Duke Wei’s Mansion, today is the seventh day after our old master’s death.

At this time, there is a custom of "burning seven days" and "guarding seven days", that is, starting from the day of death of the deceased, every seven days is a memorial day, the so-called "first seven days", "second seven days", "third seven days", until the "seventh seven days".

Because it is said that the King of Hell will interrogate the soul of the deceased once every seven days from the day of death, a total of seven times, so it is also called "passing the seven disasters". In order to help the deceased relatives pass the test, family members will burn incense and paper, and offer wine and food to commemorate them every seven days. Among them, the first and last seven days are the most solemn, with relatives and friends coming and filial sons crying for the soul.

So on the seventh day, Xu's relatives and Nanjing nobles played music and cried all day. Close friends and relatives had to keep watch at night. After eating "first seven wontons" at midnight, they would send people to "steal vegetables" from other people's fields. The purpose was to be cursed by the family of the thief. It was said that the more fiercely they cursed, the faster they would pass through the King of Hell. No one knew why.

In fact, the Xu family had no need to "steal vegetables". Duke Wei had done so many bad things in the past half century, and countless people cursed him...

During the day, when the seven-day incense burner was burning, the earls of Pingjiang and Nanhe cried louder than anyone else, shouting at the top of their lungs about the goodness of the old master and saying that they wished they could go on the road with him. This made Xu Bangrui very embarrassed. You said that he couldn't let an outsider compare with his biological son, right? Otherwise, the guests would not know whose father had died.

Xu Bangrui had no choice but to join in the howling. At the end of the day, his throat was so swollen that it felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and he could not speak.

He finally waited until dark, thinking that these silly Boyi could finally leave. But they actually insisted on staying to keep vigil for the old master.

"Thank you..." Xu Bangrui said in a hoarse voice and unhappily.

"You're welcome. It's my duty." Chen Wangmo and the others seemed not to understand the atmosphere and stayed there shamelessly.

As the night deepened, all the guests and friends had dispersed, and even the Xu family could no longer hold on and slipped away to rest.

Looking at the empty mourning shed, Xu Bangrui sneered and said, "Tell me, what trouble have you gotten yourself into again?"

Although he has not yet inherited the title, he is already the leader of the nobles in Jinling.

This is natural. Not to mention that there is only one Duke in Jinling, Duke Wei's Mansion. Even in Ming Dynasty, which noble family dares to rank before the Prince of Zhongshan's Mansion?

"This..." Chen Wangmo and the others looked at each other and smiled awkwardly, "Sure enough, we can't hide it from the eldest master."

Only then did he stammer and tell Xu Bangrui what had happened after the condolences that day, avoiding the important points.

"What?" Xu Bangrui was furious when he heard it. If it wasn't in front of his father's spirit, he would have fucked him.

"You bunch of idiots, why do you have to pick on that ancestor when you can pick on anyone else?" Xu Bangrui was so angry that he kicked Chen Wangmo on the thigh and knocked him to the ground.

"We were forced into a desperate situation by him. We were so angry that we wanted to scare him." Nan Hebo whispered, "We just want him to know that we are not easy to mess with."

"I didn't expect that guy would deliberately tease us into falling into a trap..." Dong Ningbo also said with a bitter face.

"You are really looking for death!" Xu Bangrui pointed at them angrily and said, "We in the Xu family can't beat that evil star, who gave you the courage to provoke him?!"

"Why does the eldest master always say such discouraging words? How can the Duke of Wei's Mansion be afraid of a young boy?" said the Earl of Chengyi Liu Shiyan, who was afraid that the world would not be in chaos.

"My second son is still pouring incense on Xishan Island!" Xu Bangrui sneered and said, "It was my son who took Master Zhao as his master, which eased the relationship between the two families. Now he is on good terms with him and has a close relationship with him. Don't even think about sowing discord between me and Master Zhao."

His face darkened as he said, "If you instigate me again, I will completely break off our friendship!"

"No, no, Young Master, you misunderstood. We are not dissatisfied, we are here to ask for help." Nan Hebo quickly covered Liu Shiyan's stinky mouth and said with a smile on his face, "It is precisely because I know that Young Master and Young Master Zhao are on good terms that I would like to ask you to mediate and turn hostility into friendship."

"Oh, are you thinking about turning hostility into friendship now?" Xu Bangrui sneered and said, "Weren't you quite tough seven days ago? Are you going to let them wait and see?"

"Hasn't this been seen before..." Dong Ningbo said awkwardly, "My Lord, it's already this late, please stop mocking us. For the sake of our generations of friendship, please save us this time."

"Yes, Master. We are a group of people in Jinling. We are not afraid of cats and dogs. We are all united. You can't just ignore us."

"How can I help you?" Xu Bangrui snorted coldly, "I can't even get my own brother back, how can I help you?"

Liu Shiyan rolled his eyes and said, "You are deliberately not letting Xu Bangning come back. Otherwise, considering the relationship between your son and Zhao Hao, if you really want to rescue him, I don't believe that Zhao will not give you face."

Xu Bangrui's face immediately turned pale, and he pointed at the door and said, "Get out!"

Several people hurriedly carried Liu Shiyan, the troublemaker, out, and then came in and knelt in front of Xu Bangrui.

"Young Master, just do your best and leave the rest to fate. I just want to tell Young Master Zhao a message." Chen Wangmo lowered his head in frustration and said, "We accept defeat this time. He can set whatever conditions he wants. I just hope he doesn't make things worse."

