Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 136 Father and Son

Unlike his domineering and imposing manner when he was with the Gu family in Deqing, Master Chen now seemed to have returned to his youth, becoming humble and respectful.

The domineering air that local officials had developed over many years seemed to have vanished without a trace.

After being led into the Xie residence, he was even quite reserved. He sat down in a side hall of the Xie residence, where the Xie family's servants served him tea.

Then there is no more then.

The Xie family left him in this side hall, and no one came to pay him any attention.

Normally, if guests come to visit and the host, such as Master Xie, is not at home, the Xie family's wife or the young masters should come out to keep the guests company and say a few words to them, so as not to be impolite.

Unfortunately, before leaving for his post today, Xie Xiangong did not inform his family of any important guests, so naturally no one in the Xiangong residence paid any attention to Chen Huan.

However, Master Chen did not feel wronged; in fact, he was somewhat moved. For someone of his status, being able to sit in the Prime Minister's residence and have a cup of tea was already a great blessing.

And so he sat there from afternoon until evening, barely daring to drink any tea.

Because drinking too much tea makes it easy to urinate, he didn't want to be impolite at the Prime Minister's residence.

Just as dusk was falling and Master Chen was beginning to doze off, a servant from the Xie family walked in and greeted Chen Huan with a smile, saying, "Master Chen, my master has returned and is waiting for you in the study."

Chen Huan practically jumped up from his chair. He hurriedly straightened his slightly wrinkled clothes and replied, "I'll go right away, I'll go right away."

After tidying up briefly, Chen Huan took a deep breath and followed the servant. Before long, they arrived at the door of Master Xie's study.

Looking at the door, Chen Huan felt nervous once again.

This is the study of the current Grand Secretary!

It can be said that it is one of the core powers of the Great Qi!
After calming himself down, he stepped forward and knocked on the door, his voice trembling slightly: "Master, your student Chen Huan requests an audience."

There was no sound from inside the study.

After a long while, Xie Xiangong's voice finally came through.

"Come in."

The door was slowly pushed open.

Chen Huan stepped inside, quickly glanced at Xie Xiangong, then knelt on both knees and kowtowed, saying, "Student Chen Huan greets Master."

It is not unusual for students to kowtow to their teachers; it is common practice among civil officials. However, since Xie Xiangong was merely Chen Huan's tutor and had no personal relationship with him in terms of teaching or resolving his doubts, kowtowing in this way would not be considered a sign of respect for his teacher.

Instead, it is out of respect for each other.

Master Xie sat in his chair, looking at Chen Huan kneeling in front of him, his buttocks slightly sticking out. He didn't speak immediately, but after a while, he chuckled.

"It seems that what your son did has nothing to do with you."

Having spent many years in officialdom, Xie Guan, as prime minister, had seen far too many people like Chen Huan.

In officialdom, there are quite a few people like Chen Huan who strive to climb the ranks at all costs, and even Xie Xianggong doesn't particularly dislike such people.

After all, such people can even be called ambitious, and they are easier to get along with and manage than those who only know how to study and take exams.

But as the prime minister, Xie Guan could tell from Chen Huan's single action that this Prefect Chen was definitely not the same kind of person as the fearless young man in the imperial study that day.

They couldn't possibly be on the same wavelength.

Upon hearing Xie Xiangong's voice, Chen Huan looked up with some confusion, glanced at Xie Xiangong, and cautiously asked, "Master, are you referring to my son?"

Xie Xiangong glanced at him and slowly raised his hand: "Get up and speak."

Chen Huan got up from the ground, still looking puzzled. He bowed his head and said, "This student is foolish and did not understand what Master meant just now. I humbly request Master to enlighten me."

You have three sons.

Master Xie slowly said, "Eldest son Qing, second son Cheng, youngest son Che."

"Yes."

Chen Huan was surprised that Master Xie knew his son's name, but after a moment's hesitation, he suddenly remembered something and lowered his head, saying, "Now, my second and third sons have all come to the capital with me. Since arriving in the capital, I've been meeting with fellow townsmen these past few days, but..."

At this point, Chen Huan's voice already carried a hint of fear.

"But what wrong have my two sons done in the capital that angered their teacher?"

"If that's the case, I'll go back and immediately bring them here to my master to vent my anger!"

Last year, after Deqing and Chen Qing had a fight, Mr. Chen stopped paying attention to his eldest son, and even less to Deqing.

