In the Tuisi Garden, there is a pavilion with winds coming from all directions.

Seeing Hu Zhi laughing so hard, Xu Jie also laughed, and shook his head helplessly, saying, "After hearing what he said, I was also confused. I have been in the officialdom for forty years, and finally became the Prime Minister after surviving many dangers, and assisted two emperors. I was actually spotted by a man without an official position or achievements, and became a rare commodity in his eyes."

"But he was reluctant to even give Zhao Ji to Master Cun Zhai." Hu Zhi laughed so hard that he slapped his thigh.

"He has a letter from Zhu and Liu, and I don't know what kind of magic potion they gave them." Xu Jie showed a look of disbelief. "In the letter, the two officials praised him to the heavens, like Su Qin and Zhang Yi reincarnated, and said that I can trust him."

"Second Master must have been sitting on the bench for too long, so he's desperate and is looking for help everywhere." Hu Zhi suppressed his smile and teased, "He actually wants to turn things around by relying on a gangster."

"Brother Lushan, what you said is absolutely right." Xu Jie nodded and said, "I also guess that they are thinking the same thing."

"Did Mr. Cun Zhai reject him?" Hu Zhi asked with a smile.

"I think this man may look heroic, but he is narrow-minded." Xu Jie shook his head and said calmly, "If I reject him directly, he might bear a grudge and slander me everywhere. So I asked him to come back in three days. This way, it will seem that I have carefully considered my rejection."

"Mr. Cun Zhai is so cautious that he is so careful even with a mere commoner." Hu Zhi exclaimed in admiration.

"None of the three prime ministers before me had a good ending, all because of carelessness. How can we not learn from the lesson?" Xu Jie smiled faintly and said, "Now that I have finally retired safely, I must be more careful and cautious to preserve my reputation in my later years."

"Hahaha!" Having said that, Hu Zhi could hear a hint of 'a martyr still full of ambition in his old age' from Lord Xu's tone.

I thought to myself that it turned out that Lord Xu was not afraid of offending Shao Fang, but wanted to keep a memory and talk about it later...

He was just about to ask Xu Jie about his true feelings when he suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside.

Hu Zhi stopped talking and continued to create the world with his eyes closed.

Xu Jie was unhappy, and he asked his family to be calm and composed, so that the Xu family could gradually develop the demeanor of a prime minister's family.

He looked in the direction of the voice with a slightly frowned brow, and seeing it was his third son Xu Ying, Lord Xu stopped being angry.

Xu Ying was in his thirties and was much more accomplished than the idle Xu Kun. He had taken over the Xu family's business in Songjiang several years ago. The Xu family's wealth and power in Suzhou and Songjiang had been growing rapidly over the years, and this youngest son had made great contributions.

"Father." Xu Ying came in and called out, then bowed to Hu Zhi.

"What's the matter?" Xu Jie asked softly.

Xu Ying looked at Hu Zhi.

"Mr. Hu is my father's best friend. There is nothing I cannot say to him." Xu Jie said calmly.

"I just got the news that my second brother got into trouble." Xu Ying then reported in a low voice: "He took people to Xishan Island to cause trouble, and was made into a mess by the Kunshan Gunner Battalion. He was imprisoned on the island and is doing hard labor."

He wanted to say "pouring night fragrance", but he couldn't afford to embarrass himself in front of outsiders.

"Ah?" Elder Xu opened his mouth wide, and after a while he closed it and said, "When did this happen? Why did the Kunshan Gunner Battalion run to the West Mountain?"

"It's been a while since this happened..." Xu Ying then carefully told her father the news she had obtained.

"My eldest brother was afraid that my father would be angry if he knew, so he kept it a secret from our family. It was only after the incident in Kunshan that I heard about it from the informant."

"What? What happened in Kunshan again?" Lord Xu opened his mouth wide again.

"In order to force Kunshan County to release the prisoners, my elder brother asked Xu Yang to lead people to burn the reserve warehouse in Kunshan, but he was caught in the act." Xu Ying whispered, "Seeing this, my elder brother asked the inspector of Susong, Lin Pingzhi, to go to Kunshan to rescue the prisoners. But inspector Lin rashly intervened in the arson case and was besieged by Zhao Shouzheng's son and the common people. He was almost beaten to death..."

