The closer we get to Yizhou City, the heavier our steps become.
The Qiao family in Yizhou is a truly aristocratic family.
I heard that every family, whether old or young, is literate. There are countless people working in Beijing and other places. The family's managers and servants can all afford to live in separate courtyards and blue-brick houses.
He is just a poor farmer.
If Jin Niang had been in Yizhou, she would never have had the chance to meet someone like herself. She should have had a better life.
When Yue Zhongyao entered Yizhou City, he didn't dare to come rashly. He only found a clean inn and stayed there. He couldn't afford a hotel room, so he asked for a bunkhouse for fifteen cents per night.
I didn’t dare to eat in the store, as the fried dishes were very expensive. I just spent a few pennies to buy some dry biscuits and went to the store to get free hot water and eat them.
After eating, I went to the waiter to inquire about Qiao's family. I hesitated for most of the night, and finally came to the door the next day with all four gifts ready.
Fortunately, after the Lan family came back with Qiao Jingkun, they reorganized the servants and changed the concierge. Otherwise, if Yue Zhongyao came to the house in such a shabby state, the concierge would have coaxed him out.
Yue Zhongyao successfully entered the Sanchun Hall. With a blushing face, he faced the questioning of Lan and Qiao's mother.
Facing Mother Qiao, who was now like a lady, she even felt that she couldn't handle the bags of cakes she was carrying.
He didn't dare to look directly at Lan's side.
In his eyes, not just now, but at any time, the Lan family looks like the wife of a wealthy family. He didn't dare to look at the previous Lan family, let alone the current Lan family.
When Lan sent someone to call Qiao Mingjin, Yue Zhongyao pinched the shriveled purse around his waist and felt sad.
This trip spent most of my limited savings.
Earlier, he just wanted to see his wife and daughter and spend a quiet and complete New Year with them. But now there is no money left in his wallet, and he has little money to eat and drink himself, not to mention preparing New Year gifts for Jinniang's relatives.
RBI.
Yue Zhongyao's eyebrows were furrowed.
Only now did he know what the saying "have food in hand and don't panic in heart" means.
If he has no food in his hand, he is panicking.
If I had known...
If I had known earlier, I would still be able to work in the county prince's palace and get a monthly salary before coming here? My wife and daughter are missing?
There was a battle between heaven and man in Yue Zhongyao's mind.
When Qiao Mingjin came in, she saw him fidgeting in his chair.
Qiao Mingjin was stunned at the door of the flower hall.
Ming Qi, who was following her, almost hit her in the back.
When he looked past her and saw Yue Zhongyao sitting in the hall, he snorted loudly and walked directly past Qiao Mingjin to sit opposite Yue Zhongyao.
"Why are you here?"
Ming Qi looked angry and asked Yue Zhongyao.
"How are you talking!" Mother Qiao shouted.
Mingqi glanced quietly at Lan, who was sitting in the seat, then lowered his eyes and sat upright.
But Yue Zhongyao had already stood up and stretched his neck while the maid was opening the curtain for the three sisters.
At this moment, his eyes were fixed on Qiao Mingjin. He couldn't hear what Mingqi said.
Qiao Mingjin slowly walked into the flower hall and saw him standing in the middle of the flower hall with a confused expression. She smiled at him and said, "When did you arrive?"
Yue Zhongyao seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and replied hurriedly: "I arrived yesterday afternoon. I didn't dare to come to the house because I was dirty, so I stayed in the inn for one night."
Qiao Mingjin glanced at him after hearing this.
The body is very clean. The beard is also cleanly shaved, and it seems that he has taken good care of himself. He has lost a lot of weight, but his frame is still there, and he is wrapped in thick cotton clothes, and he still looks very tall.
The navy blue fabric on her body is very ordinary, and the thick cotton coat she wears is a bit out of place in this flower hall. Not to mention the mothers who serve Lan and Qiao's mother, even the maids around Qiao Mingjin are all wearing big sweaters.
Although fine woolen clothes cannot be worn, clothes made of gray rat and rabbit wool can still be worn by respectable servants.
The Qiao family has always been popular in Yizhou. The concierge has two woolen clothes to change, so why wear such a bulky cotton-padded jacket?
"Sit down. But have you rested yet?"
Yue Zhongyao stared at Qiao Mingjin's face without blinking, and sat down on the chair in a daze after listening.
I had long known that Jin Niang was good-looking, but I didn't expect Jin Niang to be so good-looking. As expected, horses depend on saddles and people rely on clothes, so Jin Niang felt aggrieved.
Yue Zhongyao thought that he would save more silver in the future so that he could get more pieces of good material to make clothes for Jin Niang.
Just as he was thinking about it, he heard Qiao Mingjin ask again: "You are here at this time. But you don't plan to go back to celebrate the New Year?"
Yue Zhongyao stretched out the hem of his clothes, looked at Qiao Mingjin and said, "I will go back about ten days after you left. I saved a noble man in Beijing on the way and wasted some time. I heard that you returned to Yizhou. I was originally
I wanted to come to you immediately, but I didn’t expect that the noble man I had helped asked me to work for him in his palace in Beijing. I thought, I am still young and just in time to give it a try, so I agreed. Before I leave,
, we have divided our families, and I want to come to you and Wan'er first, so I can meet you first, and then go to the capital. Unexpectedly, the noble man actually sent someone to meet you on the way. So I went to the capital first, and then went to the capital.
I asked for leave from him and will go to his house to report after the new year. Then I arrived in Yizhou without stopping."
Lan and Mother Qiao had just heard this speech once, but this was the first time for Qiao Mingjin.
