Ming Dynasty: A hundred-year-old immortal cultivator, Zhu Yuanzhang’s biological father

"Ok!"

"Second brother!"

Not far away, Xu Zengshou pointed ahead and said, "Isn't that Mr. Zhu and Zhao Sili?"

Xu Yingxu frowned and looked over.

"Yeah. It's true."

"What are they doing?" Xu Zengshou asked.

"Kneel down and admit your mistakes?"

"Ah, this... I didn't! Don't talk nonsense, brother!"

"Then what are you still standing there for? Go home!"

"Oh."

……

The rain on the Tianjie Street is as crisp as the grass, but the grass color is far away but not close.

The most important thing is the one-year spring benefits.

In mid-February, the whole Yingtian began to be wrapped in green.

When the Xu brothers were about to arrive at the mansion, it started to rain lightly again.

The two brothers' cheeks were dripping with rain and their bodies were slightly wet.

There were many gifts piled up in the central hall.

Xu Huizu and Xu Miaojin stood there with frowns on their faces, looking a little unhappy.

Xu Yingxu and Xu Zengshou asked curiously: "Second brother, fifth sister, whose family is giving us this gift again?"

Xu Huizu closed his eyes and said nothing.

Xu Miaojin looked at her two brothers and sighed, "Just now, not long before you came back, Zhao Sili personally returned the gifts that the Xu family had sent unopened."

"Ah?"

Xu Zengshou asked: "Why? Can't he bear it?"

Xu Huizu said angrily: "Can you please stop talking nonsense? If you really can't bear it, why was Zhao Sili so grateful when we sent him a gift yesterday?"

"This is clearly an attempt to distance oneself from the Xu family!"

Xu Miaojin nodded, and then asked suspiciously: "Is Zhao Sili going to figure out something?"

Xu Huizu shook his head: "It's only been a day and a night, what can he figure out?"

"That's strange, why would they suddenly send the gifts back?" Xu Miaojin was puzzled.

As she frowned in deep thought, she raised her head slightly and saw Xu Yingxu and Xu Zengshou standing there silently, as if they had thought of something, with some resentment on their faces.

"What's wrong with you?" Xu Miaojin asked.

Xu Yingxu gritted his teeth and snorted: "Master Zhu!"

Xu Zengshou followed up and said, "What Mr. Zhu? He is definitely someone with the surname Zhu! He is so bad!"

Xu Huizu glanced at the two brothers and asked in confusion: "What do you mean?"

Xu Zengshou snorted, "Brother, not long ago, we saw Master Zhu and Zhao Sili talking about something from afar on Yingtian Street."

"Zhao Sili looked very unhappy. After hearing what Master Zhu said, he ran away in a hurry."

"You said that this gift was just sent back by Zhao Sili. He's a warrior, what does he know? Isn't it obvious that Master Zhu taught him this?"

Xu Huizu was stunned and silent for a long time. His expression gradually became more solemn. After a while, his expression changed drastically. He took a breath and said, "Master Zhu, why did you give Zhao Sili these instructions?"

Xu Yingxu and Xu Zengshou asked subconsciously: "Why?"

Xu Huizu blurted out: "Either he had already seen the Xu family's predicament, or he personally created the Xu family's predicament today!"

As soon as these words came out, the Xu Yingxu brothers were suddenly shocked!

hiss!
"Brother, do you mean that Master Zhu already knew about the old man's plan to clean up our Zhongshan Palace?"

Xu Huizu gritted his teeth, sweat dripping down his forehead, and said: "Perhaps, the old man decided to purge the Zhongshan King's lineage just to pave the way for him..."

The three brothers stood there in silence, their faces gradually becoming uncertain, slowly beginning to be filled with a strong sense of worry.

Xu Miaojin listened quietly for a long time, her eyebrows furrowed, and she stared at the three brothers suspiciously: "Big brother, second brother, fourth brother, what are you talking about?"

"The emperor wants to attack the Zhongshan Palace. What does this have to do with Master Zhu?"

"He has nothing to do with the emperor. What role can he play in this?"

Xu Miaojin just listened silently for a while and thought for a long time.

But she still couldn't figure it out.

There was a look of deep confusion on her face, and she couldn't figure out what connection Zhu Huaineng had with this matter.

The three brothers were stunned after hearing what Xu Miaojin said.

Xu Miaojin raised his eyes and looked at the three brothers: "Brother, are you hiding something from me?"

Xu Huizu glanced at Xu Yingxu and Xu Zengshou, and nodded uncomfortably: "Yeah."

Xu Miaojin stared at him and asked suspiciously: "What do you mean by what you just said, that the emperor is paving the way for Mr. Zhu?"

Xu Yingxu hurriedly said: "Fifth sister, you are too suspicious. You are the backbone of our Xu family. How could we hide this from you? Haha."

