Chen Afu had no awareness of not speaking ill of her elders. She complained in her heart that Lechen was too hypocritical. This was a critical moment. Concubine Ma Shu might deliberately want to anger her back to the nunnery and let the remnants of the second prince catch or kill her. It was even possible that Concubine Ma Shu and Rong Zhao would arrange someone to pretend to be the remnants of the second prince to harm her. But she insisted on talking about self-esteem and was fooled. Fortunately, she was not stupid enough to go to the nunnery on the mountain, otherwise it would be even more difficult to protect her.
Maybe Rong Zhao was mad at Lord Chu. They had no way to deal with Lord Chu, so they could only vent their anger on Lechen. They actually made this bad move of killing one thousand enemies but hurting eight hundred of their own. Or maybe they guessed that the emperor wanted to use Rong Zhao to suppress Lord Chu, and they thought they still had a chance, thinking that if they got rid of Lechen, Lord Chu would be devoted to Rong Zhao...
Chen Afu was somewhat unable to guess what the royal women were thinking.
Luojiazhuang is located in the southern suburbs of Dingzhou City. When Chen Afu and his party arrived, it was already dark.
Someone had already ridden a fast horse to Luojiazhuang to report. When Chen Afu arrived, Manager Luo and Madam Luo led some servants to greet him at the door.
In Chen Ahfu's eyes, Manager Luo was like his elder. When he saw him leading people to kneel down, he quickly gave them a helping hand and said, "Uncle Luo, please stand up quickly. Thank you for your hard work."
Manager Luo was very grateful to Chen Afu and Chu Lingxuan. It was they who gave their son and his family a good future. They made their daughter-in-law the nanny of the eleventh prince, so that their son and grandson could escape slavery and enjoy wealth and honor. His descendants might even enter the officialdom.
Steward Luo stood up and whispered, "Don't worry, Madam. The master is fine. There are some experts in the manor, and the Second Master has arranged for many soldiers to live in the servants' quarters and in the village... However, for the master's safety, it's best to ask her to live in the city."
Chen Afu looked around. Under the starlight, Luojiazhuang stood alone. There were several bungalows around the village. The village was more than 100 meters in front of the village, and Huajing Mountain behind it was more than 200 meters away, with many trees in between.
This place is well connected and easy to hide. If a dozen highly skilled warriors suddenly appeared from the mountain, it would be easy to hurt Lechen. If there were more people, it would not be impossible to capture Lechen on the mountain.
If Lechen is to be safe, she must be persuaded to live in Dingzhou Prefecture. If she doesn't want to live in the Chu family, let her live in Chen Ming's house. Of course, Chen Ming and Wang Shi can't be dragged into danger and let them live in Chen Shi's house or Wang Cheng's house.
Chen Ahfu made up her mind and walked through the main gate. After entering the second gate, Chu Lingqi and Shen were there to greet them. Chen Ahfu bowed to them and said gratefully, "Thank you, second uncle and sister-in-law, for your trouble."
Chu Lingqi and Shen quickly bowed and said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, you are too polite. You deserve it."
Chu Lingqi led Chen Afu to the west wing of the main courtyard. Shen whispered, "For the safety of the aunt, let her stay there at night."
Liaochen was sitting on the kang in the side room, turning the rosary beads in her hand. She looked much thinner, and her eyes were less gentle and peaceful than before, and seemed to be more empty and cold.
Chen Afu led Chu Hanyan to pay her respects. Lechen stood up, holding one of them in each hand, and said with tears in his eyes, "It's so cold, and I asked you to travel such a long way to see me. I am just a burden. I have become a monk, but I still have to get involved in worldly affairs and drag you down."
Chu Hanyan said, "Grandma, don't say that. We all miss you."
Chen Afu also said quickly, "Mother-in-law, look at what you said. If the master heard this, he would be so sad. He did so many things, including going to quell the rebellion, all to earn more military merits and make mother-in-law safe and happy." She helped Luochen sit on the kang and said, "We have wanted to come for a long time, but we have never been able to get away. Not to mention me and the children, even my aunt and third aunt want to see you. But the Empress Dowager is not in good health, and the third aunt has to go to the palace often to take care of her. My aunt is also unable to get away, and the children are young, so we dare not bring them here..."
After a few words, the vegetarian meal was placed on the table. There was a bowl of mushroom stewed with tofu, which was very delicious. Chen Ahfu drank two bowls and finally felt completely warm.
After the meal, although he saw that Miss Chu was tired, he did not let her rest. He had to let the little girl warm up Lu Chen's heart first and keep her heart.
The little girl had already received her mother's instructions, and she had been lying in Chen's arms, talking about how much she missed her and how cute her younger brothers and sisters were. When she yawned, she shyly covered her mouth with her chubby hands, blinked her eyes, and continued, "...Grandma, Yuyu and Mingming can already run around and talk a lot. We didn't dare tell them when we came here, otherwise they would cry all over the roof...Xiao Yu'er is very smart and can already talk. Grandpa likes her the most, and she likes Grandpa the most too. Haha, Xiao Yu'er likes to pull Grandpa's beard the most. Grandpa's eyebrows are knitted together in pain, but he is reluctant to let her go..."
Chen Ahfu laughed and said, "You only know how to talk about your brothers and sisters, why don't you talk about yourself?"
The little girl blushed and said shyly, "Grandma, my brother and I are engaged. If you don't want to live at home, you can live in our home. We will be filial to you."
Liaochen had heard that Xiaoyi and Chu Hanyan were engaged, and she felt warm inside after hearing her words. But when she thought of the eunuch's words, her heart sank again.
You are already a monk, why should you still be happy or sad about the worldly joys and sorrows?
She pushed the little girl and said, "Good girl, you've been on the road for so long, go back and rest."
After Miss Chu left, Chen Afu began to persuade Chen to move into the city.
As expected, Liaochen was determined not to live in Dingzhou. She even wanted to go back to Yingxue Temple. She turned the rosary with one hand and clasped her hands with the other hand, saying, "Ma Shufei is right. I have become a nun. I should be pure and self-respecting and not care about worldly affairs. But I am afraid of death and wander around in the world. I even went to live in... the Chu family to save my life. I am so impure that I violated the Buddhist rules and will be punished by heaven..."
Chen Afu said, "Mother-in-law, the reason why you became a nun is not because you have a connection with Buddhism, but because you were forced by Concubine Ma Shu and Rong Zhao and her daughter. Father-in-law allowed you to become a nun not to let you stay in Buddhism forever, but just as a temporary measure to protect you. Concubine Ma Shu asked people to say that because she wanted to kill you, so why would you fall for their tricks? Moreover, there are so many people guarding around you to protect you. If the Second Prince or Concubine Ma Shu sent someone to harm you and let those young men lose their lives, how could you bear it..."
Lechen burst into tears and said, "I don't want them to die. I want to return to Yingxue Nunnery to practice in peace and quiet. If someone really wants to harm me, that's my fate."
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