[Quick Crossing + Red Mansions] I have a strong desire to survive

Xue Xiang, who came out of the examination room after the college examination, felt physically and mentally exhausted. After returning home, she slept for two full days, and then got up and followed Xue Pei to see the results of the ten-acre mulberry fish pond. .

I haven't picked much mulberry leaves this year. The two rows of mulberry trees are growing very well, and a lot of branches have been pulled out. Now they are as tall as a person and a half. The green and thick mulberry leaves rustle with the breeze.Surrounding the mulberry tree is a four-foot canal, and the fry in it are the size of a palm, floating to the surface from time to time, slurping the mulberries that fall on it.

The rice is ready to be harvested. Looking at the heavy ears of rice, the first season's rice harvest should be good.

"Brother, set aside so many places to dig canals and plant trees. Can the money for selling fish and mulberry leaves be worth the harvest of rice?"

Several old tenants have asked Xue Cheng this question, and Xue Pei answered confidently: "Fry fry raised in fish ponds will be bought this year, and from next year onwards, there will be no need to buy them again. Xue Jian sent a few of them to the fruit shop in the city, although they only had five taels of silver, they were considered profitable."

It is impossible to see success in one year of opening mulberry fish soup, but after two or three years, you can see the benefits.In front of Xue Xiang, Xue Pei didn't hide it: "I do this, firstly, to find something for myself to do, and secondly, I think that I can slowly raise silkworms and weave silk by myself, and then sell it to various places, that is the bulk of the income. .”

Xue Xiang also didn't ask Xue Pei where to find someone who could weave silk - he felt that there was nothing his brother wanted to do so far that he couldn't do.Besides, the problem of my college entrance examination is not too big, even if the mulberry fish is not successful, with the fame of a scholar, the tax exempted by myself is enough to cover the deficit of the ten acres of land.

After the sickle was opened, the top weighed it and changed it to the ten mu of mulberry fish pond. The yield of rice was the same as that of other ten mu of fields. This was enough to surprise Xue Xiang—— Ten mu of land in the field is actually ten mu of land, but of these ten mu of land, almost one and a half mu of land is used for planting trees and digging ditches.

It seems that his brother's decision is correct, Xue Xiang's admiration for his brother has risen to a new height.When all the rice in Zhuangzi was returned to the warehouse, Xue Pei didn't sell the rice immediately, because Xue Xiang was selected as a scholar.

Aunt Xue's heart was a little sour, but she had to pull herself together: Xue Xiang's status is now higher than that of Xue Pei, and it may be even higher in the future.As a gradually qualified mistress, she has to think about her children and make up for the relationship with Xue Xiang.

But Zhuangzi is so far away from the city, except for their higher status, the rest are the Zhuangtou of various families in Jinling City, so there should not be many people here.Aunt Xue already knew how to live carefully and carefully, and she didn't prepare a lot of things. Unexpectedly, on the first day, horse-drawn carriages came from outside the village one after another.

When people are outside Zhuangzi, we can't drive them back. We have to consider whether the things produced in Zhuangzi will be sold in the future.Xue Pei told people to go to nearby villages to buy more chickens and ducks, and at the same time took Xue Xiang and Xue Pan to welcome guests outside the village.Aunt Xue was surprised that all the people who came were from the owner of the nearby Zhuangzi, not Zhuangtou and his like.

"It's hard to guess." Xue Pei and the others sipped tea comfortably after the guests had left, and then said to Xue Pan, "Can you figure out where those people got the news of our banquet?"

Xue Pan replied very seriously: "Once the college has passed the examination, the list of middle school scholars will be posted. When those people see the name of the second uncle on the list, they think that our family has a tendency to make a comeback, so they just borrow two Zhuangzi is next door, so make a good relationship with us in advance."

Xue Pei nodded when he said this, and Xue Xiang's face turned red.Aunt Xue looked at Xiao Feng's slightly protruding belly, and the sourness in her heart became even stronger.Could it be that my family really has to rely on Xue Xiang, a bastard, in the future?

"Put away your little thoughts." Xue Pei didn't say to Aunt Xue until Xue Xiang brought his wife and son back to his yard: "Now we only have Xue Xiang who can support each other. If you still think about how to suppress his wife , What kind of prestige is playing the elder sister-in-law, don't say I don't save face for you."

