Seeing Xu Mingrui's smiling face like a spring flower, Mrs. Hu felt comforted. She hugged Xu Mingrui and said with relief: "My daughter is still the best. She knows how to love her mother!"
Xu Mingrui snorted and said, "Just wait and see, mother. Don't uncle and aunt love Mingyu the most? Just wait and see how bad luck Mingyu gets!"
While Mrs. Hu and Xu Mingrui were talking, the voice of the maid came from the door, "Second Madam, the Second Master wants you to take the family account books to the old lady's room."
Mrs. Hu became alert and asked loudly, "Why are you bringing the account book?"
The old woman hesitated for a moment, then lowered her voice and said, "I heard from the servants in the old lady's yard that the three masters are arguing about dividing the family property."
Divide the family?! Aren't they denouncing Mingyu's divorce? How did they get to the point of dividing the family? Mrs. Hu was confused for a moment. Xu Mingrui worriedly called her for a long time. Mrs. Hu came to her senses and wiped her face before she became a little more sober. Then she became angry. What family should be divided? She had run this family for so many years. Why should they divide it? What should they divide? What is there to divide? These are all theirs!
Seeing that there was no movement in the house for a long time, the maid outside the door called out again, "Second Madam, the masters are waiting in the old lady's yard!"
Xu Mingrui also looked at Hu anxiously, watching Hu's expression change from ferocious to gentle, changing unpredictably.
After a long while, Mrs. Hu gritted her teeth and said, "Okay, let's give them the account book and let them take a good look!"
Compared to the chaos in the Xu Mansion, the Miao Mansion was much calmer. The place where Miao and Sima Hong lived was still deserted and quiet. However, after Sima Hong came to the capital, under the persuasion of Old Master Miao and Lord Miao, Miao finally agreed to move from the cold and damp north courtyard to a south-facing courtyard for the sake of her son. The flowers and trees all over the courtyard added a lot of vitality to the courtyard.
On the afternoon of the day Sima Hong returned to the capital, he changed his clothes and was led by his grandfather and uncle to the palace to meet the emperor. The study was filled with incense and was quiet and solemn. After the old and young Miao saluted, they stood aside. Because the old Miao was a veteran of three dynasties and had a noble status, the emperor was very considerate and gave him a seat.
Sima Hong was still kneeling on the ground. He was a son of a marquisate, and this was not his first time to enter the palace. He remembered that when he was very young, his father brought his family to Beijing to report on his work, and he took him and his elder brother to the palace, where they met the late emperor and the late empress. However, he was too young at the time, and he only remembered the majestic palace, the towering eaves, and his wife holding him to chat with a bunch of colorful empresses and concubines.
At that time, he roughly understood what it meant to enter the palace, and he was full of excitement, itching to run around everywhere, but his elder brother was mature and steady at a young age, holding his hand to stop him from running around. Thinking of the family at that time, Sima Hong's eyes were dim.
This was the first time he met the emperor as an adult. He could feel the emperor's sharp eyes staring at his head and back.
"My dear Sima, please stand up and answer." said the emperor.
When Sima Hong stood up, the emperor looked him up and down calmly, and couldn't help but compare Sima Hong with Sima Xi, a talented man who was famous in the capital.
In terms of appearance, the eldest brother has a fair complexion, delicate features, and a refined and cold temperament. The younger brother is masculine and handsome, but there seems to be an inextricable sadness between his brows. Although his appearance is not as good as that of the eldest brother, he is also good. As for literary talent, you must know the result without comparison.
The emperor looked at him for a long time, but couldn't guess what the Sima family's little brother had done wrong, which made Miss Mingyu so focused on divorce. After listening to his subordinates' report on the divorce, this kid was a bit sympathetic, but the emperor didn't want to get involved in the affairs of young people.
"The Sima family is a loyal and brave man of the Chu State. Sima, my dear, is even more courageous and responsible at a young age. If you hadn't stepped forward in times of crisis, I'm afraid the people of Tianshui would be in danger." The emperor sighed. The Tartars attacked the city, and the people who had no time to escape were bound to be trapped in the city. The Tartars were notoriously unkind. They would massacre the city after robbing everything. I'm afraid that countless people would die at that time.
Sima Hong bowed to the ground and whispered, "Your Majesty, thank you for the compliment. This is what I should do as a citizen of the Great Chu."
The emperor nodded in satisfaction and said, "Look at the memorial handed over by Northwest Defender Lü Sheng, who praised you for your bravery in battle and your martial arts skills, and for your many military exploits. Sima Qing died a heroic death for his country, and he died a worthy death. With sons like you and Sima Xi, he can rest in peace in peace."
Thinking of his father and elder brother who had died tragically, Sima Hong felt a sharp pain in his heart, and he could hardly breathe. Yes, except for his mother, he had nothing left. Just a few hours ago, he had arrived in the capital with great joy and expectation, but his beloved girl also left.
"I dare not. Hong just wants to avenge his father and the people of Da Chu!" Sima Hong said in a hoarse voice, his eyes red, trying hard to suppress the waves of bitterness. He was already a grown man and could no longer shed tears at every turn.
