Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 506 Weapons Must Be Used with Caution
"Last night, the Prince of Guangwu and Li Linfu were among those attending the banquet in the Wu family hall..."

After a brief boast, Li Xia then told Zhang Dai about the group of people he had seen in the hall of Wu Wenshen's house the previous night.

Zhang Dai already knew that Wu Wenshen had paid his respects to Pei Guangting after arriving in the capital, and that he was only able to be summoned by Consort Wu Hui because of her advice. Therefore, he was not surprised that this guy was involved with Li Linfu.

As for the other princes and nobles who were present, the lineup looked impressive, with even a royal prince among them, but in reality, it was nothing special.

Take, for example, Li Chenghong, the most esteemed of the princes, who was the son of Li Shouli, the Prince of Bin. Shi Liu was well aware of the Prince of Bin's situation; merchants from the West Market had opened offices in the Prince of Bin's residence to help him calculate and distribute his fiefdoms and stipends.

When Wu Wenshen first arrived in Chang'an, he was eager to make friends with the powerful and influential people of the time, and the Prince of Bin was particularly friendly to the wealthy. The two hit it off immediately and became very compatible.

Most of the other guests were in a similar situation. Their family backgrounds and titles sounded impressive, but in reality, they were all just pretty faces with no real power or position in the court.

Even Li Xia, that kid, was far inferior to his older brothers in his family, which is why he had so much free time to hang around Zhang Dai and even went to the south of the city to help manage the tea garden.

Among all the guests, Pei Zhen was the one who truly deserved attention. Although he didn't hold a high official position, he was, after all, the son of Prime Minister Pei Guangting. However, Pei Zhen's acquaintance with Wu Wenshen wasn't voluntary; he was forced by his stepmother, Lady Wu, to put on a perfunctory show.

After gaining a preliminary understanding of Wu Wenshen's current network of connections, Zhang Dai felt somewhat relieved. He wasn't afraid of the guy's extensive network in the capital; rather, he was more concerned about Wu Wenshen's martial prowess.

After all, he had learned from Kang Lide that Wu Wenshen was indeed a ruthless character who lived by the sword, and certainly not a humble and polite person. If he couldn't act within the rules and was constantly restrained, he might choose to use force.

"Furthermore, during the banquet last night, Li Linfu left the room after being mocked by Li Jiu, and Wu Wenshen also left the hall to talk to him outside for more than a quarter of an hour. I then went out to observe for a while, but it was inconvenient to get close. Afterwards, Li Linfu did not return to the hall, and Li Jiu and I waited at his house until nearly noon but did not see Li Linfu come out."

Pei Zhen added from the side, while solemnly reminding Zhang Dai: "You have a past grudge against Li Linfu. I also said that this man appears respectful and kind but is actually ruthless. If you incur his jealousy, you must be wary. Now, Wu Wenshen also harbors ill intentions towards you. With the two of them together, you must be careful of what evil schemes they might plot!"

You're quite perceptive when it comes to people, yet you couldn't see anything amiss with your stepmother? Love really does make people blind!
Zhang Dai felt uneasy when Pei Zhen reminded him so earnestly. He had considered simply exposing Wu Zetian and Li Linfu's affair and getting rid of those two troublesome people cleanly and efficiently.

The problem is, how is he supposed to explain to Pei Guangting how he discovered this matter?
Pei Guangting was no ordinary, unassuming village elder; he was a high-ranking and powerful prime minister, and a man of deep cunning. If Zhang Dai became too deeply involved in this matter, it would inevitably leave a negative impression on Pei Guangting.

Even close friends would try to subtly remind each other of relationship problems, let alone superiors and subordinates. Zhang Dai's supposed precognitive abilities might be perceived by Pei Guangting as a form of deep surveillance, making it unlikely he would still have feelings for Zhang Dai.

Moreover, while the one who commits the wrong and is immoral in being cuckolded is the other party, it brings immense humiliation and various forms of harm to the person being cuckolded. Especially for Pei Guangting, a prime minister, how can he manage state affairs if he can't even handle his family matters?

Take the Zhang family's handling of the Zheng family's witchcraft and harm to people as an example. If the matter becomes widely known, in addition to the harm caused to the family by the matter itself, the development of public opinion will bring even more intense and lasting damage.

Especially given the current political situation with the prime ministers in a three-way power struggle and the situation not yet fully stable, if such a shocking incident were to occur in Pei Guangting's family, no matter how it is handled, it will be seized upon by those with ulterior motives for a massive attack. He might even be ousted from the position by the other two prime ministers and forced to return home in disgrace to deal with his family affairs.

Therefore, although Zhang Dai understood that this matter was a powerful weapon, it needed to be used properly. If the method and timing were wrong, it could easily backfire. Moreover, in addition to considering his own interests, he also had to fully consider the feelings of Pei and his son.

For the next few years, he would be working under Pei Guangting, and he was also good friends with Pei Zhen. If he were to publicize and hype this matter for his own benefit, he would not only fail to maximize his own interests, but it would also be a betrayal of his superior and friend.

"Young Master Pei, what do you think of Li Linfu? Has he paid you a visit recently?"

