After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 941 New Troubles

Xie Wenzai and Xie Zhong, master and servant, have been separated for many years. Now that they have finally reunited, they naturally have endless things to talk about.

Xie Zhong had suffered a lot in the past few decades. It was only in the past year that he was able to live a better life because Hai Jiao and Hai Chang'an contacted the clansmen in Yongping and found him. He was guarding the house of Hai Xiya in the old house of the Hai family. He had a sum of money in his hand and presided over the renovation of the house, but he was also worried about his old master Xie Wenzai in private. When he knew that Xie Wenzai had returned to the capital, he immediately helped to buy many things and bought a family, all with his own savings. Because he had almost spent all his money and could not squeeze out the travel expenses, he had to wait until the clansmen came to Beijing to meet Hai Xiya and his wife before he took a ride.

Xie Zhong and the Hai family separated only after they entered the city. He hired another car, took his own people and luggage, and arrived at the Hai family first.

Xie Wenzai was quite surprised when he heard about it, and he quickly sent Wang Defa's wife to deliver the letter to the inner courtyard. Ma learned that the Hai family members had arrived, but did not come directly to her house. Perhaps they went to find Fang's mother and daughter, and she could not sit still. She handed the packing to her daughter-in-law Hu, put on a thick black cloak, and went out with Aunt Cui, heading straight to Fang's house. By the time Haitang received the letter and rushed to the door, she was already too late to catch up.

Haitang had no choice but to go back to Xie Zhong to ask: "Grandpa Zhong, did the Hai family mention where they would live in the capital? What would they do in Beijing?"

Xie Zhong smiled and stood up and said, "My cousin, you are too polite. You can just call me Xie Zhong. Before going to Beijing, I heard from the young men in the Hai family that they knew that Master Hai was a high-ranking official in Beijing and was very caring for the family members, so they wanted to come and pay a visit to Master Hai and invite him to return home to worship their ancestors. They didn't know where Master Hai's home was, so I lied to them and said I didn't know. I planned to go to Beijing and ask our master's old friends. Master Baozhu of the eldest house refused to tell them, so they planned to find an inn in Beijing first and then ask around. However, the eldest grandmother of the eldest house is a widow, and the whole family is made up of women. Without Master Baozhu to lead them, and there are no women in their group, I think they dare not go to the door to disturb them."

Haitang heaved a sigh of relief when she heard this. It was okay for the old family members to come to her house, as long as they didn't disturb Fang's mother and daughter. However, it had been less than a month since the Hai family came to Beijing, and the family members in Yongping Prefecture had received the news. They were quite well-informed. As expected, Yongping Prefecture was close to the capital, and the speed of information circulation was much faster than Chang'an.

Xie Wenzai said, "There is nothing to worry about when the Hai family members come. Right now it is a national mourning period, and the men in your family are all on duty and not at home. If the family members come, just use this to send them off. I think they are now hoping to borrow your grandfather's power for support, so they will not dare to be rude. As for the ancestor worship, we have to wait until the New Year at least, otherwise where will they have time?"

Haitang said, "Grandpa mentioned the ancestor worship, and he was planning to talk about it during the Chinese New Year. But now it is a national mourning, and we still don't know what the rules will be for the New Year. Maybe we can't go back during the Chinese New Year, so we have to postpone it to the Qingming Festival. But as for the ancestor worship, didn't my brother go back to worship? What are the clansmen asking Grandpa to do now?"

Xie Wenzai smiled. How could a fifth-rank official in Beijing worship his ancestors and a seventh-rank Jinyiwei who had just entered the officialdom worship his ancestors? The Hai family had been suppressed by the Jiang family for many years. Even without the Jiang family, they were no longer as prosperous as before. Hai Baozhu refused to return home, and Fang also ran away with her daughter. Who knows who is in charge of the Hai family? Have the lost land and property been returned? How to manage the industry and restore vitality? If there was a talented person in the Hai family, the whole family would not have ended up in the field today.

If the Hai clan members were not completely stupid, they should have taken the initiative to contact the second branch of the Hai Xiya family and ask them to take charge of the situation. They could also find a Beijing official to back them up, and use him as a tiger skin in the countryside to scare away some scoundrels, so that no one would plot against the Hai family's property. Hai Xiya and Xie Wenzai had been prepared for the Hai clan members to come, but they did not expect that they came at such an unfortunate time, during the national mourning period, and no one had the time to pay attention to them.

Xie Wenzai could only say to Haitang, "Don't worry about these. If someone comes to your house, just say that there are only women at home and it is not convenient to receive strangers. The people coming from Yongping must be led by the elders of the Hai family. Given the temperament of these elders, they will not come alone to see other women when the master is not at home. Just this one sentence can send them away. Later, you can ask them where they live in the capital and send a maid to deliver some things to them. If you are polite, they will not be able to complain. For the rest, just wait for your grandfather to come home and make the decision. If you are worried that they will disturb your cousin, you can also send a message to them, saying that your cousin is no longer a woman of the Hai family and is not under their control."

Haitang responded, took her leave, and returned the space to Xie Wenzai and his servant.

Ma returned home after more than half an hour. The Hai clan members did not go directly to Fang's mother and daughter, and Fang had no intention of meeting with the Hai clan members again. Ma took on the task of blocking people for her, and kept sighing when she returned home: "It's really not easy to live in such fear. I don't understand, what is she afraid of? If those fools in the clan had the ability, they wouldn't have to rely on her, a woman, in everything. After she remarried, the clan still had to ask her to deal with things, which shows how useless those clan members are! Now that they see the Jiang family fall, they are shaking, and they don't even look at what kind of stuff they are. If you really want to fight with them, with your cousin's methods, none of them will have a good end!"

Haitang smiled and said, "My cousin must have heard too much gossip from others. She always feels that she has remarried and is sorry for the Hai family. The Hai family members don't know how to be grateful, so she has lost her confidence. She is also afraid of affecting Sister Baozhu's reputation and marriage, so she has been swallowing her anger. In fact, why is this necessary? The Hai family members can't stand up on their own. They only know how to gossip, but in fact, none of them can fight. As long as my cousin doesn't take them to heart, they are nothing. Sister Baozhu's marriage is already in sight, and it is not something that my cousin's experience can affect."

Ma sighed, "In the end, she has to let it go on her own. When Baozhu finds a good partner and lives a good life in the future, I think she will let it go, right?"

But when it comes to Hai Baozhu's marriage, Ma really has no confidence: "Now I just ask someone to inquire about the young man named Qiao Fu. What if he is already married, or his status is not suitable? It's too early to say that Baozhu's marriage is in sight. You are not allowed to talk nonsense in front of others, it will be bad if it ruins your sister's reputation."

Haitang agreed with a smile, and then asked Ma: "How should we arrange for the family that Grandpa Xie Zhong brought? Although there are many houses at home, the servants are already crowded. The family is a young couple with a child, so it may not be convenient to live separately, but if we arrange a separate room for them, it will be a bit troublesome."

Now the Hai family servants have added Xie Wenzai's family, so the living space is quite spacious, but Cao Gengyun comes to stay from time to time, and brings Cao Yong with him. Now, with Xie Zhong's family of three, it is really a bit crowded. There is room to live, but the comfort level is greatly reduced, and the expenses for food and charcoal in winter also need to be recalculated.

Ma frowned. She didn't expect that after just a few days of peace, the family would have new troubles: "Your uncle always said that he wanted to move out. I originally thought it was unnecessary, but now I think we really have to separate."