The Stepmother is Unkind

The area of ​​the prefecture's house is not small. Normally, it is very spacious for a family of three. However, Yin Mingyu and Xie Qin moved in one after another and brought a lot of entourage and guards. Things, and to arrange the maids, they did not prepare a study room for Xie Ce alone.

So Xie Ce took classes, sometimes in the courtyard, sometimes in Xie Ce's house.

Xie Ce had to read early every morning, and only went to the Jiedu envoy's mansion after breakfast, and today the old gentleman taught the character to calm down as soon as he entered his room.

First, it was because he instantly dreamed back to the scientific examination that year, and second, it was because he recognized Xie Qin's handwriting.

What kind of temperament Xie Qin is, I don't know much about it, and now he can write such a rather narrow word, the old teacher can't help but shake his head with a smile.

Xie Ce is undoubtedly smart and sensible. He has never been slack when he is studying, but he is still young and has a stepmother like Yin Mingyu by his side, so there is inevitably a little imbalance.

In other words, it might be a way to sharpen the mind.

How everyone looked at Xie Ce's stepmother in the past, how they condone Yin Mingyu now, even the old gentleman who was supported by the Xie family was no exception.

The arrival of Yin Mingyu and Xie Ce, especially Yin Mingyu, gave him a lot of comfort and relaxation during his busy schedule.

Xie Qin was very busy, but he was extremely self-controlled and calm. He always remembered that the purpose of his assignment as an official was to do things for the people.

Even if the situation in South Vietnam is unpredictable, if he puts his whole heart into intrigue, he will put the cart before the horse in his heart, and it will be easy to lose balance and forget his original intention.

And what Yin Mingyu has done before and after has helped him open up the situation. Xie Qin did some careful work after Yin Mingyu recognized the marriage certificate of the two ethnic groups in front of the people of the prefecture and recognized a righteous granddaughter of the same age. The arrangement will continue to work on people's livelihood.

This year, he and Chu He have carefully learned about South Vietnam. There are indeed many unfavorable factors in the development of South Vietnam, but there are also many advantages. If you want to develop, security, education, and expansion of exchanges with the outside world are imperative. .

After the county school and state school are rectified, it will take time to see the effect, and now he is trying his best to build roads and bridges.

Chu He taught people to quietly ask some old people in Zhoucheng, and also checked the classics. Thirty years ago, a large number of people in Lingnan disappeared. According to the only records, there were more than a thousand people.

This is recorded in only a few words in the classics. There are many villages in Lingnan that are located in remote areas, and it is not ruled out that there are many missing people who have not been taught.

"For such a big thing, the state records were only taken in one stroke, and there is no tracing record in the state government file..."

Xie Qin flipped through the few records that Chu He had sent over, frowning.

Chu He was a little dark and thin because he was busy running around. Seeing that Xie Qin buried his head in the file, he was still handsome and had a Qinghua temperament.

"I have checked the files in recent years, and there is no record of a large number of reported disappearances, so it is basically impossible to investigate this matter."

Xie Qin slowly put down the file and said, "It's good to know the reason, but you don't have to spend energy on the old case of the previous dynasty."

Chu He nodded and said, "After all, it's an old thing. I have asked people to test it among the people. Most of them are really resistant, but there are also quite a few people who have some trust in the yamen and are waiting to see."

"In this case, the people's hearts must be reassured first."

Xie Qin nodded and said calmly: "Those people from the Yanzu village can come in handy. If they are the first, they are safe and have wages. They should be able to win the trust of the people."

Since he was talking about wages, Chu He asked, "Can you really get the money?"

Xie Qin looked out the window and said, "It should be passed on..."

It's just that compared to whether the money can be sent, how to teach Yin Mingyu to be happy when he lets go is also quite important.

Nan Ke took the guards lent to her by the Xie family, joined the clan elder and the clan chief Nan in the house in the state city, and returned to Nanmeng Village together.

At the entrance of the village, some children of the clan were playing under the flower trees. As soon as they saw their figures, they came up to meet Nanke. When they saw Nanke, they happily called her: "Sister Nanke, you are back!"

The clan elder and others looked at Nan Ke, who was among the guards and the children, coldly, not as amiable as he pretended to be before.

Nan Ke didn't have a good face towards the clan elders and others, but towards these children, his eyebrows and eyes were a little softer, "Well, I'm back."