The officials in Beijing had long been dissatisfied with these nobles. If the news really reached Emperor Longqing, dismissal from office, imprisonment, and deprivation of title would be the least severe punishment. If things went wrong, their property would be confiscated and they would be exiled, which would be worse than death.

"I am in mourning for the seventh day of my life, how can I go to see Mr. Zhao?" Xu Bangrui said with embarrassment. He would not agree easily. He has no sincerity at all, and he still wants me to help him lobby? No way.

"Master, help me..."

"I will never dare to act on my own again."

"We will follow the eldest master's lead. If you tell us to go east, we will never go west. If you tell us to chase a dog, we will never chase a chicken!"

Several nobles begged him, and his servants also helped to persuade him. After much persuasion, Xu Bangrui finally gave in and said:

"Alright, alright, I really owed you guys this in my previous life."

He glanced at Xu Weizi and said, "Go find your master tomorrow and tell him that we had no idea about this. Ask him what the rules are. Don't worry about me. I have no problem even if you kill them!"

"Don't, young master..." Chen Wangmo and the others looked at Xu Bangrui pitifully.

"Alas..." He sighed depressedly and said, "If it is possible to let them go, just make the conditions. If they don't agree, I will not care about it."

"Yes, father." Xu Weizi nodded depressedly and muttered, "But I can't leave empty-handed. Master will definitely kick me out."

"Of course not." Xu Bangrui also wanted to dampen the arrogance of the Caoyun Group, so he nodded and said, "Your uncle Chen and his men have plenty of money, so they will definitely show their sincerity."

"Hey, of course..." Chen Wangmo and the others nodded repeatedly. They just wanted to suppress the incident now. They had to give enough respect to Zhao Hao, Caojiang Yamen and the Xu family.

That's like fish on the chopping board, ready to be slaughtered at will.

~~

In fact, at this moment, Zhao Hao had already passed Zhenjiang by boat and was sailing on the South Grand Canal leading to Suzhou.

Captain Yin had already received the opportunity and spread the word to let the nobles know that they had caused a big disaster, and then waited for them to come and give money. But if Zhao Hao didn't nod, Caojiang Yamen would not release them, and at most they could only let Chen Er and his men live a more comfortable life.

As for whether or not he would nod, and when he would nod, that would of course depend on the negotiation situation. Anyway, it was those nobles who were in a hurry, not him, so he might as well go back to Suzhou and talk slowly.

In addition, he received a report that something minor but very serious had happened in Kunshan, so he decided to go back and deal with it personally.

Chu Liuxiang, the artillery king of the Coast Guard who came back on his ship a few years ago, was actually arrested...

At that time, Zhao Hao heard that he was taking a long vacation and was going to go home to get married. Now that he knew about it, he couldn't just ignore it. So Mr. Zhao asked Secretary Ma to pay attention to Chu Liuxiang and have someone leave his address so that he could send a gift after he got engaged. If he was lucky, he could attend his wedding. The character of loving soldiers like sons can only be established through accumulation of bits and pieces... Although Mr. Zhao doesn't have a son yet.

As a result, after the boy returned home, there was no progress at all, and Mr. Zhao was a noble man with a short memory, so he completely forgot about the matter.

But it doesn't matter. Secretary Ma remembered every detail clearly. Even though he was in Jinling, he did not forget to arrange for the people who stayed in Kunshan to pay attention to this matter.

This time, it was Kunshan that reported that the boy's marriage had fallen through, and that the woman had accused him of collaborating with the Japanese and had thrown him into jail.

When Master Zhao heard this, he became furious. He smashed the tea bowl for the first time and his face became frighteningly gloomy.

This seriously touched his sore spot!

He felt very guilty for not being able to give the soldiers who fought bravely the enemy the glory they deserved. He could only comfort himself by saying that he could just give them some more money as compensation.

Now the facts have proved that he was deceiving himself. Not only can money not replace honor, it may also bring disaster to the soldiers!

If they had not been hiding it, they would have announced their identities as heroes who fought against the Japanese invaders to the people of Jiangnan long ago. Who would dare to accuse them of being "collaborators with the Japanese invaders"? !

Now seeing that they were wronged, Zhao Hao was filled with remorse. Then he was extremely worried. The heroes who fought against the Japanese were accused of "collaborating with the Japanese". How could this be tolerated? If the news reached the garrison area, it would shake the morale of the army and severely undermine morale!

He was about to jump up and order the guards to rush back and rescue the man, but Xiao Zhuzi persuaded him to stay calm and not get angry in his own nest. Otherwise, it would be difficult for Uncle Zhao to do his job, and it would not be conducive to clearing the hero's grievances.

At that time, Zhao Hao was so drunk that he couldn't listen at all. Seeing that he was about to go crazy, Xiao Zhuzi had to hug him with a red face, press his head against her chest, and let him calm down... As a result, Master Zhao got drunk again.

Fortunately, the blood died down and the thinking head gradually cooled down.

Zhao Hao thought calmly, if he sent someone back to release the person, where would his father's face be? If his father released the person, it would give others a handle to say that he and his son were in collusion in Kunshan and bent the law for personal gain.

Moreover, if the man is released without any clear reason, Chu Liuxiang's case will be completely unclear. In the simple cognition of ordinary people, only bad people will use the back door.

In the eyes of the common people, Chu Liuxiang is also a bad guy because he went out through the back door, and the proof is complete.