Chapter 1922 Mask
The carriage stopped at the gate of the county government office. The Xia family's people had arrived long ago and had drunk two cups of tea. When they heard the report that the Zhou family's people had arrived, the clan leader and elders of the Xia family immediately put down their teacups and sat up straight.
When they looked up, they saw Xia Xia being carried in.
Chief Xia and others: ...
Old Zhou and Mrs. Xia asked Mr. Zhuang to go first, and the three followed in. Manbao and Bai Shan and Bai Erlang didn't know why, but they were particularly attentive to the three of them. After letting them sit down, they looked at the Xia clan leader and others opposite.
Neither party knew each other, and it was a bit awkward. Xia Xia propped himself up and sat up slightly to introduce the two parties, "Madam, this is our clan leader."
Regardless of what he thought, Manbao stepped forward with a respectful look, bowed with both hands and said, "Zhou Man greets the clan leader."
Chief Xia quickly reached out to support her, and simply took her hand and said excitedly: "Alike, really alike, you and Xin Niang look a lot like each other."
Old Zhou couldn't help but think: She obviously looks more like one of their family members, how can she look like my brother's wife?
Manbao then looked depressed.
When County Magistrate Zhai arrived, Man Baocai followed the Xia clan leader to meet all the elders and clan members who had come. Then the Xia clan leader and Old Zhoutou Qian exchanged greetings and talked about Xia Yan. When he entered the door, the Xia clan leader was talking about Xia Yan's help and contributions to the family throughout his life. When he saw County Magistrate Zhai, he quickly turned around and saluted.
Seeing how friendly they were to each other, County Magistrate Zhai couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, then forced a smile and asked both parties to sit down. He stood in the upper seat, bowed to Zhou Man, and asked Zhou Man to sit down first.
Manbao smiled and said, "Please take a seat, County Magistrate. I'll just sit down below."
Although Xia's people had made some preparations, they were still surprised to see County Magistrate Zhai being so polite to Zhou Man.
County Magistrate Zhai then sat down and looked towards both sides. He said, "Since both parties are here today, let's talk openly to avoid any future rifts or conflicts."
He turned to Clan Leader Xia and said, "Clan Leader Xia should know that Lord Zhou came to Shangzhou to look for his relatives. The two sides should have confirmed their relationship, right?"
Patriarch Xia then remembered that they had not yet confirmed it, so he looked towards the Zhou family.
Zhou Dalang immediately took out his uncle's household registration, as well as his aunt's household registration book from the bundle he found in the mountains that year.
After reading it, Chief Xia sighed and said, "This is indeed the household registration of Zhou Yin and Xin Niang. They are the same person. I didn't expect that they had been together fourteen years ago... Well, I said that Xin Niang was a filial child, and Zhou Yin is not a conscienceless person."
When the Zhou family heard this sigh, they couldn't help but look at each other, as if... the relationship didn't need to be so awkward anymore?
Sure enough, I heard Chief Xia say to Manbao, "I never thought I'd see you again in my lifetime. When I meet your grandfather underground, I can explain this to him."
Manbao lowered his head with a look of regret.
Xia Xia heard them talking nonsense, so he took the initiative to ask: "Chief, when will the things left by Brother Yan be given to the lady?"
He said, "I plan to have Xiao Rui vacate the shop for her in a while, and also pay her the rent for all these years. I'll ask the clan leader to be a witness then."
After saying that, he groped in his arms with trembling hands, but couldn't find anything for a long time. Xia Rui could only step forward and take out the yellowed paper for him.
Xia Xia opened it with trembling hands and said, "This is what I signed with Zhou Yin back then. I rented his shop and gave him eighteen taels of silver a year. He asked me to collect rent and look after the house for him, so I was taking advantage of him. But I haven't collected any rent in the past twelve years, so I plan to add ten taels of silver every year..."
Chief Xia raised his eyebrows, smiled, and reached out to hold Xia Xia's hand. He said, "Third brother, why are you so anxious? I have been collecting the rent from the land for Xin Niang. Besides, you have worked hard for them for so many years. Even if Xin Niang and Zhou Yin came back in person, they would not ask for your extra share."
Manbao was stunned for a moment and then nodded, "Yes, Uncle, you embarrassed me."
Xia Xia paid no attention to Man Bao's words. He stared at the Xia clan leader and asked, "You said you collected rent from her?"
Chief Xia nodded and said, "Of course, I have been renting a piece of land from Xin Niang. It was you who rented that land to me back then."
Xia Xia sneered in his heart. He had rented him three pieces of land back then, but he didn't expect to keep all the land back then, so Xia Xia was not very angry.
Chief Xia turned around and sighed to Manbao, "Your parents haven't come back these years, and I can't just leave that land lying idle. The tribe has all sorts of speculations, so I rented it all out. I rented one piece to myself, another to Village Chief Xu, and the rest to various other tribe members."
"You just don't know that we farmers rely on the weather for our livelihood. The past ten years have been either drought or flood. Forget making money. Just being able to grow seeds is considered good enough," said the Xia clan leader. "Luckily, I still have some rent left over from my early years. I'll give it to you later."
Manbao looked at Chief Xia with a touched expression and said, "Grandpa Chief, I'm already very grateful that you've taken care of our fields for me over the years. How can I ask you for rent again?"
Chief Xia said, "Renting land to tenants is our duty."
Manbao shook his head and sighed, "If nothing had happened to my parents, they would have definitely returned home every year. Before I came here, I didn't think about the property my parents left behind, so I just kept the land deeds as a thought."
After saying that, Manbao took out the land deed from his pocket, which was well kept but a little yellowed.
When Chief Xia saw that she was wrapped in a layer of oil paper, even he, who was as old as a fox, couldn't help but change his expression. He didn't even think about it, was he kidding me?
Patriarch Xia didn't expect that Zhou Man, at such a young age, could say one thing to one person and another to another person. He said one thing on the surface but thought another in his heart.
He put away the last bit of thought in his heart, insisted on giving the rent to Zhou Man, and even decided to go back and complete the account book so that Zhou Man could check it.
Of course Manbao couldn't accept it and kept refusing. She really didn't want it. It would be one thing to pick the meat out of someone's mouth, but to spit out what she had eaten would anger everyone and be too offensive.
Moreover, compared to the fields that needed to be cultivated and tended, she wanted the house in Songhua Lane more, so she refused vigorously, then sighed, "I feel at ease leaving the fields and other things to the clan leader and the uncles and brothers in the clan. It's the house where my grandparents used to live..."
She said with a sad face, "I was still young when I left home. I only vaguely remember that there was a jujube tree in our yard. Every autumn, it would bear a lot of green jujubes. Whenever my mother wanted to eat some, my father and grandfather would give them to her. I wanted to go back to that house to accompany my grandparents and see the place where they lived."
Everyone in the Xia family: ...You're kidding! You've only been gone for a few months, how can you remember all this?
Everyone became more and more certain that she was a simple-minded person. As expected, no one who could become an official was simple, especially one who became an official in the capital at such a young age.
However, there is indeed a jujube tree in the Xia family's yard, which was planted shortly after Xia Xin was born.
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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