Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 178 The Queen's Brother-in-Law
Changqiu Terrace, the secret office.

A group of eunuchs knelt at Zhang Dahai's feet and cried loudly.

Zhang Dahai said nothing, looked up at the void with a lost expression.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally came to his senses and said in a deep voice, "Stop crying, Wang Fusheng will be here soon. Don't let him laugh at you."

Everyone stopped crying immediately.

Zhang Quan raised his head and cried, "Foster father, is there really no room for maneuver?"

Zhang Da Hai sighed, "Her Majesty the Queen has spoken personally, so there is nothing I can do."

Zhang Quan hissed, "Then all our hard work over the years has been nothing but a favor to Wang Fusheng."

Zhang Duohai was silent for a while, then said, "I've been pondering Her Majesty's intentions. The Saint actually intends to abolish Changqiutai, not merge it into Sigongtai. This result is already quite good."

Zhang Quan whispered, "Why did the Saint abolish the Changqiutai? Aren't we doing better than the Sigongtai?"

Zhang Duohai glanced at him, waved his hand to dismiss the others, and waited until only the two of them were left in the room before he slowly spoke.

"Sometimes, doing a job well isn't necessarily a good thing. It's precisely because we did such a good job that His Majesty established the new Nei Ling Mansion. Do you understand?"

Zhang Quan was stunned for a moment and said, "Isn't this too unfair?"

Zhang Dahai sighed, "There is no such thing as fairness when working in the palace."

Zhang Quan lowered his head and whispered, "We serve the Queen faithfully. Now that she's firmly in power, does that mean she's just going to ignore us?"

Zhang Duohai's face changed drastically and he kicked Zhang Quan on the shoulder.

"How dare you say such nonsense, you little bastard! Our lives belong to Her Majesty the Queen, and you still dare to complain?"

Zhang Quan quickly knelt up straight and whispered, "I know I was wrong."

Zhang Duohai took a few breaths and then slowly sat back down.

"Remember this: everything you have is given by me, and everything I have is given by Her Majesty the Queen. If you dare to have such thoughts again, don't blame your adoptive father for being ruthless."

Zhang Quan kowtowed hurriedly and said, "I won't dare to do it again."

Just then, a eunuch walked in from outside.

"Young Supervisor Zhang, Senior Supervisor Wang is here."

Zhang Duohai waved to Zhang Quan, signaling him to leave, and then said, "Please ask Wang Dajian to come in."

After a while, Wang Fusheng walked in with brisk steps.

Zhang Dahai knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying, "I, Zhang Dahai, pay my respects to the eunuch."

Wang Fusheng went over and helped him up, saying with a smile, "Duohai, you're welcome. From now on, Changqiutai and Sigongtai will be one family."

Zhang Dahai whispered, "I will do my best to serve the eunuch in the future."

Wang Fusheng stared at him for a while and said, "Zhang Duohai, let's be frank and honest. It's boring for everyone if we keep hiding things like this."

Zhang Da Hai looked up at him and made a gesture of invitation.

"Eunuch Wang, please follow me."

The two entered a room inside. There was a particularly large bed in the room, and there were a lot of dried mutton and venison hanging there. As soon as they entered the room, they could smell the aroma of meat.

"You really know how to enjoy yourself." Wang Fusheng said with a smile.

Zhang Duohai walked over to the couch and sat down, staring at Wang Fusheng.

"This is my only hobby. When it comes to being honest and self-disciplined, I am far inferior to the great eunuch Wang."

Wang Fusheng also walked to a chair and sat down, sighing.

"Zhang Dahai, come to think of it, you entered the palace only a year later than me, and we were both eunuchs who entered the Eastern Palace in the same year. Even if we can't be considered friends, we can at least be considered old acquaintances."

When Li Zhi was named the crown prince, he was only fifteen years old. Emperor Taizong of Tang transferred a group of young eunuchs to serve in the Eastern Palace, including Zhang Duohai and Wang Fusheng.

When Zhang Duohai heard him talk about the past, she could no longer suppress the anger in her heart.

"I dare not try to get close to you, Lord Wang. You were once favored by Commoner Wang. How could you even look down on a poor person like me?"

When Li Zhi appointed the crown prince, Wang was the crown princess. Because Wang Fusheng was docile and well-behaved, and shared the same surname as Wang, she was highly regarded by Wang and promoted repeatedly.

Zhang Da Hai is just the opposite.

When he was a child, he was lazy and often stole food. Once he was caught stealing food in the kitchen, and Wang ordered people to lock him up.

This stage lasts for five days.

Zhang Duohai himself didn't know how he survived. He was so thin that he was just skin and bones. Since then, he hated Wang.

