Volume 5: The Gathering of Storms Chapter 282: Great Waves
"Ah..."
The next day, Xu Zun, who was burning incense in front of the ancestral tablet, sneezed and muttered to himself, "Who is thinking about me?"
After the family fell into poverty, the tablets of Xu Changlin and the Xu family ancestors were all brought to the Shen family by Shen Tiande, and are still placed in the Shen family today.
Therefore, Xu Zun could only order people to build an altar, burn incense and pray temporarily, and move the ancestral tablets back when he had time.
It was not until this day that Xu Zun finally took a serious look at his family background.
Their family has been officials for generations, and they are all honest in their administration, have a good family tradition, and are a family of scholars.
However, by the time of Chang Linqing's generation, the family was not prosperous, and the family fell into decline midway, so Xu Zun had almost no close relatives.
As for Xu Zun's mother, she died of illness when Xu Zun was a child, and Xu Changlin never remarried.
Therefore, in Xu Zun's childhood memories, it was the Shen brothers and sisters who left the most profound impression on him.
Especially the eldest son of the Shen family, Shen Xingran. He has been like an older brother since he was a child and often stands up when his younger brothers and sisters bully him.
When he was young, Xu Zun also followed Shen Xingran's lead and regarded him as his idol...
Xu Zun was reminiscing about his childhood when Ah Xiu came in and reported that three adults came to visit him.
When Xu Zun went out and took a look, he was immediately surprised and happy, only to see that the three adults were Cai Kun, Chen Taiji and Dongfang Yaorao.
The old friends were particularly happy to meet each other. After exchanging greetings, Xu Zun invited the three of them into the inner hall to chat.
"Congratulations, Master Xu," Cai Kun was the first to congratulate him. "The position of Grand Xuan Judge is a first for our Grand Xuan. The Queen Mother personally appointed her, which is truly a cause for celebration!"
"Master Cai, please stop being so Versailles... Oh, stop laughing at me!" Xu Zun quickly replied, "If I'm going to congratulate you, the chief steward of the inner guards, I heard that this is the first time in nearly a hundred years that a non-royal member of my Great Xuan has served as the chief steward. Today... do you want to have a few glasses of good wine here to celebrate?"
Hahaha……
Several people laughed heartily.
Having experienced several life-and-death crises, these three people can be said to have shared weal and woe with Xu Zun, so they were less cautious when speaking.
"If we want to congratulate someone," Dongfang Yaorao added, "we should also count our Master Chen!"
"Right, right, right," Cai Kun pointed at Chen Taiji, "Jiying doesn't know yet, right? Because the Dali Temple suffered a serious loss of talent this time, the Queen Mother just appointed Mr. Chen as the new Dali Temple Minister!"
"Oh?" Xu Zun was overjoyed and hurriedly congratulated, "This is really great news. From now on, I, Xu Zun, will have another person I can trust to take care of me. Congratulations to Mr. Chen, oh no, congratulations to Chen Siqing!"
Hahaha……
Several people laughed again.
"I'm really ashamed," Dongfang Yaorao said with a smile, "To be honest, I'm the only one who hasn't moved anything, but I'm holding everyone back!"
"That's not true," Xu Zun said quickly, "The starting point of the Eastern Divine Constable is different from that of us. You are a popular person around the Queen Mother, so is it necessary for you to be an official or not?"
Xu Zun's words once again made everyone laugh.
This was the first time that the group laughed so heartily without any care in the world.
Xu Zun was also quite pleased. Now that he had these three people looking after him, he could finally gain a foothold in the court, right?
"Oh, right," Dongfang Yaorao remembered the important matter and hurriedly clasped her fists to Xu Zun and said, "For this heavenly calamity incident, Yaorao owes Master Xu two favors.
"If he needs Yaorao in the future, Yaorao will never refuse!"
Maybe because she spoke too excitedly, Dongfang Yaorao frowned, obviously hurt.
