Man Bao's thirteenth birthday was celebrated on the road, but she was young and didn't need to celebrate it in any way. It was just that Zhou Lang made her a bowl of noodles early in the morning and cracked two eggs into it, just like in previous years.
However, she felt that she was one year older and was very happy, so she and Bai Shanbai Erlang rode to the front of the team.
Daji followed them on horseback with two guards.
Since they had already run away, they might as well stop in the county or town in front of them, where they could book an inn for them and take a stroll around the local streets.
Because carriages are always slower than horses, this time I returned to my hometown and had more time to play than the last time I went to Beijing.
They first went to the Bai family in Longzhou to worship their ancestors. Mrs. Liu had no intention of staying in Longzhou, so she sent her servants back early to tell them to pack up the room. When they arrived, they didn't even unload their luggage, and sent people to prepare for the sacrifice that day.
The next day, I took Bai Shan to visit the ancestral grave.
Bai Erlang went with him. Because Man Bao was Zhou Yin's daughter, Mrs. Liu also invited her to go with her. Zhou Lang and Wu Lang met several local merchants with the stewards of the Bai family, and after some bargaining
A batch of leather goods was sold.
On the third day, she took a rest. Mrs. Liu only asked someone to give her family a new year gift as usual, and then apologized that she could not come to visit her because she was in a hurry.
By the time someone from my family came to visit the next day, they had already left the city and were on the road again.
Man Bao didn't understand this very much and asked Bai Shan quietly, "Grandma Liu seems to be hiding from people in your clan."
Bai Shandao: "When we left, my grandmother and the clan had a bit of an ugly quarrel. When we left, my grandmother said that unless I shine on the family lintel, I will never have close friendship with the clan members again."
He said: "In previous years, when we went back to our hometown to worship our ancestors, people from the clan would either come to us and cause trouble for us, or they would give us cold looks. We are used to being cold-shouldered, so we don't want to spend too much time dealing with them."
Man Bao frowned, "Why are they so bad?"
Bai Erlang said: "My father said that money moves people's hearts."
Bai Shan nodded, "My family is from a side branch. My ancestors are still promising. They have few heirs and have accumulated wealth over the years. If they were weak, they would have been swallowed up by the people in the clan. However, every generation of my family has someone who can be an official.
People around me didn’t dare to go too far, so the wealth kept accumulating.”
Bai Shan had already memorized the genealogy, and Bai Erlang had also memorized part of it, but he had almost forgotten it now, so he told them as if it were a story.
How should I put it? Although Bai Shan's family had a bad fate, at least one of them became an official in every generation.
No matter how far away they are, in the past hundred years, his great-uncle was the state shepherd of the previous dynasty. The two families had a good relationship, so after his great-grandfather died in the war, he temporarily sheltered their branch.
Unfortunately, his great-uncle's family also died in the war.
As for his grandfather, he was on the line between the previous dynasty and this dynasty. He had just become an official in the previous dynasty. Within two years, the previous dynasty was gone, so he was replaced by the Jin Dynasty. As a result, he didn't pay attention to the cold weather.
died.
However, it was the time when the world was in its early stages, and Grandma Liu's natal family was very powerful. Although the Bai family was jealous of the wealth accumulated by their family, they did not dare to go too far.
Grandma Liu herself was tough and managed to save most of her assets. She managed the business well and her assets were increasing.
Originally, after Bai Qi showed his talent and passed the Jinshi examination, the family became more polite to his family, and even some of the Zhuangzi and shops that had been occupied by various means were bought back.
Who would have known that Bai Qi had not been an official for two years and died unexpectedly again.
The last time Bai Qi's father died, he was still a few years old, and he had already shown his talent for reading. This time, Bai Shanke was only a year old, and could barely walk while holding on to the wall, so there was no sign of his success.
Therefore, if he dies, their clan will be cut off. According to the rules of the clan, their family's property will be returned to the clan and distributed again.
At that time, no one knew how much property Bai Shan's branch had, but everyone calculated it privately and felt that it was only a lot more than the few houses owned by the direct branch of the family.
Because their family's property has not been divided evenly for four generations.
The accumulation of four generations, plus the dowry of the wife who married in.
So there are many people who are moved by it openly or secretly.
However, Bai Shan was well protected by Grandma Liu, at least those poisonous and sinister methods could not be used on him, but Grandma Liu was very troublesome.
After she blocked the poisonous snacks on the plate again, Bai Shan was pushed to the rockery in front of the teacher directly in school, and a hole was knocked out of her head, which caused a lot of blood.
This completely angered Mrs. Liu, and it was also this time that Mrs. Liu began to consider moving out of Longzhou.
She chose again and again, and finally chose Mr. Bai's place in Mianzhou.
There is no way, her father and brothers have passed away, and now her natal family is headed by her nephew, which is already separated by one layer. Moreover, her natal family and Longzhou are too close, and there is no way to separate the Bai clan members.
Not to mention Mrs. Zheng, her stepmother was in charge of the family, and her real married daughter threw water on her, so she chose over and over again and found that Bai Li was the most suitable one.
The two families had a good relationship. Bai Qi and Bai Li studied together since childhood, and they didn't separate until Bai Qi decided to study in Beijing and take exams.
The second reason is that Mianzhou is far enough away that the tribesmen in Longzhou have no roots there.
In the past, when Bai Shan was young, he just felt that his life in Longzhou was very unhappy. His classmates in school all targeted him, and his teacher didn't like him. When he was a guest, everyone treated him in a weird way...
But after the case of King Yizhou was settled, Mrs. Liu carefully discussed the family affairs with Bai Shan, and he realized that the water, snacks and meals he drank when he was a child had to go through so many procedures before they could reach their destination.
In his words, this made him dislike Longzhou even more.
Mrs. Liu didn't like it either, so she decided not to stay longer in Longzhou this time and left in three days. She also rushed to send postcards and new year gifts to my family on the last day just to avoid meeting them.
Bai Erlang and Man Bao were stunned when they heard this. Bai Erlang clicked his tongue and said, "These things about your family could be written into a storybook."
Bai Shan glanced at him and said, "This is your family too."
Bai Erlang thought about it and realized that it was true that although their branch had moved to Mianzhou and had a family tree, they were still connected to Longzhou. After all, they were only separated into three generations, and they were still close to each other.
Man Bao asked: "Have you ever thought about your own clan?"
Bai Shan quietly looked outside and whispered, "I've thought about it too, but my grandmother doesn't think so much."
Man Bao and Bai Erlang asked in unison: "Why?"
Bai Shandao: "Grandma said that if the world is peaceful, we will be divided. But if the world is not peaceful, it is better to unite than to divide."
Man Bao said: "But now the world is at peace."
Bai Shan lowered his voice and said, "Let's wait until the next emperor ascends the throne. The previous dynasty only lasted for two generations. Who knows if there will be another war?"