The maid of the red house

When the members of the Lin family arrived at the ancestral residence of the Lin family, Daiyu was entertaining the officials and wives of Gusu.

Daiyu is ordered by the third rank, and her husband is the right commander of the imperial guards, and has been assigned to monitor Fan Ke's seizure of Zhen's family. Daiyu has been back for many days, and the news of Jinling has already been learned by Gusu officials, so even at the feet of the emperor, Apart from the royal clan and palace, the husband and wife can be regarded as top-notch figures, and these officials and female relatives naturally rushed over to flatter them.

The wife of the prefect of Suzhou is a fourth-rank woman. Seeing that although Daiyu did not wear makeup according to her grade, and her face was not made up, her peerless appearance made people secretly amazed, so she smiled and said: " Lin Shuren can now be regarded as returning to his hometown after a good clothes."

The rest of the officials and their family members agreed for a while, envious in their hearts.

How old is Daiyu this year to achieve the third-rank imperial order, when they are so old, will they still be first-rank wives?Especially those who come out of the capital are more noble than the local officials and family members.

Daiyu lowered her eyebrows and smiled slightly, and said: "Going back to my hometown today, one is that our uncle has an important errand assigned by a saint, and the other is the grace of the saint, allowing us to comfort our parents under the nine springs. It is my unworthy thing to say. Ji, I have been there for many years, the ancestors’ souls are deserted, and it is so easy to come back, how can I not kowtow to my parents. I just didn’t expect to trouble everyone to come here in person, it’s my fault.”

The magistrate's wife hurriedly said: "How can Lin Shuren be blamed, it's so far away, it's a lot more than ten years away."

Everyone hurriedly comforted Daiyu, and the magistrate's wife turned to ask about new styles in the capital, such as hair buns, clothes, makeup and hair oils, etc. These are all favorites of women's families. Ask a few words about the situation in the capital.

Daiyu is a smart person, and loves to dress up by nature, so she can talk about one thing. When it comes to hair buns and clothes, she is very logical. As for the situation in the capital, Daiyu seldom speaks. In the boudoir, she just got married not long ago, so she hasn't had time to know these things, and she doesn't know what's going on.

Speaking of the fresh styles in the capital, Daiyu called Xueyan and said, "Go and get the palace flowers we brought."

Xueyan heard the words, and she brought two brocade boxes, which were filled with various palace-made flowers, 24 pieces in each box, and a dozen people came before her. Daiyu smiled and said, "This trip is very hasty. There is nothing to congratulate, this is the gift from the Empress Dowager when she came to the palace to pay her respects at the Dragon Boat Festival this year, and it is appropriate for the occasion, please pick a few and bring them back to your sisters."

When everyone heard that it was a reward from the palace, they first held a bit of respect in their hearts, and then saw that the palace flowers were really exquisite, so they hurriedly picked two or three of them regardless of their color, and thanked Daiyu: "After all, it is something from the palace. It’s prettier than ours.”

Daiyu smiled slightly and ordered Xueyan to take the rest.

Palace flowers may not be as unique as the flowers made by Gusu people themselves, but because they come from the palace, they are more expensive.

Daiyu's trip was really in a hurry, and she didn't prepare all the gifts, but she bought some when she parked on the way south, and these two boxes of palace flowers were the ones she thought were broken branches. brought over.

At this moment, someone reported that the clan chiefs and elders had come to look for Daiyu.

Daiyu was slightly taken aback, but the faces of the magistrate's wife and the others showed a bit of understanding. Lin Ruhai left millions of family assets, although only [-] to [-]%, it was about a million. The Lin family was not a direct branch, but It was because Lin Ruhai passed away, and there were no heirs behind him, and the side branch was the master of the family, but since Lin Ruhai passed away, it has not been as good as before, so how can we let go of this huge fortune.

The magistrate's wife said: "Since Lin Shuren's natal family is here, we should say goodbye."

But Daiyu said: "It's so hard for you all to come here, how can you go back without eating? If I let you go back in the sun at noon, what kind of hospitality will I do? Please say goodbye quickly. .”

When everyone heard the words, they sat back to their original positions and looked at Daiyu, not knowing how she treated her people.

