Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

The sudden bad news crushed the Xu family all at once. The old lady was unconscious, the old man was also shaky, and Mrs. Wei was holding her son there and crying bitterly. The remaining people all had tears in their eyes.

The two sergeants who delivered the letter were very sad when they saw this situation. The tall man took out fifty taels of silver and put it on the kang, "Uncle, here are thirty taels of pension silver allocated by the court, and the other two Twelve taels is Lieutenant General Xu's salary for this year. In addition, Lieutenant General Xu has made great achievements in resisting the enemy, and the court has granted permission for his family to no longer serve in the military. This is a document." The tall man took out a document and handed it into Xu Zhixin's hand.

The short man took out some scattered silver, probably more than thirty taels, and said, "Uncle, this is what the sergeants in our camp scraped together. It's not much, just keep it for your family. Lieutenant General Xu is a good man. We all admire him."

Xu Zhixin returned the scattered silver to the short man, "Master, we will accept the pension from the court. You military masters can collect the money and don't want it. We all have families and families, so don't do it for my family. It’s hard on my family.”

The short man insisted on keeping the money, "Brother Xu, these are usually those whose families have nothing to worry about. Many of us who are soldiers are also orphans. Only those who have no way to survive will join the army. If we have nothing to worry about, it is useless to ask for money. "

Xu Zhixin had no choice but to accept the money. At this moment, the old lady suddenly woke up and said, "My son, why are you willing to abandon your parents, wife and children? You love your mother so much, my Yong'er." The old lady cried loudly.

When the two soldiers saw this, they stood up and said goodbye, "Uncle, Brother Xu, there are still a lot of things to do in the military camp. Since the things have been delivered, we will not stay here and say goodbye." After that, The two men went out and rode away.

Xu Zhixin sent the two of them out, watched them leave, and then returned to the house. "Father, mother, what do you think we should do? Since the second brother's ashes have been returned, we should bury him as soon as possible and let him rest in peace."

The old man waved his hand, "Zhixin, you can do whatever you want. I can't think of anything right now. Just do whatever you think is best."

The old lady cried until she had no sound anymore, she was just sobbing. Mrs. Wei was helped up by her son and leaned on the edge of the kang cabinet, her body limp. Wencheng and Wenchang also cried hard and twitched. Looking at the situation at home, Mrs. It’s a big deal that the fourth child is back.”

Zhixin listened and nodded, "Okay, I'll do it then. You can watch your parents carefully at home and don't make any mistakes again. I'll try to come back as soon as possible." Xu Zhixin turned around and went out.

After a while, the old lady gradually became calmer, so she wrapped the urn and placed it in the suite in the east room. There is a cabinet there, with several tablets placed on it, which should be the tablets of the ancestors of the Xu family. The jar was placed at the bottom of the queue, and then Mrs. Chen lit three incense sticks and inserted them into the bowl of the incense burner. "Yong'er, you are home. This time, you will never leave home again." The old lady said Then, the tears fell again.

Coming out of the back room, the old lady looked at Mrs. Wei and said, "Yurong, don't be sad. The matter has come to this, and there is no point in being sad. We will still have a good life in the future. If we don't look at anything else, there are Wencheng and Wenchang." Well, the two children are still young.”

Wei seemed to have come to her senses now. She looked at the old man and the old lady, then at the two children, then looked back at Xue, and then stared at Xue fiercely. "It was you, your family, who killed our Zhiyong family. It was you, you were the murderers." With that, he pounced on Mr. Xue.

Xue didn't react for a while, but Wei rushed forward and scratched Xue's face. Jinghan next to her saw that she didn't want to do it anymore, so she went up and grabbed Wei's hair, "Second uncle is gone, we are also very sad. Second aunt, what are you doing? Why are you beating my mother?" Jingya next to her also hugged her. Wei's waist was pulled back.

Wencheng and Wenchang were both stunned here. They didn't know why the mother suddenly went to the aunt. Wen Cheng reacted quickly and quickly stepped forward to pull his mother and aunt away. "Mom, my father died on the battlefield, what does it have to do with my aunt?"

"Who said it doesn't matter? Back then, the government was recruiting soldiers. At that time, your father, your uncle, and your father were all old enough. But your father was the head of the family and couldn't go. Your uncle married your aunt, and your aunt had just She was pregnant and couldn't go. The only one left was your father, who was not yet married but was engaged to my family. So your father was drafted and went to the battlefield. Your father fought bravely on the battlefield and made military achievements. Later he returned home. Marry me. Two months after the marriage, he returned to the barracks and did not come back until you were one year old. Later, Wenchang came back only every two or three years. Unexpectedly, he died in battle. The battlefield. Are you saying it was not his family, or which one? If it wasn't your father who went to the battlefield at that time, your father would not have died. " Wei Shi still looked at Xue Shi fiercely.

