Ming Dynasty: A hundred-year-old immortal cultivator, Zhu Yuanzhang’s biological father

Xu Miaojin hesitated to speak, and finally said with a smile: "To train talents for the country."

"The cost of education in our academy is not expensive, and it also relieves the burden on the Ming court."

Zhu Xiongying looked at Xu Miaojin and was silent for a long time before saying, "Stop it."

"Ah?"

Xu Miaojin looked at Zhu Xiongying in confusion, "What?"

Zhu Xiongying said: "The academy should be closed down. It is impossible for the Ming Dynasty to produce another thousand-year-old family."

"I listen to my master. This kind of thing should be nipped in the bud."

Xu Miaojin was suddenly stunned and looked at Zhu Xiongying with a very complicated expression!
She is a smart person, and Zhu Xiongying is also a smart person. There is no need for her to deceive herself. Zhu Xiongying has seen through it, so Xu Miaojin doesn't need to hide it anymore.

"I'm sorry, I just lied to you, did you see that?"

Zhu Xiongying nodded: "Well, I seem to sense that your Xu family is in danger. Grandpa... ahem, I can't figure out how His Majesty is planning and what he is doing."

"No matter what, you better stay here honestly and don't think of any other stupid moves. Just take it one step at a time."

Xu Miaojin was silent for a long time, staring at the Qinhuai River, wondering what he was thinking.

"Does your grandfather know?"

Zhu Xiongying nodded: "Yes, I understand. I have previously deduced the possible evolution of the academy for him."

"Hey!"

Xu Miaojin sighed, "I have planned everything, but I lost you. If you were not in the Ming Dynasty, I don't think anyone would be able to see my purpose. After all, who can predict what will happen a hundred years later?"

"Moreover, as long as the academy is built, the subsequent market will automatically dominate and evolve. There is no need for our Xu family to show up again. We can interweave our interests..."

"pity."

Xu Miaojin sighed, "I met you."

After Xu Miaojin finished speaking, she took a deep breath and asked Zhu Xiongying: "If our Xu family is really in trouble, I beg you, will you beg me?"

Zhu Xiongying nodded: "I think so."

Xu Miaojin was delighted: "Where are my three brothers?"

Zhu Xiongying glanced at her: "Miss Xu, there is something I want to tell you. I'm sorry."

"Ah?"

"Why are you saying sorry all of a sudden?"

Seeing Xu Miaojin like this, Zhu Xiongying felt a little uncomfortable.

Zhu Xiongying said: "You used to be simple and kind, I always thought you couldn't handle it and shouldn't encounter any storms."

"But now, I suddenly realize that you are much stronger than I thought."

"For the sake of Prince Zhongshan's Mansion, you have begun to take the initiative to shoulder part of the family's rise and fall, and even showed up in public... Well, I see a different Xu Miaojin."

Xu Miaojin tilted her head, not knowing what Zhu Xiongying was talking about, but she did not disturb Zhu Xiongying and let him continue talking.

Zhu Xiongying smiled and said, "Actually, when your second brother and fourth brother humiliated me, I didn't feel any resentment at all. I didn't feel that my self-esteem was trampled on."

"At that time, I didn't even take your second and fourth brothers seriously."

Xu Miaojin nodded: "I know my second brother and fourth brother are not as good as you, and have never been as good as you."

"So you weren't angry at that time... then what about you?"

Zhu Xiongying said: "This is why I said sorry to you just now."

"Your Zhongshan Palace and the Beiping Yan Prince have a close relationship. I have also tried to deduce the situation of the Ming Dynasty."

"The ultimate result is that Zhu Di might rebel."

Xu Miaojin was shocked, but she was inexplicably delighted that Zhu Huai was so open with her.

Zhu Xiongying continued: "I was thinking, if we are good friends, and one day Zhu Di really rebels, your brothers will support Zhu Di, while I will be loyal to the Ming Dynasty. At that time, you will be caught in the middle and you will not be able to choose."

"On one side is family affection, on the other side is love. No matter which one you choose, it will be a great harm to you."

"You are a good girl, and very smart. I don't want to hurt you at that time, so I just agreed to your second and fourth brothers."

"At that time, I didn't want to tell you the whole story because I was afraid you couldn't bear it. It would be better for you to sever our friendship as soon as possible before we got too stuck in the mud."

"Later I realized I was wrong. You seemed to care about me... a lot?"

This was the first time that Zhu Xiongying stood with Miss Xu and poured out his heart to her without hesitation.

The water on both sides of the Zhuangyuan Bridge flows peacefully, and buildings with gray walls and hundreds of tiles are lined up on both sides of the Qinhuai River.