After listening to Pei Zhen's reminder, Zhang Dai thought for a moment and then asked another question. He wanted to engage in some suggestive and guiding exchanges in their daily interactions, so that Pei Zhen could subtly sense and guess what was going on.

"I am neither a colleague nor a friend of his, so I have no particular feelings about him. I have only heard that he was quite dissolute in his youth, but after he became an official, he was known for his competence, especially when he served in the Imperial Academy. Therefore, I think Ye Yan is good at pretense and has a deep mind, so I should stay away from him. As for Li Jiu, although he also behaves dissolutely, he has no tricks to hide his evil deeds or the wisdom to do evil. He is innocent and frank and has no guile."

Upon hearing the question, Pei Zhen replied, not forgetting to subtly criticize Li Xia, adding, "When I first became Chancellor, he and his colleagues did come to congratulate me, but we haven't had any contact since." "Does Pei mean I lack wit? I simply don't like to show off!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xia was naturally displeased and immediately glared at him, shouting, "If I hadn't been honest with you, who would have known yesterday that I was Zhang Liu's spy? Also, last night I specifically chose the room next to Li Linfu's, do you know why he didn't come out until almost noon? The sounds of debauchery in the room lasted until late at night, and in the end, he was defeated by me!"

Upon hearing Li Xia's report, Zhang Dai chuckled. Apparently, the old artilleryman had strained his back and was still in bed!
However, after hearing Pei Zhen say this, Zhang Dai also realized that Li Linfu still dared not take advantage of Pei Guangting's ignorance, and was trying his best to avoid suspicion in his words and deeds, not daring to let his private affair with Wu Shi be discovered by others.

As for Wu Wenshen's affair with Li Linfu, considering Wu Wenshen's boastful remarks to Consort Hui yesterday, it must be related to Li Linfu's residence in Pingkangfang.

It's worth paying attention to whether Wu Wenshen, who is putting on a show of wealth and power to attract the favor of the elite in the capital, will help Li Linfu solve his debt problem of several hundred thousand strings of cash.

As they talked, they left the West Market together. They hadn't walked far along the long street outside the market when Li Xia, who was proudly showing off his fine saddle and horse, suddenly exclaimed, "Oh no! We've been seen!"

Zhang Dai looked in the direction of the sound and saw Li Linfu and his son, along with several followers, walking out of Liquanfang and heading east along Zhuquemen Hengjie Street a dozen or so feet ahead. Li Linfu was still looking back from his horse, so he must have spotted them.

"What should we do? Since Li Shi saw us going in and out together, he will surely tell Wu Wenshen. This man knows that we are all on good terms, so how can I go to his house to gather information for you?"

Li Xia turned back, looking annoyed, and said that he was quite addicted to being a spy and found it very exciting, especially since Wu Wenshen was so generous and the Hu women entertaining guests at his home were so charming. If he could not go now, it would be such a pity.

The thought of losing the jewels and beautiful women filled Li Xia with malice. He leaned closer and whispered, "Zhang Liu, you have many men. Why don't you just kidnap Li Shi and his son out of the city and bury them in the tea garden?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai rolled his eyes and pointed to the Taiji Palace wall not far away. "To commit murder and kidnapping in the street right outside the Vermilion Bird Gate? You have quite the imagination! Don't even mention that your father is no longer the General of the Golden Guard. Even if he were, I'd probably still personally tie you up and take you to Dog Ridge to be stabbed!"

Li Xia also realized that this idea was somewhat unrealistic, so he changed his mind and said, "How about I introduce Dou E to him, and he can report the information he gathers from Dou E's home to you, and we can split the spoils with him?"

To come up with such a crooked idea in such a short time shows that this kid, as he said, does have some wisdom, just not much.

"It's not a big deal if he finds out. Consort Hui has also shown me a lot of favor, and this fellow will still try his best to win her favor. Since he covets the power of Prince Xin'an and Prime Minister Pei, and knows that we are friendly, he will only work harder to win you over, so that he can cut off my support network."

Unlike Li Xia, Zhang Dai was not nervous. Upon hearing this, he laughed and said, while stepping forward and tapping the saddle between Li Xia's legs: "Such treasures will likely be offered up one after another in the future. How many you can take depends on how clever you are!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xia beamed with joy and exclaimed, "Zhang Liu, you truly are my closest friend. Even if I make an enemy of someone, I can still reap many benefits. How could Wu Wenshen possibly sow discord between us without spending a fortune?"

Pei Zhen, standing to the side, said softly, "Don't be too reckless. Although the Prince of Xin'an has returned to the country in great glory, he is also a target of gossip and slander. Your actions here are too ostentatious, and you may bring trouble upon your family!"

"What have you heard?"

Although Li Xia was carefree, he respected and cared for his father. He knew that Pei Zhen was not one to talk nonsense, and since his father, Pei Guangting, was in charge of the Censorate, there must be some basis for his statement.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai also came closer. He had been busy preparing for the Autumn Festival for some time and was not very clear about the recent trend of the Censorate.

"I'm not from Taichung either, so I don't know the inside story. I just heard my thoughts from you. In any case, it's always better to be cautious than not to be."

Pei Zhen simply shook his head and said nothing more, whether he truly didn't know or simply didn't want to say more.

(End of this chapter)