. "The surname is Hu, come out!"

The door was kicked open with a "bang", and several big men broke into the courtyard with their arms dangling, one by one half-naked and crooked hats, with horizontal eyebrows and no shape, and the chickens and dogs jumped for a while.

Hu Laohan rushed out in fright when he heard the sound, and when he saw the big man with a bare black chest, he recognized it as Zhang Xingba, a famous prankster in the south of the city, and couldn't help but be shocked, and hurriedly stepped forward and smiled: "Fifth Master Zhang, you ...... What do you do here? ”

Zhang Xingba glanced at him with slanted eyes, stretched out two fingers and slowly took out a piece of paper from his arms, shook it away, handed it to his eyelids, and said with a yin smile: "Open your dog eyes wide and show grandpa clearly." ”

Hu Laohan took two steps back, looked at it, and recognized the loan contract signed by himself and the money banker Liu Zhong, he couldn't help but be surprised, and said in a lost voice: "Zhang Wuye, what are you...... This is? ”

Zhang Xingba laughed and said: "This is the proof for you to borrow money, Liu Ye can't afford to spend it with you, and he doesn't want to surrender his identity to deal with a lowly person like you, now your IOU has been discounted to us, grandpa came to collect money today, and within three days, the money will be prepared for the master, otherwise...... Hey, hey, hey, hey......"

Zhang Xingba sneered, and the daughter of the Hu family hurriedly ran out of the back room, seeing this situation, she hurriedly supported the crumbling Hu father, and called in a panic: "Daddy......"

The girl of the Hu family is dressed in a hairpin skirt, but she is a handsome bird in the deep mountains, and the firewood house is beautiful, with a unique beauty, especially the pure and kind, simple and gentle taste, which is not seen in many city girls, no wonder Liu Zhong, who is used to eating cream, will never forget her.

When Zhang Xingba saw Miss Hu, he couldn't help but feel lustful, the Hu family actually dared to stab the matter to his uncle, which completely angered Liu Zhong, he would never allow this kind of thing to happen again, if others did the same, then how could their Liu family be free in Sizhou in the future?

No matter what, his Liu family still has to rely on Deng Zuyang, and now that the matter has been leaked, the little pity and pity in his heart has been put away, and he doesn't dare to hit the Hu family's daughter, but he is ruthless, he must let the Hu family ruin and teach others a lesson, so he has already instructed Zhang Xingba to make this bold family disappear from now on, no matter what means he uses.

With Liu Zhong's orders, Zhang Xingba was naturally unscrupulous, he smiled lewdly and touched Miss Hu's cheeks, and said with a smile: "Miss Mengfei, this is getting more and more beautiful, and it makes people panic when they look at it." I heard that Liu Ye intends to clear your family's debts and marry you as a concubine, you see, when you enter Liu's house, eat fragrant and drink spicy food, isn't it very good, you don't know how to lift, and now you are annoyed by Liu Ye, yes, this debt is transferred to Zhang, otherwise you will marry me and become my Zhang Wuye's Hun family, hehehe, my father-in-law's debt, I can consider it...... Grace for three years and five years. ”

Hu Mengfei's face turned crimson with anger, and he helped his father to take a few steps back, avoiding his clutches, and glaring at him angrily. Zhang Xingba didn't think it was wrong, shrugged his shoulders and said: "Hu Laohan, the lord will give you face, but today you will come to the door in person, and the words will be stacked here, and the debts will be repaid within three days, a total of forty-eight times, and the money will not be received by then, the lord will collect the house and land, there is a note in hand, and the lawsuit will not be afraid to hit the state capital Yamen, hum!" ”

Hu Laohan lost his voice and said, "What...... How did it become forty-eight again? ”

Zhang Xingba rolled his eyes, sank his face and said, "Isn't it profitable these days?" Well? Brothers, let's go! He waved his hand, turned around and walked out, and the two thugs under him ran to the chicken coop and grabbed the two old hens, pinched their wings in their hands, and followed Zhang Xingba and shouted and left.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ "Girl, let's ...... How can we live now? Hu Laohan was so frightened that he couldn't help but shed tears.