Aunt Xue thought she had covered it up very well, but she didn't want to be caught by the master, and her face turned pale: the master had only spoken to her a few times in the past six months, and she didn't want to stay in the room by herself and be ignored.

Suppressing Aunt Xue's desire to pinch and strengthen, Xue Pei asked people to change all the fields in the village into mulberry fish soup before the second rice planting.There were not enough tenants in the village, and Xue Cheng hired dozens of farmers from somewhere, and it took less than ten days to rebuild it.

At this point, Xue Peicai called Xue Xiang to his study again and told him that he thought it best not to participate in Qiu Wei this year.Seeing that Xue Xiang was puzzled, Xue Pei handed him a piece of land deed, which was for a Zhuangzi twenty miles away from here, which was twice as big as the current Zhuangzi.

Xue Xiang entered the daily coercive mode of talking with his elder brother, unable to figure out why his elder brother suddenly took out such a land deed, and more importantly, he couldn't figure out where the land deed came from.

"This is a reward for you being a scholar." Xue Pei told Xue Xiang with a smile.

Xue Xiang became anxious all of a sudden: "Brother can't do it, we haven't separated yet, and besides, the family doesn't have much money, so I can't take it."

Xue Pei shook his head, motioning him to listen to what he said: "You also know that the former magistrate returned the money I bought the shares to me. This is a windfall. Instead of spending it slowly, it is better to buy some promising properties. It just so happens that you now have the fame of a scholar, but use it.”

Only then did Xue Xiang realize that the title deed was really his own name, and she was so moved: "Brother——"

Xue Pei pretended to rub the non-existent goosebumps: "A big man is just a small Zhuangzi, so happy to be like this, how dare I give you good things in the future." Xue Xiang felt embarrassed when he said that.

"Listen to me, although this Zhuangzi gave it to you, I still hope that you can change it into mulberry fish soup like Zhuangzi now, so I will let Xue Jian show it to you. Do you think it is good?"

Okay, why not, let alone let Xue Xiang just change the newly acquired Zhuangzi into a mulberry fish pond, even if he is asked to dig the canal by himself, he will do it right away.

Xue Pei has no choice but to do this.Mulberry fish soup is not quick to build, and it is not easy to promote it. It can only be promoted on a large scale by slowly showing the effect to people around.When the mulberry fish soup is promoted and the output of this area has increased, it will not be easy for Xue Pei to collect supplies in the space, so it will not be easy to attract attention.

But now there is still a problem, that is, if Xue Xiang goes to Wulizhuang twenty miles away, the time to study with Zhen Shiyin will definitely not be guaranteed, so Xue Peicai said that he will not be allowed to participate in this year's Qiuwei.

It's not that Xue Pei didn't know the priorities all of a sudden, but he listened to Zhen Shiyin's intention. If Xue Xiang participated in Qiu Wei this year, it's between being good and not being good. It's better to wait for another subject to lay a solid foundation and be more sure .

Xue Xiang went to Wuli Village, and Xue Cheng also set off for the capital—the shop in Beijing has been open for almost a year, and Xue Cheng had to go and see if the shopkeepers were honest.Then let him take a look at the new designs and colors in the central capital of Beijing now, so as to prepare for the silk spinning next year.More importantly, a suitable house must be set up in Beijing for Xue Xiang and Xue Pan to come to Beijing in the future.

Send out all the people who can be used, and Xue Pei has to personally supervise the affairs of the village.Fortunately, after nearly a year, everything in Zhuangzi was on the right track, and he didn't need to worry too much. He could use his spare time to enlighten Baochai and Yinglian.

Although Xue Pei himself does not learn Chinese, he has memories of two talented women, Jia Min and Mrs. Zhang, in his mind. It is not difficult to enlighten the two little girls.And because of the two girls' enlightenment, Xue Bian, who felt lonely, followed her cousin every day for class, and Xue Pei let him follow as long as he didn't cry or make trouble.

When Xue Xiang finished rebuilding the fields in Wuli Village and arranged for Xue to guard him, he came back only to find that his son not only recognized two or three hundred characters, but even recited most of the three-character scriptures, he couldn't help being very surprised.

