King Xing's fiefdom is located in Luzhou, Huguang'an (Zhongxiang, Hubei), in the middle reaches of the Han River, and the water transportation is very convenient.

On August 27, the 14th year of Zhengde, Xu Jin and his wife left Nanchang, took a boat down the Gan River to Poyang Lake, entered the waters of the Yangtze River, and then went upstream to Wuchang, and then turned into the Han River, a tributary of the Yangtze River. On the afternoon of the sixth day of September, the boat lasted ten days and finally arrived at the Anluzhou wharf.

Xu Jin and others abandoned the boat and landed on the shore, and after entering the city, they first found an inn and settled down for one night, and the next day they went to visit King Xing's Mansion with a prayer post. However, when Xu Jin and Xie Xiaowan came to the outside of the Xingwang Mansion, they happened to see the servants of the palace tying Bai Aya to the stone lion in front of the door, and they couldn't help but glance at each other in surprise.

At this time, several palace guards wrapped in white cloth stepped forward, and before Xu Jin could answer, the beautiful maid Yue'er blurted out: "Lu Diancane!" ”

The palace guard at the head was slightly stunned, looked at Yue'er carefully, and said with some hesitation: "Are you Xiao Yue'er?" ”

This soldier is in his thirties, and he is Lu Song, the staff of the palace guard department, who is often on duty in the palace, and Lu Song's wife Fan is the nurse of the prince Zhu Houxi, who can enter and leave the palace freely. Yue'er was a palace maid in the palace before, so she naturally knew Lu Song

Yue'er stood up with a sweet smile: "Yes! ”

Lu Song said suddenly: "No wonder he looks a little kind, then this son should be Xu Sanyuan, a talented man from Shangrao." ”

The whole Xingwang Mansion knew that the prince had recognized a nominal daughter in Jiangxi, and he also made Yue'er, the palace maid who was supposed to serve His Royal Highness the prince, as a dowry girl.

Xu Jin arched his hand and said: "It is Xu Jin below, I received a letter from His Royal Highness the Prince a few days ago, and I heard that the prince was sick, so I came to visit the prince with my clumsy Jing." ”

Lu Song sighed and said, "You guys are a step late, the prince died last night, and today he will set up a funeral." ”

"Ahh Xie Xiaowan and Yue'er covered their mouths and exhaled softly, Xu Jin was not much surprised, this was already expected by him, but it was a little regrettable that he was late and did not see the last face of King Shangxing.

In the fourteenth year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty, on the fifth day of the ninth month, the king of Xing, Zhu Youqi, stopped for seven days, the whole city of Anlu Prefecture was vegetarian, and all the local officials went to worship.

……

On September 20, half a month has passed since the death of Zhu Youqi, the king of Zixing, and the funeral has come to an end temporarily, and the Xingwang Mansion has also returned to its former calm, and the sad atmosphere is gradually diluted by time.

Autumn rain was falling in the sky, and the autumn rain was beating on the residual lotus in the pond. At this moment, Xu Jin and the little slave Zhu Houxi stood side by side by the railing outside the small pavilion, watching the autumn rain outside.

Zhu Houxi was born on the tenth day of August in the second year of Zhengde, and just passed his twelfth birthday last month, and he is obviously taller than last year, but his face is still carved in pink and jade, so handsome that girls are jealous.

At this time, Zhu Houxi was playing with a monocular, but his eyes were looking at the pond outside, his eyes were empty, and he said with a reminiscence on his face: "Every spring, there are many small tadpoles swimming around in this pond. I remember one year when my father taught me to fish, I leaned out to catch tadpoles in the water while my father was not paying attention, and I fell down. At that time, my father was so anxious that he jumped down to save me, but he himself was almost drowned, and later he was sick for half a month. In fact, the guards were behind at that time, and my father didn't have to jump down at all. ”

Xu Jin looked at the autumn rain outside and was silent, he was also the father of two children, so he understood Xingwang Zhu Youqi's reaction at that time, if it was his own child who fell into the water, he would not hesitate to jump down to save him, this is father's love.

Zhu Houxi retracted his empty gaze, looked at Xu Jin and asked seriously: "Xu Jin, where do you say people will go after they die?" Is there really a kingdom of heaven and hell? ”

If it was before, Xu Jin would have replied without hesitation: "People die like lights going out, earth returns to earth, dust returns to dust, there is no heaven and hell at all." ”

But since this incredible thing happened to him, Xu Jin himself was confused, and he didn't know what state he was in now, borrowing the corpse to resurrect his soul? Memory transfer? I really couldn't tell, so Xu Jin shook his head and replied, "I don't know either!" ”

Zhu Houxi said a little disappointed: "I thought you knew everything." ”

Xu Jin smiled bitterly: "I'm not an omniscient immortal. ”

Zhu Houxi sighed and said: "If only there were immortals in this world, I am willing to exchange ten years of life for an elixir that brings the dead back to life, so that my father can come back to life." The father has been gone for half a month, and the child really wants to see his father again! ”

Xu Jin couldn't help but be a little moved, Xingwang Zhu Youqi only had two sons, of which the eldest son Zhu Houxi died on the fifth day of birth, so King Xing poured all his father's love into his second son Xu Houxi, personally enlightened him, and taught him knowledge and etiquette, which is very rare for a prince.

There is no doubt that King Xing is a loving father, and now it seems that Zhu Houxi is also a filial son and has a very deep affection for his father, which is no wonder that after he ascended the throne, in order to get a name for his father, he launched a dispute over the "Great Gifts" for more than ten years.

