After pondering for a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang asked Huilan and Lian'er to sit for a while, retired the rest of the house slaves, and said to Huilan Lian'er: "Huilan, Lian'er, let me ask you, how does Axiu treat you?" ”

Huilan replied: "Since I passed the house, my sister is a little more caring and considerate to me than my relatives, and there have been many domestic slaves who have contempt for the slave family before, and my sister will always be punished." Although the slave is called a concubine, her sister has never treated the slave family as a concubine, and has always been an equal. ”

Lian'er also nodded and said: "Sister Huilan is very right, not only that, every time someone in the house buys something and comes back, my sister always orders someone to send the best things to the slave family, the slave is born weak, every time she is sick, it is my sister who is on the side to ask for warmth, and treat the slave family like a sister A few more points." ”

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, and said: "Now I want to ask you for a favor for your sister, I don't know if the two of you are willing." ”

The two glanced at each other and said in unison: "The husband just says, as long as it is my sister's business, the slave family will naturally agree, and there will be no other words." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, pondered, and said, "Are you two willing to hand over your children to Ah Xiu to raise?" The two were stunned when they heard this, and Lian'er asked, "Why is this?" ”

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed: "Do you wait, before the two of you entered the mansion, I decided to only be with Ah Xiu for the rest of my life. I was born with a different appearance, my family was very cold, wars broke out, and I was displaced in the first half of my life. ”

As he spoke, he said: "Later, I went to Haozhou to join the army, but I was arrested as a spy and wanted to be killed, but it was Ah Xiu and my father-in-law who saved me, Ah Xiu not only didn't think I was ugly, but also married me." Since then, I have my current name Zhu Yuanzhang, and since then I have a home, some people care about my hunger, cold, and warmth, and some people work hard for my ambitions. ”

Speaking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang's voice trembled: "What more can you ask for if you have a wife like this?" Ah Xiu never treated me as an ugly husband, she didn't even discuss with me, she first promised Lian'er's father's proposal, and when I knew that this matter was refused, it was Ah Xiu who persuaded me with kind words, saying that she and I had not given birth and could not delay my bloodline, and persuaded me to agree. ”

Hearing this, Lian'er and Huilan were very emotional, and just about to speak, Zhu Yuanzhang arrived: "Later, I went to Brother Li's house for me to marry Huilan, I naturally still didn't want to, and it was under Ah Xiu's hard persuasion that I married Hui Lan, how can I Zhu Yuanzhang, how can Ah Xiu treat me like this?!" ”

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed gloomily: "Now that Huilan is pregnant, how sour is Ah Xiu's heart? She has a deep affection for me that neither of you can match. ”

"She is twenty-eight this year, and it is not surprising that ordinary women are so slow to talk about their children at such an age, even if they are grandmothers. But she has been out of nowhere, and deeply blames herself, so she has nourishing tonics, and even more diligently deliver them to the two of you, and every time I ask her about it, she has no complaints. ”

Lian'er and Huilan were speechless, only wiped their tears with their sleeves.

"Now that Huilan is pregnant, I just ask you to remember how Ah Xiu treated you in the past, and raise the child born by Ah Xiu, and call her the son of a grandson to the outside world, so as to relieve her childless suffering, how about it?" Zhu Yuanzhang spoke earnestly, finished speaking, and looked at his two side rooms.

Huilan didn't wait for Lian'er to speak, and said to herself: "Huilan is willing!" After listening to her husband's words, don't say that a child, my sister has not given birth for a day, and everything that comes out of Huilan is out of my sister! No matter how much the husband says, Huilan really can't bear it. Lian'er also nodded, and Huilan said: "Besides, the child is handed over to my sister to raise, and with my sister's person, I will definitely treat him as if he was my own, and he is a sister-in-law to the outside world, Huilan is not an unreasonable person, how can she not want to?" ”

Zhu Yuanzhang was very pleased when he heard Huilan and Lian'er say this: "In this way, the three of us will make a vow, within ten years, if Ah Xiu has nothing, the sons of the two of you, whether male or female, will be called Ah Xiu, and ten years later, or within ten years, Ah Xiu will be pregnant, and there will be no more bound by this vow, how about it?" The three of them said this, and Hui Lan said worriedly: "Although we have intentions, but the slave expects that my sister is loyal and upright, and she will refuse to follow our appointment, and she will have to persuade her husband again and again." ”

Lian'er also said: "I'm afraid I also have to make a good living and seal the tongue of others." ”

Hui Lan said: "He has a clever plan for the tongue slave family!" Sister Husband and listened: After two days, we invited Yilang Zhong to come, and said to the outside that Sister Axiu was sick, and when Lang Zhong came, he used the excuse to send off his family, and I lay on my sister's couch for my sister, put down the bed, as long as Sister Lian'er took care of her in the room, so that everyone thought that my sister was also pregnant. Luckily? ”

Zhu Yuanzhang and Lian'er listened to all the clever plans.

The three of them have decided, Zhu Yuanzhang took the teacup from the several, poured three cups, signaled Lian'er to take off the hairpin, and each person pierced the middle finger with a hairpin, dripped blood into the teacup, and swore an oath with blood.

So in the following ten years, until Zhu Yuanzhang became the king of Wu in the tenth year of Longfeng (1364), several of Zhu Yuanzhang's sons were thought to be A Xiu.

