The sun is rising and the sun is shining brightly on Jingdong East Road.
Yanjiabao, located five or six miles away from Qingzhou City, was also shrouded in sunlight. However, the courtyard looked deserted.
The maids and servants who usually got up early and were busy were reduced by 70%. The remaining 30% also lowered their heads when walking, like eggplants after being beaten by frost.
Most of the stewards, big and small, who usually patrolled arrogantly, were gone. The remaining half tried their best to hide in the house and not come out. Only when they had to, they poked their faces out of the windows and gave some instructions to the servants.
But he could press it as low as he could, as if he was afraid of waking up a sleeping ghost.
"My eldest brother, you died unjustly -" A mournful scream suddenly sounded in the depths of the deserted courtyard. In an instant, all the servants felt their scalps tingling.
However, no one took a second look at the place where the mournful screams came from. They continued to lower their heads, feebly cleaning the yard, feebly preparing breakfast for the masters of the house, pretending that they heard nothing.
"Da Lang, don't be afraid. Mother has hired a mage for you. After you drink Meng Po Soup, you will be able to find a good family. In the next life, don't be surnamed Yan again -" The mournful sound continued, and a sound
It was so loud that the crows on the roof flew up in large numbers.
"Come here, the old man has an order, please take the medicine and rest as soon as possible!" The old housekeeper Yan Zhong suddenly appeared with a bowl of soup and ordered to several servants who looked strong.
Several servants whispered yes, and then took the decoction from Yan Zhong's hand, surrounded the man, and hurried towards the depths of the yard. After a while, there was a whining sound of a blocked nose, and soon,
The whole courtyard became dead silent.
The servants and maids looked at each other and shook their heads slightly. Although each of them did not dare to speak, some sympathy inevitably surged in their hearts.
The person whose nose was blocked and given medicine was the eldest wife of the magistrate and the mother-in-law of the three young masters of the Yan family.
A few days ago, Yang Xingyan rebelled, and the head of the Yan family immediately divided the entire family into two groups. One group of descendants and nephews took their servants and supplies to defect to Yang Xingyan. The other group resolutely drew a clear line with the former and swore to live together.
Become a minister of the Song Dynasty and die as a ghost of the Song Dynasty.
This kind of behavior is the common practice of aristocratic families, and the head of the family, Yan Wenda, is very familiar with it. Moreover, most of the crimes for which the government has obtained conclusive evidence have taken the opportunity to blame the clan members who defected to Yang Xingyan.
However, Wang Jinglue, who is in charge of Qingzhou City, is not easy to fool. He also comes from a wealthy family and is equally familiar with betting on both ends.
Therefore, in order to give Wang Qinruo a sufficiently weighty explanation to appease Wang Qinruo, and to protect his eldest son and third grandson who were far away in Shaoxing as the prefect, Yan Wenda, the head of the Yan family, also accused the Yang family of "being too close to the Yang family" and "conniving in the oppression of evil slaves".
"Good", he ordered five younger generations, including his eldest grandson Yan Wenda, to commit suicide by taking poison, then expelled all their bodies from the clan, wrapped them in straw mats and sent them to the Yamen of the Jinglue Envoy.
At this time, Wang Qinruo immediately stopped talking. He knew that with so many crimes of the Yan family being exposed in broad daylight, it was impossible for only Yan Xicheng and five other people to make the final decision. But he could only hold his nose and accept the Yan family's crimes first.
"Justice destroys relatives".
It is said that on the day he received the order from his grandfather Yan Wenda, as the eldest grandson of the Yan family, Yan Xicheng knew that he had to sacrifice for the family even though he was a loser. He did not cry or make a fuss, but first found Hu Tian, the eldest daughter-in-law.
After a fuss, he mixed the poison with the wine and drank it all.
However, Yan Xicheng's mother, Mrs. Yu, was greatly stimulated. The day after her son was expelled from the ancestral hall, she went crazy. From then on, whenever she found an opportunity, she would cry and cry out for her son to perform sacrifices.
And he scolded the Yan family that everyone in the Yan family is dressed like a beast!
Tiger poison does not yet eat its seeds!
From a mother's perspective, what the old fox Yan Wenda did was indeed worse than that of an animal.
However, from the perspective of the head of the Yan family, it is better to sacrifice Yan Xicheng than to plunge the entire family into a disaster.
Therefore, although Mrs. Yu's cries and curses were quite unpleasant, Yan Wenda, the head of the Yan family, did not care much about her. Every time, he would order his close servants to "appease" her after she was really noisy.
Today, the situation is a little different.
As soon as Yu Shicai began to cry, Yan Wenda sent the old housekeeper Yan Zhong to personally bring a bowl of soup and medicine to the back house. Supervise the servants to drink it for Yu Shi, and then hurriedly returned
Return to the main hall.
"It seems something serious has happened!" Several older servants were shocked when they saw it, and they immediately realized that something was wrong.
However, they had no way of finding out what was wrong. They could only peek at the main hall door while working.
Soon, they saw Yan Wenda's second grandson, Yan Xizheng, stumbling into the main hall. Following closely, several more clan elders came in a hurry with dark circles under their eyes.
After these people entered the main hall, the doors and windows of the main hall quickly closed. The entire building was instantly isolated from the outside world. From a distance, it looked like a cold and dark tomb.
"The news came in the middle of the night yesterday that Yang Xingyan was defeated and died, and the judge beside him, the governor of the Southern Liao Dynasty, was also beheaded by Han Qing's people." In the tomb-like main hall of the Yan Mansion, Yan Wenda braced himself,
Announced to the clan elders who came over.
