first minister

Chapter 63: Nothing To Do Today
Standing in front of the Xia family's old house, it was obviously only less than two months ago, everyone already felt as if they had passed away.

Surviving the near-death in the labor camp, and the warmth in the small courtyard in Nantian Lane. Over the past month or so, little by little has surged up, turning into tears from the heart to the eye sockets, and then falling down little by little.

Xia Mingxiong and Xia Hengzhi wiped away tears, stepped forward at the same time, each with one hand, and pushed open the door of the mansion.

Lu Erhu did not dare to be negligent. The house was cleaned up and restored to its original appearance as much as possible. He even added a lot of damaged furniture that day because of the ransacking of the house.

Xia Jingyun and everyone in the Xia family didn't have that kind of mental cleanliness, and they were not clothes and bedding, so they used them after they were finished.

The first thing they did when they returned to the mansion was that under the leadership of Xia Mingxiong, everyone came to the family's ancestral hall, offered incense and prayed to the ancestral tablet, and told about the wanderer's return home.

Thanks to the fact that today's people still believe in the theory of ghosts and gods, and thanks to the fact that Lu Erhu has not had time to dispose of them in this yard, these ancestral tablets are still well preserved, otherwise everyone would not be able to worship them if they wanted to.

After finishing these tasks, before they had time to tidy up the house, the chief who escorted them here came to report that many people came outside, all of them said they were old friends.

Although we all know what these "old friends" are, they can't criticize them too much.

So Xia Mingxiong and Xia Hengzhi just picked up guests for a day and lived the day extremely fulfillingly.

Among them, a total of 1000 taels of silver was given to the family friend who ventured to visit them last night as a thank you.

With the unanimous help of the visiting female relatives, the female relatives quickly tidied up the inside and outside of the mansion.

In the evening, I called Xi Nian from the county again and had a good meal together.

Busy until night to rest.

Tonight, these non-commissioned sergeants have ample resting place, they can take a bath and rest, and have a good night's rest.

Xia Jingyun was sitting in the original owner's room, looking at this small world, the memories of hard study over the past ten years could not help flooding his mind, something strange arose in his heart, he simply got up and went for a walk in the courtyard.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he went out, he saw Xia Yunfei coming out of the opposite room.

The two brothers looked at each other and smiled tacitly, then found a stone stool and sat down.

Xia Yunfei opened his mouth and said: "I see that you still have a worried look on your eyebrows all day long. Now everything is safe, why worry?"

Xia Jingyun pursed her lips, "I still feel that something is not right. I always feel that I am thinking in the wrong direction, which leads to many doubts that cannot be connected."

"Is it still about Mr. Zheng?"

"Hmm. It's so weird, I can't pretend it didn't happen!"

"Think slowly, protect yourself, they will show their feet sooner or later."

Xia Jingyun hummed, that was all he could do, and then the two chatted a few other words, Xia Yunfei patted his shoulder,

"Well, let's rest early, we have to rush back to Jiang'an tomorrow."

"Okay, brother, you should go to bed earlier."

The two brothers said goodbye to each other, and then lay on the bed and looked up at the sky.

There is nothing else going on right now, otherwise Bao Buqi would just meet awkwardly in the canyon after saying goodnight to each other.

Xia Jingyun silently calculated that today is the sixth day since the concubine De concubine arrived, August [-]th, and tomorrow will be August [-]th.

Concubine De will only stay in Jiang'an for ten days during this trip.

After the banquet on August [-]th, Empress Concubine De will be reunited with her old father at home for one day, wrapping up all the things for this trip, and then go to Sishuizhou City to show off the royal majesty, before heading back to Beijing.

Could it be that Zheng Tianyu didn't dare to act rashly anymore seeing that the Concubine De concubine has become his big backer?
Any action will have to wait for Empress Concubine De to leave, after Wudang's army guards leave?

But where did I mess with him!
Brother is now in the army, should I hire a guard?

The old servant next to the master trained his eldest brother for half a month, and he trained a soldier that even the generals of the Wudang Army valued. It should be a good way to ask him, right?

With all these messy thoughts in his mind, Xia Jingyun fell into a deep sleep at some point.

After a good night's sleep, Xia Jingyun wakes up the next day, full of energy and vitality.

To put it more mysteriously, the home seems to have a strange magic power, which can make people relax physically and mentally;
To put it simply, everything is complete now, so there is no need to worry about it, and the mind will naturally recover quickly.

Looking at the rest of the Xia family, they all had smiles on their faces, which made the autumn scenery outside look a bit springy.

After eating breakfast with the family and chatting about hiring maids and guarding the hospital, Xia Jingyun and Xia Yunfei bid farewell to the family and left with the team.

In Wanfu County, these two juniors don't need to worry about these things.

As for the future, let's talk about it after the empress leaves.

On the return trip, without the drag of the carriage and goods, the crowd rode their horses all the way, and even took a break in the middle. It only took half a day to rush back to Jiang'an City.

After arriving outside the city, Xia Yunfei took his team back to the Wudang Army barracks to report back, and Xia Jingyun took another team directly to Yunfu.

The guards in the mansion knew him now, and they came to Concubine De's courtyard without any hindrance.

The maid on duty went to report, and after a while Feng Xiuyun came out, looked at him, and subconsciously smiled on her beautiful face, "The empress said, let you wait in the main hall, she will come over later."

"it is good!"

Naturally, Xia Jingyun knew the reason why Li Xia in the melon field could not be ignored, so he nodded and turned to go out, only to find that Feng Xiuyun was also walking out with him.

"You don't need to go back?"

"I'm going out to do something."

Xia Jingyun's major issues have been resolved now, and he is relaxed. He used to worry all day, but now he doesn't need to worry too much.

