Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 370 Only Believe in Yourself

Zhu Youtang went out for a walk and gained nothing, so he returned to the palace.

It's not that he doesn't want to do anything, but he has too little power. His father-in-law, whom he originally had to rely on, told him that this case was not for the purpose of clarifying it but to make Wan'an and Liu Ji anxious. He told him that there were many things he didn't need to do and he just had to wait for Wan'an and Liu Ji to make mistakes on their own.

This made him feel even more confused, so he hurried home to complain to his wife and tell her about his doubts.

At sunset that afternoon, a special guest came to the residence of Sun Ren, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue in the capital. It was Liu Ji, who came with a death warrant.

This was his third visit recently, but he was not allowed to enter the mansion the first two times.

This time he came with a lot of people, as if to say, "Even if you don't want to die, I will send you away."

After all, Sun Ren's mansion was not very powerful. After Liu Ji's coercion and inducement, the doorman opened the door and welcomed people to Sun Ren's study. He saw Sun Ren sitting there reading a book with a sick look, but in good spirits.

"Shirong, you really make it so hard for me to find you. I came to your door, but now it's harder than climbing to the sky?" Liu Ji was very annoyed.

When he talked about this matter with Wan'an before, he thought that Sun Ren had complicated a simple issue.

Originally, Sun Ren wanted to take advantage of the emperor's retreat and die, and the matter would come to an abrupt end. He could also trap the prince. But because it was delayed for a whole night, the emperor came out of the Taoist temple. Sun Ren felt that he had found a way to survive, and suddenly he didn't want to die anymore.

This is why the emperor now asked the prince to investigate the case.

Sun Ren said, "Lord Liu, it's not that I...meant to stop you, it's because I'm seriously ill and I'm really unable to meet you."

Liu Ji said angrily, "I came to see you, just let me enter your house, you don't need to move, what do you mean you are powerless? Let me ask you, have you thought about what I told you last time? This time I am afraid you have some concerns, so I came to ask you in person and saved your face."

As he spoke, Liu Ji took out a porcelain bottle from his arms and placed it directly on the table.

Although Sun Ren didn't know what was inside, he felt it was poison, but he still thought Liu Ji might be trying to scare him.

As a senior minister, he gave poison to a minister and asked him to commit suicide?

This matter is too bizarre. If he reports the matter himself, how will Liu Ji end up?
Sun Ren was obviously very afraid of death, and hurriedly explained: "Lord Liu, you see, this is it, when His Majesty was not in the court, the case was exposed, I could have died, and His Majesty would not have sent anyone to investigate. But now, His Majesty has returned to the court and asked the prince to investigate the case. It would be useless for me to die now."

"Why can't it help?"

Liu Ji said angrily, "Once you've passed away, this case will become a mystery. Your Majesty still has the nerve to investigate you? Do you think that if Your Majesty really wants to investigate, he won't be able to find out what's wrong with you? Now everyone in the Ministry of Revenue is like a frightened bird, waiting for you to give them a message. Your death is the best message."

"me……"

When Sun Ren suddenly learned that the large-scale deficit in Tongzhou Warehouse had been exposed, he was frightened and worried that his family would be implicated, so when Liu Ji came to his house and asked him to die, he chose to accept it unconditionally.

But after calming down, he looked at the whole situation and found that although he was the host, he was not the initiator of the incident. No matter how to say it, this matter of death should not fall on him. Why did no one die but me? Just because I was sick at home, no one would suspect that I died?
Liu Ji said, "It seems that you are still holding on to your luck, so I have to reveal one thing... Earlier today, the commander of the Jinyiwei sent someone to my house to tell me that His Majesty has ordered you to be taken to the Imperial Prison and tortured severely."

"what?"

Sun Ren was surprised.

But no matter how surprised he was, he still felt that Liu Ji was trying to scare him so that he would end his life sooner.

Liu Ji continued, "This case was caused by the crown prince. Now the crown prince wants to take advantage of it. His Majesty has agreed to let him take over the case. Once you are taken to the imperial prison, you will suffer much more than you have now. By then, it is very likely that you will not be able to protect your family. Your wife, children, and even your students and friends who once respected you will be disgraced because of you."

"I……"

When Sun Ren heard this, his expression was somewhat sad.

These officials are relatively careful about their reputation.

"Lord Liu, although I was involved in many things, I am definitely not a corrupt official... Look at my family background, and you will know that my life in the capital is also very difficult."

Sun Ren said with a bitter face, "I have never bought a new official uniform since I became the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. If I ask myself, I feel that I have done a good job for the court."

Liu Ji said with ill intentions, "You are not greedy, and neither are your nephews and grandchildren? The carriages they ride in when they go out, and the ancestral house and tomb they built for you in your hometown, and the family temple they built for you, so that you can be glorious, where do you think the money comes from?"

Sun Ren asked in surprise, "Wasn't that collected by the wise men and sages of my hometown?"

"You are so naive."

Liu Ji said, "You have been an official for so many years, you can't be unable to see through this, right? The silver is your share. Some of the money you refused to take was sent back to your hometown by others. Your sons and nephews all know what you did, and they even thanked me on your behalf."

"what?"

Only then did Sun Ren realize that it wasn't just Liu Ji and other high-ranking officials who wanted him dead.