Xueyan frowned slightly. At that time, Daiyu was not yet married. Whether it was national laws or family rules, Daiyu could get more than half of it, and the rest belonged to the imperial court. It was only Lin Ruhai who treated the clan well, so Fang left some last words to the clan. I'm sorry for them, they didn't fight against the power of the Rongguo Mansion a few years ago, so they wanted to bully Daiyu's daughter who was out of the cabinet, wouldn't it work?

She knew from Daiyu's mouth that Lin Ruhai's branch belonged to the direct line, and the rest were from the side branch clan. Back then, when Lin Ruhai was an official in Yangzhou, he chose an elder from the side branch to perform the duties of the patriarch on his behalf. Most of the income was from helping the clansmen. Lin Ruhai didn't get any. Later, Lin Ruhai died of a serious illness. The clan elder became the clan leader with the support of the clan elder. He returned home disconcerted, but Jia Lian, the Lin family's sacrificial field, did not dare to move, and they all fell into their hands.

Xueyan remembered that the Lin family's sacrificial land had a total of 3000 hectares, and the annual income alone was no less than [-] taels of silver. With such income every year, it was actually not greedy enough.Why didn't they go to send Daiyu off when she got married?Presumably they thought that all the property had been embezzled by Jia's family, and Daiyu would not get much, no benefit, so they didn't go?

Just like Xueyan, Daiyu also thought of this, and said to Xueyan: "Go over and serve tea to the patriarch and elders to plead guilty for me, and ask the kitchen to host a banquet, just say what I say, I am a junior I should come to the door in person, how can I trouble a few relatives to come? Wouldn’t it be frustrating for me, besides, the uncle is not at home now, and I have already left the court as the wife of the Zhou family. , let’s go over to see you together, if you have something important to ask the clan elders, you might as well wait for a few days.”

Everyone listened to Daiyu's words with reason and evidence, neither seemed superior to others, nor showed panic, they all nodded secretly, the magistrate's wife said with a smile: "That's right, Lin Shu is the only female family member in the family, how can I see them casually? Said, please go back for a while, General Zhou will come back tomorrow, and bring Lin Shuren over there, and we can talk about it if we have anything to say."

The magistrate's wife has a first-class status in Gusu. She said this clearly to protect Daiyu. The Lin family does not have many promising people now, and the whole family is in Gusu, so how dare they offend the magistrate's family so easily.

Daiyu said to Daiyu, "Just say that, don't be afraid of them."

Xueyan responded, turned and went out.

She called the little girl first, and said: "Go ahead and ask how many people have come, and make tea according to the number of people, and send it to the front hall." The family is like this, so she refuses to do it herself.

The little girl was the granddaughter of the old servant who took care of the ancestral house, and said with a smile: "I know how many people came, there are twelve people in total."

Xueyan smiled and said: "You are smart, if that's the case, let's make tea for twelve people and send it to the front hall."

The little girl hurried over.

After Xueyan finished explaining, she walked to the entrance of the front hall, looked inside, and saw an old man sitting on the upper hand, with a childish face and white hair, very energetic, and there were three old men beside them, and three middle-aged men and five men were standing around them. Young people, presumably his descendants.

After reading it, Xueyan lowered her head and thought for a moment, then stepped in.

Hearing the sound of light footsteps, everyone's faces were filled with joy. When they looked up, they were greatly disappointed. It turned out that the person who came was not Daiyu. Come on, Patriarch Lin, who was on hand, said in a low voice: "The eldest niece is so pompous, even my uncle, who is here, refuses to come out to see her."

Xueyan blessed Fushen and said: "Greetings to the patriarch and all the elders, our girl asked me to come and plead for you on her behalf."

Patriarch Lin said angrily: "Since you girls know how to plead guilty, why don't you come here in person?"

The three clan elders also said one after another: "That's right, don't we old fellows think that you girls can't afford to come and see us?"

Xueyan secretly despises her in her heart, looking at this appearance, she looks like a noble literati from a scholarly family, with a gentle manner, but her words are really unflattering, so she calmly said: "Now the magistrate's wife is here to pay a visit to the girl, The girl is entertaining guests, and she really can't tell her origin, so I ask the patriarch and all the patriarchs to forgive me."

