Xu Ji returned to the valley and was welcomed by everyone, the sick old servant got up from the bed, grabbed Xu Ji's arm and looked down, as if he hadn't met for ten years, and finally said: "Didn't the emperor reward the son with anything?" ”

Xu Ji smiled: "The emperor's summons is the greatest reward. ”

"Oh, that's right, how many people have seen the emperor? And my son-in-law is even more remarkable, he was invited by the emperor to go......"

Back in the bedroom, Zhang Shiqing said, "What problem did the emperor give you?" ”

"Hey, how did you guess?"

"I can see it, as soon as we meet, I know that you have something on your mind, don't hide it, say it and let me hear it."

Xu Ji didn't hide it anymore, and roughly repeated the words of Yan and Lan and the emperor.

Zhang Shiqing listened, but his first thought was not how difficult this matter was, "Song Zhuzhu dares to use anyone, and he is also at ease with the enemy's subordinates?" ”

"This is the emperor's ability."

"Hmm. Do you know who killed the Queen's father? ”

Xu Ji nodded.

"Won't you just tell the emperor the truth?"

Xu Ji didn't squeak, Zhang Shiqing waited for a while, and suddenly realized, "It turns out ...... How do you answer? ”

Xu Ji was about to speak, when the three children pushed the door and ran in, one after another, hugging Xu Ji's thigh and calling his father, the youngest one had no legs to hold, jumping to reach his hand.

The older children are seven years old, one is Xu Xun, the eldest son of Xu Ji, and the other is Tian Shu, the daughter of Tian Jiang and Feng Juniang, the two grew up together, and they are still ignorant of the baby's relatives, but they both parents use the same name, and often quarrel over who is older for a few days, the younger one is just four years old, and it is the youngest son Xu Chi, who follows his brother and sister every day.

Coaxed away the three children, Xu Ji said to his wife: "I said to the emperor, 'I didn't know it at the time, and after more than ten years, recalling the past is like a cloud. ’”

"The answer is good, but the emperor refuses to let you go?"

"Hmm." Xu Ji sighed.

"What does the Emperor think? Let you prove his innocence? Borrow your hand to get rid of Guo Shifeng? Who are Yan Wei and Lan Ruofu? The more Zhang Shiqing thought about it, the more confused he became.

"Let's wait a minute, I want to stay out of it, I'm afraid it's hard to get my wish."

"You are the Son of Heaven, what else can't be done, I have to pull you into the water? You have been retired for many years, and you have not participated in Da Chu Dingding. Zhang Shiqing complained.

On the third day of returning to the valley, someone from Yecheng came and summoned the Xu family and his wife to enter the city together.

Zhang Shiqing was very puzzled, "I don't know the emperor, why did you call me?" ”

When I arrived in Yecheng, I learned that the person who wanted to see Xu Ji's wife was not the emperor, but the favorite concubine brought by the emperor.

In any case, this is a kind of honor, although Zhang Shiqing is reluctant, he still goes to the palace alone.

Xu Ji stayed in Tan Wuwu's Mansion and waited.

The emperor lived for more than ten days, Tan Wuwu finally got some free time, happened to be at home that day, invited Xu Ji to the study to drink tea and chat, telling about the grace of heaven, "There is an ancient saying that the birds are all flying, and the good bow is hidden; The cunning rabbit dies, the lackey cooks', but this is not the case today, and there is no doubt that the heroes are reused, and there is no doubt that there are such Ming monarchs in all dynasties? ”

Xu Ji shook his head with a smile, and made up his mind not to persuade anyone again.

Chatting back and forth, Tan said meaninglessly: "Although Kyushu is unified, there are still people in the world who do not know the current affairs and are stubbornly resistant. ”

"Congratulations."

"Mr. Xu also thinks this is a good thing?"

"It's a good thing."

Tan Wuwu let out a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "I like to lead troops to fight, but unfortunately all the beasts have been eliminated, only the fox squirrels remain, and the victory does not show real ability." ”

"Your Majesty asked the prince to be a general, I think it is to ensure that nothing goes wrong."

