Chapter 405: Scoundrel

The Sun family came from a humble background. Although she married into a prominent family like the Zhangs, she had no official title before, so she was never responsible for receiving guests from official families. She rarely went to visit others during festivals. It wasn’t until her husband and son both passed the imperial examinations and rose through the ranks that she truly felt proud. In Nanjing, she surrounded herself with top-ranking noblewomen, but this was the first time she entered an imperial palace, and she felt extremely awkward meeting the crown princess.

Fortunately, Lady Zhang was kind and friendly. After chatting about some household matters, she got used to it. Unexpectedly, her daughter Zhang Jing stopped being mischievous and answered questions obediently. In her delight, Lady Zhang gave all the pastries from the tray to the little girl before leaving. Then, following the eunuch who led the way, they arrived at Zhang Yue’s residence. Once they left, Zhang Jing cheered and climbed onto the kang with the tray, causing Sun Lady’s headache to return.

“You were fine with the crown princess just now. Can’t you stay quiet?”
“Sister-in-law said the crown princess is the future empress and older than grandmother, so we must be polite. But right now, it’s just Mom here!”

Seeing her daughter place the tray on the kang table and lift the lid while saying such things, Sun Lady felt that times had truly changed—her own words were ignored, while her daughter-in-law’s words carried weight like imperial edicts. As Zhang Jing counted on her fingers, Sun Lady sat down across from her. “This is a gift from the crown princess. Eat it if you want. Why make such a fuss?”

“One for Dad, one for Mom, one for Brother, and then mine and Sister-in-law’s… Hmm, six items for five people—how should we divide them? Hehe, never mind. Sister-in-law and I will share three. She loves mint cakes the most!”

Zhang Yue heard her muttering outside the door. He pulled back the curtain and entered, just in time to see his mother’s exasperated yet amused expression. He couldn’t understand why Zhang Jing liked to stick around Du Wan, but he found it amusing. He quietly stepped forward, rubbed her head hard, then asked, “Sharing things is something your sister-in-law taught you?”
“Of course! It’s Sister-in-law who taught me!” Zhang Jing frantically freed herself from Zhang Yue’s grasp, hid behind Sun Lady, and then frowned. “Brother, you’re bad! I won’t share the delicious ones with you. I’ll give them all to Sister-in-law!”

Though he still wanted to tease this cute little girl, seeing Lady Sun staring at him intently, Zhang Yue awkwardly stepped forward, bowed briefly, and was immediately pulled up. Forced by his mother to sit beside her, he felt uncomfortable under her critical gaze as she examined him from head to toe. He quickly spoke up, “Mother, I’ve been extremely busy these past few days, so of course I’ve lost some weight…”
“Lost weight? You must have applied quite a few plasters too!”
Seeing Zhang Yue’s awkward expression, though Lady Sun felt sorry for him, she didn’t know what more to scold. After all, he was now an official of the imperial court—how could he dare disobey the emperor’s orders? Thinking of the various rumors she had heard lately, she felt even more guilty and began to blame her husband for staying in Nanjing instead of moving elsewhere—how could it be fair that their son suffered while they enjoyed comfort?
Although Zhang Jing was mischievous, seeing her mother’s red eyes as she looked at her brother, she obediently sat down beside them. After thinking for a moment, she struggled to take the tray from the table and handed it to Lady Sun and Zhang Yue. At that moment, when Lady Sun was feeling sad and angry, she saw Zhang Jing smile again and hand the tray to Zhang Yue.
“It’s just Jing’s sincere gesture. Eat quickly; don’t disappoint her.”
After Zhang Yue took a golden dumpling, she returned the tray to Zhang Jing and told her, with a joyful smile, to eat slowly by herself outside. Then she began talking about various household matters in Nanjing. Though they were all trivial matters, her face still showed a look of happiness and contentment. When she mentioned that she would be away for several months, she couldn’t help but frown. So, Zhang Yue simply took out his father’s letter, which once again led to Lady Sun’s endless complaints.
Since Zhang Yue’s visit was for official business, though he was delighted to reunite with his mother and sister, he couldn’t spend all his time on that. In the following days, he had to discuss departure from Dezhou with Yang Shiqi and several military officers, and also write letters on behalf of Zhu Zhanji every day. To his frustration, the letters dictated by Zhu Zhanji grew longer by the day; eventually, each letter filled ten sheets of paper, containing both private conversations between grandfather and grandson and official matters to be reported. Fortunately, the weather had warmed slightly, and most of the ice and snow on the roads had melted, making communication less difficult than before. No one dared complain that the crown prince’s letters were too long.

Officials throughout Texas were in constant fear for half a month, and the entourage from the Eastern Palace, whose journey had been delayed, finally set off again. After all, Zhu Zhanji had spent his childhood learning martial arts and literature under Zhu Di, which had strengthened his physique. Thus, despite having just recovered from illness, he experienced no setbacks along the way and arrived safely in the capital. Zhang Yue escorted the three members of the Eastern Palace to Duanben Palace inside Donghua Gate, then went to hand over military command to the eunuch Liu Yongcheng of the Imperial Horse Supervision Bureau. Immediately afterward, he rushed to Qianqing Palace to see Zhu Di, only to be given another tricky task before he could even catch his breath.

