Cheng Yaren and Cheng Niangzi returned to the town from Dagujia Village, and it was already ten o'clock at noon. They went home, returned the carriage, drank a cup of hot tea at home, and Cheng Yaren went out. Cheng Niangzi did needlework for a while, and estimated that the ancient mansion should have had lunch, so she told her three children to take care of the family, and then went out to the ancient mansion.

When Su's mother saw Mrs. Cheng coming to the door, she was surprised and delighted, and hurriedly invited people to sit in the side hall, and happily opened the tea.

Soon, Qingshu got Xin'er to rush over, which made Cheng Niangzi very surprised, and it was difficult to speak for a while.

Qing Shu smiled lightly, "I heard that Mrs. Cheng went to Dagujia Village today, I don't know how the family came back?" ”

Cheng Niangzi was slightly stunned and looked at Mother Su who was sitting next to Qingshu.

Su's mother insisted on standing, but it was Qing Shu who stiffened her face and ordered her to sit, so she was willing to sit. At this time, she received Cheng Niangzi's questioning eyes, and hurriedly said: "Cheng Niangzi has something to say, it's okay." ”

Mrs. Cheng was embarrassed, but she also realized that Miss Gu Yuanhe's marriage was concerned and very concerned. This also shows the status of Gu Yuanhe's father and mother in the house. After a little consideration, she briefly replied to the harvest of this trip, "This grandmother of the Gu family likes Gu Yuanhe very much in her words, but she is worried that her granddaughter will not understand the rules of a big family after marrying and will make mistakes, so she only said that she would consider it, and she did not give it to Zhu'er." ”

Speaking of this, she glanced at Qing Shu, saw that Qing Shu was still smiling, without any displeasure, and then looked at Su's mother, and found that Su's mother also kept smiling, so she secretly said in her heart: It is worthy of being from the capital, and the joy and anger are invisible. So he immediately said: "Miss, don't worry, in a few days, I will go again, and I will definitely bring Zhun Xin'er back." ”

Qing Shu smiled lightly and said, "I'm tired." ”

Cheng Niangzi said that there was nothing else to do, and got up to say goodbye. Su's mother got up to see her off and kept sending her out of the side.

At this time, Mrs. Cheng grabbed Su's mother's hand, pulled it aside, and whispered: "Miss Gu was here just now, I was afraid of upsetting Miss Gu, and some words were not easy to say." The grandmother of the Gu family made a request, if she wanted to marry her granddaughter, she had to ensure that her granddaughter was not from the ancient mansion after marrying the family. Besides, if the younger couple has children in the future, they can't be subordinates. ”

Mother Su's face darkened, her face did not show anger, and she looked at Cheng Niangzi with a grateful face, "Thank you for not showing your mouth in front of Miss." This matter, slow down, in the evening I discussed with the master, and when the result of the discussion came out, I will definitely send you a letter. ”

"Done. I'll wait for your news. "The words that should have been brought have been brought, and Cheng Niangzi left with peace of mind.

Su's mother first returned to tell Sù Qingshu that she had been sent away, and then returned to her room, and as soon as she closed the door, her face changed. People dislike their husband and wife's origins and are unwilling to marry Gu Pingxiu, she understands that she is like a mirror in her heart. But what can I do, my son likes Gu Pingxiu.

She has never felt ashamed of being a slave and maid at this age, but when it came time for her son to marry, her identity became an excuse for others to refuse, and her heart was filled with a strong depression that could not be dissolved. She was also the daughter of a farmer's family, and when she was eight or nine years old, her hometown was in trouble, and her father and mother took her and her younger brother to escape the famine. On the way to escape the famine, her brother fell ill and couldn't do it, so she cried and chased the rich man's carriage, hoping that someone would save her brother.

But no matter how much she asked, no one would reach out. At that time, the family called Tiantian, the earth was not spiritual, and when they were desperate, a sturdy young man stepped forward, carried her brother and left. She and her father were terrified, crying and shouting after the boy. Unexpectedly, the young man carried her brother to a doctor's carriage and asked the doctor to treat her brother.

Only then did she know that the boy gave her brother a chance to survive on the condition of being a guard for three months. She remembered the boy's name, Gu Yunhu.

When they met in the capital a few years later, she was already the maidservant of a large family, and Gu Yunhu was a small leader in the mixed army. She recognized Gu Yunhu, but Gu Yunhu didn't remember her. met again, Gu Yunhu bought a residence in Ping'an Lane in Beijing, and took Gu Qiang and an old man to live. She gritted her teeth, redeemed herself with the money she saved, and recommended herself to be Gu Yunhu's maid, sewing, laundry, and cooking every day.

