Chapter 237 Zhou Yin
As soon as he saw Liu, Mr. Bai immediately asked about this matter.
Liu had someone serve him tea and asked the kitchen to prepare some sweet soup for Master Bai to temporarily fill his stomach. Then she said, "You may not believe this, but I think they are coming for my Bai family."
Mr. Bai couldn't understand and asked, "Why?"
Liu didn't answer, but asked, "Lizhi, they seem to be looking for someone in the village, probably a young man. Both sides reacted strongly to Zhou Jin's family. Did you know that he has a younger brother named Zhou Yin?"
Mr. Bai was shocked. "Are they here for Zhou Yin?"
Liu couldn't help but sit up straight and asked, "Do you know him?"
Mr. Bai coughed uncomfortably, turned around and asked, "Why is Auntie suddenly interested in these things?"
Liu said, "Tell me first, and then I'll tell you."
Noticing Liu's wariness, Mr. Bai was not sad, but even more shocked. How serious must this matter be that his aunt didn't even believe herself.
Mr. Bai pondered for a moment before saying, "Zhou Jin does have a younger brother. He wasn't in the village when my family moved here, but I often heard the villagers talk about him."
But in the past six years, everyone subconsciously avoided talking about Zhou Yin, as if it was a taboo, and it was.
Mr. Bai organized his words and said, "In the eleventh year of Dade, this area suffered a severe drought. Zhou Jin's family wasn't well off at the time. Their ancestors had few children, and now they have many, so their family was in great difficulty. This disaster hit their family the hardest."
The distribution of population and land began only after the founding of this dynasty, and has only been done for three generations so far.
So Zhou Jin's father only left a permanent piece of land to the two brothers.
But Zhou Jin was very fertile, with six sons and one daughter. At that time, Zhou Dalang had just gotten married and was not yet an adult, so there was another person added to the family.
A drought pushed their family into a desperate situation.
Mr. Bai said, "I heard that Zhou Yin was raised by Zhou Jin's wife, Qian. He was very filial and clever. He was only fourteen years old at the time. When no one was paying attention, he sold himself to a caravan and exchanged it for a bag of grain for the Zhou family."
Liu listened in silence.
"Not only that, he was also very righteous and caring about his fellow villagers. Let's not even talk about what he did for the village before. Just think about how he left with the villagers and returned with the caravan not long after. He secured short-term jobs for young men in the village on the caravan and also introduced several families to labor in the county town. With that little bit of food, many people survived."
"But after that, he left with the caravan and never came back." The village chief, begging Master Bai to cover up the matter, spilled all the beans about Zhou Yin. Master Bai was deeply impressed by Zhou Yin, and since this incident had been weighing heavily on his mind, he kept it in mind. "Later, the Zhou family went looking for him, including the caravan passing through here again. They heard that he caught a cold and an epidemic shortly after leaving. The caravan members left him some money and left, and there's been no news since."
Liu said, "It's lucky for those who have contracted the epidemic to still be alive."
"Yes, Zhou Yin was indeed still alive at the time. My nephew first met him in the early summer six years ago. He returned home with his wife and children, rich and prosperous. I spoke with him for a while and felt that he was a clear-headed and bold man."
That was why he invited the other party home for a drink. Mr. Bai felt that if Zhou Yin was still alive, they might have become good friends.
When Liu heard the word "early summer", she couldn't help but tighten her grip on the handle of the chair and asked, "What happened next?"
Mr. Bai lowered his eyes and said, "When we met the second time, they were already dead."
Mr. Bai paused and said, "Zhou Jin said his brother wanted to return to his hometown and had his belongings sent to the county town. He and his wife had gone to the county town to get them, but they didn't return that day. Villagers who went up the mountain to look for mushrooms found them collapsed on the mountain, covered in blood and with scratches on their faces. But the villagers knew them well and recognized them immediately, so they carried them back."
"They had nothing on them at the time, including the donkey cart they had bought. The Zhou family concluded they had been robbed and were about to report the crime to the county seat, but soldiers arrived in the village to investigate."
Mr. Bai said, "I was the first one to receive them. They were careless at the time, and I saw the portraits of Zhou Yin and his wife first, so I asked them a few more questions. They said they were arresting bandits, but how could Zhou Yin be a bandit?"
Liu asked, "Do they have a donkey cart?"
Mr. Bai was stunned and nodded in confusion. "Yes, Zhou Yin brought it back. He was returning home with his wife and children, and he couldn't walk back, so he bought a donkey cart. What's wrong?"
Liu slowly shook her head, "And then?"
Mr. Bai felt a little embarrassed. He had just moved into Qili Village a little over a year. Although the villagers were very welcoming, he always felt out of place because of his status.
For Zhou Yin's sake and to improve the relationship between the two parties, he stopped the official and sent someone to notify Zhou Jin's family first.
Then when the officials went to question again, almost everyone insisted that they did not know the two people in the portraits.
Mr. Bai said, "Almost everyone in the village has the surname Zhou. Even if they're not from the same ancestor, they're all related. Furthermore, everyone in the village has received favors from Zhou Yin, and these officials aren't even from Luojiang County, so it's easy to deceive them."
"But even so, the Zhou Jin family didn't dare to erect a tombstone for Zhou Yin and his wife. They just quietly buried them on the mountain."
Liu seemed a little uncomfortable, leaning her elbows on the table and asked, "What about their children? Didn't they say it was their wife and children?"
Mr. Bai paused for a moment and said softly, "My aunt has also seen that man."
A light flashed through Liu's mind, and she asked, "Yes, is it Zhou Man?"
"Yes, that's the child, but she doesn't know it."
Liu nodded, and her tears could no longer be held back and began to fall.
Mr. Bai was startled and quickly stepped forward, handing her the handkerchief. "Aunt, what are you..."
Liu wiped her tears and said softly, "Perhaps this is fate."
Mr. Bai: ...
"Qi'er didn't die at the hands of bandits."
Mr. Bai was startled and asked quickly, "How could this happen?"
"Why not?" Liu said excitedly, "Even if Qi'er wanted to suppress the bandits, he shouldn't have come to Luojiang County. Shu County is not close to Luojiang County."
"Didn't Ziqi die while suppressing bandits in Shu County?"
"No," Liu said confidently, "They transported Qi'er's body to Shu County and disguised it."
(End of this chapter)
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