Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 867 Negotiations

Due to the high heat, the time spent resting during the day was long, and it took Cao Yong and his party one and a half months from Guangzhou to Jiangning.

When we arrived in Jiangning, it was already the end of July.

In the north, at the end of July, the autumn wind is picking up and the heat is gradually disappearing.On Jiangning's side, the temperature is still high, and there are fewer pedestrians during the day.It wasn't until the sunset on the west mountain, beside the Qinhuai River, that the lights were full of lights, and there were singing and dancing everywhere.

Cheng's family has another courtyard in Jiangning, Cao Yong didn't stay at the inn, and was directly invited by Cheng Mengxing to the other courtyard.

After traveling around for several months, Cheng Mengxing kept saying that he never wanted to go out again.Although he has a lot of knowledge outside, but he is well-clothed and well-fed, and he is used to being a slave, so naturally he can't bear the pain of traveling.

Speaking of which, although Jiangning is not Cao Yong's native place, it can be called half of his hometown.Since he came to this world, until he went to Beijing in the 48th year of Kangxi, he stayed here for ten years.

During the day, when passing Zhizao Mansion, he slowed down his pace.

Thinking about many years ago, every time I came out of Zhizao Mansion, I rode a carriage to study in a private school in the back street.

The uncle who was in charge of his enlightenment had died of illness for many years.In Jiangning City, there are a few Cao family members sporadically, all of whom are from distant branches.

Walking into Jiangning City and having dinner at Cheng's other courtyard, Cao Yong still felt unreal.

The last time he came back was in the 50th year of Kangxi. After he was released to Yizhou, he brought Chuyu back to visit his parents.At that time, he was still thinking about the fate of the Cao family, and felt a little uneasy.

Now, the Cao family finally got out of the quagmire of seizing the heir, and they no longer have the trouble of losing money to Kuyin.

Mr. Zhuang, but his fathers have gone away one by one.

He came to Jiangning to visit Wei Xin's parents and children, but when he went, how would he speak?
You can't say bluntly that your son's life and death are unknown, and his whereabouts are unknown.

Cheng Mengxing has been with him for several months, knowing his concerns, he persuaded him: "If you make friends, if you go all the way to the south, you have done your best, so you don't need to worry too much."

Cao Yong smiled bitterly and said: "Everyone has parents, but I can't bear the sadness of the old man and old lady of the Wei family."

Rest in the other courtyard of the Cheng family for two days, so that people can find out the details of the Wei family.The old man and the old lady of the Wei family lived here, and the sons of the Wei family have all grown up, but they haven't separated yet.

Now, Wei's parents, the grandson of the room, have already made a promise, and they will make a big deal in a few days.Wei Xin's sons and daughters all live in the Wei family's old house and are raised by their concubine mother.

In the past few years, there have also been rumors that the old man and the old lady of the Wei family wanted to kiss Wei Xin, but in the end they all disappeared.After all, Wei Xin was already in his twenties, and he had several concubine children, so it was really not easy to talk about a suitable marriage.

In the eyes of the Wei family, Ada, the woman known as the "Raksha", cannot be regarded as Wei Xin's wife at all, and they do not recognize it.

After thinking about it, Cao Yong still didn't go to Wei's house, but asked Xiaoman to take his name card to invite Wei Xin's elder brother Wei Ren to meet him.

He didn't plan to visit relatives and friends in Jiangning, so it was useless for Cao Fang to come forward, he just didn't want others to get the news and socialize.

However, after six or seven years of hard work, the traces of the Cao family seem to have faded from Jiangning, which is very good.

When Wei Ren came over, it was already time to hold the lamps.

When Cao Yong saw him last time, he was in his prime of life, but looking at him now, he is already past his age, his body is slightly fat, and silver frost is added to his braids.

The moment he saw Cao Yong, he was a little excited and wanted to kneel down.

As Cao Yin left Jiangning, he also resigned from his position in the Weaving Mansion and became a free squire.Cao Yong inherited his father's title, and the status of the two is different.

How could Cao Yong accept it? He took a step forward, held his arm, and said, "Brother Wei, you are welcome. You don't need these common etiquettes. Please sit down and talk."

During the conversation, the host and guest sat down.

"I haven't seen you for ten years, but the eldest son is still in good spirits, but Wei Ren is old." Wei Ren has been working in the weaving mansion for more than ten years, and he can be regarded as watching Cao Yong grow up. After sitting down, he looked at Cao Yong and said with emotion.

"I was supposed to go to say hello to my uncle and aunt, but... I was afraid that the elders would see me and think of my fifth brother, and I would be worried, so I invited Brother Wei to come over today." Cao Yong looked at Wei Ren, feeling heavy in his heart.

This elder brother Wei also loved his brother very much in his early years. At the beginning, Cao Yong and Wei Xin "befriended" because he was worried about his younger brother and begged Cao Yong.

