Chapter 1114 Returning to Beijing, the Hou Mansion is preparing to welcome him in person
In Shizhou City, Zhou Chen and Duke Ying both received the imperial decree of reward.
This time the envoys from Beijing came to the border not only to read out the imperial edict and award everyone, but also to contact and negotiate with Xixia, so they all stayed in Shizhou City.
After the battle was over, the next step was to fight each other, but Zhou Chen knew that no matter how weak the officials and officials were, they would not be able to give away the land they had obtained, and even if they had to give in, they would only be in other aspects.
Anyway, it has nothing to do with him anymore. He has won the military honors, gained prestige, and received the results of the battle. Anyway, we can't fight anymore, so just wait patiently.
In fact, if it were not for the shortage of troops and food, and if he was allowed to command the army, he would really be sure to take Xiazhou in one go, and even Xingqing Mansion could force it.
But it's a pity that the princes in the imperial court don't think so. On the one hand, they don't want military commanders to become bigger, and on the other hand, they don't want to start a war. Civil servants are all peace-loving.
After the Song-Xia War, Zhou Chen was promoted to the commander of the Baode Army. This was real power.
Just when Song and Xia were initially reaching an agreement, Zhou Chen suddenly received a letter from Tokyo, telling him to go back. At the same time, the imperial court also issued an order for him to return to Beijing.
Zhou Chen didn't understand why his family asked him to go back, but he knew why the court asked him to go back. This was the case with military generals in the Song Dynasty. It was impossible for the court to let you command the same army all the time, but letting him go back so suddenly was a bit beyond his expectation.
, I don’t know if it has something to do with the Hou Mansion.
So he told the British Duke and rushed back to Tokyo from the border with a dozen soldiers.
It was already a few days after he returned to Tokyo. After returning to Beijing, he went to report on his work as soon as possible. Then he received the order and went to meet with the officials.
During this meeting, the smile on Guan Jia's face was obviously a bit brighter. He talked to Zhou Chen for a long time, full of praise and encouragement.
After coming out of the palace, Zhou Chen went straight to the Zhongjing Hou Mansion. Although he didn't know what happened in the mansion, he always felt a little uneasy, as if something was about to happen.
As soon as I arrived at the gate of the Hou Mansion, I saw my mother, Mrs. Zhou Xu, waiting at the door.
"Saburo."
A choked and trembling voice sounded, and Zhou Xu quickly rushed towards Zhou Chen. When she stumbled, Zhou Chen held her firmly with both hands.
"Mom, please slow down, I'm back."
"My son, my mother's son."
Zhou Xu couldn't control it anymore and hugged Zhou Chen hard. People were surrounding her, so no one could see clearly what was going on here.
Zhou Chen also hugged his mother, letting her hug him, and just whispered comfort.
"Mom, I'm really fine. I just haven't seen you for a long time and miss you very much. I'm finally back now."
"It'll be good to come back, it'll be good to come back."
Zhou Xu is actually not that kind of weak person, but she really loves Zhou Chen so much. She has two sons, but the eldest son is not close to her, and she doesn't like his eldest son's behavior.
His attitude is not even as good as that towards his eldest daughter-in-law.
In the entire Hou family, what she cares about most is Zhou Chen, her youngest son. However, this youngest son has been away for nearly four years. When they meet again, her emotions will naturally be difficult to control.
Zhou Chen affectionately helped Zhou Xu into the Hou Mansion, sent her back, and talked to her.
But after just talking for a while, Mrs. Zhou Xu said: "Sanlang, your father knows you are coming back and has been waiting for you. You go to see him, and then go to see your elder brother, Dalang..."
"Brother, isn't he in Jiangling? When did he come back?"
The last time Zhou Chen corresponded with Zhou Tong was last year. At that time, Zhou Tong was still in Gangneung. In less than a year, he was transferred back to Tokyo? It shouldn't be.
Zhou Xu suddenly looked sad: "Your eldest brother is not very well."
