During the Jianlong period of the Great Chen Dynasty.
At the gate of Jiangdu City, a young man of about twenty years old looked up at the ancient city in front of him.
After handing over the guide, the young man successfully passed the border. The middle-aged guard guarding the gate took one look at him and asked with a smile: "Are you from the capital?"
The young man took the road guide back and said with a smile in a not particularly standard Jiangdu dialect: "It doesn't count, my ancestral home is Jiangdu."
The officer thought for a while and said thoughtfully: "That's the one who came back to visit relatives."
"That's it."
The young man took the road back and entered Jiangdu City.
The two officers were whispering to each other and discussing.
"This young man talks well and dresses well. It's obvious that he doesn't come from an ordinary family."
Another person nodded and said, "Yes, my surname is Tian. Is he a relative of Mr. Tian's family in the east of the city?"
The former Yamen official shook his head: "Then who knows."
As he said that, he glanced at the back of the young man named Tian and said, "What an extraordinary magnanimity. When did that kid of mine have such nobility?"
"you?"
Another person smiled and said: "Just think about it, no one in two or three generations can develop this kind of temperament."
…………
It was obviously not the first time for the young man named Tian to come to Jiangdu. After arriving in Jiangdu, he walked towards the Shen family, the top family in Jiangdu city, very familiarly.
At this time, although the Shen family still lived in the original ancestral home, their influence was no longer the same as before.
It may not be difficult for the governor of Jiangdu to visit the Shen family, but it is no longer easy to meet the old man of the Shen family.
After the young man arrived at the Shen family, he only said a few words and was led in. The servants took him all the way. Not long after, he saw the head of the Shen family in the backyard, whose hair was half gray.
The young man surnamed Tian bowed his head deeply and saluted: "Tian worships the third master."
Shen Ling helped him up with a smile on his face: "You're welcome. I remember when I saw you last time, you were still a little kid. Now you are so big."
Tian Chong lowered his hands and said yes.
The head of the Shen family looked at him and asked with a smile: "Are you here to see your fourth uncle?"
Tian Chong nodded and said: "Yes, I want to see the old man and give him a message."
Shen Ling smiled and said, "Fourth uncle went fishing early in the morning. I sent someone to look for him with you."
Tian Chonggong bowed his head respectfully.
"Thank you, Third Master."
Under the leadership of the Shen family, Tian Chong quickly found the old man Shen Zhang and reported a letter to Shen Zhang. After talking, the old man Shen patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Little guy, what have you done these days?"
Just stay at the Shen family and I will arrange a place for you."
"Are you married? If not, the old man will find a marriage for you."
Tian Chong bowed his head deeply and said: "Old Master, when I return to Jiangdu this time, I have other things to do, so I won't live at home. As for the marriage..."
He smiled and said, "When my father comes, you can tell him."
Shen Zhang nodded lightly, stroking his beard and said with a smile, "That's right. I'll tell Jiang Sheng when he arrives."
…………
After Tian Chong finished the letter, he left the Shen family. He first walked around the streets and alleys of Jiangdu. When he was sitting at a tea stall drinking tea, a middle-aged man stood in front of him and bowed slightly: " Is it Mr. Tian?"
Tian Chong stood up, looked at him, and asked, "Is he the brother of the Di Newspaper Division?"
"yes."
The man lowered his head slightly and said, "I have found him when I met him. Originally, Siwu Yang said that he would come in person to take the young master there, but there was something going on in Nanjing. Siwu Yang rushed over and did not have time to meet Mr. Tian."
Tian Chong shook his head: "How can I ask Siwu Yang to guide me in a trivial matter at home?"
"If he hadn't moved in the past few years, I wouldn't have needed the help of my brothers from the Di newspaper department."
The middle-aged man from the Di Reporting Department smiled and said, "The affairs of the Marquis Mansion are the matters of the Di Reporting Department."
Tian Chong said with a smile: "This is my family's business, not the Marquis's business."
"It's all the same, it's all the same."
The man smiled and said, "Master Jiang is an old acquaintance of our newspaper department."
As he spoke, the man was already leading the way. After walking around Jiangdu City for a long time, he finally stopped at the entrance of a small courtyard in the east of the city. The man bowed slightly and said, "Mr. Tian, I live here. "
Tian Chong nodded, took out a piece of broken silver from his arms, handed it over, and said with a smile: "Drink tea for brother."
The man waved his hands repeatedly: "How can you want this? How can you want this..."
Tian Chong's face straightened: "If you don't take it, you won't give me face."
The man hesitated for a moment, then took it, thanked him, turned around and left with his head bowed.
After he left, Tian Chong looked back at the courtyard, took a deep breath, and then stepped forward and knocked on the courtyard door.
After a while, the courtyard door slowly opened.
Inside was an old man who looked to be in his sixties.
