Chapter 034 Proposing a Marriage to Xu Da and Zhu Wen Zheng
The lonely Xu Da spent a good year at the Chen family.
Zhu Yuanzhang was very dissatisfied.
He found four great scholars who had come to him for refuge, and rubbed his hands to ask if there were any widows or older girls in their clans to find a wife for Xu Da.
He didn't dare to look for the general anymore, fearing that something might happen in the future. Xie Zaixing broke his heart.
Zhu Yuanzhang approached four great literati to propose marriage for three reasons.
First, Ye Zheng, Ye Chen, Song Lian, and Wang Xi were scholars who came to him at a critical moment and shared the same ideals as him, so they would definitely not betray him;
Secondly, they were from eastern Zhejiang, and marrying into a Huaixi clan would promote harmony within the court in the future. Furthermore, Xu Da was the most important military commander under his command, and marrying into a clan would also show his respect for them and reassure them.
Third, Zhu Yuanzhang would naturally help his son correct his homework to help him reduce his burden. He was really fed up with those illiterate children and wanted to find Xu Da a well-educated wife so that Xu Da wouldn't have to rely on him and Biao'er to teach his son in the future.
Zhu Yuanzhang was very straightforward with his confidants who knew his family's secrets, and stated his three reasons very frankly: "If you are willing, it would be even better if you could help my nephew Zhu Wenzheng find a wife."
The four great writers couldn't help but smile bitterly.
My lord, this is an open and aboveboard conspiracy, they simply cannot refuse it.
Ye Zheng happened to have a 27-year-old widowed niece without children; Song Lian's eldest daughter had just grown up and was looking for a husband. Thus, Ye Zheng and Song Lian became Zhu Yuanzhang's in-laws - Xu Da was Zhu Yuanzhang's brother, so Xu Da's in-laws were Zhu Yuanzhang's in-laws.
When Xu Da was once again eating and drinking at Chen's house, he learned that he had a new wife. Zhu Yuanzhang chose a date in March for him and they got married soon.
Xu Da: "...Boss, you shouldn't despise me so much."
Zhu Yuanzhang cursed, "Ye Zizheng's niece, a lady from a scholarly family that a peasant like us could never hope to marry, if I hadn't begged you, would you have such good luck? Be happy about it! If you dare treat Ye Zizheng's niece badly, I'll personally chop you down with my sword!"
Xu Da waved his hands repeatedly, "How could I possibly treat her badly? Look at us four brothers: Tang He, Zhou Dexing, and you, the eldest. Which one of us treats the lady badly? Since I'm close to the wise, I'm not a heartless person, am I? I'm just worried that a rough guy like me might not be able to win over a lady from a prestigious family."
Zhu Yuanzhang was very pleased with Xu Da's flattery and said, "Zi Zheng's family lives in seclusion in Shuixin Village. Although they are a well-known family of scholars, the women in the family also go out to work. They are not spoiled. You don't have to worry."
Xu Da said, "I'll do my best. But please, sister-in-law, please help me. If my future daughter-in-law has any complaints, please tell me immediately."
Zhu Yuanzhang patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Sister Xiuying will definitely help you. And we have Biao'er here. When you get married, I will let Biao'er be your wedding boy. You two will definitely have a harmonious marriage."
Only then did Xu Da breathe a sigh of relief.
Although the eldest brother is not very reliable, with the help of the eldest sister-in-law and Biaoer, there shouldn't be any big problems.
Xu Da touched his pounding heart in his chest.
Originally, he was not interested in remarrying. If one person is well fed, the whole family will not be hungry. He can also often go to Chen's house to eat, drink and get gifts.
But now that Zhu Yuanzhang had forced him to marry a good wife, he began to look forward to it again.
Looking at Xu Da who began to lose focus from time to time, Zhu Yuanzhang laughed at him to pieces.
The shameless Xu Da ignored Zhu Yuanzhang's ridicule and began to frequently seek out Ye Zheng to get close to him.
The parents of Ye Zheng's cousin both died of illness, and Ye Zheng watched her grow up. Ye Zheng is like her father-in-law.