Qiao Mingjin was still digesting the news when she heard Mingqi next to her say loudly: "Is your family really separated? Didn't your mother make a fuss?"
Mother Qiao stood up in anger and shouted: "Why are you talking to your brother-in-law? No matter how big or small you are, you have gone to the clan to study for nothing! Wait until your father comes back and see if he can deal with you!"
Ming Qi was so drunk that he shrank his head and whispered: "What kind of brother-in-law is he?"
Ming Qi really went through hard times with Qiao Mingjin.
When Qiao Mingjin was carrying a load and was strangled by a rope until her shoulder blistered and bled, she hated the man called brother-in-law the most.
Every time I meet him, I won't look at him well, not to mention choking.
Qiao Mingjin glanced at Mingqi reassuringly, and then glanced at Mother Qiao. Mother Qiao then relaxed her breath. She kept staring at Mingqi, fearing that she would say something big or small again.
Qiao Mingjin looked at Yue Zhongyao: "Is the family really separated?"
Yue Zhongyao nodded solemnly: "I told dad that I don't know when I can come back. In the future, I will give you ten taels of silver a year in pension money. Anyway, if I am not here, it will be the same as if you don't pay it, so dad looked for it before I left."
The clan leader established a document."
Qiao Mingjin glanced at him and said, "Since it doesn't matter whether we separate or not if you're not at home, why did you decide to separate? You don't want anything, right?"
Yue Zhongyao glanced at Qiao Mingjin unexpectedly. Could someone have sent her a message?
Qiao Mingjin didn't know he thought so.
She just understands Wu, and Wu will not do anything that is not profitable.
And there must be an opportunity for Yue Zhongyao to separate his family, otherwise it would not be easy to make such a determination, and it was just before he left to marry Xiaoman.
Yue Zhongyao quickly glanced at Lan's side, and then said to Qiao Mingjin: "After you left, my mother said that she would move to your yard. Find someone to get the key to your yard... I'm thinking of splitting up.
Mom won’t bother my cousin and sister-in-law anymore...Besides, you also want to separate the family...I didn’t ask for anything, and before I left, I left half of the money I had with my family..."
Qiao Mingjin secretly thought that this was indeed the case.
If he wants to divide the family wealth, the Sun family and the Yu family will probably not do it. They wish that Yue Zhongyao is not here and can bring money to the family. The family can save one ration, and the output of the land can only be divided between her and her family.
Lan glanced at Yue Zhongyao and shook his head almost invisible.
Fortunately, this man is not too foolish and filial, and he is not hopeless. As long as he is separated from his family, he can still live a good life.
If not, she would definitely let him and Jinniang separate and live their own lives.
Even if she compensated Qiao Mingjin with her dowry, she still felt that she had treated her eldest granddaughter badly.
She has met so many people in the clan these days. Which family's eldest granddaughter is married to a farmer's family in the countryside who can't make enough money?
When others asked her about Jinniang's husband's family, she was too embarrassed to ask.
When Father Qiao, Mingjue and Mingheng from the outer courtyard arrived after receiving the news, they also cross-examined Yue Zhongyao.
Yue Zhongyao's head almost dropped to the ground when his father-in-law asked him.
Father Qiao learned about the mansion he was going to work for and asked him about his plans.
Yue Zhongyao then replied: "Prince An is in charge of the imperial guard camp in the capital. Although I am only serving as his bodyguard now, as long as I persevere, I may be able to squeeze into the imperial guard camp and earn a stable income."
...I think, after I have established a firm foothold in Beijing, I will take the two of them to Beijing..."
After hearing this, Father Qiao said: "Aren't you going back to Qingchuan?"
Yue Zhongyao shook his head: "I may not return to Qingchuan in the next few years."
After hearing this, Qiao's father asked again: "How much is your monthly salary? Where can I take the two of them to live in Beijing? Is there a place to accommodate them?"
Yue Zhongyao stammered: "Wait, wait, wait, after I have been working as an errand in Beijing for a year and a half and saved some money, I will... rent a small courtyard in Beijing to house the two of them. I have three taels a month.
With a monthly salary, eating and drinking in the prince's palace, you can always save some money in a year..."
He looked up and accidentally saw the jade belt on Father Qiao's waist and the sachet jade pendants hanging on both sides, and his head hung lower.
Father Qiao looked at the black and gray clumsy cotton shoes on his feet, then glanced at the waterproof and snowproof deerskin boots on his two sons' feet, and sighed.
As the next head of the Qiao family, his daughter married into a farmer's family with no land or property. It is impossible to find another family leader whose eldest daughter's husband's family's financial situation is like this.
He now felt that the marriage arranged for Ming Yu was a bit hasty.
Maybe after the New Year, I can write a letter and invite Zhou Yaozu to come to Yizhou?
Yizhou has a lot of outstanding people, so it is very easy to find a great scholar to guide him in his studies. We can't let this second daughter marry a bad scholar and spend her whole life working hard for the family, right?
Nothing could be worse than the eldest daughter.
Father Qiao glanced at his daughters and fixed his eyes on Mingqi.
This little daughter's marriage must be carefully considered.
Otherwise, when he is out socializing and asked about his son-in-law's family, it would be hard for him to ask.
Everyone else has a glamorous son-in-law who can accompany him and drink with him. If his son-in-law is too shameless, he will be embarrassed.
Father Qiao also had no intention of talking too much to Yue Zhongyao.
He stood up and said to him: "Come to the study with me."
After saying that, he walked out with his hands behind his back.
Yue Zhongyao glanced at Qiao Mingjin and wanted to ask about Wan'er. Seeing Qiao's father staring at him, he quickly followed him. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come.
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