I'm taking the imperial examinations in Liaozhai

Chapter 222

With Ji Zihe's guidance, Zhangqiu will no longer ask his subordinates to investigate one by one in the county as if there were no flies.

Since the magistrate of the county said that he could first check with the Yang family and people related to the Yang family, Zhang Qiu assigned tasks to his subordinates.

Spread out to check the people related to the Yang family.He also led a few people to investigate in Daliushu Village where the Yang family lived before their prosperity.

The Yang family's roots in Ning'an County are not that deep, and they can't be found in Ning'an County if they go up three generations.It has only been more than ten years since they moved to Ning'an County. It is said that they came here as refugees.

But this family is obviously very united, otherwise hundreds of families would not have moved together.Now the family has settled down in Ning'an County, and has adapted well, showing signs of prosperity.

It is a big deal for a small and peaceful village to be arrested quickly.The village head came out to receive them in person, and after inquiring about the reason, he welcomed them into his home, and immediately sent someone to invite the elders of the Yang family over.

With clan elders around, Zhangqiu saved a lot of effort.Daliushu Village is full of the Yang family, and the elders of the Yang family must know what is going on in the Yang family, so you must be right to ask him.

The county government still trusts these squires. After all, they can be regarded as grassroots cadres in the village, and they still have quite a lot of power in the clan.

"Old man, I'm here to ask you to see if you know this thing." Zhang Qiu took out a piece of paper from his arms and handed it to the elder of the Yang clan.

The Yang family always unfolded the paper, which showed the front and back of the stone tablet in Ji Zihe's hand.

The boss of the Yang clan was shocked, "Master, where did you see this thing?"

"Old man knows this stone tablet?"

"This stone tablet belongs to my clan." The elder of the Yang clan said, "The descendants of our clan, regardless of gender, will carve a stone tablet from birth. One side is engraved with a beast, and the other side is engraved with a name, and it is worn on the body. The meaning is to use the stone tablet to protect life, to pray for the safety of descendants, to eliminate disasters, and to prevent premature death."

"Then do you know the owner of this stone tablet?"

"If nothing goes wrong, this person's name is Yang Qing, and she is the eldest daughter of my clan member Yang Tuo."

The owner of this stone tablet is actually a woman?Didn't he say he was Chu Yuhua's father? How could he be a woman?

Zhang Qiu didn't dare to be careless, and said again, "Old man, are you sure?"

"Little old man dare not speak nonsense, this stone tablet was carved by myself when Yang Tuo was a daughter, I will definitely not admit my mistake."

Zhang Qiu was a little puzzled, so he stopped using that brain, "Old man, where is this Yang Qing now?"

The old Yang clan sighed, "I don't know either. When our clan first arrived in Ning'an County, we hadn't gained a foothold yet. The lives of the clan members were difficult, and some of them even ran out of food. Yang Tuo's family was the saddest in the clan. That part of the tribe, when our tribe was migrating, encountered bandits on the road. Yang Tuo's wife was killed and his luggage was lost, leaving only two daughters. Although the tribe is willing to help, everyone's life is not good. It’s okay, but I can’t help too much.”

"In desperation, Yang Tuo's eldest daughter, Yang Qing, sold herself to Ren Yazi in exchange for silver taels so that Yang Tuo and his younger sister Yang Ying could live. Yang Tuo also used this money to start a business and make a fortune. Etc. When Yang Tuo had the money to find the man Yazi and wanted to redeem Qing'er, he was told that Yang Qing had been sold to a passing caravan. I don’t know. Although Yang Tuo wanted to look for it, he didn’t find it until his death.”

"So that's how it is." Zhang Qiu was not a fool, there was a clear discrepancy between what the old man said and what Chu Yuhua said, and Zhang Qiu keenly sensed that there must be something strange in it.

However, regardless of whether the person who was sold was a man or a woman, without exception, this person was Chu Yuhua's direct elder. Why did the two have different opinions?

"Old man, do you know Yang Yangwang?"

"Of course I do. Yang Wang is a good boy. After Yang Tuo lost his wife, he never remarried. The eldest woman was sold, and there was only one daughter under her, so he was spoiled. He was a good relative, but because of his personality disagreement The marriage was divorced. Where can the girl who was divorced find any good family, she can only marry a wealthy family in the city to fill in the house, but after marrying, she was divorced and returned home because she beat her husband. Yang Tuo He loves his daughter so much that he decided not to let her marry in the future. Anyway, he has earned such a large fortune, and he will definitely leave it to his daughter in the future. Marrying someone else is not as comfortable as recruiting a son-in-law. But Yang Ying's reputation is really It’s not good, even if you have money as bait, you can’t catch any family, luckily you met little brother Yangwang.”

"Yangwang escaped with his sister back then, otherwise Yang Ying wouldn't have been able to get a good deal. It's a pity that his sister's life was so bad that he left before Yangwang's brother got married, leaving only the child Yuhua behind. Okay Yang Wang was kind-hearted, and always regarded Yuhua as his own, and loved him very much. When Yang Tuo was young, he was too worried and overworked, and fell ill after finding a home for his daughter. After Yang Tuo passed away, Yang Wang took over his family Although Yang Ying has always been tricky and domineering, his attitude towards Yang Ying has not changed. After a few years, Yang Ying became pregnant, but she was not honest about her pregnancy, and she insisted on going out for some temple fair in winter Is that crowded place where she should go as a six-month-pregnant woman? Yang Tuo was also unlucky, without the life of that offspring. His daughter finally got pregnant, but she fell down because she went to the temple fair. Falling, causing one corpse and two lives." The elder of the Yang clan said regretfully, and it was really disgusting to talk about Yang Ying.

