Chapter 1908 Search
Manbao suddenly felt a little sad and asked, "Then there must be some relatives, right?"
The stall owner said, "I haven't heard of that. So, is Mr. Xia really the person you're looking for?"
Seeing that Manbao's smile had disappeared, Bai Shan hurriedly said, "Perhaps so. That's why I want to find out if they have any relatives. If not, who lives in the house they used to live in now?"
"I don't know about that. Young Master, you can go to Songhua Lane and ask."
Bai Shan thanked him, and the guards who had been arranged to come to Shangzhou earlier came over and had already booked an inn for them.
After eating the noodles, they went to the inn to put their luggage and rest, and then asked someone to inquire about Songhua Lane.
The bundle that Manbao found in the mountains contained two property deeds, one for a house and one for a shop.
There are three land deeds and two household registrations. It is also because Xia Yan's name is on Xia Xin's household registration that Manbao knows the name of his grandfather, which makes it easier to find him.
Otherwise, it would be difficult to find her with only her mother's name, because in that era, women rarely had permanent property or moved around outside.
The sun was too strong, so Bai Shan put on his hat and went out. He said to Mr. Zhuang, who was feeling a little sleepy, "Sir and old man, please rest at home first. We will go to Songhua Alley to ask around."
Old Zhou immediately assigned Zhou Dalang and Zhou Wulang and said, "You go with your sister, but be sure to keep a good eye on her." Don't let the Xia family take her away.
Zhou Wulang felt that his father was overthinking it. If there was no one left at his aunt's house, no one in the Xia family would be happy to see Manbao appear, let alone take him away.
Manbao said, "Let's ask separately. Big brother, you and Fifth Brother go look for this shop. This is the land deed that my little...father has kept."
Zhou Dalang took it, discussed it with Zhou Wulang and nodded, "Then let's go."
"Go, go."
Zhou Dalang and Zhou Wulang were not worried about the three of them traveling alone. In terms of travel experience, the three of them had much more experience than their two brothers.
Because they didn't know how big Shangzhou was, Manbao and his two companions took their horses with them when they left. Daji only brought one guard with him.
Five people rode their horses along the street, asked someone and headed towards Songhua Lane.
Along the way, the three of them looked around, looking down at the stalls and shops on both sides of Shangzhou Street.
When we turned to Songhua Lane, there were not many people there. It was afternoon and there were only a few children playing in the lane. There were basically no adults to be seen.
Manbao dismounted, looked up at the household number on the door, and looked down, but some houses did not have household numbers.
Therefore, they couldn't find them all, but generally the household numbers had a pattern, so they counted them in their minds, walked down the alley, looked back and forth between the four houses, and then knocked on the door of one.
You can faintly hear the crowing of chickens from inside this house, which obviously means someone lives there.
Several people heard footsteps, and soon the door opened. Seeing that it was a woman, Bai Shan took a step back to let Manbao come forward.
Manbao smiled subconsciously, bowed, and then asked, "Excuse me, sister, which house is No. 23 Songhua Lane?"
"Number 23?" She was stunned for a moment and then laughed: "Young lady, you suddenly asked me this. I don't know which family it is. I don't even know my family's number."
She walked out the door and asked with a smile, "Young lady, are you looking for someone? I wonder what his last name is?"
"His surname is Xia," Manbao said after a pause, "He was a scholar more than ten years ago. His family used to live here."
"There is a Xia family here, but there is no scholar. Did you remember it wrongly?"
Bai Shan asked, "I wonder which family has the surname Xia?"
"Yes, it's the one across the street."
The three of them turned around to look, thanked her and decided to ask.
Manbao was a little nervous. He swallowed, walked forward, and knocked on the door.
As a result, she knocked once and the door opened a crack. Then they realized that the door had been ajar all along.
The people inside the door seemed to have heard the noise, and a female voice shouted, "Come in, the door is not closed."
Manbao pushed open the door and could see the entire yard at a glance.
There were poles on the left side of the yard, with a lot of clothes hanging on them. There was also a gatehouse next to the door. A man came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands. Seeing the people standing at the door, he was slightly startled and asked, "Who are you? I thought it was Mrs. Fang from next door."
The three of them hurriedly saluted and said, "Sister-in-law, we are here to look for someone."
She frowned and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
The older sister from the opposite house who was following behind Manbao and the others to watch the fun immediately raised her voice and said, "Sister Xia, they are here to look for a scholar named Xia. I told them there is no scholar in our alley, but they didn't believe me. I wonder if they are relatives of yours."
Mrs. Xia frowned and said, "We don't have any scholars in our family. Did you find the wrong one?"
Manbao looked around the yard for a while before looking back at her and asking, "Sister-in-law, do you know a scholar named Xia Yan?"
Sister Xia's expression changed slightly, and she subconsciously denied it, "I don't know him, you've come to the wrong place."
The three of them were not stupid. Seeing her expression was not right, they knew something was wrong. However, Mrs. Xia did not give them a chance to speak again. She drove them out directly, "I have to cook at home. Please leave quickly and don't disturb us..."
After saying that, he was about to close the door.
The neighbor's sister couldn't help but ask, "Sister Xia, it's already this late and you haven't had lunch yet? Aren't your kids all out playing?"
"Why would you care about our family affairs? You've got nothing better to do than stare at other people's yards, you gossiphead..."
The neighbor's sister obviously didn't expect to be scolded. After a moment's pause, she yelled back, "Gao, who are you talking about? I was kind enough to give directions to your relatives, but not only did you not appreciate my kindness, you also scolded me for no reason. Have you really done something wrong that you're afraid to let people find you?"
The two of them started arguing with each other, spitting saliva.
Manbao and the other two were so scared that they stepped back and squeezed to the side, watching the two of them quarreling with each other.
Bai Shan took out a handkerchief and wiped his face, then said with disgust, "I want to wash my face."
Manbao took a look and said, "We need to ask where the well is."
Bai Shan nodded, turned around and said, "Let's go and ask those kids in the front."
Bai Erlang asked, "Just leaving like that?"
Bai Shan said, "What else? Do you want to stay and argue with them?"
He said, "I can't argue with her."
Manbao also said: "I can't win the argument either."
Bai Jilang: "...Then you won't look for it?"
Bai Shan glanced at him and said, "It's confirmed. It's this house. Even if it's not, it must be related to the people in this house. The rest is to find the village head. We don't even know the relationship between these people. We are completely in the dark. How can we talk to them?"
He said, "Let's go find the village head first, or go directly to the county magistrate?"
If they were commoners, they naturally would not think of looking for the county magistrate, but Manbao was an official, and they were both students of Chongwenguan, so these identities were still very impressive outside.
See you tomorrow?
(End of this chapter)
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