Chapter 011 – Family Matters

The head of the village there are a few trees climbing withered vines Feng Shui tree, a few dirty yellow dogs saw this strange traveler, barking more than, the village is not big, forty or fifty families, a moment to let people know the village guests, but just now more than a dozen horseback off the strong knights come and go in a hurry, so that many of the timid villagers did not dare to go out, and then saw to see the right to see Xu wei niang and the right to see pine mothers and mothers come back in a hurry, some of the hand and foot fast and early to get up! Under the cooking mothers-in-law are rushed to call up the bed-ridden man, although the man on the bed is not a great success, but compared to them at least to see more, woke up hazy man on tiptoe in the loess behind the wall to see half a day, in the end can not say a two or three.

When Xu Weiniang was bullied by the village green skin, the village elders can not stand to see, but also dare to bravely take the village youth to relieve the siege, but on a team into the system of the Northern Liang pawns, where also dare to act as a good man. At this time, heard the family kept the earth dog barking vigorously, fear of trouble, impatient some of the man, too late to put down the bowl ran out the door and kicked a number of feet, the earth dog whimpering to hide in the corner lying down, very innocent. Doorway to see a young man with a sword, slowly walking to the winding green stone path, handsome appearance can not, a few small attractive village women if you do not know some of the importance, have long gone out to flirt with a couple of sentences, so good-looking man, it is really unprecedented to see the first time na, the village people do not have too many scruples to speak of, the small daughter-in-law if she gave birth to a child, the summer cooler, breastfeeding, then they dare to greatly grinning open the chest, figure a cool! Chanting, was looking at a few eyes and will not lose a piece of meat to go, see the son of the village women, feel that if he was his pair of beautiful phoenix eyes look at the go, may still be their own take advantage of miles.

Xu Fengyen passed by one house after another, the doorway is hung with spring couplets from the handwriting of the old man, one by one to appreciate the past, stopped at the end of the village, knocked on the door, did not wait for the master to answer, pushed the door to enter, outside the reason but unexpectedly saw the little lady, Xu Fengyen avoided suspicion and stopped, softly laughed and said: “Why did not you go away?”

The distracted Xiao Niang slightly turned her head away, not meeting the eyes of this scholar from Lingzhou, and softly said, “Without relatives, where can I go.”

Xu Fengyen leaned against the cool courtyard door with morning dew moisture, smiled and said, “I came to bump my luck, thinking you don’t go too fast, so that I can talk to my sister-in-law, this matter has really been solved today, the general I rushed with the back is a fellow townsman of Lingzhou, although it can’t be said to be a friend of the world, but don’t look at the face of a monk to look at the face of the Buddha, he is not seen by the face of the low head of his father with my father’s family, always shy to go too far, I spent some silver to let him go, and I’ll let him do it, I’ll let him go. I spent some silver to let him go to send the gang of military officers to drink altar old wine and eat a dog meat, but also a big deal to trivialize, so that everyone’s face can pass. How to say it, should the old saying, Yan Wang good to see the little ghosts difficult to deal with, sister-in-law if you still can’t believe, these two days the government side will be deducted pension silver will be spit out to make up for you, know I didn’t lie to you.”

Xiao Niang instantly red eyes, more and more low head, a few slender good-looking but not as rich women like grease smooth fingers, dead twisting the corner of the coat.

Xu Fengyen hesitated for a moment and said, “Tell Right Song, study well with the old master, there is a golden house in the book, when he reaches the age of the examination, our Beiliang will not be the same as today’s world, not to mention, the chance of a scholar to excel will always be greater.”

Xu Fengyen turned around after saying that, hearing the child run out the door and shouted big brother, His Highness still didn’t stop. Xiao Niang Xu Qing sighed softly, “Gongzi, not even happy to walk through the door, too dirty? There are many rights and wrongs in front of the widow’s door, this truth, I understand.”

Xu Fenian was stunned, turned around and smiled bitterly, “Sister-in-law, you know I didn’t mean that.”

Xiao Niang glared and said, “Who is your sister-in-law!”

