By Jia Xiuzhen

Jia Lan joined the army, although everyone was worried, but they couldn't do anything, and the days passed as usual.

Jia Zheng and his party returned from the south, but encountered another encounter.

That day they said goodbye to Qiaojie'er Xichun at Yuanliao Ridge, then continued southward, Xiaoxing stayed overnight, although they brought Qiaojie's dowry in boxes and cages, they went smoothly and did not encounter any accidents.When I arrived in Jinling, I only thought of An Sheng.Jia Zheng also went to the old house of Jia's mansion, but it was a pity that the government's seal had already been pasted on it.The old house in Jinling was sold by servants, and it was Duan Jiashi's helping hand.

But they didn't know that the ancestral house near the ancestral tomb was found, but it was not what they expected.The Jia clan in Jinling, in order not to be affected by the Jia mansion in the capital, did not know which idea came up, they actually separated the branch in the capital, and even invited the ancestral tablet to a side room, just waiting for someone from the capital to come. please go.

Jia Zheng didn't expect his clansmen to act like this, looking at the densely packed portraits of tablet tablets, he wanted to vomit blood.It's just that he has never been a man who can compete with others, so he finally calmed down and said: "Then please return the family property we added in the past."

The elders of the several clans looked at each other, and one leader said: "My nephew's words are wrong. Although you paid the money that day, you can buy additional land for sacrifice. Could it be that it is for the sacrifice of your lineage in the capital? On that day, you How did you say it? Are you offering sacrifices to the ancestors of the Jia family, or your ancestors who moved to the capital?"

Jia Zheng had no choice but to say: "Naturally, it's a sacrifice to the whole family."

Then he said with a smile: "That's exactly what you said. Therefore, even though your capital was confiscated by the emperor, the sacrificial fields in this clan have never been moved. Why? It is because this property belongs to the clan. It’s not from your lineage. Isn’t it ridiculous that my nephew is saying such a thing now?”

Baoyu wants to speak, but Jia Zheng is only a "good nephew", so there is no room for him, a "grandnephew".

Jia Zheng had no choice but to say: "Since that's the case, shouldn't the sacrificial land be divided according to this now that our lineage has been divided? Or is it that our capital lineage bought the sacrificial land, but now we are going to be expelled from the clan?" , so you don't give me a cent?" This was the most powerful thing Jia Zheng could say.

Those old men obviously had prepared for it long ago, so they took out an account book and said softly: "It's exactly what my nephew said. The income from sacrificing the fields is firstly for sacrificing ancestors, and secondly for making offerings The people of the clan have things like weddings, funerals, studies, careers, etc. Therefore, the land for offering sacrifices should be divided according to life and death. This is divided equally according to the records in the genealogy, my nephew, take a look, But there's something wrong."

When Jia Zheng heard what they said, his hands were already trembling with anger. Looking at the result of the "equal distribution", "one mu is divided into two and four per cent", he was so angry that he couldn't say a word.

Those few saw that he was just sitting silently, so they just lowered their heads and drank tea without saying a word.Baoyu stood behind Jia Zheng, fearing that he would be angry, so he hurried over to rub his back.Only then did Jia Zheng regain his composure, and for a moment he was disheartened. He waved his hands and said, "Come on, come on, since that's the case, we don't want it anymore."

But the old man in the middle stood up and said: "This is not possible. Nephew, the most important thing in our family is to be rational. Since it is yours, you don't want it, and we can't keep it. Otherwise, if you say it, people will poke your spine!" Not to mention that you are so rich that you are used to looking down on such things, it seems like the clan wants to take advantage of you!"

Jia Zheng was dizzy with anger, he didn't want to face these people any more, so he rushed out the door after a hasty salute.Baoyu came out immediately, and listened to the old man's voice behind him: "Nephew has no objection, and tomorrow I will let Lizheng transfer the land to you..."

When he arrived at the inn where he lived temporarily in the town, Jia Zheng sat there, still trembling all over.After listening to Baoyu's words, everyone was stunned.

