Duke Wei’s Mansion, in the Yuanyang Hall.

When Xu Bangning heard that his father wanted him to go with the officials from Kunshan, he jumped up like a cat whose tail was stepped on.

"Father, what are you talking about? Who are we? Do you want me to go to a county magistrate for trial?"

"What is your status?" The father, whose eyes were always filled with doting, now had no emotion in them. "Duke, Earl, or Marquis?"

"This..." Xu Bangning felt a chill all over his body when he heard this. He looked at Xu Pengju in disbelief and said, "Father, I am your son."

"'My son', what kind of official position is this?" Xu Pengju still said coldly: "First, second or third rank?"

"Neither." Xu Bangning felt despair for the first time in his life. He was completely panicked. "But you can't lose your face and the dignity of your ancestors!"

"You still have the nerve to talk about our ancestors!" Xu Pengju grabbed the teacup on the table and threw it at Xu Bangning. "You have brought shame to our ancestors!"

Xu Bangning failed to dodge and was splashed with tea.

Xu Pengju roared, "Tell me the truth! What on earth did you do in Susong?!"

"Son, I just followed my father's orders and went to attend a meeting." Xu Bangning still wanted to play it safe.

"Then you can follow them to Kunshan!" Xu Pengju was so angry that he was panting heavily. "Don't worry, I will hire the best lawyer for you!"

"Young Master, why are you so confused?" Censor Ma was busy trying to calm the old master down while persuading Xu Bangning, "Aren't you hurting yourself by lying to us?"

Xu Bangning was stunned, thinking that was right. He then whispered, "Isn't it all because of being scared by my father?"

"So, you really sent people to destroy the dike in Kunshan?" Xu Pengju asked expressionlessly.

"Not entirely..." Xu Bangning answered with all his courage, "My son did send people to dig the embankment, but they couldn't dig it open after a long time. I heard that Kunshan was safe and sound during this typhoon, which shows that the embankment was destroyed. It's a pure exaggeration..."

Before he could finish his words, he heard his father slam the table and shout, "Tie up this evil creature!"

The personal guards standing in the hall had received instructions long ago, and immediately pinned the young master to the ground and tied him up.

"Father, what are you doing?" Xu Bangning was confused. "I've already told the truth."

Censor Ma sighed inwardly, thinking how could he be so grown up but not understand the principle of 'confess and be punished severely'?

"I, Xu Pengju, don't have a son like you." The old master endured the heartache and gritted his teeth and said, "Today I will also learn from the ancients and kill my relatives for the sake of justice!"

"Father, what's wrong with you?" Xu Bangning struggled and cried, "I am your most beloved son."

"Spoiling a child is like killing him. It's too late for me to regret." Seeing this, Xu Pengju couldn't help but wipe away his tears and said, "But my Xu family's 200-year ancestral business cannot be destroyed by you."

"The man named Zhao will kill me, wuwu..." Xu Bangning almost collapsed.

"Don't worry, I'll let your eldest brother escort you there." The old father's arrangement was very thoughtful. "Then let's see if we can ask Zhao Hao to show mercy and let you go."

Xu Bangning completely collapsed upon hearing this. His father's arrangement made him more uncomfortable than killing him.

"No, no, no, father, I'd rather go alone than have Xu Bangrui accompany me." He shook his head hurriedly and said, "He will definitely kill me, he will."

"Don't talk about your brother like that!" Xu Pengju snorted coldly and waved his hand, saying, "Shut his mouth."

The personal guard stuffed the rag that had been prepared earlier into the young master's mouth.

Xu Pengju hardened his heart and didn't look at his youngest son, who was crying. He asked outside in a muffled voice, "Is Bangrui here?"

"My lord, the eldest son is here." Xu An's voice came from outside the door.

"Let him in."

~~

When Xu Bangrui was called, he was reading in his villa. Even when he arrived outside the Yuanyang Hall, he was still confused.

It was not until the tightly closed door was opened that he saw the mess on the ground and his brother who was tied up like a dumpling.

Looking more closely, even the blood coral that Xu Bangning gave to his father yesterday was smashed to pieces.

What's going on? Xu Bangrui was full of questions.

"Bangrui, you're here." Xu Pengju's voice sounded, with an unprecedented tiredness and weakness. It was also a soft voice that had not been heard in many years.

"Yes, father, what happened?" Xu Bangrui suppressed his gloating mood and asked carefully with his head down.

"Sit down and talk. You are my eldest son, so there is no need to stand while I talk."

After thanking his father, he half-rested his butt on the chair, but he felt like he was sitting on a cloud.

After listening to Censor Ma's story, Xu Bangrui felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest.

Last night he was still lamenting that it was nothing but a pipe dream to let Zhao Hao wade into this muddy water.

Who would have thought that this idiot Xu Bangning would actually take the initiative to provoke Zhao Hao and directly break the opponent's bottom line!

Zhihu Zhihu, the daydream that you didn’t even dare to pursue suddenly came true without any effort. What does it feel like?

Anyway, Xu Bangning is Meng Boyi.

Seeing that he didn't look happy, Xu Pengju felt a little relieved, thinking that at least the boss was kind and didn't gloat over other people's misfortunes. If he passed the position to him, he wouldn't have to worry too much about what would happen after his death.

He patted Xu Bangrui's arm and whispered, "Accompany this evil creature to Kunshan and talk to Mr. Zhao on behalf of your father."

"Ah... yes, father." Xu Bangrui felt goose bumps on his arms.

But the physical disgust also brought him back to his senses, and he nodded quickly and said, "My son will definitely ask Master Zhao to let my little brother go."

"Well, I believe you can do it." Xu Pengju took a deep look at his mature and steady eldest son, and sighed for a while before saying, "As long as they agree to suppress this matter, we can discuss anything."

"I understand, father." Xu Bangrui nodded heavily.

"Okay, please invite the envoy from Kunshan in for my father." Xu Pengju sighed again.

~~

Xiong Dianshi had actually been there for quite some time.

But he was only concerned with practicing over and over again how to negotiate politely when meeting the Duke so as not to damage the reputation of Kunshan County.

I didn't have time to get angry about being left out for so long.

When the person who came to invite him in introduced himself as Xu Bangrui, the eldest son of Duke Wei, Dianshi Xiong was so shocked that he immediately forgot his words.

In Xiong Xiasheng's opinion, the eldest son of the Duke of Wei would be the future Duke...but he didn't know that before the meal, Xu Bangning was the Duke of Wei's preferred heir.

The future Duke came out in person and invited me in to meet the current Duke. What a courtesy!

Xiong Dianshi knew that they were paying respect to the young master. He could not help but raise his head and decided that he must be strong when he entered, and he must not bring down the young master's prestige!

So when he met the Duke of Wei, Lao Xiong resisted the urge to kneel and just clasped his fists in greeting.

But he was surprised to see Xu Pengju also stood up, clasped his fists in return, and apologized repeatedly for his neglect for many days.

After asking Dianshi Xiong to take a seat, Xu Pengju pointed at Xu Bangning and said coldly, "The rebellious son is right here, Lord Xiong, just take him away, no need to be polite."

Xiong Dianshi was so frightened that he trembled, thinking, is this a test for me?

It was not until Xu Bangrui asked again if he could go to Kunshan with his brother that Xiong Dianshi believed that this was not a test.

But after reading the letter from the young master, the Duke of Wei really sacrificed his own family for the sake of justice...

Sir, you really didn't lie to me! I, Old Xiong, really became the first official in the Ming Dynasty to successfully arrest someone from the Duke of Wei's mansion!

And it was successful.

ps. This is the fourth update, that’s all.