Yu's account room was finally carried away by the family he brought with him on a stretcher made of two bamboo poles. Without waiting for Xie Zuo to ask, the Yu account room, which was easy to breathe a sigh of relief, explained the ins and outs of the future like pouring beans from a bamboo tube. Pity this arrogant thing, but when he left, he didn't even have the strength to say cruel words, and he went away in a panic like a lost dog.

Combined with the old housekeeper's narration, Xie Zuo finally figured out the origin of the matter. The situation is more complicated than he thought, and the reason why the Yu family dares to be so unscrupulous is not without reason.

The Xie family is also considered to be unfavorable. Although the war did not spread to Xinshan Village, the uncultivated fields were abandoned for a year. The year before last, the imperial court increased the tax, and there was not much grain left after paying the taxes. It was easy to have good weather last year, but when the neighboring county mountains were in chaos, a rout army crossed the border, although there were no casualties, but the rice seedlings that were about to ripen were swept away. For several years in a row, the Xie family not only failed to harvest grain for many years, but also had to borrow money everywhere to buy rice seeds for tenants, otherwise they would have to sit and eat empty in the coming year.

Fortunately, Xie Zuo's predecessor is not too stupid, and there is an old housekeeper to check it. He is well aware of the truth of not putting his eggs in one basket, even if he borrows money, he will bloom more. It is true to say that the Yu family is the largest creditor of the Xie family, but the actual share only accounts for 40% of the total loan. In this way, even if one of them suddenly becomes difficult, the left and right sides can cope with it. Perhaps stimulated by the death of the Xie family, the Yu family was ruthless last year, preferring to pay some interest, trying to connect all the creditors of the Xie family, notarization in the county office, and the number of contracts became a deed, and he became a complete creditor from one of the creditors!

In this way, the Xie family owes the Yu family millions of foreign debts. According to the old housekeeper's estimate, if you want to repay all the debts, you need to mortgage more than half of the Xie family's land! This is not counting the depreciation of the land caused by the hasty action, and it is not good to say that all the land and property will be enough to pay off the debt!

When the old housekeeper learned of this news, he had nothing to do after discussing with Young Master Xie, and finally decided to ask for help from Young Master Xie's future father-in-law, Qin Jing, the current commander of Hexi. And Young Master Xie may have become ill because of his poor psychological endurance, which gave Xie Zuo the opportunity to occupy the magpie's nest. It's a shame that the predecessor Young Master Xie didn't live until now, otherwise with his ability to bear it, I'm afraid he would have to hang up again.

The news brought by the old housekeeper from Qin County Decree confirmed the previous message. However, this old man Qin is a scholar after all, and he knows how to have some face, so the condition given is that the Xie family will take the initiative to withdraw from the marriage, and he will come forward to help the Xie family mediate, which is obviously a typical example of what to do and what to set up.

This news is tantamount to adding fuel to the fire, adding another piece of weight to the already dangerous situation of the Xie family. The old housekeeper was worried, and went to the Yu family to intercede, hoping to delay the Yu family for some time in the face of the deceased master, but he didn't expect that not only did he not even see the face of the master of the Yu family, but was held hostage by the account room and forced to go to the door of the Xie family, which was the scene that Xie Zuo saw before.

"Alas......"

Xie Zuo let out a long sigh. I knew last night that the situation was not good, but I didn't think it was so bad! The dream has been shattered, don't you even give a chance to live peacefully? Thinking of the sad fate he might face in the future, Xie Zuo wanted to cry without tears.

At this time, Xie Qingyi happened to report that the meal was ready, and Xie Zuo made a bitter face and called the old housekeeper to go to the dining room to eat. At this moment of depression, the only way to talk about food is to comfort the wounded heart.

However, when Xie Zuo sat down at the dinner table and faced the table full of dishes, he felt that he was struggling.

The Xie family was originally a local family, and it was a family of eunuchs, and the supplies and utensils in the house were all exquisite. The soup bowls of yellow pottery, the sauce plates of terracotta, the soup plates of celadon porcelain, and even the bamboo chopsticks used are carefully cut from the finest bamboo, and even the slightest knots and scars cannot be seen.

It's a pity that no matter how beautiful the tableware is, if the food is not satisfactory, it is just a pile of useless decorations.

It's not that the dishes aren't hearty enough, it's just that ......

Three plates of boiled vegetables, a large plate of slimy, burnt minced meat, a single fishy steamed fish, a pot of green soup, a platter of five kinds of pickles, and a plate of dipping sauce constitute all the dishes of the Xie Fu family banquet.

Looking at the table of dishes, Xie Zuo was speechless again. Even though I was hungry, it was still difficult to eat the dishes in front of me. It's really hard to imagine that this is the food of the landlord's family in this era. Shouldn't big families eat big fish and meat every day?

The vegetables are fresh, but unfortunately completely tasteless; The minced meat is made of mutton, which has an indescribable fishy smell; Not to mention steamed fish, there is no soy sauce, and even salt is scarce; The soup was sticky in a big pot, exuding a smell of beans, and as for the pickles, looking at the suspicious black spots on the plate, Xie Zuo really didn't have the courage to put it down.

Fortunately, the fragrant millet rice is still delicious, and the dipping sauce is also unexpectedly fragrant, which is a bit of the prototype of soy sauce in later generations. A bowl of millet rice with dipping sauce finally avoided the dilemma of starving to death at his own dinner table. Of course, Xie Zuo didn't forget to grab the old housekeeper and Xie Qingyi on the table together. The so-called master-slave difference, what is it? Xie Zuo never had a similar concept in his mind. Besides, if you don't get someone to help, what will happen to this big table?

What Xie Zuo didn't expect was that this move actually made him a good person card. Xie Qingyi was stunned and said that it was okay, but the old housekeeper was so moved that he cried bitterly, and sighed again and again that the young master was merciful, and he completely forgot how Xie Zuo treated Yu's account room. The most important thing is that Xie Zuo unexpectedly found that the loyalty of the old housekeeper actually increased by 1 point because of this!

Xie Zuo secretly pouted. The thinking of people in feudal society is really pedantic and cute, but he doesn't plan to do anything maverick because of this. The so-called following the customs, the concept of equality of all beings is in the bottom of one's heart, and it is good to occasionally use it to show grace, and it is not possible to be a pioneer of the people's pigs, because it is too easy to accidentally make yourself a martyr.

Barely half-full, Xie Zuo put down the dishes and chopsticks. The old housekeeper Xu was overly worried, and he only ate a little bit and stopped, only Xie Qingyi's half of the size ate extremely sweetly, snoring like a wind, and most of the dishes on the table went into his stomach.

Although he was worried, he couldn't think of a charter left and right, so he didn't want to stay for a long time, Xie Zuo let the old housekeeper father and son take care of themselves, got up and prepared to leave.

When he went out, Xie Qingyi seemed to suddenly remember something, swallowed the food in his mouth hard, raised his head and said, "Young master, how to deal with that guy?" ”

Xie Zuozheng was in a lawsuit, and he didn't understand what he said for a while, and said blankly: "Which guy?" ”

Seeing that Xie Zuo didn't seem to care, Xie Qingyi was a little anxious: "I caught that guy last night!" A bandit leader called white or something! ”

"Ahh

Xie Zuo slapped his head violently. Let's just say that I forgot something, but since the invasion of the bandits, everything has continued, but I have forgotten all about the three cottages!