There was no lamp, and there was not enough sunlight shining into the house through the window paper. At this moment, he was sitting in the position of the head of the house, with a blurred expression and a dry body. At first glance, he looked like a zombie that had just been unearthed.
Several "highly respected" clan elders took a breath of cold air at the same time, with disbelief written all over their faces.
Although Yang Xingyan was not a veteran general, he had led troops for more than twenty years. His subordinates, including the servants of the Yan and Yang clans who rushed to join him, numbered at least five thousand.
Han Qing and Ding Wei's subordinates were only in their early 3,000s, and most of them were grain workers with little combat effectiveness.
With three thousand against five thousand, no matter how good Han Qing and Ding Wei were at using troops, it stands to reason that they would have to fight Yang Xingyan for ten days and a half before they could decide the winner. How could they kill Yang Xingyan so quickly?
Under the knife?
"Yang Xingyan is dead. Those tribesmen who went to seek refuge with him before will probably not end up with a good ending." Knowing that the news was unbelievable, Yan Wenda had no time to explain to the elders. After a short pause, he continued to add, "This family member
Bian, I'm afraid the explanation originally given to Wang Qinruo is not weighty enough."
"Can't we use our strength from the court?"
"Where's Lu Ziming? Hasn't he already raised an army?"
"The eldest brother is also the prefect of Shaoxing after all. Among his colleagues, there must be someone who can hand the certificate to the official."
"Our Yan family has also made great contributions to the country. Occasionally, a few unscrupulous nephews and nephews appear, and the head of the family has already dealt with them..."
"Wang Qinruo has no grievances against us, so he can't push our Yan family to a dead end. Whatever benefits he wants, the head of the family agrees to him. Don't just hand over your nephews to others. Otherwise, people's hearts will be broken!
"
Discussions started immediately. Several clan elders no longer doubted whether the news was true or false, but made suggestions based on their own or family interests.
"If Yang Xingyan had not been defeated so quickly, the method you suggested would have been implemented. But now..." Yan Wenda glanced at several clan elders and shook his head slightly.
"This..." Several clan elders were stunned and became mute again.
After living for such a long time, they all understand many truths. There is no need for Yan Wenda to explain it too carefully.
Even if Yang Xingyan loses to Han Qing in the end, as long as he can persist for three to five months, Wang Qinruo and the Guan family will realize the local strength of the Yan family and the Yang family.
In this way, in order not to arouse the doubts of other local wealthy families, Wang Qinruo and the official family would leave three points of leeway for the Yan family. They even allowed the Yan family to hand over a few "dead branches" on their own in accordance with past rules, and then fined them a large
Money matters.
But now, Yang Xingyan had gathered five or six thousand rebels, but they were defeated in a single battle. Wang Qinruo and the officials of the Song Dynasty were all confident. They no longer worried about the Yan family taking risks, nor did they worry about other people on Jingdong East Road.
The big family is sad when the rabbit dies!
"I'm old and can no longer take charge of such a large family business." Yan Wenda's voice sounded again, sounding like the north wind passing through the cracks in the window in the cold winter. "So, we decided to divide the family. How much land can each house be allocated?
The shop is rich in gold and silver. I asked the butler to make a ledger last night. Later, you can divide it according to the ledger. Don’t start any more disputes. Wang Qinruo likes to look forward and backward when doing things. Before he decides how to treat our Yan family, let’s
Divide your own house first. In this way, each house can no longer be implicated by me!"
Several clan elders were shocked again and blurted out words of dissuasion.
"Brother, what do you mean?"
"Uncle, we are willing to continue to advance and retreat together with you."
"Patriarch, you have not implicated us. Before things get that bad, we might as well wait for Wang Qinruo to put forward the conditions and then slowly reconcile with him."
…
The Yan family has a great business, and if they just split the family without consulting the clan elders, it will definitely not be the same. With Yan Wenda's past style, the eldest family member will always take advantage, and the other families will definitely suffer.
Therefore, no matter what, several clan elders cannot agree with Yan Wenda's decision. Even if the family has to be separated in the end, the accounts must be settled clearly, and we cannot just be so confused.
"I have prepared the account books!" The little thoughts of the elders of the general clan were revealed at a glance. Yan Wenda slammed the table angrily, "I am not discussing with you, but informing you. Xizhe, open the door and let
The housekeeper came in with the accountant and started dividing the land deeds and house deeds!"
"Yes!" Second Young Master Yan Xizhe agreed without hesitation, and then walked quickly to the door.
If it had been before the Yan family suffered a blow, Yan Wenda would have been able to suppress the elders of the clan with his accumulated prestige. However, now, his prestige is not as good as before.
Therefore, several clan elders also slapped the case with their palms and raised old scores loudly, "Brother, don't go too far. If you hadn't been greedy for the small advantage of selling goods to the Liao Kingdom, the family would not have fallen into this trap.
Suffering from such a disaster."
"Clan leader, you broke the rules earlier, and we have tolerated it..."
"You don't do business well, but you have to sell living people. Brother, you must give an explanation to each house."
"Uncle, I forgive my nephew for not being able to comply with this matter!"
"Uncle, why should our second wife be responsible for what Yan Xicheng committed?"
…
When the commotion was getting louder, the room suddenly lit up, and it was the housekeeper Yan Zhong who rushed in in a hurry. He didn't even bother to breathe evenly, so he cried and reported, "Master, it's broken.
It's broken. Wang Qinruo personally led the soldiers and surrounded our house. I want you to go out immediately and talk to him!"
