Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 287 Such Great Fortune, Yet Unable to Enjoy It
"How wonderful! Today is truly wonderful! All our old enemies are gone, and Sun has been honored with a title. With such great joy, how can we be confined to official documents?"

After receiving the imperial decree in the Secretariat, Zhang Dai went to the Jixian Academy to inform his grandfather. Zhang Shuo was overjoyed to learn that Zhang Dai's rank had been raised by one level, which was not as previously agreed.

He had always been an extroverted person, and he burst into laughter in front of everyone at Jixian Academy. Then he looked at Xu Jian and the others and said with a smile, "I am going home today to host a banquet. Would you all like to come with me?"

Some of the scholars from Jixian Academy responded with laughter, while others said they had other matters to attend to and would only have time to offer their congratulations in the evening after they finished their work.

So Zhang Yue, along with Wu Shi and Zhang Dai, left the capital and headed home. On the way, he arranged for his family to return home quickly to prepare a banquet, and also sent people to invite relatives and friends living in various parts of the city.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Dai instructed Ding Qing and others to invite his classmates and friends so that they could all get together and have some fun.

As the group left the imperial city, they saw Yuan Qianyao's sons standing on one side of the Duanmen Gate, waiting for their father to bid farewell to the emperor before returning home together.

Yuan Qianyao had four sons. Apart from his eldest son Yuan Fu, who was still in custody, his second and third sons were already adults. Only his youngest son, Yuan Qing, was still a child.

When they saw Zhang Shuo and his party walk out of the Duanmen Gate, all three of them glared at him angrily, even the baby Yuan Qing was no exception. They clearly regarded Zhang Shuo and his grandson as enemies who had murdered their father and brothers.

Zhang Shuo didn't care much about these gazes, but Zhang Dai glared back without hesitation, especially staring at the youngest, Yuan Qing, which frightened the boy so much that his eyes became evasive before he smugly withdrew his gaze.

He hadn't planned to provoke Yuan Qianyao again recently, but seeing how resentful his sons were, he decided to go and collect the debt in a few days!

Although Yuan Qianyao has also been dismissed from his post as prime minister, his loss of power in the court is even more complete than that of Zhang Shuo.

But Zhang Dai knew in his heart that as the Tang Dynasty's finances continued to deteriorate in the next few years, Yuwen Rong, on whom he had placed a heavy bet, would surely rise again and return to the court to become prime minister. This was not something that could be changed by the will of others, but rather determined by Yuwen Rong's talent and the deterioration of the objective environment.

Once Yuwen Rong returns to the court, officials from Yuan Qianyao's faction will make a comeback, including Li Linfu, who was demoted to Shannan.

While Yuwen Rong may have a mutual appreciation for Zhang Dai, once he returned to court and took charge, he would have to consider the cohesion of the entire team and would not give Zhang Dai any special treatment because of this appreciation.

In particular, Zhang Dai had dealt with Li Linfu and Yuan Fu one after another, and played a key role in the process of Yuan Qianyao being dismissed from his post as prime minister. When these people regained power, they could not tolerate not dealing a heavy blow to Zhang Dai.
Therefore, Zhang Dai still needs to continue to work hard to gain a foothold in the court and seek development before Yuwen Rong returns to the court, so that he will at least have a certain ability to protect himself when the other party attacks.

Especially someone like Li Linfu, who is familiar with the personnel affairs and administrative procedures in the court, if he really wanted to harm me, if I couldn't withstand the first wave, it would be difficult for others to save me.

Of course, that's all in the future. Right now, he still wants to enjoy the fruits of his victory and celebrate being granted a title! Although this title is more of an honorary symbol, without even an actual fief, even just an honorary title is something many people can only dream of in their entire lives!
Take the Zhang family for example. Currently, apart from his grandfather Zhang Shuo, who was granted the title of Duke of Yan after the Xiantian Coup, none of the other members, regardless of their official rank, have any noble titles. Yuan Qianyao, who was just dismissed from his post as prime minister, still holds the title of Baron of Anyang County, which he was granted when he first became prime minister.

