The First Uncle of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 17 Moving
Ma Xun and Liu Shuning's marriage has been settled and is basically irreversible.

Although the engagement has not been made yet, it is just because the time has not come yet.

Ma Xun's position as the commander of the tent was just a sinecure. The Ming Dynasty's official system was now basically complete.

In terms of military, it is still the Grand Marshal's Office, but Zhu Yuanzhang has already begun to split the Grand Marshal's Office into five military marshal's offices.

Theoretically, the rank of a military commander in front of the tent was second only to that of a general, and during the Qin and Han dynasties, he was a high-ranking general. However, the only military commander in the Ming Dynasty was the military commander of the imperial concubine, a super-ranking rank above that of an earl.

However, Ma Xun did not need to attend court or work in the government office, so he was busy moving.

Li Zhen was very happy and directed the boys to work, "Chang Mao, Chang Sheng, Chang Sen, you three know a lot of people, go wait at the door and tell them when you see them."

"Hey!"

The three brothers of the Chang family ran away. Although Li Zhen was usually a kind old man, there was no son of a noble family who was not afraid of him.

"Decheng, you have to bear with the trouble." Li Zhen smiled and looked aside, saying to a sturdy young man, "Watch out for those brats, don't let them offend anyone, brother-in-law will treat you to a drink later."

Guo Decheng immediately laughed happily, "Brother-in-law, you're welcome. I'll go right away!"

Guo Decheng's sister was Concubine Guo Ning, and his two brothers were Guo Xing and Guo Ying, who were the emperor's absolute confidants.

Guo Decheng is also capable, has military achievements, is open-minded, very smart, and quite likable. The only bad thing about him is that he is addicted to alcohol and forgets himself after drinking a little.

Li Zhen looked around and gave a task, "You two remember the gift list, your uncle will have to return the gift in the future!"

Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang had sad faces as they bargained, "Uncle, can we welcome the guests? We are princes after all, and memorizing a list of etiquette is not worthy of our status!"

As soon as Li Zhen glared at them, Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang immediately stopped their activities and obediently prepared to write down the gift list.

When my uncle moved, quite a few guests came. It was true that some of the founding generals were fighting outside, but their families were in Beijing.

Not to mention the several families that Ma Xun had visited before, even if he had not visited them and the person himself could not come in person, their wives and eldest sons should also come to visit and give gifts.

Ma Xun kicked Li Jinglong on the butt and said, "Brother-in-law, please help me move."

"I hope you don't mind me worrying about nothing. I just like to take care of things." Li Zhen said with a smile, "Find something to do. I can't sit still."

As they were talking, two middle-aged women walked into the yard and said, "Niece greets uncle and aunt."

Looking at this woman in her early thirties, Ma Xun was a little surprised. How could she be a junior?

Li Zhen immediately explained, "Your brother-in-law's niece was named Princess Fucheng and Princess Qingyang."

Princess Fucheng was the daughter of Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest brother Zhu Chongsi, and Princess Qingyang's father was Zhu Yuanzhang's cousin Zhu Chongwu.

Normally, such a niece should be given the title of Princess at most, but Zhu Yuanzhang did not want to do that. He could not bear to wrong these two nieces, so he immediately gave them the title of Princess after the founding of the country, while his biological daughters have not been given any title yet.

Ma Xun immediately smiled and said, "They are all family members, so I won't say polite words. There will be a lot of female relatives here soon, and it would be most appropriate for you two to help entertain them."

Princess Fucheng said, "Uncle, you are too polite. We hurried here as fast as we could after hearing that you were moving to a new house."

"Go inside!" There was no need to be polite to her nieces. Li Zhen was not indulging them at all. "There are so many people here today and so many things to do. I don't have time to talk to you. When the women come, entertain them. Don't be rude!"

Princess Fucheng and Princess Qingyang had no temper and were extremely respectful to their uncles.

It was their uncle who led them to Chuzhou to join their uncle. If it weren't for their uncle, they would have died in the war.

Li Jinglong hugged Li Zhen's legs and said aggrievedly, "Grandpa, my uncle hit me."

Ma Xun immediately got excited, "Come to complain now? That's too light!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ma Xun raised his leg and hooked Li Jinglong's butt with his toes, "Go, go find Wangcai."

Li Jinglong refused to move, hugged Li Zhen's legs tightly, and screamed in anxiety.

"It's time for me to have a child." Li Zhen smiled. He knew that Ma Xun liked to tease children. "But you are teasing Jinglong now. He might bully your son in the future."

Ma Xun glanced at Li Jinglong and said with a sly smile, "How can that be! There is a generation gap between them. Can Jinglong bully his elder?" Li Zhen also laughed. He was older and of a higher generation, but his children and grandchildren were now of a younger generation.