"Your Royal Highness, birth, old age, sickness and death are natural laws, no one can escape this law, there are no immortals in this world, and there is no elixir of resurrection and immortality."

The first 20 years of Emperor Jiajing's ascension to the throne were considered to be hard-working, but later he became obsessed with cultivating immortals and refining pills, and he did not go to court for more than 20 years. Xu Jin thought that Zhu Houxi might have been influenced by his father before, but now it seems that this is probably the case, so he hurriedly gave him a preventive shot, so as not to lead this kid astray in the future.

Zhu Houxi glanced at Xu Jin and said, "Don't you know if there are ghosts and gods in this world?" Why are you so sure that there are no gods in the world now? ”

Xu Jin was suddenly speechless when asked, and Zhu Houxi said a little proudly: "Xu Siyuan and Xu Dacai, who are full of talent, also have times when they are short of words?" ”

Xu Jin sighed and said: "The Xuan Room is seeking talents to visit the ministers, and Jia Shengcai is even more incoherent. Pity the front seat in the middle of the night, don't ask the common people to ask the ghosts and gods! ”

Zhu Houxi rolled his eyes and said, "Come on, you're not Jia Yi, and I'm not Emperor Wen of Han, what's wrong with asking ghosts and gods?" ”

Xu Jin quipped: "Don't say anything else, Jia Yi's talent is definitely not as good as mine." ”

Zhu Houxi pouted and said, "It's said that you are fat and panting, but it is estimated that Jia Yi really doesn't know as much as you." ”

"Your Royal Highness, who are you talking about Jia Yi? How come I haven't heard of it? A boy who had been standing in the back couldn't help but ask.

This child's name is Lu Bing, and he is the son of Lu Song, the guard of honor, because his mother Fan is Zhu Houxi's nursing mother, so Lu Bing often follows his mother Fan in and out of the palace, and has been Zhu Houxi's playmate since he was a child.

Although this Lu Bing is only ten years old, he is not lower than Zhu Houxi, because he has been practicing martial arts with his father since he was a child, he is as strong as a calf, and his legs are particularly long, and he is estimated to be tall in the future.

Zhu Houxi tapped Lu Bing's head with a telescope and said, "Usually read more books, and you will know who Jia Yi is." ”

Lu Bing touched his head and said with a smile: "I don't want to be the top student in the exam, why do you read so many books." I don't care who he Jia Yi is, his talent is definitely not as good as Xu Gongzi's, that surname Jia knows that the day is a big fireball, why didn't the Heavenly Dao Apple fall into the sky? Do you know how far away the moon is from us? ”

"You kid is a sycophant, and you want to hear stories again, right?" Zhu Houxi said with a smile.

Lu Bing smiled and said, "His Royal Highness the Prince is wise, Xu Gongzi, what are we talking about today?" ”

Zhu Houxi also looked at Xu Jin expectantly.

It is said that Xu Jin is now very famous, and he is recognized as a rare prodigy in a hundred years, and King Xing praised him a lot during his lifetime. Princess Jiang Shizhao of Xing had met Xu Jin before, and her impression of him was also very good, so she kept him to live in the palace and tutored her son Zhu Houxi's homework by the way.

Of course, tutoring is only secondary, in fact, Princess Xing wants Xu Jin to accompany her son Zhu Houxi, so that he can come out of the shadow of losing his father as soon as possible, this son has a very deep affection for his father, and Princess Jiang is afraid that he will not be able to think about it!

In addition, Xiaowan is the righteous daughter of King Xing, although there is no rule for King Xing's filial piety, but it has to be meaningful, so Xu Jin agreed to stay in the palace for a month, and then set off for Beijing in October.

During this time, Xu Jin lived in the courtyard arranged by the palace, and in addition to reading every day, he took time to teach Zhu Houxi. However, Xu Jin did not teach Zhu Houxi the Four Books and Five Classics, but taught some modern astronomical and geographical knowledge in the form of storytelling, which allowed the kid to broaden his horizons.

Xu Jin's interesting teaching method is naturally very popular, and even Zhu Houxi's playmate Lu Bing likes to listen to it very much, and he comes to cheer every time.

Xu Jin smiled and asked, "What do you want to hear?" ”

Lu Bing hurriedly said: "I want to listen to the Bigfoot Monster Savage, I haven't finished talking about it last time, last time I talked about the savage kidnapping the village girl...... Hey! ”

Zhu Houxi immediately said with disdain: "Xiao Luzi, can you pursue it a little?" Xu Jin, let's talk about pirates in the Caribbean, or come to the bottom of the sea for 30,000 miles. ”

Xu Jin shook his head and said: "Today I won't talk about geography, biology, and the origin of species!" ”

Xu Jin felt that it was necessary to give Zhu Houxi a science popularization of how people came to be, so that he could know what metabolism and birth, old age, sickness and death were, lest this kid never forget the so-called elixir.

Xu Jin took a sip of tea and was about to start speaking, but a eunuch ran in in a panic and said anxiously: "Your Royal Highness, the Lord of Yongfu County is sick again, and it can't be used even if you take Zhang Daochang's pill, I'm afraid it won't be used, you go and take a look!" ”

Zhu Houxi's complexion changed greatly, and he spread his legs and ran out.

Zhu Houxi has a total of three sisters, an elder brother and a younger sister, two of which and his elder brother died at an early age, and the lord of Yongfu is his only remaining sister.

Xu Jin hesitated, and then ran out, today the princess Jiang just called Xiaowan to chat, but don't get into any trouble.