Chapter 1915 Inside Story
County Magistrate Zhai asked Mr. Du and Mr. Zhu to sit down in the study, then turned around and went out. He had only stood there for a while when a yamen runner came to report and repeated everything that Village Chief Xu and Xia Yi had said.
The yamen runner looked at Magistrate Zhai's expression and asked hesitantly, "Sir, should we send someone to stop Xia Yi?"
Magistrate Zhai glanced at him and said, "Why stop him? He's already done what we wanted to do, saving you the trouble. How wonderful!"
The bailiff looked confused.
County Magistrate Zhai had already said, "Choose someone smart enough to go to Hongtian Village. If Xia Shi offers money, don't push it away. Take more and tell them the truth. Xia Xin and Zhou Yin's daughter is called Zhou Man. She is not only a famous doctor in the capital, but also works in the Imperial Hospital. She has treated His Majesty, the Empress, the Crown Prince, and other royal relatives. She is also a compiler for the Chongwen Academy and can attend the Grand Court."
"The Mr. Bai she's engaged to is from the Longzhou Bai family, a noble family. Anyway, she can say whatever she wants, okay?"
Bailiff: ...Weren't their masters getting along well with Master Zhou just now? How come they're setting a trap for him the moment they turn around?
"Oh, right," Magistrate Zhai stopped the yamen runners and said, "Tell them too that Zhou Yin was posthumously named Governor of Mianzhou. Although Xia Xin is deceased, he also received a title. His Majesty personally praised them both as righteous men."
The bailiff left in confusion. Wouldn't all these words have prepared the Xia family of Hongtian Village for prevention?
Is the lord more inclined towards Lord Zhou or Lady Xia?
County Magistrate Zhai stood in the corridor with his hands behind his back for a while and then turned to see Mr. Du and Mr. Zhu. Since he wanted to mediate, he naturally wanted to understand the inside story.
The two old men, Mr. Du and Mr. Zhu, are not only old, but also have some prestige in the village of Village Chief Xu. They know something about what happened in the Xia family, not to mention that Mr. Du seems to have a good relationship with Xia Xia.
County Magistrate Zhai went in to talk to the two old men to find out what happened, and Xia Xia was also talking to Zhou Man about what happened that year.
The servants and yamen runners all retreated outside, leaving only Manbao and three others and Xia Xia in the room.
Xia Xia originally wanted to ask Bai Shan and Bai Erlang to leave as well, but seeing that Zhou Man didn't seem to understand his expression, and the two men didn't seem to want to avoid suspicion, considering the relationship between Bai Shan and Zhou Man, he could only sigh inwardly and pretend that he didn't see them. He Manbao said, "Your parents left you something."
Xia Xia said, "Fourteen years ago, your father only said that he wanted to take your mother back to his hometown to meet his brother and sister-in-law. He sold two plots of land, but the rest of the things are still there."
Xia Xia enumerated them in detail, "I know that your grandparents have always lived in this house. In fact, there is another house in Hongtian Village. However, when your grandfather was alive, it was given to the clan as a school. Later, it was given to the widows and orphans in the clan to live in. I don't think your parents have any intention of taking it back. So the only thing left is the two-story house in Songhua Lane."
Xia Xia said, "Besides this, the village has three plots of land, all quite large and very nice. In fact, your father wanted to sell those fields as well, but they were ancestral lands, passed down through generations. The clan didn't agree, so your father couldn't sell them, so he temporarily rented them out to someone else for cultivation."
"There's another shop that my family rents..."
He was obviously very knowledgeable about these matters, and said to Zhou Man, "Back then, your father promised to write back once he had settled down. He still has fields and shops here, and he has to collect rent. So he agreed to come back every year, or at most every other year, to pay respects to your grandparents and also to collect rent."
"But your parents disappeared without a trace after they left. They didn't return within the two years they'd agreed to." Xia Xia paused before continuing, "After that, the clan assumed they wouldn't return. Although your grandfather and I were good friends, we were more distantly related by blood, so I couldn't stop the clan. Twelve years ago, they opened up the ancestral hall and divided up their belongings."
Manbao roughly understood that they were right. Her parents really could not come back. So she was not so angry about their division of property. What she cared about was, "Why did my parents leave Shangzhou back then?"
She said, "My father had all his valuables taken away by someone else. My grandparents had just passed away, and I was still young. Why would it happen?"
Xia Xia was silent for a moment before sighing, "Your father married into the family. Back then, the clan wanted your grandfather to adopt a son. Before your father showed up, the matter had already been discussed..."
Although Xia Xia didn't mention anyone by name, Manbao understood that her father's sudden appearance blocked other people's way.
"Everything was fine when your grandfather was still alive. But when he died of a serious illness, the clan members were saying all sorts of things. Some even privately spread rumors that your father poisoned your grandfather to death. They couldn't live here any longer, so they decided to go back to their hometown to hide, hoping to come back later when things had calmed down."
Xia Xia said, "Although your father is young, he sees things clearly. Before he left, he told me that if I stayed here, I would probably end up in conflicts and disputes with the clan. Your mother's health wasn't very good during that time, and she was always worried about these things. Your health was even worse. He was worried that you would be upset if you heard these things when you grew up, so he decided to return to his hometown."
It was also because of Xia Xin's poor condition that Xia Xia agreed to let them go. Otherwise, Jiannan Road to Mianzhou is so far away, how could he agree to Zhou Yin taking his wife and daughter away?
Manbao understood what was going on. She exchanged a glance with Bai Shan and then spoke to Xia Xia. Finally, she pulled out a red rope from her collar, and Xia Xia immediately saw the longevity lock hanging at the bottom.
His eyes suddenly warmed up and he reached out to her.
Manbao took off the longevity lock and placed it in his palm, saying, "I've been wearing this since I was a child. My dad...my uncle said this was left for me by my parents."
Xia Xia's eyes were red as he said, "I made this. Your grandfather was still alive at that time, but he was in poor health. I started working on it the moment your mother said she was pregnant. I chose the best silver and melted it. I refined it twice to prevent it from changing color."
He said, "It took me more than three months to make this longevity lock. The characters Zhou and Xia are engraved on both sides. Apart from the longevity lock that a nobleman in the capital requested, this is the best longevity lock I have ever made in my life."
In another room, Old Du was talking to Magistrate Zhai, saying, "Master Craftsman Xia grew up in poverty. When the previous dynasty recruited soldiers for the imperial court, his uncle pushed him out to serve. He was only eleven at the time and was nearly drafted. It was Xia Yan who couldn't bear to see this and persuaded his parents to give him money to serve, and later sent him to learn the craft from a silversmith in the county."
"He's where he is today thanks to Xia Yan's care for him in the past, so Master Xia is extremely grateful. Originally, Xia Yan's shop was rented out to someone else selling groceries. Before the couple left, they asked Master Xia to help look after the house and collect rent. Unexpectedly, the couple never returned."
See you at nine o'clock in the evening. I have updated three chapters today, and the next chapter will be an extra one.
(End of this chapter)
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