How can you curry favor with Lord Taishan? It's called filial piety!
Compared to the slightly excited Xu Da, Zhu Wenzhen was very calm.
"Is this wife going to run away again?" Zhu Wenzheng held Biao'er in one hand and a pot of wine in the other. "Forget it, it doesn't matter. If she runs away again, Fourth Uncle will find me another one. Biao'er, let's go! I'll take you to meet my sworn brothers!"
Chen Biao said, "You stole me out while I was taking a nap. Will you really not get a beating from Dad?"
Zhu Wenzheng said, "Let them get beaten up, I told my brothers that I would let them see the little teacher of Yingtian Primary School today, I can't break my promise."
Zhu Wenzhen's brothers were all Zhu Yuanzhang's adopted sons, but not all of Zhu Yuanzhang's adopted sons knew Chen Biao's identity.
Zhu Yuanzhang did not trust the young people because they were not trustworthy.
The three brothers who were on good terms with Zhu Wenzheng were young men with unreliable mouths. They did not know Chen Biao's identity and thought Zhu Wenzheng was really "Chen Wenzheng".
Arriving at the restaurant, Zhu Wenzheng introduced them: "This is my brothers He Wenhui, Hua Wenxun, and Chai Wengang. Originally, we all had the surname Zhu, but now it's just me, hahahaha."
The three of them nudged Zhu Wenzheng with their elbows one by one: "You are so proud! People say that you are a hostage given by the Chen family to your adoptive father."
Zhu Wenzheng said: "You just envy me."
He put down the wine jar and raised Chen Biao: "I am happy to be a hostage for Biaoer."
Chen Biao stepped on Zhu Wenzheng's face and said, "You being a hostage is none of my business. I don't believe that the Marshal would change the last name of my father's most precious child. The Marshal is not stupid."
He Wenhui, Hua Wenxun and Chai Wengang all applauded Chen Biao and said that he stepped well.
After Zhu Wenzheng and his brothers changed their names, they found people one by one or wrote letters to show off, which made people so angry that they wanted to kill him.
Especially Hua Wenxun, who was so jealous when he saw Zhu Wenzhen that he wanted to beat him up.
He Wenhui and Chai Wengang restored their original surnames, but he couldn't remember his own surname, so he took the surname Hua from Hua Yun, who first adopted him, just like Chen Ying.
Hua Wensun had no objection to taking Hua Yun's surname, but he had a strong objection to the surname "Hua", thinking it was too feminine, and was beaten up by Hua Yun.
After listening to the three people talking about Zhu Wenzhen's arrogance, Chen Biao, who was sitting in Zhu Wenzhen's arms, couldn't help but give his complacent cousin an uppercut.
Zhu Wenzhen pretended to be extremely hurt, and forced a crying expression on his extremely strong face. He said that Chen Biao helped outsiders but not himself, and he was heartbroken. He made his three brothers so disgusted that they almost vomited out their wine.
Hua Wenxun swallowed the wine hard. "We finally got the ban on alcohol suspended for the New Year. Let's not waste the wine. Biao'er, do you want to try it?"
He Wenhui stopped him, saying, "Wenxun, don't mess around. Biao'er is young. If he gets sick from drinking, you'll get a beating."
Hua Wenxun said, "I can't drink even a little bit. My godfather Hua Yun said that there's a custom in their hometown where children use chopsticks to dip a little bit of wine and drink it during the New Year. It's considered auspicious."
Zhu Wenzheng said: "Really? Let me try?"
Chen Biao said bluntly: "You're not going to try it. The wine you brought was brewed by me, and I've tasted it a long time ago. I don't like drinking, so you don't have to give it to me."
Zhu Wenzheng nodded repeatedly: "Oh, yes, yes, yes, which of the Chen family's new drinks and dishes has Biaoer not tried?"
When Chai Wengang heard what Zhu Wenzheng said, his thirst for wine was immediately aroused. "New drinks and dishes? Oh, by the way, the best restaurants in Yingtian are all owned by your Chen family. Your Chen family's drinks and dishes must be delicious. You're being so mean that you didn't even invite us."