Xu Miaojin had a trace of suspicion on her face, and she had no time to think deeply. She frowned and said, "If it is really Mr. Zhu who is behind Zhao Sili's instructions, it makes sense."

"He is so smart, he must have seen something early on, and it is understandable that he asked Zhao Sili to keep a distance from the Xu family."

Xu Huizu glanced at Xu Miaojin and said, "Fifth sister, don't think too much. Just talk about the facts. Now outsiders can see that the situation in our Zhongshan Palace is not good."

"I'm afraid it will be impossible for us to contact the nobles of Huaixi in the future. For now, we can only develop the academy as soon as possible and strive to gain the support of scholars all over the world, so that the Xu family can find a little chance of survival in the cracks."

Xu Miaojin nodded, but she was also a little worried.

"What's wrong?" Xu Huizu looked at Xu Miaojin.

Xu Miaojin shook her head and said, "Nothing, I just feel a little uneasy. Although the motivation for developing the academy is very obscure, I am still worried that someone will see our purpose."

Xu Huizu smiled slightly and said, "Fifth sister, you are worrying too much. In the past month, our academy has been charging very low fees. Even the Imperial College is saying that we are reducing the educational burden on Ming Dynasty and that this is a move that benefits the people. Don't worry about the long term."

Xu Yingxu also laughed and said, "That's right! Besides, Fifth Sister, you have predicted the events a hundred years into the future. Who else can be so amazing and directly see the far-reaching goals of our Xu family?"

Xu Miaojin nodded absentmindedly: "Yeah."

Suddenly, a figure came to her mind.

Others may not be able to see it...but what about him?
"I'll go back first." Xu Miaojin left leisurely with something on her mind.

After he left, the faces of the three Xu brothers became extremely solemn.

"Big brother."

Xu Yingxu said: "This is not right. Isn't it said that as the grandson of the emperor, why did Zhu Xiongying hide his identity? What is the old man's intention?"

Xu Huizu sneered: "What's wrong? How can we speculate on the affairs of the royal family?"

"Hey!"

Xu Huizu sighed, "That's true."

…………

On the other side, waiting for Zhu Xiongying to return to the mansion.

But he saw someone waiting for him in the middle hall.

Seeing Zhu Xiongying, he hurriedly stood up, clasped his hands and said: "Mr. Zhu, I have been waiting for you for a long time!"

Zhu Xiongying looked at Li Yuan, the Minister of Rites, with some curiosity, and asked in confusion: "Lord Li, what are you doing?"

Li Yuan smiled and said, "Oh, I just got off work not long ago, and I came to visit you specially. I also brought you a gift as a token of my gratitude."

Zhu Xiongying waved his hand: "I don't accept rewards without merit. I don't deserve it."

Li Yuan said solemnly: "Mr. Zhu, there is no need to be modest. You have done a lot for the Ming Dynasty in the Four Barbarians Hall. Others may not know how great your contribution is, but I know it."

"You have made great diplomatic contributions to me and the Ministry of Rites. If I turn a blind eye to you, what would that be?"

Zhu Xiongying was stunned for a moment, and looked at Li Yuan with some respect.

Li Yuan carefully took out a brocade box from his arms and patted it gently.

Zhu Xiongying was a little curious: "Master Li, what are you doing?"

Li Yuan deliberately kept Zhu Xiongying in suspense and asked, "Does Zhu have a dagger at home? Take it out and I will tell you about it."

"What?" Zhu Xiongying asked suspiciously.

Li Yuan said: "Tell me about the pros and cons of the dagger."

In fact, he just wanted to brag about his ivory dagger. He just needed to find a dagger for comparison. Otherwise, if he boasted about it without comparison, Zhu Xiongying would probably not believe it.

Zhu Xiongying said, "Wait a moment. My old man brought me a dagger a few days ago. I'll show it to you."

"Haha, okay." Li Yuan nodded with a smile.

Not long after, Zhu Xiongying came over again and threw the rhino horn dagger casually on the table, "Master Li, this is it."

Li Yuan stroked his beard and said, "Okay, let me tell you..."

Before he could finish his words, Li Yuan's whole body trembled violently, his small eyes widened, and he stared at the rhino horn dagger inlaid with rubies!

Li Yuan couldn't help but tremble all over, his small eyes fixed on the rhino horn dagger inlaid with rubies.

Zhu Xiongying asked Li Yuandao: "Master Li, what's wrong?"

Li Yuan stared at Zhu Xiongying blankly, pursed his lips slightly, swallowed, but found that his throat seemed to be blocked by something.

It is undeniable that the rhino horn dagger itself is very precious, but it is just a dagger after all. No matter how precious it is, Li Yuan would not be so shocked.