"It's true that heroes emerge from youth." The emperor could not help but sigh, "When I was your age, I was always thinking about killing the Tartars and taking back the beautiful mountains and rivers of my Great Chu..." Thinking that the land west of Xi'an was still occupied by the Tartars, the emperor felt very uncomfortable.
When he was still a young boy, he was also ambitious and wanted to do something big to drive out the Tartars and show the power of the Chu State. He secretly hated his brother, who was the emperor, for being incompetent and allowing the Tartars to plunder and humiliate him. But when he sat in this position, he found that it was very difficult to do anything, let alone recover the territory occupied by the Tartars.
Sima Hong listened with a blank expression. At the beginning, the Tartars did not attack fiercely because they had an agreement with Dong. When the emperor, who was still the King of Shu at that time, launched an army to fight against Dong, the Tartars worked hard but found that they did not get much benefit. In anger, they launched a large-scale attack. When the war was the most intense and severe, the Shu army as reinforcements were all transferred to fight the civil war. The northwest defenders suffered countless casualties and barely managed to hold Xi'an Prefecture. The Tartars occupied a large area of mountains and rivers west of Xi'an Prefecture, forming a confrontation.
He did not dare and did not think about complaining about the emperor's cruelty. After all, he was still alive and well, and the commander of Longxi, who was a spy, was still his father's subordinate. Only the dead comrades and civilians had the qualifications to complain.
“Your Majesty has great strategy and wisdom. He will surely drive out the Tartars and recover our great Chu!” Old Master Miao stood up from his chair and bowed.
The emperor looked like he was smiling, but he just sighed lightly, looked at Sima Hong standing below, and said seriously: "The Sima family has two loyal heroes, which moved heaven and earth. Sima Hong has also made great military achievements in the northwest. I specially grant Sima Hong the title of Anxi Hou, reward him with 10,000 taels of silver, and a house."
Lords Lao Miao and Xiao Miao were not surprised by this reward, as they had expected it. There were two loyal heroes in Sima Hou Mansion, so there was no reason to strip them of their titles. Otherwise, wouldn't it discourage the loyal ministers? Who would be so stubborn as to be willing to work for the emperor in the future
With the national strength of the Great Chu, it is not difficult to support a wealthy marquis. The emperor is not stupid and naturally knows how to do it in the best way.
Just as Lao Miao was about to kneel down with his son and grandson to express gratitude, Sima Hong knelt down first and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I don't want silver or a house, I only ask Your Majesty to agree to one thing for me."
"You are a bold and rebellious son!" Old Miao saw the emperor frowning and scolded him angrily.
Sima Hong lowered his head even lower, but his voice became more and more firm, "Your Majesty, I have only one request."
"Okay, tell me what you think." The emperor hesitated for a moment and said, he was a little curious about what this seventeen-year-old young marquis could say.
Sima Hong took a deep breath and said loudly: "I beg Your Majesty to allow me to return to the northwest to join the army and continue to kill the Tartars. I am an incompetent person with only flesh and blood. I swear to drive the Tartars back to their grasslands for Your Majesty. Not only will I recover Tianshui, but I will also recover the land in Longxi that was occupied by the Tartars long ago, so that the Tartars will not set foot on the mountains and rivers of our Great Chu!"
Old Master Miao was so shocked that he was speechless for a long time, and looked at the emperor nervously. Comrade Miao was anxious and knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, your nephew is young and hot-blooded, impulsive and ignorant, and offended Your Majesty. Please forgive me!"
What a joke! The Sima family has only one child, and they don't have any offspring yet. His third sister has been waiting for him to come back, but now he has gone back to the battlefield. It's not known whether anyone will come back. If this fool really runs back to die, his third sister will fight him to the death.
“I… I am not ignorant!” Sima Hong clenched his fists and said through gritted teeth, “I have thought about this for a long time. I cannot disgrace the honor earned by my grandfather, father, and elder brother…” Sima Hong’s voice gradually became lower and finally disappeared.
The emperor looked at Sima Hong, who was kneeling on the ground with his head down but his back was straight, and his heart was filled with emotion. This young man always brought him unexpected surprises.
Old Master Miao sighed in his heart and looked helplessly at his grandson kneeling on the ground. This little bastard was a stubborn bastard who was determined to do it. How could he face his widowed daughter if he returned home with this result
"Okay, I agree. You go back to Lu Sheng and start as a cavalry captain. Do you have any objection?" said the emperor.
Sima Hong felt relieved and kowtowed quickly, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."
"My dear Sima, you should accept the ten thousand taels of silver and the house. I heard that Madam Sima is also in the capital, so she needs a place to live." The emperor was very considerate.
Before Sima Hong could express his gratitude, the Emperor said with satisfaction, "When I was young, I often heard Emperor Taizu say that Lord Sima was a rare hero, brave and resourceful, and that Madam Sima was also a heroine, a heroine who had made great contributions to the establishment of the Chu Empire. Now we have your father, your elder brother, and you. The Sima family are indeed the pillars of our Chu Empire!"
The wrinkled face of Old Master Miao trembled, and he quickly stood up and knelt down with his son and grandson. The three of them shouted in unison: "Thank you, Your Majesty!" But each of them had a different state of mind. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to subscribe to Qidian Mobile Network () and give me a reward. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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