Chapter 1911 Are You Familiar
In Old Zhou's opinion, Zhou Yin was a son-in-law, and it seemed natural that Manbao had the surname Xia. If she had the surname Xia, then the Xia family's property would naturally belong to Manbao, and he would not give up a single penny.
But Manbao has always had his surname, and he doesn't want Manbao to change his surname, so he feels guilty. On the one hand, he thinks that these properties were left to Manbao by his sister-in-law, and on the other hand, he feels that it is not right to compete with the Xia clan for the property, so he is still struggling with it.
Manbao was not as conflicted as her father. These things were left to her mother by her grandparents, and her mother left them to her. No matter what her surname was, she was their daughter, right?
Whether she took it or not, she wanted to see what happened to her biological parents after they left Shangzhou.
The three of them rode their horses along the street and arrived at the gate of the county government office more than a quarter of an hour later. The guard had already handed in the door invitation and was waiting at the gate.
The three men dismounted, handed the horses to Daji, and walked to the gate of the county government office to wait. Because they were standing in the shade, Bai Shan took his hat.
Manbao was too impatient to wear it any longer, so he took it off together. Just as he took it off, a middle-aged man in official uniform came out of the county government office in a hurry.
Seeing Zhou Man who had just removed the curtain, he hesitated for a moment, but still stepped forward and saluted, "Is this Master Zhou?"
Manbao immediately smiled and replied, "I am Zhou Man, the editor of Chongwenguan. I have some business to attend to in Shangzhou, so I came to disturb Magistrate Zhai. Please forgive me for the inconvenience."
"No, no, it's a great honor for Shangzhou that you have come to visit me, sir." Magistrate Zhai was relieved to see Zhou Man's courtesy and stepped aside to invite him, "Sir Zhou, please come in and talk."
Zhou Man nodded slightly, glanced sideways at Bai Shan and Bai Erlang, and then followed County Magistrate Zhai into the room.
The legal advisor who came with County Magistrate Zhai quickly glanced at Bai Shan and Bai Erlang. Seeing that they were dressed appropriately and had gorgeous accessories, he guessed their identities after comparing their ages.
Compared to Zhou Man, he felt that it was more important for adults to make friends with these two.
Arriving at the back hall of the county government office, Magistrate Zhai asked them to sit down, and Manbao introduced them: "These are my two junior brothers."
Magistrate Zhai obviously knew them. After all, he had carefully considered the first step before getting the invitation.
If it were any other official in Beijing, he might not even be able to recognize all the fourth-rank officials, let alone the fifth-rank ones.
However, there was only one female official in the entire court, and because of Zhou Man, the prince had a son, and the prince's line had gained a firm foothold. Now, all the officials in the country knew that Zhou Man was a miracle doctor and a favorite of the prince.
Besides, Shangzhou is not far from the capital.
Naturally, Zhou Man’s two junior fellow students were also very famous. Knowing that they were students of Chongwenguan and companions of the prince, their future prospects would be far better than Zhou Man’s, County Magistrate Zhai was also very polite to them.
After both parties exchanged greetings and sat down, Man Bao then raised his intention, "County Magistrate Zhai should have heard of my story with the King of Yizhou."
County Magistrate Zhai smiled awkwardly, not knowing why she mentioned this. Of course he knew it, as this was the beginning of Zhou Man's fame in the court.
Manbao continued, "When I was young, I didn't know my biological parents. I...my uncle and aunt also knew very little about what happened after my father left home. For some reasons, they didn't dare to look for him. Only now did they dare to look for my mother's family."
County Magistrate Zhai was surprised when he heard this. "Your maternal family is from Shangzhou?"
Manbao nodded.
Magistrate Zhai and his advisor were delighted to hear this and asked, "Does your Excellency know if there are any other relatives in the family?"
Manbao shook his head and smiled bitterly, "I only know that my grandparents have passed away long ago, but I don't know if there are any other relatives in the family. The day after my father returned home..."