The little girl who reported the letter before was the best-looking one in her generation. She was always very favored and had a good relationship with Nan Ke. She asked worriedly, "Sister Nanke, are you all right?"

Nan Ke didn't answer her, because many clansmen came to the village.

Previously, Nan Ke fled and went out to look for some of her young and strong clan members. All of them didn't come back. They were taken away and put in jail for no reason. His relatives couldn't find it, so he asked the clan elder: "Clan elder, where is the person? Didn't you bring it back?"

The clan elder's tone did not hide his accusation and anger, and pointed to Nan Ke: "You ask her, what's the use of asking me?"

The clansmen turned to Nanke together, with some resentment in their expressions, and asked, "Nanke, why didn't they come back?"

Nan Ke said lightly: "Lord Inspector loves the people like a son, and will release them sooner or later. What's the hurry?"

Her words were really cold-hearted, and immediately some members of the tribe accused her in anger—

"Nanke, you are a scourge. If you weren't restless, how could something happen to them?"

"Why are you so clueless?"

"They didn't come back, and you have the face to come back?!"

No need, just a few and a half months ahead, if Nan Ke heard this, she would definitely be very angry and sad, but she has now recognized how many people in the clan are hypocritical and selfish, and naturally she will not be sad for such people.

Nan Ke gently touched the little girl's head. She was for these children, the innocent suffering clansmen, so that no more clansmen would suffer in future generations.

Just like what the governor and his wife taught her, only by controlling power can you control the future, and the selfishness of these clansmen can also be used, right?

The corners of Nanke's mouth slowly raised, "Why do I have no face to come back? I worshipped the prefect's wife as my righteous grandmother, and I will become the barbarian patriarch's wife under the witness of the entire South Vietnam. Can't I come back in glory?"

Those clansmen instantly stopped their gushing accusations and looked at the clan elder in disbelief.

The clan elder was expressionless and had no way to refute.

Nan Ke sneered, "You see what use he is, he annoyed Patriarch Hu, and he doesn't know how to explain it. You might as well beg me to protect yourselves."

The clan elder suddenly looked ugly, "Nan Ke, don't get carried away. Without the support of the clan, you are alone and nothing."

Nan Ke glanced at him meaningfully, stopped paying attention to him, held the little girl's hand, and greeted the children together, passed directly through the clansmen, and entered the village.

The clansmen looked at each other in dismay, no previous accusations and dissatisfaction in their eyes, only eager to please.

The snobbery and selfishness raised by the clan elders and others, as long as Nanke makes use of it, it will be fed back to them without any accident.

Butterfly Valley—

The barbarians and the rogues received the news on the second day of the incident.

At the beginning, Patriarch Hu was extremely angry that he had an inexplicable addition of a righteous grandmother, and that he had to pay a large betrothal gift, and at the same time, he could not get a beauty as soon as possible.

Even when he was sitting with Clan Head Fan at night to discuss, he clapped the table frequently, scolded Nanmeng as a "trash", scolded the Inspector and his wife, and blamed Clan Head Fan for such a bad idea.

In order to appease him, the patriarch Fan endured boredom and anger, and spoke kindly.

When Patriarch Hu came out of the Qi clan, he turned all his anger into **** and vented it on his concubine.

But today's concubine was uncharacteristically very submissive and cooperative, and even took the initiative to please him, and it didn't take long for Patriarch Hu to calm down the anger.

When the affair stopped, the concubine leaned on the plump body of Patriarch Hu and asked softly, "Patriarch, why are you angry?"

Patriarch Hu never put playthings in his eyes, but today she is comfortable with him, so he can talk a little better, "A little clan girl who serves others by herself, really wants to be the wife of my barbarian clan? What kind of prefect, don't even think about it. Ride on the heads of my barbarians."

Disgust and hatred flashed in the concubine's eyes, and she smiled sincerely again. Her white hand lightly stroked Patriarch Hu's chest and asked, "Patriarch, isn't this a good thing?"

While flirting with her, Patriarch Hu scolded, "What do you know?"

The concubine twisted her body, which made the Patriarch Hu lustful, and just said: "Even if you marry in earnestly and become a wife, it is not someone who will serve you. If you plan to send out more betrothal gifts, they must remain intact. If you bring it back, you can get an extra dowry, why isn’t it a good thing?”