Patriarch Lin was taken aback when he heard that the magistrate's wife was a guest, and asked, "The magistrate's wife is here to pay a visit?"

Xueyan nodded and said: "Not only the magistrate's wife, but also several officials and family members in Gusu are here. Our girl will always invite the magistrate's wife and all the wives to have lunch at noon."

After hearing this, everyone was speechless for a moment. They all looked at Patriarch Lin, who was also a little annoyed.

Although the Lin family is still very wealthy, but it has been handed down for more than a hundred years, there are many people who are idle, and few who study and make progress.What's more, only the grandson of Patriarch Lin passed the exam in the old year, and it seems that he is over [-]. He failed the exam even twice. As an official, you don't have to have gray hair in the exam, so you are thinking about what Lin Ruhai left for Daiyu.

Thinking of this, for the sake of his children and grandchildren, Patriarch Lin cheered up and said: "I want to see your girl, but if I don't see you, I won't go back. After you see off the guests, do you think your girl can come to see me?"

At that time, the little girl brought tea, Xueyan took it and sent it to everyone, then turned around and said: "The patriarch, Rong Zhi, I'm afraid we can't, our girl is young, and she left the cabinet again, it's not good to see the patriarchs He Clan Elder. But our uncle is on a mission in Jinling under the order of the sage, and he has [-] imperial guards under his command. They will arrive in a few days. If the patriarch has something to do, we might as well wait for our uncle to come back."

Hearing that Zhou Hong was in charge of the [-] imperial guards, everyone swallowed involuntarily, a trace of panic flashed in their eyes, Patriarch Lin said with a sullen face: "I'm so old, and I'm from my own family, why should I avoid it? "

Especially in the south of the Yangtze River, Zhou Hong's reputation for fighting on the battlefield has been heard for a long time. If he rushed over, how would they dare to come to the door.

Seeing it, Xueyan sneered in her heart, but her face was still like the spring breeze blowing on the willows, and said neither humble nor overbearing: "Although they are from my own family and come from the Lin family, there is no reason for young aunts to see uncles and brothers from the same family, let alone already Out of five clothes, not to mention that our family is a family of scholars for several generations, even ordinary poor families don't have this rule. Besides, this is what our girl means. Although our girl is incapable, after all, she still has the third grade bestowed by the imperial decree My commandment, it’s not something that anyone can see. Our girl said, wait for the uncle to come back, pay respects to the master and wife with the uncle, and then visit the patriarch and the elders with the uncle. We will talk about anything at that time, but It’s only a few days’ work, could it be that the patriarch can’t wait any longer?”

What he said made Patriarch Lin speechless, but fortunately, he is over seventy years old, he has gone through the world, and for the sake of his children and grandchildren, he can hold his breath and said: "In this case, we will wait here until your uncle comes back. I'd like to see what kind of head and six arms our son-in-law of the Lin family has, if he doesn't abide by the laws of the country and the rules of the family!"

Before the words fell, he heard the outside with a smile: "What are the national laws and family regulations?"

As soon as Xue Yan heard that it was not Zhou Hong's voice, she looked up and saw Zhao Yun walking in, still dressed as a scribe.

Patriarch Lin frowned and said, "Who are you? We came to look for your girl, when is it the turn of a servant to speak?"

Xueyan hurriedly said: "Patriarch, he is not a servant of our family, but Mr. Zhao, our son-in-law's aide. Cuisine."

Hearing that Zhao Yun was actually a scholar and that he was so young, patriarch Lin and the others were surprised, they all stood up quickly, not daring to make a big fuss, they all only had the reputation of being a scholar, and could not compare to Zhao Yun's status Well, although Lin Heng, the son of Patriarch Lin, is a Juren, he did not accompany Patriarch Lin to seek justice today.

Staff members also have grades, and based on Zhao Yun's achievements, they can at least get the fifth rank now, but he didn't accept it because he had no intention of official career. Zhao Yun smiled and said, "Why is Mr. Zhao here?"

Zhao Yun smiled, touching the scar on his cheek, he couldn't help feeling a little hideous, he saw that Xueyan didn't care, but the Lin family gasped, and he didn't care, and replied: "I heard that Lin Shuren's mother's family The patriarch and the elders come over, Lin Shuren and the girls are all female relatives after all, so come over and tell them that they might as well wait for the general to come back."

