Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 373 I'm Not the Bad Guy

Zhu Youtang felt very tired talking to Xie Qian and Liu Jian. He clearly came there to seek advice, but in the end it seemed as if he was the one giving instructions to the two of them.

He couldn't help but wonder, is it because I asked the question in the wrong way? Did I cause the two gentlemen to misunderstand me?
Zhu Youtang is kind and has no ulterior motives. He unconsciously thinks the best of others.

But when he walked out of Wenhua Hall, he couldn't help but tell Qin Ji about his doubts.

"My dear, I'm afraid that the two gentlemen don't understand the content and significance of this matter... Otherwise, let them go with me to meet Minister Li of the Ministry of Revenue?"

Zhu Youtang asked inquiringly.

Qin Ji smiled bitterly and replied, "Prince, do you think they really want to go to the Ministry of Revenue to see Minister Li?"

Zhu Youtang asked in confusion: "Why don't you want to see him? We are all doing things, helping our father and serving the Ming court. Isn't this what a minister should do?"

Qin Ji said, "But... Prince, the job of the two lecturers in the Eastern Palace is never to check the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue. They only need to teach you knowledge and make you a promising ruler in the future. Isn't that right?"

"what?"

Zhu Youtang was surprised for a moment.

Then he nodded and asked sadly, "Then I was too rash. Asking them like that seemed too abrupt... I was wrong."

By this time, Qin Ji already felt that the young master was too kind.

Why should we leave the good things for others and keep the bad things for ourselves?
Even though Liu Jian and Xie Qian were clearly afraid of getting into trouble and didn't want to help, the prince still thought it was his fault?
……

……

Zhu Youtang is about to leave the palace.

However, before leaving the palace, he went back to see his wife.

It wasn't that he wanted to discuss something with Zhang Yu, but he was worried about his wife. He would feel sorry for her if he left the palace without going back to see her.

Although he would not go too far outside the palace and would just stroll around the capital, for him, that was a "far place" that he had never been to before.

"Have you met the two gentlemen?"

Zhang Yu asked with a shrewd look in his eyes.

"Ah."

Zhu Youtang nodded and said, "I will leave the palace now and won't be back at noon. You don't have to wait for me to have lunch."

Zhang Yu said, "The sooner you go, the sooner you will return. Oh, by the way, did the two gentlemen give you any advice?"

"I……"

Zhu Youtang didn't know what to say.

Zhang Yu rolled her eyes at him and said coquettishly, "You are still being coy. Did I guess right? Humph, they won't be open with you. They just do things perfunctorily, or even wait for you to do things for them and then sit back and enjoy the results."

Zhu Youtang asked in surprise: "Yu'er, how did you know that?"

"Ugh!"

Zhang Yu sighed, "My silly husband, don't you see that even if those ministers are close to you, they won't help you wholeheartedly... They are just doing their jobs in the court. Now that they know they have to fight against the powerful, how can they be willing to stand up for you?"

Zhu Youtang asked: "How did it become a fight between the powerful and the wealthy?"

"Isn't the target this time the cabinet minister? They are in the court, just like the prime minister of the previous dynasty... Let me ask you, who has a higher rank, the cabinet minister or you two gentlemen?" Zhang Yu asked.

"Well... of course the elder has a higher rank. Even the deceased Sun Ren was the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, a much higher rank than the two gentlemen." Zhu Youtang said.

Zhang Yu said, "That's it. A minister of the Ministry of Revenue can die at any time. If they really offend the old man, they will be the next to die, right?"

"No, definitely not." Zhu Youtang said confidently, "The two gentlemen are not involved in the case. No matter what happens, the disaster will not fall on them."

Zhang Yu asked in surprise: "Prince, don't you think that taking the two gentlemen to investigate the inside story of the case is like digging up someone's ancestral grave and taking their life? Why didn't the disaster fall on your husband?"

"them……"

Zhu Youtang's cognition was overturned again, and he didn't know how to respond for a moment.

He suddenly felt that his wife seemed very wise.

At this time, Qin Ji came in from the door, ready to urge Zhu Youtang to leave quickly, but he happened to hear Zhang Yu's last words. He was so frightened that he trembled all over and stood at the door, not daring to get closer.

There were some things that Qin Ji had always been pretending to be a good person, so he didn't tell the prince.

He also felt that the prince must know.

Now that the Crown Princess is explaining things beside him, what does it matter if I pretend to be deaf and dumb?
Anyway, I'm not the bad guy.

Zhang Yu said, "Go, find my second brother Yanling and listen to what he has to say. When encountering troubles, I think Yanling is the most capable. Even my father often has to stand aside."

What she actually wanted to say was that her old father had to stand aside not most of the time, but all the time.

But in front of her husband, she always had to save some face for her old father.

Zhu Youtang nodded firmly and said with a spirit of courage: "I understand. Then Yu'er, wait for me to come back. I will write down everything Yanling said. When I come back, you can discuss it with me."

……

……

Deng Chang'en was released from the imperial prison.

He was not tortured in there and finally got out safely. He was in great pain these days. When he returned to his mansion, he was glad that the family business he had worked hard for many years was still in his hands.

After arriving home, he quickly asked the servant to find Ai Yu to discuss things, but was told that Ai Yu had already moved.

"Changed residence?" Deng Chang'en was surprised.

The servant said, "Yes, sir, I don't know where he has gone. Now that you have lost your official position, I am afraid he is trying to avoid you."

