Tan Ting went to see Chen Fuyou, the Jinyi guard Qianhu.

Although they were both from aristocratic families, the Tan family had never had much contact with the Fengling Chen family, and this Chen Fu was a military attache in Beijing, so it was difficult to get along with Tan Ting, a civil servant with an imperial examination background.

This time, in order to arrest the prisoner, he personally came to the door on the first day of the new year, which shows that he is not an ordinary prisoner.

Chen Wuye, Chen Fuyou, was already waiting for Tan Ting in the study outside. Seeing the arrival of the eldest son of the Tan family, he quickly stood up to greet him.

He was very polite and brought gifts, but his words were very urgent.

After briefly explaining the situation in a few words, he asked Tan Ting to help find people in this area.

The person he wanted to arrest was none other than the pirate leader who the government had issued an arrest warrant for.

Tan Ting had long been suspicious of this wanted man. How could an ordinary pirate be worthy of such a massive effort?

Now that Jin Yiwei, Master Chen Wu, has come in person and is so eager, I'm afraid he is not an ordinary person.

"Is such an important person really here?" Tan Ting asked.

Then Chen Fu said continuously, "There is no news about him after he enters this place. We have posted many people around. If he escapes, we can't not know about it. It can be seen that he is still here. We have to ask Mr. Tan to worry about it." "

He said it politely.

But the specific identity of such an important person was not mentioned at all.

He wanted to ask the Tan family to help find someone, but they refused to reveal the details.

If he was an extremely dangerous bandit, or if he had a weapon on him, and the Tan clan members rashly went after him, wouldn't their lives be hurt?

Tan Ting was speechless for the moment and took a tea cup to drink tea.

However, Chen Fu really didn't mean to elaborate with him. In this case, Tan Ting couldn't ask more questions.

He remembered another thing.

"I heard that there are branches of the Chen family living in this area. I wonder if Master Chen Wu has any contact with them?"

Chen Fuyou comes from the Chen family. He came here to look for people. People from the Chen family's side branches have already arrived in advance. Waiting.

He is currently living in the other courtyard of the Pangzhi tribe.

He didn't understand why Tan Ting suddenly asked about this, and thought that Tan Ting didn't want to help.

He had to say that there were not many people in the Chen family's side, "It can't be compared to the Tan family's status in Ningnan. We need Master Tan's help."

Tan Ting didn't mean that. He just laughed and talked about Liu. What happened in Yangzhuang.

Chen Fuyou was slightly surprised when he heard this, but subconsciously said.

"Are these unscrupulous people going to rebel?! They have no money, and the aristocratic family bought their fields so that they could have money for the winter, but they are actually murderous. They should be punished by the government!"

Tan Ting, holding a tea cup, Keep your hands still.

He looked at Master Chen Wu and didn't know what to say for a moment.

It was Chen's side branch who farmed land at low prices and oppressed the people. When it came to his mouth, he actually gave the unruly people money to spend the winter, but the unruly people didn't know how to repent.

He originally wanted to ask Chen Wu to restrain the Chen clan members and not to cause too much trouble with the common people. However, it seemed that Chen Fuyou's attitude was useless if he did not change.

He lowered his eyes and said that he would tell his clansmen to pay attention to bandits and serve tea to see off the guests.

Xiang Yi asked the little maid to secretly listen to what happened in the outer study. Master Chen Wu's voice was not low, so the little maid also heard a little bit.

Xiang Yi was secretly nervous, but when he saw Tan Ting returning to the main courtyard with a calm face, he realized something.

The two of them didn't have a good conversation?

She saw that although the man didn't say anything to her, he was frowning. Zhengji only responded casually twice when he spoke to him, and then he thought of something and called Zhengji.

"Go and tell every household in the clan that there may be bandits or other dangerous people fleeing here recently. Let everyone pay attention to their own safety. Don't make any noise or rush in if something happens. Come to the clan to report."

After hearing this, Zhengji hurriedly went.

Xiang Yi studied his words carefully.

Master Chen Wu and Chen Fuyou were obviously here to search for someone, and as expected it was the eldest brother.

But instead of asking the clansmen to help find the person, they instead asked the clansmen to pay attention to their own safety.

The implication was that he had no intention of helping Chen Fuyou.