Zhou Chen suddenly frowned: "Mom, you said that my eldest brother is not doing well. Is it his career or his health?"
"Body, you'll understand after you go and take a look." Zhou Xu didn't say much and just asked Zhou Chen to check on her eldest son.
She is not close to her eldest son, but compared to her younger son, they are both biological mother and son, so how could she not care about her son.
Seeing his mother's expression, Zhou Chen knew that it might be a physical problem, because he knew that his mother didn't care about Zhou Tong's career.
"Okay, mother, I'll go see my brother first."
Zhou Chen said goodbye to his mother and then went to Zhou Tong's yard.
As soon as I entered the yard, I saw a man squatting and playing with a little girl on the ground. Hearing footsteps, the man raised his head.
"Saburo."
Zhou Tong exclaimed in surprise, and immediately stood up to come over, but he got up too quickly, feeling dizzy and falling straight down.
Zhou Chen was startled and rushed over, holding him in time and placing his hand on his pulse.
Zhou Tong was supported and coughed violently several times, and it took him a while to regain his breath.
"Sanlang, when did you come back?"
Zhou Chen frowned. He clearly felt that something was wrong with Zhou Tong's condition, and his pulse was even more wrong and weak. This was a sign of a serious illness.
"Daddy, daddy, how are you?"
A childish voice sounded, and a little girl of three or four years old pulled Zhou Tong's clothes and asked carefully.
Zhou Tong stood firm, then lowered his head and led the little girl.
"Fu'er, this is Third Uncle, my name is Third Uncle."
The little girl looked up at Zhou Chen and shouted crisply: "Uncle Three."
Zhou Tong introduced Zhou Chen with a smile: "This is your little niece Zhou Fu. She was born the year you left. She is almost four years old."
Zhou Chen looked at the cute little girl and showed a kind smile: "Hello, Fu'er, you are so beautiful."
Zhou Fu said sweetly: "You are good-looking too."
Zhou Chen was stunned for a moment. Was he being praised by a little kid?
In the eyes of the Xixia people in the frontier, he is a god of death who is more terrifying than the devil.
He reached out and touched Zhou Fu's little head: "Fu'er is really good at talking. I'll go to my third uncle later. There are a lot of good things there, and I'll give them to you then."
Zhou Tong smiled, lowered his head and whispered: "Fu'er, go find your mother, and daddy will talk to your third uncle."
"oh."
Zhou Fu nodded her head, glanced at Zhou Chen again, then raised her legs and ran into the house.
"Cough, cough, cough."
As soon as Zhou Fu left, Zhou Tong could no longer restrain himself and coughed violently, then took out a handkerchief and covered his mouth.
After coughing violently for many times, he finally wiped his mouth and put the handkerchief away, but Zhou Chen had already seen that Zhou Tong had already coughed up blood.
"Brother, why is your body like this?"
He already had a guess in his mind that Zhou Tong's illness might cause serious trouble, but he remembered that when he left, Zhou Tong was still in good health. How could he become so ill in less than four years?
Zhou Tong gasped for a few times, then smiled and said: "Don't worry, it was just that I caught the wind and cold when I fell into the water, and I didn't cure it in time, leaving the root of the disease. It's nothing serious."
"Is it okay for you to say this?"
"Don't talk about me anymore, have you seen your father since you came back?"
Zhou Tong didn't want to talk about his body, so he changed the topic and asked.
Zhou Chen said: "No, I went to my mother first when I came back. I heard my mother said you were not well, so I came over to see you first, and then went to see my father."
Zhou Tong said dissatisfied: "You should go see your father first when you come back. These years you have been away, your father cares about you the most and often inquires about you. When he knows that you have made a contribution, he is happier than anyone else."
"I know you still blame him for what happened back then, but father is just that kind of person. In his eyes, the clan and the Hou Mansion are more important than anything else. It's not that he doesn't care about you, it's just that he thinks only the Hou Mansion is better. We
Only in this way can you live a better life. He is not as ruthless as you think, he is just stricter."
