Lao Zhoutou went out for a walk and found that he had nothing to do. Zhou Dalang had arranged everything at home, and Zhou Dalang also took all the officials to Bai's house.
He walked around aimlessly, finally returned to the room, and started rummaging through the boxes.
Mrs. Qian put three sticks of incense on Mr. Tianzun and asked, "What are you looking for?"
"Looking for clothes. Didn't I put the clothes that Manbao sent me back in the cabinet? Where did you put them?" Old Zhoutou said: "This is a high-ranking official. He will change into it later to entertain guests."
Qian then pulled him away and said, "Stop messing around, I'll help you find it."
Qian found the clothes and gave them to him, frowned and said, "Has everything been arranged outside?"
"Boss has made all the arrangements, there's no need for me."
Qian finally breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.
Manbao and the others also sent letters home, and sent their servants on the road to deliver them, but the weather had begun to get cold by now, and the speed of private letters was not as fast as those of official letters.
That's why the officials arrived at Qili Village ahead of their letter.
Mr. Bai was also very worried about Mrs. Liu and Bai Shan, so he sat down and started to inquire about the news in the capital.
The last time they received a letter from Bai Shan and the others, they said that they had filed a petition, walked around in jail and came out, and everything was fine.
But I don’t know what will happen next.
Now that the Zhou family has received a reward, the Bai family should also have it, right?
The Bai family really did exist. He heard from the edict that Bai Qi had also been granted the title of state pastor, or the state pastor of Shangzhou. He breathed a sigh of relief and started asking people to bring out good wine. They would drink it here first.
Zhou Dalang quickly invited all the elders and village chiefs in the village to his home, and some aunts and sisters-in-law who were familiar with their family also came to their home to help.
Zhou Lixue drove the bullock cart to fetch the mayor. Xiao Qian made three tables of good meals, and then Zhou Dalang went to Bai's house to invite Mr. Bai and the officials to come and have dinner.
The old Zhou family left Lao Zhoutou, Zhou Dalang, Tuesday Lang and Zhou Lang to accompany the guests, while the others took refuge in the small courtyard to eat.
However, they didn't have much thought about eating, so they kept their long ears straightened to listen to what was said over there.
People in Qili Village are also very concerned about Man Bao's situation in the capital, but how do the officials know so much?
It is only said that the emperor has not questioned the guilt and the person has been released from prison.
Then Lao Zhoutou brought up Zhou Yin's funeral affairs and asked sideways whether the things the Yamen said about bandits before would not count. In the future, he could do whatever he wanted according to the rules.
Naturally, the official followed the imperial edict and praised Zhou Yin's loyalty. The village chief and the village chief were not fools, and they understood immediately after hearing this.
Then everyone had a pleasant meal and then sent the person away.
When Mr. Bai saw them letting the officials go away empty-handed, he couldn't help but wink at Old Zhou.
Lao Zhoutou failed to understand, so Mr. Bai went to see Zhou Lang.
Zhou Zuorang was stunned for a moment, then he understood and went to touch it, but he didn't get a penny out. Mr. Bai felt a headache and was thinking about whether he should pay out the money for them. The officials had already mounted their horses and left.
Mr. Bai could only sigh as he looked at the leaving team, and said to Zhou Yilang: "Why don't you prepare in advance?"
Old Zhou asked in confusion, "What are you preparing for?"
The chief on the side said angrily: "Money, people come all the way to deliver imperial edicts to you, you are not allowed to give them money as rewards?"
Lao Zhoutou's eyes widened and he said in disbelief: "Should I give him a reward? No, I'm just an idiot, and he's still a high-ranking official. How can I give him a reward?"
Isn't it right for him to reward him?
The headmaster said: "In the future, if your family is admitted to the imperial examination and someone comes to announce the good news, you are not allowed to give them a reward?"
"That person is a minor official, and it is a big happy event. Of course, a reward is required, but here is a high official. How much does it cost to be considered a reward?" Lao Zhou turned to Zhou Erlang and said: "
It’s only right if you don’t give it, I’ll beat you if you give it to me. If you don’t give it too much, it will make a high-ranking official look miserable.”
Everyone actually felt that what Old Zhoutou said was reasonable. Even Mr. Bai couldn't help but nodded, "That's right. He's from Beijing, so he shouldn't be short of money."
That is, if you don’t have enough, you can’t give it.
Old Zhou thought to himself that new wheat is worthless now, and the price is the same as ordinary wheat. Next year, after the harvest, the price of grain may have to drop, and it won't be worth much money at all.
Nowadays, all the cash the family earns depends on the various medicinal materials grown in the mountains. When Lao Wu and the others wrote letters, they always reported good news but not bad news. Even the fact that Man Bao was imprisoned was only told to them after he came out, and they didn't know they were there.
How much money has been spent in the capital to recruit people?
Old Zhoutou knows that if you go to jail, you will never get out if you have no money. The high officials in the capital may not be as good as Magistrate Yang.
The fourth child took all the cash at home with him before leaving. Where could he go to find reward money for such a big official?
As soon as the officials left, Lao Zhou relaxed completely and waved directly: "Tell the villagers that our family will kill chickens and sheep tomorrow and treat everyone to a meal!"
The village chief knew that old Zhou's family didn't have much money except some copper coins. After all, their family had just exchanged silver with him a few days ago, so he stopped him and said, "Don't be busy. This is a big matter for our Zhou family and our Qili Village."
For such a big event, you can’t just have your family contribute the money. Every household should chip in and everyone can do it.”
Lao Zhoutou immediately declined, "No, no, how can I make you spend money? Don't worry, although the fourth child took away all the cash at home, it's still okay to treat everyone to a good meal."
He said: "This year's harvest is good. We have enough rice and flour. We have enough vegetables. We also have chickens and eggs. We still have enough money to buy sheep and pigs."
Seeing Lao Zhoutou's insistence, the village chief stopped arguing with him. At worst, he could bring something with him when he comes to dinner tomorrow.
Now everyone in Qili Village knows that Man Bao was imprisoned some time ago because of a complaint against him. When the letter came back, the old Zhou family cried miserably, even though the letter said that Man Bao was fine and had been fished out.
But everyone knows that this prison is so easy to squat in?
Who can go in and not shed a layer of skin?
Man Bao still didn't know how much he had suffered, so once the old Zhou family was new, he asked Zhou Lang to take all the cash in the family and load all the medicinal materials prepared by the family into a truck and take him to the capital.
The mules and carts were bought in cash, and when they were brought to the capital, they were sold and converted into cash for Man Bao. Be sure to bring the people back.
So now everyone in Qili Village knows that Lao Zhou's family has no money, and it has suddenly fallen from the second richest family in the village. It is not yet known whether it has fallen to the bottom, after all, no one knows the situation in the capital.
However, although it is not known how many crimes Man Bao suffered after being released from prison, the fact that Zhou Yin was posthumously gifted was a great thing, and the whole village began to celebrate together.
Now they were completely relaxed, and they no longer had any scruples about talking about what happened twelve years ago.
We can finally talk in private, instead of just talking about Zhou Yin like before, we can only hint at the past, it all depends on everyone's ability to understand.
The old people of the Zhou family decided to add the paragraph from twelve years ago to the family tree, which must be written in red ink. They did not trust Zhou Lixue's writing style, so they decided to let the village chief's grandson write it. After all, he was more advanced than Zhou Lixue.