This old man is well dressed and has a house of his own. He is obviously not poor, but his hair is messy and he is a bit slovenly.
He looked up at Tian Chong with somewhat confused eyes and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
Tian Chong was also sizing up the old man.
This is the first time the two people have met.
After being silent for a while, he asked: "Looking for Tian...Boping."
He subconsciously lowered his voice for the last two words.
The old man was stunned for a moment, then seemed to remember something, and his voice trembled: "You...you..."
Tian Chong nodded and said: "I...my name is Tian Chong."
The old man's tears suddenly flowed down. With trembling hands, he pulled Tian Chong's sleeves and pulled him into the yard.
"Your surname is Tian...your surname is Tian..."
Tian Chong followed him in and said, "My father has been back to Jiangdu several times over the years. Hasn't he come to see you?"
"Come...been here."
Tian Boping pulled him to sit down, quickly brought a cup of hot water, and handed it to Tian Chong with both hands. He raised his head and looked at Tian Chong for a long time before sighing: "Your father... doesn't talk much."
"The last time he returned to Jiangdu was three or four years ago. When he arrived, he just put down some money, said a few words and left."
"I…"
He looked at Tian Chong cautiously: "I only know that he has two sons and two daughters..."
"then…"
Tian Boping murmured: "Back then, Mr. Shen... Master Shen told me that there would be a child with my surname of Tian, but your father didn't say anything later, and I... I didn't ask either."
Tian Chong said silently: "I am the eldest, and my younger brothers and sisters all take their father's surname."
"My surname was Tian when I was born."
"well."
Tian Boping, who was a local gangster in Jiangdu back then and is now very old, took Tian Chong's hand and sighed: "Our Tian family has a heir..."
Old man Tian had tears in his eyes. He held Tian Chong's hand and kept talking. After a while, Tian Chong finally asked, "Have you been alone for so many years?"
Jiang Sheng's mother passed away during the Hongde period.
Tian Boping lowered his head and sighed, smiling bitterly: "I'm old, what other thoughts can I have?"
"I…"
Tian Chong paused, exhaled, and said: "My grandson is saying that you haven't found a few servants to take care of you. My father seems to have left you a lot of money, enough for you to buy a few servants."
When Tian Boping heard the word "grandson", he was so happy that he could hardly stop smiling. After a while, he stopped smiling and shook his head: "I've been used to being alone all my life. I'm not used to having people around me. Besides, I have arms and legs." of…"
He looked around and said, "No, I used the pension money from your father and the money I saved for most of my life to buy this house."
Having said this, Mr. Tian quickly stood up, turned and walked towards the room. After a while, he took out two pieces of paper and handed them to Tian Chong's hand.
"This is the house deed. Please keep it."
Old man Tian looked at Tian Chong with a smile on his face: "This is the property of our Tian family."
Tian Chong was a little surprised, and then whispered: "Aren't you afraid that your grandson is a liar?"
Tian Boping shook his head and smiled: "Although the old man hasn't been out in these years, he still knows that Jiang Sheng...Jiang Sheng..."
"Awesome."
Last time, Jiang Sheng returned to Jiangdu alone and did not come back with Shen Yi. The prefect of Jiangdu took the initiative to hand over invitations to invite Jiang Sheng to dinner.
People like Tian Boping are people who hang out in the neighborhood, so naturally they don't know what this means.
This means that in the entire Jiangdu city, no one dares to cheat on his house, and no one dares to pretend to be Jiang Sheng's son. How dare someone be so bold...
In less than three days, he will be captured and questioned.
"and…"
Tian Boping looked at Tian Chong and said with a smile: "We are very similar."
Before Tian Chong could speak, he grinned and said, "The baby you gave birth to is exactly the same as when I was young."
This statement is obviously exaggerated.
However, Tian Chong didn't say much, he just smiled and said, "How about I have the same last name as you?"
"Ha ha."
Old Man Tian laughed heartily: "Your personality is similar to mine, but your father is more like your grandmother, too honest."
After the grandfather and grandson talked for a long time, Tian Boping looked at Tian Chong and asked: "Are you coming back this time?"
"First, I came to take a look at you."
Tian Chong said softly: "Secondly, my father will be back in a few days. What he wants is for me to come back and see you first."
"Jiang Sheng..."
Tian Boping was stunned and asked: "Is he coming back by himself?"
"no."
Tian Chong whispered: "Master Hou is also back."
…………
A few days later, Tian Chong took Tian Boping to wait at Shili Pavilion outside Jiangdu City.
At this moment, all the officials in Jiangdu knew that the world-famous Master Shen was about to return to his hometown to pay homage to his ancestors. They all waited ten miles outside the city gate early in the morning, preparing to receive this "Prince Shen".
