Unconsciously, Xu Hao had been a companion for two months, and seeing that the New Year was approaching, he packed up his clothes, said goodbye to his husband and three classmates, informed the housekeeper, and returned to his house by carriage.

In the past two months, he has not met Mu Ningxue, and he completely regards himself as a companion.

Outside the gate of the Xu family, people are busy putting up lanterns and hanging peach charms, and the whole family is cleaning the room and sweeping out all the bad luck.

Xu Hao got out of the carriage and walked straight towards the inner house, and from time to time Yujian smiled at the mother-in-law and woman, holding the New Year's gift from the wives of each room.

According to the custom, the old lady sat crookedly on the soft couch made of ebony, the two maids knelt on the side of the bed to knead her legs and feet, Cui Tao and Lu Zhu sat down, and the three grandchildren played dominoes.

Somehow, the old lady saw Xu Hao come in with a little more smile on her face, sat up, waved her hand and ordered the two maids to go down, pointed to her side and said, "Come here and sit and chat with grandma." ”

Xu Hao was a little flattered for a while, the eldest girl Yuelan came over to help him take off his coat, and instructed the little girl to bring water to wash his face and clean his hands, and then Yuelan handed over a cup of hot tea, Xu Hao raised his head and drank it dry.

Sitting next to the old lady, Xu Hao glanced at the green bamboo, meaning to give a hint. I don't want to, maybe it's because of the engagement, the green bamboo becomes quiet.

However, the second sister Cui Tao explained with a smile: "Your brothers are not at home, grandma is panicking." ”

Seeing this, Xu Hao asked, "Isn't the eldest brother at home?" Guozijian should be on vacation, why hasn't the second brother come back yet? The fourth brother has been in the north for so long. ”

The old lady pinched a good hand, but the children and grandchildren were not in front of him, he was still unhappy, and said angrily: "They are all those who have no little conscience, and they don't know how to come back for the New Year, and they don't come back next year." ”

"Grandma, don't sulk, don't you still have our girls with you? Could it be that you only have grandchildren in your eyes? ”

Cui Tao smiled and played a card casually, deliberately played to the old lady, the old lady smiled and ate the card, and reached out to take away the ten big money in front of Cui Tao.

Cui Tao said to Xu Hao: "Don't you know about family affairs?" Your uncle has been promoted to a general, and the eldest brother has done a hundred households through Enmeng, and now they are all serving in front of the army, and they sent the steward back to say that the court seems to be using troops in the coming year, and the Governor's Office ordered to supervise the training of troops in various places, and also sent officials down, so I am afraid that I will not be able to come back before the year. ”

Xu Hao was taken aback, but he didn't expect the uncle to take Xu Wen not to be a subordinate official in Xu Mansion, but to take a military position to lead troops to fight. He is not ignorant of things outside the window, and now the Ming Dynasty may have more places to use troops abroad, such as the remnants of the Yuan and Mengs in the north, the nomads in the Koubian from time to time in the northwest, some rebel tribes in the remote mountainous areas of Yunnan, and the Japanese in the southern coastal areas may all be the targets of military recruitment.

It seems that the uncle is no longer willing to be a vassal of Xufu, this is bent on self-reliance, and fighting a war is a combination of danger and opportunity, which is probably a good thing.

Cui Tao said again: "The second brother is no longer in the capital, and a few days ago I wrote that I would go to Suzhou and Hangzhou with a few friends to increase my knowledge and meet the famous local Confucian talents. As for the fourth brother, he wrote that Princess Yan missed her son, so she left him in the north for the New Year. ”

Xu Hao nodded and said, "The third uncle and several brothers can't come back because of serious things, but grandma is actually happy in her heart." I'm the only one left at home, well, this year I'm going to help my father with the housework, and I'm no longer playful. ”

"Good boy." The old lady smiled sincerely, and asked with a smile: "Grandma knows that you are studying hard in the Mu family, can you be sure of the township test next year?" ”

Xu Hao thought for a while and said, "You can give it a try." ”

"This is better than practicing martial arts, which makes people feel at ease." The old lady sighed, "Your uncle doesn't listen to people's persuasion, and grandma is very worried, just afraid that Wen'er is young and vigorous, and the sword has no eyes on this battlefield." ”

Xu Hao frowned and said, "Why don't you talk to your uncle and find a way to let your eldest brother stay in the capital?" ”

Cui Tao smiled bitterly: "Who can persuade him with that temperament?" I'm bent on making a contribution. For this reason, there has been a lot of trouble several times, saying that father and son soldiers have been in battle since ancient times. He was afraid that his grandmother would order someone to trap him at home, and he was afraid that he would make up his mind not to come back for the New Year. ”

"The man is ambitious in all directions, and he will suffer a little." On the other hand, it was the old lady who could see it and comfort her grandchildren.

