Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 374: Stupid in a unique way

Zhu Youtang met Zhang Yanling again, and this time he went to Zhang Luan's mansion in person.

When they arrived at their father-in-law's house, his father-in-law was not there, so Zhang Yanling was responsible for receiving them.

"Your Highness, please come into the hall and talk."

Zhang Yanling saluted.

When we met yesterday, I called him brother-in-law all the time. It sounded very affectionate, but it also seemed rude.

This time, because it was not in a public place and there was no need to conceal his identity as an excuse, Zhang Yanling became polite.

Zhu Youtang said: "Yanling, no need, we can just talk here... Hey, why is there a room here?"

Obviously Zhu Youtang had never visited other people's courtyard houses and didn't know the structure of this type of building. He was very curious when he saw that there was a front hall outside the second door inside the main gate.

"Your Highness, this is the front hall where ordinary people receive guests."

Zhang Yanling patiently explained to Zhu Youtang.

Zhu Youtang listened carefully, as if this was some profound knowledge.

Afterwards, at Zhu Youtang's insistence, the two went to the front hall to talk. As for Jiang Cong and Tan Ji, who came with Zhu Youtang, they tactfully stood outside the hall door and had no intention of eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Yanling, I want to apologize to you first."

Zhu Youtang said this as soon as he came up.

"what?"

Zhang Yanling was somewhat confused and asked curiously, "Why does Your Highness say so?"

Zhu Youtang lowered his head, looking very ashamed: "When I met with you yesterday, I felt that you were slandering Elder Liu and Elder Wan by mentioning their situations. This morning, I learned that Sun Ren, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, died suddenly last night, and I knew that I had misunderstood you."

"Your Highness, there is no need to say that."

Zhang Yanling said cheerfully, "I am just discussing the facts. Some of the possible situations are just my rough guesses. I cannot be sure. Even if I happen to guess right, I cannot say that I am definitely right. After all, we do not know what caused Minister Sun's death."

Zhu Youtang said: "Early this morning, my father summoned me and mentioned this matter to me."

When Zhang Yanling heard this, his expression instantly became serious and he asked, "What is the prince's answer?"

"I told you the truth."

Zhu Youtang said, "I told my father who I met yesterday and my true thoughts. My father asked me about my opinion on Sun Ren's death, and I said...his family should be compensated and no further accountability should be pursued."

Zhang Yanling asked, "Did the prince mention what my father and I said to you?"

"Father didn't ask."

Zhu Youtang shook his head.

Zhang Yanling looked cautious: "Your Majesty is testing your ability to handle situations and your sophistication in dealing with people."

"is it?"

Zhu Youtang couldn't help but stare at his brother-in-law with his eyes wide open.

If he was the one who took the lead in talking to Liu Jian and Xie Qian, he could now clearly feel that his brother-in-law was very opinionated and it seemed that he could analyze the answers for him without him having to use his brain.

Zhang Yanling said, "Your Majesty summoned me early in the morning, which means that the Crown Prince did not know about the news of Sun Ren's death at that time. He wanted to see the Crown Prince's reaction on the spot. He also wanted to know how the Crown Prince would deal with such a thing, so as to maintain the dignity of the Crown Prince and continue to investigate the case without alerting the enemy..."

"It's so complicated."

Zhu Youtang sighed, "Is there something wrong with my answer?"

Zhang Yanling shook his head and said, "It's hard to say."

Zhu Youtang understood and thought, this shows that my brother-in-law’s ability is limited after all, and it is unlikely that he can see everything clearly at once.

Zhang Yanling immediately added: "This requires that after the Crown Prince leaves the Qianqing Palace, someone will come to his aid in time."

"what?"

Zhu Youtang's heart was instantly lifted up.

Zhang Yanling said, "Your Majesty did not ask the Crown Prince whether he knew about Sun Ren's involvement in the case in advance, nor did he ask what my father and I had said to the Crown Prince. This means that after the Crown Prince left, Your Majesty would ask my father or Li Zisheng... and my father was involved in this, and his identity was extremely embarrassing, so Your Majesty must have asked Li Zisheng."

"This one……"

Zhu Youtang thought about it carefully and nodded, "It's true... I left the Qianqing Palace and walked a short distance. When I looked back at the Qianqing Palace gate, I found that Wei Daban and your father had both come out, but Li Zisheng was not among them. He must have been left behind by my father to be questioned alone.

"Yanling, you are amazing. You speak as if you saw it with your own eyes."

"Alas, this is human nature, Prince."

Zhang Yanling said.

Zhu Youtang said: "You should call me brother-in-law. It sounds more intimate."

Zhang Yanling shook his head and said, "The etiquette between the monarch and his subjects cannot be abolished."

"Hehe, just like your sister, she usually calls me the prince. I always tell her that there is no need to be so distant, but she says that she is afraid that she will get used to calling me something else and then call me that in front of others, which will make people think that she doesn't know the rules, so..."

When Zhu Youtang mentioned his wife, a happy smile appeared on his face.

This made Zhang Yanling feel that the couple was truly harmonious and a model couple in the world.

Zhu Youtang asked again: "What do you think the emperor will ask Li Zisheng?"

Zhang Yanling said: "Your Majesty will definitely ask Li Zisheng whether the Crown Prince knew about Sun Ren's involvement in the case. If Li Zisheng says that the Crown Prince knew, then Your Majesty will give the Crown Prince a lot of points in his heart."

“What is a bonus?”

Zhu Youtang asked.