She turned around and then said in a small but firm voice, “I heard from Right Pine that you sent out two buns in the morning, so I will make you some rice and eat it before you leave. A small family doesn’t have much to offer, it can’t even be reasonable.”

Xu Fengyen smiled slightly, walked into the house, placed there is an eight immortal table will take up half of the position, see how small this house, the left hand side of the house is the side room for sleeping, Xiao Niang went to the right should be the kitchen, although the house is small, but also sits in the north to the south, does not look gloomy, right pine to Xu Fengyen to move the only chair, he sat on a small bench, looked up at this big hero in his heart, wide eyed. Xiao Niang cook skillfully, quickly gave Xu Fengnian can be a pot of five or six bowls of white rice porridge, a pair of bowls and chopsticks, as well as a dish of vinegar cabbage porridge, Xu Fengnian also do not polite pleasantries, sitting at the table, chopsticks of delicious sweet and crispy vinegar cabbage, both sinewy and tender, very good under the porridge, chewing and swallowing slowly, actually is the most refreshing meal of these days.

Xiao Niang and Right Song are sitting side by side on a bench whose vermillion paint has long been mottled and mostly peeled off, the child is snuggled up to his mother, full of innocent smiles, Xiao Niang seems to be infected by the child’s emotions, the corners of his mouth are smiling, probably because he thinks that this son is interesting, and even this white porridge and vinegared cabbages can be eaten with great relish.

Xu Fengyen did not drink congee fast, slowly ate three bowls, put down the chopsticks and said contentedly: “Delicious.”

Xiao Niang smiled warmly and said, “If you eat it every day, it won’t be good anymore.”

Xu Fengyen nodded and shook his head: “Better than a meal of delicacies, at least it can nourish the stomach, besides the taste of the world is bland, the average person can not eat this realm, I also know after traveling.”

Xiao Niang converged her showy eyebrows, patted Right Pine’s brain, the child understood, immediately went to pack up the dishes and move them back to the stove room. Only then did she carefully ask: “How much silver did Gongzi send out, just take it as what Xu Qing owes you, and pay it back bit by bit as soon as you have some free money in the future, is that okay?”

Xu Fengnian smiled without saying anything.

Xiao Niang’s face is really thin, all of a sudden he looked red.

Xu Fenian calmly said, “A small family like you in Beiliang, with more doorway camping, you can only save up to ten or twenty taels of silver a year, even if you can embroider, you can embroider some beautiful scented bags to sell to the well-off ladies and girls, but the inverted horse pass is this size, how many can you sell out a year? If you spend a lot of money to buy the fine satin from the satin shop, but you can’t sell the scented bag, and press it in your hand, even if it’s only one, you have to lose a lot of money, right? Even if business is good, you have to busy crops during the day, this detailed embroidery work can only be put aside at night, lit the oil lamp slowly hooked twist, sleepy, an accidental sleep, woke up only to find that the oil lamp to the waste, you do not heartache? Wouldn’t you have to stab yourself twice with an embroidery needle? If you add that pension fee, you can pay me back 30 taels of silver a year, how many years do you have to pay back? As a matter of fact, if you’re a bigger official than the Deputy Lieutenant of the Inverted Horse Pass, you’d be too ashamed to pay a couple hundred taels of silver, would you be able to get into this kind of official’s eyes? Therefore, you shouldn’t have brought up this topic at all, anyway, I don’t lack this amount of money, just think of it as me doing a good deed, isn’t it quite good.”

Xiao Niang raised her head, biting her lips with clear eyes and said, “To return!”

Xu Fengnian laughed: “To return? Good, five hundred taels of silver as a base, besides, this officialdom is not a place where you send silver that others are willing to accept, and the general who wants to ask for a favor, how do you discount it? Is it worth 1,000 taels? Count you 1,500 taels, you slowly pay back for 50 years?”

Xiao Niang calmly said, “In the future, let Righteous Pine continue to pay back.”

Xu Fengnian could not help but laugh and cry, this Xu Weiniang’s stubbornness, was it not brought from her mother’s womb?

