for you to do your work, His Majesty has specially arranged for the Jinyiwei to assist you."

Zhu Youtang asked: "How should we check it?"

"I'm not sure about this. If the Crown Prince has any questions, he can ask the lecturer of the Eastern Palace, or Zhang Taichang and others, or consult with people around him."

Wei Tai was reluctant to explain it too clearly.

Because Wei Tai knew that two cabinet ministers, Wan'an and Liu Ji, were involved in this matter. If the two knew that the prince was going to investigate the case personally, they would definitely find ways to make trouble for the prince.

Wei Tai doesn't want to get too involved.

Zhu Youtang asked: "Then...did the emperor set a deadline for me?"

Wei Tai shook his head and said, "No, I just said, get it done as soon as possible."

"Oh."

Zhu Youtang pondered for a moment and asked, "Any other arrangements?"

"Anything else..."

Wei Tailue thought about it and shook his head, "I don't know either. For all matters, please find someone to discuss and solve them yourself, Your Highness."...

……

Zhu Youtang accepted the task without knowing why.

When he returned to Duanjing Palace and told his wife what happened, he began to pour out his bitterness: "Yu'er, what do you think father meant?
"As for the Tongzhou warehouse matter, your father mentioned it to me in a letter, and I went to ask Elder Liu... I didn't bring up this case on purpose."

Zhang Yu comforted him, "Father asked you to go out of the palace to investigate the case. This is a sign of trust in you. Why are you still so depressed? Shouldn't you be happy that you have something to do?"

"But I don't know anything!"

Zhu Youtang seemed very aggrieved and explained, "What exactly is the case about? Is it related to the deficit of Tongzhou Warehouse? Is it a miscalculation or someone embezzled money? Or is it due to some other reasons that led to the deficit... I don't know anything about these situations. How can I find out?"

Zhang Yu nodded and asked, "You feel a headache because you don't know anything about the matter, right?"

"That's probably it."

Zhu Youtang was unhappy.

Zhang Yu said: "I think this is actually quite good... Don't you think that as the crown prince, you should be exposed to more practical work like this?

"Originally, the court affairs were all reported unilaterally by the people below. What they said was the truth. If we don't check it out, how can we find out?

"Do you think that if you don't know the truth behind this, then Father will definitely know it?"

"That... seems to be true."

Zhu Youtang's mood instantly improved a lot, and he said seriously: "Perhaps it is because my father doesn't know either, so he asked me to investigate."

"Isn't that right? What you are about to do is actually what the emperor wants to do. It's just that the emperor's health doesn't allow it, so he gave it to you to do. Why are you still complaining? Don't you feel that you have failed the emperor's trust in you?"

Zhang Yu knew how to comfort her husband.

She was smart and knew that her husband was a filial son. It would be disadvantageous for her to slander her father-in-law in front of her husband.

In the short term, her husband may stand on her side, but after all, he is deeply influenced by the ideas of loyalty and filial piety. Especially as a traditional man, no matter how good he is to her, he will not be able to accept her unfaithful and unfilial remarks in the end.

In this case, it is better to do the opposite and cater to your husband in everything. Even when looking for excuses to do things, try to stick to the principles of loyalty and filial piety. This way you can achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Zhu Youtang asked: "Then what should I do?"

"I am in the inner palace, how can I know?"

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "You should ask my father... He was the one who brought up this matter, so he should know the answer very well...

"I was originally very confused. Why did someone report this matter to the court not long after my father told you about it? It even made a big fuss... Was it you who arranged this?"

Zhu Youtang shook his head like a rattle, "It wasn't me. I don't know who did it."

Zhang Yu understood and said, "I understand. Someone must be secretly helping you... That person is most likely my father."

Zhu Youtang suddenly realized: "No wonder, when Wei Daban came to talk to me, he specifically mentioned that I could ask your father if I had any questions. So this is the reason... Then I will leave the palace tomorrow and ask my father-in-law in person."

"Yeah."

Zhang Yu was very happy when he heard this. "Ask my father, so that he can help you arrange the whole thing properly... You can share the worries of the emperor and make sure that the treacherous officials in the court have nowhere to hide. What a good thing."

Zhu Youtang said, "Do you think this is a good idea? Will it... implicate your father? I mean, is there any interest involved behind this matter? Don't let it be like the past, with much noise but little action. And those powerful guys hiding in the dark may take revenge on your father!"

"Ah... this... shouldn't be... right?"

Zhang Yu said uncertainly, "The emperor ordered you to do something, and asked you to do it yourself. How dare they attack my father? Besides, you just asked my father for advice, not for him to rush to do things for you. Others may not know that the person who gave you advice was my father."

"Oh."

Zhu Youtang nodded silently, as if he was inspired and educated.

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Well, let me give you an idea. You can go find my second brother Yanling tomorrow. He has the most ideas.

"Normally when you bring a kid with you, people won't think you are discussing things with him, but in fact, my second brother is definitely as smart as my father, in fact..."

There are some things that Zhang Yu is embarrassed to say.

Because what she wanted to say was even far above her old father.

But after all, her husband now has high expectations of her father. If she speaks too bluntly, it may dampen her husband's enthusiasm for work and make him doubt who is in charge of the Zhang family.

Zhu Youtang said, "Okay, I'll do whatever you say. Do you want to write a note for me to take back?"

"no need."

Zhang Yu seemed to be in low spirits. "It's been very hot these past two days. I don't want to move at all. I don't want to do anything."

Zhu Youtang said, "Then I'll have someone bring you some more ice from the cellar to cool you down."

"Ah."

Zhang Yu said, "Thank you."

"You and I are husband and wife, how can we talk? Actually, I am not afraid of summer at all, because I don't feel hot, but winter is unbearable... I am very afraid of the cold."

Zhu Youtang was a down-to-earth man and showed his true situation to his wife without any concealment.

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "It's okay. I'm here with you. You don't have to be afraid of the cold. We can snuggle up to each other for warmth and get through this hard time together..."

(End of this chapter)