Do you know that it starts with Meng Tong?

The annual examination is hosted by the Tixue Dao Yamen, and the results determine the grade of the students, and can even affect the number of places to participate in the provincial examination in the future, which is particularly important.

Therefore, when spring comes and flowers bloom next year, both Wei Chen and Sheng Changbai will have to return to Jiangning to take the exam.

Chapter 97: Breaking the tiles and raising spirits

That day, after a banquet, the relatives and friends of the Sheng family returned home happily.Yuan Wenchun and his wife temporarily lived in Sheng Mansion, and on an auspicious day, they would return to Beijing with Sheng Hualan to get married.

Three days later, Wei Chen and Sheng Changbai met for a stroll in the city. When they were tired, they found a teahouse on the roadside and sat down, slowly sipping the tea in front of them.

In the teahouse, people from three religions and nine schools were mixed together, chatting in groups.

"Have you heard that the old man from the Bai family is going to break his tiles and wake up today?"

"Oh, speaking of which, that old man Bai is also a good man. When we were hit by a disaster, I even ate the rice porridge provided by his family!"

"Hmph, good man! What's the use of a good man? He's just a dead old man. Death is like a lamp going out. I'm afraid all his millions of wealth will be in vain to benefit others!"

"Didn't you say you have a grandson?"

"Huh, grandson? Not to mention that he is far away in Bianjing. Even if he comes all the way here, I'm afraid he won't be able to defeat the local gangsters of the Bai family's second and third bedrooms. In my opinion, it's better for him not to come!"

"Tsk tsk, that's right. What a pity, why isn't my surname Bai?"

"You? You're trying to knock on the door, but no one wants it!"

"Hahahaha~~~"

……

Not far away, Wei Chen was thoughtful as he listened to the discussions among the people in the teahouse.

After the grand banquet at the Sheng Mansion that day, Wei Chen never saw Gu Tingye again, nor did he hear of any fatalities in Yangzhou City. It seemed that Gu Tingye had been hidden deep enough in the past two days, and was not exposed to the Bai family. Discover.

Across the table, the strange look on Wei Chen's expression came into Sheng Changbai's eyes. Sheng Changbai couldn't help but be a little confused: "Xingyun, why, do you have an old relationship with the Bai family?"

"I've never met him before, I'm just curious."

Wei Chen shook his head and smiled, then asked: "Ze Cheng, if the Bai family's business can be so big, what official support can it rely on?"

Sheng Changbai pondered for a moment and said in a low voice: "The Bai family is already a wealthy family in Yangzhou, and Mr. Bai's family is worth millions. He is extremely wealthy and has some contacts with officials in Yangzhou. I once heard my father say that the government Lord Feng of the Yamen is very close to the Bai family."

"Master Feng, who is Master Feng?"

"The same magistrate of Yangzhou Prefecture, Feng Congli."

"I see."

Wei Chen was stunned when he heard this.

If Gu Tingye, after hearing the news of his grandfather's death, went through the legal process as soon as he arrived in Yangzhou and applied to the government for a property settlement, he might have fallen into the hands of Feng Tongzhi, which would be like falling into a trap!

Even though Feng Tongzhi was afraid of Gu Tingye's identity as the legitimate son of Marquis Gu Tingye and did not dare to do anything to Gu Tingye, it was not difficult to coax Gu Tingye to produce Mr. Bai's suicide note.

As long as this suicide note is destroyed, even if a lawsuit does start in the future, Gu Tingye will have no physical evidence.

Only when Mr. Bai goes to funeral and Yangzhou dignitaries gather together is the best time to take out Mr. Bai's suicide note.

At that time, in full public view, even if a high-ranking official in the government was bribed in advance, that person would not dare to risk the disapproval of the world and stand on the side of the second and third bedrooms of the Bai family who were in the wrong.

In this way, Gu Tingye can make the final decision and take back the Bai family property under the witness of everyone.

Thinking of this, Wei Chen couldn't help but secretly praise Gu Tingye's foresight.

Wei Chen took a sip of fragrant tea and said softly to Sheng Changbai: "Ze Cheng, although this old man Bai is a merchant,

Even though he was still alive, he had donated porridge to the people during the calamity years. He was a benevolent person in ancient times. Today is the day when he threw down the tiles and raised his spirit. I also wanted to go and express my condolences. "

Sheng Changbai was slightly startled when he heard this, and then he happily agreed: "My father happens to be in the Bai family now, so you and I can go together."

……

At the same time, in the west of Yangzhou City, in the main hall of a large house with a large area, two old and middle-aged people of different ages but somewhat similar looks were sitting in the hall. It was Bai Zhuoyan and Bai Tingyu who were the bosses of the second house of the Bai family. Father and son.

