Early the next morning, the whole family and their dependents who had made up for their sleep were in good spirits, and everyone came to worship the New Year in new clothes, and Zhu Qiaoqiao and Mu Ningxue sat in the house with a smile and a smile.

Xu Hao accepted the New Year's greetings from the men of the whole family in the outer house, and then the family saluted and greeted each other, and the inside and outside were noisy and lively, which was indescribable.

Soon relatives, friends and neighbors came to pay New Year's greetings one after another, Bai and Sixi were busy leading their daughters into the inner house to meet, Bai didn't know how much reward money they received, and their hearts were happy.

Xu Hao and his wife coped with it for a whole morning before they finished the matter, but fortunately, there was a big court meeting in the court on the first day of the first month, so they didn't have to go to Beijing.

In the afternoon, Xu Hao and his wife went to Xiao's house to visit his grandmother and relatives, but Mrs. Xiao's condition still did not improve, which made the atmosphere of Xiao's family depressed, and she hurriedly went home to rest after dinner in the evening.

On the second day of the first lunar month, I went back to my parents' house, and accompanied my mother-in-law and sister-in-law Mu Qingshuang for a whole day. Xu Hao found that the sister-in-law seemed to be more and more obsessed with herself recently, the Bai girls before the Ming Dynasty were warm and generous by nature, and they didn't mind the spring breeze with a man who had a good impression before marriage, as for the sister-in-law's interest in her brother-in-law? Ahem!

Xu Hao is a little strange, Qingshuang is sometimes gentle and lovely, sometimes taciturn, sometimes bold and crazy, and his temperament is very contradictory. Crazy and deliberately indulge himself.,Knowing that the other party is a brother-in-law, he also takes the initiative to flirt.,Faintly hateful to the court and his own family.,Teenage girls are very rebellious.。

Thinking of the Bai nationality, which has dominated Yunnan for more than 1,000 years, was adopted by Mu Ying's father and son and the imperial court to adopt a cultural genocide policy, migrating Han people to Yunnan to squeeze the living space of the Bai people, and even the Bai nationality gradually reduced from the largest population in the south to a real ethnic minority, and many unique customs and habits slowly disappeared, making the later customs generally no different from the Han people, Xu Hao can understand that Mu Qingshuang is in the complex feelings between the mother and the father.

There is nothing to say about this, what era to look at, the strategy adopted by the imperial court against the Bai people during the Ming Dynasty was completely correct. Without this, there will be no way to reduce the number of conflicts.

Xu Hao is too lazy to care about the difference between the Bai culture and the Han culture, to put it bluntly, the conquest of civilization is two-sided, even if the imperial court does not ban the Bai language and culture, sooner or later the Bai will have to be assimilated, everyone is on the same starting line in ancient times, who let the ancestors of the Han people fight? Who will complain about the weak and the strong?

In short, in the face of Mu Qingshuang, who seemed to have a tendency to hatred of the country and family, Xu Hao laughed at it, because history proved that Yunnan belonged to China.

After that, for three consecutive days, I either went out to greet the New Year or picked up customers at home, and I really couldn't be idle for a moment. The miserable Xu Hao and Mu Ningxue finally realized the benefits of having elders at home.

In previous years, at this time, the old lady was exempted from accepting foreign guests, and the whole family followed suit, and it was really a good shade under the big tree. In the end, Xu Hao, who didn't like to socialize, announced that he would not accept outsiders, no matter who he was, he would not see him, even if the Zhu Gaochi brothers had to eat behind closed doors, who made you annoying?

However, the sky did not fulfill people's wishes, and without waiting for a few days of leisurely at home, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the third grandfather Xiao Shengde went, and Xu Hao changed into filial piety clothes and rushed to the funeral. The whole funeral was carried out in an orderly manner, and the uncles and aunts here worked together in harmony, which was praised by both the clan and the village.

But before the funeral was held, bad news came. My grandmother died in the early hours of the next morning.

