Chapter 744 Returning Home (Part 1)

Seeing his mother shedding tears, Xu Sizhen's eyes also became moist.

But he is no longer a child, and it is inappropriate to express his emotions by crying.

He pretended to be unhappy and grimaced, jumping up and down exaggeratedly: "If not me, then who else could it be? I thought about you day and night when I was in the barracks, and when I returned home, you didn't even recognize me!" He wanted to make his mother happy.

Looking at her son's jumpy expression, Eleventh Lady finally felt a little bit of the "reality".

"My dear!" She was so happy that she burst into laughter. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She hugged her son vigorously, "I heard that you wouldn't arrive in Beijing until the 29th, and I thought you could come back on the 30th, but I didn't expect you to come home several days earlier." She added, "It's because you pretended so well that I didn't think about it for a while."

When his mother laughed, Xu Sijian's heart was relieved. He smiled proudly and said, "I came back quietly!"

Eleventh Lady's heart skipped a beat: "What happened? Why did you come back quietly?" She looked very nervous.

"Don't worry!" Xu Sijian hurriedly comforted his mother, "Lord Gong knows that I'm back. Not only does he know, but he also asked me to come back!"

Eleventh Lady was a little confused.

"It's like this..." Xu Sizhen explained, "According to reason, the emperor should have conferred titles and rewards on the generals when the prisoners were presented at the Meridian Gate, but now, the emperor has already conferred titles on Lord Gong as Marquis of Xining and me as Earl of Wujin. When the prisoners are presented at the Meridian Gate, the emperor can only promote Lord Gong and me. With Lord Gong's merits, he should at least be made the governor of the Right Army Governor's Office, and if things go well, he can even be promoted to the rank of governor. The Minister of War will definitely not return to Guizhou. Don't we have a private mine in Guizhou? It's better to manage the county officials now. If Lord Gong is promoted, the position of Guizhou General must be taken by a trustworthy person, otherwise, wouldn't we be doing wedding clothes for others in vain? Lord Gong wants me to go to Beijing to discuss with my father and Prince Yong to see how to get the position of Guizhou General. "

As they were talking, Amber came in with tea and called out excitedly, "Sixth Young Master."

Eleventh Lady was surprised that it was inappropriate for her and her son to be standing in the corridor and talking, so she quickly pulled Xu Sijian to sit on the big kang by the window: "When did you come back? Have you eaten?" As she asked, she couldn't help looking Xu Sijian up and down.

Xu Sijian had grown taller than when he left home. His skin was still fair, but he was very thin, with sharp edges on his face. If it weren't for his bright eyes that made him look very energetic, Shiyi Niang would have suspected that he had not eaten enough in recent days.

"What happened to Duoyan?" She couldn't help but ask with concern, "Are you injured?" Seeing that he was exhausted, it was obvious that he didn't dress up as a servant just to make her happy. "Did you enter the capital disguised as a servant? Where are Chang'an and Master Pang? Did they come back with you?" Thinking of what he just said, Gong Dongning asked him to go back to the capital to discuss things with Xu Lingyi and Prince Yong, it was obvious that Xu Sizhen didn't want everyone to know that he was back. "How did you get into the mansion? Do you want me to take a message to your father?"

Xu Sijian hurriedly called out to Amber who had moved at the sound, and said to Shiyi Niang, "Chang'an came back with me. If he hadn't asked Manager Wan to help, I wouldn't have been able to get in!" He added, "Dad and Dou Ge Lao are in the study. You'd better not disturb them. I'll wait for Dad to come back and then I'll leave!"

Eleventh Lady naturally had to help her son.

Knowing that Xu Sijian had quietly entered the mansion, he could not help but whisper, "Well, you can wash up here, have a good meal, and rest for a while, waiting for your father to come back!" Then he asked him, "What about Chang'an? Has he stayed here?"

"He and Steward Wan went home!" Xu Sijian said, "We agreed to meet in the alley behind the back door in three days..." He said, smiling at Amber, "Ask the kitchen to make me a pot of braised lion's head. Those guys only know how to stew Chinese cabbage with pork belly. I finally caught Duoyan. Lord Gong ordered a dish of braised lion's head for me at Chunjianglou to welcome me, but it turned out to be like four-happiness meatballs."

"Okay," Amber's heart softened after hearing this, and she choked up a little and said, "I'll tell the kitchen to do it." Then she called Leng Xiang in, asked her and Han Xiao to fetch some water to help Xu Sijin change his clothes, and then hurried to the kitchen.

Eleventh Lady went to the warm room and came out soon with a pile of clothes.

"Fortunately, I haven't sent you the clothes I made yet..." She smiled and went into the bathroom, "Otherwise, I'm afraid it would have alarmed Ajin and Suifeng!"

Xu Sijian screamed in surprise, and a cat fell onto his body. His body sank into the water, leaving only his head above the water.

"Mom, how could you just barge in without saying hello?" he said unhappily, "I'm grown up now and can get married!"

Leng Xiang, who was rolling up her sleeves to wash Xu Sijin's hair, was a little at a loss as to what to do with his sudden action. She couldn't help but smile when she heard his words.

Eleventh Lady teased her son, "Oh! I didn't know our brother Jian was missing a wife!" She put her clothes on a small stool beside her, "Why? You haven't even found a wife yet, but you're already complaining about your mother's meddling!"

"How could I complain that you are meddling in my affairs?" Xu Sijian muttered, "Isn't it just that I'm not used to it?"