From his perspective, his eldest son should still be in Deqing at this moment, or at most in Yingtian.

He had no idea that Chen Qing had arrived in the capital some time before him. Therefore, in his view, if his son had any connection with Prime Minister Xie, it must be his second or third son.

It couldn't possibly be Chen Qing. Xie Xiangong looked at Chen Huan and scoffed.

"I'm afraid your two sons aren't up to the task of being noticed by me."

Chen Huan immediately understood. He murmured, "Chen Qing? He's come to the capital? When did he come to the capital?"

"Before the New Year."

Looking at Chen Huan, Xie Xiangong suddenly found the matter quite interesting. He smiled and said, "Chen Huan, your son is quite remarkable."

“Last month, he offended the entire cabinet in front of the Emperor.”

At this point, Xie Xiangong glanced at Chen Huan and said indifferently, "Even Yuanfu was quite angry with him, and it even implicated you. If it weren't for me protecting you when the Ministry of Personnel submitted the list to the Grand Secretariat, you would have no chance of filling any vacancies in the Ministry of Personnel's recruitment of officials in the capital this year."

Chen Huan froze on the spot.

It took him a while to come to his senses, and he murmured, "The Cabinet...the Emperor..."

With a bewildered look, Master Chen looked up at Master Xie and said, "Master, my eldest son was mediocre in his youth, and after his mother's death, he became somewhat mentally impaired. How can he possibly serve before the Emperor..."

Chen Huan swallowed hard: "Is it just a coincidence of names? Did my mentor make a mistake?"

“It was Yuanfu Gong who personally sent people to investigate; it was Chen Qing from Huzhou Prefecture.”

"The son of Chen Huan, the prefect of Yanzhou."

Master Xie said calmly, "Do you think Master Yuanfu has made a mistake?"

Chen Huan gritted his teeth and said, "I really didn't know that this unfilial son disobeyed me last year and had a big fight with me in Deqing. After that, I lived separately from him and never saw him again or wrote to him again."

"None of the students knew he was in the capital."

At this point, Chen Huan had given up hope that his master would help him. He gritted his teeth and said, "Please tell me where that rebellious son is. If he has indeed offended you gentlemen, I will immediately go and arrest him and plead guilty before you gentlemen!"

Master Xie narrowed his eyes and said calmly, "Your son has made something of himself now. He's working in the Northern Garrison Command. Do you dare go there?"

"Moreover, what's important now is not apologizing to Yuanfu Gong and the others."

Xie Xiangong narrowed his eyes and said something that made Chen Huan feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

"Your son... may be investigating Yuanfu Gong."

Master Xie chuckled and said, "This one thing alone is enough to make it difficult for you, Chen Zhaoming, to move an inch in the capital."

Chen Huan took a few steps back and slumped into a chair.

"This this…"

He was speechless for a long time.

"Try to find an opportunity to see him. Have a good talk between father and son. There might still be room for maneuver."

By this time, Chen Huan's back was soaked with sweat. He barely came to his senses, stood up, and bowed his head deeply.

"Yes, sir! Yes, sir!"

…………

Just as Chen Huan was being reprimanded at the Xie residence, in a town on the outskirts of the capital, the eldest son of the Chen family, with his hands behind his back and surrounded by his subordinates, looked at the mansion not far away.

Yan Cong stood beside him and said in a low voice, "Brother Zizheng, our brothers have been following them all the way. Most of those cult members who call themselves the White Lotus Sect and had a conflict with Miss Mu are gathered here."

"They should be remnants of cult bandits."

Yan Cong thought for a moment and said in a low voice, "But there is still no definite news about the bandit leader."

The so-called news about the bandit leader naturally refers to Yang, the leader of the White Lotus Sect.

Chen Qing stretched and said, "Right now, they're probably hiding in the gutter, too scared to move. We're in charge of handling the aftermath of the White Lotus Sect case, so we can't let these cult bandits get away with it."

"Brother Yan, are you confident? If not, send someone to ask Lord Yan for help."

Yan Cong's eyes lit up, and he said with a smile, "Boss, there's no reason to call someone over for this credit right now. You wait here."

"I will take care of these cult bandits in at most an hour!"

"it is good."

Chen Qing smiled.

"I'm here to watch Brother Yan display his great prowess."

(End of this chapter)