The sky is bright, Yuanba returns to the northwest gate of Yang's house, the west outer courtyard is the place where the Yang clan people live, divided into two parts of the north and south, a piece of about five acres of land in the south is the clan study, there are more than 200 children of the Yang family and relatives to study here, Yuanba stayed for three days at the age of five and was dropped out.

In the north, there are dozens of distant families of the Yang family, all of whom are small families, and the Yang Mansion gives subsidies according to the standard of ten yuan per month, but ten yuan is obviously not enough for daily expenses, and they have found their own ways to make a living.

Some drive carriages, some do business, but at most they still participate in the management of the grange, and the Yang Mansion has several large granges near the capital, covering an area of one hundred and thirty hectares, which are all taken care of by the children of the Yang family.

Yuanba's family is the poorest in the West Outer Courtyard, not only is the wife of the main house Zheng deliberately deducting his monthly money, but also they have no man in the family, a widow with two children, life is really difficult.

Passing through an alley, in front of him is the courtyard where he lives, Yuan Ba met a person running with a smile, it was the horse steward who had just been promoted to the head of the tent, Yuan Ba didn't like him, and he didn't like his wife, his wife was the owl housekeeper who smelled very bad.

This horse steward is extremely lustful, because most of the servants in the Yang Mansion have a bit of a posture, every time he sees a beautiful woman, this horse steward will show a look of lust, the people in the house are very disgusted with him, and Yuan Ba is also very disgusted with him, especially recently Niu Niu told him that this horse steward has something wrong with his aunt's eyes, which makes Yuan Ba vigilant.

"Steward Ma, what's the matter?" Yuan Ba stopped him.

Steward Ma was thin and small, he was a little afraid of Yuanba, and hurriedly laughed: "I'll send you monthly money." ”

"Give it to me!" Yuan Ba stretched out his hand.

Steward Ma had no choice but to hand over the five hanging money to Yuan Ba, he wanted to take a sneak peek at the courtyard, but he was short and couldn't see the situation in the courtyard, a trace of annoyance flashed in his eyes, and he turned around and left.

Yuan Ba looked at him and walked away, and snorted coldly, "The toad wants to eat swan meat, dream!"

He turned back to the courtyard, and just walked to the courtyard gate, only to hear a 'whoosh!', a black shadow rushed towards him, and then came Niuniu's scream, "Get out of the way!"

As soon as Yuan Ba raised his hand, he gently and skillfully grabbed the object aimed at the door in front of him, which was a dart made of broken scissor heads.

Niuniu practiced Shen Qiuniang's martial arts, which was indeed not suitable for Yuanba, they were all small martial arts, such as light skills, hidden weapons and swordsmanship, but what Yuanba learned was the martial arts of battlefield battle.

"Brother Yuanba, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you. ”

Niuniu ran over to apologize to him, Niuniu was eight years old like him, her skin was as white as jade, her eyebrows were picturesque, her eyes were as black as grapes in her big bright eyes, her nose and small mouth were delicate and abnormal, and the appearance of a little beauty had come out.

Yuan Ba smiled, "I know, that leper dog has been sent away by me. ”

"Hmph! ”

Niuniu hated and said: "If he dares to have bad intentions, see how I clean him up." ”

"His small figure, even if he is given a hundred guts, he will not dare!"

"Yuanba, go have breakfast. ”

Shen Qiuniang hurriedly came out of the room with a cloth bag, the cloth bag was the thirty Diamond Sutras she copied, she wanted to rush to the bookstore to change money, and when she saw Yuanba coming back, she urged him, "The taro porridge has been cooked, you and Niuniu go to the kitchen by yourself, I will go outside the city to collect medicine today, I may come back later, if I don't come back at noon, you have your own hot meals, there are ready-made ones in the cupboard, Niuniu, do you hear?"

"Mother, I hear you. ”

Niuniu heard that her mother would not come back at noon, so she was so happy that she secretly winked at Yuanba, and Yuanba hurriedly handed Shen Qiuniang the five hanging money, "Auntie, this is this month's monthly money." ”

"Hmm! You put it in the cupboard, I'm in a hurry. ”

Shen Qiuniang was in a hurry to hand in the book, and told the two of them a few words, and left in a hurry.

As soon as she saw her mother leave, Niuniu immediately smiled and said, "Brother Yuanba, didn't you say that you would teach me archery if you have time? ”

Yuan Ba scratched his head and said, "I'm afraid I don't have time today, I heard that there is a clan sacrifice?"

"Don't you hate sacrifices the most? They don't pay attention to you anyway, so it's okay if you don't participate. ”

As soon as Niuniu's words fell, Second Uncle Liu appeared at the gate of the courtyard with a smile, "Yuanba, help me hang the lantern! ”

Second Uncle Liu is the old housekeeper when Yuanba first entered the Yang Mansion, in fact, he is old-looking, he is only over forty years old, he is the fourth housekeeper of the Yang Mansion, and he and his wife Aunt Liu have always taken care of Yuanba all these years.

"Good!"

Yuan Ba agreed, and left with Second Uncle Liu.

Niuniu saw that Yuanba refused to accompany her to archery, she pursed her lips and was unhappy, and after a while, she stomped her foot, "You don't accompany me, I'll go by myself." ”

At the main entrance, Uncle Liu and Yuan Ba are installing lanterns, during the New Year, four big red lanterns have been installed at the gate, but today there is a family sacrifice, according to the rules of the Yang Mansion, eighteen red lanterns must be installed, the lanterns are quite large, each lantern is like the size of a millstone.