Patriarch Hu was kissing her, and when he heard it, it really made sense.

The concubine said again: "There is one more thing, you are the most wise, I am just a woman, I really don't understand, I have to ask you."

Patriarch Hu was content with the women's admiration for him, raised his chin, and said, "Speak."

The concubine asked suspiciously: "I heard that the governor's family is very powerful in Beijing, and his father is still a right minister. Since Nan Ke worshipped Mrs. governor as his righteous grandmother, wouldn't you open up the relationship in Beijing? In the future, you will still be abroad in Nanyue. Don't you want to overwhelm the patriarch Fan? Isn't that the case?"

Patriarch Hu stopped and thought.

The concubine bit her lip and said cautiously, "It stands to reason that we barbarians and savages are two tribes. Will Patriarch Fan really plan for you?"

Due to the inseparable interests of these clans, the two clans had to breathe through their noses.

But in fact, it is not as harmonious as Butterfly Fairy's rumored, on the contrary, there is a lot of grievances, and Patriarch Hu and Patriarch Fan even look down on each other. Naturally, Patriarch Fan will not sincerely plan for the barbarians, and even wish to completely occupy all the benefits. .

After thinking about it like this, Patriarch Hu became more and more suspicious of Patriarch Fan's intentions.

Looking at his expression, the concubine pretended to be sour and jealous, and said angrily: "It's better if you don't marry Nan Ke, Nan Ke is extremely beautiful, and at such a tender age, when you really marry me, you probably want to marry me. Forget it!"

Patriarch Hu thought of the young and beautiful Nanke, and his **** swelled, and he felt that there was nothing wrong with marrying in. Anyway, the idea of ​​​​the marriage certificate came from the surnamed Fan, and it was spread throughout the state. Wouldn't it be the barbarian's fault to regret it?

The promise would have nothing to lose to him, and the surnamed Fan should also blame him for being troublesome.

Patriarch Hu thought that the surnamed Fan was unhappy, but instead became happy, laughed wickedly, kissed his concubine fiercely, and said, "You are really my baby."

The concubine was pressed down by his body and looked up.

Not long ago, the guard of the Xie family took Nanke's token, sneaked in quietly, asked her to blow some pillow wind, and helped to do something by the way.

Her heart like ashes was finally alive again, and the flame of revenge in her eyes was burning brightly.

The next day, Patriarch Hu retorted and decided to recognize the marriage and told Hu Jin, the third master, to prepare it.

The third master was surprised, but after listening to the words of the patriarch, he thought that he could set back the spirit of the Yi clan, so he immediately went to prepare.

And when Patriarch Fan heard that the barbarians really wanted to recognize the marriage, even as usual, he arrogantly sent someone to call Patriarch Hu over, but Patriarch Hu didn't come, and he was angry and had to go in person.

As soon as Patriarch Fan saw Patriarch Hu, he immediately asked, "Are you confused? Do you still remember our plan?"

Patriarch Hu was arrogant, "Isn't this just right? The one who wants to control Xie Shi, didn't I sacrifice myself to win him over?"

The patriarch Fan was so angry that he didn't catch his breath, his volume increased, and he shouted indifferently: "You're really happy to be a grandson for a hairy boy! Shame on you?!"

Patriarch Hu was immediately displeased, and lowered his face and said, "Your surnamed Fan is so frustrating, isn't it just to climb to the capital, and now teach me to take the lead, why? Are you not convinced?"

"I'm not convinced?!" Patriarch Fan's chest heaved and he resisted his anger and said, "Have you forgotten the news from the city? That Qi Jiedu even approached Governor Xie, which is not good for our two clans. I I don't want that Inspector Xie to be on our heads!"

Patriarch Hu said, "If you didn't insist on getting a marriage certificate, why would you be in trouble now? I'm bearing the humiliation, delaying time, and waiting until the capital is completed. From Longzhigong, who is the grandson and who is the grandfather? I have the final say."

If he wants to delay the time, what he said is not unreasonable, but... Patriarch Fan said dissatisfied: "You forgot the fifty thousand taels that Mrs. Inspector asked for? Now you are asked to prepare a betrothal gift, and you may not know how to be greedy in the future."

Patriarch Hu said confidently, "You are clever enough to kidnap people, but you haven't dealt with it yet, and you are threatened, what's my business?"