Xiangyun sighed to Baochai: "Since I came out, I have seen so many things I have never heard of. What is the place of courtesy, righteousness and shame?"

Baochai smiled wryly, shook her head and said, "The situation is stronger than the people. If it weren't for the current situation, I wouldn't be able to see the faces of those people."

Baoyu remained silent at the side. He and Jia Zheng helped Jiamu's coffin back home for burial. Naturally, he had dealt with the elders of these clans.At that time, how kind and kind these people were, which made people feel close to each other.I didn't expect that after two years, I would have such a face.It only made him doubt whether it was a dream at this time, or it was a dream in the past.

Baochai knew what he was doing best. Seeing his lonely face, she persuaded him: "There is a saying that goes 'the rich have distant relatives in the mountains, but the poor are in the back alleys and no one asks'. People's hearts are like this, so you don't need to feel too uncomfortable."

Baoyu asked in a daze: "What's the matter? We used to be members of the same clan, don't we now? Is it me or they are not them? What's wrong..."

Xiangyun said: "Second brother, why haven't you figured it out until now? When sister Qin and eldest sister were being favored, Mei Hanlin came to the house to praise your poems, and the wife of the Mei family even told her wife The son is blessed to be able to marry his wife's goddaughter! But what happened later? Could it be possible that Sister Qin can conjure up two Sister Qin? And me! Isn't this a real thing?!

Second brother, when they look at people, they don't look at you, but at your power, wealth, status.Now that the mansion is in great trouble, you feel that you are still you.But you are no longer the son of the Duke's Mansion, so in their eyes, you are naturally not the former you.In the future, there will be more such things, you have to be sad about this, when will it count! "

When Baoyu saw Xiangyun mentioning Baoqin and herself, her heart became more and more sad, but the confusion just now disappeared a lot, so she sighed: "I know this. It's just that I just didn't expect that there were actually people." That's all it will be... still a member of the clan..."

Xiang Yun said: "This is so unexpected. How much they looked up to you back then, now they will look down on you, just because it's not you who they come and see!"

The two of them were talking mysteriously, but Baochai was thinking about family affairs.

When everyone had dinner in the evening, Baochai said, "It's impossible to live in the ancestral house now, and it's not a problem to live in the inn all the time. But now it's not a matter of buying a house and land. I have an idea. I don't know if it's right or not. appropriate."

Jia Zheng said, "tell me."

Baochai said: "My natal family still has a house here. The business was closed that day, but this house was not sold. Now that it is tidied up, it should be ready for people to live in. Why don't we settle down there first, and when we buy land, we can find it." Desirable house, it’s not too late to move.”

What Jia Zheng originally thought was that when he came to the clan, he could support his family by cultivating and offering sacrifices to the fields, and he could teach the clan's children during the off-season. This is the real meaning of farming, studying and passing on the family.Who would have imagined that just after arriving in the clan today, they would be given such a disarming authority, talking about aristocratic families, and talking about a dormant and resurgent family, all they could think of was despair.

Hearing Baochai's words now, he wanted to refuse, but he really couldn't come up with a decent idea.Immediately buy a house, where is the money?Living in an inn costs more every day, and it is not a long-term solution after all.In the past when he was an official, many times he only felt that his temperament might not be able to control the situation, and he was really not good at being an official.But now that I am serving the people, I find that I really don't know how to behave as an ordinary person. Could it be that I am not good at serving the people?

Seeing that he was silent, Baoyu said from the side: "This is a good idea. It is cheaper than living in this inn. After all, people come and go here... And in the past, Sister Bao's house was borrowed from us, and now we are staying at Sister Bao's house , all mean relatives, master, okay?"

Jia Zheng felt ridiculous when he heard his words.If it was the past, I'm afraid he should be taught a lesson, but now he realizes that he is the one who doesn't know everything, and feels that Baoyu is not familiar with general affairs or is passed down in the same line, and he really has nothing to do, so he nodded and said: "Also. good."

After thinking for a while, he said to Baochai, "I'm going to have to work hard for you in the future, and I'm afraid you'll have to take charge of this family."

