Chapter 55: Mei's Family Daughter Sees Her Father

  So, Tai Gong is very satisfied with Zuo Ci's performance in general, and he feels at ease. He thinks that even if he is not around now, it is reassuring to leave the family to Zuo Ci.

  At this time, Miao Fang spoke up. His words were directed at Cui An. Because Miao Fang was only good at martial arts, although he didn't have any great skills, but had learned for so many years, a warrior's intuition told him that Cui An was absolutely a high-ranking master, while Ma Chao was ignored by him. With his limited skills, he could sense something, and under Ma Chao's deliberate concealment, even a master like Lü Bu didn't have any feeling, let alone him.

  Chui An, who was full of wine and food, was digesting his meal when he heard someone seemingly talking to him, and he was taken aback.

  "Does Brother Fu Da know martial arts?" Zou Fang asked Cui An.

  Chui An then patted his belly and said: "I really understand!"

  Miao Fang listened and appeared exceptionally excited, "I wonder if Brother Fu Da can give his younger brother some advice?"

  Seeing a master can't let go of the opportunity, in the whole Xuzhou, there really isn't any decent martial general. Now it can be said that he has encountered a master, and Zou Fang naturally doesn't want to miss it. He also knows that with his own skills, he can't compare to others, but if a master points out one or two things to him, then he will benefit greatly.

  Cui An looked at Ma Chao upon hearing this, and Ma Chao slightly nodded his head.

  "Of course, no problem!" said Cui An.

  "Alright, Brother Fu Da, please speak quickly. It's too late tonight, but I'll ask you to enlighten me again tomorrow morning!" Zi Fang said excitedly.

  "I'll definitely go tomorrow morning!"

  Choi Ahn's way of thinking is very simple. If someone treats him well, he will naturally point out a few things about martial arts and it's nothing to be owed. He is also a straightforward person, if you treat him well, he will naturally treat you even better. Of course, if you provoke him, the consequences are quite severe.

  Mi Taigong listened to their conversation and didn't say anything. He knew this was a good thing. Firstly, his son could get guidance, secondly, his son could also get close to Ma Chao's people, which would be beneficial for the future. With Mi Taigong's old and cunning eyes, he had already seen that Cui An was absolutely going to be a great general on the battlefield in the future. Cutting down generals and snatching flags were not a problem for him.

  At this moment, a lower-ranking official from the government came in to report. After entering the house, the person first looked at Ma Chao and Cui An, and Zou Taigong secretly thought that this lower-ranking official really had no discerning eye, it seemed that he would have to be replaced later.

  He slapped his hand on the long table in front of him and said: "What's wrong? Speak quickly, there are no outsiders in this house!"

  In Zhen Taigong's view, there was indeed nothing shameful in the family, and now that Ma Chao was present, it was even more impossible to do anything behind his back.

  The servant was startled and silently scolded himself for his mistake. Old Master had instructed earlier that no one was allowed to enter the house to disturb them, saying they were entertaining a noble guest tonight. What kind of noble guest would it be? If Old Master could give such instructions, how could the person being entertained be ordinary? How did he not think of this earlier? But now it's too late for self-reproach.

  The servant hastily replied: "Yes! In response to your question, sir, it was the young lady, she..."

  Upon hearing this, Manzi immediately stood up, "Little sister? What's wrong with little sister?"

  Miao Zhu and Miao Zhen have a very good relationship, so he is worried about his little sister, wondering if something has happened to her.

  Old Master Ta shook his head secretly, thinking that this young man should be replaced. He had only said half of what he wanted to say when he got stuck. And then there was Zhu'er, a young person who still lacked some stability and couldn't calm down when things happened.

  "Speak clearly and say it all!" Old Lady Meng shouted at her servant.

  "Yes, sir! It's like this, Miss's maid Yan'er came to report that Miss has started making a big fuss and no one can stop her, so we had to ask you to go over there in person!" The servant finished speaking and also felt relieved.

  Old Master Tai heard this and thought to himself, "So that's how it is. You're really not making things easy for me. I've been working hard for this family day in and day out, and now this little girl is getting ideas and causing trouble. It's really worrying."

  There's no choice, let's take a look. Zhu Ma thought of this and got up to report the crime in front of Ma Chao, with the Zhu brothers following behind him. Ma Chao showed understanding, after all, every family has its own difficulties, and it's not easy for anyone. However, he didn't know why Zhu Zhen wanted to make a big fuss.