But everyone has selfishness, and there is a greedy and domineering wife in the family. This good brother who loved his brother in the past also began to fear his brother, and transferred all the properties that the family bought later to the sacrifice land.

Cao Yong remembers clearly that Wei Xin didn't just want to go abroad to see the world in a whimsical way, but he was discouraged by his siblings and expelled by his parents, so he went overseas in frustration.

Seeing Cao Yong's serious tone, Wei Ren put aside his reminiscence, and said embarrassingly: "Fifth brother, too, even if you blamed the old man and the old lady for driving them out that year, it shouldn't have been several years since there was no news. Father didn't say anything , but I look forward to it every year in the twelfth lunar month. It's really cruel, even if you don't want your parents, you still have to think about your children."

"The fifth brother went abroad the year he brought his bride home." Cao Yong raised his head and looked at Wei Ren.

"Going abroad? All right, why do you think of going abroad again? They are all in their thirties, and it's not easy to worry about." Wei Ren couldn't help but shook his head and said with a bit of reproach.

Speaking of this, he realized that something was wrong, stopped talking, and looked at Cao Yong blankly: "Eldest son...Elder son...my younger brother, younger brother...isn't he accompanying his sister-in-law to the south?"

"My fifth brother set off from Guangzhou in October 55th year of Kangxi, and took a boat to Europa. He planned to come back last summer, but he never returned. He also lost contact with his father-in-law's family. I got the news years ago. In February Go south and arrive in Guangzhou in April." Cao Yong described what he had seen and heard in the past few months in a calm tone.

Cao Yong didn't hide what Ada said, and told Wei Ren the truth.

Wei Ren's face turned pale when he heard this, and he said after a long while, "My brother and sister gave birth to a son...that is the flesh and blood of the Wei family, how could he be left outside...I'll send someone to pick him up..."

"It's the fifth sister-in-law's last words to entrust the child to his aunt. Moreover, the child looks like his mother, which is different from my dynasty." Cao Yong said lightly.

Even if the old man and the old lady of the Wei family would not dislike little Gary because they are their own grandsons, but what about others?
At this moment, Wei Ren was already upset, his eyes were a little dazed.

Even if he really had feelings for this younger brother in the early years, he never thought that his younger brother would end up with no bones left.

Regardless of being in front of Cao Yong, his eyes are already sore, and his younger brother's young and flamboyant appearance is in front of him.

He covered his eyes with his hands, stood up, and said in a hoarse voice: "Eldest Young Master, I still have something to do at home today, so I'll come back another day to greet Eldest Young Master."

Cao Yong stood up and said: "Brother Wei, uncle and aunt, let's keep it a secret..."

"Yeah, yeah!" Wei Ren nodded confusedly, bowed his head and cupped his fists, then turned and went out.

Cao Yong sat down and remembered the scene of fighting Wei Xin on the street with Cao Song and Gu Na many years ago.

At that time, Wei Xin didn't have the smooth and sophisticated appearance of later, just arrogant like a bully.

Later, everyone got mixed up together, maybe he and Gu Na had calculated too much, and Wei Xin also transformed from a bully into a cunning fox.

As long as people are alive, it is better to be confused.If Wei Xin hadn't seen it so clearly, and was hurt by his brother and sister-in-law's greed, he wouldn't have chosen to leave his hometown...

*
People don't want to be confused, so they can be confused.

Just like Wei Ren said, he wanted to lie to himself, telling himself that the fifth younger brother would be fine because there was no news;

However, the person who is the least easily deceived is himself.

He returned home distraught, hid in the study, tears "ba da", "ba da" kept falling.He is the elder brother, Wei Xin is the younger brother, there is a difference of more than ten years in two years.

Since Wei Xin was still in his infancy, he watched his younger brother grow up little by little.

In the Wei family, Mrs. Wei is old and has long been out of business. Grandma Wei has been in charge of the family for many years.

When her husband came home, she got the news that her husband had returned.Waiting and waiting, she couldn't sit still when her husband didn't come back.Asked the servant girl to ask, and knew that her husband had gone to the study, so she supported a woman's hand, tapped her feet tremblingly, and walked to the study.

Seeing that there was no light in the study, she immediately lowered her face, her eyes were about to burst into flames.

In fact, Wei Ren has an excellent temperament, and he is not a lustful person.It's just that Grandma Wei is over forty years old, knowing that she is old and decrepit, she is a little suspicious, for fear that her husband will be hooked up by a young vixen, and she can't wait to stare at her for twelve hours a day.

The black light in this study is on fire...

If he hadn't heard Uncle Wei's sigh, maybe he could still lie to himself that if he didn't hold the lamp, he wasn't in it.But now...Grandma Wei is about to gnaw her silver teeth into pieces, she caresses her chest, feeling that she can't breathe, wishing she could kick open the door immediately to "catch the adulterer".

However, she has been someone's daughter-in-law for many years, so she knows that no matter how much she hates her, sometimes it is not easy to tear her face.She looked at the dark window, sneered twice in her heart, and beckoned the mother-in-law to turn around.