Zhu Yuanzhang came to Ah Xiu's room, and saw Ah Xiu sitting on the couch holding the quilt in a daze, and said softly: "In this weather, I am still holding the quilt here, and I am careful that the heat has damaged our children!" ”

When Ah Xiu heard this, he threw away the quilt and said with a flat mouth: "Husband is happy and confused, it is your Mrs. Huilan who is pregnant, but not Ah Xiu." Zhu Yuanzhang heard that Ah Xiu seemed to be jealous, and said with a smile: "Madame, do you know that Yuanzhang made a contract with Huilan Lian'er?" ”

Ah Xiu asked, "What covenant?" Did you agree to sell the eye-catching Ah Xiu? ”

Zhu Yuanzhang saw that Ah Xiu was jealous, and he was very useful, and said with a smile: "What are you selling for?" We're going to help you have a baby! ”

When Ah Xiu heard this, his heart was shocked, and he thought: At the beginning, Miao Zhen and Kong Yanzi both said that I would not have children, what kind of reputation is this guy doing?

Ah Xiu flattened his mouth, made a crying appearance and said: "It can be seen that Ah Xiu has been decided, someone has told Ah Xiu's fortune before, Ah Xiu's life is thin, and he can't be born!" You must have disliked me before you used words to trick me! ”

Zhu Yuanzhang turned Ah Xiu's body and asked her to look at herself and said, "We want you to raise the children of the two of them, and they all call it your grandson, okay?" ”

When Ah Xiu heard this, he remembered what Miao Zhen said to himself before, saying that Zhu Biao was not born by himself as in the historical materials, and only then did he know that he was so borrowed to give birth to a child, and he felt that his fate was really mysterious and strange.

Ah Xiu pretended to refuse, and deliberately embarrassed Zhu Yuanzhang to persuade himself, Zhu Yuanzhang felt sorry for Ah Xiu, so naturally he was comforted again and again with kind words, and Ah Xiu reluctantly agreed.

And so it goes. After a few months, due to too many soldiers and horses, there was a shortage of grain and grass in the city, and Guo Zixing ordered Zhu Yuanzhang to find a way to solve it.

Zhu Yuanzhang returned to the house sullenly, now that he is the deputy marshal, Guo Zixing still embarrasses himself every day, he is really angry, and now he has to find grain and grass again, so he has no choice but to find Li Shanchang and others to discuss.

Li Shanchang listened to the reason, and only said one sentence: "How about the marshal take Hezhou?" ”

Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately planned.

Hezhou is located in the edge of the Yangtze River Delta region, since the dynasties, although the city is small, there are not many people, but it is the Jianghuai water and land transportation artery. On the topography, "the Yangtze River is on the left, the Zhaoguan is controlled on the right, the Tianmen is in the south, and the Haochu is in the north".

It is no wonder that Li Shanchang built yì to take Hezhou, it can be said that after taking Hezhou, it can be attacked, retreated can be defended, and Haozhou Chuzhou can form an angle to resist the Yuan army, the area is large, the population is small, and the extensive development of agriculture can become a good granary.

Because Zhu Yuanzhang's strategy of elite soldiers has always been very effective, this station can be described as devastating. After taking Hezhou, Zhu Yuanzhang repaired the book with Guo Zixing, saying that he was stationed here, and completely donated Chuzhou to his father-in-law.

Guo Zixing was naturally happy, promoted Zhu Yuanzhang to the chief military officer, and sent someone to escort Zhu Yuanzhang's family to Hezhou. Zhu Yuanzhang had just settled down his family, but this old man from Sun Deya came to look for trouble. It turned out that Sun Deya was the dominant family in Haozhou, so he wantonly expanded the soldiers and horses, and for a long time, Haozhou soldiers had more soldiers and less food, which caused Sun Deya to have a headache.

Now I heard that Zhu Yuanzhang took Hezhou, so he brought a large number of people to try to get a piece of the pie, Zhu Yuanzhang learned that this matter was about to break out, but he heard that Guo Zixing learned that Sun Deya was coming, and he was afraid that Hezhou would be robbed, so he also brought tens of thousands of people to rush to kill Sun Deya.

So nearly 100,000 people were stationed around Hezhou at once, and the two old enemies didn't do anything now, and went directly into the city to talk to Zhu Yuanzhang.

The air in the small hall instantly became solemn, and both sides wanted to work hard, and Zhu Yuanzhang felt that his head was about to explode.

Sun Deya is really a villain, he is treacherous all the time, but he always makes a benevolent and righteous face, and now when he sees Guo Zixing and Zhu Yuanzhang, he doesn't speak, and he doesn't speak. but in his heart he was thinking about how to design the two.

As soon as Guo Zixing was about to speak, Sun Deya preemptively got up and said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Nephew, although my uncle's army is close to running out of food, after all, Hezhou was built by my nephew's hard work, and now Brother Guo is also here, so it's not good to bother, so it's better to leave here!" ”

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't want to tear his face, but now that he heard that he was leaving, he immediately saw him off, and just arrived on the street, but Guo Zixing did it first. Guo Zixing doesn't play hypocrisy with Sun Deya, Sun Deya humiliated and excluded him in Haozhou many times before, and almost killed himself with Zhao Junyong, and later drove himself out of Haozhou, and he was already gritting his teeth with hatred.

Now Sun Deya and himself are now stationed tens of thousands of troops outside the city, and if he is let go back at this moment, he will order the siege of the city, and a war will inevitably be fought in Hezhou.

Guo Zixing made up his mind, and saw that Sun Deya only had a few personal soldiers around him, so he chased him out and ordered someone to arrest Sun Deya, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to stop him, but he was his father-in-law, so he could only do it in a hurry. Thinking that there was going to be a big war, and his family was here, how would it be good to start a war, so he hurriedly came to Ah Xiu to discuss.