Xiao Niang suddenly said softly, “I actually know that you are not rich, so I can’t let you be the wrongdoer, I don’t feel good in my heart.”

Xu Fengyen was surprised and said, “What do you mean by that?”

Xiao Niang’s cheeks were flushed and she said weakly, “When you took the chopsticks, Xu Qing saw that your palms and ten fingers were calloused.”

Xu Fengnian froze, his smile odd.

Xiao Niang mistakenly thought that she had hurt the self-esteem of this scholar from Lingzhou, but she had also heard that the scholars in the big city valued face more than money, and that benevolence, righteousness, and morality were more valuable than gold and silver, which she didn’t quite understand, but she also thought that it was a very good thing, and if she let this scholar who traveled to the city for study feel that he couldn’t pull his face back? Xiao Niang for a moment only felt that her own mouth is too stupid, quietly took two fingers and pinched her own thighs, her eyes were moist again in an instant, in the past, she was even more bitter, aggrieved again, but also would not be so weak.

Xu Fengyen wanted to speak but stopped, did not explain the misunderstanding here, turned towards the right pine hiding behind the door of the stove room and beckoned, took off the Spring Thunder Knife and handed it over to the child’s hand, and said with a straight face: ”Regardless of what you think, I’m going to leave after I finish saying some words. This silver, you really want to return, also line, wait for one day a breath to save enough, and then come to Lingzhou to find me, otherwise you take me as I can not afford to lose that every time to charge you dozens of taels of silver face. Even if my hands are calloused and my family is average, since I’m a scholar, I still have to hold on to this bit of cheek, and those who come out of the scholarly families are just like you, and are more cognizant of money matters.”

Xiao Niang sighed, did not dare to take the bull by the horns again, fearing that this well-spoken gongzi would brush his sleeve away in a fit of anger, and would have been a great benefactor to her and Righteousness Song.

The right pine holding this handle of fame is not visible in the northern Liang of the spring thunder knife, even the northern Liang Wangfu also not many people know it with the embroidered winter knife name, I am afraid that only the Wutong Court those maids know, but the Wutong Court seems to be amicable, His Highness the son of the world and they never talk about the rules, but how do they dare to not talk about the rules with the northern Liang Wangfu? Any news about His Highness, and then small and trivial, once into the ears of outsiders, is the death of a pile, the king of Beilang Xu primrose on His Highness and amicable unlike, on the subordinates, especially don’t know the rules of the servants, can never be in a good mood to listen to grievances, killed to feed the dog, is considered to be merciful and soft. The reason why the fruit Yi Lieutenant Huangfu Ping know this handle spring thunder knife, or that night in the king’s house and the Xu family father and son “chat”, only to catch some of the traces when the holy decree to listen to the clues. Right Song asked with a face of adoration, “Big brother, you surely can beat those fallen horse pass armor soldiers, right?”

Xu Fengyen smiled and said softly, “Fighting is to fight, even if kill a few people is not difficult, only some things, clear officials can not break the family affairs, fighting and killing will not help the overall situation, it is better to be patient and reason, if it really does not make sense, and then fight is not too late. Right pine you have to know, light reading reading is good, but often have to rely on their fists to talk to people, like that Zhang Shun, teaching the old man learned not big? How much does he know? But Zhang Shun and the old man topped the corner up, you think in the end who is down? Of course, the old master has the status of a scholar, see the county master also do not have to kneel, Zhang Shun a bucket big words do not know the green skin rascal, general conditions do not dare to jump in front of the old master.”

Xiao Niang chewed the flavor of it, without saying a word.

Right Pine nodded vigorously and said, “Right Pine reads because he wants to give honor to Niang, but he also wants to walk the rivers and lakes like big brother, pulling his sword to help when he sees injustice!”

Xu Fenian reached out and nodded the boy’s forehead, softly lecturing, “How many bowls of porridge can you eat with this small stomach? How much appetite to eat a few bowls of rice is the right thing to do, first read the Four Books and Five Classics that the old master taught you well, then talk about the rest.”