Baochai's eyes became hot, and she said with a smile: "It's what a daughter-in-law should do, I dare not talk about hard work."

Jia Zheng nodded. Baoyu and Xiangyun smiled when they saw that the matter was settled.Rui'er was sitting beside her holding brother Su, with a calm expression on her face.

On the second day, the group went to Xue's house. After they settled down, Xue Biao got the news from the other side, so they rushed over to meet each other.Jia Zheng was of a high seniority, so he went away after saying something.Only then did Xue Biao complain to Baoyu and said, "Why don't you send a letter first? We can also go to meet him."

Baoyu smiled wryly and said, "I wanted to settle down in the clan, and I'll tell you later. I don't know, alas!" He didn't care about losing face, and was afraid that Xue Biao would misunderstand his family, so he left the matter in the clan Let's talk about it all.

Xue Biao sneered and said, "It's really the same thing, like dogs of a feather."

Baochai heard that there was something in the words, so she asked what happened. Xue Biao pointed to the house and said, "When we first came back, this house was almost taken by the clan. Seeing that I brought people back, they opened the shop as usual. , just let it go."

Baochai said with a wry smile, "There is such a thing!"

Xue Biao sighed: "It's more than that, even our previous business can't be done now. You have only been here for a few days, and you don't know that there are four major families in this Jiangnan firm now, Wu Wang Chengsheng, and the Wu family is that He Shengdao Yes, we are engaged in the trading of medicinal materials, the Wang family produces silk and satin, the married family has porcelain flowers and trees, and the Sheng family has a tea study room. Count our old ones, and they are all in their mouths."

Xiangyun asked: "Are they also imperial merchants?"

Xue Biao said with a smile: "The imperial merchants? Now the imperial merchants don't take advantage of it. These are all shipped by sea with the merchants. We don't drink the three teas and four teas that no one here drinks. Mix some spices and fruits, and sell them at sky-high prices to foreigners. Yes. This is much more lucrative than the money in the palace. Today is not as luxurious as the previous ones. And the inner court just washed it once before, there are few seams, and the price is not worth it. The emperor, There is only a name left."

Baochai sighed: "Feng Shui turns, there is no way to do it. It's just that the clan..."

Xue Biao grinned: "It's not like that. There are always people like this, who can't open the situation when they go out, so they just focus on talking in the nest. But don't worry, those few have been cleared out of the clan by me. Let's The old Xue’s family is still pointing to a comeback, but they can’t keep such things in it. When you are working hard outside, you have to prevent the fire behind, that’s not possible.”

Baochai asked, "Are you the patriarch now?"

Xue Biao nodded.Baochai glanced at him, then suddenly smiled and said, "Sister Xing must have helped you a lot."

Hearing this, Xue Biao choked on a mouthful of water and coughed violently.Xiangyun and Baoyu laughed when they saw it.

At this moment, a voice from outside was heard: "Baoyu is here? Why didn't you tell me!"

When Baoyu turned her head, she saw Liu Xianglian coming in from the outside, still as suave and suave as before, but there seemed to be something different.Baoyu hurried forward, and the two looked at each other with their arms around their shoulders. Baoyu said, "Second Brother Liu, why are you here!"

Liu Xianglian laughed and said, "It's a long story..."

Xue Biao said calmly at the side: "We encountered water thieves on the way south, and thanks to the help of Second Master Liu, we escaped unharmed. Afraid that the road ahead would not be safe, Second Master Liu acted righteously and sent us south. When we arrived in Jinling , Second Master Liu suddenly felt that Jinling City was very interesting, and refused to leave no matter what..."

Baoyu laughed and said, "Why do you still call your second elder brother Liu Erye? Isn't it unfair? Why don't you live here, second brother Liu, so that we can have a company in the future!"

Liu Xianglian said with a smile: "I have already settled down here."

Xue Biao snorted again.

Baochai saw that this was wrong, and was frowning when she suddenly heard Liu Xianglian say to Xue Biao, "Why are you upset, brother?"

The rest of them were surprised: "Brother?"