Zhou Chen sighed and asked, "If you say this, do you believe it yourself?"
Zhou Tong opened his mouth, but was speechless. He could calmly persuade Zhou Chen, but the same words could not convince himself. He knew his father better than Zhou Chen, because he had spent the longest time with his father, and his father was not a comparison
Severe, but severe, frightened him.
"In any case, he is our father after all, and I think he is right. Only with Hou Mansion, Hou Mansion Sheng, you, me and everyone in the Hou Mansion can live a better life. His starting point is right.
It’s just that the methods seem a bit ruthless.”
"I don't want you to forgive your father, but when you are in my father's position, you may not be as good as him."
"maybe."
Zhou Chen didn't care, he was more concerned about Zhou Tong's health: "Brother, how are you now? Don't try to hide it from me. I have also learned some medical skills in the past few years. I can see that your problem is more serious. How can the doctor follow up?
you said?"
Zhou Tongdao: "Sanlang, I'm really fine. I just look a little weak. It's mainly due to the fatigue in the past few years. Now that I'm back, I can recover after a period of good practice. You really don't have to worry about me."
Of course Zhou Chen didn't believe it, and just as he was about to ask again, he saw his sister-in-law Cui coming over.
"Third uncle."
"sister in law."
Zhou Tong happened to say to Zhou Chen: "Sanlang, go see your father. I'm going into the house to drink medicine. Madam, please help me in."
Ms. Cui bowed to Zhou Chen and then helped Zhou Tong into the house.
Looking at their backs, Zhou Chen had a complicated expression. If he had not judged wrongly, Zhou Tong's disease would be called cancer a thousand years later.
He understood that Zhou Tong didn't want him to know, but how could he hide such a thing.
Zhou Yexiong had been sitting in the study for a long time. Since Zhou Chen came back, the servant had informed him, and then he came to the study and sat quietly waiting.
After a few years, Zhou Chen saw Zhou Yexiong again and found that Zhou Yexiong seemed to be more than ten years older. His hair had turned gray and his body had become much thinner. Only his eyes were still full of sharpness and aggression.
"Father."
"Have you met your mother and Dalang?"
His voice has also changed from a few years ago, becoming hoarse and not as powerful as before.
"Dalang came back two months ago and is seriously ill, as you should have noticed."
"Yes, I can see it, but the elder brother doesn't want to tell me."
Zhou Yexiong raised his voice: "Of course he has no face to say it. I told him not to let him be transferred outside, but he didn't listen. As a result, even his own body collapsed despite not having any great achievements. I originally thought he was
The smartest, but now it seems that I really overestimated him."
Zhou Chen was dissatisfied: "Brother, he grew up according to his father's expectations. He is smarter than anyone else. He knows that in Tokyo, with the pressure of those husbands, he has no chance at all, so he has to be transferred as an official to find a way out."
"Then did he succeed? If he didn't succeed, everything would be in vain. Even if it was difficult to stay in Tokyo, I still had to help him, but he had to leave and finally came back bruised and bruised."
"Father, you can be dissatisfied with your eldest brother for not succeeding, but you can't deny his efforts. He has been working hard towards the goal you set for him, and has never relaxed for a moment. That's why he is like this. To him
Say, your approval is more important than anything else, but you never said it to him."
Zhou Yexiong said angrily: "What do you know? He seems to be obedient, but in his heart he is thinking about escaping. What he did is the behavior of a coward. He has failed me to live up to my expectations of him. I have put all the hopes of the Hou Mansion and the clan at risk."
I put it on him, but he has become like this. I am so disappointed in him."
Such a father really puts his clan and his family above all else, including his own son.
"You don't understand."
"I won't argue with you, and I don't want to argue with you. You are more promising now. What you said is right. You are more promising than your elder brother."
What Zhou Yexiong said just now made Zhou Chen dissatisfied, but now this sentence made Zhou Chen unable to control his anger anymore.