Xu Hao, who was guarding the spirit, hurriedly said goodbye and sent the little maid home to inform his sister-in-law and wife, telling him not to come over immediately, there would not even be a place to settle down when the mess came. What else can you do when you come? Xu Hao didn't want his daughters to work too hard.

Then he rushed to Xiao's house with his family, it was dark everywhere except for the light of the lantern before dawn, and he heard the crying from the house from a long distance.

A bunch of people from the Xiao family gathered in the courtyard, and the six gods had no owner. Xiao Yan and Xiao Rong stood outside the house in a daze, wiping their tears, and when the people saw the third young master coming, they immediately hula surrounded them, knelt on the ground and cried.

Xu Hao said angrily: "What are you crying about, what about the housekeeper?" Do what you have to do, and cry when you're done. ”

"The old slave has seen the third young master." The housekeeper Xiao Fu walked out of the room quickly, turned his head and scolded: "A group of unproductive things have come to receive errands." ”

Xiao Fu pulled Xiao Yan's sleeve and said, "Young Master, don't stand stupidly, the whole family is counting on you." ”

"Uh-oh." Xiao Yi, who woke up like a dream, finally understood that he was now the head of the family.

"Li Qiu, you wait to stay and help, and wait to pick up the frame of your wife."

Xu Hao stepped forward and took Xiao Rong's hand into the house, seeing the three aunts and cousins crying hoarsely, the grandmother was lying on the bed with a peaceful expression, the room was full of kneeling women in a mess, and he couldn't persuade a man, so he had to retreat.

waited for the ladies of the Xiao family to come and persuade one after another, but finally cried a little less, only Aunt Xiao still cried loudly on her mother.

Xu Hao asked Xiao Rong to take her two younger sisters to sit next door, and told Mu Yi to go to the capital to invite the officials of the Yin and Yang Division of Qin Tianjian.

asked Xiao Fu again: "Did you send someone to buy the coffin?" Xiao Fu replied: "The old lady has been prepared before her death, along with her favorite things such as shrouds. ”

Xu Hao sighed, thinking of his grandmother's personality, his heart was sad, and his eyes were a little red.

The Xiao family members each received errands and scattered out, opened the treasury or went to the village to buy white cloth, candles, paper money and other things. Xiao Yi stood stupidly and didn't have an idea, and when he saw his mother waving at him, he walked over.

That night, the Xiao family tore off the red lanterns, hung white cloth and white paper lanterns overnight, the whole family wore linen and filial piety, invited craftsmen to build a spiritual shed, and Mu Yi took Mr. Yin and Yang, a subordinate of Qin Tianjian, to return to guide the Xiao family in all the funerals.

The three spiritual sheds were quickly built, but Xiao Yi's figure could not be found anywhere, and some maids said that the eldest lady was guarding the wardrobe and cage inch by inch, for fear that the old lady's body would be stolen by someone while she was in the chaos, and I was afraid that Xiao Yan was in the account room.

Xu Hao suppressed his anger and didn't have time to theorize about this, so he didn't let the Xiao family take charge of it, let the maids forcibly drag the aunt out, helped the aunt and other Xiao daughters to go to the mourning shed to guard the spirit, and instructed the little maids to go to the hall to collect calligraphy and paintings, surround the screen, and slowly lift the grandmother out with a door panel covered with brocade mattress, and carefully rest in bed.

Mr. Yin Yang came over and respectfully saluted Xu Hao, Xu Hao sighed and said: "My grandfather was a fourth-grade official, and my grandmother came according to the rules of Mrs. Sanpin." ”

"The lower official knows." Mr. Yin Yang immediately cleaned his hands and personally laid out a brocade quilt for the old man's house, instructed the little maid to put a few incense tables on the table, and lit a portable lamp. The eight nuns who followed left four to instruct the servants to kneel on the side to serve, and the four went to the back shed to teach the ladies to recite the 'Great Compassion Middle Way Mantra' and the 'Mido Heart Sutra' and 'Grievance Sutra'.