“I’ve ordered the Jinyiwei to investigate the case of smuggled gunpowder in the military camps. Now, Marquis Anyuan Liu Sheng has submitted a petition asking to take responsibility and relinquish his military powers. Since you still hold a position in the Ministry of War, go to his mansion and see him. Liu Sheng, a high-ranking general, is being petty at such a time—scold him on my behalf!”

Marquis Anyuan’s mansion was located in Anyuan Hutong in the capital, a name derived naturally from his title. Although he wasn’t one of the meritorious officials who received hereditary titles during the Jingnan Campaign, he first assisted Zhang Fu in conquering Jiaozhi and later led the navy to defeat the Japanese pirates in Qingzhou, earning him the title of marquis. During the two northern expeditions, he commanded the Divine Strategy Camp and then the central army. Upon returning, he continued to oversee tens of thousands of elite troops in the capital’s military forces. For this reason, compared to a group of aging meritorious officials, if Zhang Fu was considered the best among dukes, then he was the best among marquises.

Yet now, this once valiant Marquis Anyuan was at a loss when faced with his niece Zhao Fen, who was crying bitterly before him. In the end, he couldn’t help but slam his hand hard on the table.

“Stop crying! Men should stand tall and achieve great things outside, while women should stay at home, support their husbands, raise children, and manage household affairs—this has always been the way. Do you think I should go to your house just so your mother-in-law doesn’t treat you harshly? The Zhang family is at its peak right now. Your sister-in-law is still the daughter of a duke’s family—can’t you be more humble?”

“She’s just a concubine’s daughter; how can she compare to me…”

Already overwhelmed by the issues in the military camps, Liu Sheng became even angrier upon hearing such an excuse. “What nonsense! Whether she’s a concubine’s daughter or someone else’s, the Marquis and Marquise of Xiangcheng still arranged a grand wedding for her! Don’t keep bringing up the difference between legitimate and concubine-born children for no reason. Zhang Yue’s wife married later than you, and she’s already pregnant—what about you? Don’t think just because your uncle is a marquis you can act arrogantly. Otherwise, someone will find a reason to divorce you, and then we’ll see who loses face!”

Zhao Fen originally thought her uncle was a hereditary marquis who could overshadow the Zhang family at will. Hearing these words now, she was instantly terrified. Though she was proud and willful, she wasn’t stupid enough to miss the implication behind them. Thinking of how the whole family had been in turmoil over treason these days, and having heard that executions had taken place at Xisi Pailou with over a dozen heads cut off, she gradually grew panicked.

“Uncle, the emperor has always trusted you. He surely won’t really…”

“Trust is one thing, but this time I failed to notice something, and someone took advantage of it. It’s hard to say what will happen next.”

Although Liu Sheng had a cheerful personality, the thought of the emperor carrying out such brutal killings made him uneasy as well. He sighed deeply and said, “So, Fen, don’t be so stubborn all the time. If you remain as stubborn as you were before marriage, I won’t be able to protect you eventually. You should learn from your aunt—be gentle when needed and firm when necessary. It’s fine for women outside to be proud, but if your own wife has a proud face, which man wouldn’t get annoyed…”

“Cough!”

Liu Sheng, who was giving advice to his niece, turned upon hearing this cough and saw his wife, Lady Zhao, standing at the door with the curtain aside. He quickly put on a smiling face. Before he could explain anything, Lady Zhao said directly, “Sir, please put aside teaching Fen these tactics for now. Zhang Yue has come to see you.”

Zhang Yue!

At this moment, Liu Sheng couldn’t care less about Zhao Fen’s trivial matters. After learning the situation, he immediately ordered Lady Zhao to take his niece away. He didn’t play any tricks like pretending to be sick. When Zhang Yue entered, he asked straight away, “Zhang Yue, are you here to deliver an imperial edict?”

Faced with such a straightforward relative, Zhang Yue felt helpless. After bowing, he didn’t bother using polite titles like “marquis” or beating around the bush. “Uncle Liu, I came from the emperor, but I have nothing to do with delivering edicts. The emperor kept your letter of apology and didn’t send it out. You requested to relinquish command of the troops. Although the emperor hasn’t responded, from what I saw, he was very displeased when he mentioned this matter, cursing angrily with just a few words!”

Although Liu Sheng had no connection with Meng Xian, that night had really chilled him to the core. Hearing Zhang Yue’s words, his curiosity outweighed his fear, and he quickly asked, “What did the emperor curse?”

Zhang Yue didn’t rush to answer. Seeing that Liu Sheng was no longer as aloof as before, he explained seriously, “Although the Five Army Command has many dukes, marquises, and counts, in comparison, those with as illustrious military achievements as Uncle Liu are mostly already of advanced age. As for those as vigorous as Uncle Liu, they are usually descendants of second or even third-generation heroes. The capital garrison is of utmost importance. My eldest uncle returned from Xuanfu this time to rest properly; we can’t have him in charge of the capital garrison. If you don’t take care of it, who will? So, what do you think the emperor will scold?”
“Scoundrel!”
Almost instantly, Liu Sheng felt as if he heard the emperor’s furious shout. Having served the emperor closely for years and enjoying greater favor than most nobles, he now fully believed Zhang Yue’s words. Thinking of the instructions the emperor had given him during his last visit to the capital garrison, his previously cooled enthusiasm reignited.
Zhang Yue was indeed right. If he shirked his responsibility, it would not only benefit others but also cost him the emperor’s favor!