Zhu Wenzheng waved his hands repeatedly: "It's not that I don't want to invite you, but my fourth uncle has a special status and does secret work. Unless my adoptive father agrees, no one else can enter our house. If you want to go to Yingtian, go ask my adoptive father. If he agrees, I will open my arms and legs to welcome you."
Chen Biao said darkly, "If you raise your hands and feet, won't you become a turtle with its belly turned over?"
The three of them burst into laughter.
After Zhu Wenzhen explained everything clearly, they did not make a fuss about going to Chen's house again, but talked about their adoptive mother Ma Xiuying.
These three people were all taught by Ma Xiuying for a period of time, and they respected and relied on Ma Xiuying very much.
After they left the Zhu family when they were fifteen or sixteen, they had no chance to visit their adoptive mother. Now that Ying Tian was a rare day, they decided to go visit their adoptive mother together.
Chen Biao was very excited: "I want to go too, I want to go too!" He had been curious about Madam Xiuying for a long time!
Beads of sweat appeared on Zhu Wenzhen's forehead.
He regretted bringing Biaoer here. Why did he feel like he was in danger of exposing his identity?
Just as Zhu Wen was racking his brains to come up with a reason to refuse, there was a commotion downstairs.
Zhu Wenzheng slammed the table and cursed, "Who dares to cause trouble in my Chen family's restaurant?"
After saying that, without waiting for his three sworn brothers to react, he picked up Chen Biao and ran downstairs.
He Wenhui, Chai Wengang and Hua Wenxun looked at each other and followed them out to help their brothers.
Zhu Wenzheng raised Chen Biao and shouted, "Who is causing trouble? This is Yingtian Prefecture! Not Yuan Dadu! No one is allowed to oppress innocent people here!"
Chen Biao, who was lifted up to face the restaurant guests, shook his short legs helplessly.
Zhu Wenzheng! What's wrong with you? If you want to shout, just shout. Why are you lifting me up?
Am I the token that says “Marshal Zhu is here in person”?!
Liu Ji, who was arguing with someone, looked curiously at the burly young man holding a fat child.
What kind of strange custom is this? Why are children being lifted up?
"Sir, sir, please talk it over nicely. Don't disturb the other guests." The shopkeeper immediately came over to persuade him. "Huh? The eldest and the second young masters are here too?"
The shopkeeper's expression darkened, and several waiters immediately emerged from the crowd and protected Zhu Wenzhen and Chen Biao.
Zhu Wenzheng's three sworn brothers also came downstairs and asked curiously, "What happened? Do you need our help?"
Chen Biao stepped on Zhu Wenzheng's face again: "Put me down! Why are you holding me up?"
Zhu Wenzheng took Chen Biao back into his arms: "I just think it would be more interesting to hold something up when I yell."
Chen Biao hit Zhu Wenzhen on the chin with another uppercut.
Zhu Wenzheng's three sworn brothers couldn't help laughing. They didn't expect that the cunning and fierce Zhu Wenzheng would be so funny in front of his younger brother Chen Biao, just like a silly brother.
Liu Ji's mind raced. He knew that this restaurant was owned by the Chen family, and from the owner's address, he guessed the identities of the two brothers, one large and one small.
Liu Ji bowed and said, "I was just arguing a little too heatedly and disturbed the business. I'm really sorry. I will compensate you."
The man who was punched in the face by Liu Ji by pulling his sleeve turned around and found out that he was an acquaintance of Chen Biao.
Chen Biao was surprised: "Mr. Song?! What happened to your face?!"
He kicked Zhu Wenzheng and said, "Let me down!"
There are so many strangers, even if Chen Biao kicks him, Zhu Wenzhen will not let Chen Biao go.
He held Chen Biao in his arms, squeezed past the waiter who was blocking the way, walked up to Song Lian, and made an awkward salute: "Master Taishan, whoever beat you up, your son-in-law will beat him back for you!"
Song Lian touched the bruise on his face and remembered that the young man in front of him was his newly married son-in-law.
He waved his hand and said, "No, I was just having a heated discussion with a friend."
Liu Ji, you bastard! You actually hit me in the face!