"you!"

"Besides..." The Hu Clan Chief was proud, "I sent the dowry gift to come back with a dowry, which is not the same as your Fu Clan!"

Patriarch Fan glared at him for a long time, unable to bear the rogue appearance of Patriarch Hu, he turned around and strode away.

Patriarch Hu looked at his angrily back, laughed, and went back to find his beauty.

And when the patriarch Fan returned to the Yi clan, the young patriarch immediately greeted him and asked, "Father, how is it?"

Patriarch Fan stepped into the hall with a dark face, and just then scolded: "That idiot! The thing that is holding you back!"

When the young patriarch saw it, he guessed that things were unsatisfactory, and frowned: "Isn't the patriarch Hu afraid of being shameless?"

"He is shameless!"

"Then what should we do?" asked the young patriarch, "I am afraid that Xie has already attracted the envoy Qi Jiedu, and now that the patriarch Hu has to accept the marriage certificate, we will act in the future, won't we have to tie our hands and feet?"

Patriarch Fan had a sullen face and said nothing.

The young patriarch hesitated for a moment and asked, "Then 50,000 taels... Why don't you send it over?"

Since Xie Qin came to work in Nanyue, it has done a lot of damage to their interests. Although it is only innocuous, but recently, he has become more and more passive, and the patriarch of teaching Fan cannot be reconciled.

"Father, let's send it over first, but he is an official, and the money is not easy to receive." The young patriarch said sinisterly, "In another way, isn't this a ready-made handle? The handle is in hand, in case he still gets in the way in the future, If you find someone to stab him to the capital, the lord will send someone to impeach him, or maybe he will help the lord directly."

After hearing this, the patriarch Fan also showed a complacent smile, "You are right..."

Nan Ke can't afford to help him. Yin Mingyu, the person who helps him, will only help him down once, not all the time, so since Nan Ke left, he has never thought about her at all.

She is all about the Cuju competition to be held in the future. Although the Cuju competition has no shadow at all, the mobilization banquet held before the Cuju competition cannot be vague.

To this end, Yin Mingyu specially assigned tasks to all the maids.

Jin'er was in charge of the planning, Yin'er was in charge of the banquet, Red Silk was in charge of the invitations, and the willows were dyed.

Her request is very simple, a female family member who does not land to invite to various houses in the city, and spends the least amount of money to get the most results.

As for Yin Mingyu herself, lying in the yard to bask in the sun, Nan Duo, a very obedient Nanmeng beauty, plays the piano, sings, dances for her, and talks to her...

Yin Mingyu is happy, and Nanduo Chinese is better.

Xie Ce and Chu He were busy from morning to night. Occasionally, when Chu He had something to do with Xie Qin, he came to the back house. Seeing her like this, there was a subtle sense of difference every time.

They are busy, Yin Mingyu is having fun...

Although it was inappropriate to think so, Chu He couldn't control his envy, after all, he was so dashing before.

Because of this small imbalance, Chu He also said to Xie Qin in private: "My younger brother and sister are very capable, Jingming, you can ask her to share some of the burden."

Xie Qin said, "This is your responsibility and mine. How can you pass it on to Erniang? She has helped me a lot, and it's been a lot of hard work. You should relax more."

Chu He: "…"

Hard?

Still relaxing?

Chu He deeply felt that Yin Mingyu continued to relax, and his envy was about to turn into jealousy.

But Xie Qin suddenly paused, raised his head and said, "If you want Erniang to help you, it's okay..."

"what?"

Xie Qin said: "For two hundred taels, Erniang will be happy to help you."

Chu He immediately had no complaints, "Brother and sister are really hard, don't bother them."

His family was so poor that he could not afford to ask Mrs. Prefect for help.

Xie Qin was slightly regretful, and then immersed himself in official business again.

On the other side, Xie Ce was taking a break from reading, and seeing that the maids were all busy, they approached his mother and asked if there was anything assigned to him.

His careful thoughts could not be concealed from Yin Mingyu, Xie Ce must be thinking about the Cuju competition.

But Yin Mingyu also assigned him something.

It's that sheep, only half sheared, so it's okay to not see it, but Yin Mingyu is lying in the courtyard, and every time he sees it turning around from time to time, sometimes with checkerboard, sometimes with normal hair, he feels awkward.

