After Xu Di returned, it was already very late, so he went directly to the Marquis's study.
After listening to Xu Di's words, the Marquis stroked his beard and pondered for a long time before asking him, "What do you mean?"
Xu Di said, "I've already talked to my aunt. I'll help her investigate what she wants to know. She needs to know if someone did this intentionally. If someone did, my aunt will get the confession and then she can do whatever she wants with it."
Upon hearing this, the Marquis sighed and said, "You're already preparing to leave, yet you still concern yourself with so many things."
Xu Di smiled and said, "Grandfather, Auntie is making trouble. If things get out of hand, won't our family, as her maternal family, have to step in? Rather than making a fool of ourselves in that situation, it's better to put things under control now and let Auntie take the initiative. Then we can do whatever she wants with her. Grandfather, it's better for Auntie to be calm than for us to be constantly in chaos."
Looking at his gentle-looking grandson under the lamplight, Marquis Yongning said that people said he had a grandson who was mature beyond his years and ruthless in his actions. But Marquis Yongning knew in his heart that this grandson was very soft-hearted and would do his best to help whenever his family came to him.
Marquis Yongning sighed and said, "Since you've figured out what to do, then do it. Who did you arrange for your aunt?"
Xu Di laughed and said, "The people His Majesty gave us, I see those few are doing nothing in our house, so let's find some things for them to do. After all, they were originally in charge of gathering intelligence, so how could they possibly keep anything from any family in the capital?"
Marquis Yongning thought for a moment and said, "Xing'er came to me during the day and said that his mother is going to take him and his wife to a manor in the suburbs of the capital to stay for a month and they won't be coming back for the New Year. I think this matter will eventually come to my attention."
Xu Di has never cared about such things as face; sometimes it's really not necessary to make yourself unhappy for the sake of so-called face.
Thinking of this, Xu Di said, "This is their family matter. Aunt has been married for more than 20 years. If Aunt is comfortable at home, would she make a fuss about spending the New Year outside? I think Aunt feels that because Xingge got married, she feels that she has more confidence than before, and she doesn't care about some things that she used to care about. This is good, at least she doesn't feel resentful."
Marquis Yongning shook his head and said, "Xu Di, you are good in every way, but this protectiveness of your own family makes me not know what to say about you. Look at how you treat your elders and peers in the family, you always consider their needs in secret. If you do this, what if they don't remember your kindness in the future? Won't you feel sad?"
Xu Di had a rare opportunity to put on an act, and said with great emotion, "Just do good deeds and don't worry about the future."
After he finished speaking, he laughed first, which made the Marquis laugh along for a while.
After laughing, the Marquis sighed and said, "Brother Di, to be honest, having you by my side really saves me a lot of trouble. I feel at ease entrusting things to you."
Xu Di smiled and said, "Grandfather, are you praising me or implying that I haven't done enough? I'm nowhere near as good as you say. I do things on a whim, and I've certainly made you angry quite a bit." Xu Di was indirectly apologizing to Marquis Yongning for what happened with Xu Zhi.
They were all intelligent people, and could understand a lot from a single sentence. Marquis Yongning understood Xu Di's thoughts perfectly well, and said with a smile, "Alright, there's no point in saying any more polite words. Since the matter concerning your aunt has already been arranged, let's investigate it thoroughly. Shen'er is still young, and if he is really dragged down by those villains, it might cause a terrible disaster. If this matter is not investigated before you leave, I will definitely have someone continue to investigate it thoroughly."
Xu Di nodded repeatedly, and the Marquis of Yongning continued, "I'm telling you about what's happening down here. The situation in Dengzhou is very bad right now. Nobody expected that the Japanese would be so audacious as to come ashore and massacre several villages. Brother Di, even if you go there now, you'll be taking over a mess. Most importantly, those Japanese might actually come ashore again before the new year. As you know, although our Great Liang has a long coastline, we have too few soldiers who can fight at sea."
Xu Di nodded and said, "Grandfather, I understand all of this. I will find a way to overcome these difficulties. However, training troops is an expensive business. Can our national treasury afford it now?"
Marquis Yongning sighed and said, "The Ministry of Revenue has always been living beyond its means. It will be very difficult to get them to provide more funds."
Xu Di thought for a moment and said, "Back then, my father was able to make money even in such a remote place as Hexi. Dengzhou is by the sea, so how could I not make money?"
Upon hearing this, Marquis Yongning couldn't help but laugh and said, "When others say this, it sounds like they're just boasting, but coming from your mouth, I know you can definitely lead the people there to make money. Alright, it's getting late, you should go back and rest."
When Xu Di returned to his courtyard, he saw several maids who served him still gathered around the door. Usually, these maids would rest in the back room at night, so why were they gathered around his door at this hour?
Upon seeing Xu Di return, the maids quickly bowed. Xu Di asked, "What are you all doing gathered here so late at night instead of sleeping?"
The maids looked at each other, and finally mustered up their courage to say, "Young Master, we are looking at the Madam's new pillow."
It turned out to be the pregnancy pillow that Chen Zhaoci had brought over that afternoon. Xu Di had naturally seen it, and just by looking at such a large object, he knew how effective it was.
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