Xu Hao suddenly felt too close to the old lady, and he didn't have the same indifference as before, and now he smiled and told some interesting stories outside. He has read a lot of books recently, and with the accumulation of the past, a lot of allusions and jokes come easily.

The old lady listened very happily, Cui Tao and Lu Zhu helped to add bricks and tiles when they saw this, and the maid with the vision followed suit, which made the old lady laugh from ear to ear, and the house was full of joy.

But with the arrival of the third wife, Liu, the old lady immediately straightened her face, it turned out that Liu planned to go to the north to reunite with her husband, so that she could be a county lady and enjoy the taste of power in the house.

The reason why the old lady is unhappy is that the third child has just started his career, and it is the time to be a conscientious official. The third daughter-in-law is bent on getting rid of herself, which makes her unhappy, but that's nothing, the old man is disgusted by those relatives of the Liu family, worried that these snobbish and greedy businessmen are rushing to take refuge in the third child, in case they provoke personal fraud?

Therefore, the old lady never let go, so the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law made a little stiff, Liu knew that the old lady did not want to see him now, and said goodbye lightly, and sat down for a while to leave.

Seeing that the New Year was coming, the third daughter-in-law had a cold attitude, and the old lady was so angry that she immediately attacked, slammed the celadon tea cup in her hand on the ground, pointed at Liu and said angrily: "I just didn't fulfill your wish, since you deliberately came to disgust me, then from today onwards, you will be exempted from all the rules, and you don't have to come to ask for help." ”

Syllable! The tea cup fell apart, and the bluffing Cui Tao and Lu Zhu hurriedly got up, looking panicked, and Xu Hao also stood up.

Originally, I thought that Liu would be so frightened that he bowed his head and admitted his mistake, but who knew that it was unusual, and said calmly: "Daughter-in-law doesn't dare, sooner or later, I will come over on time to say goodbye, but since you don't want to see your daughter-in-law, then your daughter-in-law will kowtow in the yard." ”

"You're cursing me to death, aren't you?" The old lady became more and more annoyed, and her arms trembled when she pointed at Liu.

Liu stubbornly turned his head and cried: "How long did I have this rebellious idea? You don't want to see your daughter-in-law, you can be beaten, scolded and punished, why do you say such chilling words that want to die? ”

With such a fuss, who would dare to come forward to persuade the fight? Everyone was in a hurry, Xu Hao took a step earlier and ordered Yuelan to hurry up and notify the two wives to come to the rescue, and at this moment said to the crying green bamboo: "What are you crying about, quickly pull your mother away." ”

Just outside ran in a few housekeepers, all of whom were old men who had followed the old lady for many years, they were old and decent, and they dared to come forward to comfort the old lady under his anger.

What followed was a chaos, and when it was about to be inextricable, the Wang family and the Xiao family, who heard the news, pleaded bitterly and persuaded a lot of bad words, and let people pull away the crying and fussy Liu family. After a long time, the old lady's mood gradually eased up, and she finally controlled the situation.

Later, the second master, Xu Qingtang, hurriedly came, and in front of a group of subordinates, he reprimanded Liu a few words, and Liu was trembling with anger, gritting his teeth and bowing his head silently.

"If my mother has a good one, I'm not done with you." Zuihou Xu Qingtang angrily dropped a cruel sentence and raised his feet into the room.

Xu Qingtang first looked at the old lady lying on the bed, her face was not good, and she was furious for a while, and scolded Xu Hao: "It's all you, a son of a scumbag, as soon as you go home, the house will be restless, let me go to the ancestral hall to think about it, get out!" ”

Get! You can just pinch the soft persimmon to your heart's content! Xu Hao was very wronged to make a punching bag, there is no way, let's honestly bow down and admit our mistakes.

The old lady who was lying down said weakly: "Bastard, what are you doing for no reason?" ”

"It's this rabbit cub who makes my mother unhappy, and it's already extra gracious that I didn't beat him." Xu Qingtang hurriedly licked his face and smiled.

"Okay, okay, stop acting." The old lady waved her hand angrily, "Except for the two wives and the second master, everyone else should go out." ”

Seeing that the old lady's temper had really eased up, the big guys showed a hint of a smile and retreated lightly. Xu Hao zuihou came out, he was naturally not naïve enough to go to the ancestral hall to face the wall.

After thinking about it, Xu Hao still went to the ancestral hall, urged his family to clean up the ancestral hall, put on three incense sticks and worshipped, and then he wiped the ancestors' spirit cards spotlessly.