Tianliangyuan

Chapter 217 The Chen Family Comes

"Thank you, dog, get your paws off me!"

At this moment, Xu Junfeng didn't care about being superior or inferior; all he wanted to do was drag Xie Zheng out and give him a good beating.

Although he might not be able to beat Xie Zheng.

But this did not stop his momentum from soaring.

Xu Zhaozhao suddenly realized something and quickly pushed the person away, her pretty face turning as red as if it were about to bleed.

Xie Zheng couldn't take his eyes off her shy and charming appearance. Even when Xu Junfeng came over and kicked him, he only slightly tilted his body before reacting and fighting with him as they walked out.

This is infuriating!

Xu Junfeng wished he could throw him out, but Xie Zheng had come to the Marquis's residence to discuss the battle, so he really couldn't just kick him out like that.

But Xu Junfeng will complain.

He couldn't do anything to this lieutenant general, but his father could!

Xu Han's face was so cold it could freeze.

Xie Zheng knew he had gone too far today, and scratched his head, saying, "It was indeed my fault today, Father-in-law. Please forgive me. Uh, I will come back to apologize later. I'll take my leave now."

Why would Xu Han be afraid that he would run away?

That evening, all the guards of the Marquis's mansion were mobilized, patrolling with utmost thoroughness. During the day, the servants had searched the entire mansion inside and out, sealing up any cracks the size of a red brick, not to mention dog holes.

They were really treating Xie Zheng like a wolf.

Xu Zhaozhao found the whole thing amusing.

When the marquis set off for the expedition, all the women in the household naturally had tears in their eyes. However, with their loved ones about to go to war, they could not shed tears, otherwise it would be considered unlucky.

Therefore, everyone suppressed their reluctance and tried their best to smile.

Even the old lady, who rarely comes out, was helped out this time and personally escorted Xu Han and Xu Junfeng to the door.

The glory of the Marquis's mansion should naturally be maintained by the military achievements of the Xu family men.

It was only after the old lady came out that she learned that Xu Junting had actually been granted a noble title.

This surprised and delighted the old lady.

"Ruolan, even the mistress has been granted a title, why hasn't our Marquis's mansion thought of celebrating?"

"Mother, it's not that I don't want to, but the Marquis and Junfeng are about to go on an expedition, so it's really inconvenient to hold a banquet at home. Besides, he's just a baron of the lowest rank, so it's not worth celebrating in a big way. It's better to keep a low profile for now and celebrate when they return safely."

The old lady nodded: "Very well. I'll go to the Buddha to offer incense later and pray for their safety."

The old lady was in a good mood today, mainly because she received a letter from her brother saying that Chen Cong, the eldest grandson of the Chen family, would be arriving in Beijing soon.

"Mother, is Chen Cong the only one from the Chen family who came, or is he accompanied by others?"

"He came alone this time. He originally thought that he and his brothers would come together, but something happened at home just before they were about to leave, so he sent Cong'er first."

"In that case, daughter-in-law, please arrange your accommodation first."

The old lady nodded: "I haven't seen Cong'er for seven or eight years. I wonder if the boy has changed a lot, or if he is still as chubby as he was when he was a child."

Wang Ruolan smiled and said, "Children change the most. Seven or eight years have passed, Cong'er should have grown taller. Now at the age of eighteen, he is in his prime and, as a scholar, must be quite handsome."

The old lady was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling for a long time; she just loved it when people praised her family.

The Chen family has now returned to their ancestral home. In the past ten years or so, the Chen family has obviously declined a lot. Although they still have a lot of wealth, there are not many outstanding members among the old lady's nephews. This shows that the Chen family has lost its talent line, and thus their influence in the court has weakened.

In fact, several of Chen's nephews and nieces had also entered the imperial court as officials, but in local areas rather than in the capital. That's why the old lady felt that her maternal family needed help, and she really hadn't seen her maternal family for too long.

The Xu family didn't really know much about Chen Cong's character.

I stayed at your house for a while seven or eight years ago. At that time, the child was young and very mischievous, so no one paid any attention to him.

Now that she has returned to the capital, Wang Ruolan is still quite cautious.

After all, there are unmarried girls in the family, so nothing can be taken lightly.

Xu Zhaozhao delved into the original owner's memories and found that she actually had no recollection of this cousin Chen Cong.

But I vaguely remember playing together when we were little, and this cousin seemed to have even gone into the water to catch fish for her.

She was also punished by the old lady for catching the old marquis's favorite golden carp.

Xu Zhaozhao couldn't recall any further details.

I vaguely remember Chen Cong as a very fat man, the kind of fat that disappears when he smiles, and he was quite fair-skinned, so when he was young some people called him "White Steamed Bun". I wonder what he looks like now.

Xu Zhaozhao learned from her mother that the old lady originally planned to remarry with a younger member of her own family.

However, Xu Zhaozhao's marriage was arranged early, and the marriage of the second wife's legitimate daughter was also arranged by the old Marquis when he was alive. Therefore, the old lady did not have a suitable candidate, so the matter was dropped.

The main reason was that the old lady looked down on her illegitimate daughter, especially since she was a junior member of her own family. How could she possibly marry an illegitimate daughter?

Of course, the old lady had actually considered having one of Xu Han's sons become a son-in-law of the Chen family.

As it turned out, Xu Jun'an had his eye on the eldest daughter of the Duke's mansion. With such a high status, the Chen family's daughter was naturally no match for her, so he set his sights on the second son.

But who would have thought that the second son, Xu Junfeng, was even more impressive, and immediately fell for the county princess of the Prince's mansion.

When it came time for Xu Junting's marriage, the old lady mentioned it to her daughter-in-law, but Wang Ruolan obviously didn't take it to heart.

It wasn't that Wang Ruolan looked down on the Chen family, but mainly because the Chen family lived far away, and who knew what kind of personality or appearance the Chen family's daughter had?

Even if Xu Junting didn't mind, she, as his mother, was still worried.

What if someone has bad character?

If he's just plain-looking, that's fine; we can just find him a few beautiful concubines.

If she is morally corrupt and has a bad reputation, wouldn't marrying into the Xu family just make her son a laughing stock in other people's eyes?

Therefore, Wang Ruolan really dared not agree to such a thing.

Now that the old lady has seen that Xu Han's three sons and one daughter have all found their husbands, she naturally sets her sights on the second wife's family.

Although the second branch of the family does not have a noble title, Xu Wen's official position is not low now. Moreover, Xu Junqing will surely pass the exam next time. Even if he does not pass, with the Xu family around, they can recommend him for a good job.

Therefore, in the old lady's opinion, regardless of whether Xu Junqing has real skills or not, his future will not be bad, which is why she thought of inviting the Chen family to visit.

"By the way, although Cong'er's brother didn't come, his sister did. I wonder if you remember her? She's a little girl named Xiangxiang, and she's very cute!"