"What, the Inspector General of Susong is also involved?!" Lord Xu's jaw finally dropped to the ground.

"What on earth do those two evil creatures want to do?!" Xu Jie's prime minister demeanor was completely gone, and he smashed the blue and white plum vase with a heavy blow of his crutch.

Hu Zhi was so frightened that he trembled and quickly stood up and said, "Master Cun Zhai, please calm down."

"These two evil creatures are about to start a rebellion. How can I calm down?" Elder Xu said angrily, "Where are Xu Fan and his men?!"

"Brother is probably still in Suzhou waiting for news from Inspector Lin." Xu Ying said quietly.

Previously, because of his participation in the "Nine Families", the sea merchants used this as a threat to Shuntian Prefecture, which made Xu Fan very angry. He wrote back and scolded Xu Ying for being so audacious and wanting to implicate his father.

Since then, Xu Ying has held a grudge against the boss.

There are more practical conflicts. Now that the eldest brother is back, who will take care of the family?

Normally, as the younger brother, he should give up his position, but Xu Ying felt that he had been in charge of the Xu family for more than ten years. How could he be willing to hand over power now?

Naturally, I would give Xu Fan a hard time when I get the chance.

"He didn't tell the family anything, and we didn't dare ask. I felt the situation was serious, so I had to report it to my father."

"If you don't tell me, I will be killed by that evil creature!" Xu Jie pounded the ground hard with his crutch, gritting his teeth in hatred.

"Ah?" Xu Ying couldn't help but be a little surprised. He actually came here to report the news just to embarrass Xu Fan.

In fact, Mr. Xu San didn't realize that the matter was really that serious. "My father has been very kind to the government and the people, and his students and former officials are all over the world. How can a mere magistrate named Zhao from another county challenge my father?"

"That Zhao is no ordinary county magistrate, and his son is even more terrifying. When they were in Beijing..." Xu Ge Lao originally wanted to tell his son about his experience in Beijing, but he was too embarrassed to speak up, so he could only muffled his voice and said, "Anyway, remember, the father and son are ferocious beasts, like two poisonous snakes. Just let them coil in Kunshan, and don't provoke them!"

"Yes, father..." Xu Ying couldn't help but feel secretly frightened. She didn't expect that her father would be so afraid of a small county magistrate.

"I am not afraid of them." Xu Jie snorted and said in a slow tone, "It's just that the father and son have deep connections with the nobles in the capital, so it's better for them to keep out of each other's way."

"But father, we suffered such a great loss this time, and my second brother is still in someone else's hands. If we don't save our face, won't we be laughed at?" Xu Ying couldn't understand.

"Face, face, how much is face worth?" Xu Jie snorted, "Why do they say they are officials and we are civilians? If this gets out of hand, it will only do harm to our Xu family and no good at all!"

"Yes, nephew, so many people are still eyeing your father." Hu Zhi also advised: "Even if you can't swallow this anger, you have to wait until the time has passed and get a chance to retaliate... If you take action now, it will only give others an advantage!"

"Well, thank you for the reminder, uncle." Xu Ying nodded unwillingly and asked in a muffled voice: "What should we do now? We have to get our second brother back first, right?"

"Tell Xu Fan to get back here right away!" Xu Jie shouted coldly, "Tell Yuanchun to go to Kunshan to handle this matter."

"Yuanchun?" Xu Ying was stunned. Could it be that the eldest son failed and it should be me? Was my father also going to follow the example of Emperor Taizu and abandon his son and establish his grandson?

"Yes, Yuanchun is the most suitable person to handle this matter, so don't worry about it." Xu Jie said calmly, "I will write a special letter to him."

"Yes." Xu Ying lowered her head unwillingly and retreated reluctantly.

"This is also a useless thing..." After he left, Xu Ge Lao showed a heartbroken expression and said: "What I regret most is that I neglected to discipline them back then, and in the end, none of them were useful."

"Don't worry, Master Cun Zhai. Your children and grandchildren will have their own blessings." Hu Zhi smiled and comforted him, "It would be nice to be a rich man instead of an official, wouldn't it?"

"That's right." Xu Jie nodded helplessly.

ps. Second update, please vote for me!