Eleventh Lady looked at the unattended clean room and said with a smile, "You have changed a lot in these years since you were away from home. No one washes your hair for you, do you wash it clean?"

"I don't have a itch on my head!" Xu Diaojian said nonchalantly.

Eleventh Lady smiled and left the clean room.

Amber came to ask, "Sixth Young Master, have you finished washing up? If you have, we can serve you dinner."

"Not yet!" Eleventh Lady smiled and winked at Amber.

Amber understood and took a few steps forward lightly.

Shiyi Niang whispered, "I've let Jin'er stay in my warm room for the past few days. Can you find a way to let someone see his body... I suspect he has injuries."

When I was pursuing Duoyan, the wars were so brutal. What's more, the year he left, she was changing clothes with her bare chest in front of him. But only two years have passed, how come she doesn't even dare to show her her shoulders!

Amber was stunned, but quickly reacted and nodded repeatedly: "Don't worry, Madam, I won't worry about it."

"Send someone to the court to watch over it, and find time to tell the Marquis that Jin'er has returned." Shiyi Niang pondered, "It will only be four or five days before the army returns to the capital, so we must hurry up and take care of Jin'er's matter!"

Amber said yes.

Xu Sijian walked out with wet hair.

"Although the weather is hot, it can't stop you like this." Shiyi Niang hurriedly got off the kang, and Leng Xiang cleverly handed over a handkerchief. Shiyi Niang pressed Xu Sizhen on the brocade stool beside her and began to wipe his hair. Leng Xiang and Han Xiao went to bring in the dining table.

Xu Sijian ate three bowls of rice before putting down his chopsticks.

"So comfortable!" He touched his belly and lazily leaned on the big pillow covered with turmeric-colored kudzu cloth, as satisfied as a cat that had eaten fish. "Mom, what do you think about me going to Sichuan?"

Eleventh Lady sat on her son, her eyes fixed on him, she could not look enough.

“Why do you want to go to Sichuan?”

"Didn't Ding Zhi return to Beijing? The Sichuan General will definitely be replaced." He analyzed, "This time, the soldiers of Guizhou Dusi made great efforts to pacify the northwest. The Sichuan General will definitely choose one from Guizhou Dusi. I know everyone in Guizhou Dusi. It will naturally be twice as effective with half the effort. What do you think?"

"What do you want to do?" Eleventh Lady touched her son's head lovingly, "You are getting half the result with twice the effort?"

"You don't know this!" Xu Sijian leaned over to his mother's ear and whispered, "There are salt fields in Sichuan. Chengdu, Xuzhou, Shunqing, Baoning, Kuizhou, Tongzhou, Jiading, and Guang'an all use Sichuan salt, and they pay more than 70,000 taels of silver to the Shaanxi Town Supervisor every year!"

"Who told you this?" Eleventh Lady was a little amused, "Are you going to the town? Or are you going to do business?"

"Without money, who will follow you?" Xu Sijian said nonchalantly, "You won't understand what's going on outside even if I tell you about it, so just ignore it. I'm just afraid that if I go to Sichuan, you'll miss me too much!"

"You still know that mother misses you!" Eleventh Lady brought the topic to what she cared about, "When you went to chase Duoyan alone, you didn't think about mother! How could you be so brave? You even gave up Lord Ouyang, and you actually borrowed people from Yulinwei to chase Duoyan without knowing the seriousness of the matter. You should know that you only have 3,000 people, and Duoyan has more than 10,000 people. The commander of Yulinwei also has 3,000 people. How could he listen to you..."

Xu Sizhen interrupted Shiyi Niang and said, "Mother, I dragged him back alive and well. I have also performed a great deed." He said, licking Shiyi Niang's shoulders and saying, "Mother, there are not many young heroes like your son in the Great Zhou Dynasty!"

Eleventh Lady couldn't help laughing, but when she thought that she was going to teach her son a lesson, she immediately frowned and said in a deep voice, "Mother is talking to you seriously, don't mess around. Calm down and think about it. You were able to catch Duoyan this time. Was it luck that played a big role..." Before she finished her words, Xu Sijin smiled awkwardly, "Mother, I know. Your son is now the Earl of Wujin. Even if you want to honor your father, you should give some face to me, your uncle!"

Eleventh Lady originally wanted to say that without the Emperor and Gong Dongning, even if he found Duoyan, he would not be able to capture Duoyan, but she did not expect him to mention Xu Lingyi.

"What does this have to do with your father?"

Doesn’t mom tell dad everything?

Xu Sizhen's eyes widened: "You, you don't know?" She hadn't looked at Xu Lingyi directly for some days.

For a moment, Eleventh Lady was in a state of confusion.

"Your father didn't tell me!" she said vaguely.

Daddy said that some things are the responsibility of men, and women don't need to know about them and be scared. However, since Daddy didn't tell Mom, he must have felt that there was no need for Mom to know.

Xu Sijin's expression was slightly hesitant.

"Tell me quickly, what happened?" Eleventh Lady had also been out of the house before, and she knew the mentality of children who only report good news to their parents, not their worries." She urged Xu Sizhen half-truthfully, "Weren't you missing at that time?"

Xu Sijian was relieved immediately and said with a smile: "Dad said that by the time Lord Gong had assembled his troops, the day lilies would have gotten cold, so Dad sent someone to take a letter to the distant Wang family. It was the Wang family's horse team that brought us food and helped me find Duoyan.

Eleventh Lady could not hide her surprise.

"Wang family? Changshun family?"