After questioning, it was not Zhen Shiyin who taught his son but his elder brother, which made Xue Xiang feel that his elder brother could have studied for the imperial examinations by himself, but he endured the sacrifice for the whole family and gave up the opportunity to himself. Repaying brother, that is something inferior to pigs and dogs.

Not only Xue Xiang thinks this way, but even Zhen Shiyin feels the same way as Xue Xiang: after he arrives here, he only teaches two students, and he doesn't care about the trivial matters at home. Xue Pei sent someone to take care of it for him, which made Zhen Shiyin feel that Xue Pei's heart was far beyond that of ordinary merchants.

Coupled with Xue Pei's behavior of taking care of his concubine brother several times, Zhen Shiyin felt that this person was open-minded and sincere, and he was a sincere and filial person, and he felt a little more close and fellowship in his heart.Seeing that Xue Pei went to the fields in person, he got along well with the tenants, which fit Zhen Shiyin's mind of a great harmony in the world, so he admired Xue Pei more and more, and he was willing to listen to Xue Pei's opinions in his actions.

This day, Zhen Shiyin left homework for Xue Xiang and the two to complete by themselves, while he walked over to Xue Pei to chat, Xue Pei suddenly asked him a question: "Brother Zhen, do you intend to continue the imperial examination?"

Zhen Shiyin hadn't thought about continuing the imperial examination for a long time. He was taken aback by his question, and then he lowered his head and pondered for a while before saying, "I passed the exam at the age of 22, and now it's been fifteen years. If I go further, what can I do?"

"Hey——" Xue Pei disapproved and said, "You didn't make any further progress after winning the exam, but you were afraid of being retaliated by Zhen Yingjia. Now he is nothing to worry about, even for the sake of Yinglian in the future, you should try Try. As for what to do and what not to do, it is only the parents of a county who can make the people under their rule live and work in peace and contentment, who can say that they are no better than those lu beetles who eat vegetarian food on their corpses."

Zhen Shiyin thought about Xue Pei's words attentively, and asked for a long time: "I don't think brother Xue's talent is inferior to mine, why didn't he think about it?"

Xue Pei has already prepared the answer: "You know that I am a man who has experienced prosperity, and I have always been a merchant before. If it weren't for troubles at home, the thieves had never disappeared, and the government would feel sorry for our family. For reference, some people will use the sons of merchants, and the imperial examinations will only be allowed after three generations. Fortunately, I have Xue Xiang and Xue Pan to count on, I just need to give them a place to retreat."

That's right, Zhen Shiyin just realized that he and Xue Pei are incomparable. They have brothers and sons. In the future, as long as one of them wins, they can change the lintel. Lonely.

Thinking that his wife was pregnant again, maybe she was a man, Zhen Shiyin's heart became hot.But thinking about my age, I am not so confident: "I'm afraid that at my age..."

Xue Pei persuaded him: "People say that fifty young Jinshi, thirty old Mingjing, you are still far from fifty, and you have a place to use your skills."

Zhen Shiyin nodded repeatedly, and discussed with Feng after returning home.Ever since Feng's pregnancy, she also hoped for a boy so that she could be a descendant for the Zhen family.That is to say, I hope that it will be a boy, and I hope that after this boy comes to the world, he will no longer be as cowardly as his father and dare not stand out. He praises Xue Pei's idea very much.

This made Zhen Shiyin make up his mind, but he decided not to participate in this year's Qiu Wei, but to go to Beijing with Xue Xiang.Firstly, he hadn't thought about the articles in the examination field for many years, so he had to find some more to read, and secondly, he went to Beijing with Xue Xiang, so he could have a support.Xue Pei also advised him not to stick to it, if he was Chun Wei, he could just find another gentleman to teach Xue Xiang.

Who knows that Zhen Shiyin is thinking that his wife is almost forty years old, and he has another baby. If he has a long journey, he has to worry about it. It is better to wait for the child to be born and raise it for two or three years. It's time to be together.

