Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 372 Who is sincere?

Zhang Luan followed Li Zisheng out of the palace.

"Minister Li, is everything okay? The prince said that I met with him. Does Your Majesty have any grudges about this?" Zhang Luan asked worriedly when they were almost at the palace gate.

Li Zisheng smiled and replied, "It's okay, Your Majesty may have a little more appreciation for the Crown Prince."

"what?"

Zhang Luan was shocked and asked, "Is it because Sun Ren died and the prince spoke for him? Or... because the prince said he wanted to communicate with me? I... I don't understand."

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "Your Majesty used to be most worried that the Crown Prince was too honest and simple-minded. Today, I helped you and the Crown Prince in front of Your Majesty. I told Your Majesty the truth about your previous conversation with me."

"That...that..."

Zhang Luan became even more nervous.

I was so annoyed. Why should I be so honest?

Why did I tell Li Zisheng the truth whenever he asked me something?
If I had known that he was so loose-lipped, no different from the crown prince, with no principles at all in front of the emperor, I should have been more careful about him.

I actually thought that I was on the same page with him in protecting the crown prince's position and fighting against Wan'an and Liu Ji!
Li Zisheng saw Zhang Luan's uncertain expression and quickly explained, "I didn't mean to leak our conversation, but because Your Majesty is also very curious whether the Crown Prince knows that the people standing behind Sun Ren are Wan An and Liu Ji, and whether he knows that this person is guilty."

Zhang Luan thought about it and nodded, "After listening to what Minister Li said, I feel that the prince is quite cunning in this matter. He knew that Sun Ren's death was unusual, but he kept it secret. There is a lot to say about this."

"Isn't that what it is?"

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "This makes Your Majesty feel that the prince has grown up and has made a good impression on Your Majesty. You should thank me."

"Yes, yes... and no."

Zhang Luan agreed at first, then denied it, "I really don't want to get too involved in the Crown Prince's affairs, but this is what His Majesty ordered in advance, so I have to take care of it."

"Don't do those empty things. Lai Zhan, His Majesty asked you to help the prince wholeheartedly, so you should do your best. You are the prince's father-in-law, and the friendship between father-in-law and son-in-law is a part of human ethics. It may be inappropriate for others to help the prince, but it is absolutely natural for you to help the prince. Even His Majesty can't find any fault with it!"

Li Zisheng is still encouraging Zhang Luan.

Zhang Luan nodded but was thinking, it's fine that you used me as a gun in order to bring down Wan'an and Liu Ji, but you can't even maintain basic confidentiality among allies, how can I trust you?

……

……

Zhu Youtang returned to Duanjing Hall in a somewhat dazed state.

After coming back, he sat there, seemingly having forgotten that he would be ordered to leave the palace later.

"what happened?"

Zhang Yu asked curiously, "Aren't you going to class?"

Zhu Youtang looked at his wife and asked with a bitter face: "Yu'er, am I too useless?"

Zhang Yu was a little puzzled. She rolled her eyes at her husband and said, "You are the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty. You have a famous teacher to teach you, and there are so many people to assist you. How can you be a failure?"

"I……"

Zhu Youtang seemed very ashamed and said, "In fact, your father and Yanling told me to be vigilant against the evil in the court. Even my wife told me clearly that Wan'an and Liu Ji were notorious, but I still believed that they were good people."

Zhang Yu asked in confusion: "What's wrong with you? Whether they are good people or not is none of your business. You don't need to blame yourself so much, do you?"

Zhu Youtang sighed, "But what they did was too much. Sun Ren, the person I was planning to meet today, suddenly died last night."

"died?"

Zhang Yu asked in surprise, "Who is Sun Ren?"

"He is the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Yanling told me that if we want to get started, we must first find a way through this person, because Sun Ren was promoted from the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue to the Left Vice Minister. He must know the inside story and is the key link between the upper and lower levels. If the people in the cabinet get rid of him, there will be no evidence, and both the upper and lower levels will be safe. I...at that time, I thought Yanling was exaggerating."

Zhu Youtang said with a bitter face.

Zhang Yu asked, "Did my second brother tell you this? He said someone would kill Sun Ren?"

"No, Yanling didn't say it so directly, but that's how I understood it... He seemed to be saying that if there was no Sun Ren, many things would never be clear. I didn't expect that he was right."

Zhu Youtang looked very depressed.

He also felt a sense of guilt, as if he had killed Sun Ren.

Zhang Yu's brows relaxed when he heard this, and he said as a matter of course: "Since Yanling is right, then you should continue to listen to him. Prince, do you still want to continue to handle this case?"

"Ah."

Zhu Youtang nodded.

"Since we are going to continue investigating the case, we should listen more to Yanling. I don't know what's in this kid's head. He has one bizarre idea after another, but everyone in our family thinks what he says is very insightful. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here... After all, he is the matchmaker between the two of us."

Zhang Yu said with a smile.

Zhu Youtang nodded heavily: "You are right, I will listen to him from now on. He was able to predict Sun Ren's sudden death in advance, he is really amazing. But before that, I still need to listen to the opinions of Mr. Xie and Mr. Liu."

"them……"

Zhang Yu was a little speechless.

I thought to myself that my husband is simply not the type to learn from his mistakes.

Apart from my family members who will help him wholeheartedly, how can the ministers in the court be open-hearted with him?

"never mind."