Jinghan was speechless on the side, could this be blamed on her own family? It was out of frustration that he asked his second uncle to join the army. Could it be that his father was right to go to the battlefield? No wonder my mother and grandparents are so forbearing towards my second aunt, so here it is.

"Mother Wencheng, you can't say that. No one can avoid the imperial conscription. At that time, the second child voluntarily volunteered. Later, he had the opportunity to leave the military camp. It was not you who asked him to stay in the military camp. Come on, you'll earn a lot of money in a year. Can't you earn this at home?" The old lady couldn't stand listening anymore and said. "The money that the second child has brought back over the years is all in your hands, and we don't want a penny from it." The Xu family has always felt ashamed of the second child, so they have allowed the Wei family to not compete with her for anything all these years. , I didn’t expect to say this now.

"I don't care about that. Anyway, it was them who caused my man's death. I just want to make compensation to them." The Wei family ignored the old lady's words and just lied.

"Hey, stop making trouble and calm down. Second daughter-in-law, please stop making trouble here. When Zhiyong was drafted away, our two families broke off the engagement. It was you who had been waiting for Zhiyong, When he comes back to get married, we all understand this and appreciate your sincerity, so we have treated you better than our own girls over the years. What's the use of talking about it now? Let's cheer up and bury Zhiyong properly. , It’s right to raise Wencheng and Wenchang into talents.” The old man finally spoke. "Old lady, keep all that money and keep it for Wencheng and Wenchang to find wives for later. We must raise these two children well and start a family."

After hearing what the old man said, Mrs. Chen was about to pack up the money. At this time, Mrs. Wei suddenly came forward and took all the money in her arms. "This is the money left by my head. Why are you taking it? You still have a son who has not yet said a wife, and a daughter who is not married. Who knows if you will use this money? No, this money is mine. Come on. I can't trust you." Wei said, hugging Yinzi tightly.

The old man sighed and agreed, "Okay, then you can take it. Wencheng and Wenchang are your sons, so you can take it."

Mrs. Wei quickly grabbed all the money, carried it back to her room, and hid it.

The old lady looked at Wei's appearance and sighed, but said nothing more. Ms. "After that, he led his four children back to the east wing.

Back in the east chamber, Jinghan and Jingya looked at the red mark on their mother's face, and tears came out again. "Why would my second aunt be like this? She came after my mother regardless of whether she was innocent or not. What does my second uncle's going to the battlefield have to do with my mother?" Jinghan muttered.

"Jinghan, this matter is unreasonable. I have been giving in to her for so many years because of this. I didn't expect your second uncle to be like this. Oh, as a family, don't be like her." Ms. Xue said helplessly Sighing, I have been married to the Xu family for more than ten years, and I have always been guilty of this, so I am more tolerant of Wei's various behaviors.

"Mom, what about the future? If my second uncle is gone, will my second aunt remarry?" Jinghan asked puzzledly, because she really didn't understand the rules of this era.

"Our custom here does not prohibit widows from remarrying. However, since your second aunt could wait for your second uncle for several years, she should be able to be a widow for him now, right? This mother can't tell clearly." Ms. Xue shook her head, unsure. Wei's lineage: Wei is only twenty-seven years old now, which is too young. It seemed cruel to leave such a young person a widow.

"Forget it, it's useless for us to worry so much, let's just take our time in the future." Wen Han said.

The ladies were chatting with each other, while Zhixin came in from outside. When Mrs. Xue saw it, she asked, "How are things going?"

"I found someone to deliver the letter and checked the date. Grandpa Sun said that it is best to be buried on April 12th. We have a cemetery at home, so just bury it in the old cemetery. Now we only need a coffin. I have asked the letter carrier to tell the old man It's four, just let him think about buying it back in town." Zhixin told his wife the matter. "Spring plowing is about to begin. Now that something like this has happened, I'm afraid the spring plowing will be delayed. Let's go to the fields as a family tomorrow. If this delays the planting, what will happen to the family's food?"

"Sure, let's do what you said. Jingya and Jinghan will go too. At least they can plant something. Just work slowly. In this spring time, we really can't waste time." Ms. Xue raised her head. He looked at his two daughters. "Girl, you have to work in the fields this year, don't be tired."

Jingya and Jinghan both laughed, "Mom, we won't cry tired, don't worry."

Only then did Zhixin see the red marks on his wife's face, "What's going on? Why are there so many long lines?"

Jinghan told her father what had just happened. After Zhixin heard this, she became angry and had to go find Wei. It was Xue who held him back, "Dad, forget it. You see, she is sad enough at this time." Zhixin did not go to Wei.