"It's to leave a very good impression and make His Majesty look at the prince with new eyes." Zhang Yanling said.

Zhu Youtang asked, "Why?" Zhang Yanling said, "Does the prince remember what I said yesterday? For your majesty, the Tongzhou warehouse case is not something the prince can investigate now. I let you investigate it mainly to give you some experience, so the prince does not need to treat this matter with the belief that everything must be investigated clearly from the beginning."

"Yes, I remember. At that time, I thought what you said was wrong and I just wanted to share my father's worries. But now it seems... what you said... may be correct." Zhu Youtang said.

Zhang Yanling nodded and said, "Now let's get back to the essence of the problem... Your Majesty knew that Sun Ren died, and it happened after the Crown Prince left the palace. You must want to know how the Crown Prince responded to this matter. If the Crown Prince said that he would be lenient to others and chose to pardon Sun Ren even though he knew that he was the criminal, Your Majesty would naturally look at the Crown Prince with new eyes."

"Oh."

Zhu Youtang only understood half of what he heard.

Zhang Yanling said: "I guess Li Zisheng understands this and is likely to speak for the crown prince. He will tell your majesty that the crown prince knows everything about this."

"But I... didn't think that much."

Zhu Youtang said, "But you are not wrong. You and your father reminded me beforehand, and I do know the inside story. But I... did not say that I could not get any useful information from the dead and so I let Sun Ren go. On the contrary, I told Mr. Liu and Mr. Xie to start with Sun Ren."

Zhang Yanling smiled.

He now understood that Zhu Youtang was like a fledgling that had just flown out of the cage. Not only was he simple-minded, but he was also very kind-hearted.

As a result, even the stupidity in him has a pure and clear meaning.

Stupid in a unique way.

Zhang Yanling did not deny Zhu Youtang's approach, and followed his intention and said, "For now, the prince can pretend that nothing has happened and take some time to go to Sun Ren's house to pay his respects."

"what?"

Zhu Youtang was very surprised.

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Your Majesty may have doubts about the Crown Prince's cunningness. Perhaps Your Majesty thinks that the Crown Prince just accidentally proposed to be magnanimous to Sun Ren. So next, what the Crown Prince has to do is to make Your Majesty feel that... the Crown Prince is scheming and can get things done."

"Ah? What am I up to? I...I just want to get to the bottom of things, and it would be best if I could find the source of the deficit." Zhu Youtang said.

Zhang Yanling thought that this was much more difficult than talking to Old Man Zhang.

Although my cheap dad often asks questions, he basically never says such stupid things.

I feel like I can't carry it at all!

Zhang Yanling asked, "Prince, when you went to Sun Ren's mansion to pay your respects, who was the most worried person?"

"Who?"

Zhu Youtang asked.

"Of course it's related to Sun Ren, especially the one who was involved in the Tongzhou warehouse deficit."

Zhang Yanling patiently persuaded, "When the prince goes to Sun Ren's house, he can find an opportunity to meet with several people in the Ministry of Revenue who may be related to the case. He doesn't even need to mention anything related to the case, which will cause the other people involved in the case to panic."

Zhu Youtang asked: "Is it possible for me to have such an effect just by paying my respects and meeting a few people?"

"Ah."

Zhang Yanling nodded and said, "Prince, you must remember that you are the crown prince. Your every move outside the palace will definitely be noticed by others."

Zhu Youtang asked, "So if I come here, will I also be noticed?"

Zhang Yanling thought to himself, your focus is really different!

When we understand the problem, can we learn to grasp the key points?

"Your Majesty will certainly know that you are coming, but Elder Wan and the others may not know." Zhang Yanling said, "But if the Crown Prince goes to Sun Ren's house in person, everyone in the capital will know about it one day."

"Oh."

Zhu Youtang nodded, seeming to understand.

But Zhang Yanling knew that this innocent boy still hadn't figured it out.

Zhang Yanling said again: "When the prince goes to Sun's house, he must show concern for his family and be approachable. Also, don't go with the Minister of Revenue Li Min. It's best for the prince to visit alone."

"Why?"

Zhu Youtang asked.

"Everything is to show that the prince took the initiative to meet Sun Ren's family, instead of being instructed by others." Zhang Yanling said, "After meeting Sun Ren's family, the prince has to go to another place."

"where?"

Zhu Youtang asked again with his eyes wide open.

"Go to Taicang."

Zhang Yanling said.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youtang showed some surprise on his face and said, "I remember that Mr. Xie also told me that we should start from Taicang."

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "It seems that Xie Hanlin also has his own views on this matter. What else did he say?"

"He said……"

Zhu Youtang then said somewhat depressedly, "Then Mr. Liu interrupted us, and we didn't discuss this matter any further."

Zhang Yanling said: "The management systems of Taicang and Tongzhou Warehouse are basically the same, but one thing is that Taicang is right under the emperor's feet, so even if there is a small deficit, it must be within the controllable range. Tongzhou Warehouse is outside the capital, so all the tricks appear in Tongzhou Warehouse."

"Oh, because my father has someone keep an eye on Taicang, so there's nothing wrong there? But why should I... go to Taicang? Can I find out anything?"

Zhu Youtang asked like a curious baby.

"It doesn't necessarily mean that you need to find out anything. The prince just needs to show a certain attitude and let people know that the prince is working hard to investigate the case. That's enough."

Zhang Yanling explained with a smile, and then changed the topic to other aspects.

(End of this chapter)