As the Minister of Rites, Li Yuan had seen countless exquisite gifts from foreign countries.

He believed that there was nothing that could open his eyes. All in all, Minister Li was still very indifferent to rare treasures.

What shocked him was not the rhino horn dagger, but the meaning behind it!
Before coming, he specifically asked the clerk in charge of counting the gifts.

The clerk had just told Li Yuan not long ago that Mongolia had only offered a rhinoceros horn dagger as tribute, and... it was taken away by the emperor!
Now that he suddenly appeared in front of Zhu Xiongying, Li Yuan was naturally shocked.

He glanced at Zhu Xiongying for a long time before saying, "Mr. Zhu, you said before, who gave you this rhino horn dagger?"

Zhu Xiongying didn't know why Li Yuan had this expression, as if he had encountered something terrible.

He said casually: "Oh, my grandfather gave it to me."

Li Yuan froze for a moment, and asked again with difficulty: "Who... who is your grandfather?"

Zhu Xiongying smiled and said casually: "Palace Scholar..."

"Ah?"

Palace...Palace Scholar?
Li Yuan had a bad feeling in his heart. He continued to look at Zhu Xiongying and asked nervously, "Can you tell me your name? The scholar of the palace... well, I'm not very familiar with him."

Zhu Xiongying thought about it, made up a name, and said, "Surname Huang, a son should not mention his father's name, and I can't say my grandfather's name. Surname Huang, Mr. Huang, Mr. Li, doesn't it matter?"

Huang...Emperor!

Li Yuan's eyes widened, and he suddenly said: "So it's the Emperor... old man!"

"Oh, now that you mention it, I remember it, haha."

wrong!

When will the emperor recognize a grandson?
Li Yuan looked very suspicious. He couldn't help but look at Zhu Xiongying twice, his mind full of questions!

I don't know since when, but the emperor seems to often mention a person named Zhu Gongzi in front of his ministers.

At that time, Li Yuan didn't feel anything.

But now, he was a little distraught.

Zhu Xiongying has been missing for too long recently. Could it be that he is the person in front of me?

But such a difference in appearance...
Shaking his head, he stopped thinking about it.

The court was full of twists and turns, and no one could guess what the old man was doing.

Zhu Xiongying nodded, then thought of something and asked Li Yuan: "What's in this box, Lord Li?"

Li Yuan stuttered, "Oh, what a coincidence. I also brought a dagger, but it's not as good as the one your grandfather gave me. It's made of ivory, light and easy to carry. Just consider it as my thanks to Mr. Zhu for his contribution."

Zhu Xiongying nodded: "Is that so? Fine then. Thank you, Master Li."

Li Yuan waved his hand, "You're welcome. Mr. Zhu has made many contributions, like a brocade robe at night. We have no way to publicize many important events at the national level, let alone express our gratitude openly. In short, on behalf of the Ming Dynasty Ministry of Rites, I would like to thank Mr. Zhu!"

Zhu Xiongying smiled and said, "Lord Li is too polite. Have you had dinner? Or would you like to eat something here?"

Li Yuan waved his hands repeatedly: "I have something else to deal with, so I'll leave first."

"Oh, fine. I'll take you there."

Zhu Xiongying scratched his head, feeling that Minister Li was a little weird today, especially when he saw the rhino horn dagger and heard the old man's reputation, he became even weirder.

Li Yuan left in a hurry.

He did not go towards his own residence, but went straight to the residence of the Minister of Personnel, Zhan Hui.

When Zhan Hui heard that Li Yuan had arrived, he thought that something had happened with the Timurid envoy and hurried to meet Li Yuan.

Seeing that Li Yuan's face was not very good.

Zhan Hui asked cautiously, "Master Li, what happened to the Mongols? Why do you look so unhappy?"

Li Yuan grabbed the teacup and took a sip of tea.

"Bah bah bah!"

puff!
The tea was so hot that Li Yuan cried.

He looked at Zhan Hui with some resentment: "Master Zhan, the tea is so hot, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Zhan Hui said awkwardly: "It's too late!"

"Master Li, what happened to you? Why are you so flustered? What happened?"

Li Yuan snorted, "Master Zhan told me before that the emperor's grandson would attend the banquet last night, but I didn't see any emperor's grandson. What did Master Zhan say?"

amount.

Zhan Hui said speechlessly: "You looked so depressed just now that I thought something serious had happened. It turns out you are asking this."

"I just said it casually last night. If the emperor's grandson didn't go, then he didn't go. Is it worth making such a fuss?"

Li Yuan took a deep breath and squinted his eyes and said: "Yes, it's not worth making a fuss about, but what if the emperor's grandson went there last night?"

Zhan Hui was stunned: "What do you mean?" (End of this chapter)