The Qinhuai River in the early morning is so peaceful and harmonious.

Xu Miaojin's heart was beating wildly and her cheeks were a little hot. After hearing Zhu Xiongying's question, she stammered, "Ah? Oh, um."

Zhu Xiongying raised his eyes and looked at her: "What do you mean?"

Xu Miaojin took a deep breath, lifted her skirt and stepped up a step, came to Zhu Xiongying, nodded and said: "Well, yes, I care about you, then can you tell me what you think?"

Zhu Xiongying was facing the Qinhuai River, and Xu Miaojin was also facing the Qinhuai River. However, after Xu Miaojin said this, she leaned on the railing of Zhuangyuan Bridge and faced Zhu Xiongying.

The morning breeze blew past, ruffling Xu Miaojin's black hair and revealing her delicate face. Her watery eyes stared straight at Zhu Xiongying, without any timidity, as she waited for Zhu Xiongying's answer.

Zhu Xiongying said softly: "At that time, I was thinking, what would you do if one day I and your brothers were on the opposite side?"

"I don't want to see you sad, I don't want to see you upset, and I don't want you to make a choice."

"I think you should always be the majestic 'Fifth Young Master' of the Xu family, always so proud, so confident, and so charming."

Xu Miaojin blinked, looked at Zhu Xiongying, and smiled slyly: "Am I as good as you say?"

Zhu Xiongying nodded and said, "Yes, I guess if I let go, one day you'll appear on Yingtian Street and the people chasing you will line up from Tianjin Bridge to Zhuangyuan Bridge!"

Xu Miaojin giggled and said, "Is it that exaggerated? How come I didn't know?"

Zhu Xiongying said: "Because you rarely show up in public, if your Xu family holds a martial arts competition or a literary competition to recruit a bride, I'm afraid the whole Yingtian City will go crazy!"

Xu Miaojin covered her mouth and smiled secretly, then looked at Zhu Xiongying seriously and said, "But what if I don't like others? I don't know since when, there has always been a figure in my mind."

"He is upright, he is righteous, he is neither humble nor arrogant, he is talented, he can write poetry, he can write very good poetry, he can make me laugh, and he can also make me cry."

Zhu Xiongying was stunned for a moment, and said in horror: "Ah? Who is this? So capable?"

Xu Miaojin glared at Zhu Xiongying: "You are annoying! Consultant Mingzhi!"

Zhu Xiongying smiled and continued to get back to the point. He looked at Xu Miaojin and said, "Miaojin, you haven't answered me yet. If one day, I and your three brothers are on opposite sides, what will you do?" The word "Miaojin" melted Miss Xu's heart. She thought about it seriously for a long time and said, "That day will never come."

"If you have this thought, why didn't you say so earlier?"

"If that day really comes, I will not abandon you, just like my elder sister. She is now the princess of King Yan. If one day, as you said, King Yan wants to rebel, do you think my elder sister will leave him?"

"Will not."

"I am just like my eldest sister. I, Xu Miaojin, will be devoted to the person I choose. That day in the Ministry of Justice, everything I told you, all the ways to save you, were all done outside the Xu family. My three brothers don't know or understand everything I did."

"do you know?"

Zhu Xiongying nodded: "I didn't know at first, but later I figured it out. Because I figured it out, I felt that Miss Xu's friendship was profound."

Xu Miaojin smiled and said, "I have already asked my three brothers to cut off all contact with Peking."

"As for opening the academy, it was just for self-protection. But now that you have seen through it and told your grandfather, I think Your Majesty should know what our Xu family is doing."

Zhu Xiongying nodded: "Still... I'm sorry."

Xu Miaojin smiled and said, "It's okay. I don't blame you. You didn't mean it."

"Your Majesty has the intention of purging the Xu family, that's for sure, but it may not be impossible to survive in the cracks."

"What the old man is worried about is the power and prestige of my Xu family in the army, and the relationship between us and King Yan."

Xu Miaojin looked at Zhu Xiongying and said, "Zhu Lang, to be honest, my elder brother and his men have already found out that the nobles in Huaixi may become successful, and our Zhongshan Palace should be purged to pave the way for the crown prince."

"Throughout history, every time a crown prince ascends the throne, some of his ministers will be sacrificed. To put it bluntly, is there anything that has no solution?"

"It's just that many people don't want to give up the power they fought so hard for."

"It's easy to get power, but hard to give it up!"

Xu Miaojin smiled, lifted her skirt, and sat down beside Tianjin Bridge.