The mature and prudent Bai Zhuoyan sighed and said, "I didn't expect that kid to be so good at hiding. He only showed up once at the Sheng family banquet and then disappeared from sight again. Things are not going to be easy to handle now!"

Bai Tingyu was younger and had a slightly more irritable temper. He shouted: "Father, why should you worry? That little kid might have froze to death outside the city. Besides, his surname is Gu and our surname is Bai. Dafang's property is We should have inherited it!"

Bai Zhuoyan shook his head: "It's not that simple. I know best who my eldest brother is. He always takes one step at a time and sees ten steps ahead. He will definitely have some arrangements before he dies. Maybe it will fall on this kid named Gu. I can't find him." I feel uneasy when I see someone!"

Bai Zhuoyan sighed for a long time, and finally felt that it would not help if he continued sighing like this. He stood up and said to his son, "Is Feng Tongzhi here?"

Bai Ting predicted: "We have arrived a long time ago. Han Futai and Sheng Tongpan, as well as a bunch of elders from the clan, are all in the mourning hall in the front hall, waiting for us to throw down the tiles and raise the spirits!"

Bai Zhuoyan nodded and said: "Go to the warehouse to get 3000 taels of silver notes and find an opportunity to meet Feng Tongzhi alone."

"3000 taels?" Bai Tingxu felt a little distressed.

"3000 taels is nothing!" Bai Zhuoyan said with hatred: "Do you want these 3000 taels, or the millions of taels from the big house?"

Bai Ting was scolded in advance and was speechless. He was about to go to the backyard to get the banknote when his father called him again: "Don't forget to tell the people below to guard the perimeter. If you see anything suspicious, come and report it quickly!"

"Yes."

……

After half an hour.

In the solemnly decorated Bai family mourning hall, there was an endless stream of people coming to express their condolences.

Magistrate Han Tai, Tongzhi Feng Congli, Tongpan Sheng Hong, and three senior officials from Yangzhou Prefecture came to express their condolences. Everyone who saw it secretly marveled that the Bai family was quite prestigious.

Wei Chen and Sheng Changbai also arrived at the mourning hall early, stood beside Sheng Hong, and looked coldly at the father and son of the second wife of the Bai family in the mourning hall.

Bai Zhuoyan and Bai Tingyu, all dressed in plain clothes, stood solemnly in front of the coffin, their faces full of sorrow and they cried heartbrokenly.

While crying, Bai Zhuoyan quietly raised his head and looked around. He couldn't help but feel relieved when he didn't see the face he least wanted to see.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Bai Zhuoyan winked at his son next to him. Bai Ting understood the situation and said sadly: "Today's funeral has been completed, and my uncle's heroic spirit is still there. He wants to enter the blessed place, protect my family, and throw flags."

"Blow the flags to lead the way, throw down the tiles, and raise the spirits!"

Bai Ting wiped the crocodile tears in advance, picked up the earthenware basin, and was about to throw it down when he suddenly heard a woman outside shouting: "You people in the second room, how can you have the face to throw flags and tiles in our first room? We are the first room." Are all the houses dead?"

Hearing this, Bai Zhuoyan's heart skipped a beat, and Bai Tingxuan was shocked. Everyone who came to express condolences was confused, while those who knew the inside story looked at him in amusement.For a moment, everyone in the mourning hall stood up and looked outside the hall.

Chapter 98

The person who came was none other than the old servant of the Bai family's main house, Gu Tingye's wet nurse, Grandma Chang.

Grandma Chang was grateful for Mr. Bai's old kindness, and she stood up and spoke uprightly. She was indeed a loyal servant with love and righteousness.

However, after all, she was just a servant with a low status. Although she made a big fuss in the mourning hall, which made Bai Zhuoyan and his son lose face, she was still unable to defeat the opponent's large number of people, and was soon taken away by the minions of the second room on the grounds of causing trouble. Down.

Han Tai and Sheng Hong were both sophisticated people. After hearing what Grandma Chang said, they felt that there was something fishy in it.

However, they only came here to express their condolences to Mr. Bai, and did not want to get involved in the Bai family's nonsense. Therefore, even if Aunt Chang was taken down by the Bai family, the two of them just watched with cold eyes.

"stop!"

At this moment, a young man dressed as a servant crossed the crowd and appeared in front of everyone.

Bai Zhuoyan and Bai Ting were shocked when they saw the face of the person coming.The person who came was surprisingly Gu Tingye, who the father and son sent people to search for for three days and three nights but still could not find his whereabouts.

"Where did you come from? You dare to make noise in my brother's mourning hall. Come on, catch me!"

Before anyone could react, Bai Zhuoyan quickly called on his servants to take down Gu Tingye, trying to stop his mouth.

