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

"By the way, what's the matter with you coming to see me so early in the morning?"

Xu Miaojin said, "Nothing, I wanted to ask you out... Well, the old man is sick, it's important to take care of him."

Zhu Yuanzhang hurriedly said seriously: "We are almost done, Xu's daughter, it's good that you are here, take this kid out as soon as possible, he is bored at home."

Zhu Xiongying looked at Zhu Yuanzhang speechlessly: "You are bored, right? You can't drink alcohol, you can't eat pickles, you can't eat meat or fish."

"I just can't understand why you like to eat things like pickles and garlic cloves."

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted, "I was born in a humble family, and pickled vegetables and garlic cloves were my favorite food when I was a child. Now I am noble, but at heart I am still an ordinary person. What's wrong with pickled vegetables and garlic cloves? They are all good things!"

Then the old man looked at Xu Miaojin and said, "Girl, do you dislike it?"

Xu Miaojin quickly shook her head: "I don't mind, but don't be angry. Mr. Zhu means that you are sick now and you should avoid these foods for the time being. He doesn't mean that you can't eat them."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, put the bun in his mouth, seemed to think of something, took the bun out quickly and took a small bite.

The old man got angrier and angrier as he thought about it. He angrily said, "Damn it! No one dared to take care of me in my lifetime, but now that I'm old, my grandson is the one taking care of me! First he wouldn't let me eat big mouthfuls of food, saying it was bad for digestion, and now he won't let me eat my favorite pickles!"

"Humph! Now you've found an accomplice to control us together? This is unbelievable!"

Xu Miaojin covered her mouth and laughed, "I didn't, I wasn't, don't talk nonsense, old man."

Zhu Yuanzhang said angrily: "You haven't yet. You were trying to persuade me just now, but your words actually supported this brat! You two are bullying me together! Don't think I can't see it!"

"Go, go, go! Hurry up and go out for an outing. Now that I see you two, I feel like I'm redundant. Get out, get out!"

Zhu Xiongying smiled and said, "In the future, I'm afraid you will have your great-grandson to help take care of you."

Zhu Yuanzhang's face lit up with joy. He looked at the fine hairs under Zhu Xiongying's chin and said with a smile, "You've grown into a big man. Your beard is almost growing out."

"That's great, you two should work harder. If it doesn't work, don't come back at night. Take advantage of the dark and windy night to get the job done. A talented man and a beautiful woman, it's a great match!"

Xu Miaojin blushed and lowered her head slightly.

Zhu Xiongying looked at Zhu Yuanzhang awkwardly: "You are old, can you please say something serious?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said angrily: "What's wrong with this? Love between a man and a woman is a natural thing. Why are you shy? I've been through it, I know more than you!"

Now in this heartwarming scene, Zhu Yuanzhang can still make jokes at will.

He knew that it would not be long before he could speak such nonsense to this kid so unscrupulously.

"Xu's daughter, let me tell you, our emperor was about to grant you a marriage, guess what this guy said?"

Zhu Xiongying hurriedly said, "Grandpa!"

Zhu Yuanzhang ignored him and said, "This guy is so arrogant. Even our emperor scolded him, saying that he is useless and relies on a woman to achieve his goals. He is not like a man! Hey! He is so arrogant!"

Xu Miaojin was a little surprised. She was a little shy just now, but now she was deeply moved. She raised her head slightly to glance at Zhu Xiongying, then lowered her head again. Her nose felt a little sore, but her eyes were full of joy.

"Okay, okay!" Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand, "My daughter is shy, let's not talk about it anymore, hurry up and take her out for a walk, otherwise her face will turn as red as a carrot."

Zhu Xiongying was helpless, and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang worriedly, saying, "Is it okay for you to stay home alone?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "What nonsense! Aren't we all fine now?"

"Oh, wait a minute, come with me, I'll pour you a pot of tea."

Zhu Xiongying knew that the old man had something to say, so he followed him.

Zhu Yuanzhang whispered, "You kid, you should understand the first come first served principle and not be partial to one over the other, okay?"

Zhu Xiongying was somewhat speechless. Did the old man pull him over just for this?
"I know, I know!"

"hey-hey."

The old man smiled and said, "Go ahead."

"Oh, you're fine at home."

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted, "Here we go again! We are not useless again!"

Zhu Xiongying said no more and went to find Xu Miaojin, and the two left side by side.

Zhu Yuanzhang squinted his eyes, with some satisfaction in his eyes: "You have grown up, and you know how to worry about the old more and more, haha!"

"But we can't keep hanging around here."

Zhu Yuanzhang made a pot of tea, held the tea in his hand, leisurely left the Zhu Mansion and headed straight for the palace.

"The old man is outspoken, don't listen to his nonsense."

Zhu Xiongying and Xu Miaojin walked side by side on the bustling Yingtian Street.