Right Pine suddenly said in a muffled voice, “Big brother, my father is a hero.”

Xu Fengnian’s tone was ancient, but his eyes were gentle, “Whether your father is a hero or not, I’ve never seen it, I don’t know. But Right Pine and your mother, both are very good.”

Very good.

In addition to this, His Highness the World Prince who can speak with his tongue is at a loss as to how to comment.

Xu Fengyen looked out the door, a row of equal height cabbage wall drying at the root of the wall in the courtyard, and said to himself, “I have a home, it’s big, much bigger than this home of yours should be. There is my father, there are stewards, there are maids, there are guards, there are concierges, there are maidservants, there are grooms, there are many, many people, this home is so big that many people I have not seen one side, each more or less selfish, in their own position for their behind a small family to do things, if I want to take care of this home, not that who made a mistake was bumped into by me, by virtue of their status to knock a little bit on the end of the matter, as if it is even one home Corner of the stables near some of the grudges, I’m not easy to take down who replaced with who can make the housework better, maybe change a fresh face will be worse, there are always a lot of people outside of my home eyeing the people, thinking of nails stuffed in the surface to help you do things, but in fact, is thinking of hollowing out my family base. I’m like a right pine you the size of the time, also do not understand, hiding in their own small yard, feel the sky can not fall, but after growing up, only to know that my father so accumulated quite a large industry of people, there will be a day will not be able to do, he has too many things to be concerned about, too many people in the family are with him into the house, and outside of the home those who rely on our neighbors, up and down the inside and the outside are all the favors, these people have contributed to the dead force to give the family, but also to the family, the people who are not able to do the work, and the people who are not able to do the work, but also to the family, and the people who are not able to do the work. People have been dead to my father to do things, to have today’s big business, my father and then hard-hearted, but also to turn a blind eye, to make an example of a useful, more often, many people will learn to be smart, fishing for money to digging means more covert and subtle, my father will be more of a headache. At first, my father let me leave the house, go out, I still feel aggrieved, and then gradually know, more to see how others live, is very useful. This time I say is the book tour, the reason why from Liangzhou to the inverted horse pass here, are not single-handed, just want to take a look at how the people of Northern Liang, live, live well, like a fledgling tinkerer, home windows broken, have to sew, otherwise the future wind and rain, have to eat pain, the wall was dug holes, have to fill a little bit. But just headache headache foot, so sewing and mending, or not work, know where the root of the disease, so that the right medicine, a home with a person, sick and then ask grandpa and grandma, will be too late. I now want to do things, is not in a hurry to show up, first find a few with a clean underlings, pushed to the front, let them both as fishing fisherman, but also for me as a bit of a framer, far more than my own go to push up the sleeve to knock who, to the long term benefits. In the past, I’ve seen a man surnamed Xuanyuan who cleaned up his family’s affairs just a little too thoroughly, almost lifting the lid, and one of my family’s relatives surnamed Chen may be thinking of doing so, and has the skills to do so, but I don’t want to make the same mistake.”

Holding the knife boy did not understand anyway, only to hear out of the big brother’s home, seems to be very big.

The simple minded little mother listened in a daze, a trance.

Xu Fenian stood up, Xiao Niang patted Right Song’s shoulder, the little child hurriedly handed the Spring Thunder Knife back to him.

Xu Fengyen smiled and said a sentence that Xiao Niang couldn’t figure out how to smack and chew, “Helping you guys today, actually the root cause is this incident today, blame my father. In the future if there is still this kind of thing happening in Beilang, you and Right Song can blame me.”

Xiao Niang and the child were sent to the courtyard entrance, Xu Fengyen hesitated and said softly, “At that time on the stream, I reached out to stop you, it was unintentional, don’t blame me.”

Xiao Niang Xu Qing’s pretty face was so red that it could drip water.

At that time, she only cared about rushing forward, and when His Highness the World Son stretched out his arm, she bumped that plump chest.

Seeing that she was on the verge of tears, knowing that it was superfluous, His Highness the Worldly Prince smiled with a slightly sweaty smile and walked out of the village in style.