As soon as he entered the second door, he saw Wei Xin's three sons, Wei Wenjie, Wei Wenzhi, and Wei Wenying, came out of the old lady's room.

Among them, Wei Wenjie is the oldest, 15 years old, Wei Wenzhi is 12 years old, and Wei Wenying is [-] years old.

Seeing the eldest aunt approaching, the three brothers quickly turned sideways to make way.

Grandma Wei always didn't want to see these nephews in her heart, and she never treated them harshly, she put down her steps and said with kindness on her face, "Is this hitting the old lady's room?"

The three brothers agreed, and Grandma Wei hated secretly.The son she gave birth to is the grandson of the Wei family, but the old man and the old lady are eccentric. They loved the youngest son the most in the early years, and now they love the concubine born by the youngest son the most.

The hatred was tight in her heart, but she smiled on the face, and said to Wei Wenjie: "Wenjie, I heard that your uncle came back from a business trip, go to the study and see, did your uncle drink too much?"

Wei Wenjie hesitated for a moment, then agreed softly, and asked Wen Zhi to send Wenying to his aunt first, and he went to the study by himself.

Grandma Wei looked at her nephew's back and thought for a while, then followed her from a distance, heading towards the study.

Unexpectedly, after Wei Wenjie called "Uncle" and smeared and entered the study, instead of jumping around like grandma Wei imagined, there was Wei Ren crying.

Grandma Wei, leaning on the wall, was a little stunned, not knowing which part of the show this was...

*
The next day, when Wei Ren came to the door again, Cao Yong was quite shocked.

But in one night, Wei Ren seemed to be ten years older, his eyes were blurry and bloodshot inside, and his voice was unbearably hoarse.

Seeing Cao Yong, he bowed to the end and said: "Young Master Gao Yi, Wei and his younger brother thank you."

This is about Cao Yong's filial piety period, and he worked hard to go south to Guangzhou.

Cao Yong is unwilling to be his thanks, not only blood is a relative, sometimes, even if there is no blood relationship, they are also relatives.

He asked Xiaoman to send a small box, slowly opened it, and inside was a stack of banknotes.

"Brother Wei also knows that the fifth brother helped me manage the business in Guangzhou in the early years. Although he is not a good father, he still cares about these children. The current 3 taels of silver is for his children. The dowry money left behind. It was originally a family affair of the Wei family, and I should not interfere, but since it is entrusted by others, it must be a matter of loyalty. I will temporarily keep the 3 taels of silver on behalf of my nephews and nieces." Cao Yong said.

What was not said was that he had prepared another 3 taels, and wanted to share it with the [-] taels to buy property for Wei Xin's children.

Hearing this, Wei Ren's face became paler, and there was a bit of pain in his eyes.It's not that he is greedy for the 3 taels of silver, but that he understands the meaning of Cao Yong's words.

The younger brother had long intended to entrust his orphan, but he did not entrust it to his parents and elder brother, but to Cao Yong.If it wasn't for his family that made him so sad, how could he have the idea of ​​asking for help at such a young age?

For a moment, Wei Ren didn't know whether it was regret or hatred, and he was speechless in a daze.

"Uncle and aunt, I won't go to see you; some nephews and nieces, please ask Brother Wei to arrange for me to meet you." Seeing that Wei Ren was silent, Cao Yong said, "I heard that your house has been busy for the past two years. At home, it is not easy for these children without their parents to take care of them."

Although Cao Yong didn't mean to blame, Wei Ren blushed and said: "The two nieces were brought up by our old lady's side, and now they have started to learn female celebrities. The nephews have also entered school, and they are all mine. Dear nephew, please rest assured, Eldest Young Master."

Cao Yong sighed and said: "Brother Wei, you have many brothers, and there will always be a day when the family will have a family. At that time, how many children should you call?"

Wei Ren's eyes were already red, and he said: "Don't worry, Eldest Son, my nephew is also a son. I won't agree to split the family until the nephews get married."

Cao Yong looked at Wei Ren for a while, and said: "Brother Wei, these children are your nephews, and also my adopted sons and daughters. The nieces are okay, finding a good family will be able to accomplish lifelong affairs; nephews In the future, we will make a living, but we will have to worry about making arrangements."

Wei Ren hurriedly said: "My lord, my third aunt is widowed and has no heirs. Over the years, she loves the fifth brother's youngest son Wenying the most. She once mentioned the matter of adoption with our old man and old lady, but because the fifth brother is away, it has not been done. Wen Yingcai At the age of six, when he needs his mother's upbringing, it is considered appropriate to be with his third aunt. Wen Jie and Wen Zhi are studying poetry and books hard now, and when they pass the imperial examination in the future, they will naturally need to be taken care of by the eldest son..."

*
My birthday is over, and I am getting older again, ho ho ho ho, from now on I will only treat myself as 20 years old, not pretending to be [-] years old. .

(End of this chapter)