"Oh, how can that be?" Xu Zun said quickly, "We are all friends who have risked our lives for each other. From now on, there will be no distinction between you and me, and no one owes anyone anything.
"Manager Cai, aren't you right?"
"Yes, yes!" Cai Kun nodded hurriedly. "As the saying goes, great waves wash away the sands. Put yourself in my shoes. You are all my close friends. Don't worry, I am not an ungrateful person."
"Two favors?" Chen Taiji was curious. "I only know that Jiying saved the Eastern Constable, but I don't know about the second favor..."
"I have good news for you all," Dongfang Yaorao said, "Through the recommendation of Lord Xu, Yue Jinglei, the Master of the Hundred-Step Divine Fist, has officially joined our Divine Constable Division and is serving as the Divine Dragon Constable."
"Oh?" Chen Taiji thought for a moment, "Is it Yue Jinglei, who is known as one of the ten great masters of Daxuan? How could it be? Aren't these people in the martial arts world ashamed to serve the imperial court?"
“So,” Dongfang Yaorao bowed respectfully to Xu Zun and clasped her fists, “On behalf of the Divine Detective Division, I must express my gratitude to Lord Xu!”
"How amazing," Chen Taiji praised, "I only knew that Jiying could solve cases, but I didn't expect that he could also get along well with these martial arts masters!"
"Yes," Cai Kun said, "especially the heroine who played a great role in the heavenly calamity incident this time. The Queen Mother mentioned her to me again yesterday and asked me to come and see her injuries!
"Jiying," Cai Kun asked, "how is that female knight?"
"I am recovering now. Thank you for your concern!"
Xu Zun said to himself, if you knew that she was the thing in the iron coffin, I wonder what your reaction would be now?
Because of this, Xu Zun didn't want to talk about this topic any more, and quickly changed the subject:
"It's a rare opportunity for you three to visit my humble abode. If you don't have a drink at my house today, I won't let you go!"
"Well... hehe..." Cai Kun said awkwardly, "Ji Ying, you don't know, I was just promoted and I'm still in the dark!
"Such a big thing happened in the Holy Capital. I really can't spare the time for the time being. How about this, we go to the Inner Guard House another day, and I'll treat you?"
"Yes," Chen Taiji said, "Like Lord Cai, I have just taken office and I am really confused. Maybe next time, next time !"
"Me too," Dongfang Yaorao said, "I'm currently asking the Queen Mother for instructions on how to properly handle the matter of Senior Yue joining the Divine Constable Department. I really can't leave."
"Today," Cai Kun said, "we have gathered together under the pretext of visiting the General of Qilin Guard.
"By the way, Jiying," Cai Kun said immediately after remembering something, "I have heard that you accepted the Queen Mother's assignment and are going to the East China Sea!"
"What?" Chen Taiji and Dongfang Yaorao were stunned. "East China Sea? Why are we going to East China Sea?"
If it were in the past, Cai Kun would naturally have a private conversation with Xu Zun.
But now that they have a close relationship , Cai Kun did not avoid suspicion and said directly: "I heard that the situation has changed, and the Shipping Department is stepping up preparations.
"I'm afraid that in a few days, an imperial decree will be issued, requiring you to go to Qizhou and wait for orders!"
ah?
Chen Taiji and Dongfang Yaorao have sharp intuition and they have realized that something might have happened to the prince!
"What's wrong?" Xu Zun asked, "Didn't they say that some survivors have already escaped? Of course, we should find out the situation before setting off again, right?"
"Survivors, um..." Cai Kun smacked his lips and frowned, looking embarrassed.
Xu Zun was not stupid either. He immediately understood what he meant and asked in astonishment, "Why... didn't the survivors come back?"
"Yes!" Cai Kun nodded. "Qizhou reported that the official ship that went to Yongming Port to pick up the survivors was burned, and no one on the ship was spared..."
