Shen Ming looked at his youngest son kneeling in front of him, his face livid with anger.
He waved the people away, squatted next to his son, gritted his teeth, and said in a trembling voice: "What are you doing back here?"
Shen Xu raised his head and looked at his old father, his expression calm.
"Dad, Taiyuan City is high."
"My son needs to do something."
"Is it your turn?"
Shen Ming was so angry that he almost died. He suppressed his anger and gritted his teeth and said: "My father is still in the city, and my father is not dead!"
"Is there anything that requires you to go to the city and take risks? Is there anything that you can do that your father can't?"
Shen Ming whispered angrily: "Is it possible that I can't help them open the city gate? As soon as you came in, the city gate opened?!"
Shen Xu shook his head slightly, lowered his head and said, "Dad, there are some things you haven't figured out."
"You are angry because your child went to the city. You are just worried that the Huai'an army outside the city will not be able to break the city. People from the court in the city found out that our family has communication with the Huai'an army, so they attacked our family."
"But the Huai'an army is approaching the city. Now in a short time, the people in the court in the city will not be interested in taking care of our family."
"If the city of Taiyuan is destroyed, it goes without saying. If the city of Taiyuan is not destroyed, as long as the Huai'an army does not retreat, the officials in the city will have no way to communicate with Yandu, and they will not be able to do anything to our family."
Shen Xu narrowed his eyes.
"Our family is not only close to the Jin Prince's Mansion, but we also know a lot of people in Taiyuan City. If there is any trouble, the city will suddenly be in chaos. Maybe it will be a good opportunity then."
Shen Ming slapped the table angrily: "What you said makes it difficult for a father to do it?"
"I'm angry for my father because you two brothers have gone out so easily. In the future, you will be members of the upright Shen family of Jiangdu! Why do you want to come back and take risks!"
"Because...Seventh Brother may not completely trust our family."
Shen Xu stood up, supported Shen Ming, who was almost unsteady due to coughing, and said slowly: "After Taiyuan, our family may be able to gain an identity, but Brother Seven will probably not use our family again."
"The Shen family in the south can be said to be growing like a lotus every step of the way. It has already reached the peak of success."
"But what will our family do when we return to the south?"
Shen Xu said quietly: "So the child must come to the city. Firstly, to ensure the safety of your father, and secondly, to try our best to open the gate of Taiyuan City."
"In this way, the child has really contributed. In the future, even if he is shameless, he will still ask for a job from the seventh brother."
"You have been doing business for so many years, you should know how useful official status is."
In recent years, the Shen family has always been in trouble in business. On the one hand, it is naturally because Shen Ming has talent in this area, and more importantly, he has a gold-lettered sign of the Jin Palace on his head.
No local official dared to exploit them.
Shen Ming frowned: "Where do you get all these weird ideas? With your seventh brother's status, does anyone dare to bully our family?"
Shen Xu was silent for a moment, shook his head slightly and said, "Dad, have you and Seventh Brother only met once?"
"My child and he haven't met many times."
"Nowadays, we can have a smile on each other's faces because we can help each other, but what is the reality?"
Shen Xu said directly: "I stopped kissing you a long time ago."
"Seventh Brother is such a big sign that if he puts it on his head once or twice in the future, there will be no problem. The more times he uses it, the less affection he has in the first place will be completely wiped out."
"Our family is in the south, so we still have to toughen up."
"I must go to the city to compete for the merits of Taiyuan City."
Shen Ming sat back in his seat. After being silent for a long time, he sighed: "Once trouble occurs, you will immediately leave Taiyuan and return to the Huai'an army."
Shen Xu lowered his head: "My child obeys your orders."
Shen Ming closed his eyes and took a deep breath: "Tomorrow, I will go to Prince Jin's Mansion for my father."
"And you, just go find those people you can meet."
Shen Ming said slowly: "There are still a few redemption notes from Yandu Bank and some cash at home. Take them and use them. If you don't use them, you probably won't have the chance to use them."
Shen Xu lowered his head and said with a smile: "Dad, don't worry."
"My child feels that the chances are great."
Shen Xu stood next to his old father and said, "When Taiyuan breaks through the city, that General Xue will not have time to take care of Taiyuan. When the time comes, Taiyuan will probably be arranged by you."