The maids went back and forth, and occasionally they saw discomfort on their faces.

"You have someone cut in half, and you're in charge of the symmetry."

Xie Ce thought it was a fun thing, so he agreed immediately, and Dian Dian'er ran to the sheep to discuss with it first.

He was really discussing it very seriously. He stroked the sheep's back with his little hands, and said in a milky voice, "Sheep, darling, cut a little bit, just a little bit, I'll give you delicious grass..."

The sheep did not respond and graze on their own.

However, Xie Ce thought it had agreed, so he called Nanny Tong to help him shear the sheep.

Yin Mingyu sat on the rocking chair and rocked slowly. He could only see the backs of Xie Ce and Nanny Tong, but he couldn't see where they were going.

But Xie Ce's expression was too obvious.

They were busy for a while, Xie Ce suddenly turned back and glanced at Yin Mingyu with a guilty conscience. Seeing that she didn't seem to pay attention, he turned around and bit her ear quietly with Nanny Tong.

Under the eyes of the young lady, Nanny Tong smiled and agreed, and continued to cut her hair.

But after a while, Xie Ce turned back with a guilty conscience, and then moved his feet, trying to block the sheep.

Yin Mingyu half-closed his eyes, but did not break him.

As time passed, the cloth bags on the ground became more and more full, and Nanny Tong looked at the bigger and bigger checkerboard on the belly of the sheep, but she couldn't do anything, so she whispered to Xie Ce, "Little Langjun, it's impossible to cut it too big. symmetry."

It turned out that the sheep did not resist the shearing of the two, but it would not let the two interfere with its grazing, and if it moved, the scissors in the nurse's hand would inevitably cut a gap, and she had to find a patch. .

Xie Ce tried to cover the sheep's body with his body and asked Nanny Tong to go to the other side to cut the symmetry, but his small body couldn't cover it at all, and he frowned.

At this moment, there seemed to be a noisy voice from the front office, and after a while, the servant walked in from the door of the house and reported: "Young madam, the patriarch of the Yi clan sent someone to deliver... Many boxes came, and Lang Jun said that they would be carried in. "

Yin Mingyu immediately thought of what it was, got up in a hurry, and said with a smile: "Quick, make some space, don't interfere with moving things!"

In the former ya, the patriarch Fan Shao of the Qi clan chose to come to give money in person in a large audience, so that Xie Qin could not argue in the future.

And now he is "writing off" according to the request of Mrs. Inspector, so he is not in a hurry to reveal the silver inside the box, and allows the boxes to be carried in under the strange eyes of the officials of the state government.

Xie Qin had already planned, and announced in front of the officials of the prefecture: "Patriarch Fan voluntarily donated 50,000 taels to repair roads in Nanyue. This is a righteous act, and this official will keep it in mind."

As soon as he finished speaking, the complexion of the patriarch Fan Shao changed suddenly, and the state officials were shocked by the fifty thousand taels of silver.

Xie Qin was rarely kind, so he wanted to personally entertain the patriarch Fan Shao to express his gratitude, but the patriarch Fan Shao couldn't wait at all, so he said goodbye with a smile on his face, and hurried back to talk to his father.

In the back house, ten large boxes were neatly placed in the courtyard. Yin Mingyu was an ignorant person, so he quickly taught people to open them and take a look.

The maids were also curious and stepped forward to open the boxes, and they looked at each other in unison, and then opened them together. In an instant, ten boxes full of shiny silver pierced everyone's eyes.

When everyone was attracted by Yinzi, Xie Ce breathed a long sigh of relief, and while his mother was not paying attention, he hurriedly waved his little hand and recruited two maids to come forward to block the sheep, and let the child nurse quickly cut it.

But Nanny Tong couldn't help but get distracted. One of them didn't pay attention and cut another gap.

Xie Ce was so anxious, but he didn't blame her, just urged her to make amends quickly.

Nanny Tong took it off and cut her hair attentively. After finally brushing and cutting, she stood up to take a look and found that it was still asymmetrical, so she had to squat down and cut again.

The more she cut, the more bald she became, the more desperate Xie Ce became.

At this time, Xie Qin returned to the back house, saw Yin Mingyu's coveted expression, coughed lightly, and said, "Second Mother, does it look good?"

Yin Mingyu nodded with a smile.

Xie Qin: "If it looks good, look at it more."

It's not yours.