After finishing speaking, he turned his head to look at Patriarch Lin again, and said, "Just now Patriarch Lin said about national laws and family rules? I wonder which one our general violated?"

Zhao Yun has fame and fame, so he could ask this question, but Xueyan couldn't. Seeing Zhao Yun's appearance, Xueyan took two steps back, stood aside, looked at Patriarch Lin without saying a word, and listened to his answer.

Patriarch Lin said in a deep voice: "I shouldn't tell you these things, you don't have to ask."

Zhao Yun smiled slightly and said: "Since that's the case, please ask Miss Xueyan to instruct the subordinates to prepare a house for Patriarch Lin and several clan elders to live in. The general will be back in a few days."

Xueyan responded, and said: "The girl has already explained, let me order a table of banquets in the kitchen, the patriarch and all the elders will come in a little bit, if there is anything to do, wait until my uncle comes back, I will ask someone to clean up the room .” After finishing speaking, he went to cook.

After the incident, Xueyan still went back to serve Daiyu, and replied face to face, only saying that Patriarch Lin and the clan elders would stay for a few days.

The magistrate's wife and others looked at each other and smiled, knowing that Patriarch Lin and the others would not give up until they achieved their goals.

Daiyu frowned slightly, not wanting to make her family ugly, she nodded and said: "Since the patriarch and elders are staying here temporarily, you have to order the subordinates to take care of you, don't be negligent, the uncle will come back tomorrow, and the uncle will be the master, if there is any difficulty at home If you can help, you can help, if you can't, you have to do your best."

Xueyan understood, and said: "I have already ordered to go down, and the patriarch and elders also said to wait for the uncle to come back."

Daiyu nodded, and when the table was served, she invited everyone to the table.

The magistrate's wife saw that she was not worried about the arrival of the Lin family, and acted appropriately, remembering that she had been raised by a nanny in the palace since she was a child, she couldn't help but retract the little bit of underestimation she had for her young age.

The host and guests had a great time this day, if not for the visit from the Lin family, Daiyu would not have frowned and looked sad at night.

Xueyan said: "We have to find a way, if they don't, maybe it will ruin the girl's reputation."

Daiyu put down the book in her hand and said softly, "I already have an idea."

Xueyan asked what it was, and after she finished speaking, she was silent for a while, and said: "Miss, this is a good idea, I guess the uncle agrees."

I don't want Patriarch Lin to wait for half a month to stay here, and still haven't waited for Zhou Hong to come back.In the past half month, Daiyu had guests every day, and no one in the Lin family could afford to offend them, so they just waited.

Seeing this, Guanyue, Zhao Yun's servant, asked puzzledly, "What's the matter that I have to wait for the general to come back? I've waited for half a month, like an old man, and it's very hard to take care of me. Obviously I can come back." We are waiting for General Zhou and Lin Shuren to visit us."

Zhao Yun brandished a big saber in the courtyard, the aura of the saber was like a rainbow, and his aura was extraordinary. After practicing a set of saber techniques, he was still blushing and breathless. Hearing Guan Yue's words, he brought the saber to him, and said with a smile: "Caibo Touching people, Mr. Lin left a piece of news about Lin Shuren's family property, but it can't be hidden from others, so it's just the idea of ​​using this family property."

Apart from this, the people from the Lin family have nothing else to do.Zhou Hong once said that the Lin family had never visited Daiyu in the capital for several years, and every year in Chunwei, there were not no children rushing to take the exam, but they ignored her, and she did not give her a marriage when she got married, which shows her character.

Guanyue held the scabbard and put it away, and said: "This is amazing, it is Lin Shuren's dowry, why should I give it to them? Besides, they are not the direct descendants of the same family, and they came out five times earlier, just according to the national law. Giving them is kindness, and not giving them is a matter of course. Besides, I heard people say that back then, Mr. Lin left a message and gave them some property, a total of 50 million taels. It's just that the Zhen family helped the Rongguo Mansion back then, and they He has never competed with the Second Master Lian of the Rongguo Mansion."

