Chapter 119 A House Full of Thoughts
It was freezing cold at the moment, and many people had already fallen asleep, leaving only a vast expanse between heaven and earth.
It's cold on a snowy night.
Water froze instantly, and they felt frozen just by sitting on the porch.
Miss Xu's hands already had traces of frostbite, and were severely red and swollen, but she kept scratching them while holding a book and practicing calligraphy, as if she didn't notice the severe cold weather, and her eyes didn't move away from the book at all.
The girl always said that she was not very talented and well-educated, and that reading could make people wise. So every night, no matter if it was raining, windy, or thundering, she would gather these people together to study, and she even called it a study group.
The girls read "Book of Rites" and they read "Three Character Classic".
The girls read "Spring and Autumn Annals" and they learned the four arithmetic operations.
All the Fang family's books were left behind when they fled. Xu Huiming was wandering around the city and accidentally saw these books in a shabby bookstore.
It is estimated that the bookstore owner fled in a hurry when the city was breached and did not have time to take many books with him. The attackers were just ruffians who could not understand the books, so naturally the books became a bargain for them.
These Xu girls read the book like they had obtained a treasure and could not put it down.
Feng'er felt distressed, but she secretly swore to herself that she would endure as long as the girl could. No, if she wanted to catch up with the girl, she had to endure longer than the girl.
Feng'er was a little absent-minded. She wanted to ask about the Xu family's situation several times, but was stopped by the clever Qian Zhenniang with a look.
Until the end of the meeting, she didn't have the courage to ask Xu Qingying how she planned to deal with Xu Lezhi.
Humph, there are some things that girls cannot do because of their relatives' face, but Feng'er doesn't have such concerns.
If anyone dares to bully Miss Xu, she will make Xu Lezhi pay.
Xu Qingying didn't read for long tonight. Firstly, the Spring and Autumn Annals was somewhat obscure and difficult to understand. Without Master Fang's explanations, she wouldn't have understood many parts. Secondly, she figured it was almost time and that someone in the second house would have made some noise, so she put away her book and headed inside.
The charcoal brazier was still burning, and the room was no longer as quiet as before. She carefully put the book back into the book basket, and saw Miao and Xu Degui walking towards her.
Miao went to wash Mei Xiao's body. The house was occupied by the women of the Xu family. Xu Degui couldn't go in, so he waved for Xu Qingying to come out.
Xu Qingying lifted the curtain, "Father, what do you want?"
Xu Degui hesitated to speak, but still persuaded: "Qingying, I just want to ask you, how do you plan to deal with Xu Lezhi?"
Xu Qingying raised her eyebrows slightly.
Xu Degui continued, "Le Zhi is younger than you and has been spoiled since childhood, so she's not as sensible as you. You're the older sister, and we're all connected. Even though there's been some tension between the third and second branches, that's between adults. You sisters should be more harmonious with each other."
Xu Qingying smiled faintly, "Father, do you want me to keep quiet?"
"You embarrassed my second brother in public today. You were wrong to do that. No matter how much you hate your second uncle, we can't show it openly. You have to know that filial piety can crush a person. Others have no idea what wicked deeds Xu Deyuan has done, but they only poke us in the back and accuse us of being ungrateful. Qingying, your father has finally seen that you are different from all the other children in our family. All of us in the Xu family put together are not as good as you. You may even hold the fate of the Xu family in your hands."
Xu Degui's words were so sincere that Xu Qingying was a little surprised.
"Because of this, we must be even more careful in what we say and do. Some truths are better left to you to understand. But some things must be done for others to see. Some reputations must be fought for."
Seeing that Xu Qingying didn't object, Xu Deyuan gradually spoke more. "This is also what your mother and I meant. As the saying goes, a strong will easily break. You will do great things in the future, so at least your reputation cannot be damaged. Especially we can't let those villains from the Second House ruin our reputation and hinder our future work. It's not worth it."
Xu Qingying pondered for a moment and understood the purpose of Xu Degui's visit. She also knew that Xu Degui and Miao were really doing this for her own good.
But Xu Deyuan was right about one thing.
Some things have to be done for outsiders to see.
Some reputations must be arrested.
Who can't pretend to be a good person?
Since she has come to the Great Zhou Dynasty, she must abide by the survival rules of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and she must be a good person, at least in the eyes of the world.
As for the Xu family's second wife, she had plenty of ways to deal with her behind the scenes. She was sure that others would praise her for her honesty.