She patted her side and motioned Zhu Xiongying to sit down as well.

Zhu Xiongying was not a shy person, so he sat down next to Xu Miaojin when he heard that.

"You just said that we should take it one step at a time. Actually, that's not right. If we do that, we are just waiting to die. I can't gamble on the future of the Xu family."

Zhu Xiongying scratched his head: "What should I do?"

Xu Miaojin said: "Let's give up power. Have you heard the story of Emperor Taizong of Tang and Li Jing?"

"As long as we learn from Li Jing, give up all the power in the Zhongshan Palace, live in seclusion, ignore worldly affairs, and become useless, the emperor will remember my father's kindness and will not care so much about us."

Zhu Xiongying understood, and then said: "This is difficult for your eldest brother. After all, this title is hard-earned. If you want to give it up, you will be ashamed of your father."

Xu Miaojin shook her head: "There is no way. When the emperor married my sister to the Prince of Yan, our Zhongshan Palace was destined to be in a sensitive position."

Xu Miaojin took a deep breath and smiled, "No matter what, you can't blame others. Being alive is better than anything else, isn't it?"

Xu Miaojin swung her legs in the air, looking at the river under the bridge, and asked Zhu Xiongying curiously: "Why are you telling me this today?"

Zhu Xiongying looked at Xu Miaojin, "Are you sure you want to listen?"

Xu Miaojin nodded vigorously.

Zhu Xiongying said: "Because today, His Majesty intends to marry you to someone else."

Xu Miaojin's face turned pale!
Zhu Xiongying said quickly: "Don't worry, the matter has not been finalized yet. I have talked to the old man about it."

"Say what?"

Zhu Xiongying said: "It's better if I don't marry you. If I marry you to someone else, I will chop whoever he marries!"

Xu Miaojin glanced sideways, staring blankly at Zhu Xiongying, who had a serious expression on his face. He spoke so seriously and so resolutely.

Although it was only a few words, Xu Miaojin knew how much courage it took for him to say such words to his grandfather.

He wanted to disobey his grandfather, disobey the emperor, and even threaten the emperor.

Xu Miaojin smiled and curled up her legs, hugged her knees with her hands, rested her chin on them, and stared at Zhu Xiongying's profile in a trance for a while.

She whispered: "What if the emperor really wants to marry me?"

Zhu Xiongying shook his head: "It shouldn't be. His Majesty owes me and Master a favor. Increase the river boat tax and city gate tax to enrich the treasury so that the local officials will no longer be in trouble. Master and I helped him with this once."

"And Master has always doted on me and will definitely come to help me."

"It's like your Majesty, he still owes me a favor."

Xu Miaojin was stunned, with a trace of shock in her eyes, "You did this too? At that time, I was wondering who was so powerful, and it turned out to be you and your master again!"

"I just think you're so weird. How many great things have you done to change this country? I always feel like you've sacrificed a lot behind the backs of the people of the world."

Xu Miaojin suddenly felt that Zhu Xiongying was so great. His figure was so tall, so tall that Xu Miaojin's eyes were filled with admiration and pride.

A handsome young man with a resolute profile and a lovable look, seeing that, in Xu Miaojin's eyes, somehow her heart was moved, and she moved closer and kissed him on the cheek.

Zhu Xiongying was stunned for a moment. When Xu Miaojin shyly turned her pretty face away, he still felt a soft and thrilling feeling on his cheek.

He tried hard to recall the memory, but he could no longer recapture that feeling that was both real and unreal.

His body was on the bridge bed in mid-air, but his soul seemed to have floated into the air, aimlessly.

Xu Miaojin's face also felt hot and she was so embarrassed that she almost couldn't face herself. She didn't know what medicine she had taken wrong, why did she do such a bold thing? This... this was too outrageous, right? How embarrassing!
For a moment, Xu Miaojin felt that her lips and entire face were as if coated with spicy peppers, numb and hot.

"Well, that..."

Xu Miaojin buried her head in her knees, "Mr. Zhu, I can listen to your story."

The topic changed a bit awkwardly.

Zhu Xiongying thought about it for a long time before he said, "My business? What's that?"

Xu Miaojin said: "Everything!"

"I really want to know what kind of past you have had to become such an outstanding person..."

Zhu Xiongying was silent for a while, then looked at Xu Miaojin and said, "Okay."

Zhu Xiongying began to speak.

Xu Miaojin hugged her knees with her hands. The Qinhuai River was extremely peaceful in the early morning. There were few pedestrians on the Zhuangyuan Bridge. It seemed as if there was only this golden boy and jade girl in the whole city.

(End of this chapter)