  Ma Chao's first thought was that Zhen Ji had some kind of mental illness, but he immediately dismissed the idea. Jokingly, if that were the case, would Liu Bei have wanted her? Besides, there was no record of this in any book, and he had never heard of it before.

  Since it wasn't that, Ma Chao didn't think about it anymore. Besides, this was someone else's family affair, and as an outsider, he shouldn't pry into what wasn't his business.

  Taigong ordered the servants to send Ma Chao and his father back to their guest rooms, while he and his two sons walked towards the inner courtyard of the mansion. The inner courtyard was where the women of the household lived, and Mu Zhen naturally also lived there.

  As they approached the house of Miss Zhen, they could hear the sound of something crashing to the ground from a distance. Then they heard someone inside the house saying, "Miss, don't crash anymore, don't crash anymore!"

  This is Yan'er's voice, the maid of Zou Xiu. After the three people enter the house, Zou Xiu remains as usual, as if she hadn't seen them come in.

  Yan'er saw that reinforcements had arrived and hastily went forward to pay her respects, "Greetings, Master, Young Master, Second Young Master! Miss...".

  "All right, you go down first!" ordered the Old Mother Meng.

  Although he was somewhat dissatisfied with his daughter, it hadn't reached the point where he would take out his frustrations on a little maid. Yan'er heard this and hastily agreed, then quickly ran away. She was truly afraid of her own young mistress; such a headache-inducing matter was naturally better left for Master and Young Master to handle.

  Three people sat down in the house, "Keep smashing, the more the better! If there's not enough stuff, I'll have someone send over a new batch for you! You must smash your fill!"

  Old Man Tai Gong spoke first, "This little daughter of mine may only be ten years old, but her temper is by no means small."

  "Father and both elder brothers have arrived!"

  "It's all here. We can't not come, or else I think you should tear down the house!" Old Lady Mei said irritably.

  Based on his understanding of his little daughter, she did this just to get him over. She must have something to say to him, and given her family's upbringing, she wouldn't go looking for him when he was entertaining guests, nor would she ask someone to summon him, so she had no choice but to use this method to find him.

  "Dad, with your understanding of me as a daughter, you should naturally know that I have no choice but to do this!"

  Mei Zhen came to Mei Tai Gong's side, coquettishly throwing a tantrum, but Mei Tai Gong was clearly unable to tolerate this. His own little daughter was not only clever and lovely, but also had her own ideas and opinions, and he didn't know what she wanted by coming to find him at this time.

  "Zhen'er, can't it wait till tomorrow? Why must you find me when your father is receiving important guests?" Madam Zhao said with some reprimand.

  "Father, I don't want to be like this either, but I thought of something that affects the rise and fall of our family. I think it's better to do it sooner rather than later, so I asked you to come over!" Zou Jing said with a mischievous tongue-out expression, looking even more adorable.

  Upon hearing his daughter's words, Marquis Zhen showed great interest. Indeed, what could be more important than the rise and fall of one's family? This old man had been most concerned about this matter all his life, so his interest was extremely great.

  "Oh? What does Zhen'er want to say, but go ahead and speak!" The arrival of Old Lady Mao stirred up interest, allowing Zhen'er to speak freely.

  "Agreed!" Zhen replied.

  "May I ask who is the guest Father will be meeting tonight?"

  Old Man Ta was slightly stunned, he didn't expect his daughter to come up with such a sentence first, not playing by the rules, her thoughts jumped quickly, but this did not prevent him from responding.

  "Tonight, the people seen by Father are Ma Chao and his subordinates, Cui An and Cui Fuda, from Fufeng!"

  Mò Zhēn nodded and continued to ask: "Then what does Father think of these two?"

  Tai Gong thought for a moment and continued, "In my opinion, Cui Fuda is a great general on the battlefield! And Ma Mengqi's son is a dragon among men, he will surely become a great talent in the future!"

  Zhen'er's eyes lit up when she heard this. She had never thought that her father would give Ma Chao such a high evaluation, which was absolutely unprecedented in her memory.

  "But I don't know what Father thinks of Ma Mengqi among people of the same age," Zou Xun continued to ask.

  Taigong shook his head, "Jian'er, you don't know this, but even if we're talking about people of the same age, let alone those who have already made a name for themselves, I believe that Ma Mengqi will one day surpass them all!"

  At this point, Taigong Wang has been in contact with Ma Chao for some time and can be said to have considerable confidence in him. There are two sources of confidence: one is the Zhanlu sword, and the other is that Taigong Wang believes in his own vision. In at least a few decades, he hasn't misjudged anything. In fact, it's not so much that he has confidence in Ma Chao, but rather that he has more confidence in his own vision.