Miss Hu didn't feel crying, the father and daughter cried for a long time, Miss Hu wiped her tears, gritted her teeth and said, "Daddy don't be embarrassed, daughter...... The daughter went to find Liu Zhong and promised him. ”

"How's that going to happen?" Hu Laohan grabbed his daughter: "What kind of character is Liu Zhong, my father also knows, how can he push you into the fire pit?" Besides, you have a marriage contract with Zhengcai, how can your father do such a thing that makes people poke their backbones? ”

As soon as the black-faced singer left, the red-faced singer came, and the father and daughter were talking, when a middle-aged man in a green coat and a small hat with a somewhat gloomy face paced in with his hands behind his back: "Yo, it's early in the morning, but what's going on?" ”

Hu Laohan looked up, and saw that it was an outer courtyard steward on the mansion of Zhou Wangshu, a famous gentry in Sizhou City, and the Zhou family also had a large area in the south of the city, this steward surnamed Chu, called Chu Youxiao, often went to the vicinity of the manor to hang around, Hu Laohan recognized this nobleman, and was busy wiping his tears, and lowered his hand and said: "Master Chu." ”

"Hehe, what's the problem, tell me." Chu Youxiao smiled and groaned, hooked a pestle and sat down by himself.

As soon as Hu Laohan said the matter, Steward Chu glanced at Miss Hu who was bowing her head and weeping, and sighed: "Liu Zhong, this person, his heart is dark, he looked at your daughter, you agreed to it at the beginning, this difficulty has passed, you go to the temple to offer incense, why take the young lady of the Futai family as Guanyin Niangniang?" You see, this matter has been stabbed, and it makes Liu Zhong look bad, don't say that you don't want to sell your daughter, even if Miss Mengfei is filial and willing to give up his body for you Hu Laohan, Liu Zhong will never want it again. You can't see that he transferred this IOU to Zhang Xingba, which is ruthless to ruin your family! ”

Hu Laohan stomped his feet and said, "I'...... I'll go to the government to beat the drum and sound the grievances! ”

The smile on Chu Youxiao's face remained unchanged, but there was a sharp light like a needle in his eyes, and he laughed in a dark voice: "Hehe, grievances? Dare to ask where your injustice comes from? You're in debt, right? The words in black and white are there, and when you borrowed the debt, you knew that it was a usury, and people didn't hide it from you, right? One is willing to fight and the other is willing to suffer, and now that you can't pay off the debt, you want to complain? Governor Deng felt that his relatives had embarrassed him, so he restrained Liu Zhong and changed to a creditor, according to the king's law, he could not speak to you, is it useful for you to fight a lawsuit? Have you forgotten that our Sizhou Zhu Yuanwai has been in a lawsuit for a few years, and what happened to him? ”

Hu Laohan took a few steps back in despair and sat on the ground.

Chu Youxiao smiled and said, "Speaking of which, I have a way here, I don't know what you Hu Lao Han wants." ”

Hu Laohan's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly rushed forward and said, "Steward Chu, do you have a way?" You say, you say, I'm here to listen. ”

Chu Youxiao touched the eight-character Hu'er, and smiled slowly: "Old man Hu, you also know that in this Sizhou city, only our Zhou Ye is not afraid of his Liu family." ”

"Ahh Hu Laohan replied blankly.

Chu Youxiao said again: "Now that you have offended Liu Zhong, Liu Zhong has made it clear that he wants to ruin your family, are you still waiting here to die?" This land, you can't keep it, in my opinion, you might as well sell this land to our Zhou Ye, and then take advantage of Zhang Xingba's failure to come to the door, take the money and flee quickly, your son-in-law is called Zhao Zhengcai, right? I remember it was...... Oh, by the way, it's the Lifu who carries the cargo bag on the Surabaya pier, right? ”

"Ahh Hu Laohan replied blankly again.

"Zhao Zhengcai is also a lonely person, what about you, sold this land to our Zhou Ye, and fled here with his daughter and son-in-law, at the ends of the earth, whether it is Liu Zhong or Zhang Xingba, where are they looking for you? With the money from the sale of land, isn't it better to start a small business and support your family than to sit here and wait for death? ”

"Escape...... Escape......? The honest Hu Laohan was forced to do this, and he didn't expect that he could walk away if he owed a debt.

"Of course, as soon as you take this house and land, can't you take your daughter to beg on the street? Even if you flee from your hometown, isn't it better than you waiting for death here? ”

Hu Laohan didn't feel moved, and nodded as he listened to his words.

