Zhufeng's expression darkened, he frowned and raised his voice a bit, "What do you mean by this? There are black words on the paper and a seal. What's wrong with it?"
The butler looked embarrassed and said, "Boss Zhu, I really can't make the decision. Otherwise, I'll tell the second master about this and see what he decides. Please wait a little longer, Boss Zhu."
Zhufeng was already unhappy, but he could only suppress it and agreed.
So, after another two cups of tea, the so-called second master in the housekeeper's mouth arrived belatedly.
Zhufeng was already impatient with waiting, so his expression didn't look good. He directly pressed the contract on the table and said with a sullen face: "Here is the contract written in black and white. Could it be that the huge Zhang family still wants to deny it?
Please note that at this time, my batch of medicinal materials may have already boarded your Zhang family's merchant ship, do you still want to seize it by force?"
The second master of the Zhang family took a few glances at the contract and chuckled, "Boss Zhui, these words are serious. Our Zhang family has a good reputation, so naturally it is impossible for us to do such a thing.
However, this contract was signed between you and your eldest brother. Now that your eldest brother is seriously ill and unconscious, how can I dare to give you food so easily?
What's more, whether the eldest brother can survive this time is another matter. If God is really unkind and lets my eldest brother pass away, then this contract will also be invalidated.
Of course, we still have to do the medicinal materials business, but the price will have to be renegotiated between you and me."
Zhufeng remembered what he heard in the teahouse. After thinking about it, he said: "I am proficient in medical skills. You might as well let me and Boss Zhang have a look." As he said this, he took out the recommendation letter written by Pan Chenggui, the governor of Chengyang County.
.
Before leaving, the head junior sister handed him the recommendation letter, and he was still puzzled. It seemed that the head junior sister should have expected this situation.
The second son of the Zhang family frowned slightly, but he took the recommendation letter and read it carefully. The more he read it, the more complicated the expression on his face became.
Finally, he chuckled and handed the letter of recommendation to Zhufeng again, but said: "Boss Zhu, this is Mu country. You just took a piece of paper and tried to fabricate your identity as a miracle doctor. You thought I was a three-year-old child."
Is it easy to deceive?
I just said that my eldest brother was seriously ill, and you quickly said that you are a miracle doctor. This is too coincidental.
Boss Zhu, if you don’t want me to send you to the government, then please leave.”
After saying that, he walked away proudly.
Zhufeng looked at the back of the second son of the Zhang family, and the anger in his heart was suppressed.
He put away the contract and recommendation letter and left the main room immediately. However, he sneaked into a corner when no one was prepared. Finally, he recognized the location by listening to the voice and sneaked into Boss Zhang's yard.
It's a pity that there are many servants and guards surrounding the courtyard. Although it is possible to break in forcefully, there is obviously no need to make a big noise.
Then Zhufeng turned sideways, raised his breath and jumped, as light as a swallow, and flew up to the roof without disturbing anyone.
After opening the tiles and looking inside the room, Zhufeng frowned unconsciously. There were actually many people guarding the bed, and each of them was armed with sticks and weapons.
Seeing no opportunity for the moment, Zhufeng flew down to the roof again. Then he hid in a corner, still listening to various sounds in the courtyard, trying to find some opportunities that could be exploited.
Soon, he heard a woman crying, followed by a man's voice.
"Sister-in-law, you can't blame us for this. You didn't give birth to a son for your eldest brother. As a result, your eldest brother now has no children and no one to inherit the family business. How can we, as brothers, watch our eldest brother's hard work be destroyed in one day?"
."
The woman cried, "Isn't it enough for me to adopt a son?"
The man was obviously displeased, "Sister-in-law, eldest brother hasn't left yet, but you are thinking of destroying our Zhang family? You just adopted an outsider casually and let the Zhang family's family property fall into the hands of outsiders. This is how you give our Zhang family
Daughter-in-law?"
The woman was also angry, crying and shouting: "Don't think that I don't know what your plans are, so you just wait for him to die early so that you can take away this huge family property and let us orphans and widows live on the streets.