Xue Pei can only admire Zhen Shiyin's thoughtfulness for such a powerful reason.I just don't understand why people who feel sorry for their wives and children like this, let it go when they say in the original book, and run away with the lame Taoist priest.

Anyway, it's not one thing that doesn't match the original, so Xue Pei let it go after thinking about it—Xue Cheng came back from Beijing and reported to him the income of the two shops.Although the business is not as profitable as the previous Xue family's, they haven't lost any money, and the two shopkeepers who read the accounts are honest and honest people.

The house that Xue Pei asked him to buy has already been settled. In the east city of central Beijing, not far from the two shops, it is a four-entry house, covering an area of ​​about four and a half acres.It was a businessman who opened a pawn shop in Beijing, but the same thing happened to the Sun family, so he had to sell the house and leave Beijing to return to his hometown. He bought it for only 3000 taels, which was considered a bargain for Xue Pei.

After caring about his own shop and mansion, Xue Chengcheng told him what he had seen and heard in Beijing: the fourth prince fell, and the fifth prince was revealed.The third prince may find that he has been neither fighting nor grabbing, and the emperor's father will never remember him, and he already has a faint intention of parting ways with the fifth prince.

The Beijing officials didn't dare to stand in line this time, and the situation in Beijing was fairly stable.Also because of the stable situation, those disciples who were causing trouble now all become extravagant, and some of them behaved even more arrogantly. Among them, the disciples from Ningrong and Rongfu were the leaders.

For example, Jia Zhen from Ningguo Mansion, his father, Jia Jing, has gone out to practice Taoism. He has just attacked a third-class general. Not only that, he has set up a banquet for three days, and even wantonly gave up his face in Sijiu City. It is said that he has enough Only one month is over.He is not afraid that others will think that he buys people's hearts.

For example, Jia She, the elder of the Rongguo Mansion, lingers in Liulichang every day, spending money like running water, and doesn't even care about his only son.His newly married wife also refused to listen to his persuasion, and every time he persuaded Jia She to buy two maids and put them in the house, the old lady of Rongguo Mansion was so angry that he could not let him go back home after scolding him several times.We had no choice but to let the second master, Jia Zheng, take over the home of Rongguo Mansion. Even Jia Amnesty's son was taken to the old lady's side to raise him himself.

Another example is Jia Zhu from Rongguo Mansion. It is said that he is quite gifted in reading, like his father, and there are many literary and poetry meetings every day. It is said that Jia Zhu took the lead in organizing eight out of ten games.Everyone praises that the Rongguo Mansion spared no expense in cultivating their children.

For example, the second wife of the Rongguo Mansion gave birth to a son who was born with great fortune. For fear that it would be difficult to support her, she posted the child's nickname on the streets and alleys of Beijing overnight, so that tens of thousands of people called her son. Try to give him a blessing.

Xue Pei couldn't take it anymore when he heard this. How old is that Jia Zhu, so he can keep writing and poetry?It is good that he reads like others, but if he is really like Jia Zheng, he might as well not know how to read.

And that Jia Baoyu, is the nickname called by thousands of people a blessing or a shortened life for him?That Rongguo Mansion didn't even think about it, what kind of talent deserves to be admired by all people!

"I asked you to investigate the matter of the second wife of the Rongguo Mansion donating money for profit, is there any clue?" There is more than one way to die for a family like that.

Xue Cheng habitually glanced around, lowered his voice and said: "Master is really good at predicting things, isn't that second wife's girl married to a small steward of Rongguo Mansion, named Zhou Rui, she is a bit clever, never After the second master took charge of the house, he took care of the tenants of the mansion in spring and autumn, and walked around the streets every day."

"The servant let a clerk in the shop keep in touch with him for a few days, and deliberately pretended that the shopkeeper in the shop was a black-hearted man who withheld wages. Zhou Rui was very generous and told the clerk that if he was short of money, he could just go to him. Later, the clerk said his own Mother is sick and has no money to buy medicine, so Zhou Rui lent him eight taels of silver as soon as he made a move. That’s the beheading interest, and the IOU was written as ten taels.”

Xue Pei then nodded: "Let that guy be smart, don't really follow Zhou Rui's advice." Xue Cheng responded, and asked how he should answer if his wife asked about the situation in Beijing.

