When Chen Jingke returned home through the back door, he was surprised to find that the house was in order and there was no chaos as he imagined.
What's going on? Could it be that my parents' souls have traveled through time?
With this thought in mind, he came to the main room, and when he saw the person standing next to his mother Feng, he immediately understood everything.
Sun, Xu Da's concubine.
Xu Da's first wife died of illness, and Xu Xian was killed by Lao Zhu for committing a crime.
The Sun family was the most favored and gave birth to a son. Although he was not corrected, he became the de facto master of the Xu family's backyard.
They had met Xu Da several times before when he was treating him.
Needless to say, the purpose of her appearance here.
Mrs. Feng also saw him and said happily: "Xiao Ke, you are back. Come and meet your Aunt Xu."
"Thanks to her at home, otherwise I really don't know how to deal with it."
Chen Jingke paused for a moment, then bowed solemnly and said, "Auntie, I'm sorry to trouble you about family matters."
Hearing the word aunt, Mrs. Sun showed a joyful smile and said, "Hey, you called me aunt, why are you talking about this?"
Then he explained: "Xu Lang knew that I couldn't get away in the palace, and he was afraid that my sister would be too busy, so he asked me to come over and help."
Chen Jingke said gratefully: "Wei...Uncle Xu is very interested. When he is done with this period of work, I will definitely come and say thank you."
Mrs. Xu pointedly said: "Uncle Xu is trying to blame you. If you really want to thank him, go see him now."
As he spoke, he glanced at the crowd queuing outside the door.
Chen Jingke suddenly understood. On the surface, these people were here to congratulate Feng on being granted the title of Lady, but in fact they were all here for him.
If he is not at home, Feng and Sun can block most of the troubles for him without offending anyone.
If he were at home, some people would have to be seen in person. If you are not good, you can easily offend others.
The key is that he is too young, and his status as grandson's companion is sensitive, so he is far from the time to make public appearances and make connections.
It is most beneficial to keep one's family's identity clean.
Thinking of this, Chen Jingke said gratefully: "Thank you for reminding me, I understand. I will go visit Uncle Xu right now."
After saying a few words of relief to Mr. Feng, he left through the back door again.
Afraid of being seen and blocked, he walked far away before stopping.
Sun's appearance at his home really surprised him, but it also made him feel relieved.
In fact, this was his first time facing this situation, and he really didn't know how to deal with it.
With Sun's help, all worries were solved.
And it is conceivable that with her taking care of her, my mother can adapt to her current status faster.
You won't break some rules because of ignorance.
Therefore, he felt even more grateful to Xu Da and Sun.
At the same time, I also admire Xu Da from the bottom of my heart for his conduct.
He has never been greedy for merit or power, and he has never made friends with officials in private. He has never heard of anyone in the Xu family being arrogant and bullying the people.
Helping others is also so quiet.
No wonder Zhu Yuanzhang always trusted him so much and asked him to guard Beiping and teach Zhu Di personally.
You know, it is a capital offense for a general in the army to make friends with the feudal king in private.
Especially since Xu Da and Zhu Di are still in the relationship of son-in-law, they are not allowed to meet in private.
Zhou Wang Zhu Ji went to see his father-in-law Feng Sheng, Duke of Song, in private, and was severely punished by Zhu Yuanzhang.
Perhaps it was because of this incident that Feng Sheng was suspected, and he soon followed in Lan Yu's footsteps.
Although the cases of Zhu Ju and Feng Sheng are somewhat special, it also shows that the court is very strict in preventing this.
Therefore, Xu Da's treatment can be said to be unique in Ming Dynasty.
This is the benefit of being a good person.
This alone is worth learning for a lifetime.
Xu Da's house is not far from Dakongfang... To be precise, Dakongfang got its name because Xu Da lived here.
So the two families were not far apart. After a while, Chen Jingke came to Xu Mansion and met Xu Da.
Xu Da was sitting in the yard basking in the sun with a book in his hand.
There was a table in front of him, with citrus and other fruits on it, as well as several tonics.
When he saw him coming, he laughed and said, "Haha, that's right. If you come with a gift, I will kick you out."
Chen Jingke spread his hands and said, "I wanted to bring you some gifts, but as soon as I entered the door, my mother and aunt kicked me out."
"I only had a few copper coins with me, just enough to buy a few big cakes."
"I thought, it would be ugly to bring a few big cakes, it would be better not to bring any, so I came empty-handed."
Although he said it in a joking tone, it was indeed the situation at the time.
There was no money in the palace, and he only had a few copper coins on him. He left without even having time to sit down when he got home.
I wanted to buy some gifts for Xu Da, but found that I had no money, so I had to come empty-handed.
Xu Da pointed to the stool and motioned for him to sit down: "Then you have escaped disaster this time, and you are not celebrating the holidays, so why don't you bring a gift?"
"Of course, if you don't come to give me a gift during the holidays, I will be angry."
Chen Jingke sat down opposite him and said with a smile: "As long as you don't mind it, I can break through the threshold of your home."
"How is the injury on your back? Is it feeling better?"
Xu Da grinned and said, "It hurts. It hurts just like a needle prick. But I heard from your aunt that the hard lump has shrunk a bit."
Chen Jingke nodded and said, "It's okay if it hurts. It would be troublesome if it doesn't hurt."
"The shrinkage of the hard lump may be an illusion. Normally, it slowly softens first and then gradually shrinks."
"Even if it heals, the lump may not be completely eliminated, and the skin color will be different from elsewhere."
Xu Da smiled and said: "It's good if I can save a life. It doesn't matter if I leave some scars."
Then he asked: "Is the house very chaotic right now?"
Chen Jingke sighed: "It's such a mess. If my aunt wasn't here, I really don't know what I would do."
"I came here specifically to thank my uncle today, but it's a pity that I came empty-handed, which seems insincere."
Xu Da just smiled and did not answer his question, but said:
"You are still young and have not yet come into contact with these things."
"Besides, your future depends on your grandson, so don't worry about all the messy things outside."
Chen Jingke knew that he was taking this opportunity to remind himself not to associate with random people, so he said gratefully:
"Thanks for the advice, uncle, I know what to do."
There was no need for a heavy hammer to play the drum, and Xu Da could naturally tell that he listened, and he was even more appreciative of it.
At a young age, he knew how to restrain himself and could endure loneliness. This alone surpassed most people.
Then the two started chatting.
They are not stupid people, and the topics never involve the court, but mostly personal anecdotes.
Then Xu Da talked about the border war and the essentials of marching and fighting.
Chen Jingke has also read "Martial Arts Summary". Now with Xu Da's personal guidance, he has a deeper understanding of military affairs.
As the two of them were talking deeply, they heard someone laughing and saying, "Haha, what are you two talking about? You are so happy."
When this familiar voice came, the two of them were stunned for a moment and quickly stood up:
"Ascend."
"See Your Majesty."
Zhu Yuanzhang waved his entourage to leave, and went straight to sit down here: "Sit, sit, sit, you're welcome."
Then he picked up the fruit and started peeling it: "This tangerine is plump and juicy...you can eat it too."
Xu Da and Chen Jingke both burst into laughter.
(End of chapter)
