Chapter 799: Exquisite Relatives and Relatives Too Shy to Acknowledge

The officialdom today no longer has the outdated custom of giving gifts on every festival or birthday. When Zhang Yue was serving as an official in Guangdong, on his birthdays, the family would simply have a bowl of noodles together and call it a day. With so many people in the family and numerous birthdays, he never really paid much attention to his own birthday. Moreover, with constant travel and troubles before, and then such an incident happening right after he arrived in the capital, there was no time to think about birthdays at all. Seeing Zhang Fu suddenly understand, he smiled apologetically as he patted his forehead.
“I really should thank Second Uncle Fu and Third Uncle Jie for keeping it in mind for me; otherwise, I would have forgotten too.”
“Since it’s the birthday of the honored one, we must celebrate properly!”
Seeing his two younger brothers smilingly surrounding Zhang Yue as they went inside, Zhang Fu was quite surprised. Since Zhang Fu and Zhang Jie were not very capable, he had repeatedly refused their requests to become officials. Over the past two years, he had gradually distanced himself from them. Even when he celebrated his fiftieth birthday, the two only showed up perfunctorily before disappearing. Now, they had come all the way just to celebrate Zhang Yue’s birthday—wasn’t that ridiculous?
Due to his dislike for Zhang Fu and Zhang Jie’s behavior, and despite being of the same clan, Zhang Yue had hardly had any contact with their families over the years, merely sending gifts as per tradition during festivals. Now, upon entering, seeing his brothers Zhang Bin and Zhang Jin also smilingly coming up to greet him, he felt goosebumps rise all over his body. It was only when the two younger children came up that he managed to force a smile.
Lady Wang had received word earlier and initially wanted to use some excuse to avoid meeting them as usual, but unexpectedly, Zhang Fu and Zhang Yue returned together, coincidentally running into each other. When she heard that it was Zhang Yue’s birthday, she was stunned for a moment before realizing she had indeed forgotten. She quickly called her eldest son, Tianci, and told him to go outside and keep company with his uncles and brothers, while also instructing the kitchen to prepare everything quickly. Soon after, Zhang Tian and Zhang Jing also came, pulling Zhang Yue along with them.
“I was planning to sneak back tonight to celebrate Third Brother’s birthday, but someone else beat me to it!” Zhang Jing pouted unhappily, then shook Lady Wang’s hand and said, “Auntie, shall I go out with Sister Tian?”

“Your brother hasn’t yet been officially appointed to any position. He’ll still be free later and surely won’t forget his sister like you. It’s chaotic outside—don’t go out. You might hear some nonsense that could spoil your ears.” Lady Wang felt something was off about today’s events, so she persuaded Zhang Jing at length. Only after seeing her reluctantly take Zhang Tian and Zhang Yue aside to play did she start to ponder.

Although the Duke of Yingguo’s household wasn’t prepared in advance, the kitchen, having received orders, quickly prepared a sumptuous feast in the room to the east of the main hall. Zhang Yue was the birthday celebrant, but he refused to sit at the head seat, insisting he was too young. Instead, everyone sat according to seniority. Zhang Fu and Zhang Jie kept offering drinks to Zhang Yue with smiles, while Zhang Bin and Zhang Jin accompanied him attentively below. He found it hard to cope, and eventually, seeing the situation was becoming awkward, Zhang Fu gently coughed, causing the two elders to sit down awkwardly, leaving the younger ones to make a fuss. Noticing something was wrong, Zhang Fu asked his eldest son, Tianci, to leave the banquet first.

Even so, after the banquet, Zhang Yue was in a terrible state. This wasn’t an official affair—he used to be either an official in charge or an imperial envoy, exuding authority so that no one dared overstep. For lower-level social gatherings, he would just show up briefly and never stay long. And when he worked as an official in the Ministry of War, everyone knew to keep things superficial—had they ever seen him drink like this before? So this time, he didn’t need to pretend to be drunk. Anyone could tell from his red face that he was quite intoxicated.

Zhang Fu and Zhang Jie set aside their seniority for this moment. Zhang Jie gave Zhang Fu a subtle signal to talk to Zhang Fu, then ordered Zhang Bin and Zhang Jin to support Zhang Yue to the side room to sober up. Seeing his dazed eyes, he cleared his throat and spoke up.