"Just tell the truth." Wang Ziteng has been exiled for a thousand miles, and the news of the confiscation of his family property has already spread, so there is nothing to hide.As for Mrs. Wang, Xue Pei felt that if Aunt Xue knew that Mrs. Wang had harmed her and acted so ostentatiously, even if she put a knife on her neck, she would not have the idea of ​​a happy marriage.

The days in Zhuangzi returned to calm, and passed quickly, as if the rice seedlings were planted yesterday, and the rice will be harvested today.Xue Pei still personally watched the harvest in Zhuangzi where he lived, while Xue Xiang went to Wuli Village early to watch the output there.

With the experience of the first season, the rice harvest in the second season will be smoother.This time, the yield per mu was more than [-] catties higher than that of the previous season, which meant that the tenants could get more than ten catties of rice per mu, which made all the tenants smile.

The lively fish coming out of the canals amazed the tenants who had only seen wild fish: I never saw anyone feeding the fish, but they just threw the weeds in the field into the canals. It weighs four or five catties.

Xue Pei had asked Xue Cheng to go into the city to contact several restaurants, and also contacted several fish shops. On the day when the fish was picked up, a car would come early.As the fish came out of the ditches one after another, the people who came to pull the fish had calculated an account in their minds: Xue Peibian could collect 500 taels of silver just for the fish.

Don't underestimate the 500 taels of silver. You have to know how much space these canals take up in total?

After these people brought the fish back to Jinling, more people knew about the good fish produced in Xuepei Zhuangzi, and there was a big family that was so fresh, and they also sent stewards to buy it, and the fish was sold for seven or seven days in a few days. Eighty-eight.

And the owners of those restaurants even went to Xue Pei's village in person to ask if they could supply the restaurants all the time.Xue Pei had anticipated this when he picked up the fish, so not all the fish in each canal had been taken out, so it was no problem to supply these restaurants, and he had told them about the price increase in winter in advance.

The most excited of all was none other than Xue Pan.Xue Pei greeted Zhen Shiyin early, and gave Xue Pan a few days off when harvesting and fishing, and let him go to the field to harvest together.Seeing the fish turned into white silver, the kid's eyes lit up with joy.

Xue Pei looked funny, and deliberately teased him: "This year, we can collect 700 taels more than last year. How do you think it should be spent?"

Xue Pan seemed to have a plan: "Father, can I use it?" After speaking, one of them looked at Xue Pei expectantly, for fear that he would say no.

Xue Pei had already started to look around to see if there were any sticks or anything like that, and when the purpose Xue Pan said was not what he wanted, he would give him a slap.There was still a smile on his face: "You say."

Xue Pan, who was completely unaware of the danger, loudly stated his plan: "This year, my second uncle was selected as a scholar, and I want to try next year. If I also win, then another [-] mu of land can be saved. Therefore, for these few hundred taels of silver, we might as well add more land, so that every year’s future income can be bought into land, and this piece of land can be bought..."

Just thinking about the scene of his own land in Lianmo, Xue Pan is already dancing.

Xue Pei stared straight at Xue Pan, and a sense of pride suddenly rose in his heart: Look, I decided to live in the village, and I persisted in crying to Xue Pan, how obvious the effect is.The half-child in front of me who is only dreaming of himself has ruined his family business in the original book. Now that he has money, the first thing he does is not to think about food and expenses, but to buy property.

I'm such an educational genius.

Xue Pei gave himself a big thumbs-up in his heart, seeing Xue Pan still excited, his own eyes also shone brightly.Xue Pan recovered from his excitement, and found that his father did not answer him, and looked at him strangely, thinking that he was wrong, and gradually stood up, not daring to speak out.

"Why didn't you say it?" Seeing that Xue Pan had stopped talking, Xue Pei asked kindly, wanting to see if this kid had any plans for the future.

His self-consciously loving voice was heard in Xue Pan's ears, and he felt even more weird. He lowered his head and murmured: "I think it's bad, so I can use the money as my father says. It doesn't matter whether it's for my sister. My mother makes jewelry." Just now, I was only thinking about how to buy land to make more money in the future, and I forgot about my mother and sister, no wonder my father was unhappy.