Thinking of this, Xu Qingying smiled slightly, "Don't worry, Dad. I won't do anything to the Second Branch. To be more precise, as long as they don't threaten my actual rights and interests, I will turn a blind eye to anyone who provokes me."
Xu Deyuan paused.
But he immediately thought of the next sentence.
If you anger her, won't you end up with your head and body cut off like Liu Jieshi?
Fortunately, Xu Qingying didn't take Xu Lezhi seriously and was reluctant to deal with him, otherwise the second and third rooms would have been in chaos, and wouldn't it have been a laughing stock for others?
Xu Huiming hurried over and saw the two men standing in the corridor talking. He immediately lowered his voice and informed them, "Dad, sister, someone from the second house has brought our grandmother to apologize to us."
Xu Qingying held her forehead with her hand, feeling annoyed. It was not a big deal. Instead of wasting time, why not let her read a few more books, observe the layout and defense of the city wall, and think more about how to escape from Li Datou's hands?
Do you have to force her to engage in house fights every day?
But she still pretended to be flattered. She almost immediately took two quick steps and ran down the stairs to help Huang. "Grandma, it's freezing cold. Why are you here?"
Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Huang was followed by several young women from the second house. At the moment, they all had ashamed looks on their faces. Some of them had an expression of disobedience, as if they were forced to come here, while others looked terrified, as if they had been scolded.
As soon as Xu Qingying saw this, she knew what kind of opera was going to be performed.
The second branch asked Huang to come forward and seek peace.
"Sixth girl, it's cold outside, let's go inside and talk."
As soon as they entered, the women of the Xu family all got out of bed and started working. Fourth Aunt went to light the lamp to make the room brighter, while Anping hooked the charcoal fire to Huang's feet to keep her warm.
Huang was very satisfied with Zhao Zhenlan and Xu Anping. She nodded and touched Xu Anping's face lovingly, "What a good child."
It would be even better if it was a boy.
It won't be like the fourth room is childless. Maybe they will have to adopt one in the future.
But who should be adopted? The children from the first wife are all grown up, the children from the second wife are weak, and Xu Huiming from the third wife is the only child.
Could it be possible to go back to my hometown and adopt one?
But they are in Qianzhou, which of their hometowns would be willing to adopt them?
Huang sighed whenever she thought about this matter and couldn't even sleep at night.
This time, Huang, who had just thought that Zhao Zhenlan was diligent and a good person, became angry with Zhao Zhenlan again.
Fortunately, Huang was not only angry with Zhao Zhenlan, but also with her four sons.
This woman couldn't have children, but it wasn't just her fault. Huang was fair and just glared at both of them.
Huang sat by the bed, while the younger generations stood respectfully, listening attentively to her teachings. Huang naturally knew her mission for the day. She patted the seat beside her and gave Xu Qingying a very amiable smile, "Sixth girl, come sit next to grandma."
Xu Qingying went over as she was told, but did not ignore Xu Lezhi's gritted teeth.
Xu Lezhi, it feels great to have someone force you to bow your head, right?
Xu Qingying was in a good mood.
As soon as she sat down, Huang held her hand and said, "Sixth girl, grandma knows you've been wronged. I wish I could help you beat them up and let you vent your anger."
but?
Xu Qingying smiled and did not respond, waiting for what was to come.
"But just now, Le Zhi came running to me crying, saying she was wrong and shouldn't have said that to you. It's inevitable for sisters to have some arguments. You're a few days older than her, and you're more sensible. It hasn't been easy for our family to come this far. Could you please, for my sake, forgive her this time?"
Without waiting for Xu Qingying's response, Huang continued, "Don't worry. Le Zhi just promised me that she would definitely treat you as her own sister from now on. She would never argue or make trouble with you. She would do whatever you said."
Xu Qingying covered her lips and smiled, looking at Xu Lezhi's face full of resentment, her dissatisfaction almost written on his face.
Xu Yinxi shook her head and secretly kicked Xu Lezhi. Xu Lezhi managed to force a smile, "Grandma is right, Sixth Sister, I know I was wrong, please forgive me this time."
Xu Qingying asked with a stern face, "Wrong, what's wrong with you?"
Xu Lezhi was stunned and bit his lower lip lightly, as if he had never thought about this question.
But seeing the way Lian was glaring at her, Xu Lezhi felt dissatisfied but also afraid, so she had no choice but to go along with it and said, "I misunderstood Sixth Sister. Sixth Sister hit my father in public, and to vent my father's anger, I held a grudge against her and even had the audacity to want Sixth Sister to apologize to the Second House."