“Although my elder brother is now the Grand Tutor and Duke of Yingguo, he no longer handles any affairs. Even my second cousin has become useless—once he returns to the capital, he’ll probably just be treated like a revered statue. In short, the only one in the family who truly has influence is you, Brother Yue. Your two unqualified cousins have just been promoted to military positions. Out of kinship, you should find them good positions.”

“Uncle Jie, are you… are you joking? Who said… who said I must be the vice minister of the Ministry of War? Besides, how do you know I’d be in charge of… of the Military Selection Department?”

Hearing Zhang Yue’s loud talk despite his slurred speech and still clear thinking, Zhang Ke couldn’t help but feel annoyed. How could he not know that his family and Zhang Yue’s family were far apart? Now, due to Zhang Fu’s refusal to recommend him and the emperor’s lack of favor, he had only been given some nominal military positions, not to mention his son. If he hadn’t heard that Zhang Yue was about to be promoted to Vice Minister of War, why would he have come to celebrate a junior’s birthday?

“The news has already spread everywhere. Why hide it anymore, Brother Yue? Everyone knows that Zhang Ben is old, and this position is just to reward his lifelong efforts. The other Vice Minister of War oversees the Department of Geography and the Department of Imperial Carriages—so who else but you can take charge of the Department of Military Selection and the Department of Armories? Besides, you have the merit of supporting the emperor…”

“Uncle Ke, be careful with your words… I’m just an ordinary… ordinary subject. How could I possibly have such great abilities?”

Seeing Zhang Yue, who was clearly drunk, suddenly open his eyes and look at him, then mumble some excuses, Zhang Ke felt extremely annoyed. But he finally realized that calling him someone who could support the emperor was indeed an overstatement. Not to mention that Emperor Xuande had been the crown prince since childhood; even if not, he would never tolerate such talk from outsiders. Seeing that only his son and nephew were around, he calmed down and uttered a sentence he had prepared for a long time.

“Brother Yue, stop being modest. Everyone knows that your uncle originally was supposed to go to Sichuan, but because you wanted to join the Ministry of War, it was decided that the appointment would be postponed temporarily, with another suitable position to be found in the capital. He is your biological uncle, but we are also your relatives. Brother Yue, even if not for others, consider my brother. If not for his special regard for you, how could you have been promoted to Vice Minister in less than ten years? Moreover, the biological nephew of the Duke of Ying can’t just hold a nominal position and be looked down upon, right? My brother and I won’t let you work for nothing. Look, those three shops right across Xuanwu Gate Street are assigned to you—just sign your name!”

Just as he thought Zhang Yue was hesitating and tried to seize the opportunity to finalize the deal, he felt his sleeve pulled twice. Seeing that it was his son Zhang Jin signaling urgently, he quickly turned around only to see Zhang Fu already follow him inside. Faced with Zhang Fu’s embarrassed state, he had no choice but to hide the items quickly, swallow his words, and inwardly curse Zhang Fu for being incompetent, while forcing a smile on his face.

“He’s already drunk. Let him rest properly. You two go talk to your sister-in-law behind.”

Zhang Fu commanded great authority at home. With a single glare from his fierce eyes, Zhang Fei and Zhang Jie dared not say anything else and could only respond awkwardly. The two had wanted to keep Zhang Bin and Zhang Jin there to accompany Zhang Yue, but Zhang Fu merely said he wanted to test his nephew’s skills in both literature and martial arts. With that, no one dared stay; they quickly made excuses to go visit Lady Wang together and left. It wasn’t until they were all gone that Zhang Fu solemnly ordered someone to bring sobering soup and cold water for Zhang Yue to wash his face with. When he turned around, he saw that Zhang Yue was already half-sitting up with help.

Though not yet completely drunk, Zhang Yue felt severe headaches, as if his head might explode. Seeing Zhang Fu approach to ask how he was, he quickly waved his hand and shook his head, saying, “I’m fine. It’s no problem.”

After washing his face with well water mixed with ice and drinking a bowl of sobering soup in one go, he lay down for another fifteen minutes before finally regaining his breath. Noticing that Zhang Fu still sat nearby without leaving, he quickly repeated what he vaguely remembered Zhang Jie having said earlier, before adding, “Fortunately, it was Rong Xi, the son of butler Rong, who served me earlier. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to stop drinking halfway. Even so, I almost got completely drunk. Thankfully, I didn’t say or promise anything important.”

“You’re really cautious!”