Zhao Yun glanced at him and said, "You can inquire clearly."

Guanyue smiled coyly, and said: "I didn't find out clearly, but there are too many people who said it, so I just remembered it. Sir, can they succeed? But don't let them succeed, Lin Shu is so nice, these days a little They didn't neglect us."

Zhao Yundao: "Regardless of whether General Zhou is here or not, they are just taking their own humiliation."

Guanyue was puzzled, and wanted to ask again, but saw that Zhao Yun had already gone into the room to read a book.

While Patriarch Lin was anxiously waiting, Zhou Hong’s errands in Jinling had already been done properly. The supervisor, Fan Ke, sealed off the Zhen family, imprisoned all members of the Zhen family, regardless of gender, age or age, and ordered the imperial guards to do it themselves. They ordered that they should not be beaten at will, that everything should be registered and recorded, and that no one is allowed to embezzle one and a half pieces. The number of confiscations was astonishing, as expected by Zhou Hong, it was as huge as 300 million taels.

A lot of things were confiscated from the room of the old lady of the Zhen family alone, including head and face clothes, silk and satin, precious medicinal materials, gold, silver, jewelry, antique furnishings, furniture and ornaments, etc., dowry dowry, things respected by children and grandchildren, and three gifts from outside The gift of two birthdays, accumulated in six to seventy years, is more than a million, and there are hundreds of thousands in Mrs. Zhen's room. Even an aunt, tens of thousands of silver and other things were copied from the room, and a few coins were copied from each of the two big housekeepers of the Zhen family. One hundred thousand family assets, let alone the head of the family.

Fan Ke was extremely astonished, and secretly hated Zhou Hong for intervening so that he could not profit from it.

Zhou Hong looked at the imperial possessions confiscated from the Zhen family and was secretly amused. The Zhen family was so bold that they dared to violate the rules. He glanced at Fan Ke faintly and said: "The saint means that all the confiscated objects will be sent to the The capital, don't move at all."

Fan Ke heard the holy will, his heart trembled, and he said: "It should be, it should be."

Zhou Hong ordered people to put the confiscated items into boxes, lock and seal them all, and then transported them onto the ship in an endless stream. After several days of busy work, they loaded more than ten large ships, each of which had a deep draft, please Zuo Commander Wang Miao was sent to the capital. Although Emperor Changgan trusted him, he would not only send him to take care of such an important matter. What's more, he had to pay homage to Lin Ruhai and his wife, so it would take some time. Emperor Changgan can wait It can't be so long, not to mention that the two of them have the same reason to check and balance.

Wang Miao asked, "Bo Yu won't go to Beijing with me?"

Fan Ke also looked at Zhou Hong in surprise, but he heard Zhou Hong say: "I asked for leave from the saint, and I can only go to Beijing after accompanying my wife to worship my parents-in-law. Brother Sanshui must send these things to the capital, together with Zhen The whole family is waiting, so be careful on the road. The account books obtained from the ransacking are in duplicate, one is taken away by my brother, and the other is kept in my hands, and will be submitted to the imperial court after I enter Beijing."

Wang Miao thought for a while, and said: "This is what you should do. You went south to pay homage to your parents-in-law, so you have to go there in person. In this case, I will leave two hundred imperial guards to go with you, and the rest 700 people came to Beijing with me."

The remaining 100 people were sent out by Zhou Hong before the raid on Zhen's house. Sure enough, some people from Zhen's family sent some people to escape quietly with their belongings. Presumably they got wind of it first. Zhou Hong didn't do anything, just screamed More than 100 people followed up to see where they sent their things, and found that some were sent to the capital, and some were sent to the south, and so on.

By the time everything is settled, it will be the end of June.

After Wang Miao and others set off on the road, Zhou Hong immediately rushed to Suzhou with his people.

As soon as he stepped into the border of Suzhou at dusk that day, the magistrate brought a group of officials to welcome him. After all, Zhou Hong was a third-rank general and had just finished taking care of the Zhen family affairs. He suddenly came to Gusu.

Zhou Hong exchanged a few words with them, only saying that it was a private matter, not related to official business, and they dispersed, saying that they would invite them to a banquet another day.