Every year when I was in Jinling, the house rented the house and put it in the warehouse. When the accounts were closed, my father would buy some clothes and jewelry for my mother and younger sister. I didn't think of it at all just now. No wonder my father was angry.

Xue Pei was surprised when Xue Pan suddenly proposed to cut clothes and jewelry for Aunt Xue and Baochai. It took a while to realize that the child had misunderstood himself, thinking that he blamed him for not having a mother and sister in his heart.

In order to convince him that he was really not angry, Xue Pei stepped forward and patted Xue Pan on the shoulder: "You have grown up and know how to think about the future livelihood of the family. I am very happy. It is your mother and sister, who will wear it in the future." Sometimes there are, but you came up with this method, which can make them wear better in the future. Even if they don't have new clothes or jewelry this year, they will be happy."

Hearing what he said, Xue Pan finally raised his lowered head: "Really? Father also thinks my method is feasible?"

Xue Pei nodded, accompanied by an old father's gratified smile: "Really, it's hard for you to come up with such a way. Why don't I give you 400 taels of silver, and you go buy more land?"

Hearing that his father really wanted to hand over the silver to him to buy land, Xue Pan became a little apprehensive again: "Father, I, I don't know where to buy it." Excuse me.

"Don't be afraid." Xue Pei felt that it was a great improvement for Xue Pan to have this kind of heart, and said to him: "I will let Xue Cheng accompany you, you must not let the master's temper, you should learn more from Xue Cheng when you encounter problems. ,Understand?"

Xue Pan nodded vigorously, and ran out to find Xue Cheng without Xue Pei calling.Zhen Shiyin, who had been listening to the conversation between their father and son, looked at Xue Pei with admiration and said, "Brother Xue teaches his son like this, why worry about not enjoying the blessings of his children and grandchildren in the future."

Xue Pei smiled slightly: "Brother Zhen, a good gentleman, taught him from time to time. It turns out that this kid learned arrogance and extravagance in Jinling. I was also afraid that he would cause trouble in Jinling or be spoiled by others, so I moved to Jinling." Zhuangzi came to live here. It’s not easy to enter the city here, he just wants to be extravagant and doesn’t spend any money, isn’t it.”

Zhen Shiyin sighed after hearing this: "Mother Meng moved three times, that's all. Brother Xue is a man of great decision."

Xue Pei didn't want to get entangled with him on this topic, so he asked with a smile: "Brother Zhen should celebrate the New Year here this year, I'm afraid my wife can't bear to toss back and forth."

Zhen Shiyin had already had some intentions - they lived in seclusion in Gusu, and they didn't have any relatives, even the Yue family was not very close, and they only thought about how to make friends with him.After arriving at Zhuangzi, staying away from those people saved me a lot of talking.

Hearing that he agreed to stay in Zhuangzi for the New Year, Xue Pei was overjoyed. If he calculated correctly, this year was the time when Yinglian was lost in the original book and Zhen's house was bombed and burnt down by the Gourd Temple.If you are in front of you, you will naturally be frightened, it is better to come here together.

Yin Shang said to Zhen Shiyin: "Actually, Brother Zhen might as well sell his house in Gusu, and set up property in Jinling City or nearby. It's not that I regret that manpower is unwilling to take care of Brother Zhen, but because I think it's not Brother Zhen's place. I don't have any support from my hometown. Why don't we move here together, in the future when brother Zhen is tired of his official career, we can have a drink and talk together."

Zhen Shiyin was moved by what he said. After returning home and discussing with Feng Shi, Feng Shi also felt that there was no inconvenience here. With Xiao Feng Shi as company, and her daughter also having Baochai to study and play together, she was happier than when she was in Gusu .

So Zhen Shiyin took advantage of Xue Pan to follow Xue Cheng to look around the land, and went back to Gusu in person. The farmer picked out the good ones and left the [-]-acre Zhuangzi, and sold the rest together with the house.

When he came back, he also brought back the news that Lin Ruhai, the inspector of the Lin family in Gusu, finally had a son. Although it was only a daughter, Lin Ruhai still added sacrifice land to the clan.Some of Zhen Shiyin's fields were sold to the Lin family.