"
At this time, another male voice sounded, quite forceful, "Sister-in-law, you have no conscience for what you said. Blood is thicker than water. We only hope that your brother will get well soon."
As for you, you didn’t give birth to a son to the Zhang family, so why do you stay in our Zhang family? It’s just a kindness to you that the Zhang family is still alive, so it’s better for you that you still want to hang on.”
The woman was completely irritated and gritted her teeth and said, "You bunch of rotten bugs and bedbugs who 'eat every household', just watch and take everything here away from me.
You dirty-hearted things, your eldest brother is still alive and not dead, yet you dare to come and make trouble. You are simply bullying others too much. Aren’t you afraid of being poked in the back by the world?"
"Humph, sister-in-law, even if you don't leave now, it will only last for two more days. Once my brother gets frustrated, I don't see what excuse you have to stay here."
After that, there was a series of footsteps, which Zhufeng guessed were the sons of the Zhang family leaving. Immediately after, there was the helpless cry of the woman.
Then, another old woman's voice sounded, "Madam, I've searched all over and can't find the person I promised."
The woman stopped crying, and then she gritted her teeth with hatred, "They must have captured me. The master has expressed his desire to recruit Xu as his son-in-law before. This time, they have completely cut off my mother's livelihood.
."
The old woman also looked anxious, "What should we do now? Everything outside is being guarded, and we can't get out. We can't just find a servant in this house and marry the eldest lady."
At this point, the woman's cry became more pitiful, and she kept sobbing while holding her handkerchief, "Why am I so miserable? I gave birth to three children, but not a son, and yet my master fell ill with a strange disease.
God, aren't you leaving us orphans and widowed mothers with no way to survive?" Then there was a cry of pain.
Zhufeng heard it and understood. The sound came from the inner courtyard. It was not easy for him to go in directly to see people. If someone bumped into him, it would be even more unclear.
Therefore, Zhufeng simply stopped hiding and walked out from the corner openly, then looked left and right seemingly anxiously.
Soon, a boy saw him. Seeing that he looked unfamiliar, he stepped forward and asked, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Zhufeng's face suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, "I am a doctor. I was out of court just now and accidentally lost my way. Please show me the way."
The young man looked surprised, "Are you the doctor? Who invited you to be the doctor?"
Zhufeng's face turned red and his heart stopped beating: "I was invited by your wife."
His voice was not quiet, but it startled the boy. He quickly said "Shhh" to him, then looked left and right to make sure no one was paying attention, and then whispered to him: "Then I will take you."
Go see the madam." You will know if the madam is here for you as soon as you meet him.
Zhufeng cupped his hands and said thank you, and then he was sneaked around by the boy and led to a remote place.
On the way, the boy explained: "Now the yard is full of people with two or three bedrooms. They want to take advantage of the master's downfall to seize the property of our big house, so it is inconvenient to move around. I feel aggrieved."
"It doesn't matter." Zhufeng used his hand to open a squeak in front of him, and followed the boy through the bushes through the outer courtyard and arrived at the main hall of the inner courtyard.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
The so-called "eating a household" means that after the death of the male owner of a household, the clan relatives come to divide the family property and bully the orphans (daughters) and widowed mothers. First, in a patriarchal society, daughters are considered to be "people with foreign surnames". A
If the family has no sons, no one will inherit the property, and it should be jointly owned by the clan. Therefore, it is considered natural for clan relatives to divide it up, as "the rich water does not flow to outsiders." Secondly, women are weak, even if the law recognizes it
Daughters have the right to inherit, and it is difficult for women to stop violent snatching by relatives. Being a destitute means bullying the destitute. There is no man in the family, so recruiting a son-in-law or taking in a adopted son is an option for the destitute. Adoption is the second-tier option. After all, adoption is the next best option.
If he is the son of another brother, part of the property will naturally belong to the other brothers. The good thing is that orphans and widowed mothers will also be taken care of by their adoptive sons. In fact, adoption is also a disguised form of deprivation of the family.