Village Flowers and Female Scholars

As soon as the idea of ​​selling appeared in his mind, Xie Yan couldn't help shivering. Thinking of the moment when Cao Laosan pulled the old woman into the room and muttered, he vaguely guessed such a little bit of information, and suddenly he felt bad , So the idea of ​​fleeing Cao's house became more and more intense.

Both sides died down, and Xie Yan returned to the woodshed with her mother and younger brother.

The mother looked at a loss, and the younger brother's pale face was full of panic, Xie Yan suddenly felt that the burden on his shoulders was heavy.

But still Wen Yan comforted his mother and younger brother and said: "Mother, don't take this matter on your own. How these people died has nothing to do with us, and it's pretty good in my opinion. Not a good person, look at the way their mother-in-law and mother came to the door today, do you think that if I really marry, I will have a good life in the future."

Cao E shook her head bitterly and said, "Jin'er, our women's lives are born like this, except for husbands and children who are just working in the fields, how can anyone else have such a good life."

Xie Yan assisted Cao E's shoulders and said: "Mother, women can also stand out, so we can't just accept our fate like this. When we leave Cao's house, life will definitely get better."

Cao E couldn't believe it and said: "Didn't you just promise your grandma that you won't leave, why do you still have to leave?"

"If you don't leave, do you think about what we have to face if we stay? Fang Wenbo is gone. The people in the village have such vicious mouths. At that time, I don't know what my reputation will be. The Cao family will not I feel sorry for me, and they will definitely exchange me for money. Which innocent family would dare to have me like this, either married to a widower or an old bachelor, or sold to the Goulan Courtyard. There used to be Fang Wenbo as a hope, but now the Fang family is gone. They don't have any worries, not just me, you see you are still so young, and Gu'er looks so cute, maybe even you and Gu'er are doomed."

After Cao E heard Xie Yan's analysis, her whole body trembled, her teeth chattered and she could hardly speak: "No, no, father and mother would not do such a thing..."

When she said it, her eyes flickered, and no one could see how much she didn't believe her words at this time.

Even Xie Yuangu, who was on the side, was so frightened that he cried when he heard this: "Gu'er, don't be sold, Gu'er, don't leave Mother and Elder Sister—"

Xie Yan was worried that someone would hear him, so she quickly covered his mouth and said, "Don't worry, Xiaogu, with Elder Sister here, Elder Sister will not let others sell you, and no one in our family will be separated."

"Really?" The little boy eagerly wanted his sister's affirmation with red eyes.

"Really, I promise."

After calming down one big one and one small one, it was getting late. Cao Xiaotao, who originally said she wanted to go to cook food by herself, delivered the food uncharacteristically, with the same attitude as before Fang's family just now. The alarm bell sounded heavily for Xie Yan.

The Cao family absolutely cannot stay any longer.

"Grandmother said, since the third uncle is protecting you, I won't bother with you in the past. We are a family, and don't think about whether we are separated. From now on, our basic necessities will be the same. Look, today The dishes in the evening are very rich, as for the bacon, Gu'er has probably never eaten meat in his life."

Seeing Cao Xiaotao's weird smile, although Xie Yuangu was greedy for the bowl of bacon in her hand, he still huddled tightly in his mother's arms without saying a word.

Cao Xiaotao looked at the three pairs of hostile eyes in front of her, and couldn't help being a little ferocious, but finally she endured it and put the food on the table.

It's a pity that such a smile really didn't suit her face, the corners of her mouth were stiff, and in the end she simply stopped pretending, and opened the door with a straight face.

Hate turns to hate, I still have to eat food, I can't bear it anymore, how can I fight with this group of crazy weirdos in the days to come, people are guilty, but this meal is not guilty, Xie Yan greeted Xie Yuangu to eat, but who knows The little boy was still huddled in his mother's arms, with his little head arched on her shoulders, and he pursed his lips and said, "Cousin Tao has a cannibalistic expression, maybe she put poison in the food."

Xie Yan didn't know where he knew about poisons at such a young age, or where he summed up such ideas, he couldn't help being a little funny, it seems that Cao Xiaotao's acting skills are really lame, even children can't fool them.

"Don't worry, if you want to kill a pig, you have to fatten it up, right? Who would want to buy a dead pig?"

The third brother, Cao Bin, came back later, so the news that Fang Wenbo was beaten to death by the bandits must have just been known. Even if he really wanted to make an idea, he had to find someone to communicate with before doing it.

Although Xie Yuangu didn't quite understand what his elder sister meant, he still retorted dissatisfiedly: "It's not a pig."

"Yes, yes, it's not a pig, let's come over for dinner with your mother. Tonight I have your favorite meat."

