Chapter 004: Finding out the situation
Fourth Uncle was the Huang family's late-born son, doted on since childhood. But Xu Zhenying couldn't understand why. Fourth Uncle was taciturn, and Fourth Aunt wasn't talkative either. Rather than being like guests, they were strangers sharing a bed. Fourth Aunt had been married into the Xu family for so many years, and except for the one who had a miscarriage at the beginning, only Xu Anping was left.
Because the Xu family was reluctant to split up, the four branches were crowded together. The eldest branch was calculating, greedy, and liked to show off her dominance. The second aunt was a pushover, and as the daughter of a prominent official, marrying into the Xu family was inherently a downgrade, so naturally, there were bound to be bumps and bruises.
Second aunt tried to divide the family property several times, but every time, eldest aunt either threw a tantrum or pretended to be unconscious. When she was pushed into a corner, she would tell everyone how she had worked so hard to raise second uncle, and now that second uncle had become an official, she wanted to kick out these poor relatives.
There was even one time when Second Aunt was scolded by her maternal grandmother when she returned home. She was so angry that she didn't say a word to the eldest wife for a long time.
The women of the Xu family appeared to be calm and collected, but in reality, one was secretly calling the other a "country bumpkin" and the other a "bare-egg hen." This caused the younger generations in the other rooms to follow suit, and the entire Xu family was in disarray.
What's worse now is that the Xu family is in jail.
This start is simply hell mode.
Xu Zhenying suffered from insomnia.
The Zhou dynasty had a strict hierarchy, and its overall productivity was close to that of the Song dynasty. However, women were subject to many restrictions, and even women were not allowed to have separate households. Any money or property earned by a woman could be reclaimed by her father, husband, son, or family at any time.
In recent years, the trend has become more intense. The imperial court has issued many chastity arches to encourage widowed women to remain chaste. As a result, the people followed suit. In towns near Bianjing, there were cases where families forced widowed women to commit suicide, but in the end, nothing was done.
Is it possible to find someone to marry?
Xu Zhenying found it ridiculous just thinking about it. She had never thought about getting married in modern times, let alone in this ancient time when people were cannibalistic.
She earned a master's degree from a top ten university in the country, worked as a cart vendor, then as a civil servant, even rising to the rank of section chief within three years. She resigned to pursue a doctorate and ultimately died in a laboratory explosion. She still had some confidence that, even if she didn't find a foothold, she could still easily support herself.
She thought of Old Man Xu again.
Old man Xu has been a military fan all his life. He joined the army when he was young and served for more than ten or twenty years. If it were not for taking care of his family, he would even plan to stay in the army for the rest of his life.
When Xu Zhenying was young, she was dragged by Old Man Xu to run five kilometers with weights, survive in the wild, and use various weapons. In addition to strength training, he also brainwashed her from time to time, telling her to join the army and serve the motherland when she grew up, and complete the journey he had not completed.
Now that he has changed the time and space, and even the shell, Xu Zhenying feels that the road ahead is long and he feels a confusion he has never felt before.
Old man Xu, can you give me some hints on how to proceed?
Xu Zhenying could even imagine what Old Man Xu would say.
——I don’t want to be a marquis, I just hope the sea will be calm.
——Fubo only wishes to return with his body wrapped, why should Dingyuan enter the pass alive?
Unfortunately, she never seemed to have the same vision and ambition as Old Man Xu. She had always been content with a small fortune, even a bit lazy, so much so that she had gone against Old Man Xu's wishes and applied for a chemical engineering major, which angered him so much that he didn't speak to her for over a year.
Xu Zhenying finally decided that although he couldn't figure out what to do in the short term, there was one urgent thing at hand, which was to regain his freedom.
At least she wouldn't be beheaded as soon as she came here. That would be too much of a loss for her.
Xu Zhenying suddenly remembered a novel she had read by chance before, so she saw everyone sleeping, sat cross-legged, closed her eyes, and silently said in her mind: "System?"
There was no sound in my head.
She tried again, "System?"
After waiting for several minutes, there was still no response.
Well, there is no golden finger after all. My future life will be purely powered by love.
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Xu Zhenying was awakened by hunger.
She hadn't felt the hunger so intensely for many years.
When they opened their eyes, everyone in the Xu family woke up.
But everyone seemed to be hungry, and no one spoke. Even the usually noisy aunt was now curled up weakly in the corner.
The tearing feeling of hunger tugged at their nerves, causing the expressions on everyone's faces to become almost numb, and silent panic was spreading rapidly.
Today is the fourth day that the Xu family has been in prison.
"Ying'er, are you hungry? Mother has some food here." Miao was always worried about Xu Zhenying's health. She felt a little guilty for not finding a doctor in time. She paid special attention to her in the past two days and wished she could devote all her heart to her.
Miao pulled out a folded handkerchief from her bosom, which contained a quarter of a steamed bun. She said with some guilt, "Ying'er, you need to eat more so you can get better. When we get out, I'll find a doctor to see you."
As soon as Xu Zhenying saw it, he knew it was the steamed bun from last night. Miao had only eaten half of it and then hid it.
Xu Zhenying shook his head and said, "Mom, I'm not hungry. You eat."