Xu Qingying raised her eyebrows calmly.
Huang's expression also changed slightly.
We are all thousand-year-old foxes, so who can't tell that Xu Lezhi is speaking the opposite of what she means? From her tone, it is clear that she is still blaming Xu Qingying.
"But!" Xu Lezhi immediately interjected, "Mother has already analyzed everything with me. She said that everything Second Sister did was to protect our Sister Xu. My father has been an official for many years and has a good reputation. He values integrity above all else, but he's nowhere near as flexible as Sixth Sister. When your life is on the line, what's the value of integrity? I was so naive that I mistakenly thought Sixth Sister was deliberately embarrassing Father to get revenge on Second House. I misunderstood Sixth Sister's good intentions. She truly deserves a beating."
Xu Qingying curled her lips and looked at Xu Lezhi with some amusement.
Xu Lezhi prided herself on being clever, and intuitively felt that these words were well-sounding, and no one could find fault with them. She even looked up and returned Xu Qingying's provocative smile.
idiot!
Lian and Xu Yinxi cursed in their hearts at the same time.
So all the time I explained the interests to her in the room was in vain?
Who is Xu Qingying? Does Xu Lezhi really think that she can't hear the difference between these words of praise and criticism?
"He really deserves a beating. Seventh sister, you really misjudged me, Xu Qingying." Xu Qingying helped Xu Lezhi up, but Xu Lezhi remained motionless and tried to compete with Xu Qingying. Xu Qingying simply raised her hand fiercely, and Xu Lezhi was twisted up like a chicken. She glared at Xu Qingying angrily.
Xu Qingying continued with a smile, "I don't want to speak ill of my elders, but I have to say that Second Uncle is a bit too pedantic. If I had gone to him nicely, he would have certainly used a lot of logic to pressure me. And Li Datou wouldn't have had the patience to wait for us. He might have dragged us all off and beheaded us. Wouldn't Second Uncle and his family have become the sinners of the Xu family?"
Xu Lezhi's face turned pale.
Xu Qingying's smile faded even more. "Besides, my sister's words seem to imply that I'm seeking revenge against the Second Branch. I don't understand. We're all family, how can you even bring up the word revenge? If I had a vengeful heart, I could have just let you die the night the bandits attacked us. Wouldn't that have been better?"
"You..." Xu Lezhi's true colors were revealed in an instant, and he blurted out, "You just want to control the entire Xu family! You want to kick my father out and become the head of the Xu family!"
Xu Qingying frowned, clutching her chest, looking heartbroken. "Sister, you're confused. I'm just a powerless woman. How can a woman be the head of a family? Besides, we're all going to be exiled to Qianzhou. Who would care about a poor head of a family? Why do you think of me like this?"
Lian quickly pinched Xu Lezhi from behind, and Xu Lezhi came back to his senses, realizing that he had fallen into Xu Qingying's trap.
Xu Qingying is really amazing. She cleared herself of all charges with just a few words.
"You're still powerless?" Xu Lezhi was furious at Xu Qingying's feigned weakness. "You've clearly killed so many people—"
At this point, the smile on Xu Qingying's face froze, and there was a chilling chill in her eyes. Her tone was soft and gentle, but there was a kind of pressure that could not be ignored.
"Seventh sister, why don't you elaborate on who I killed?"
Lian quickly pulled Xu Lezhi over, feeling annoyed that she shouldn't have let Xu Lezhi come to apologize, which made the situation worse.
"This damn girl is so ignorant. How can she say such nonsense?" Lian pretended to slap Xu Lezhi's back a few times. "You evil creature! Sixth girl has killed people before, but when did she not do it to protect us? If it weren't for Qingying, our whole family would have died during the last raid by the bandits! If you say such ungrateful words again, I will beat you to death!"
Xu Qingying knew that Lian was putting on a show for her, and she couldn't help but feel tired. She supported her temples with one hand and said coldly, "That's enough."
Lian stopped immediately and looked at Xu Qingying in a flattering manner.
Xu Qingying turned her head and glanced at Huang, only to see that Huang's face was full of disappointment in Xu Lezhi. When she met Xu Qingying's clear and bright eyes, Huang's heart instantly drifted to the Pacific Ocean.
Before Xu Lezhi came, he kept saying that he wanted to apologize to Xu Qingying and asked her to mediate between them.
Huang originally held the idea that a harmonious family brings prosperity, and thought that the quarrels among the younger generations were not a big deal. In which family in the countryside did brothers and sisters not grow up fighting?
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