Chapter 385 How is my son?
The backers behind Xiao Mo and Ma Kun belong to the same group of people. The fact that he could come to Huairou for inspection this time was the result of the operations of his backers. There were two purposes. One was to allow Xiao Mo to improve his qualifications, and the other was to improve the political achievements of Ma Kun who was about to be recalled to the capital.
Everything was arranged well. In the backyard of the county government office, a fat sheep was being cooked in Ma Kun's kitchen. The wine had been opened, and they were waiting for the guests to arrive.
Those so-called disaster victims were all slaves of local gentry.
Even though Xiao Mo is one of us, we still have to do what we should do.
But unexpectedly, a Cheng Yaojin appeared halfway through, and someone actually shouted that Ma Kun was embezzling money and grain.
Ma Kun shouted almost subconsciously: "This is a lunatic, capture him!"
Xiao Mo was also stunned. He had been out of Beijing for a while and didn't know that Zhu Shitai's disappearance had been widely spread among the powerful circles in the capital.
"He must be a lunatic." Xiao Mo said with a smile.
We’ll know whether he is a lunatic or not once we catch him.
Several soldiers rushed over with grim smiles.
Zhu Shitai was dumbfounded.
This is wrong!
But a wise man never suffers a loss in front of him, so he turned around and ran away.
He caught up with the old beggar, who ran and said, "You... why the hell are you calling me Duke..."
"I really...run."
The two of them ran while looking back.
But they had only drunk a few bowls of thin porridge in the past few days, and now they were weak all over. There was no way they could run faster than those soldiers who were well fed and watered.
After only thirty steps, he was about to be caught up.
The sound of horse hooves came from the front.
Then Zhu Shitai heard a familiar voice.
“The core must be stable.”
Zhu Shitai subconsciously stabilized his core, and indeed, running became much easier and his control over his body became more stable.
He was shocked and looked up in disbelief.
More than ten riders stopped in front, and the young man in the lead held a cigarette in his mouth, shook his head and sighed, "You little brat."
"Second uncle!"
Zhu Shitai's eyes were filled with tears.
Seeing something was wrong, the soldiers stopped and shouted, "Who are you? Get off your horse and talk."
Jiang Qingzhi ignored them and said to Zhu Shitai, "A beating is inevitable this time."
Zhu Shitai said with a bitter face, "Please ask my second uncle to plead for me."
At this time, Ma Kun and Xiao Mo felt something was wrong, and Ma Kun whispered, "Here comes with bad intentions."
"I seem to have seen this person before." Xiao Mo's eyes flickered.
"have you seen?"
"Correct."
Jiang Qingzhi rode over on horseback, holding the oil paper bag given by Zhu Shitai. He opened it and looked through it.
The soldiers gathered around, their hands on the hilts of their swords, waiting for Ma Kun's order to arrest Jiang Qingzhi.
Ma Kun glanced at Xiao Mo, and Xiao Mo stared at Jiang Qingzhi, trying hard to recall where he had seen this man before.
Ma Kun recognized the oil-paper bag, and cold sweat soaked his back. He sneered, "Get off your horse, bring the things here, and I'll let you go!"
Jiang Qingzhi continued to look through the account books, and each entry was shocking.
There is a long way to go to rectify the administration of officials!
Seeing that he did not respond, Ma Kun shouted, "Catch him!"
Xiao Mo suddenly shouted: "Stop!"
The soldiers who were about to pounce stopped and looked at the two, not knowing who to listen to.
"Imperial Censor Xiao..." Ma Kun looked at Xiao Mo and thought, are you crazy?
Xiao Mo looked at Jiang Qingzhi suspiciously, "You...what's your name..."
"My last name is Jiang!" Jiang Qingzhi said lightly.
Ma Kun saw Xiao Mo's shoulders relax, and his whole energy and spirit seemed to dissipate in an instant.
"Your humble servant Xiao Mo, greetings to Chang Wei Bo!" Xiao Mo bowed his head and saluted, his face looking bleak.
In an instant, everything became quiet.
Jiang Qingzhi looked around slowly. With his keen eyes, he saw the rosy faces of the so-called disaster victims and knew what was going on.
Looking at the account book in his hand again, Jiang Qingzhi said to Zhu Shitai: "Boy, you have made a contribution."
The old beggar and the others came running back breathlessly. Seeing this, they were all a little scared. One beggar plucked up the courage to ask, "Are you really the son of the Duke?"
Zhu Shitai nodded, and scenes from the past emerged in his mind.
——This is my son!
Zhu Xizhong took him to meet the guests.
——They say the young Duke is a madman and a useless waste!
Occasionally he hid behind the rockery and heard the servants' discussions.
——Qingzhi doesn’t think highly of Dalang, probably because he means that Dalang can only maintain the status quo. But as a husband, I am unwilling to accept this…
This is what he heard his parents mention about him outside the door.
But what about this moment? He looked up and saw the pride in his uncle's eyes.
"I'm proud of you, kid!"
……
Zhu Shitai has been missing for a while, and the Duke's Mansion is so worried that they are almost offering a reward to find him.
The Jinyiwei people left the city and went to Huairou. Someone spread the news that Zhu Xizhong went to the palace to beg Emperor Jiajing. Emperor Jiajing, thinking of the old playboy's support for many years, ordered the Jinyiwei to look for the young duke.
Zhu Xizhong and his wife had no appetite and could not sleep well every day. They woke up in the middle of the night and could not fall asleep, so they comforted each other.
But life had to go on. A relative was celebrating his birthday that day, and Zhu Xizhong was busy in Zhilu, so the Duke's wife suppressed her worries and anxiety and went to the banquet.
