Chapter 1923 Break Up
The biggest headache for Patriarch Xia is the issue of the house. He has three pieces of land, the largest one is in his hands, and the other one is in the hands of Village Chief Xu. As soon as they entered the city gate today, a servant of the Xu family stopped them at the city gate with a box. Inside the box was the land deed that they later obtained.
As soon as he got the box, Chief Xia understood what Captain Xu meant. He had returned the land, but there was definitely no so-called rent. Not only did Captain Xu not give any rent, but he himself would not give out too much. After all, it was food that had already been eaten, and it would be too uncomfortable to vomit it out.
Both of these fields are easy to get, but the other field, the half that is used as a sacrificial field is fine, but it is too difficult to get back the half that has been distributed to each household.
In addition, there is the house that Xia Yi is currently occupying.
They are not a very capable family, but they are numerous and mixed. Even if he is the clan leader and has the final say in the clan, it is impossible to ask them to spit out the things.
The head of the Xia clan didn't want Zhou Man to see the Xia clan's joke, nor did he want to break up with the clan members. However, seeing that she mentioned the house without mentioning anything else, he could only stiffen his face and say, "Madam, when your parents had no news for a long time, we all thought..."
He sighed and said, "According to the clan leader's rules, your family property, especially the house, should be left to the branch closest to your grandfather. Actually, Xia Yi is your cousin. You two are descended from the same great ancestor."
He was her mother's great-grandfather, several generations away, so it was impossible for him to be her cousin. But Manbao didn't say anything and the smile on her face faded a little.
The gentleness on Patriarch Xia's face faded slightly, and he said, "After all, their family has lived in that house for twelve years and has developed a strong attachment to it. Do you want to live here in the future, or not? I suggest that they compensate you with money, and then consider it as buying the house."
Seeing Manbao's unhappy expression, he said, "Of course, there are other ways. If you change your surname and return to the family tree, you can prop up your grandfather's branch. The house is your grandfather's legacy, so the clan will naturally stand on your side and get it back for you."
Magistrate Zhai, who was sitting at the top, picked up his teacup and drank tea, lowered his eyes and thought to himself: If he really came, he would say it, how could it be so harmonious?
Manbao pulled his hand back from Chief Xia's, sat on the chair, and said to Chief Xia with a smile: "I don't plan to change my last name."
The Xia clan leader frowned and said, "Your father married into the family, so logically, your surname should be Xia."
"I didn't let her change her surname," Qian, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly said, "I raised her with all my heart and soul. When she first came to our house, she couldn't even eat much. I took great pains to raise her and even risked the lives of my entire family to protect her. Now that she's grown up, she wants to change her surname and leave home. Don't even think about it."
Patriarch Xia was taken aback and quickly said, "My in-laws have misunderstood. Although we asked her to change her surname, we did not mean to let her leave you."
Qian snorted coldly and said, "Even the last name is different, doesn't that mean he left?"
Xia Xia sighed inwardly, and seeing that Old Zhou still didn't say a word, he knew that this matter would end up in nothing.
Patriarch Xia argued with her, "But Zhou Yin is marrying into the family."
"I didn't say he wasn't marrying into the family. It's recorded in your family tree, and I didn't ask you to change it," Qian said, "but Zhou Man's parents are still me and her father. It wasn't easy for us to raise her, and she can't fail to repay us for raising her."
Patriarch Xia said with an unpleasant expression, "What about Sheng'en? She is the only bloodline left in my Yandi's branch."
"We've thought of this too," Qian said. "We're not ignorant of etiquette. Although we've never met my father-in-law, he's a good man since he took Zhou Yin in. We naturally don't want him to end up extinct, so we've agreed with Manbao's great-grandmother and mother-in-law that any future children born after the eldest son will take the surname Xia and be considered my father-in-law's heir."
Patriarch Xia hadn't anticipated this move. His eyes widened for a moment, and it took him a while to find the words to say, "If you ask me, the eldest lady is still young. There's no need to get engaged so early. Wait until she's older and find a good relative to marry into the family. Then, if she has more children, our branch of the family will flourish. Maybe we can even have two children to take the Zhou Yin surname."
Manbao sat aside feeling uncomfortable. Was she being treated like a pig?
She glanced at Bai Shan, who coughed lightly, put down his teacup, and said, "Patriarch Xia, my father-in-law, my mother-in-law, and my grandfather Xia are all people of their word. It's not good to break your promise in front of me, right?"
Patriarch Xia was so excited that he forgot Bai Shan's identity for a moment. The main reason was that he was not familiar with him, and there were many people from the Zhou family, so he didn't pay much attention.
Bai Shan glanced at Dae Gil.
Daji stepped forward and said expressionlessly, "Chief Xia, my young master is from the Bai family of Longzhou and has served in the court since the reign of the young emperor. Is it his family background or his appearance that doesn't match Miss Man?"
Manbao and Bai Erlang turned their heads to look at Bai Shan. Bai Shan didn't say much expression on his face, he just lowered his eyes and moved the cup.
The head of the Xia clan was a little confused. Which emperor was the Shaodi?
County Magistrate Zhai kindly explained to him, "The young emperor was the young emperor of the Han Dynasty. It was a turbulent time. It was truly rare for the Bai family to rise to prominence."
However, during the Han Dynasty, officials were basically selected based on their rank. For Bai to be selected, it meant that his family was at least of considerable standing, and he must have been a well-known local gentry.
The Han Shao Emperor has been in power for at least four hundred years. During these four hundred years, he has experienced ups and downs, three major chaos periods, and countless minor chaos periods. No wonder he is still alive and well, so it is no wonder that he is recorded in the clan annals.
Daji continued, "Let's not talk about family background and appearance, let's just talk about character and talent. Our young master is currently a student at Chongwen Academy, a companion to the Crown Prince, and at only fifteen, he's already halfway to becoming an official. Look all over Shangzhou, can you find anyone better than our young master?"
He added, "Let's not talk about our young master, let's talk about Miss Man. She is already a sixth-rank imperial physician and a fifth-rank editor. What kind of person is worthy of her?"
Manbao nodded.
Qian said, "If you want to marry a son-in-law to my daughter and let her choose anyone to marry, I won't agree."
Patriarch Xia said with difficulty: "Well, it's not casual."
Qian asked, "Is Bai Shan as good as him? Is his family background decent? Although we are marrying into a family, the in-laws are legitimate in-laws, and we have to interact with them. Is he well-educated and well-mannered? Is he a good person? We don't require appearance, but we must have good character and talent. Our Man Bao is so good, we would not accept someone who can't read a single word or has only read one or two articles."
Old Zhou nodded repeatedly and couldn't help but interrupt, "Our Manbao has read so many books, a whole room full of them. If someone who hasn't read much comes and can't even talk to Manbao, what's the point of living like that?"
Everyone in the Xia family was devastated: Who the hell is so educated and capable that he would marry into the Xia family's family?
Wouldn’t it be nice to study hard, become an official and make money?
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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