"Master Xu has already retired and returned to his hometown, so why should he invite a master to come back?"
Yu Xiaoyu frowned, with confusion on his face.
Old Liu Tou nodded and looked around. After seeing no one there, he led Yang Dong to the entrance of the village.
From the outside, Xujiacun is not big and is no different from other villages.
Old Liu Tou looked in the direction of the village entrance and frowned.
"It shouldn't be. Why isn't that master guarding here?"
"I remember the year before last, the expert was guarding the big locust tree at the entrance of the village and didn't move the place."
After saying that, he shook his head again. It's been two years, maybe something happened again.
But without the master in charge, Old Liu Tou obviously relaxed a lot.
He took Yang Dong and the two of them and walked directly through the village entrance in a swaggering manner, saying hello to many people on the way.
It's just that the people in Xujiacun always looked at Old Liu Tou with a somewhat strange look.
Old Liu Tou didn't care at all about this. He swaggered outside a luxurious courtyard, walked up and knocked on the door.
"Master Xu, your subordinate Xiao Liu is here to visit you!"
"Bang bang bang!"
A moderate knock on the door startled the sparrows on the treetops nearby.
However, there was no response from inside the door.
Old Liu Tou frowned.
It shouldn’t be. Could it be that Mr. Xu has gone out?
He didn't believe it, raised his arm and knocked on the door again. However, there was still no movement inside the door.
At this moment, in Xujia Village, a hunter who went up to the mountain to hunt happened to pass by with an elk on his back.
When he saw Old Liu Tou, a flash of surprise flashed in his eyes.
"Hey, Old Liu Tou, he's in good health, and he's still alive!"
"Go, go, stop making fun of me. I ask you, where is Mr. Xu, why don't you open the door for me?"
"Master Xu?"
There was a look of surprise on Orion's face.
"Master Xu died of illness last winter, didn't you know?"
"What did you say? Master Xu died of illness?"
An imperceptible hint of disappointment flashed across Old Liu Tou's face. He looked at Yang Dong beside him with some worry, but Yang Dong stepped forward and asked Orion,
"Brother, where are Mr. Xu's family members? Why can't they come out?"
Orion glanced at Yang Dong and saw that he was dressed as an outsider, and his face suddenly became a little more wary.
Old Liu Tou took the initiative to step forward, patted Yang Dong on the shoulder and said:
"You kid, don't think too much. This is Mr. Xu's distant relative. He passed by our water town and came here specifically to visit."
When Yu Xiaoyu saw this, he immediately nodded and presented a piece of silver.
Orion took the broken silver and his expression immediately softened a lot.
"It turns out that you are relatives of Mr. Xu, no wonder you found this place. However, Mr. Xu and his wife both contracted the cold last winter and died. There is only one daughter left in the entire Xu family."
"But this girl got married to the town next door and basically never comes back."
Hearing this, Yu Xiaoyu hurriedly continued to ask:
"Then Mr. Xu's daughter... well, where is my cousin? Which family did she marry into?"
"The girl from the Xu family has married into Chen Dahu's family in Yueguang Town next door. If you want to find her, you have to go to Yueguang Town."
"I see!"
Yang Dong nodded slightly and cupped his hands towards Orion to express his gratitude.
…
The three of them left Xujiacun and planned to leave for Moonlight Town.
Moonlight Town is not far from Water Town, only a dozen miles away in total.
Yang Dong took Yu Xiaoyu and Lao Liutou back to the inn to get the carriage. However, after hearing their plan, the young woman insisted on going together.
There was no other way, so Yang Dong had to arrange two carriages, one for Yang Dong and the young woman, and the other for Yu Xiaoyu and Lao Liutou.
About an hour later, the carriage stopped steadily at the door of Chen Dahu's house.
Old Liu Tou stepped forward again and took the initiative to knock on the door.
The housekeeper who opened the door revealed a crack in the door. When he saw it was Lao Liutou, he couldn't help but taunt him.
"You old thing, why are you still alive?"
"Come on, come on, our wife doesn't want to see you!"
After saying that, the housekeeper planned to close the door. However, how could Old Liu Tou get his wish? Are you kidding me? This matter is related to whether he can go to Qunfang Tower to have fun, so he is naturally very concerned about it.
"Hey, you old man, wait a minute!"
"I came here today not to borrow money, but to bring relatives from Madam Xu's family."
As soon as he said this, the butler's face showed a bit of hesitation.
He looked outside through the crack in the door. After seeing Yang Dong and the others, he opened the door a little suspiciously.
He stared at Yang Dong and asked:
"Are you really a relative of our wife?"
"It's natural!"
Yang Dong nodded slightly and glanced at Yu Xiaoyu beside him.
Yu Xiaoyu immediately understood and presented another piece of silver.
"To be honest, we have been doing business in the capital over the years and have been favored by Mr. Xu. Therefore, we are passing through Water Town this time and we should come and pay a visit."
"It turns out he is one of our own!"
The butler who received the money immediately became very enthusiastic.
He quickly opened the door, invited a few people into the main hall, and then ordered people to come over and pour tea, and then he explained:
"Our wife has gone to the temple to offer incense. It will probably take half an hour before she comes back."
"Just wait here for a moment. If anything happens, just ask my servants to find me at any time."
Yang Dong nodded and said nothing more, but began to look at the decoration of Chen Dahu's home.
Upon closer inspection, he was surprised.
Logically speaking, in a place like Moonlight Town, even members of the family would not be very wealthy.
As for the big households, which are a different level from the outsiders, they basically just have some farmland at home and a few servants.
However, the things in Chen Dahu's house are extraordinary.
Not only were the tea sets used high-quality products from Dezhen, but even the calligraphy and paintings hanging on the walls were from famous artists.
Obviously, this big man Chen is a little too rich.
Could it be...that Mr. Xu's daughter brought the dowry?
The young woman was also aware of these things. She looked around and suddenly her expression became condensed. Staring at a picture scroll, he hesitated to speak.
Yang Dong noticed her abnormality and asked in a low voice:
"Why, what's so special about this picture?"
The young woman took a deep breath and suppressed the emotions in her heart. She lowered her voice and answered at a volume that only the two of them could hear:
"This picture of a lady with hairpins is an authentic work by Wu Sheng. It was hung in my father's study at that time. It was his favorite calligraphy and painting."
"But I clearly remember that these calligraphy and paintings were confiscated by the government and put into the national treasury."
As soon as these words came out, Yang Dong's expression changed slightly.
It seemed that the tax and bank case back then was more complicated than he imagined!