If Li Wenzhong returned to Beijing, he would have to call Ma Xun "uncle" when he saw him. Li Wenzhong is already 31 years old!
Ma Xun was a young man with a high seniority. Because of Empress Ma, he, as the emperor's brother-in-law, became very respected.

The families that Zhu Biao had visited before also sent people to congratulate Ma Xun on his new home. Most of the families that he had not visited also came after carefully considering their own status.

Basically, they were all so-called Huaixi nobles, and when they met Empress Ma in private, they would call her "sister-in-law".

In the past, everyone claimed to be my sister-in-law’s family. Now that my sister-in-law’s real family has appeared, shouldn’t we get closer to them?
Chang Lan came charging forward with great force. She was not at all nervous. She decided not to entertain the female relatives and left it to Princess Fucheng and others.

Now I am helping Li Zhen to entertain these noble representatives, because the people who come are basically children from various mansions, a large number of naughty kids, and they need a powerful person to calm them down.

Li Zhen definitely couldn't do that, he was too gentle. Chang Lan was different, if a naughty child was naughty, she would pick him up and slap him on the buttocks.

"The Tang family." Chang Lan said with a smile after beating a child, "Tang He is fighting outside, his wife is gone, and there are only a few concubines who can't run the family."

Ma Xun nodded and asked again, "Why didn't my nephew's wife come?"

"Uncle of the Emperor!" Chang Lan smiled and complained, "If this gets out to so many people, will Wan'er still have a good reputation?"

Li Zhen also joked, "Sister, you have no conscience if you say that. I think your daughter and the prince are a perfect match, so all the rewards given to him by the queen will be given to your daughter."

Chang Lan's smile widened, "My uncle is too polite, how can this be possible!"

Ma Xun continued to joke, "The prince is anxious, afraid that my uncle will ruin his good fortune, and he is urging me to get married every day. I will get engaged at the end of the year and get married next year, so I will definitely not delay the golden boy and beautiful girl."

The fierce Chang Lan patted Ma Xun's arm, and said in a friendly way, "Wan'er has gone to Liu's house, go and get Shuning over here."

Li Zhen immediately laughed and said jokingly, "I'm an old-fashioned person, I'll hide in the house for a while."

Ma Xun felt something was wrong when he heard this, "The prince will be here soon, does he have an appointment?"

Chang Lan said quickly, "Her Majesty the Queen is coming too, so Shu Ning must come as well. Your Majesty, remember to go and see her later. I think it's normal for your Majesty to be unable to walk when he sees Shu Ning, because she's a pretty girl."

Ma Xun touched his face.

Huh? I didn't touch it?

It turns out that the face was gone long ago!
"Who is talking nonsense?" Ma Xun was anxious and looked around, "Where is Mu Ying? Where did he go?"

Li Zhen and Chang Lan also laughed very happily. They had indeed heard that Ma Xun had taken a liking to Liu Shuning at first sight, and they also heard that the emperor was unhappy at first, but the emperor's uncle just liked that girl!
"Mom, my aunt is here!" Chang Mao ran over like the wind and said, "She'll be here soon."

Chang Lan was so angry. Chang Mao's aunt was naturally Lan Yu's wife.

"Tell her to come and help earlier, but she came only now! What a useless thing, who will she show respect to after becoming the general's wife?" Chang Lan started to scold, "Brother-in-law, I want to discipline my sister-in-law, please don't stop me."

Li Zhen smiled and said nothing. All the nobles in Huaixi knew that Chang Yuchun and Chang Lanshi raised Lan Yu as their son. Chang Yuchun always kept Lan Yu with him whenever he went on military campaigns.

Not to mention Chang Lan. She not only takes care of the Chang family's affairs, but also all the big and small matters of the Lan family.

A young woman hurried into the mansion and said carefully to Chang Lan, "Sister, my sister-in-law got up a long time ago. She made an appointment with the Xu family to come together."

"The Xu family?" Chang Lan's eyebrows were raised. "If this wasn't for outsiders, I would have slapped you to death! You are not allowed to have any contact with the Xu family in the future! Did you remember that?"

Lan Yu's wife didn't dare to refute at all. She nodded obediently and was then driven by Chang Lan to the inner courtyard to help.

Xu Da's second wife, Xie, was not liked by Ma Xiuying.

It could be considered that the room was full of distinguished guests, but they were basically a bunch of young boys, or even just a bunch of little kids. The Ming Dynasty had just been founded, and most of the people from Huaixi were fighting outside.

Apart from these boys, there is a group of female relatives. The head of the household is outside, and the housekeeper must take care of the affairs.

The Queen's brother is moving to a new house, this is a big deal, if I don't go I will only cause trouble for my master!

(End of this chapter)