However, I heard from those people surnamed Lin that Lin Yushi's daughter is not in good health, and the little person is now inseparable from medicine.

Hearing such news, Xue Pei still felt a little distressed.But now there is no intersection between the two prefectures, and it is estimated that there will be no intersection in the future, so he can't take the initiative to send medicine to them.

Suddenly, Xue Pei came up with a good idea, that is, to write a letter to Lin Ruhai anonymously, as an outsider, telling Aunt Xue that she was injured by the boxing gift given by Mrs. Wang, and even told about the heat poisoning of the baby girl.

This person's identity is very easy to make up: Jinling Wang's family is Mrs. Wang's natal family, and their family will always deal with some slaves because of such and such things.The slaves who are dealt with by the master are often bold and resentful, and it is common for those who harbor jealousy to tell the master's secrets to his enemies.

After the letter was written, let Xue Cheng go to the city, find a little beggar to take it, and ask someone who set up a stall to copy it for you, and then find someone who stopped by Yangzhou to deliver it. Xue Pei felt that he could rest assured: That is to say, the child was born very late, so he and Jia Min will not be in a hurry.

Even if it was a letter of unknown origin, Jia Min didn't want to check it because of her family's face, but Lin Ruhai would rather let someone check it secretly.As long as you check, Mrs. Wang's hands and feet will be revealed.

In this way, Jia Min will be more careful when going back and forth with the Rongguo Mansion. Even if she dies like in the original book, even if Lin Ruhai is still in crisis, she will not rest assured that Daiyu will be brought up by Mother Jia again.

Seeing that the new year is coming again, Xue Pei withdraws his thoughts from the Lin family's affairs early, and orders the tenants to dig the mud from the fish pond into the rice fields during the winter leisure time, so as to increase the fertility of the soil.

Taking advantage of the family's New Year's Eve, Xue Cheng and the others went out to attack and set up the women who will come to help in the silkworm raising season next year, and gave the fixed money to the set people early, which can be regarded as helping them have a good New Year , It kills two birds with one stone.

Years ago, Xue Pei brought his family into Jinling City to buy some things. This time, no one who was not open-minded came up to provoke them. The discount made Xue Pei feel funny.

Before getting in the car, I bumped into Xue Hai, but the two sides just hugged each other, saving even the greetings—Xue Pei looked at Xue Hai's gloomy face, and felt that he didn't need to provoke others.Xue Hai saw that Xue Pei, who had been dying of illness, was now leading his family to buy them with a smile on his face, not wanting to make himself feel uncomfortable.

This year, Xue's business has gotten worse.

Except for Xue Jiang and Xue He who have no business ability, there are also people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs who are making troubles everywhere. It seems that the two are not doing business in partnership, but want to kill each other.

If the business is bad, there will be no dividends in the clan, and the hearts of the clan members will be even more scattered. Several families have already said that if the annual rules remain the same as last year, their own family will not be able to celebrate the New Year. He, the patriarch, figured out a way.

What can the patriarch think of?As the head of the clan, Xue Hai has a headache, so he just thought about going out today to see if there is any way to increase the annual ratio by one or two points compared to last year. He can't eat or drink at home, isn't it for the people in Jinling City to have fun during the New Year's Eve?

Think about the awe the clansman had for Xue Pei when he was the patriarch, and now that he is a clansman who dares to talk about his incompetence behind his back, how could Xue Hai have the face to talk to Xue Pei?

Xue Pan and Baochai were very happy. On the way back to Zhuangzi, they kept talking about the new things they saw in Jinling City and compared them with the gadgets Xue Pei bought for them.

When he arrived at Zhuangzikou, he saw Tong Fu jumping around like a monkey. Xue Pan asked through the curtain of the car very displeased, "Why are you jumping around here, don't you say you are doing a good job?"

Tong Fu looked anxious: "Master, uncle, the second wife is about to give birth. The second master just sent a few people to invite Mrs. Wen, but I haven't seen her yet. Mrs. Zhen asked the younger one to wait here."

Xiaofeng's production should be Baoqin.Xue Pei had already got off the car, and scolded Tong Fu: "Where did your second master go to invite Mrs. Wen, why didn't you know that you invited her to live in Zhuangzi earlier?"