Zhang Dai's first official title was that of a county magistrate, which reflected the extraordinary favor bestowed upon him by the emperor and was the envy of many.

"Congratulations, Liu Lang, you have brought honor to your ancestors!"

When they returned home, their families had been waiting at the door for a long time. Even Zhang Dai's grandmother, Madam Yuan, stood inside the door with the help of her family members. She looked at Zhang Dai, who had dismounted and was walking in, and said with a smile, "My grandson has been granted a title. The emperor's favor is great and it brings glory to our family! From now on, you must work even harder and never let down the emperor's favor and the expectations of your elders!"

"Grandson will always remember Grandmother's teachings and do his utmost to serve the country and revitalize the clan!"

Zhang Dai smiled and helped his grandmother home, then showed his family his imperial edict.

Upon returning home, Zhang instructed his son-in-law Zheng Yan, who had already arrived, to receive the guests in the front hall. He then led the clan members into the ancestral temple to worship their ancestors and inform them that their grandson had been granted a title.

Although the conferment of titles in the Tang Dynasty was not as prestigious and illustrious as in previous dynasties, it was still of great significance in terms of etiquette and law.

To give a simple example, Zhang Dai's mother was merely Zhang Jun's concubine, and had no place in the Zhang family ancestral temple. However, after Zhang Dai was granted a noble title, he was able to directly establish a temple in his own family to worship his mother.

Like many emperors who were not born of the legitimate wife, they would usually bestow the title of Empress Dowager upon their mothers after ascending the throne. Under the feudal system of rites and laws, those who held titles were theoretically vassals who shared the empire with the emperor and enjoyed similar status within their respective clans.

Now that Zhang Dai has a title, his status in the clan will be significantly enhanced. Although his younger brother Zhang Yi is the legitimate son, he cannot be considered the head of the clan in the family ancestral rites because he does not have an official title.

Zhang Yue's generation was also like this. Although he was the youngest son of his generation, he held a prominent official position and was considered the head of the clan.

This is also a reason why many aristocratic families ridicule and criticize newly established families. Because prestigious families often have long-standing traditions and orderly succession of titles, the head of the family usually has hereditary official titles, so such confusion between senior and junior members rarely occurs. Newly established families, on the other hand, suddenly rise to prominence without any prior lineage, and can only rebuild the internal order of the family based on their current status, which inevitably leads to issues of violating ethical and hierarchical rules.

However, in any case, it is always an honor for the whole family for a family member to be granted a title, and generally speaking, there will be no disputes or conflicts within the family because of it. But in other cases, it is hard to say.

While Zhang Yue was leading his clansmen in offering sacrifices to their ancestors at the family temple, a commotion broke out in the inner quarters. The person making the noise was none other than Zhang Jun's principal wife, Zheng.

When news of Zhang Dai's investiture reached his home, and his clansmen came out to congratulate him, Zheng Shi was already displeased and remained in her eastern wing. When she learned that Zhang Dai had led his clansmen to the ancestral temple upon returning home, her anger intensified.

"Your grandfather led the family to the ancestral temple to worship the ancestors. Why didn't you go?"

She went to her son's bedroom where he was recovering from his injuries and looked at her son, Zhang Yi, who was still lying on his back in bed, with displeasure.

“My leg isn’t healed yet, and if I go to the ancestral temple, I’ll have to kneel and bow repeatedly. How can I possibly endure that? My brother just sent Ding Qing to ask, and I told them to go ahead…”

Zhang Yi, unaware of his mother's unusual expression, replied after hearing this, muttering to himself, "My brother recently crippled the official at the North Gate, yet he's still being granted a title. It's clear that the North Gate is nothing more than..."

"Fool! How can a family sacrifice be performed with a illegitimate son presiding over it when the legitimate son is absent? You are not home today, so you are the head of the household. Don't say that you only have a leg injury. Even if both legs are broken, you should crawl into the family temple!"