Xu Miaojin hummed shyly, then looked at Zhu Xiongying and said, "Thank you."

"Hmm? Thank you for what?"

Xu Miaojin said: "I never thought that you had done so many things behind the scenes, and you even dared to scold the emperor... I... am very touched."

Zhu Xiongying smiled and said, "Nothing."

Xu Miaojin shook her head: "You are always like this. You always do a lot of amazing things behind the scenes. Obviously, every one of them can make people look at you with admiration, but you never bother to talk about it."

Zhu Xiongying scratched his head: "Maybe I learned it from my grandfather. He treated me the same way. He always did a lot of things for me behind my back, but he never said anything to me."

Xu Miaojin said with a smile: "You two, grandfather and grandson, really look like relatives."

As if remembering something, Xu Miaojin looked at Zhu Xiongying and said, "By the way, can I ask you something?"

Zhu Xiongying nodded: "Well, ask."

Xu Miaojin asked: "How did you and your old man know each other?"

Zhu Xiongying was stunned for a moment, then coughed, with a fantasy scene already in his mind, and blurted out: "Last year I was just a beggar in Yingtian. Once when I was begging, I happened to meet the old man."

Xu Miaojin thought for a moment and said, "Have you ever been to the old man's home? I mean, have you ever visited him?"

Zhu Xiongying's expression was a little tense, after all, he was not very good at lying, but he still shook his head and said, "Every time I said I would go, I would either be delayed by something or something happened at home."

"What about the palace? Have you been there?"

Zhu Xiongying said: "I have been there, and I helped the old man review some memorials."

Xu Miaojin was a little dazed.

"Approving memorials?"

Zhu Xiongying nodded: "The old man taught me a lot and also used his position to train me."

Xu Miaojin was silent for a while, then smiled and said, "So that's how it is. You two are really destined to be together."

Zhu Xiongying smiled stiffly and nodded, "Yes, sometimes it feels like a coincidence, as if it was deliberately arranged by God."

Xu Miaojin hummed and glanced at Zhu Xiongying: "Yes, but... have you noticed that you have changed recently."

Zhu Xiongying touched his chin: "Is there?"

Xu Miaojin nodded: "Yes, he is becoming more and more like a superior."

Zhu Xiongying laughed loudly: "How can you tell this? What nonsense!"

Xu Miaojin didn't say much, but she was still a little confused.

Not only Zhu Xiongying changed, but also his three brothers.

I don’t know when it started, but the three brothers seemed to have begun to respect Zhu Xiongying from the bottom of their hearts.

This is weird.

The Xu family is powerful, and the three brothers are also arrogant and will never obey anyone, so why did they change their attitude towards Zhu Xiongying?
She had always felt that her brothers were hiding something from her, something about Zhu Huai. Although she had asked, the three brothers did not tell her.

Xu Miaojin thought secretly that when she returned today, she would trick her three brothers no matter what!

……

Jinshen Palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting in front of the dragon table at this time.

Zheng He served Zhu Yuanzhang carefully.

Zhu Yuanzhang said to Zheng He expressionlessly, "Go and pass on the order to summon the Minister of Personnel Zhan Hui, the Left Censor-in-Chief Bao Zhao, the Minister of Justice Yang Jing, and the Director of the Ministry of Rites Qi Tai to come to us."

Zheng He hurriedly said: "As ordered!"

After a while, the three heads of ministries and Qi Tai, the head of the Ministry of Rites, arrived at the Jinshen Hall together.

Qi Tai felt a little nervous.

He knew that the emperor would not give up easily after seeing what happened outside the Meridian Gate.

Today, there are three high-ranking officials from the ministry who came to Jinshen Hall, except myself, who is just a 16th-rank official. I feel out of place among the three high-ranking officials!
"Your humble servants greet the Emperor. Long live the Emperor."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hands and said, "Long live the bastard, my ears are so tired of hearing this."

He looked at Qi Tai expressionlessly: "Master Qi is a hero, but you are the Master of Rites and have forgotten the rules of being an official."

Qi Tai was shocked and knelt down tremblingly: "I admit my guilt."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Bao Zhao again and said, "You are the Left Censor-in-Chief. Are you just sitting there doing nothing? You have to submit memorials for every little thing. Now, such a big thing happened outside the Meridian Gate. Where are your memorials?"

"Zhan Hui's face was scratched, are all the people in your Censorate dead?"

When these words came out, Qi Tai's calves started shaking with fright!
As expected, the Emperor has come to settle the score.

Bao Zhao clasped his fists and said, "I acknowledge my guilt."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the Minister of Justice Yang Jing and said, "You can handle this matter as you see fit. The officials in the capital are the faces of all officials in the world. Such a big thing has happened. We can't just pretend nothing happened. Pull Qi over for trial. What should we do?"