Even his family members probably hope that he dies sooner rather than later, so that their descendants can stay out of this matter and avoid being implicated and convicted.

"There is one more thing I need to tell you... Do you think that the concubine you took in the first two years was willing to send her daughter to your house? Wasn't it because she received benefits and knew that you were a stubborn person, so she bribed her daughter to come and serve you in order to make you submit?" Liu Ji's favorite thing to do was to add insult to injury, and this time he exposed Sun Ren completely.

Sun Ren sat there, feeling as if his soul had been drained out of him.

Liu Ji said: "If you die, how many people can you save? There are many of your students and old friends in the Ministry of Revenue. You wanted to get rid of it through Li Zisheng before, but I think you are wasting your time! This time, it was actually Li Zisheng who was behind it. He is the one who wants you dead the most." "No, no."

Sun Ren has been denying it all the time.

"No? Why do you think the censors impeached you? Just because the prince mentioned this matter? How did they know about it? Now the prince is not only alone, but also has his father-in-law, who is unknown but very capable, Zhang Luan, who is now the Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

“This man is extremely cunning. He is currently treating Your Majesty and has gained Your Majesty’s trust. Therefore, he has helped the Crown Prince gain popularity and made Your Majesty look at the Crown Prince with new eyes.

"Liang Fang was expelled from the capital because of Zhang Luan. You think you have done things in a very secretive way, but you don't know that everything is part of his plan. If you still refuse to change your ways, you will be imprisoned tomorrow! No one can help you!"

Liu Ji said this, pushed the porcelain bottle on the table and said: "Although it can't be considered a fatal shot, it can still kill you silently within an hour. Use it, and then let your family tell others that you died of a serious illness, and no one will doubt it."

"what?"

If Sun Ren still had a desire to survive before, by now he had almost lost all hope and it seemed that he had no better choice than death.

……

……

At nightfall, Zhu Youtang finally rushed back to Duanjing Hall.

For a lonely boy like him, returning to a familiar place would make him feel at ease. The sense of familiarity after arriving home made his body feel light as if he was flying.

"very nice."

When Zhu Youtang thought about seeing his wife soon, he felt more expectant.

When he saw Zhang Yu, he quickly ran forward, ready to tell his wife everything he had seen and heard that day.

"Didn't you meet my father at noon? Why did you come back now?"

Zhang Yu was a little unhappy about her husband's late return.

As the prince's wife, she stays in the palace every day, guarding the four walls, just like being trapped in a birdcage, and you, as his husband, run away to enjoy yourself?

Zhu Youtang explained: "I just want to know more about the Ministry of Revenue. The officials of the Ministry of Revenue even accompanied me to meet the people from the Ministry of Revenue."

"Oh, is it so?"

Zhang Yu pouted and lowered his head in grievance.

Zhu Youtang said hurriedly: "Yu'er, it's not that I don't want to take you out of the palace this time, it's really... I have no choice. If there is a chance in the future, I will definitely take you out for a walk... Don't be sad, okay?"

This is what a wife-doting man is like!

Qin Jiben followed them in and wanted to ask Zhu Youtang about dinner arrangements, but seeing the young couple in such a state, he quickly turned around and pretended to be confused, as if he had seen nothing.

"alright."

Zhang Yu thought about it and felt that it was unlikely that her husband would go out to fool around. Seeing that her husband cared so much about her, she felt relieved and said with a smile, "Then tell me, what did my father say? Have you seen my second brother Yanling?"

"I met him first, and then my father-in-law. But what Yanling said... I cannot agree with it." Zhu Youtang said.

Zhang Yu rolled his eyes at him and asked, "If you don't agree with him, why do you still want to see him?"

Zhu Youtang said helplessly, "He came first on behalf of your father, and Heling as well. I didn't expect that they would take the initiative to come and see me. Yanling said that the culprits of all this are Wan'an and Liu Ji. They will do anything to achieve their goals. They also said that they will use some shady methods to kill this matter in the cradle."

"no problem."

Zhang Yu said, "I think what Yanling said makes sense. If you go check Wan'an and the others, they will definitely try every means to cover up the matter. What's wrong with that? What do you disagree with?"

Zhu Youtang explained: "I always feel that he has a deep misunderstanding of Lord Wan and Lord Liu. How could he think that the ministers of the Ming Dynasty would be so unbearable?"

Zhang Yu was surprised and said, "Oh, my prince, didn't you ask Mrs. Qin before, and know what kind of people these two are? Why are you still speaking for them now?"

"I...I...I don't know either."

Zhu Youtang lowered his head and said with shame, "I... I just feel that I shouldn't make malicious assumptions about others... After all, they have helped me before. After all, they gave me a lot of guidance when I was hearing cases in Wenhua Hall before."

Zhang Yu did not answer, but said to Qin Ji who was standing at the door: "My dear Qin, you heard it. The prince neither believes you nor my brother Yanling. He only believes in his own feelings... What do you think?"

"This……"

Qin Jin hesitated and didn't know what to say. After a long while, he said, "The prince may have his reasons. Let's wait and see what happens next!"

Zhang Yu shook his head, looked at the prince with an angry look, and then said, "Prepare dinner. Anyway, this matter is not urgent. Everything will be clear when the time comes."

(End of this chapter)