"It's really a pity, but Yang Tuo's father and daughter passed away, and the family property fell into the hands of Yang Yangwang, a foreigner. Doesn't anyone in your family feel reconciled?" Zhangqiu asked.

The old man of the Yang clan shouted fearfully, "What do you call that, my lord? Our Yang clan doesn't have any family rules that say that members of the clan can't have personal interests. Since it's Yang Tuo's own property, he can give it to whoever he wants, and we will wait for it." How could you be unhappy?"

That's what he said, but Zhang Qiu didn't think they were really jealous at all.He has seen a lot of earth-shaking things caused by money, not to mention the son-in-law, even the widow with children has been purged and left the house.Money touches people's hearts, and it can even turn a kind person into a devil. It's strange that no one is jealous.

However, jealousy belongs to jealousy, and it doesn't mean that he has really done anything.With so many assets, it is normal to be envied.The reason why no one in the Yang family made troubles, or maybe there were, but they were suppressed, must be because the elders of the clan are highly respected, have good conduct, and restrain the clan members. This alone can show that the clan has a good family style.

"What the old man said is that I was wrong. It's just why Yang Yangwang changed his surname to Yang?"

The Yang family paused for a moment, with a little embarrassment on their faces, "Yangwang has no worries. After Yang Ying died, Yangwang changed her surname and recorded it under my name. Not as Yang Ying's husband. , and re-entered the genealogy as a descendant of the Yang family, becoming the real Yang family."

"So that's how it is." Zhangqiu knew it in his heart, no wonder he said it so righteously, the feeling was that Yang Yangwang recognized the old man as his father.

Looking at Zhangqiu's half-smile expression, the Yang clan always felt that their skin was a little hot, and added, "Yangwang takes good care of the clan on weekdays, not only often helping the clan, but also running clan studies to benefit the village. Not only the villagers, but even children from several nearby villages are studying in the ethnology school."

He did have selfish motives in protecting Yang Yangwang back then, but Yang Yangwang never let him down.Of course, Yang Yangwang recognized him as his father, but he was not the only one who benefited.Yang Yangwang is indeed very talented in business. In just a few years, he has expanded the scale of Yang Tuo's business several times. He even joined the chamber of commerce himself. Let me ask who else can do it.

He has never forgotten his roots in these years, and he has helped the clan with many things, and the people in the clan have already regarded him as their own.The younger generation didn't even know that he was the son-in-law, and only regarded him as the son of the clan elder. One can imagine how successful he, the Yang family, was.

"Okay, I don't care about these things. Old man, let me ask you again, do you know where Yang Yangwang's sister is buried after her death?"

"I don't know about this matter. When his younger sister died, he was not considered my Yang family. What are you doing asking about this?" The elder of the Yang family was very vigilant. Could it be that the Chu family came here and wanted to take care of her? It is not acceptable for brothers and sisters to recognize their ancestors and return to their ancestors.

"Old man, don't ask about things you shouldn't ask, especially these people in official uniforms and military uniforms. Are you asking so many questions to spy on something?"

"The official is clear, the little old man has no such intentions!" The head of the Yang clan turned pale with shock, and hurriedly knelt down to Zhang Qiu, but was held by him.

"Don't worry too much, old man. I know you did it unintentionally. I just want to remind you so that you don't get confused. After all, it's a matter of losing your head."

"Yes, yes, thank you, sir, thank you, sir." The Yang clan elder wiped the cold sweat from his brow, lowered his head and thanked him.

"It's just a matter of raising one's hand. Did the old man think of anything?" Zhang Qiu asked with a smile.

The old man has already adopted Yang Yangwang as his son, but he doesn't know where his son's sister is buried or who it is.Even if you don't know the exact location, it's impossible not to know everything.Dare to be sloppy with him and not frighten him, I am sorry for my reputation as a sharp knife.

"When the official said this, I really remembered a person. That person was originally an old servant of Yang Tuo's family. He looked after his sister when she died. He couldn't even afford a thin coffin, so he never buried him. Yangwang and his sister died. After Yang Ying made the marriage contract, Yang Tuo sent the old servant to take care of Yangwang, and he and Yangwang also arranged for the burial. Now that he is old, Yangwang is kind-hearted, not only did not drive him out, but let him come Look at the old house in the village for the elderly. If the adults want to see him, the little old man will let someone bring him here."

"Since he is already an old man, he shouldn't be allowed to run around. I'd better go see him. Old man, can you show me the way?"

The old Yang family said, he is an old man and you feel sorry for him, but I am also an old man. I never see you feel sorry for me and let me run around. The bones of the old man are about to fall apart.

Although he complained in his heart, the elders of the Yang clan still squeezed out a smile on his face, "Please come with me, my lord."

Although the catcher is a yamen servant and not an official, but wearing that suit of leather, he is a member of the government, how can he be negligent.I can't afford it, I can't afford it.