Qi Tai was sweating profusely, and he stammered, "Your Majesty, please forgive me!"

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted, "Why didn't you ask me to forgive you when you were causing trouble outside the Meridian Gate? You thought I was going to die, didn't you? That's why you dared to charge at the Meridian Gate?"

"Somebody come!"

First he was dragged out to be beaten with ten big boards in the court, and then sent to the Ministry of Justice for trial.

It's a real fight, and whether Qi Tai can withstand it depends on his physical fitness.

Zhu Yuanzhang is still the cruel Zhu Yuanzhang. He cannot tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes. It’s not that he doesn’t want to deal with people, but that he hasn’t had the chance yet. It doesn’t mean that he has forgotten about it.

Qi Tai cried out in horror, "Your Majesty, please forgive me, please forgive me!"

The sound became smaller and smaller, and he was pulled out by the eunuchs in front of the hall.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the three ministers standing in the Jinshen Hall and said coldly: "It's done, everyone go down, we are fine and we won't die!"

"Yes, sir!" The three wanted to leave.

Zuodu Yushi Bao Zhao stopped and clasped his fists, saying, "Your Majesty, the emperor is ill this time, and we are all terrified."

"The country cannot be left without a successor. Your Majesty, please think twice."

Zhu Yuanzhang hummed calmly and said, "Go down." "I obey your order."

Bao Zhao was right when he said that a country cannot be without a ruler for a day. Fortunately, the news was blocked when Zhu Yuanzhang was seriously ill, otherwise the capital would have been shaken.

Even if the news was blocked, uncontrollable changes occurred in all officials.

The bottom line is that the country has no successor. As the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, Bao Zhao naturally has the responsibility and obligation to give advice to Zhu Yuanzhang.

The streets of Yingtian are bustling with people. March is quietly coming to an end and is about to enter April.

The weather is gradually getting hotter.

Zhu Xiongying and Xu Miaojin were walking among the crowd.

Xu Miaojin asked Zhu Xiongying: "By the way, your grandfather was infected with malaria. How did he recover?"

Zhu Xiongying thought for a moment and explained, "There is a tree called cinchona, which is an effective medicine for treating malaria."

Xu Miaojin waited with almond eyes: "So, it's you again? I heard that the malaria in Yunnan and Guizhou was also cured by the court, and many people are shouting to thank the court."

Zhu Xiongying smiled but said nothing.

Xu Miaojin said: "You are really something. You really did so many things in private, but no one knew about it. This is really a case of walking in the dark under a brocade robe."

Not to mention Zhu Xiongying’s previous contributions, this time tens of thousands of lives were lost in Yunnan and Guizhou.

Everything Zhu Xiongying did was enough to shock the world, but the emperor turned a blind eye. Although the old man was old, he was definitely not senile and confused.

Either he had already rewarded Zhu Xiongying in advance, or he was holding back and would eventually give Zhu Xiongying a bigger reward or surprise.

As the sky gradually darkened, Zhu Xiongying said goodbye to Xu Miaojin: "The elderly at home are still recuperating. As descendants, we cannot stay outside for a long time. Miss Xu, please forgive me."

Xu Miaojin nodded: "I understand, you go back first."

"Farewell."

Looking at Zhu Xiongying's tall back, Xu Miaojin's mind began to wander again.

Soon, she gritted her teeth and walked towards the mansion.

The three brothers of the Xu family were sitting in the middle hall eating dinner at this time.

"Fifth sister is back? Did you have fun?"

Xu Yingxu was smiling, but soon he couldn't smile anymore.

The three brothers of the Xu family all seemed to notice that something was wrong with Xu Miaojin's expression.

Xu Huizu frowned: "What? Are you being bullied again?"

Xu Miaojin shook her head, stared at the three Xu brothers, and asked abruptly: "Why did you lie to me?"

The three brothers' hearts suddenly skipped a beat.

Xu Huizu said, "Girl, why are you suddenly saying something like that? What did we lie to you about?"

Xu Miaojin said coldly: "Mr. Zhu's grandfather!"

The three of them were stunned.

Xu Miaojin caught the expressions of the three people and continued, "How long do you plan to keep this secret from me?"

Xu Huizu paused holding the bowl, looked at Xu Miaojin and said, "Fifth sister, what did you find?"

Xu Miaojin asked: "Such a big thing, why didn't you tell me?"

Xu Yingxu hurriedly said: "Fifth sister! It's not that I didn't mean to tell you. Yes, he is the emperor, but if I tell you, how will you get along with Master Zhu in the future? I don't want you to be inferior to others..."

As he spoke, Xu Yingxu's voice became softer.

Xu Miaojin's pretty face froze a little, her heart was like thunder, and she said tremblingly: "It's actually... It's actually true... Oh my God, it's actually true!"

(End of this chapter)