Xu Hao tidied up his clothes, and under the gaze of the surrounding female dependents, he respectfully kowtowed to his grandmother for his parents and offered the first incense. Xiao Rong, who was pale, was led out by the little maid to kneel and kowtow to her grandmother, and then knelt on the straw mat on one side.

Then Mr. Yin Yang pinched his fingers and recited the gesture of having words to approve the book, Xu Hao saw this while ordering the little maid to send pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and at the same time instructed the maid to invite the little aunt Shangguan with tears on her face out.

At that moment, Mr. Yin Yang asked the old lady when she was angry, Shangguan replied crying, Xu Hao was impatient to listen to the funeral of Mrs. Fang of Wangxiaomen in Jinling County, born in a certain year and a certain month, died at a certain time and a certain moment, committed the death of heaven and earth, and was afraid of chickens, ducks, geese and dogs, and did not cry and make noise.

The eldest aunt only knows how to protect the family property, the second aunt is not good at dealing with foreign affairs, and the trivial affairs of the inner house can only be taken care of by the younger aunt.

Without the adult Xiao Yan coming forward, even if Xu Hao is a foreign surname, it is inconvenient to interfere in other things, and the Xiao family is not without men, but in this way, the clan is mainly anti-guest, and the Xiao family can be said to have no face.

Suddenly, a fierce quarrel broke out in the inner house and the outer house at the same time, which made the Xiao family and the villagers who came one after another stunned.

Xu Hao, who was furious, asked and found out that it was Aunt Xiao who came into the house and wanted to take more clothes and jewelry that her mother loved before her death and put them in the coffin. Outside, Xiao Yi was reluctant to make a big deal, so he had a quarrel with the housekeeper Xiao Fu.

Listening to the sound of fierce quarrels, the people on the side of the long house began to pick and choose for no reason, and went to eat tea in a place where no one was.

People immediately began to talk in a whisper, facing the sneering eyes of the women, which made the Mei family sigh deeply in shame, and the Xiao family felt embarrassed, and they all fell silent in frustration.

Aunt Xiao shouted angrily: "Those are all things that my mother has used, which one in this house is not my mother's coffin book?" Why don't you let it be used? ”

Ma Shi let out and shouted: "Now that this Xiao family is my mother and son, it is not anyone's turn to point fingers, Hao'er is rich, you won't ask him to come out?" For the sake of the old lady, all the money has been spent, and the whole family will drink the northwest wind in the future? ”

Aunt Xiao said angrily: "Is it okay if you don't move a penny of your family's property?" I just want my mother to bring more of her beloved things. ”

Ma shouted: "Don't dream, every grass and tree in the Xiao family is calamus, if it doesn't work, it won't work." ”

Xu Hao, who was outside the house, blocked Xiao Yan who was swaggering with a gloomy face, and without saying a word, he immediately gave him two slaps, turned around and went to the house again, walked in front of his aunt Ma, and threw a white silk on the ground.

Xu Hao sneered: "I don't know what to do, send her on the road." ”

Mu Yi stepped forward and punched Ma's lower abdomen, and then pinched her neck, Li Qiu picked up the white silk and was about to use force, Aunt Xiao was so frightened that she hurriedly shouted: "Stop, Hao'er, you tell them to stop quickly." ”

Xu Hao's eyes were cold, and he said to the frightened Ma: "Unfilial piety is a capital crime, my grandmother's bones are not cold, you dare to shout, and you can't complain to others if you find death." ”

The two aunts hurriedly rushed in, Mei grabbed Xu Hao's arm, and begged bitterly: "Hao'er, don't be impulsive, sister-in-law, she won't die for her crimes, that's your aunt." ”

"Auntie?" Xu Hao smiled disdainfully, his face sank, "Do it!" ”

As soon as the words fell, Mu Yi pushed Li Qiu away, and with a force of both hands, he broke Ma's neck with a click. (To be continued......)