"That's right. Does General Tang have the intention of re-emerging from the mountain? Although he lost an arm, his prestige is still there, and I don't need him to go into battle, just appear in the army. ”

"Tang abandoned martial arts and literature for the sky, and just got better, and now he doesn't even want to ride a horse, let alone join the army."

"General Tang actually follows the text - or Mr. Xu is more capable. Since he refuses, forget it. What about Mr. Xu? Would you like to follow me to enjoy the scenery outside? ”

"Saiwai still refuses to obey Tianwei?"

"Haha, Mr. Xu really doesn't hear anything outside the window, He Rongbu suffered a heavy blow more than ten years ago, and now it has recovered slightly, after Shen Tan, the king of Jin, fled into the outside of the Saiwai, he married the eldest wife of Qianshan Yu, and never forgot to go south to compete for the crown, which is the first major trouble in His Majesty's heart. There are also small countries in Liaodong, raising the banner of the sky, controlling the small barbarians, and sometimes having the heart of the south. His Majesty feared an alliance between the two sides, so in the name of patrolling, he prepared to secretly send a large army out of the fortress to destroy the two enemies once and for all. ”

"It's really a big trouble outside the Saiwai, but everywhere else has surrendered to Da Chu?"

"The Xiliang Yang clan called the ministers, but did not send pledges, and did not allow the court to appoint officials. Alas, when I first led the troops for Your Majesty, I had the strength of the Yang family, hoping that they would have a good death, and Your Majesty also said that the Yang family is not a big trouble, as long as you don't have ambitions, you can always restrain them. There is something that Mr. Xu should have heard of, right? ”

Xu Ji smiled: "The prince's words are too broad, I don't know what I mean." ”

"The Incarnation Army stayed in Liangzhou and became the soldiers of the Yang clan."

"That was years ago."

"Well, and, the Golden Saintess...... Now she is the concubine of Yang Mengjun, the king of Liang. ”

Xu Ji shook his head, "I haven't heard of it." ”

Seeing Xu Ji's calm expression, Tan Wuwu put his mind at ease, but he didn't elaborate, and said: "Then there is the Yizhou Tie family, although they have taken refuge in Da Chu very early and made many contributions, they are ambitious, and they also do not accept the imperial court to send officials. Over the years, the King of Shu has gradually grown older, and the Tie family has become more ambitious, and has repeatedly asked the court for Hanzhou, saying that the Tie family will return to the king of Shu and want to go to Hanzhou to settle down. Your Majesty has a headache for this, and he can't bear to add to his guilt, but I think that if the Tie family doesn't restrain itself, it will be difficult to have a good death. ”

"The Tie family is indeed a little ignorant of current affairs."

"In addition, there are still small groups of rebels in the Huai and Wu areas, and if Your Majesty doesn't have to worry about it, the local government can be leveled."

Xu Ji nodded, almost wanting to say that King Yecheng of Jizhou was also one of the great troubles in the emperor's heart.

Tan Wuxian didn't think about himself at all, and sighed: "I'm only worried about the Yang family, although the imperial court can restrain it, but after all the troubles are removed, Liangzhou will become a thorn in the emperor's side." Mr. Xu is familiar with King Liang, so he may be able to write a letter to persuade him......"

Xu Ji shook his head, "I have had several encounters with King Liang, I am not familiar with it, and I haven't heard from him for more than ten years, if I write a letter at this time, King Liang will definitely think that it is the command of the imperial court, and he will be suspicious, and he will cause trouble." ”

"That's right, hehe, Mr. Xu is already a person outside the world, I shouldn't have introduced you into the world again. But there is one thing, I have to ask Mr. Xu to do me a favor. ”

"Prince, please speak, but whatever I can, I will never refuse."

"I can't do it, and I don't need you to go out of the mountain. That's the case, I just said that Mr. Xu is a 'man from outside the world', which is by no means a lie, although Siguo Gu is under the rule of Yecheng, but the people in the valley have not been naturalized. Originally, I thought it was not a big deal, and there was no need to harass Mr. Xu, but I don't know who leaked the news and spread it to Kyoto, and some courtiers were quite dissatisfied with it, thinking that the whole world was ......."