How did Tongfu know about this matter, after Xue Pei asked, he also realized that this was not something that a young man could say clearly.Glancing at Aunt Xue who was still in the car, he ordered Tongfu to go ride a horse in the village quickly, and then find someone to drive the car to invite someone.

The group of people also didn't care whether the men and women were safe or not, they all got out of the car and handed over the car to the rough envoy who was going to ask Mrs. Wen.Xue Pei is the elder brother-in-law, so it is not easy to see his brother and daughter-in-law giving birth, but Aunt Xue has to go.

Fortunately, there are not no stable women in the countryside, and two or three have been invited in a short time.Aunt Xue was already terrified by Xue Pei's look just now, she took the two maids Tongxi and Tonggui to look at the three stable women carefully, and asked them to boil hot water to wash them well before she put her into the delivery room.

This is Xiaofeng's second child, and she was born prematurely for more than a month, so the delivery time was not very long. After a while, Tonggui came to report, saying that the second wife had added a girl.

Xue Pei already knew about men and women, and he asked: "How did I hear just now that the second wife was born prematurely? You were in that hospital, did you hear why the second wife gave birth prematurely?" His family had already moved to Zhuangzi, and all the servants chose It's pretty honest, there shouldn't be people who act as demons.

Tonggui's answer gave Xue Pei a feeling of being slapped in the face: "It's that girl Li'er, who walked well today and somehow slipped her foot and bumped into the second wife, who hit the stone teeth on the side of the road Come on, this is premature."

Xue Pei thought about it for a while, and then remembered that this girl named Li'er was the girl that Aunt Xue brought to the village for Xue Pan, and then sent to Xue Xiang's yard as a rough envoy.There was a flaw in the person he gave to Xue Xiang, which made Xue Pei's face even more ugly: "What did your second master say?"

Tonggui said: "After the second master found out, he has ordered Li'er to be locked up in the woodshed."

Seeing that Tonggui had nothing to say, Xue Pei got up and followed him to Xue Xiang's courtyard.I saw Xue Xiang standing in the middle of the yard blankly, with his head down, not knowing what he was thinking.Xue Pei stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, making him shiver.Looking up and seeing Xue Pei, Xue Xiang showed fear and hesitation on his face.

"Go to your study." Xue Pei said, and took the lead to Xue Xiang's study.

Xue Xiang didn't speak after entering the room, so Xue Pei had no choice but to ask him: "What are you going to do with that girl?"

Xue Xiang's voice was very low: "It's all up to the elder brother to decide."

"You are confused." Xue Pei's voice suddenly became louder: "The slave in your own yard committed a crime, you, the master, did not deal with it, and let me be the master. In the future, you will be an official, so why don't you judge the case? Do you want me to call the shots?"

"Those four girls were sent by my elder brother." Xue Xiang expressed his concerns.

Just as Xue Pei wanted to scold him, he suddenly realized that although he had been waiting for Xue Xiang to be lenient, in his own heart, he might not think that as a bastard, he should be more respectful to his brother.Yin said: "Those four girls, from the day they were sent here, do you, the master, have to think highly of them?"

Xue Xiang didn't speak after hearing this, and it was precisely because she didn't speak that Xue Pei was even more annoyed.It is one level to be annoyed that he is not thinking about things carefully, and another is to be annoyed that Xue Xiang still cannot get rid of his inferiority complex at this time.

After thinking about it, Xue Pei asked Xue Xiang to find a place to sit down. After calming down, he said to him earnestly: "Since you returned to Zhuangzi, do I have the heart to guard against you at 01:30?"

Xue Xiang shook her head again and again, no matter whether it was pointing out the way for Yinzi to let him take the imperial examination, or letting Zhuangzi let him manage the property, it can be said that his brother has thought of everything for him.It was precisely because of this that he felt that he should respect his brother like a father, and turned a blind eye to those four girls.

Who would have thought that today would almost lead to a catastrophe.

Just now Xue Xiang looked at him without hesitation, maybe in his heart, he had wondered whether he was the elder brother, whether he intentionally put people in his yard.Therefore, Xue Pei must make these words clear to Xue Xiang.