Chapter 1913 Defense
Manbao seemed to sense his kindness. Most importantly, she remembered the longevity lock hanging around her neck. She took two steps forward, looked at Xia Xia carefully, and said, "My mother's name is Xia Xin."
Xia Xia grabbed her hand and looked her over carefully again. Finally, his eyes fixed on hers. He nodded affirmatively, "Okay, okay, okay."
He remembered something, looked behind her, frowned and asked, "Where are your parents?"
Manbao paused and said, "My father and mother passed away fourteen years ago."
Although Xia Xia had already guessed, he couldn't help but cry when he heard it now, "I knew it, I knew it. Xin Niang is such a filial child, and Zhou Yin is not a person who doesn't keep his promises. How could he leave and not come back? He clearly promised to write back to let me know his address after he settled down, and to come back often to pay homage to his ancestors..."
"But I didn't expect that they had already left fourteen years ago. Doesn't that mean they had just left not long ago..."
Manbao was silent for a moment.
After Xia Xia finished crying and wiped away his tears, he squinted his eyes to look at Bai Shan and Bai Erlang, "Who are these two?"
Manbao quickly introduced: "These two are my junior brothers."
She paused and then emphasized Bai Shan, "He is still my fiancé."
Xia Xia was surprised and asked quickly, "Since your parents are dead, who raised you? Who arranged this marriage for you?"
Manbao glanced at the other two elderly people standing beside him, smiled, and said, "I was still young when my parents died. Due to some unexpected circumstances, we couldn't even tell anyone about their deaths. So I was raised by my uncle and aunt, and I didn't know my life story until two years ago."
Manbao briefly recounted the incident in which Zhou Yin and his wife were involved with the King of Yizhou, and mentioned in passing that her father had now been posthumously named the Governor of Mianzhou.
Back then, after the incident broke out, because her household registration was in the Zhou family of Qili Village, and her father's household registration was also recorded in Luojiang County, no one knew that Zhou Yin was a son-in-law except the emperor, the prince, and Wei Zhi, who had conducted a detailed investigation.
Moreover, the Xia family had no direct relatives, and the incident happened in Mianzhou and Yizhou, so the reward was given directly to the Zhou family.
Except for the people in Qili Village, no one knew that Zhou Yin was a son-in-law, and even fewer people knew that Zhou Man's mother's family was in Shangzhou.
In Shangzhou, not to mention the common people, even the officials only knew about this one incident. Who would specifically investigate who the Xia family behind Zhou Yin was?
So Xia Xia knew nothing about it, but he knew about the rebellion of King Yizhou. When the incident came out, everyone was privately worried that there would be another war.
After all, Shangzhou is sandwiched between the capital and Yizhou. If the King of Yizhou wants to attack the capital, he will most likely pass through Shangzhou.
He just didn't expect that this matter would be related to Zhou Yin and his wife.
Mr. Du and Mr. Zhu, who came with Xia Xia, focused on Zhou Man’s last sentence, “Now I am an imperial physician in the palace.”
Old Du couldn't help but interrupt and ask, "It's rumored that there's a little genius doctor in the capital, a woman, who works as a lady-in-waiting in the palace. Could it be the young lady?"
Manbao naturally couldn't admit that he was a little miracle doctor, so Bai Shan nodded and said, "It's her."
Du Lao and Zhu Lao couldn't help but exclaimed, "Ah!" and instantly became much more enthusiastic. They all said to Xia Xia, "If Mr. Xia knew about this in the afterlife, he would rest in peace."
Manbao immediately asked, "I wonder if my mother has any relatives here. What did my parents say when they left?"
Just as he finished speaking, a yamen runner came in and reported: "Sir, Xia Yi is here."
Magistrate Zhai asked, "Why is it taking so long?"
Even the seriously ill Xia Xia has come, why is Xia Yi so slow?
The yamen runner glanced at Lichang Xu and said, "Xia Yi is not at home. I found him at Lichang Xu's house."
So it took a bit of effort to go back and forth.
County Magistrate Zhai also glanced at Village Chief Xu, smiled, and had someone bring Xia Yi in.
When Xia Yi came in, he was a little confused and nervous. When he saw so many people standing in the lobby, he felt even more uneasy.
He was called back to the shop by someone from the headman's house. However, he waited for a long time at the headman's house but no one came back. Instead, he was brought back by the yamen runners who came to the door.
Unlike Mr. Du and Mr. Zhu, who are very old and have some prestige and are occasionally invited to the county government office to discuss matters, he is just an ordinary citizen. In the past 30 years, the number of times he has been to the county government office can be counted on one hand.
So he was a little uneasy. He stepped forward awkwardly, knelt down to salute the county magistrate, and then looked at other people nervously, mainly at Village Chief Xu, hoping that he could give some hints.
But Village Chief Xu didn't even look at him, as if he didn't know him.
County Magistrate Zhai invited Zhou Man to take the seat of honor, then sat down and smiled at Xia Xia, who was leaning on a rattan chair, "Master Xia, Lady Zhou is not only an imperial physician, she is also a compiler for the Chongwen Academy."
The people present, including Xu Lichang, did not know how high a position the compiler held, but it sounded very powerful, at least higher than Zhai County Magistrate, otherwise he would not have waited until Zhou Man sat down before sitting down.
So after hearing this, Xia Xia was so relieved that he was speechless with joy.
County Magistrate Zhai then invited Mr. Du and Mr. Zhu to sit down. Of course, Village Chief Xu was not left out. So the only person left standing in the room was Xia Yi, who had just gotten up from the ground.
Magistrate Zhai made no move to invite him to sit down, and simply said, "Since everyone is here, let's get started."
He was not stupid and had roughly guessed what was going on. Although it was not uncommon for an only daughter to marry into a family, it was rare.
He knew the entanglements behind this matter very well, and now the property that should have belonged to Zhou Man fell into the hands of others. There must be a lot of things involved.
Even when Zhou Yin and his wife left Shangzhou fourteen years ago, there were probably some internal disputes, but now is not the time to bring up those past events.
Although he was very curious, as a county magistrate, peace in his jurisdiction was the most important thing.
So he said, "The two elders from this county and Songhua Lane are both here. They can not only resolve Mr. Zhou's doubts, but also mediate for you. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing if the matter was brought to court."
Zhou Man nodded in agreement and said to Magistrate Zhai, "I don't want that either. If we really go to court, I'm afraid people will accuse me of abusing my power."
The two of them sang in unison. Xia Yi looked confused, but Village Chief Xu was sweating profusely.
County Magistrate Zhai knew what was going on and asked Xia Yi, "Xia Yi, what is your relationship with Xia Yan?"
Xia Yi was stunned for a moment and then said, "Your Excellency, Xia Yan is my uncle."
"Since he's your uncle and he has an only daughter, why are you living with him? Do you have the deed to No. 23 Songhua Lane?"
"Yes, yes," Xia Yi said nervously, "Sir, my uncle died, my sister got married, and she left with her brother-in-law. This house is also ancestral property. The elders of the clan discussed it and felt that I was their closest relative, so they let me inherit the property. We passed the title deed."
(End of this chapter)
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