Hearing that his two brothers had rushed straight to Zhang Yue to ask for a government position for their son, Zhang Fu became furious, his face turning ashen. As a duke and the head of the three dukes, he didn’t care if Zhang Fei and Zhang Jie accused him of being heartless and neglecting his brothers among the nobles. But if Zhang Yue really fell for their schemes and things went wrong, they could spread rumors in his name as elders, making it impossible for Zhang Yue to hold his position steadily. After much thought, he could only sigh deeply.

“Don’t worry about this matter. I’ll have to risk my reputation to plead for them… Anyway, I’m stepping back. It shouldn’t be hard to secure two military positions for them! Otherwise, who knows what trouble they might cause! You rest well. There’s no need to go inside. When they leave, I won’t let them disturb you again.”

Seeing Zhang Fu nod helplessly, smile, and then turn away, Zhang Yue also felt an indescribable sense of powerlessness. Like Zhang Fu, he wasn’t afraid of schemes from enemies but was worried about relatives who claimed to be his own people dragging him down. In this world that placed such emphasis on family ties, with Zhang Fei and Zhang Jie as his elders, it wasn’t easy for him to deal with them.

Due to such an annoying incident, after Zhang Xuan and the others left, although Lady Wang offered to let him stay at the British nobleman’s residence for two days, Zhang Yue still refused. After all, both Zhang Xuan and Zhang Ke knew he had already been appointed as an assistant minister of war, and the news likely had already spread. It was better to be cautious at this point and avoid causing further trouble for Zhang Fu.

Most nobles lived in the area west of the Imperial City at Xuanwu Gate, while the officials from the six ministries and various temples who attended court daily mostly resided in the alleys near East and West Chang’an Avenues. The East City, on the other hand, was an excellent location for wealthy merchants doing business in the capital to buy houses and land.

Xi Que Hutong was not far from Chongwen Gate Street. The constant noise from people coming in and out of the city gates kept this place lively, and peddlers often passed by here. Like the previous alleys, it was one of the busiest areas in the East City. Yet, just a couple of years ago, an official residence appeared here. Though the residence was not large and had few people coming in and out, over time, no one paid much attention to it.

Inside the innermost courtyard at that time, an old man in his fifties was carefully watering the flowers. Though called an old man, he didn’t look that old—only his temples had turned gray from years of stress. But when he stood up, his back was straight. His thin cheeks had wrinkles, but he didn’t appear old; his eyes shone brightly, and his hands, holding the large copper kettle, were strong. Satisfied with the flowers in the courtyard, he clapped his hands, ready to go back inside.

“Master, someone has brought something outside.”

Hearing this, Yuan Fang was momentarily stunned. The phrase “once the guests leave, the tea cools” was undoubtedly most fitting for the commander of the Jinyiwei. Although he had kept a low profile in the past, as long as he held his position, anonymous gifts never ceased to arrive during festivals. Since those gifts couldn’t be returned, he had no choice but to distribute them among his subordinates. After he retired, few people still sent him gifts—mostly those he had promoted in the past, who quietly sent them to avoid trouble.

However, when the lacquered box was placed before him, he showed a slight smile. He took it casually and went straight into his room without saying much. When he opened the lid and saw two cloth bags inside, he laughed even more. Sure enough, when he untied the ropes and emptied the bags, they were filled with seeds.

“This kid really thinks of me as a gardener!”

Though he said so, Yuan Fang was still very pleased by the thoughtfulness of the gift giver. He was well aware that two secret agents from the Jinyiwei were stationed outside the palace bestowed by the emperor, and the gift box must have been thoroughly inspected—there could be no hidden messages. Yet, there could only be one person who would go to such lengths to give a gift. That boy had just returned and had news of another promotion, so his mood was likely excellent as well. In another two years, when no one would be paying attention to him, he might not need to hide as much as now.

However, Yuan Fang’s joy didn’t last long. On a whim that evening, he ordered the gatekeeper to buy a basket of crystal steamed buns from a small restaurant near Chongwenmen Street. But when the food was brought back, he unexpectedly found an inconspicuous note inside. Since retiring, he had rarely seen such things. Upon opening it, his expression changed instantly.

Though it contained only a few words, the note mentioned not only today’s debate at the Meridian Gate but also the reason why Zhu Zhanji left in a hurry—Imperial Concubine Sun had suddenly fainted! Moreover, it mentioned two major matters involving the Censorate.