"You are wrong. My eldest brother is no worse than me. If you had let him take my path, he might have been more successful than me, but you let him take another path, a path he was unwilling to take. Now
But you said he has no future, I don’t know how you, as the father who is the closest person to you, can say such cold words?"
Zhou Yexiong was furious: "Are you saying I'm wrong? Am I wrong? The current imperial court is inherently strong in civility and weak in military affairs. Even the government officials are switching to civil service. What's wrong with me letting him take the imperial examination?
According to what you said, is it correct that you brothers should be swapped?"
Zhou Chen said in a deep voice: "Maybe it's not necessarily correct, but it will definitely be better than now. I'm afraid my brother's health won't be around for long, right?"
As soon as these words came out, Zhou Yexiong, who hit you, seemed to have been drained of all his strength and suddenly collapsed on the chair.
How could he not have feelings for his eldest son? He had spent most of his life cultivating Zhou Tongshang, but now he is like this. He is angry, angry, and more than anything, he hates that iron cannot be transformed into steel.
But one thing is, he doesn't think he did anything wrong. He was a teenager and shouldered the future of the Hou Mansion alone, and he was able to survive.
Zhou Tong, who started out much better than him, ended up like this, of course he couldn't accept it.
After a long time, Zhou Yexiong spoke again: "When you come back this time, please don't leave for now. I will go to the palace to ask for the official's favor."
"No need, I have already met with the officials, and the officials have issued a decree to appoint me as the Marquis of Yu, the capital of the horse army."
Zhou Yexiong's expression was startled, and then he said: "That's good. It's better for the cavalry army to be at Yuhou than at the frontier. It seems that His Majesty still values you."
Although the Marquis of Yu, the capital of the Ma Army, is only from the fifth rank, it is a position of real power and an important position in the Forbidden Army. It is usually held by the official's cronies. The official obviously really values Zhou Chen by making Zhou Chen the Marquis of Yu, the capital of the Ma Army.
Chen.
After a while.
"Now that you've come back to take up the post, let's get married as soon as possible."
Zhou Chen looked displeased: "Brother, in this situation, do you want me to get married now?"
Zhou Yexiong said angrily: "Why, if your eldest brother keeps doing this, won't you get married? This is not only what I mean, but also what your mother and your eldest brother mean."
"okay, I get it."
After saying that, Zhou Chen turned around and left the study.
Seeing Zhou Chen's attitude, Zhou Yexiong put away his angry expression and looked deeply.
"I have been planning for half my life, but I never expected this result. Perhaps Sanlang is a better choice than Dalang. This may also be God's will."
He didn't believe in fate, but at this moment, he had to believe that his eldest son Zhou Tong was dead and he had no son. The future of the Hou family could only depend on his second son Zhou Chen.
This is also the reason why he refused to knight Zhou Chen before. If Zhou Chen is really knighted, once something happens to Zhou Tong, Zhou Chen will no longer be able to inherit the Zhongjing Marquis Mansion, and the Marquis Mansion will have to hand over
into the hands of a concubine.
If this is really the case, he will not rest in peace until his death. In his eyes, a bastard has no right to inherit at all. Only a legitimate son is qualified to inherit the Hou Mansion. Only the inheritance of a legitimate son will not cause turmoil in the Hou Mansion.
Therefore, even if he gave up the glory of a double noble family, he still wanted to keep the Zhou Marquis Mansion, which was the foundation of the Zhou family.
It was precisely because he regarded Zhou Chen as hope that he urged Zhou Chen to get married. Before, he felt that the Sheng family was not worthy of Zhou Chen, but now it seems that a scholarly family like the Sheng family is actually a good thing for Zhou Chen.
s Choice.
Following Zhou Yexiong's instructions, Zhou Chen's marriage was immediately put on the agenda, and the fastest auspicious day was selected. As long as the Sheng family agreed, the wedding could be held.