Second Uncle Liu held the wooden ladder, and Yuan Ba stood on the top of the ladder and hung the lanterns on the iron hook.

"Attention! The hook on the right side is a little loose, so be careful. Second Uncle Liu reminded below.

'Ahem!'

Someone coughed twice in the gate, and walked out of two young sons, the two of them looked somewhat similar, both looked like crowned jade, and their spirits were flying, they were Yang Xuangan's two sons-in-law, the eldest son Yang Jun, thirteen years old this year, studied in the capital Guozi, and the second son Yang Rong, eleven years old, followed his parents to study in Songzhou, and was ready to enter the country after he turned twelve next year.

Today is the third day of the first lunar month, and the two brothers each got a reward of ten yuan and planned to go out to buy books.

The two brothers are dressed in brocade robes, wearing gold crowns, handsome and handsome, and have good appearances, especially Yang Jun is the eldest grandson, and is deeply loved by his grandfather Yang Su.

Although Yuanba is also valued by Yang Su, this kind of weight is not the same as Yang Su's love for Yang Jun, the weight of Yuanba is an occasional phenomenon, not systematic, mainly governed by Yang Su's emotions, when Yang Su is in a good mood, he will attach great importance to Wujin, and when he is in a bad mood, he will be left behind.

Yang Jun is different, he is the eldest grandson, is the third generation of Yang Su's legal successor, Yang Su has always been concerned about him, give him the best education, since he was five years old, he invited a famous teacher to train him, and now he is studying under the son of the country to learn the great Confucian Wang Long, is already full of economy, and is deeply favored by Yang Yin.

Perhaps due to the influence of his mother Zheng, the two brothers don't like Yuanqing, the half-brother, very much, Yang Jun is knowledgeable and reasonable, and he doesn't show his face, but Yang Rong's contempt for Yuanba can't be concealed at all.

Yang Rong glanced at Yuan Ba on the ladder, pouted and said to his brother: "Big brother, I found that some people are born cheap and willing to do things for others, no wonder others look down on him." ”

Yang Jun snorted, "Second brother, there is a clan sacrifice in the afternoon, we have to go and go back quickly." ”

Yuan Ba installed a lamp above their heads, he didn't hear Yang Rong's ridicule, he didn't have a good impression of these two brothers, he usually didn't communicate with each other, and he didn't pay attention to it, if Yang Rong ridiculed him in the past, he would definitely sneer at each other, scolding who was farting?

But since he practiced martial arts, his restraint ability has been greatly strengthened, and he is not shocked by the ridicule of this kind of clansmen, as long as he does not violate his bottom line, he will be indifferent in his heart and laugh at it.

Next to him, Liu Si's housekeeper secretly praised Yuanba for his self-cultivation, he watched Yuanba grow up, and knew that he was a person who could not be messed with when he was a child, with a strong temperament, who dared to insult him like this in the past, he would have beaten him with a stick, but now he can laugh at it, he knows that this child is not weak, but has grown up.

In contrast, although the Yang brothers read a lot of books, they did not have the mind of Yuanba.

Butler Liu Si smiled and greeted the two brothers, "Eldest son, second son, you guys go out!"

Yang Rong raised his head arrogantly and ignored him, Yang Jun was a little better, nodded to him, and responded.

At this moment, a carriage inlaid with silver wire came galloping, surrounded by more than a dozen Yang Mansion guards, and the carriage rattled and stopped in front of the steps of the mansion gate.

Yang Rong's face changed, and he said in horror: "It's grandmother who is here!"

Yuan Ba stood high on the ladder, and he had already recognized the carriage, which was the carriage of He Yunniang, the mother of the Yang Mansion, that is, Yang Su's wife.

He Yunniang is the sister of He Ruobi of Shangzhu State, five years after the founding of the Yuan Dynasty, Yang Su's ex-wife Zheng died of illness, and He Yunniang was only twenty-nine years old, was widowed at home, and was drawn by the queen, He Yunniang remarried Yang Su as a continuation of the string, and it has been twelve years since he entered the Yang Mansion.

The Tianwu Dynasty, like the Sui Dynasty, has always had a high status of women, which is a continuation of the influence of the previous Northern Dynasty. ’

In the Southern Dynasty, on the other hand, women were at the bottom of society, married to each other, and they had not known each other for decades, but they were married by faith.

And the women of the Northern Dynasties, seeking officials for their sons, complaining for their husbands, handing over to the downstream, their husbands singing with their wives, inside and out, all rely on 'strong women', so, how dare husbands argue with their wives, so the fear of the wind is flourishing, so it is extremely normal for Yang Xiong's family to have jealous wives and Yang Yin's family to have fierce women.

Although the establishment of the Tianwu Dynasty marked the emergence of a unified dynasty, its essence was still the continuation of the Northern Dynasty, and the strong legacy of Hu women was far from extinction, and even continued to later generations, with the royal severe suppression of the Guanlong aristocracy, the strong position of women began to gradually weaken.

He Yunniang has Hu blood, she is very tall, fat and fat, giving people a feeling like a meat tower, it is said that she was very beautiful when she was young, but Yuan Ba didn't believe it very much, a woman with broom eyebrows and triangular eyes, no matter how young she is, she can't be beautiful?

However, if He Yunniang has a short personality, he believes that He Yunniang's arrogance and temper are well-known throughout the Yang Mansion, and it has always been the tradition of the He family to not know how to be a low-key person.

The carriage stopped, and He Yunniang, with the support of the two maids, got out of the carriage.