Xiaojia Village, Xianyun County.
After more than a month, the person who sent the letter finally arrived at Xiaojiacun.
The children playing in the village and the villagers working in the fields saw a man riding a tall horse coming from a distance; they all picked up the hoes in their hands and walked toward the entrance of the village.
"I didn't know he came to our village."
"Let's take a look. Whoever it is, just ask."
"I look like he's delivering a message. Don't you think you're in a hurry? When the fourth uncle and aunt of the Xiao family were still in the village, there was also a man who came here on a big horse."
At that time, it was delivered to my home, and that was the only time.
"Could it be that the letter from the Xiao family has arrived again?"
"possible."
"Don't think too much, just take a look."
A group of people gathered around. When the children saw the adults coming, they followed them in twos and threes to join in the fun. The man who came on horseback could not get in when he reached the village entrance. There were many people surrounding the village entrance, so he had to raise his voice and ask.
"Fellow fellow villagers, is this Xiaojiacun here?"
Someone in the village started talking, "It's not the person who came to deliver the letter last time. It's not him."
"It's true. Could it be that you're not here to deliver a letter?"
"Don't make trouble, don't make trouble, let me ask." A white-haired old man scolded the juniors and said, "We are in Xiaojia Village. Where are the young people from? Come to our Xiaojia Village to work?"
The man on horseback had a smile on his face, "Hello, old man, I'm here to deliver a message. I wonder if the chief of the Xiao clan in your Xiaojia Village is here?"
"Is Chief Xiao here?"
"Patriarch Xiao is not here, I guess he is at home."
The old man said: "The patriarch is at home. Come down and I will take you there."
"Okay, thank you for your help." He got off his horse and thanked him repeatedly.
The old man waved his hand and told the juniors to disperse and go about their business, "Young students, follow me."
"Okay." The man led the horse and followed the old man through the crowd until he walked outside a large blue brick house.
The old man pointed to the yard and said, "This is the home of the Xiao clan leader."
The man nodded and followed the old man to the door. He stood outside the door and shouted into the open courtyard, "Patriarch, patriarch, are you at home? Someone has come to deliver a message. If you are, come out."
"Yes, yes."
Patriarch Xiao hurriedly came out of the house, followed by a group of four or five children, both men and women.
"Uncle Jiu is here, come in and sit down."
"They are all members of the family. It doesn't matter whether they sit down or not. Come, this young man is here to deliver a message to you." Uncle Xiao Jiu waved his hands cheerfully, not caring about this at all.
The man leading the horse stepped forward and asked, "Are you the leader of the Xiao clan?"
"Yes, I wonder what the future generations are?"
"I came from the capital, and I asked for directions all the way. Who are your family members in the capital?" To ensure authenticity, the man had to ask carefully.
After Patriarch Xiao pondered for a moment, he said, "Our clan only has four rooms. The big family is in the capital. Did they send us a letter?"
"Yes." The man took out two envelopes from his arms, "Clan Chief Xiao, please check if there are any errors. If they are correct, I should go."
After Patriarch Xiao took it, he checked it over and over again. The red paint was not damaged and the envelope had no signs of being opened. He nodded repeatedly, "No problem. Come in and take a break to drink some water. Thank you for your hard work. Sit down and take a rest. We're still here." I want to ask the clansmen in the capital how they are, so I’ll have to trouble you.”
"No, I don't know their situation either. I was just asked to deliver a message. Once the matter is done, I'll leave first."
The man flatly refused, turned his horse around, got on, and walked away.
The sound of horse hooves faded away, and Patriarch Xiao held the two letters and sighed. Uncle Xiao Jiu asked: "The Patriarch opened it and took a look. What did the elder say?"
"It's time to take a look, sit down in Uncle Jiu's house." Patriarch Xiao invited him, and Uncle Xiao went in with him. After sitting down in the house, Patriarch Xiao sent a group of grandchildren to play, and he watched two The cover of the letter was written personally by the head of the Xiao clan.
Handwriting is not
At the same time, one letter was written in a familiar handwriting, and the other letter was written in small regular script with a unique style.
Open one of them and reveal the letter.
"Grandpa Patriarch, Zhan Xinjia..." There was a question mark in front, and something about the imperial title was written in the back. In particular, the second room was added at the end, which instilled a lot of bad remarks in the old lady's ears, causing the old lady to I'm a little confused. I often mention the second room in the capital, always thinking of supplementing them.
Picking and picking, she always wrote it all in without adding any extravagance. Finally, she told the clan leader to restrain the clan members.
"Whose letter?" Uncle Xiao asked.
Chief Xiao smiled, and then faded his smile, "This is a letter from Sanya, the eldest family member. Our Xiao clan has given birth to a girl with a title; Sanya was made the county head a few days ago, and she has a title. Yes, the title is Zhaoyang. Zhaoyang Zhaoyang, the national title is used, which shows how much His Majesty values Sanya."
"What else?" The man's face changed, but it wasn't like he didn't see it.
"There is also the restlessness of the second brother and sister-in-law. The two brothers and sisters came to the capital and caused a lot of trouble for Sanya. For a period of time, the second brother and sister-in-law were taking care of the fourth brother and sister-in-law, and said some unreasonable things in the ears of the fourth sister-in-law, which caused the fourth sister-in-law to The old fool is enjoying Sanya's blessings in the capital, but he often causes trouble for Sanya."
Uncle Xiao Jiu's expression changed, "None of the mother and daughter in the second room are good. Da Ya looks pretty good on the surface. She has been studying for four years, right? She has no achievements at all and is lazy when she gets home. The family has worked hard I'm just trying to support her to study, but she doesn't know how to make progress, but she still has a lot of small thoughts; she may not be reliable in the future, and Zhengrong's room is at stake."
"It doesn't matter, I'll recruit a son-in-law, and there will be people in the clan watching over me." Chief Xiao didn't care about these things. Instead, what he cared about most was Mrs. Xiao's attitude in the capital. "You also know that Fourth Sister-in-law, really It’s really shameless to be partial.”
Mrs. Xiao's image in the village has always been one of partiality, but she prefers the big house; mainly the second house, although they live a good life, they also do a lot of work. There is a gentleman in the big house who works in the restaurant, and he gets a monthly salary. It is rare to see Xiao Zhengning going to the fields on weekdays.
Xiao Zhengrong often went to the fields, and the second wife's mother often worked at home. On the contrary, Xiao Leshi only took care of the kitchen work, which gave people the illusion that the people in the older family were pampered. But since Xiao Hongkang and Sanya came out, no one said such things anymore; they only said that Dafang was indeed a smart man and had four scholars.
"Now she feels sorry for the people in the second room. Sanya is worried that something will happen to her. I have to step in to prevent the mother and daughter from the second room from delivering the letter. Let's talk it over with Zhengrong. Let's see. His daughter-in-law did something good. The Sanya in the capital knew what was going on, and the fourth sister-in-law also knew what was going on. How could she say this in front of her children."
Uncle Xiao Jiu muttered: "Sanya must have made a fortune in the capital, otherwise your fourth sister-in-law would not be able to remember the person in the second room."
"That's right." Patriarch Xiao sighed, "This matter is their family matter. It's not good for me as an outsider to help."