Xu Ji interrupted Tan Wusense, and said with a smile: "This matter is easy, the prince sent someone to naturalize us, and there are forty-seven people in the valley." ”

"Mr. Xu has done me a great favor." Tan Wuxian also smiled and said, "Mr. Xu, please rest assured, although I am naturalized, I will explain it and exempt Siguo Gu from all the servitudes, let alone forty-seven mouths, even if it is four hundred and seventy mouths, Yecheng can afford it." ”

"The prince is doing me a great favor." Xu Ji thanked him, wondering in his heart, why did Tan Wuwu suddenly become so polite?

After chatting a lot, Tan Wuxian cautiously asked, "Your Majesty has mentioned me in front of Mr. Xu?" ”

It turned out that Tan Wuwu was still not down-to-earth enough in his heart, and he also knew that he was a prince with a foreign surname, which was easy to provoke.

Xu Ji replied: "It is a great crime of disrespect to leak the holy words, but when Tan Junhou asked, I couldn't help but answer, so I could only say, 'I didn't mention a word'." ”

Tan breathed a sigh of relief, for him, this was enough, no more questions, the rest of the time was pure chat.

Xu Ji said goodbye and returned to his residence to receive a message from the palace: Mrs. Zhang will stay for two nights, and then she will be sent back to Siguo Valley.

Xu Ji entered the city only to accompany him, and was not summoned by the emperor again.

Xu Ji returned to the valley early the next morning, and when asked by others, he said that the emperor's favorite concubine was Zhang Shiqing's deceased, so he stayed for two more days.

The officials of Yecheng came in the afternoon of the same day to register the people in the valley, and since then they have entered the household registration and are no longer "people outside the world".

Xu Ji did not hide it, but for the sake of prudence, he wrote Ma Shi's name as "Xu Shi" and entered the Xu family.

Another day, Zhang Shiqing was sent back to the valley on time, accompanied by dozens of carriages, and the richness and preciousness of the gifts brought back even the well-informed Feng Juniang were surprised, "This is even half of the palace moved, right?" ”

In the face of everyone's inquiries, Zhang Shiqing smiled and did not answer, and returned to the bedroom before saying to Xu Ji: "Mr. Xu, who is like a god, guess who the concubine brought by the emperor is." ”

"I can only think of one person."

Zhang Shiqing sighed: "You guessed it again, if I don't ask, can you think of it?" ”

"If you don't ask, I have three or four candidates in my heart, and when you ask, there is only one left."

Zhang Shiqing said with a smile: "Colorful actually became the emperor's favorite concubine, this is really ...... Thankfully, I didn't insist on going back to her. ”

Colorful was originally Zhang Shiqing's maid, but she was captured by He Rongren under her identity, traveled south, and was entrusted by Xu Ji to Ma Qigu, the wife of Song Zhuzhu at that time.

"You don't ...... Angry? Xu Ji asked.

"Why am I angry?" Zhang Shiqing was surprised, "Because my maid became the imperial concubine, and I am just the wife of a commoner?" Well, I'm very angry, you go and fight for the world, give me the status of a queen, or let my two sons work hard, and I will be the queen mother. ”

Xu Ji smiled and comforted, Zhang Shiqing was relieved, and continued: "I finally asked what was going on, it's really troublesome." ”

"Oh?"

"The queen wants to avenge her father and also wants to kill Guo Shifeng, but he is the head of a hundred officials, and there is no real evidence, so this matter can't be done through the law department, and I don't know who contributed the plan, and wants to give Guo Shifeng a fatal blow by repairing history, so it implicates you."

"In addition to killing her father, the queen and Guo Shifeng still have a grudge?"

"That was in the early years, Guo Shifeng once strongly persuaded the emperor to appoint Concubine Tie of Yizhou as the queen."

At the beginning of Song Zhuzhu's break with King Ning, Yizhou's help was crucial, so he married the Tie family and married one of Tie Kite's sisters.

"If I had been by the emperor's side at that time, I am afraid that I would have to support Guo Shifeng."

"That's the benefit of retirement. Colorful yourself also has something to ask you. ”

"Please?"

"I gave birth to a prince, who is ten years old this year, and I want to worship you as a teacher, so I will send it over tomorrow."

Xu Ji found that things were getting more and more chaotic, and the years of calm seemed to be all illusions, so he gave him a heavy blow in order to wait for today's opportunity.