Zhou Hong ordered the imperial guards to station at the inn, and he went back to the ancestral house of the Lin family. When he first heard about the Lin family's long wait, a stern look flashed in his eyes, and he went to Daiyu's room.

Daiyu had just sent off a group of officials and family members, so she was very happy to see him rushing over.

Zhou Hong was dressed in the dust, and said: "I have heard that someone from your mother's family has come, so I will order someone to hold a banquet, and I will go see you."

Daiyu asked someone to prepare hot water for him to take a bath, while sighing, said: "It's not caused by the things my father left behind. I guess it's for this. I've asked After that, although the family has two or three thousand mu of land for sacrifice, but the drought and floods have been uncertain in recent years, the harvest has been reduced a lot, and some have been sold. I figured out a way to add a sum to the dowry list, and now I can stop their mouths."

Daiyu still remembered that they were the ones who came to fight for property, and her father was so angry that he refused to see them, now Zhou Hong came forward.

After Zhou Hong took a shower, he saw that she was still depressed, and said, "Don't worry, I will do everything to you."

Daiyu sighed: "What's the point of doing this for these things? When you break up with them later, don't be too aggressive, just say what I mean. Now we live in the capital, thousands of miles away from home. In addition, if there are children from the clan who come to Beijing to catch the exam, or come to Beijing to wait, they should not have to pay for the living expenses. In addition, the ancestral house can be rented to others before we leave. Xueyan has inquired about it, 2000 taels of silver I haven't rented such a good house for a year. Anyway, we don't live in it, and we are more and more lonely. We rent it to someone and save a lot of money for repairs. The rent is used for the children of the clan to study. I can't do anything else. gone."

The Lin family's ancestral house was built with a lot of manpower and material resources when it was entrusted to the marquis, so it has such a wonderful scenery, and the beauty of the garden is second to none in the world. Although it has not been lived in for many years, it has been repaired quite neatly, which cannot be found in Gusu city. Come second.

Zhou Hong praised: "It's so good, it can motivate them to study and make progress, and it won't make them turn against each other."

But Daiyu said: "That's not necessarily the case, because of these, there are many people who turn against each other!"

Zhou Hong gave a few more words of comfort, and heard that the banquet was ready outside, so Zhou Hong strode over and asked someone to invite Zhao Yun to accompany him.

When Zhao Yun arrived, Patriarch Lin and the others were already blushing with anger, and said, "Don't take care of our Lin family's affairs just because you are a third-rank official. The property left by the Lin family should be taken away."

Zhou Hongwen sat on his hands, his expression calm and unaffected in the slightest.

Zhao Yun sneered, walked over and said, "Don't say that Miss Lin hadn't left the cabinet when Mrs. Lin passed away, but she could inherit more than [-]% of the family property. Even if she has already left the cabinet, it should be handed over to the court instead of being distributed to the clan. I don't know Patriarch Lin. Why did you say such things in front of our general? If I remember correctly, Lord Lin left a lot of property to the clan back then, but the clan couldn't keep it themselves, and now they want the dowry that Master Lin left for Lin Shuren with great difficulty? God How can there be such a reason?"

Patriarch Lin's face sank like water, and said: "This is our Lin family's business, and you shouldn't be an outsider to take care of it."

Zhao Yun smiled lightly, and said: "Although I am an outsider, I have a good reputation. Logically, I can listen in, and I can also hand in a post to the yamen. I invite the yamen adults to come and tell who is right."

After hearing this, Patriarch Lin remembered that Zhao Yun was an examiner, so he couldn't help being speechless.

Zhou Hong said in a deep voice: "I have made it very clear that this property is the dowry left by my father-in-law to my wife. It has been hidden until now with great difficulty. No one else has the right to interfere, even my Zhou family will not spend a cent. Well, the head of the Lin clan can rest assured that I will never embezzle my wife's dowry just because he has no parents to rely on."

Patriarch Lin sneered, and said, "It's hard to say what will happen after knowing people and face but not heart."

Zhao Yun clapped his hands and said, "Yes, that makes sense."

Patriarch Lin said: "You have said that, so it is reasonable. In this case, no matter what, you can't take away the property left by Ru Hai. We, the descendants of the Lin family, rely on these to eat and live!"