County Magistrate Zhai showed a regretful expression.
"Because of the short time, my parents didn't mention much about their family affairs, so I came here to look for them. I hope to find relatives and know where my grandparents' graves are so that I can pay my respects." Man Bao said, "I also ask County Magistrate Zhai for help."
When Magistrate Zhai heard it was a trivial matter like visiting relatives, he immediately agreed with a smile, "Household registrations from more than ten years ago should still be available at the county government office. It would be much easier to find him if we could find out where he lived before."
Manbao immediately said: "That is true."
Manbao took out a house deed and said with a smile: "This is where my grandparents used to live. As far as I know, my parents still lived here before they returned to their hometown."
Magistrate Zhai frowned when he saw the deed, vaguely feeling that something was amiss. But after thinking it over, he smiled and took it. After carefully examining the address, he said with a smile, "It's not far away. It's in Songhua Lane. Um, over there in Songhua Lane. Someone, go get Village Chief Xu."
Manbao picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea. He looked at Bai Shan calmly, with a slight raise of the corner of his mouth.
When Xu Lichang followed the yamen runners into the house, Bai Shan and the other two were discussing with Zhai County Magistrate the article recently published by Lord Wei in the official gazette.
Of course, it was mainly Bai Shan who was talking, with Man Bao occasionally interjecting a few words. Bai Erlang felt that he could not speak at this time, otherwise it would lower the level of his senior brothers and sisters, so he just quietly ate snacks and drank tea.
In just three quarters of an hour, County Magistrate Zhai's attitude towards the two people had changed from distant courtesy to admiration and respect, and even a slight closeness.
He looked at the three people, mainly Bai Shan and Zhou Man, and thought to himself: It is indeed reasonable for them to stand out. They have such insights at such a young age. The capital city is indeed full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers.
They were talking happily when they turned around and saw the head of the village, Xu, come in. Zhai County Magistrate stopped talking with regret and introduced him to Zhou Man and the other two, saying, "This is the head of the village, Xu. He happens to be in charge of that village."
Village Chief Xu looked at Zhou Man in confusion. He had been waiting for Xia Yi's family to arrive at home, but was summoned to the county government office by a yamen runner. Seeing how politely Magistrate Zhai treated Zhou Man and his two companions, he was unsure of their identities.
Manbao had already nodded with a smile, and instead of rising to salute, he raised his hand and said, "Village Leader Xu, please take a seat. We meet again."
Magistrate Zhai looked at Zhou Man, then at Village Chief Xu, whose forehead was covered in sweat, and asked with a smile, "How is it, Lord Zhou, have you met Village Chief Xu?"
Manbao smiled and nodded, "I have seen him, but we are outsiders, and there are many things that the headman cannot say to us. This official can understand. After all, this involves the privacy of the people, so it is only right for the headman to be cautious."
Magistrate Zhai smiled and said, "That's true, but Village Chief Xu, don't worry. This Lord Zhou is also an official appointed by the court. He would never use the privacy of the people to do anything illegal."
Manbao smiled and nodded, then looked at Village Chief Xu with a smile. Seeing that he was still standing, he hurriedly said, "Village Chief, please take a seat. Let's sit down and talk slowly."
Lizhang Xu sat halfway on the chair, curled his lips and asked, "I didn't realize you were an adult. Please forgive me for my impoliteness."
But a woman serving as an official... Could she be a lady-in-waiting in the palace?
But so small...
County Magistrate Zhai had already guessed that the two sides had probably already fought each other, and Zhou Man must have failed to get any information from Village Chief Xu, so he came to him.
Thinking of this, the smile on County Magistrate Zhai's face faded a little, and he said to Village Chief Xu in a serious tone, "I called Village Chief Xu here to ask about someone."
He glanced at Zhou Man and asked, "Is Village Chief Xu familiar with Xia Yan?"
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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