The Zhou family is divided, mainly because the four houses are divided into family properties.

The rest, such as the funeral silver left by Mrs. Zhou, the disposal of the aftermath of their old couple, and the silver money given to a few old servants, as well as the objects left for the married daughters, mother's sons and nephews, etc., are all trivial and trivial. This part of the matter was too detailed, but I was afraid that it would be dealt with, and it was almost dark, so Xie Pu didn't pay attention to it, left his witness signature on the previous property distribution document, and left first.

Leaving with him was also the old man who had been friends with Mr. Zhou for many years. When the old man left, he was quite sad. I thought that my friend's family was filial piety and joy, but I didn't expect it to disperse overnight. Friends Qiqi has not passed away, his old wife is also seriously ill, and another acquaintance of the same generation is about to die. Relatives and friends withered, how could he, an old man, not feel sad?

Xie Pu comforted Lao Hanlin a few words before returning home. Looking back now, I also feel that a big family like the Zhou family used to be under one person and above 10,000 people in Beiping City, and sometimes even King Yan had to let Old Man Zhou score three points, but now it fell apart in a blink of an eye, and it was no longer the same scenery as before, which is really embarrassing. The world is unpredictable, and if you want your family to prosper for a long time, you really have to teach your children and grandchildren well. Otherwise, as long as one of the descendants is unfilial and makes waves in the family, and the rest of the family does not act and has their own selfish intentions, no matter how prosperous and prominent the family is, it will not be possible for a long time.

For this reason, Xie Pu also instructed Wen's: "The children in the family are all good, only Rong Yatou is unpredictable and has a bad character." You keep an eye on her, don't let her have a chance to go out and make trouble, when Wanjia decides to consummate the marriage for Wanlong, just pack up a decent dowry and send her out. After she gets married, you don't agree to any requests she wants to go home, and don't let her disturb her other brothers and sisters. As a father, as a mother, you should fulfill your responsibilities, and there is no reason why the whole family will not be at peace for her. ”

Wen Shi said angrily: "Where did it come to this? Sister Rong has also learned to be obedient now, and she will not be confused again. As a father, why does the old man still think about his own flesh and blood? ”

Xie Pu disagreed: "People's hearts are separated from their stomachs." I thought that my children were all good, even if they had different temperaments, they couldn't do bad things, and when Sister Hui went back to her biological mother with her biological mother, I was never very angry. But Sister Rong was making a fuss about marrying Cheng Du, I was really cold, I don't know why a good child suddenly seemed to be a different person. A few days ago, she was clamoring to marry Bandung again. I don't want to ask her what she is thinking, anyway, she has now fulfilled her wish, and after she gets married, she has her own husband to control her. I have many children, and the other seven are all filial and caring, so there is no need to worry about her alone. ”

Xie Pu saw that the Zhou family had fallen apart because of the selfishness of the second-room couple, and now the whole family fell apart, so he was vigilant in his heart. He didn't want to talk about this topic too much, but instead talked about other household things, and asked about the progress of the preparations for the banquet with concern. Wen said it all, and mentioned the storyteller proposed by Mrs. Wan, saying that he had now found that gentleman and bought the other party's manuscript, but after taking it back, his daughter Xie Mulin read it and said that there were many things that needed to be changed.

Wen didn't know how the daughter could pick out so many mistakes in that normal manuscript: "It is said that it is an exaggeration, and many descriptions of fighting and killing enemies seem too fake, obviously copied from the old book, at most they have changed their clothes, the color of the horses or something, and even the description of General Yuan Xiao looks green and fanged, as if he is a yaksha." Although I think there is some truth in what Sister Zhen said, but she said that she would rewrite all these parts, and I was afraid that she would not have time to ......."

Xie Pu was quite happy: "She has been studying with her mother for a few years, and she should still have some skills in writing." Just let her try. If it was really too late, she wouldn't dare to play this package ticket. No matter how she is, she is also a girl from a scholarly official family, and she has been reading books seriously for several years, and the manuscript she writes can be worse than the storyteller who makes a living in the market? You let her go and see how far she can go. ”

Wen listened and had to agree.

In the afternoon, Xie Pu went back to the yamen to do business. Approaching the end of the year, the custom in Beiping is that after the New Year, the yamen will officially seal the pen, and it will not be reopened until the twentieth day of the first month after the Lantern Festival. During this period, except for the officials who took turns to be on duty in the yamen, everyone else was on holiday. Xie Pu is a new official this year, and he plans to finish some affairs as much as possible, so that he can have a good New Year with peace of mind. When the government opens in the new year, he can start to implement some new policies.

Therefore, he has been quite busy in recent days.

Near evening, the door of Zhou's house opened. The two sons-in-law of the Zhou family's big house and Mrs. Zhou's maiden son and nephew left one after another. Obviously, the separation of the Zhou family has ended.

Wen sent someone to say hello to Zhou's house, and then notified Mrs. Liu, who was on the other side, and went to the door of Zhou's house with two other official wives who lived closer and were more idle today, to visit Mrs. Zhou, who was seriously ill.

Of course, they didn't see the patient. Mrs. Zhou came out to entertain them and politely thanked them for their concern. Wen asked about Mrs. Zhou's condition, and Mrs. Zhou's face couldn't help but show a gloomy look. Obviously, although Mrs. Zhou strongly presided over the separation ceremony, her old man's body really couldn't last long.

Wen and his party did not force to see the patient in person, but only asked Mrs. Zhou to convey their condolences, and then took their leave with great eyes.

That night, just after the second watch, there were bursts of crying from the Zhou family. Then the men opened the door and came out to hang white flags. The white lantern had already been hung up, but there was no need to add more. Then someone rode out on horseback and galloped to the Yan Palace. All the processes were repeated as if they were when Boss Zhou died.

People all over the street got the news at midnight. The next morning, the families went to Zhou's house again to mourn. Xie Mulin also went with his parents and siblings as usual, and his father Xie Pu also helped the Zhou family to accompany the guests who came to worship for a while, but he didn't stay for long, so he left first on the grounds that he was busy with official business.

Mrs. Zhou has a different identity from Mrs. Zhou. Xie Pu's identity is also different from more than a month ago.

But Wen stayed behind and helped Mrs. Chow and Mrs. Wednesday with some affairs. Mrs. Tuesday and Mrs. Thursday reported illness separately, and neither participated in the funeral of her mother-in-law. The sickly-looking Thursday girl appeared in the mourning hall dressed in linen and filial piety, crying very sadly.

After losing her grandmother who loved her, the Zhou family split up again, and her future was really completely in the hands of her parents.

n.