In a spacious courtyard in Youlong Dazhai, Hanuo was sitting on a wicker chair in the hall, drinking tea quietly.
Suddenly, there was a burst of fast footsteps on the corridor outside, and soon a middle-aged man dressed as a steward stood at the door of the hall.
"Elder!" the middle-aged steward said with his hands raised.
Hanuo saw that the steward seemed to have something to report, so he said, "Come in!"
The middle-aged steward stepped in, walked quickly to Hanuo, bent down and whispered: "Elder, Su Jushi and his son died!"
"Oh?" Hanuo was slightly surprised, then silently counted the time in his mind, and said: "It has only been three days... Where are the bodies of their father and son?"
The middle-aged steward replied: "I was taken away from the charity village by their family in the evening. They should be mourning at home right now..."
Hanuo nodded expressionlessly and said calmly: "In this case, let An Huai go to their home as a representative to express condolences. After all, he is also the previous patriarch and young master, so the etiquette must be thoughtful!"
"Yes, elder." The middle-aged steward responded immediately.
I thought that the middle-aged manager should leave, but Hanuo found that he was still standing beside him and asked, "Why, is there anything else?"
The middle-aged steward said softly: "Elder, now that Su Jushiyong and his son are dead, Qino and Duoba..."
Hanuo thought for a while and said: "They are still in prison and won't be able to get out for a while, so let's leave them alone. Anyway, they don't dare to say anything unless they don't want the whole family's life!"
Immediately afterwards, Hanuo waved his hand and said: "Okay, go and do your work..."
The middle-aged steward immediately nodded, apologized and left.
About a quarter of an hour later, the middle-aged steward met Mr. An Huai. He conveyed Hanuo's message and left.
Hanuo had a look of reluctance. He didn't want to go to express condolences to Su Jushi and his son at all, but he had to listen to his grandfather's words, so he had to ask Lando to call a few capable men to go to Su Jushi in the light rain.
Rush home.
But when An Huai and his party first entered Su Jushiyong's house, Su Jushiyong's wife and two concubines led their servants to surround them and drive them away.
The two sides were just talking at first, but then the two sides became more and more angry. Su Jushiyong's wife pointed at An Huai's nose and cursed, angrily accusing their family of killing her husband and son, and even attacked An Huai.
Spit.
The moment An Huai's face touched the saliva, An Huai completely exploded!
Then, at An Huai's order, Lando and several of his men beat up Su Jushiyong's wife, concubine, and the servants who came to stop him.
When there was only wailing in the yard, An Huai took out the white envelope containing the gold, threw it in the center of the yard, and then waved and walked away with Lan Duo and others.
This news was reported back to Hanuo in less than half an hour. Hanuo, who was about to go to sleep, suddenly lost all sleep and was pacing back and forth in the room in a rage.
Soon, An Huai was called into the house by Hanuo.
Hanuo said very angrily: "I asked you to express condolences to them. It would be better for you to beat up their whole family. You, you, you... do you want to make me angry to death?"
An Huai felt a little regretful afterwards, but he still refused to admit it and said: "Grandpa, you were not here at the time. That bitch not only insulted me, but also said that their father and son were killed by our family. I
I argued with her, but she spit in my face...Grandpa, tell me, can I bear it? Can I bear it?"
Hanuo paused and said: "An Huai, their husband and son have just died. Naturally, they have a lot of resentment in their hearts. It is understandable that they are so excited. Can't you be more generous? You will be a responsible person in the future.
The patriarch’s people!”
Hanuo kept it secret from An Huai about letting Shuladuo instigate Kino and Duoba to poison him. He just wanted to secretly clear the obstacles ahead for his grandson and make his path smooth.
An Huai replied: "Originally I didn't want to do anything, but who told her to spit in my face? Humph, she brought it on herself!"
"You, you... are you still reasonable?" Hanuo was immediately angered by An Huai's innocent look. His wrinkled hand pointed at An Huai's nose: "You,
Go and kneel in the ancestral hall now. If you don't kneel for twelve hours, don't come back to see me!"
An Huai also had a stubborn temper and immediately replied angrily: "Just go!"
After saying that, An Huai left the room angrily, and Hanuo was so angry that he gasped again.
As soon as his tone became smoother, Hanuo walked to the door and shouted: "Here comes someone..."
After a while, the middle-aged steward who had sent the message earlier came over to answer the call.
Hanuo ordered angrily: "Find a few people to keep an eye on the ancestral hall. Anyone who dares to secretly give food to that boy will have his legs broken!"
The middle-aged steward immediately responded: "I understand, elder, I will give the order right now..."
Then, the middle-aged steward walked away quickly.
"Phew! This kid is really... really pissing me off..."
Hanuo's chest was still rising and falling, obviously he was very angry.
The next moment, Hanuo returned to the room and sat down with a sad face. He covered his forehead and kept shaking his head. He was worried about how to deal with the aftermath of this matter and how to eliminate the negative impact as soon as possible.
----------------------------------
Early the next morning, in the county government office.
Situ Zhou was dressed neatly and was about to go to the front hall to light the meal, when Situ Jing and Xiao Huan came to find him.
Situ Jingfu said politely: "Good morning, father."
Xiaohuan also saluted and said: "Good morning, sir!"
Situ Zhou smiled slightly and said, "If you come here so early, you must have something to ask dad, right?"
Seeing her father say this, Situ Jing stopped beating around the bush and said bluntly: "Dad, my daughter has to go out today..."
"What's the matter? Are you feeling unwell again?" Situ Zhou asked with concern.
Situ Jing immediately said: "No, no, my daughter wants to go for a follow-up visit, and grab some medicine from last time. She will be back soon..."
Situ Zhou thought for a while but agreed: "Go back quickly, be careful on the road."
"I know, Daddy." Situ Jing replied.
Then, Situ Jing took Xiao Huan and left. Situ Zhou also left the inner courtyard and went to the front to order his hair.
After Situ Jing and Xiao Huan returned to the house, they immediately changed into their last coarse clothes, dressed up as ordinary women again, and left the county government office through the side door next to the back garden.
Because it was raining, there were very few pedestrians on the road. The two of them held an umbrella together and talked while walking.
"Miss, you said Brother Cheng is the same. His injuries haven't healed yet. Why are you still going to escort the gold mine?" Xiaohuan said.
Situ Jing shook his head and said, "Uncle Ge and the others are all going, it's strange that he would stay alone!"
Xiaohuan also understood this, but she couldn't help but want to complain.
As Situ Jing walked, she paid attention to the shops on both sides of the street. Xiaohuan asked curiously: "Miss, what are you looking at?"
Situ Jing kept searching with his eyes and said, "I'm looking to see if there is a blacksmith shop nearby..."
"Miss, why are you looking for a blacksmith shop?" Xiaohuan didn't understand.
Situ Jing then looked at Xiao Huan and said seriously: "Xiao Huan, you should know that escorting gold mines is a very dangerous job, so I was thinking about whether I could give some of them some protective goggles...