Upon hearing this, Madam Zheng flew into a rage. She rushed forward, ripped off the brocade quilt covering Zhang Ao, and dragged him toward the bed, roaring, "You're missing the ancestral sacrifice today because of your leg injury. Are you going to throw your mother out and offer that lowly Wu woman to the family temple for worship in the future?"

"Oh...it hurts, Mom, my leg hurts!"

Seeing his mother's furious expression, Zhang Qi panicked. Especially when Zheng Shi grabbed his arm and pulled him, his injured leg was also pulled, and he immediately burst into tears from the pain.

"Leg pain? If you let that bastard continue to bully you like this, your life might be in danger!"

Zheng Shi did not soften her heart just because Zhang A was trembling in pain on the bed. She ordered the servants present, "Quickly carry Alang off the bed and take him to the family temple! The youngest son and servants are ignorant. The Duke of Yan once ruled a country. Does he not know the law? Now, a concubine's son is bullying the legitimate son. What kind of family tradition and morality is this!"

Seeing Zheng's fury, the servants dared not utter a sound to stop her. They could only hurriedly find a wooden board, cover it with thick quilts, and, ignoring Zhang's cries of pain, lift him off the bed, place him on the board, and carry him out.

"Shut up! Show some spirit, show some backbone! If you endure this today, from now on, my son and I will have no place in this sect!"

Madam Zheng was extremely annoyed by Zhang Yi's wailing. She went in and scolded him several times, but to no avail. She then grabbed the quilt and tried to cover her son's mouth while ordering the servants to hurry up.

"You wicked woman, let go of my grandson! I am right here, and you have no right to act so recklessly in this place!"

Just then, an angry shout came from the east wing gate. It was the east wing servant who had gone to the inner hall to inform Madam Yuan of the situation, and Madam Yuan hurriedly came here.

Upon seeing her injured grandson being so abused by his mother, Madam Yuan was furious. She immediately raised her hand and said to the maid beside her, "Quickly, quickly seize this madwoman and stop her from harming my grandson again!"

"What nonsense are you spouting, Aunt? How could I harm my son? I will seek justice for him! That bastard, what right does he have? How dare he? How dare he refuse the Emperor's favor and take advantage of our family's lack of support..."

By this time, Madam Zheng was already somewhat delirious. Upon seeing Madam Yuan, she was not only not surprised, but her anger intensified: "You have all been blinded by that bastard, you muddle-headed old hags, greedy for power and influence! Wise men have long warned me that this is a source of disaster. If you don't leave, you will surely cause the Zhang family line to be wiped out! What crime has my son committed? Because this bastard is not dead, he has been unable to study, unable to make progress in his studies, and now he is even crippled..."

"Quickly shut her up! She's having a nightmare because she hasn't been taking proper care of herself during her pregnancy. Take her back to her room immediately; she doesn't need to go out again!"

Upon seeing Zheng's frenzied state, Madam Yuan frowned deeply and immediately ordered loudly, "Guard the east wing gate! No one is allowed to go out! If a word is leaked, you servants will be severely punished! Keep your mouths shut, and you will all be richly rewarded after Madam recovers from her shock!"

Zheng was dragged back into her room by several maids, still roaring. Zhang Yi, standing nearby, was terrified and cried out repeatedly, "Please forgive my mother, Grandmother! Please, Grandmother..."

"Quickly take Qilang back to his room, so he won't catch a chill!"

When Madam Yuan came in, she saw that Zhang Yu's injured leg was bleeding a little. The boy was still wiping away tears and pleading for his mother. Madam Yuan was even more furious. After ordering someone to send Zhang Yu back, she came to Madam Zheng's house and said angrily, "You lowly woman, do you have any humanity? How have you ever wronged me?"
The adopted son has achieved prominence, while the biological son has already shown gratitude and filial piety. Yet you, born of lowliness, have squandered such great fortune without the life to enjoy it!

(End of this chapter)