Chapter Fifty-One: Heart's Eye

  Zhao Zhan had never seen the people from his maternal grandparents' house before, although he knew the intentions of these two uncles. However, there was an inexplicable urge to see them immediately, a feeling that might be due to their blood relationship or gratitude for how his paternal relatives had treated him after he left the palace.

  Zhao Zhe changed his clothes and came to the front hall. As soon as he entered, he went to the small parlor where Zheng Shou was having tea with two people. They must be his two maternal uncles. "Zhe pays respects to both uncles!" Zhao Zhe didn't wait for Xiao Huangmen to report, but stepped forward and greeted them.

  "How can I receive such a great gift from Your Highness!" One of them quickly stood up and supported Zhao Che with a smile.

  "Your Highness, this is the Second Young Master of the State Duke's Manor, Zheng Xi, who is also your second uncle!" Zheng Shou knew that Zhao Che didn't recognize them, so he hastily introduced each one. "That one is the Sixth Young Master of the State Duke's Manor, Zheng Yun, who is your younger uncle!"

  Listening to Zheng Shou's introduction, Zhao Ke looked at the two people. Zheng Xi was in his thirties, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, a fair complexion, regular features, wearing a brocade robe made of Shu silk, with a golden belt around his waist, hanging a silver fish bag, paired with a jade ring, holding a white jade bone folding fan produced in Japan. He was obviously an official's son. Behind him, Zheng Yun also wore a brocade robe, but at first glance, it was clear that the material and workmanship were much inferior. Around his waist was only a rhinoceros belt with jade pieces, his face was delicate, but there was a hint of gloominess. Those who didn't know the situation would definitely think he was Zheng Xi's follower.

  "The prince's body is much better, your grandparents always mention it with concern. Now that they know you're better, they must be delighted. This time they knew you were granted the title of imperial prince, they immediately prepared a congratulatory gift and asked me to bring it over!" Zheng Xi said with a smile all over his face.

  "Let the grandparents worry about it, but don't let Second Uncle be in charge of the king's affairs, the king's orders are all from one family and yet they seem to be at odds with each other. Little Uncle, you say is that right?"

  "Oh, then forgive me for being rude, I'll just call you Xiao Er!" Zheng Xi hastily replied before Zheng Yun could even speak.

  The three of them sat down again, and since they had just met and were not familiar with each other, Zhao Ye asked about the health of his family's elderly members, whether they were doing well in their old age, and how his aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, and siblings were doing. After chatting for a while, they gradually warmed up to each other. Zheng Xi was very talkative, and he could discuss everything from court affairs to street gossip, as if there was nothing going on in the capital that he didn't know about. In contrast, Zheng Yu only occasionally interjected with a few words, mostly asking about Zhao Ye's health and studies, and for the most part just sat silently drinking tea and listening to their conversation.

  In the evening, Zhao Zhan set up a simple banquet to entertain his two uncles. At the dinner table, there were only Huang Jingchen and three managers from the government office accompanying them. After dinner, they cleaned up two guest rooms for them to stay in, and no one mentioned the wine-burning incident. The next day, Zhao Zhan accompanied them drinking and eating, touring around the government office, and it was the same on the third day.

  On the fourth morning, Zheng Xie and his brother had breakfast and waited to continue visiting Wang Fu with Master Wang. A small yellow gate came over to report that Master Wang had gone to play on the river embankment construction site today, and let them do as they pleased. "Old Six, have you asked Zheng Fu?" The Zhao Mansion was big, but it could be strolled through in two days. Besides, what was built at home was much better than this. They didn't have the interest to wander around by themselves anymore. Zheng Xie asked about the proper business.

  "Second Brother, I asked him and he said he didn't know anything about it!" Zheng Yu carefully replied as she poured a cup of tea for Zheng Xi.

  "This dog thing, our Zheng family has raised him for so many years, and now he's learned to play tricks on us!" Zheng Xi slapped the table and said angrily, "You too, won't you ask others if he doesn't say anything?"

  "I asked them and they all said they didn't know about this matter." Zheng Yu's second brother lowered his head in anger.

  "What?! Don't even know, these treacherous and ungrateful things, are all wolves that can't be fed! The big and small managers in the mansion, plus more than half of the guards and miscellaneous workers, were originally from the Zheng family. Now they all pretend to be ignorant, no wonder Zheng Xi is angry."

  "Second brother, don't be angry, this wine-burning matter is a secret, it's normal that these people don't know!" Zheng Yu advised.

  "Fart, Zhen'er is only eight years old, what does he know? It's still Zheng Fu and the others who are in charge of things. They wouldn't know about such an important matter, and who would believe it if I told them?" Zheng Xi shouted, his nose flaring with anger.

  "Second brother, don't forget that the chief steward of this mansion is not one of us, he was sent from the palace. Perhaps only he knows about this matter." Zheng Yu said in a low voice.

  "Oh, isn't Zheng Quan the one who said that a servant in the mansion knows how to brew wine? Could it be someone from the inner court? That's impossible." Zheng Xi shook his head and said. He had thought that everyone in the Zhao Mansion was under the jurisdiction of the Duke's Manor, and he only needed to come personally once, find that person, and with a little manipulation, he could complete this simple task. But now these people didn't know what they were talking about, they didn't even acknowledge their "old master", pushing and pulling, not a single true word, he simply didn't believe that the palace staff would know how to brew wine.