Deng Changen said angrily, "This bunch of snobs, when I was in power, they all followed me around, but now they are hiding? Oh no, that's not right, Ai Yu, this snob, will never leave the capital, the power center. I'm not dead, why would he abandon me?"

"This...I don't know."

The servant was in a dilemma.

Deng Changen said angrily, "No, no, I want to go around. I just don't believe that this group of people can be so ignorant."

……

……

Deng Chang'en began to travel from house to house.

He wanted to restore his prestige, but when he went out, he found that without his official position and the emperor's favor, no one took him seriously, his words had no weight, and everyone was just perfunctory to him.

If they hadn't seen that he was not dead yet and had managed to escape from the imperial prison unscathed, with a chance of making a comeback, some people might have beaten him with sticks.

Soon, the situation was known to Li Zisheng.

Li Zisheng was at home, sitting cross-legged, as if listening to a story. He heard from Pang Qing about Deng Changen's experience, and felt so relieved.

"It's a pity that we didn't kill him."

Li Zisheng made his final comment.

Pang Qing said: "At present, His Majesty has not completely lost his trust in him. He still has a way to survive. Moreover, he has close contacts with Elder Wan, Elder Liu and others. He has been favored by them before. He also has the help of Jinyiwei Commander Zhu Ji. He was able to get out alive in the Northern Pacification Division, thanks to Zhu Ji who did not make things difficult for him."

Li Zisheng gritted his teeth and said, "It would be great if we could get the Jinyiwei under our control."

Thinking of this, he couldn't help feeling regretful.

Even though he had the authority to appoint and dismiss personnel, he was slow to obtain authorization from the emperor in other areas.

The emperor was quite skilled in dividing and alienating his close ministers. Even though Li Zisheng was very favored, the emperor never gave everything to him and always remained restrained in favoring him.

"The Taichang Temple is now in the hands of Zhang Laizhan. If we let Laizhan deal with him, will it be..."

Pang Qing came up with another bad idea.

Li Zisheng curled his lips and said, "You don't know Lai Zhan's personality. He is a tortoise. When he sticks his head out, he bites people quickly, accurately and ruthlessly, but when he really wants to withdraw his head, no one can catch him. Do you expect him to fight Deng Changen?"

Pang Qing said: "Deng Chang'en colluded with Wan'an and Liu Ji and wanted to bring down the prince, which means he fell into Lai Zhan's hands. Didn't Liang Fang fall in the same way before? Zhang Taichang would be afraid of a former Taichang Temple Minister who is in decline? Isn't he... just being manipulated at will?"

"What you said does make some sense."

Li Zisheng nodded and said, "Since we want to capture Deng Changen, why don't I do it myself?"

Pang Qing smiled and said, "Isn't this to let you, the Taoist priest, stay out of this matter? Everyone knows that you two have a feud. If you personally take action, I'm afraid it will be difficult for His Majesty to sit back and watch."

"Right."

Li Zisheng said, "No matter who crushes him to death, he will die, but to see him... Alas!"

Pang Qing said: "How about this, why not involve Deng Changen in the Tongzhou warehouse case, then... hehe."

Li Zisheng frowned and asked, "Did Deng Changen participate?"

"It doesn't matter whether he participated or not, as long as we find someone to put the blame on him, isn't that enough?"

Pang Qing said, "Master Dao, if you want to target Deng Chang'en, do you need to follow the rules? Besides, Deng Chang'en has done a lot of corrupt and illegal things over the years, and his family is very wealthy. If he uses his family wealth to create something and gain the trust of your majesty..."

Li Zisheng said angrily, "No, no, we can't give him any chance to turn things around. You are right, we must crush him to death in one go! I will find Zhan to discuss this matter later."

……

……

Li Zisheng had not yet gone to cause trouble for Deng Changen, but on the same day, Deng Changen came to visit Li Zisheng with a scoundrel in his face.

"Who?"

Li Zisheng originally wanted to enter the inner courtyard to discuss the harmony of life with his beautiful wife and concubines.

He was quite surprised by what Pang Qing brought.

Deng Changen still has the nerve to come and see me now?

I wonder who wants you to die the most!
Pang Qing said: "Perhaps after hitting a wall everywhere, I know that you are the most reliable and the one that has the most trust from Your Majesty, so I want to submit to you."

"Heh, heh! No see!"

Li Zisheng was very determined. "I have seen this kind of despicable person before. He is an ungrateful person who can never be tamed. He will turn around and bite me, and bite me very hard.

"Tell him to go find his former backers. Aren't they said that Elder Wan and Elder Liu are the best at supporting old dogs like him? Let him go find those two!"

Pang Qing smiled and said, "I'm afraid he came here after being there before and hitting a wall."

"Then I won't see you either."

Li Zisheng said, "Anyone who relies on Taoism to make a fortune, except Lai Zhan, I don't trust anyone. Deng Changen is like this, and so are Zhao Yuzhi and her ilk. In this court, colleagues are enemies, and it's only because Lai Zhan has a daughter who is the Crown Princess, otherwise..."

Pang Qing smiled and said, "I understand. Otherwise, even Zhang Taichang would be your enemy."

Li Zisheng thought about it and shook his head, "That's not right. Lai Zhan has a good personality and is worthy of confiding. I really can't stand it if it were someone else. Just talking to Lai Zhan, I feel that I benefit a lot."

(End of this chapter)