Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 376: Kind Aunt and Filial Nephew
Zhang Luan never thought that one day he would be able to come to the palace to "select a concubine".

There were more than a dozen palace maids, all of whom were beautiful. He felt it was a pity to choose any of them or not, especially since he knew very well that these women were chosen to come to the palace when they were young. They were at least one in a hundred or even one in a thousand. They had no chance to come into contact with men before. After returning, as long as they were kept in the outer house, they would definitely listen to him and be much better than the women at home.

As the saying goes, a wife is not as good as a concubine, and a concubine is not as good as a secret lover.

The feeling of stealing someone is so great.

Finally, he chose two palace maids who looked not very young...

After all, Zhang Luan was a man of dignity. He knew that his two sons would soon become adults. If he brought back two girls who looked like little girls, he would lose face.

In addition, with his life experience, he certainly knows that mature women have the advantages of being mature, and the most important thing is that they have more charm.

"I didn't expect you to choose them both."

Queen Mother Zhou glanced at the two shy palace maids and said with a smile, "That's fine, you two, go in and pack your things, and leave the palace with Zhang Taichang later."

"Yes."

Both palace maids were over twenty years old, and one of them was even nearly thirty.

They never imagined that after years of longing, they would one day be rewarded by the Queen Mother and leave the palace in such a bizarre way.

They didn't dare to show too much emotional change. After expressing their gratitude, they quickly got up and went back to pack their belongings.

After the beauties left, Zhang Luan couldn't help but look back, his face full of nostalgia.

"Ha ha……"

Queen Mother Zhou laughed and teased, "My dear nephew, we agreed to give you two. You can't choose more than one, otherwise I will have no one to use."

"No... Aunt, you misunderstood. This is not what my nephew thinks."

Zhang Luan said respectfully, "After entering the capital, my nephew has suddenly become prominent and has no shortage of people to serve him. But how can I not accept your kindness? If I have any good things, I will definitely send them to you... Only by exchanging gifts can we become closer relatives."

Queen Mother Zhou chuckled and said, "Chen Gui, look, my nephew is worthy of recognition, right? There are only two people in the world who can be so filial, even if they are my own children, they are no more than this, right?"

Chen Gui smiled and complimented: "Yes, ancestor, the Zhang family has filial sons and daughters!"

Queen Mother Zhou said with emotion: "So, my dear nephew, you have raised your daughter very well, but I don't know how your son is doing. If we arrange a marriage in the future..."

"I dare not have such delusion."

Zhang Luan swallowed his saliva while answering.

Queen Mother Zhou said, "Don't think that I am planning to marry a girl from the Zhou family to you. If I really want to marry you, it should be a daughter of a royal family member... The children of my Zhou family are too disappointing. Until now, none of them has made any progress. Sometimes, you really should help me to give them some advice."

"Yes Yes."

Zhang Luan quickly responded.

Queen Mother Zhou rolled her eyes and asked, "Where were we talking about before? Oh, by the way, how is His Majesty's condition now?"

If Zhang Luan had many concerns about answering this question before, now that he has accepted the gift and acknowledged the family affection, he feels sorry for the kindness the old lady has shown him if he doesn't answer it properly.

Zhang Luan's face turned serious, and he answered earnestly: "To reply to your aunt, your Majesty's condition has stabilized, but it is too early to say that he will be cured."

"Yes."

Empress Dowager Zhou nodded slightly and said, "The disease did not come overnight, and it is impossible to go away overnight. This disease was actually caused by that evil woman... Alas, the emperor was also bewitched by the devil, and was deceived by a sick woman, which led to him being in danger. I wonder if he regrets it?"

Unconsciously, Empress Dowager Zhou directly expressed her resentment towards Concubine Wan in front of her newly adopted nephew.

Zhang Luan was a little confused after hearing this.

Who are you talking about?

Obviously, he didn't associate it with Wan Zhen'er for a moment.

"I want to ask you, what caused the emperor's illness?" Empress Dowager Zhou said, "You don't need to hide anything in front of me, just tell me the truth."

Zhang Luan was stunned for a moment, and finally realized who Empress Dowager Zhou was targeting. He seemed a little evasive. After all, Concubine Wan's influence in the palace was still there. The most direct manifestation was that Concubine Shao had inherited Concubine Wan's power, and there were people working for Concubine Shao's son, intending to seize the position of the Eastern Palace.

But Zhang Luan still answered truthfully: "Aunt, actually... just as you said, this disease is, to put it bluntly, an infectious disease. An infectious disease means that if one person gets it, it will spread to others, especially those close to them."

"I said yes, and it really is!"

Queen Mother Zhou seemed very angry and asked, "Who infected whom?"

"what?"

Zhang Luan looked surprised.

Your question is very cryptic...

Who infects whom?

I am a doctor. I am not here to clarify your family relationships or to trace the source of diseases.

Chen Gui hurriedly said, "Grandfather, I'm afraid this matter is hard to explain clearly, right?"

At this time, Chen Gui was also secretly worried about Zhang Luan, fearing that he would say the wrong thing. It might seem that he could get away with it in front of Empress Dowager Zhou, but he would have to face the emperor's questioning later. The answer that a mother wants to hear and the response that a son wants to hear are definitely not the same thing.