However, Gu Tingye had martial arts passed down from his family, but he was not as easy to deal with as Nanny Chang. He was seen dodging, parrying and blocking, and the seven or eight Bai family servants were unable to defeat him at one time.

Seeing that the beautiful mourning hall was about to turn into a fighting arena, the prefect Han Tai finally couldn't sit still: "That's enough. What does it look like above the mourning hall? Stop it!"

Hearing Master Futai's words, the servants of the Bai family stopped one after another. Gu Tingye straightened his clothes, walked up to Han Tai, and bowed deeply: "Master Futai is above, and below is the second legitimate son of Ningyuan Houfu, Gu Tingye, I have ancestors. The handwritten letter clearly states that I will be your successor, please be careful with your attention."

After saying that, Gu Tingye took out a letter from his arms, showed it to everyone, and then handed it to Han Tai.

Han Tai looked at the letter in front of him and complained secretly. On one side were local wealthy people, on the other were nobles from the capital. They were competing for the most valuable salt village in Yangzhou. This thin letter in front of him made him, the prefect, feel hot to touch.

However, under the attention of everyone, Han Tai could only bite the bullet and took the letter, opened it and read it, only to see the letter written in small letters: "I know that my destiny has come, I only hope that you will inherit my family business and make it a success." I will not die at the hands of outsiders, so I will write a suicide note to express my gratitude to my grandfather, who looks forward to his return."

After Han Tai read the letter and saw the scarlet handprint on the letter, he knew that the letter was probably true. With Mr. Bai's autograph as proof, Gu Tingye was already in an invincible position.As soon as he thought about this, Han Tai started to worry about it.

After hearing Han Tai read the content of the letter, everyone in the audience started talking quietly and pointing at Bai Zhuoyan and Bai Tingyu and his son.

Bai Zhuoyan could still remain calm, but Bai Tingxu was not as thick-skinned as his father, and his face turned blue and purple: "I have never heard of it, believe it or not. Who knows whether he believes it or not. My uncle personally passed the salt village to me before he died, and everyone in the Bai family can testify!"

Gu Tingye said loudly: "There are always books and letters at home. I would like to ask the elder Zonggui to bear witness. Let's take them together to compare the handwriting!"

Han Tai's heart was already biased at this time.

Xiang Gu Tingye took advantage of the situation and took out the poems that Mr. Bai had given him in the past, hoping to compare the handwriting on the spot.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Bai Ting immediately panicked and said in a panic: "Master Futai, you can't use the protection of officials to take away my Bai family's property just because he is the legitimate son of a marquis!"

After hearing this, Han Tai's face instantly sank. Seeing Han Tai's gloomy expression, Bai Zhuoyan felt bitter in his heart and wished he could kick this traitor to death.

The situation was originally not good for their father and son, but Bai Tingyu made Han Tai unhappy with his rude remarks. Wasn't he rushing to give Gu Tingye an assist?

However, Bai Zhuoyan couldn't think of any good solution at this time, so he had to look at Feng Congli, a fellow Yangzhou magistrate on the side, for help.

As the saying goes, one has short hands. Feng Congli had accepted so much filial piety from the Bai family. Even though he was reluctant in his heart, he had to stand up and speak for the Bai family and his son.

"Master Futai, at present, neither party has submitted a complaint to the government office. This matter is still a family matter of the Bai family. Whether this letter is true or false, it should be decided by the family themselves. It is not appropriate for us to interfere!"

Han Tai was slightly startled when he heard this, paused in his hand movements, and looked at Feng Congli in surprise.

He had known for a long time that Feng Congli had some friendship with the Bai family and his son, but he did not expect that Feng Congli would take the risk to speak for the Bai family and his son when the situation was about to be decided.

It seems that the Bai family and his son have spent a lot of money on Feng Congli!

Tongzhi is the second-in-command in the government, and his power and status is only lower than that of the prefect. Since Feng Congli has spoken out, Han Tai should give him face both emotionally and rationally.

Moreover, what Feng Congli said was not unreasonable. The two parties did not go to court. Han Tai interfered in other people's family affairs at will, which was indeed a bit overstepping his authority.

After pondering for a moment, Han Tai turned around and asked Gu Tingye: "Have you prepared a complaint in advance?"

Gu Tingye shook his head, his eyes blank.

"In that case, I can't help you."

Han Tai sighed and said leisurely: "If you still want to continue fighting for the family property, you can prepare a complaint and wait until tomorrow when the Yamen releases the lawsuit. Then I will try the case with Mr. Feng and Mr. Shanda!"

After that, Han Tai handed the letter back to Gu Tingye, then took a deep look at Feng Congli, turned around and left the mourning hall.

Gu Tingye froze on the spot holding the letter, feeling extremely depressed. He never expected that he had endured it for so many days, but still ended up with such a poor result.