  "Second Brother, why don't we directly find Xiao Er and talk to him? What conditions will he come up with?" Zheng Yu proposed.

  "Xiao Er is just a kid, he doesn't know the great benefits in it. If we say it out loud, will it be that easy to find someone?" Zheng Xi scolded with a "you're stupid" expression, looking at him sideways.

  "Second brother, didn't Father say we should cooperate with the Wang family in business? Why are you doing this?" Zheng Yu said, seemingly unbothered.

  "Don't say anything more, I have my own plan. Tonight, call Zheng Fu over and tell him I'm inviting him!" Zheng Xi said with a flick of his sleeve, his face somewhat sinister.

  Zheng Yu was shocked and understood the thoughts of his second brother, who wanted to monopolize. He opened his mouth but swallowed back the words of persuasion and turned around to find someone else, but he didn't hold much hope for this. Over the past two days, he had met with several old people from the original mansion, but although they still cherished old feelings, they were not as close as before. In their words, they expressed admiration for the new master, which Zheng Yu could hear was not because they had climbed to a high position, but was genuine respect from the bottom of their hearts.

  For several days, Zhao didn't see them. Every day was the same - practicing boxing and martial arts, reading books, and planting vegetables. It seemed as if he had forgotten about his two uncles' existence. "Xie Xi, what have these two national uncles been up to for the past two days?" He asked with his legs crossed. His past life's military experience had taught him to always investigate a situation before making a decision, and this matter was no exception.

  "Second Master, Second Uncle is now inviting several officials to dinner and drinks every day, inquiring about the wine business. The big officials are afraid of being asked questions, so they hide on the riverbank every day and don't dare return to the mansion. The third official can't avoid it and can only respond reluctantly. But I'm also getting tired of it!" Xi said with a smile. "Sixth Uncle is carefree, either reading books or wandering around everywhere. Except for those first few days when he arrived, he hasn't looked for anyone in the mansion again!"

  "Hmm, he's still not giving up, are you going to be bought over by him?" Zhao Yan asked, nodding her head and suddenly turning to ask.

  "Second Master, heaven and earth are my witnesses! I've never mentioned the wine-burning incident in front of him, not a single word. If I'm lying, may heaven strike me with five thunderbolts!" Xian said with a smile, pointing to the sky and the ground as he swore.

  "Alright, stop pretending. Are you tired? Zhao looked at him with a mixture of annoyance and helplessness, "This kid is getting more and more arrogant," he said, "Have you figured out their true intentions?"

  "Second Master, don't worry about the matter, I've asked several old people in the Duke's mansion and got a clear understanding. The Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle are both born to the Old Madam, but the Eldest Uncle is naturally aloof and dislikes business matters, so all the business in the Duke's mansion is handled by the Second Uncle. However, it's said that he's arrogant and likes to bully others with his power, everyone just gives him some face for the sake of the Duchess, which makes him even more complacent. The Sixth Uncle is born to one of the Duke's concubines, has studied poetry and books for many years but repeatedly failed the exams, and although he passed as a scholar two years ago, he wasn't appointed an official position. Now he's in charge of two wine shops in the capital, and his character is actually quite gentle and righteous, with a pretty good reputation!"

  Listening to Jian Xi's words, Zhao Ye also understood that Zheng Xi was the second son and had no hope of inheriting the title. Although he managed the family's estate, it all belonged to his older brother. This time, he came out with a private motive, wanting to take advantage of this opportunity to get his hands on the recipe for making fine wine, leaving himself a way out, so that after the division of the estate, he could still start anew and live a good life.

  "Money can move people's hearts, for the sake of money, even one's own nephew would think of harming his uncle!" Such things where one is forced to jump off a building and his mother becomes homeless because of money, Zhao had seen in his past life. He didn't expect that such a thing would happen around him in ancient times.

  "Second Master, that young man is not honest, I'd better get rid of him!" Seeing Xi's dissatisfaction with Zhao Yi, Guo Shu Ye immediately became "that young man". His uncle had castrated himself and sent him to the palace, so he was very unhappy about being called "uncle".

  "They are not benevolent, we can't be unjust. Even if they're not my mother's relatives, I still have to give them some face on account of my uncle's affection towards me. It's just that I won't let Second Uncle take charge of this matter. You come with me to see them, okay?" Zhao Chu sighed and said, ending the probation period for the two men. He knew in his heart that his grandfather had sent the two sons to discuss this matter precisely to make him choose between them. As the saying goes, "no one knows a son better than his father", wasn't the old man also testing him?

  Upon hearing the order, Jian Xi immediately sent someone to deliver the message. However, only Zheng Yu arrived. It turned out that Zheng Xie had tried every means over the past few days but was unable to extract any useful information from the mouths of several people in charge. In a fit of anger, he brought two attendants to go to the Ying Tian Fu to clear his mind. He didn't know that within the entire Wang Fu, only Zhao Chu and Jian Xi understood how to brew liquor, while others wouldn't reveal anything even if they were killed. Zheng Xie had miscalculated in trying to outsmart them.