Empress Dowager Zhou said, "That's right. This question is too general. Let me put it another way... If the Emperor and Concubine Wan both got sick at the same time, and it was the same liver disease, who infected whom?"

"This……"

Only then did Zhang Luan realize that Empress Dowager Zhou hated Concubine Wan so much that she did not even try to hide it.

But he also hated Concubine Wan.

On this issue, the aunt and niece reached a consensus.

Chen Gui quickly winked at Zhang Luan, meaning, "Don't talk nonsense! It's best to just ignore it, so as not to offend anyone and to report to the emperor later."

"Empress Dowager... please let me address you as such." Zhang Luan said, "On this issue, I can only respond as a subject."

"You say it."

Queen Mother Zhou waved her hand.

Zhang Luan said cautiously: "There are some things that I am not very clear about, but is it necessary to ask who infected whom?"

"What do you mean?"

Queen Mother Zhou asked doubtfully, "If I knew, would I need to ask you? You are the doctor, come and see."

Zhang Luan sighed, "Who infects whom depends on who gets sick first. Whoever gets sick first will naturally get sick first and will die first. I don't know..."

Queen Mother Zhou suddenly realized, and slapped her thigh and said, "What a wake-up call! Why didn't I think of it before? It was indeed the fault of that sick woman. It's a pity that my prince was stubborn and refused to change his ways, which led to today's disaster!"

Chen Gui was stunned when he heard this.

Didn't you expect that?

You're almost talking about this every day. Are you looking for an answer?

You are simply looking for recognition!

Do you feel better after hearing these words from Zhang Luan? You can use this matter to confront His Majesty and ridicule that woman, right?
Then Chen Gui looked at Zhang Luan again, feeling distressed, and thought to himself, are you Zhang Taichang really stupid, or are you pretending to be confused on purpose?
It's obvious that the Queen Mother is setting a trap for you, but you still want to jump into it? Are you really so honest that you won't feel bad if you don't set a trap for yourself?

Let’s see how you will explain to His Majesty later.

Queen Mother Zhou asked, "My dear nephew, have you ever treated this disease before?"

"To answer my aunt, I have never treated it."

Zhang Luan said, "My nephew is not very sure, and he is trying hard on many things. Recently, he has also used Li Shangshu of the Yintai Division to find people in the capital who also have liver disease, and used medicine on them, hoping to... find the secret to treating this disease."

"Oh, you're learning and applying it now, is it possible?"

Queen Mother Zhou seemed a little worried as well.

Zhang Luan smiled bitterly and said, "I can only do my best."

Queen Mother Zhou asked, "Do you usually discuss His Majesty's condition with the people from the Imperial Hospital?"

"will not."

Zhang Luan shook his head and said, "My nephew wanted to discuss this with them, but they...didn't give me the face. Besides..."

"Okay, you don't have to say it. I understand everything, aunt. If they really have the ability and qualifications to discuss with you, the people sitting here and being questioned by me today would not be you, but them." said Queen Mother Zhou.

Zhang Luan thought that this sounded pleasing to the ear.

Empress Dowager Zhou then asked, "Then I want to ask you, what is the worst outcome of the emperor's illness?"

"This……"

Zhang Luan obviously couldn't say it.

Queen Mother Zhou said, "It's a bit inappropriate to ask this question... Then I want to ask you, if something happens, especially a major change, your Majesty's illness is the shortest... How long can you last?"

"Ancestor..."

Chen Gui was a little frightened.

In this world, only Empress Dowager Zhou, the emperor's mother, dared to ask such a question and was able to ask such a question.

But if you dare to ask, will others dare to answer?
Zhang Luan took a deep breath and said, "To answer your question, this kind of thing has actually happened once before."

"What do you mean?"

Queen Mother Zhou asked with a frown.

"What happened to Lady Wan may very well happen to Your Majesty as well." Zhang Luan said solemnly, "Maybe everything was fine before, but suddenly..."

"call!"

Empress Dowager Zhou looked very sad. She nodded and said, "You are a real person. No wonder the emperor dares to use you to treat illnesses. Then I will pray with you that this day will never come."

……

……

Zhang Luan took a carriage and returned to his new house with the gifts given to him by his "eldest aunt".

He was also afraid that his fierce wife would find out about this, so he planned to keep it secret. So on the way, he explained his family situation to the two palace maids.

"Remember, from now on you are the maids in my house. I cannot let you into my house for the time being, so you are not my concubines yet. But in the future, when the time is right, I will marry you. When you get to your place, take good care of everything inside. I will visit you often..."

Zhang Luan was so proud.

The women in the palace were all carefully selected beauties, and they usually served the Empress Dowager, the Dowager Consort and other imperial concubines. They were so knowledgeable and tactful, and their manners and graces in their every move were beyond the reach of even the wives of wealthy families.

But now... he has become a member of my family.

That's simply...

I couldn't help but smile just thinking about it.

For the two palace maids in front of them, they didn’t care what role they would play after entering Zhang’s Mansion. For them, all they wanted was freedom.

In fact, in their hearts, they somewhat looked down on Zhang Luan and felt that he was more like a country bumpkin. However, they had no choice but to let him control their fate. Even if they did not want to treat him respectfully, they had to be careful in dealing with him, so as not to be "returned" in the end.

They are not afraid of being driven away, but if they return to the palace, it would be their lifelong nightmare.

(End of this chapter)