Gu Yunhu was afraid that her reputation would be ruined, so he drove her several times, but she didn't leave. Gu Yunhu had no choice, so he bought another old woman, and she left a good name and signed a deed of sale. She is willing to be a slave for the rest of her life and repay Gu Yunhu for saving her brother's life. When Gu Qiang wanted to marry her, she also said that she had been a descendant of the ancient mansion all her life. Gu Qiang did not dislike her identity, and carried her into the door in a sedan chair, and let her continue to stay in the ancient mansion to do things.

Now, her son has been rejected because of her status as a subordinate, and she still does not regret becoming a subordinate of the ancient mansion, but her son likes that girl, what should she do?

Gu Qiang went back to the house to get something, and was taken aback when he saw Su's mother shedding tears, "What's wrong?" ”

Su's mother told her what to do and asked Gu Qiang what to do.

Gu Qiang had a calm face, and sat for a long time before he spoke, "You don't have to worry, our son has to look good, he has to have the ability to do things, and there are many girls who like him." If this doesn't work, let's find it again. ”

Su's mother cried and said, "We can not take it seriously, but this is the girl that my son has a crush on." ”

Gu Qiang sat down a little, hugged Su's mother and said, "Okay, how old you are, you can't shed tears at every turn." ”

Su's mother felt more and more uncomfortable, leaned on Gu Qiang's shoulder and cried for a while before calming down, and instructed: "Don't let Miss hear about this, Miss will feel uncomfortable." ”

Seeing that she was no longer crying, Gu Qiang agreed and told her that she didn't have to go to the front to serve, so as not to be seen by the young lady and so on, so she left Su's mother alone and went out.

Gu Qiang paced around in the courtyard, and finally seemed to have made up his mind, found Gu Changhe who was chopping wood, and the two of them went to Gu Yuanhe's house.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Seeing that his father's face was not good, Gu Yuanhe asked while closing the door.

"Daddy and mother have left you here alone for more than five years, and I have always felt guilty in my heart. Now that I am reunited, I always want to compensate you, but I didn't expect that the sky would not fulfill people's wishes, and this immediately went wrong. ”

"Dad, you and your mother don't need to feel guilty, your son volunteered to stay behind to guard the general's grave, and it wasn't forced by your father. It's so good, why do you mention this again? ”

Gu Qiang patted his son's shoulder with a comforting face, "Dad knows that you don't have any complaints, but how can you be a father and mother without hurting your son." Dad doesn't hide it from you, Cheng Niangzi went to Dagujia Village today to propose marriage for you, but was politely rejected by Gu Pingxiu's family. It's not that they don't look down on you, but they don't look down on the identity of your father, and they think that our family is for the current people of Gufu. Because of this, your mother felt sorry for you, and hid in the house alone and cried, not daring to come out. ”

Gu Yuanhe's face sank at that time, and it took a long time before he spoke, "Dad, what did Cheng Niangzi say?" ”

Gu Qiang learned what he heard from Su's mother.

Gu Yuanhe shook his mind for a moment, and quickly calmed down again, and said in a deep voice, "Dad, don't worry, my son knows what to expect." Since people don't look down on us, we don't have to do anything about it. When my mother is in a good mood, I will say to Cheng Niangzi, this family, we don't ask for it. ”

"This matter, don't worry, Dad told you, it is to let you have a number in your heart. In a few days, let Cheng Niangzi go again, if people still don't change their words, then, we won't ask for it. Dad knows that you feel uncomfortable, but you must know that marrying a lady is to live together for a lifetime, and people will look down on you from the beginning, and the days to come will not be comfortable. ”

"Dad, my son remembered. Go get busy! The son went to talk to his mother. Gu Yuanhe is not mixed, and he also feels that what his father said is not bad, no matter how uncomfortable he feels, he can't let his mother be underestimated.

The father and son then left the house and walked separately in two directions. When they were gone, the basket in front of the house moved, and when it was lifted, a man came out from below. This drill is none other than Gu Yuanbao. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, he saw that his father's face was not good, and he brought his eldest brother into the house, so he was curious to follow.

He returned to the front with his head down, sat in his seat, had no intention of listening to the lecture at all, and was punished by Mr. Lu for standing.