Because of the disaster, the banquet was not large in scale, the guests were either rich or noble, and the dishes were reduced by 30%. However, although the dishes were reduced by 30%, the remaining 70% were more luxurious.
The Duke's wife naturally had no appetite, but she couldn't let anyone see her weakness, so she smiled and followed everyone else in flattering the old man.
The noblewoman Zhao, who was sitting across from me, drank a few glasses of wine and suddenly said with a smile, "My eldest son wrote an article the day before yesterday, and was highly praised by the teacher. Yesterday, he even led the servants to cook rice porridge, doing it himself..."
Everyone recognized this man; he was a veteran nobleman, but his influence was not as strong as before.
This family and the line of Duke Chengguo have been old rivals for many years. The ancestors of both sides were military generals, and the feud can be traced back to the beginning of Emperor Chengzu's campaign to quell the rebellion.
Originally, the gap between the two sides was not big, but Zhu Neng performed well in the Jingnan Campaign and made great contributions to Chengzu. After Chengzu ascended the throne, he conferred the title of Duke of Chengguo on Zhu Neng, while the ancestors of this family were only marquises.
The two families have been competing with each other, and this family is becoming increasingly overwhelmed.
Today, Zhao found an opportunity. She modestly wiped the non-existent oil stains from the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief and smiled, "For a family like ours, if the children want to do something, they should naturally be in a superior position and give orders calmly."
Zhao glanced at the Duke's wife and said, "As the saying goes, a gentleman does not stand under a wall, and a son of a wealthy family does not sit in the hall. Anyone who has read books knows this truth."
Only then did everyone realize that she was targeting the Duke's Mansion.
How refreshing it is to be able to vent out years of grudges in one day.
Zhao smiled and said, "My Erlang has such a reckless personality..."
The Erlang mentioned by Zhao was a concubine's son in a marquis's mansion, but his mother died early. Since he was a child, he has been raised by Zhao like a cat or a dog, but his treatment was not much good.
I'm talking about my son, not your Zhu Shitai!
The Duke's wife, who was about to lose her temper, was stopped.
Seeing the murderous look in her beautiful eyes, Zhao was secretly delighted. "Last time, Erlang was stupid. When he was hunting, a wild boar was shot. He went to check it himself. As a result, the wild boar suddenly jumped up and almost killed him...
Alas! When I came back, I told him that if I handed over the mansion to a useless person like you, it would disappear in less than ten years. "
These words... aren't these words a mockery of Zhu Shitai, who is known as a madman?
He also ridiculed Zhu Shitai as a waste, saying that the Duke's Mansion would sooner or later disappear with such an heir.
The hall fell silent.
The Duke's wife wanted to refute, but her son's actions left her speechless. Besides, Zhu Shitai didn't know what to do at the moment, and she didn't want to argue with him.
But the feeling of depression in her chest lingered for a long time, and the Duke's wife stood up suddenly.
Zhao smiled and said, "The banquet is just about to begin, Madam, are you leaving already?"
The Duke's wife narrowed her eyes and was about to scold this man when the maid who was accompanying her came in with a happy look on her face.
"Ma'am, ma'am!"
"What's the matter?" The Duke's wife held onto the table to calm herself, and said to herself with some self-mockery: Why am I so impatient today?
When people are in a state of anxiety for a long time, their entire thinking will enter a catastrophic mode, and they will think of the worst in everything. They are also easily irritated.
The Duke's wife is no exception.
The fact that she did not argue with Zhao showed that her own self-discipline was still working.
"Madam, the young duke is back!" said the maid happily.
"Da Lang... Da Lang is back?" The Duke's wife was startled, then she was overjoyed. At this moment, she forgot all her modesty and manners. "Where is he?"
"He's outside." The maid smiled and said, "The young Duke said he was worried about Madam, so he came here."
"This rebellious son!" The Duchess's wife almost cried for joy.
"Oh! He's back? Congratulations." Zhao said with a smile, "It's good that he can come back. What's the matter with a rebellious son? Madam, don't blame me for speaking bluntly. Now that the child is back, we can teach him slowly. The Duke's Mansion is a big family with a great business, so what is there to be afraid of!"
——The Duke's Mansion is a large family with a great business, and can withstand failure. Even if Zhu Shitai loses his family, he can still lose it for ten or twenty years!
The Duke's wife was not going to endure it any longer, and looked at Zhao coldly, "Go back and sort out your family affairs first before we talk. Also, be careful of the brothers at home fighting against each other!"
This remark was a satire on the secret struggle between the sons of the Marquisate for the family property and title.
Zhao laughed, "At least they are all smart kids, aren't they?"
Yours is a piece of trash! Trash!
The two of them were almost on the verge of falling out.
At this time, Zhu Shitai couldn't help but come, and the Duke's wife slapped him on the back. "Why do you go to such a dangerous place?"
Zhu Shitai said: "I couldn't bear to see the victims suffering. Later, I was so angry that I stayed. I was unfilial, but I made my parents worry."
The Duke's wife couldn't help but slap him again.
Zhu Shitai said, "Mother, I still have to go to the palace. If you want to be beaten or scolded, I'll go back home and tell you."
"This child!" The Duke's wife was startled, "Why is he entering the palace?"
The attendant said, "The young Duke has cracked a major corruption case in Huairou. His Majesty was delighted to hear about it and said that the young Duke has inherited the style of his ancestors and ordered him to enter the palace... to see His Majesty."
Lady Chengguo was stunned, then turned around and looked at Zhao.
He asked, "How is my son?"
(End of this chapter)