Chu Youxiao's words changed, and he said: "Of course, you sell this land to Zhou Ye, but you can't sell it at the time price, look at your pity, I'll help you say Xiang Xiang, five hundred yuan per mu of land, if you think it's okay, I'll go and talk to Zhou Ye." ”

Hu Laohan was taken aback, and said in a lost voice: "Five hundred wen per acre? ”

Chu Youxiao rolled his eyes and said: "Zhang Xingba still has your IOU in his hand, you sold this land to Zhou Ye, and when you go back to start a lawsuit, don't you spend money to hire a lawyer?" If the yamen is fined a few percent of the debt, don't we Zhou Ye have to pay you money? Don't be dissatisfied, if Zhang Xingba comes to collect debts, you won't get a penny, my Chu steward is really pitiful to see your father and daughter today, so I have a good heart, you covet your dozens of acres of land when the Zhou family? Whether you want it or not, whatever you want, it's none of my business, I'm leaving. ”

Chu Youxiao stood up, patted his ass and walked out, seeing that he was about to walk out of the courtyard gate, Hu Laohan suddenly shouted urgently: "Steward Chu, please stay!" ”

The corners of Chu Youxiao's mouth hooked, revealing a treacherous smile, and when he turned around again, there was already an impatient look on his face: "What else is going on?" ”

Hu Laohan gritted his teeth and said with a pause: "This place ...... I sold it, and I begged Chu to do a good deed and help me...... Help me talk to Master Zhou. ”

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ the Jianghuai area is full of water, the incense is vigorous Longwang Temple, this dilapidated land temple has long been unattended, the low rammed earth courtyard wall has collapsed half, the yard is full of weeds, the layer of yellow mud on the top of the temple is brushed with glutinous rice juice for many years but has not been repaired, has exposed the dry thatch below, many birds and finches build nests in the thatch, there are also seven or eight swallows under the eaves to build a bird's nest with mud, some have swallows to the nest empty, Only half of the nests remained, and some of them were poking their heads out and chirping, and the hard-working swallows flew around catching small insects and feeding them into their mouths.

There is only half of the door of the Land Temple left, the paint on the door has long since faded, and the stone steps have been removed, and I don't know what use it has been used. Further inside, the windows of the land temple were long gone, and they were closed with broken bricks and rubble, presumably to keep out the cold in winter, but they did not move away in summer.

Yang Hao and Bisu stood at the gate of the temple for a long time, they had expected from yesterday's inquiry, they had expected that the former Sizhou gentry, Zhu Hongjun and Zhu Yuanwai, who owned thousands of acres of land, were afraid that their lives were not very easy, but they didn't expect that they would be dilapidated to such a point, and they would actually live in this ruined land temple.

The two glanced at each other, then hesitated to walk in, the land temple is very desolate, walking into the door on the path among the weeds, only to see that the hall is very dark, the statue of the small land on the opposite side of the land is missing arms and legs, incense and other things are already different, under the statue of the god with bricks and stones to build a simple triangular stove, put a broken pot on the top, the right side of the pillar laid a bunch of tattered bedding, the two got used to it, only to find that there seemed to be someone sleeping in the pile of bedding.

Yang Hao coughed tentatively, and the pile of things moved, and the two of them saw clearly that there were really people sleeping in the pile of tattered bedding, if it weren't for his movement, they wouldn't be able to see the human form at all.

The two of them walked cautiously, and the man in the futon also looked at them with a dull gaze, this man's hair was scattered, his face was gray, and he could hardly tell whether it was a man or a woman, and asked tentatively, "Uh...... Excuse me, are you Zhu Hongjun Zhu Yuanwai? ”

Looking at this person's appearance and calling out Zhu Yuanwai's name, Bi Su felt extremely ridiculous in his heart.

The man whispered, "You ...... Who is it? ”

Yang Hao heard that she was a woman, Yang Hao pulled Bi Su along, squatted down, and said gently: "You don't need to, we have no malicious intentions, we are here to visit Zhu Hongjun and Zhu Yuanwai, may I ask ...... you are?" ”

"Hehe......" The corners of the woman's mouth twitched, even if she had laughed: "Of course...... There will be no malice, we husband and wife, what else is worth thinking about now......"

"Are you Mrs. Zhou?" Yang Hao was very surprised, and he fixed his mind before saying: "This official is the right military doctor of the imperial court, the defense envoy of Hezhou, the envoy of the Southern Yayuan, and the deputy envoy of the Qincha who was ordered to patrol the Jianghuai Road, this time he followed the eldest son of the emperor, Wei Wang Dezhao, to go south to Jianghuai, inspect the Jianghuai Na to buy grain and grass, and found that there are profiteers in Sizhou, and the official intends to severely punish the profiteers, but these local snakes are well-informed and have many minions, and they have never been able to catch any evidence. How can I help my officer? ”

Yang Hao's series of official titles were reported, obviously giving this woman great confidence, her eyes lit up sharply, and she wanted to sit up excitedly: "You guys...... Are you officials from the court? ”

"Exactly, madam, may I ask ...... husband now" Yang Hao saw that she couldn't afford to struggle, so he hurriedly helped her, and at this moment, a person at the door shouted angrily: "Who are you, what do you want to do?" ”

Yang Haohuo looked back and saw a beggar throwing away the broken bowl and rushing over with a stick......