Zhao Yun wondered: "Could it be that the income from several thousand acres of fertile land left by Mr. Lin was not enough for a hundred and ten members of the Lin family?"

Patriarch Lin's face changed immediately, and he said, "How do you know?"

Zhao Yun has been here for so many days, how can he not inquire clearly, he looked at Patriarch Lin, and said seriously: "Seeing that the old man is also a scholar, he keeps talking about national laws and family rules, why don't you think about what the national laws and family rules say? I have just mentioned the rules of Lin Shuren just now. Lin Shuren was not out of the cabinet when these properties were left, so it is justifiable to use them as family assets. As far as I know, Lin Shuren’s lineage is the direct line. Can family rules control Lin Shuren?"

Patriarch Lin said angrily: "She has left the cabinet now, and the property that the Lin family has not given away should not belong to her. After all, you just don't want to give it to us, right?"

Zhou Hong nodded and said: "Since it was left by my father-in-law, and it was written on the dowry list, how can I just give it up to others for no reason? Besides, Patriarch Lin seems to have a bad reputation."

Patriarch Lin sneered and said, "Well, I'll go out and call for grievances, so that everyone can know that the daughter of the Lin family turned her elbows away, and for the sake of others, she even ignored her mother's family. Can't live with the imperial order granted by the imperial court!"

Zhou Hong was furious, but the angrier he got, the calmer his face became, and he said: "Alright, I have invited the magistrate and a group of officials and eunuchs to come over and distinguish whether it is the Pangzhi people who have come out of Wufu who are bullying too much. It was the daughter of the Lin family and the wife of the Zhou family who violated the national laws and family rules and cared only for herself."

Zhao Yun hurriedly stopped him and said, "Why should everyone know about the trouble? Lin Shu is a kind-hearted person, so she probably doesn't want to do this. It's better for General Ming'er to make a statement and tell the saint that he wanted to transport the things back to the capital according to the saint's wishes." , but was blocked by members of the Lin clan and couldn't follow the order, you should kowtow to apologize when the time comes."

Patriarch Lin was taken aback, and lost his voice: "What? You mean a saint?"

Zhao Yun smiled and said: "That's right, the sage knew about this and said that the property should belong to Lin Shuren. Since Patriarch Lin talked about the national laws and family regulations, General Zhou had no choice but to go to Beijing to plead guilty to the sage. "

The faces of the crowd were so pale, Patriarch Lin almost fainted, jumped up and said: "Don't dare, dare not, I'm old, but I'm just talking nonsense, please be patient with Uncle Zhou, these should be big My niece deserves it, I'm the one who got fat!" If he knew that Emperor Changgan knew about it, even if he was killed, he wouldn't dare to come to ask for something.

Zhou Hong raised his eyes, his eyes were quiet, and asked lightly: "Patriarch Lin, does it mean that you don't want anything?"

Patriarch Lin smiled wryly, waved his hands and said, "I'm just here to test whether my uncle is interested in my eldest niece, and I don't intend to ask for anything. Now that my uncle is protecting my eldest niece, I feel relieved. I will leave now."

The clan elders and their children and grandchildren hurriedly nodded in agreement, hoping to leave sooner.

Zhou Hong raised his hand and said, "There's no need to rush to say goodbye."

Patriarch Lin stopped in his tracks immediately, and said with a wry smile, "What orders does Uncle Zhou have?"

Zhou Hong said what Daiyu said before, he couldn't really turn against the Lin family, and let them tarnish Daiyu's reputation after he left, so he said: "Since my wife has this intention, I must invite Liu Zhifu and other officials Waiting to testify, Patriarch Lin might as well stay one more night, and when this matter passes through the prefect Liu’s mansion, and the Lin family’s children have a future, it won’t be too late to leave here and go home.”

These words were like a pie falling from the sky. Xi felt that patriarch Lin and the others didn't know what to do, but thinking of Zhou Hongzhi's prestige and the meaning of a saint, he pretended to decline and said, "How can this be done? We don't need these few taels of silver."

Zhou Hong glanced at them with a half-smile, and said, "If I heard correctly, the annual rent for the ancestral house is 2000 taels."