Smelling the faint fragrance wafting from his side, he was distracted, and laughed and teased: "Say you are leaving, and if we don't spend the next two days, you won't be afraid that it will be next year, have I changed my mind?"

Feng Xiuyun stood still, with the usual determination on her glamorous face, "I am willing to accept the bet, and if I change my mind, treat me as blind."

Xia Jingyun suddenly stretched out his hand and touched her butt lightly.

"Eh?" Feng Xiuyun hurriedly looked around, her face flustered and nervous.

"Don't be so tense and tired." Xia Jingyun smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't let you down."

Feng Xiuyun broke her skills in an instant and blushed, "I won't tell you anymore!"

Xia Jingyun sat in the main hall for a while, and soon arrived at Concubine De.

Looking at the dusty Xia Jingyun, Concubine De smiled and said: "You too, don't go to wash up, there is no need for us to be so polite."

"Isn't it because I can't hold back my missing sister?" Xia Jingyun smiled, then got up to thank her, "Thanks to sister's reputation, everything went smoothly when I went back this time."

Concubine De waved her hand, "I didn't do anything, you are the ones who walked upright and sat up straight, so you don't need to thank me."

"Hey, I had a lot of thoughts before, but now I have settled everything all at once, and I still feel a little uncomfortable!"

Concubine De smiled playfully, "Didn't you redeem a girl in the brothel? Are you still afraid of loneliness? Do you want me to give Xiuyun a day off?"

Cough cough, I almost forgot that the lofty imperial concubine is also a young woman at heart, and she is a bit cold and fierce when talking to people close to her.

Xia Jingyun laughed awkwardly, "No, no, sister is more important."

Concubine De smiled and rolled his eyes at him, then restrained her expression, "Qiu Wei is coming soon, are you ready?"

Xia Jingyun hummed, "I will definitely live up to my sister's expectations."

Then the two chatted about some major events in the state and county, and Xia Jingyun realized that the bandit suppression operation pushed by the Wudang Army has entered a critical stage, and it will be fully successful in a few months.

At the same time, money and food were continuously transferred from outside sources, and the disaster relief measures launched by various counties at the same time were also being promoted in an orderly manner.

In addition, many officials in the state were taken down due to corruption. According to the emperor's order and the opinion of the central government, Li Tianfeng, the servant of the Ministry of Rites, who was announced by the imperial concubine to act as the temporary governor of the state, after carefully listening to the instructions of the empress of the imperial concubine, appointed a temporary substitute one by one. He only had to wait for the imperial concubine to return to Beijing to complete his appointment as the governor of the state. These appointments would have no procedural problems and would be officially recognized by the empire.

These people will all be counted as members of the Defei lineage to a certain extent.

And it is even more predictable that the big figures from all parties who will consider placing bets because they see Concubine De has done such a great thing and recognize Concubine De's ability.

Xia Jingyun couldn't help but sighed with emotion: "Just this one thing, how much political capital can be accumulated for my sister!"

Concubine De nodded slightly, her stunning appearance was still not haggard, but her tone was a little tired, "But it is indeed tiring, things from all directions have to be gathered here, coupled with people's ghosts, calculations every day, and being on guard everywhere, sometimes I can't help thinking, why live so hard!"

Xia Jingyun said softly: "We calculate a lot of things, but after all, we don't need to calculate those three or two things."

Concubine De was taken aback, then nodded and smiled.

Xia Jingyun looked up at Concubine De, "I hope that in the future I can become someone my sister can fully trust and rely on."

Concubine De's heart warmed slightly, she smiled and looked at this man whom she liked more and more, "Okay, sister is waiting for that day."

After chatting with Concubine De, Xia Jingyun went to find Mr. Yun again.

Su Shidao knew that he was an eyesore here these days, so he went out to have a drink with his friends, and it happened that Xia Jingyun and Mr. Yun could talk about something alone.

He told the situation on the way, and then said seriously: "Master, what do you think this Zheng Tianyu is planning? If you want to do it, yesterday and today are rare opportunities. Why don't you do it? Is it possible that you want to assassinate me in the city? Wouldn't it be easier to expose?"

Old Master Yun also looked serious, and pondered: "The key problem is that we don't know why the Zheng family boy wants to deal with you, and there is no way to prevent it."

Xia Jingyun said speechlessly: "Isn't that right? I'm so desperate that I can't think of when I will provoke such a person. I can only wait for the other party to make a move. It's uncomfortable!"

Seeing Xia Jingyun scratching his head and frowning, Mr. Yun also comforted him: "Don't think too much about it. Things in this world are impermanent, and fortune and misfortune depend on each other."

"It's like when you were framed and ransacked your home. It's pitiful, but because of this fate, you became the apprentice of an old man like me, and even your mother's righteous brother."

"Just like in our county, if the county magistrate hadn't forced Lieutenant Shi to go out to suppress the bandits, Lieutenant Shi wouldn't have died so unluckily, and he wouldn't have been replaced with a new lieutenant. Now the county wouldn't be in such a stable and peaceful situation."

"Just wait, pay attention to precautions, and you will show your feet in the end."

Xia Jingyun could only nod his head.
-
In Jiang'an City, in a small courtyard not far from Nantian Lane, a woman in Tsing Yi and her newly bought maid were tending pots of daisies and potted plants.

When the knock on the door sounded, both of them looked towards the door, their eyes full of vigilance.

The maidservant is very loyal, because it is hard to find such a master who returned the contract of sale to her as soon as he bought it, and also treated her very well.

So she stepped forward bravely and shouted through the door, "Who is it?"

A calm voice came from outside the door, "I am from Xia Jingyun."

The courtyard door opened, and there stood a beauty in palace attire outside the door, with a glamorous face and a bit of coquettishness in the aloofness, looking at them calmly.

(End of this chapter)