  Zhen heard her father's evaluation of Ma Chao and thought that it would be easier to deal with him.

  "What does Father think about daughter marrying Ma Mengqi?"

  To say that Mo Jing is very bold, at such a young age she dares to speak like this in front of her own father, but she is also quite helpless.

  "It's so... no, no way, absolutely not! How could you think of such a thing for Jing Er!"

  The words had barely left his lips when Old Man Hei suddenly reacted. He hastily changed his tune, because this matter was now completely out of the question.

  "Didn't Father consider the rise and fall of our family?" Zou Xian asked.

  "Zhen Er, it's precisely because I'm thinking of the family that I disagree! The ancients said: 'A person without credibility cannot stand', keeping one's word is the foundation of being human, let alone for us merchants! You already have a marriage agreement in place, how can you do something so unfaithful and unreliable!"

  Mou Tai Gong asked Mou Zhen, who had already agreed to marry. The other party was none other than Tao Xuan, the eldest son of Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou.

  Tao Shang is twenty-eight years old this year, and from the moment he first saw Mò Zhēn, he was amazed by her beauty. Although Tao Shang is already twenty-eight, he has not yet married, and his many years of experience in the midst of numerous romantic entanglements have told him that Mò Zhēn will definitely become a stunning beauty when she grows up a bit more. As a result, from then on, he vowed to marry no one but Mò Zhēn for the rest of his life.

  In order to win the beauty's heart, Tao Shang begged his father, Tao Qian, who was a historian, to propose to the Zhuo family. At first, Tao Qian refused, thinking that his son had finally decided to settle down and get married, which was a good thing. But when he heard that the woman his son wanted to marry was Miss Zhuo, Tao Qian shook his head like a rattle drum.

  He has a good relationship with Sima Zhao, but his own son is not worthy of him. As a father, he really understands that his son is not worthy of the other party. Although Tao Qian is not a good person, he doesn't want to do things that take advantage of his power. Moreover, the Sima family is not an ordinary small family, and it's not something you can easily suppress if you want to. As the governor, he still needs the support of big families like them, and if the relationship becomes too awkward, it will be difficult to handle.

  However, Tao Qian still couldn't resist his son's persistent pleas. Tao Shang was tearfully promising in front of Tao Qian that if he could marry Mei Zhen, he would definitely reform and not be as reckless as before. In Tao Qian's eyes, his son wanted to turn over a new leaf, and he really couldn't bear to see his son like this, so he finally agreed. Moreover, there was another great attraction for him, that is, if he could form an alliance with the Mei family, the benefits would be self-evident.

  Tao Qian said, "As a father, even if I have to sacrifice this old face of mine, I will still go and beg for Miss Miao's hand in marriage for you!"

  Tao Qian personally went to see Marquis of Gaogui, Mu, in Donghai County because of his incompetent eldest son. When Mu heard that Tao had arrived, he was startled and thought something big had happened, so the governor himself came running.

  As a result, the two met, and Tao Qian explained his intention. Zou Taigong was in a dilemma. The matter was not trivial, but the lifelong major event of his own daughter. Tao Qian said very clearly that he came to visit Brother today, not as the governor, but as a father, for the happiness of his son.

  Mao Tai Gong had known Tao Qian for many years, but it was really the first time he saw Tao Qian like this, and he almost cried and knelt down to beg himself.

  Mao Taigong was still a person who yielded to softness but not to hardness. Seeing Tao Qian like this, he really couldn't bear to refuse him outright. But as a father, how could he bear to ruin his own daughter's happiness? However, after careful consideration, Mao Taigong finally agreed for the sake of the family's interests and couldn't bear to see Tao Qian like that anymore.

  But Mò Tàigōng just verbally agreed, and didn't show any other attitude. Táo Qiān saw that Mò Tàigōng had casually agreed, and was extremely delighted in his heart, thinking that he hadn't acted like this for many years and it really made a big difference. However, in his extreme delight, he also didn't consider too many problems, and it can be said that after Táo Qiān was overjoyed, he became careless. Then he directly bid farewell and left. After all, Mò Zhēn was only ten years old, and he wouldn't be so anxious to rush her into becoming his daughter-in-law.

  It so happened that this thing occurred on the day before Ma Chao arrived at Miao's residence, which was yesterday.

  After Tao Qian left, Mei Taigong told Mei Zhen everything, and Mei Zhen naturally disagreed to marry Tao Shang. Because of this matter, the father and daughter said a lot.