As soon as they heard 2000 taels, Patriarch Lin and the others were immediately jealous. After a long while, Patriarch Lin said: "Since the eldest niece insists on this, then we will stay for another day. When the matter is settled, we can go back and talk to the clan. In the medium term, I hope that the descendants who study and progress will have an explanation."

In the early morning of the next day, Zhou Hong really posted a message to invite Liu Zhifu and others to come over, and also invited some local people with high morals and high prestige.

Hearing of Daiyu's plot, Liu Zhifu was very impressed and said: "This is a great act, and it can be said that it is painstaking and lonely for the sake of the descendants of the family."

An old man surnamed Li also said: "Exactly, no matter whether the family has millions of dollars or not, the children and grandchildren must make progress to survive, but there are also many children and grandchildren who have no money to study at home, have no money to go to Beijing to take the exam, and have failed all their talents. Since the daughter of the sea is willing to help, it can be seen that her heart is extraordinary, and the money is used well, and she should rest in peace under the nine springs of the sea."

Zhou Hong nodded, and said to everyone: "I feel that you all know that this amount of money is not small, and naturally it cannot be swallowed up by people for no reason. Therefore, every year we will send people to collect the rent, and properly arrange for the children of the clan to pay the rent. Regarding the matter of studying, if the children and grandchildren make progress, they will pay for food, clothing and education. If the children and grandchildren are incompetent and only come to study for money, we will not tolerate it. "

Everyone applauded after hearing this, not to mention that even if they don't pay the money, no one else can make a mistake.

Zhou Hong made a written statement, and everyone became middlemen.

This matter is certain, Zhou Hong ordered people to put on a banquet and toasted everyone in person, but everyone said they dared not.

Zhou Hongdao: "After my husband and wife pay homage to our parents-in-law, we will return to Beijing. This house will always be rented out. I would like to ask you to help me find out who is willing to rent it out, so that we can deal with this matter and leave as soon as possible. "

Liu Zhifu thought for a while, and said: "There is someone who wants to rent a big house, and it will be more decent to entertain guests, but you have to ask him. I will give General Zhou a message in two days."

Zhou Hongdao: "Then there is work."

The next day, Zhifu Liu led a man over. It turned out that he was a well-known local squire, surnamed Qian. After becoming a Jinshi, he went to Beijing to live, and he didn't want to spend money on building a garden in his hometown, but he always felt unsatisfactory in the usual hospitality.

Zhou Hong entertained the two of them here, while Zhao Yun had already sent someone to inquire over there. He came back half a day and nodded to Zhou Hong. can stay.

Master Qian hurriedly said: "It should be so, it's only a few days' work, and there is no rush."

Seeing his elegant speech, Zhou Hong also developed a good impression of him. After they paid the rent and left with the contract, they learned about Mr. Qian from Zhao Yun. , The three generations were not allowed to take the imperial examination, so they managed to save up the family business, asked their son to be a farmer, supervised their children and grandchildren to study, passed it down to Mr. Qian's generation, and obeyed the grandfather's wishes. The three sons of Xixia invited famous teachers to teach them since childhood, and they all won Juren, he is very respectable in Gusu area, has a good family style, and has no evil intentions. His family's money is saved for his son's future care, so he doesn't want to spend one hundred and eighty thousand on building a garden.

Zhou Hong sighed, "It's all for the descendants of the clan."

Zhao Yun deeply felt the same way. Compared with the Qian family, those from the Lin family were far behind.

At that time, Daiyu's deeds were known to the public, and at the same time, Zhou Hong also ordered someone to accidentally spread some words, saying that Daiyu's dowry was meager when she got married, but she only got a little property from the Lin family, and now the rest of the Lin family's property is known to the sage It must be transported back to Kyoto, but Daiyu was stingy and refused to share it with the tribe, so she had to rent out the ancestral house and make a little contribution to the descendants of the tribe.

As soon as these words came out, the world couldn't help feeling both pity and admiration for Daiyu. The pity was that her family property was swallowed up at such a young age, and she got only a meager amount of money when she married. I also think about the future of the descendants of the family.

Back then when the property dispute between the Jia family and the Lin family took place in Gusu, how could it be hidden from the locals, so he