A group of officials stood under the sun for a whole long time without seeing any movement on the official road. Finally, He Jin, the current governor of Jiangdu, lost his temper and sent someone to find out the situation.
After half an hour, someone came back to report. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Master Fu, the Imperial Master's car has gone to Ganquan Academy and has not come to the city."
Magistrate He slapped his thigh and shouted, "I almost forgot, Grand Master, he was born in an academy."
After saying that, he turned to look at the Jiangdu officials and said loudly: "What are you doing standing still? Why don't you go to the academy with me?"
A group of officials from Jiangdu Prefecture hurriedly prepared to board the sedan chair and rushed to Ganquan Academy.
When Zhifu He turned around and saw a bunch of sedan chairs, his face changed drastically and he cursed loudly: "You guys are stupid pigs, stupid pigs!"
"Don't you know that Grand Master doesn't like riding in a sedan chair all his life? Are you going to show off in front of him?!"
A group of Jiangdu officials scratched their heads, feeling a little aggrieved.
Someone lowered his head and said: "Master Fu, we don't have a carriage. How can we get there without taking a sedan?"
"Go."
Master He gritted his teeth and said, "To show your sincerity, you all walked to the academy with me!"
Before the group of people had gone very far, Master Shen's guard of honor was already in sight. Lord He was overjoyed and trotted over. When he got close, he led a group of Jiangdu officials and knelt down in front of the carriage.
"I will go to He Jin, the magistrate of Jiangdu, to see the grand master!"
Behind him, a large group of officials knelt on the ground.
They all call themselves Taishi.
A girl's voice came from the carriage.
"Dad, who is outside?"
A boy's voice replied: "He is the official here."
Zhifu He was startled for a moment and then understood.
Grand Master Shen has a total of five children, three of whom were born in Jiankang, and the two younger ones were born in Yanjing. They are only ten years old this year.
They should be Taishi Shen's youngest son and daughter.
Just as he was about to speak, Jiang Sheng, who was driving, had already jumped out of the carriage, smiled and said to him: "Prefect He, my master is very tired after traveling all the way. He will go home now. I will invite He again another day." The prefect is passing by."
He Jin cupped his hands in front of Jiang Sheng and bent down.
"Please tell me that I am a disciple of Prime Minister Zhang. If nothing else, I just hope to meet the Grand Master once. I only meet him once, and I don't dare to disturb the Grand Master anymore."
Jiang Sheng hesitated for a moment, then walked back into the carriage to report. Inside, Grand Master Shen was playing with his children. He raised his eyebrows and said lightly: "What disciple? He was an official in Shandong for several years..."
"I want to go home to see my father first."
Jiang Sheng responded, and after going out, he ignored Magistrate He again and shook the reins.
The carriage started moving, and all the officials of Jiangdu Prefecture did not dare to let go of anything, so they all moved out of the way.
No one even laughed at He Jin and He Zhifu.
No one was dissatisfied with Shen Yi.
because…
The gap is too big.
Magistrate He was already very courageous. Other officials did not even have the courage to step forward and speak.
In the distance, Tian Boping and Tian Chong saw Jiang Sheng shake the reins and disperse a group of local officials. Even with some psychological preparation, Tian Boping couldn't help but swallowed and murmured. Said: "How majestic."
"what is this."
Tian Chong said with a smile: "If it were not the hometown of Lord Marquis, my father would not even look at them."
Old Man Tian froze on the spot, looking at the approaching carriage, and murmured: "I regret it... I regret it..."
If I had known it earlier, if I had known it earlier...
If I had known today, what kind of dignity would I have had in the first place? I would have married her anyway. That way, the Tian family’s lintel would immediately be glorious...
Jiang Sheng drove forward slowly and saw his son and Tian Boping standing on the roadside from a distance. He hesitated, turned around and said something to Shen Yi.
After hearing this, Mr. Shen opened the car curtain and looked outside.
By chance, the carriage was almost approaching Tian Boping.
Master Shen had a smile on his face and waved to an old man and a young man on the roadside.
"Brother, I haven't seen you for many years."
The words "old brother" made Tian Laoba burst into tears.
He knelt on the ground with a plop, and threw himself on the ground.
"Great benefactor, great benefactor..."
Mr. Shen shook his head slightly and patted Jiang Sheng on the shoulder.
Seeing that Jiang Sheng was still hesitant, Shen Yi moved closer and sighed softly: "How many more years will it take?"
Jiang Sheng trembled when he heard this, then got off the carriage and came to Tian Boping. He looked at Tian Chong who was helping old man Tian and shook his head slightly.
Tian Chong took two steps back sensibly.
Jiang Sheng squatted down and sighed: "Dad, get up quickly."
This sentence in Jiangdu made Tian Boping look up at Jiang Sheng in shock.
Jiang Sheng, who was dressed in brocade clothes, helped him up and let out a long sigh.
"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be able to follow you."