It's a pity that he is just a mere eunuch, how could he compete with the Crown Princess? It wasn't until Wu Meiniang entered the harem and began to fight against Queen Wang that Zhang Dahai threw himself into Wu Meiniang's service without hesitation, and thus became the Zhang Shaojian of today.

Wang Fusheng said, "Let's not talk about what happened back then. Now that you've taken the initiative to request an imperial decree to merge Changqiutai into Sigongtai, I won't make things difficult for you anymore."

After a pause, he said, "But shouldn't you hand over to me the list of spies lurking in the Sigongtai?"

Zhang Dahai snorted, "If I tell you, are you going to kill them?"

Wang Fusheng shook his head and said, "How could I bear to kill such talented people? I will definitely use them in the future."

Zhang Dahai nodded, dipped his finger in the tea, and wrote two names on the table.

Wang Fusheng's eyes flickered as he said, "So it's them two."

Zhang Duohai asked, "Do you have any other questions?"

Wang Fusheng stood up and said, "No more. From now on, these secret offices of Changqiutai will still be managed by you, but I will also send some people in. If you find out any news in the future, remember to let me know."

Zhang Duohai asked in surprise, "Are you still planning to keep these secret agents?"

Wang Fusheng stared at him and said, "Duohai, let me be honest with you. What I'm worried about is not your Changqiutai, but the Neilingfu."

Zhang Duohai grinned and said, "I understand. You are afraid that Sigongtai will be abolished in the future just like Changqiutai."

Wang Fusheng agreed.

Zhang Duohai felt relieved. As long as Wang Fusheng regarded the Nei Lingfu as his opponent, he would definitely need to rely on Changqiutai.

This way he still has room to maneuver.

"Don't worry, Master Eunuch. I will definitely assist you and will never let the Imperial Household Department take advantage!"

Wang Fusheng frowned and said, "I'm not asking you to confront the Inner Court. We're all working for the Saint, so don't damage the harmony."

Zhang Dahai cursed him for being hypocritical and said with a forced smile, "I understand."

Wang Fusheng said, "I have an errand for you to do now."

Zhang Duohai bowed and said, "Grand Eunuch, please give your instructions."

Wang Fusheng said, "Send your men to keep an eye on the Gu and Wang families."

Zhang Duohai was stunned and asked, "Gu and Wang from Jiangnan?"

Wang Fusheng said, "That's right. The trading companies under their control have been acting a bit dishonestly lately. Don't let them ruin the Saint's plan."

……

"Father, I feel that this matter is not appropriate."

Above Qujiang Lake, a pleasure boat was floating down the river. This boat was extremely luxurious, and even the deck was covered with thick Persian carpets.

The delicacies on the table were no less delicious than those in the imperial palace. The utensils used to hold the dishes were made of gold and silver, and the chopsticks were made of ivory.

Gu Cheng, the head of the Gu family, picked up a piece of lamb tongue with chopsticks and put it in his mouth. He said to his son Gu Wen Zhang, "Oh, why?"

Gu Wenjian said, "With just us and the Wang family, our power in the court is too weak. If someone were to discover something, it would be difficult to cover it up."

Gu Cheng sighed, "It is precisely because our power is too weak that we must find more ways to make money so that you can enter the government as soon as possible. How can we do this without taking some risks?"

Gu Wen Zhang said, "Father, haven't you been following Li Yifu's path recently? Why not drag him into the water? Then he will protect us!"

Gu Cheng snorted coldly, "That Mr. Li is very smart. He always asks women to collect the money. He will never agree to it."

Gu Wenjian pondered for a moment and said, "Then why not look for the Jingzhao Wei family? They are the most powerful in Guannei Road. If we cooperate with them, it will be less likely for things to go wrong."

Gu Cheng waved his hand and said, "Don't mention it. Since the Jingzhao Du family was removed from the family, the Jingzhao Wei family has to be like a grandson and no longer attend the usual aristocratic family gatherings."

Gu Wenjian sighed, "In that case, I think it's best to give up on this matter."

Gu Cheng glanced at his son and said, "You are almost thirty years old. If you don't enter the government, you will have no future in the court when you are old. You can't wait any longer."

Gu Wen Zhang said, "But if we just work alone with Wang's, the risk is too great!"

Gu Cheng suddenly asked, "How's your journey with Guo Xiaoshen in Taiyuan going?"

Gu Wenzhang's expression changed slightly. He said, "Father, you won't use this connection now, will you? Didn't you say it was a long-term plan?"

Gu Cheng said: "Originally it was a long line, but hasn't Guo Xiaoshen already entered Beijing? This line can also be used."

Gu Wenjian thought for a moment and said, "I do have a way to convince him to join the gang."

Gu Cheng said: "That's good. As long as he can join the group, no matter what troubles we encounter in the future, we can let him, the Queen's brother-in-law, to deal with them!"

(End of this chapter)