"Ahem, ahem!"

A heart-rending cough came from the courtyard of the Zhao family's main house.

Zhao Chengwen's body was weak and half lying on a soft collapse, his face was sickly flushed, and the silk silk in his hand covered his mouth, and when he let go, he saw the red in the white silk, which was extremely dazzling.

"It seems that my time is running out, if I go, what should the Zhao family, which is full of orphans and widows, be good? In Xining City, they offended many enemies in the past in business, how could they watch such a good opportunity and not annex the Zhao Firm? ”

"It's a pity that Cheng Ming is far away in the capital, and the whip can't reach it, otherwise he can take care of one or two. When Wan'er came back, I persuaded her to sell the Zhao family's property in Xining and move to the capital to develop. Thanks to the early layout in the past few years, it left a way back for the Zhao family. ”

"It's just that Wan'er's girl is stubborn, and she always wants to prove that a woman's business ability is not inferior to that of a man. It is always said that there are also merchants in charge of women in Nanzhou, since they can, why can't they themselves. ”

"Where does she understand that the national conditions are different, and the things she encounters are naturally different. But since she is willing, then let her go, anyway, I am this one daughter, and this big family business will be given to her sooner or later. Even if the Zhao family is not in business in the end, the family property they have worked hard for decades is enough for them to live. ”

It's just that I don't know why, Zhao Chengwen is so unwilling in his heart, why God is so unfair to him, and there is no male in the Zhao family to inherit the family business. Not only did he have nothing to do under his knees, but his younger brother Chengming didn't even give birth to a boy.

Zhao Chengwen's palm tightly grasped the red silk, and the green tendons on the back of his pale hand were angry.

"Master, the Xu family sent someone to the door again today to propose to Wan'er." A woman in her forties walked into the room with a sad face and told Zhao Chengwen something.

Zhao Chengwen had an angry face on his face, and sneered: "Push it for me!" I don't know what kind of wishful thinking Xu Laogou is playing, he wants to get both people and money. Even his prodigal son also wants to marry my Wan'er, dreaming! ”

After saying that, he gulped hard, causing another violent cough. The woman hurriedly patted him on the back, "Don't be angry, sir, you should recuperate." ”

After a while, Zhao Chengwen took a breath, picked up the teacup on the desk and took a sip of water, and waited until his throat was not so uncomfortable before he continued: "Jingjie Tiger? I really thought that he Xu Bohan was a tiger, even if he was really a tiger, my Zhao family was not afraid of him. ”

"Then, the master of the Xu family left a sentence when he left." The woman hesitated, not knowing whether to speak or not.

Zhao Chengwen said lightly: "What words? ”

"He said that Wan'er will turn 20 in two months."

Zhao Chengwen's face changed, he slapped his palm on the soft collapse, gritted his teeth, and said angrily: "Vertical son dares to bully me!" ”

The woman was worried, "Master, how is this good?" The imperial court clearly stipulated, 'If a woman does not marry in her twenties, the chief will be matched with her, and her family will sit down.' 'That Xu Xiuping is the governor of Xining Prefecture, if he really insists on this, I am afraid that the uncle will not be able to do anything. After all, this is the emperor's will. ”

Zhao Chengwen was also speechless for a while.

Although the national strength of Great Xia is the first of the four kingdoms, since fifteen years ago, after His Majesty Emperor Wu succeeded to the throne, he has always wanted to recapture the sixteen states of Youyun that were invaded and occupied by Meng Yuan. To this end, he launched three Northern Expeditions, one of which was better than the other, but unfortunately they all ended in vain.

After the three Northern Expeditions, countless soldiers died in battle, and the domestic population withered. In order to encourage childbearing, Emperor Wu of Xia ordered that women in Great Xia could marry at the age of fourteen.

If a woman is over the age of 20 and does not marry, the local government can forcibly assign the woman to marry and force her to marry. The woman's family will also be convicted.

At that time, what kind of person the man who will marry will depend entirely on luck. Usually speaking, it is not a good match, but it is also given to men who have reached the age of twenty and have not yet been married. Generally speaking, such a man is from a poor family and cannot afford to marry, or he is disabled and no one wants to marry.

This decree is valid not only for women, but also for men. If a man does not marry twenty years, he shall be fined or given hard labour. Even those students who are determined to study hard and participate in the imperial examination, most of their families will give them an engagement or a marriage before twenty.

Zhao Wan'er is 19 years old this year, and she will turn 20 in two months. If she doesn't get married again, the government has the right to marry her. Thinking that Xu Bohan had such an idea, his father was the governor of Xining Prefecture, and if he really wanted to get married, he would definitely point it to himself.

Zhao Chengwen snorted coldly: "The Xu family is a good idea, do they really think that the old man can't find someone willing to marry Wan'er in two months." ”

The woman suddenly sighed and said, "Master, there is another thing that the concubine has not mentioned to you. Yesterday my nephew came to visit me, and he told my concubine something. said that the Jingjie Tiger had spread a message to Xining City, and no one was allowed to marry my Zhao family, otherwise don't blame him for turning his face and being ruthless. ”

Zhao Chengwen sneered, "Could it be that his Xu family really thinks that he can cover the sky with one hand in Xining, and my Zhao family is not so easy to bully." ”

At this moment, Zhao Fu, the housekeeper of the Zhao Mansion, trotted in from outside.

"Master, here is a letter sent by the second master from the capital in an urgent manner." Zhao Fu took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Zhao Chengwen.

Zhao Chengwen took it, only looked at it twice, and his face suddenly changed drastically. He raised his head and said to Zhao Fu: "Ah Fu, you quickly send someone to find the eldest lady back." No matter what she's up to right now, she must go home right away. ”

Zhao Fu was stunned, he had never seen his master have such a serious tone, and he knew that something big must have happened to the second master of the capital, otherwise the master would not be so anxious.

Zhao Fu hurriedly replied: "Yes, master, the little one will order someone to find the eldest lady back." ”

After Zhao Fu went out, the woman asked in surprise: "Master, what happened, you want to find Wan'er back in such a hurry?" ”

Zhao Chengwen read the letter quickly, and said distractedly: "Chengming has been demoted." ”

The woman was shocked and asked in disbelief, "How can this be?" ”

Zhao Chengwen said: "Chengming wrote in the letter that a batch of weapons for the Northern Expedition supervised by the Ministry of Industry was not in good shape, and now His Majesty is angry, so he demoted Chengming, the squire of the Ministry of Industry, who was in charge of this matter, to several positions and was demoted from the capital. ”

"Does the letter say that he was degraded?"

Zhao Chengwen said bitterly on his face: "Donghai County! His Majesty demoted him to Qipinzhi County and sent him to Donghai County. ”

The woman muttered, "Donghai County? Isn't that a small county town on the border with the Eastern Wei Dynasty? I heard that it is not as big as a west market in our Xining Prefecture, and it is a place of war, will my uncle be in danger? ”

Zhao Chengwen shook his head, "Chengming didn't say it in the letter, but I don't think it's good to take it." In his letter, he urged us to be careful and to keep a low profile in the near future. ”

……