At this time, Qing Shu was sitting at Cheng Yaren's house, talking to Cheng Niangzi, and already knew the result that Cheng Niangzi got when she went to Gu Pingxiu's house for the first time. She chuckled lightly and narrowed her eyes with a smile, "In this way, in two days, trouble Cheng Niangzi will go up again." Just asked, if the ancient mansion let Gu Yuanhe go out and return Gu Yuanhe a free body, would they agree or not. Naturally, since Gu Yuanhe has gained a free body, he has nothing to do with my ancient mansion, and he has to break off the relationship with the housekeeper and housekeeper of my ancient mansion. ”

Cheng Niangzi listened, her palms were full of sweat, "Miss, which man in this world will break off his blood relationship with his father and mother in order to marry a wife, this is a lifetime of scolding." ”

Qing Shu straightened his face, "I'm sorry, I scared Mrs. Cheng." That's what I said, I want you to find out whether the other party is testing the sincerity of my ancient mansion, or if you don't look down on Gu Yuanhe, and I really don't want to get married. Actually, there is one thing I don't mind getting to the bottom of with Mrs. Cheng. Gu Yuanhe is not from the ancient mansion, he is the one who guarded the general's tomb on behalf of my Gu brothers and sisters for five years, he considers himself a subordinate person, but in the hearts of my Gu brothers and sisters, he is not a brother, but he is better than a brother. ”

When Cheng Niangzi heard this, her face was shocked.

Qing Shu sighed, "Forget it, Cheng Niangzi doesn't have to go to Dagujia Village for the time being, but I have to trouble Cheng Niangzi to inquire if there are any good girls in this town who have good character, are diligent and have reached marriageable age." If there is a suitable one, please ask Mrs. Cheng to send a letter to the house. ”

Mrs. Cheng agreed.

Qing Shu confessed to Cheng Niangzi again, she already knew about a qiē, and she couldn't say that she would show her mouth. If Su's mother asked, she said that she came here just to ask Mrs. Cheng to find a suitable girl for the strong men in the house who have not yet married a family.

After leaving Cheng's house, Qingshu did not return home, but took a carriage out of the town.

When Zhou Boyan arrived, he saw a woman in a light blue cloak standing in the snow and in the bare forest.

Bringing people here, Ding Jiabao stopped by the carriage and stood with Li Dalang.

Xiao Juan stepped forward and saluted, "Young Lady, Miss please come over and speak." ”

Zhou Boyan threw the reins in his hand to Gu Shishi, step by step, and walked in the direction where the woman was standing. I saw a string of women's footprints on the snow, and a large footprint belonging to a man was printed.

Listening to the sound of footsteps on the snow behind him, Qing Shu clenched the deed paper in his hand and slowly turned around.

Zhou Boyan saw that her face exposed outside the cloak and hat was cold and red, but her eyes were still bright, and he stopped seven or eight steps away from her, "Isn't it cold?" Stand here. ”

Qing Shu didn't answer this question, "I wanted to trouble you with something, so I took the liberty of inviting you here." As he spoke, his left hand shrunk in the cloak stretched out, grabbed the deed paper and handed it to Zhou Boyan, "Please help me see, the difference between them, I don't understand this." ”

Zhou Boyan looked at her steadily, and saw that there was no inappropriate expression on her face, so he took two steps forward, stretched out two fingers, and grabbed the corner of the deed paper.

Qing Shu immediately let go of his hand, retracted his hand into the cloak, and bent his knees, "Thank you." ”

Zhou Boyan was very surprised by Gu Qingshu's expression at this moment, withdrew his hand, unfolded the folded paper and saw that it was two deed papers, to be exact, two deed of sale. The difference is that the seal of the yamen.

"The purchase and sale of slaves must be filed with the government, and the so-called filing is one for the government to stamp the seal, and the other is to collect the corresponding taxes. However, there are two kinds of seals, one is the death deed seal. A slave who bears this seal is not only a slave for life, but also a slave for life when he has children, and is called a domestic slave. Just like this one, he raised Bian Xiaojuan's deed of sale.

"The other is the living deed. If you buy a slave and make a deed of sale, but you want the slave to redeem yourself, you will ask for a living deed stamp when you file it with the government, like this one. He raised the deed of sale of Xu Maizi.

"What happens if you don't have a record?" Qing Shu asked nervously.