Seeing that Xie Yan started to eat with the bowl and chopsticks, Xie Yuangu moved over to start dinner with confidence.

I have to say that in the ancient times when there was less oil and less salt, the pork without pig feed tasted extraordinarily delicious. In order not to let them separate, the Cao family was really willing to take out the bacon that was only used to entertain distinguished guests on weekdays. , tonight's rice is also dry rice, each bowl is full, even Xie Yuangu's bowl is the same.

Cao E ate the savory bacon, but felt that it was hard to swallow, so she asked anxiously, "Jin'er, what should I do with this, mother really can't take it anymore."

Seeing her mother's worried face, Xie Yan hurriedly comforted her and said, "Don't worry, eat well, there are still a lot of places for you to contribute to, and tomorrow I will go to Lizheng to see what is going on with the separation of households." Let's go, these two days have to be separated no matter what, as long as we are separated, we and the Cao family are two families. From the perspective of relationship, they cannot interfere with our life and have no right to dispose of us. The marriage of our mother and son It’s not their business.”

"...If we get separated, where do we have to live? Are we really going to live in the ruined temple at the head of the village?"

"It's not impossible, as long as they can be separated, anywhere is better than the firewood house of the Cao family."

"But now the Fang family believes that you killed their son. The old Pan of the Fang family has a relative in our village, that is, the old sister-in-law of the Liu family, Pan Siniang. If they know that we moved out, they may be I want to take this opportunity to arrest you and pay homage to that dead ghost of the Fang family, what should I do?"

What Cao E said was exactly what Xie Yan was worried about, but judging from today's situation, Li Zheng's words could still have a certain deterrent effect. The essence of the matter is still killing people, and killing people pays for their lives. Cai Chu, as Li Zheng, can't sit idly by, and Fang's family can't bear to walk around when this matter gets stabbed in the Yamen.

It won't be a problem for a while, but it's annoying.

And there is another problem. According to the modern household registration system, as far as she knows, household division needs a homestead, and she doesn't know whether the current dynasty household division needs a homestead, and whether they can handle it if they don't have a homestead in the village.

It's not that Xie Yan doesn't want to leave this dilapidated village, but for the three of their mothers, it's the same wherever they go if they are poor, poor, and powerless. Which village doesn't have one or two thorns? If you go to other unfamiliar places, you might provoke more powerful people. It is better to stay in a relatively familiar place, and in this village, everyone knows everything. Not everyone is as vicious as the Cao family. Zheng Cai Chu looks relatively easy to talk to.

Now the Fang family is still afraid of going to Yancun, and dare not go to the door to rob people. Once they leave the village, they will no longer be on the boundary of Yancun, but there will be no one to protect them.

So after much deliberation, Xie Yan temporarily set the goal of settling in Shangyan Village.

But as for the separation of the family, I'm afraid it is still a little tricky, Xie Yan decided to go out tomorrow to find Li Zheng to inquire.

And the female scholar of the banker, she wanted to settle accounts with her, why did she cause such a big trouble at this pass.

Because according to Xie Yan's understanding and analysis, the Fang family's resignation is inevitable, but definitely not at this point in time.

Generally, to be admitted as a scholar, a child student must pass the county, prefectural, and provincial examinations. Only those who pass all three are considered scholars. It was a pity to beat his chest and feet, but it also strengthened Fang Wenbo's confidence that he would be a top scholar in the next college examination.

For Fang's family, once Fang Wenbo is admitted as a scholar, Xie Jinniang will no longer be a good match, not to mention that her mother and younger brother are rumored to be ominous people. amazing.

Scholars take the examination for juren once every three years, while children take the examination for scholar once a year.

It has only been a few days since the last exam, and it will take some time for this relative to retire. Now is the busy season of farming, and it will definitely not be chosen at this time, not to mention that the Cao family has a good reputation in several nearby villages. It's not very good, it's famous for being difficult, the Fang family wants to withdraw their relatives and win this tough battle for no reason, they must have thought of a perfect plan, Fang Wenbo is very scheming and will not be so reckless.

At least they won't say this before winter comes, and there is still more than a month before winter comes. Originally, Xie Yan planned to use this time to plan well.

Unfortunately, all these plans were disrupted by Fang Wenbo's death.

And the culprit of all this is probably related to that female scholar.

Xie Yan thought back to the woman in the moon-white long gown, and couldn't figure out if Zhuang Wan had a brain defect to get so close to Fang Bowen. elopement?

Such a big pile of cow dung, doesn't it stink?

Whether it was out of annoyance that the plan was disrupted, or doubts about this matter, Xie Yan wanted to find out what happened to this female scholar no matter what.