"Even if Seventh Brother sends people to take care of Taiyuan in the future, they are not familiar with Taiyuan after all. They will still have to ask father about many things."
Shen Ming looked at his son and shook his head slightly: "As a father, I don't ask for these things because I am old. As a father now, I just want to kick my legs in the future..."
He let out a long sigh: "I can be buried in the ancestral grave in my hometown in Jiangdu."
Shen Xu's face became serious and he lowered his head slightly.
"Dad, don't worry."
"Thanks to Taiyuan's contribution, if Brother Qi doesn't handle the matter of recognizing our ancestors and returning to our clan in the future, I will find a rope and hang him at the gate of his palace!"
"Let him never have a good night's sleep in this life!"
When Shen Ming heard this, he smiled dumbly.
"Stop talking nonsense."
"We, father and son, have a good discussion about who we should meet tomorrow and what we should say."
"yes."
Shen Xu smiled and said: "Tomorrow, I will go to my brother-in-law's house to take a look."
"First give him 20,000 taels of silver and see if he is tempted."
…………
The next day, Mr. Shen left home early in the morning and went to Prince Jin's Mansion to visit his daughter.
The second young master of the Shen family also left home early in the morning and began to meet some old friends who were worth meeting.
In the afternoon, Shen Xu came to the "second sister"'s house.
After arriving at home, Guo Gui had not come back yet. Shen Xu teased a few nephews and nieces, and then took them out to buy some cakes.
Mrs. Guo seemed to be in a bad mood and had no time to play with the children. After Shen Xu finally sat down, she quickly poured tea and asked: "Erlang, my sister has two nephews. Now …”
She paused and continued: "When I went back to your house last time, I was told that I was no longer in Taiyuan."
The smile on Shen Xu's face faded. He was silent for a while and sighed longly: "Second sister, you also know that my family is in business. We travel all over the country, and we can hear some news in the south and north."
"The world is in chaos."
Shen Xu was heartbroken: "My father noticed that the Southern Bandits might have something to do. Knowing that the Southern Bandits were powerful, he sent all the women and children in the family out of Taiyuan a few months in advance. Now they are temporarily staying in Xi'an Mansion."
"After all, the southern thieves went all the way north, beating and killing tribesmen along the way. If they were to enter Taiyuan, how could our family survive?"
"Xi'an is still far away, and no one there knows about the relationship between my family and Prince Jin's family. Even if it is taken over by the southern thieves, we will not lose our way of survival."
Mrs. Guo immediately became worried.
Because her husband and several of her children are all Zhu Li Zhenren.
"I heard that the city wall of Taiyuan is strong, so the southerners shouldn't be able to get in, right?"
"This little brother doesn't know."
Shen Xu sighed and said, "My brother-in-law is on duty in the army and must know more about the Southern thieves than I do."
"However, the southern thieves broke through Shandong and Henan all the way, and they were very powerful."
Having said this, Shen Xu took out a 20,000 taels of silver redemption note from his pocket and handed it to Mrs. Guo: "Second sister, to be honest, I am here to show Dai Cao'er. It seems like her nephews are here to ask for help from her brother-in-law."
"This is a little thought."
Shen Xu whispered: "I want to invite my brother-in-law, secretly let me and my father leave Taiyuan..."
As soon as he finished speaking, there were footsteps at the door.
Guo Gui, who was still wearing his armor, strode in. He looked at the redemption ticket in Shen Xu's hand, frowned and said, "Second son, what are you doing?"
Even though he said that, after seeing the amount on the redemption ticket, Guo Qianhu couldn't help but twitch his eyelids.
Mrs. Guo, who was on the side, took her husband's hand and went outside. After briefly talking about the matter, the couple said a few words briefly before returning to Shen Xu.
Guo Gui pushed back Shen Xu's cashed ticket, frowned and said, "Second son, in our friendship, you still act like this, it's too outrageous."
"This money is too sentimental. I can't accept it as a brother."
Shen Xu smiled and said, "Isn't this asking my brother-in-law to do something? Giving him some money for tea is a matter of course. It's a matter of course."
Guo Gui cashed the ticket again, hesitated for a moment, and then looked up at Shen Xu.
"Second son, I can help your family."
"But your second sister and your nephews..."
Guo Qianhu pulled Shen Xu's sleeves and lowered his voice.