"Mom is just too full. You know, I usually don't eat much. Eat quickly and don't let the other kids see it." Miao stuffed the steamed bun into her hand without saying a word.
Mei Xiao, who was standing by, stared at the steamed bun eagerly, biting her finger. She glanced at Xu Zhenying and said, "Sister, eat it. You're sick, and you'll get better if you eat more steamed buns. Next time, I'll save my steamed bun for you. You'll stop crying after eating it."
Six-year-old Mei Xiao also saw Xu Qingying crying yesterday because of the Zheng family’s affairs. The little girl didn’t understand and just thought that she would get better if she ate more.
Xu Zhenying felt warm in her heart and forced a smile, "Be good, Meizi, I'm really not hungry. Here, I'll give it to you."
The little girl is so cute and sensible.
Mei Xiao had half a steamed bun in her hand. She held the bun in her hand with greed in her eyes, but she looked at Miao and said softly, "Then mother, come and eat with me."
Just then, a familiar sound of footsteps was heard. Xu Zhenying looked up and saw the jailer walking to their cell for routine patrol.
Xu Zhenying's eyes lit up, the opportunity had come.
"Brother yamen runner, please stay." Xu Zhenying stood up and called out to the yamen runner.
All the Xu family members looked over at once, with different expressions on their faces.
The yamen runners treated them badly, sometimes even daring to beat them with weapons. When they were first imprisoned, Xiao Huang was the most violent, but after being beaten with a few sticks until her skin was torn and her flesh was exposed, she immediately became obedient.
Now, whenever Little Huang saw the yamen runners, she was terrified. She dared not say a word with her sharp tongue, but just looked at Huang and said, "Mother, is this Sixth Girl crazy? What is she looking for the yamen runners for?!"
Xu Lezhi was also angry and said, "Sixth Sister, don't you think the situation is not chaotic enough now? Are you determined to kill us?"
Everyone watched as Xu Zhenying stepped forward and bowed to the yamen runner across the fence.
As the saying goes, you shouldn't hit someone who smiles, especially when it comes to such a pretty girl. Gao Yayi's expression was as cold as usual, but he didn't scold her. "What's the matter?"
"Uncle Gao, right?" Xu Zhenying heard her companions call this man Lao Gao. According to her observation, this Lao Gao was one of the easy-to-talk-to yamen runners who would do things for money.
"Yesterday I heard that Uncle Gao's wife had given birth, and today I saw that Uncle Gao was filled with joy. I think the family has a new baby boy. I wanted to share in the joy as well, so I'd like to congratulate Uncle Gao first."
These words were extremely appropriate and congratulatory. Gao Yayi knew that she had something to ask of him, but he couldn't help but feel happy. "You are very thoughtful, girl. I did have a big fat boy weighing 7.6 jin last night."
"This... since it's a congratulation, I can't go empty-handed. How about this—" Xu Zhenying raised his hand, took off a pair of his earrings, and said with a smile, "Although these earrings are not worth much, I left home in a hurry a few days ago, and this is the only thing I have on me that I can bring with me. If you don't mind it being unlucky, just take it back and please my wife."
Seeing Xu Zhenying repeatedly addressing her as "Madam" and praising her so highly, Gao Yayi was only pleased in his heart, but he did not show it on his face. He took the earrings and put them in his arms, saying, "Thank you very much."
Then he looked at Xu Zhenying, his tone official, but obviously more friendly than the previous two days, "Girl, tell me what you want to do."
"What you said..." Xu Zhenying smiled slightly, "Could it be that we can't just congratulate you?"
"You're making fun of me."
"It's mainly to congratulate you, but... naturally I also have a request for Uncle Gao. But don't worry, I won't make things difficult for you."
Gao Yayi just thought that this little girl was quite interesting. Although she looked young, she was quite experienced in doing things. Look at the way she bribed her, she was really sophisticated.
"you say."
"As you know, the Xu family was imprisoned by the emperor at the time. The women were arrested without knowing what had happened, and they haven't had a single word with the Xu family's master yet. We've been terrified these past two days, and we dare not speculate on the emperor's power. Grandmother is so anxious that she's even got blisters on her mouth. This feeling of waiting to die is truly unbearable. I'd like to ask Uncle Gao to go to my second uncle's place and ask him if this matter is serious, so that the old man here can rest assured."
The high yamen runner looked Xu Zhenying up and down, and thought that bringing a message was not a big deal, so he turned around and said, "Wait."
"Thank you, Uncle Gao."
Xu Zhenying turned around and saw that everyone in the Xu family was looking at her. She raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why are you all looking at me?"
"Sixth girl, aren't you afraid that he will beat you with a stick?" asked the aunt.
"I didn't provoke him, why did he hit me?"
"He's a yamen runner. Officials, none of them are good people."
Second Aunt was also surprised by Xu Zhenying's change. She frowned, feeling that something was wrong, but she only said, "You wouldn't have noticed before, but you're still quite clever."
"Don't you want to know what the situation is? Will it be death or exile? We can't figure it out no matter how hard we try. Why not ask someone who knows the situation?"
This is true, but the intimidation and beatings by the jailers in recent days have frightened everyone in the Xu family. Who would dare to deal with the jailers?
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