Zhang Yu said, "You can ask if you want, but even I can guess that they probably don't have any good ideas. I guess they won't even tell you who to investigate. Let's wait and see if you don't believe me."

……

……

Wenhua Hall. Zhu Youtang came with Tan Ji and met Liu Jian and Xie Qian who were waiting there.

Zhu Youtang still had great trust in his two teachers, because in his past impression, these two were the most capable people in the world, saints who could achieve the ultimate in learning and dealing with people.

This is also the reason why he has to rely on these two people.

But after he told them the details about the Tongzhou warehouse, they both fell silent at the same time.

"Gentlemen, Sun Ren is dead... He died of a sudden illness last night. Do you think his death is too coincidental?"

Zhu Youtang couldn't help but think of the questions his old father asked him, so he interrogated his teacher again, wanting to see how he would answer the question.

Xie Qian said: "Minister Sun has been ill for a long time. He has been recuperating at home for the past few months. It is not surprising that he died of illness at this time."

Zhu Youtang was stunned.

Why does this sound so much like what I would say?
"But... Mr. Xie, even if he had been ill for a long time, it wouldn't be such a coincidence that he died at this moment, right?" Zhu Youtang asked quickly.

Xie Qian was about to answer, but Liu Jian stopped him.

Liu Jian asked, "According to the Crown Prince, he died a violent death?"

"This one……"

Zhu Youtang frowned and said, "My father asked me, and my answer was exactly the same as what Mr. Xie said."

Xie Qian felt so aggrieved.

Good man, I have become as stupid and honest as the prince today. He doesn't know what's going on, but I pretend to be ignorant even though I know the truth...

In that case, I am not as good as the prince!

Liu Jian continued, "Minister Sun died at this time, perhaps because of his accumulated illness, or perhaps because he heard that Your Majesty had sent the Crown Prince to investigate the case, and he wanted to help the Crown Prince find out the truth of the case, and he got so angry that he suffered a tragedy."

"what!?"

Zhu Youtang's eyes widened.

I thought to myself, why do the two gentlemen say something different from Yanling?

Sun Ren is determined to help me get to the bottom of the case?
Didn’t Yanling say that Sun Ren was actually one of the main culprits in this case, the link between the upper and lower levels, and the powerful backer of the criminals?

Xie Qian asked, "Does the prince still have any doubts?"

"I……"

Zhu Youtang thought for a moment and asked again, "Gentlemen, where do you think I should start investigating this matter? Yesterday I met with Minister Li of the Ministry of Revenue, and he told me that there may be some shortages in the Tongzhou warehouse, but they are all within the controllable range. After all, there have been shortages before. Once the autumn grain is stored and the shortage is made up, everything will be fine."

Xie Qian said: "This is a matter of the Ministry of Revenue. If Minister Li says so, then it is probably true."

Zhu Youtang asked: "So I should trust Li Shangshu's character and even follow his arrangements and let him help me investigate the case?"

"This one……"

Xie Qian felt that the prince's question today was a bit unusual, and couldn't help but look at Liu Jian.

I mean, weren't you very insightful just now?
Besides, you are a higher official than me and have more experience than me, so you should be the one doing this deceptive thing.

Liu Jian asked, "Where does the prince plan to start?"

"Mr. Liu, it is precisely because I have no idea about this matter that I am asking you two for advice. I really have no idea."

Zhu Youtang said in embarrassment, "I don't even know where the Tongzhou granary is. No one has ever told me how much grain is stored in it. As for the reason for the deficit, I don't know either... How can I have any idea?"

Zhu Youtang also felt aggrieved at this moment.

I ask you, why do you ask me everything?

Who is helping whom?

Liu Jian shook his head and sighed, "I have served in the Hanlin Academy for a long time, and I don't know much about the affairs of the court."

"I know."

Zhu Youtang said, "I am not saying that you two gentlemen can find the answer to my question right away. I just want to share my father's worries. So I really want to know, even if we want to start an investigation, where should we start? This should not require experience in the Ministry of Revenue, right?"

Seeing Liu Jian fall silent, Xie Qian couldn't help but ask, "How about...Prince, let's start with the investigation in Taicang, the capital?"

"what!?"

Zhu Youtang was stunned for a while before he asked, "There was an incident in Tongzhou Warehouse, but I started the investigation in the capital. Is this appropriate?"

Xie Qian smiled and said, "No matter how things change, they still remain essentially the same... Since there is a problem with the Tongzhou warehouse, the same problem may also occur in Taicang. Your Highness the Crown Prince cannot go to Tongzhou in person, so we can start from Taicang and learn some experience in investigating cases. Isn't that great?"

"But……"

Zhu Youtang hesitated and said, "I feel that doing this is like looking for a sword on a boat."

"Uh...this..."

Xie Qian looked embarrassed.

Of course he knew it was wrong to do so.

But he had discussed with Liu Jian in advance that they should not be involved too much. After all, the relationships behind it were too big, and the cabinet had not given them clear instructions.

They were like headless flies, and they didn't even know who else was involved in the case besides Sun Ren, or how big the case was.

Zhu Youtang asked, "Then I should start with Sun Ren, is that ok?"

Xie Qian asked in surprise: "Didn't he die of illness?"

"He died of illness, but I think... we can still investigate." Zhu Youtang said, "I don't want to dig up the past, maybe he has some clues?"

(End of this chapter)