"How? You don't have to worry, if you don't file a record, the government won't pursue you. Naturally, a deed of sale that is not filed is also valid. The imperial court had a rule that allowed large families to have a certain number of unregistered slaves. As he spoke, Zhou Boyan folded the two deeds of sale, grabbed them with two fingers, and handed them to Qing Shu.

Qing Shu stretched out his hand to take it, "According to the current situation of our ancient mansion, how many slaves who have not been registered are allowed to be kept?" ”

Zhou Boyan stood sideways, "Although General Zhongwu has passed away, the wife of the emperor's four-rank edict, that is, the wife of General Zhongwu, is fine. According to the Da'an law, there shall be no more than 100 slaves in the ancient mansion, and no more than 15 slaves who have not been recorded. ”

"Those who have signed the death contract are slaves for generations, and they cannot be ransomed, can they?" Qing Shu looked serious.

"Not really. Although he can't redeem himself, if the master is gracious, he can still be released from the house. ”

In this way, between questions and answers, Qingshu finally figured it out. The slave who signed the death contract can not redeem himself if he wants to, but must be gracious to the master's family and willing to let him out, and after paying the redemption silver to the master's family, he must also hand over a sum of money to the government before he can be turned from a slave to a beloved. Moreover, within three generations, they are not allowed to participate in the imperial examination.

Those who sign the living deed want to redeem themselves, report to the master's family, get the permission of the master's family, pay the redemption silver, and then go to the government to eliminate the slave status. Naturally, within three generations, they are not allowed to participate in the imperial examination.

After signing the deed of sale, if the main family has not filed with the government, the main family is allowed to redeem the body and become a beloved person directly, and he is not allowed to participate in the imperial examination for five years, instead of three generations.

Moreover, a slave who signed a death contract had children, and the children were slaves at birth. A slave who has signed a living deed has children and does not want them to be slaves and maids, so with the permission of the master's family, he can send the children out of the house as a good person to be raised by relatives or friends. Slaves who are not officially registered with the government have children, and likewise, they are born as good people.

After figuring these things out, Qing Shu groaned slightly, and took out a pearl on his body, "Does Childe know its value?" ”

Zhou Boyan glanced at it and immediately turned his head. He saw the beads, and at the same time saw her face that was getting redder and redder, and he lifted his feet and walked back," he said, as he walked. ”

Qing Shu was slightly stunned, but immediately followed, maintaining a distance of five or six steps.

"A penny, the rich in the south take it for the children to play."

Qing Shu listened to the inhalation, "Is it too much?" ”

"Not much, only occasionally."

"Then, can you meet it, are they all so big?"

"No, there are fewer of them." It took his men three and a half years to collect one hundred and nine beads of this size. As soon as he changed hands, he gave it all to Qingyang.

Qing Shu struggled to follow, and directly used the running one to catch up with him, "Let's talk about a deal." ”

Zhou Boyan stopped, glanced at the people of the ancient mansion and his entourage Gu Shishi, who were away from the battle, and then at Gu Qingshu, whose eyes were shining in front of him, and said lightly: "If you have something to say, I still have something to do." He was very suspicious that the woman in front of him had a bad brain, otherwise her face would have frozen like that, and instead of going back to the house quickly, she stood happily in the ice and snow to discuss some business with him?

"You have a Treasure Chamber, don't you?" At the exit of the question, Qingshu's eyes sparkled.

Zhou Boyan turned his face away, "Hmm." ”

"Then, there must be a lot of skilled craftsmen in your Treasure Cabinet. Wait for me, I'll give you something, and remember to find your best craftsmen to help me make it. With that, he turned and ran to the carriage.

When Xiaojuan saw it, she hurriedly greeted her, "Miss, you slow down, be careful of your step." ”

Qing Shu felt that the cloak on his body was very in the way, running was slow enough, no matter how slow it was, what was the difference between it and walking. When she arrived at the side of the carriage, she hurriedly urged Xiaojuan to take a small box out of the car, and then opened it, revealing the paper and a bead in the box, she put a bead in her hand into it, closed the box, and motioned Xiaojuan to hand it to Gu Shishi on the side.

Gu Shishi looked at Zhou Boyan who came over, and when he saw Zhou Boyan nodding, he took the box.

"Please, when it's done, when will your men stop by and help me bring it back." Although Qing Shu said please to you, from beginning to end, she was not polite at all.

"How do you thank me?" Since he was looking for the craftsmen of his Treasure Pavilion to make things, he naturally couldn't leave the gold and silver jewelry that women liked, so he could agree