Xiang Yi couldn't help but feel relieved, and looked at the angry man with his lips pursed. Although he didn't know why he was angry, he felt that he was a little more lively than usual.

In this case, Xiang Yiben no longer worried, but secretly transferred Chunsun's sister's family from a nearby farm to the farm where his adopted brother was, in case of emergency.

Everything went as usual on the first day of the new year. Except that Tan Ting was a little unhappy, nothing else happened.

However, the man ordered the carriage in the afternoon, saying that it was for Mrs. Chu Er's visit to her parents' house.

Xiang Yi used to have a lot of things to do during the New Year and had no one to help him, so he usually asked Xiang Ning and the others to come to Qingkan for a day, and the siblings would have a meal together. This year is special, as there is still a sworn brother living in the farm, so Xiang Yi took this After putting the matter aside, he told Xiang Yu and them that it was cold and it would not be too late to see them again when it gets warmer.

Who would have thought that someone would make arrangements for her.

Xiang Yi was in a complicated mood, so she could only arrange for Chunsun and her sister to keep an eye on the affairs of the farm and report back to her if there was anything. Then, together with the Tan family uncle, they went back to Qingzhou.

I just went back and forth a few days ago. The neighbors in Qingzhou Town always talked about the Tan family and Tan's clan wife after dinner. This morning, as families went to visit relatives, they actually looked up and saw Tan's carriage again. , a long queue stopped in front of the Xiang family courtyard.

This time there were more people than last time.

The neighbors didn't care about visiting for a while, and hurriedly stopped to watch the excitement.

Zhengji brought out a basket of silver coins and gave them to the children in the town as lucky money. The children danced happily.

The adults were also happy, but they didn't quite understand. Tan was so rich and didn't interact with the Xiang family as much as before, so why didn't he help the Xiang family live in a decent house?

The Xiang siblings still live in this old dilapidated courtyard in Dianlai.

They didn't know that Tan Tingang had suggested this matter in the Xiang Family Courtyard.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished saying that he wanted to find a suitable place for Xiang Yu and Xiang Ning to live again, Xiang Yu snorted coldly from his nostrils.

"Humph. Mr. Tan is so kind, which makes Xiang Yu very uncomfortable."

As soon as the words fell, the entire Xiang family courtyard fell silent.

Xiang Ning blinked and looked at his younger brother, feeling that it was not impossible to call him brother at this moment.

Zhengji had just finished handing out the money outside and was about to come back to report. When he heard this, he was frightened and stepped back.

Tan Ting had imagined before he came that he really wanted to ease the relationship with the three siblings, but his brother-in-law probably still wouldn't have any kind words for him.

Now that Xiang Yu said this, Tan Ting was not too surprised.

He looked calm and just looked at his wife beside him.

She had looked at Xiang Yu several times since she entered the Xiang family's courtyard. As soon as Xiang Yu made such rude remarks, her dark eyebrows, which were usually indifferent, wrinkled.

Tan Ting knew that she was going to scold her brother again.

In her heart, she can control her brother, who is her blood relative. She controls him for protection, but she is polite and polite to him because in her eyes, he is an outsider.

This realization made Tan Ting depressed, but he couldn't make her change for a while.

He could only speak before her.

"It's okay, it's okay," his eyes fell on her, "I just think the house is a little shabby. If they are used to it and don't want to move, they can ask the people in the government to repair it."

Xiang Yi wanted to control Xiang Yu. His words were just scattered in his mouth.

Xiang Yi knew that her husband felt guilty because of the accounting matter, but to tolerate Xiang Yu over and over again, and even to tolerate Xiang Yu more and more, was really beyond Xiang Yi's knowledge.

Thinking about his attitude towards Tan Jian and then towards Xiang Yu, Xiang Yi's heart sank and she bowed to him silently.

"Master, you don't have to worry so much."

Tan Ting shook her head.

"I want it."

...

Although his younger brother's expression didn't change for the better from the beginning to the end, he didn't say anything powerful at all.

The old man of the Tan family talked to Xiang Yu without any embarrassment, and he actually mentioned one thing.

"There is a Boyun Academy in the suburbs of Beijing. Although most people come here to study, in recent years there have also been scholars who came here to study. I wonder if Brother Yu is interested?"

He had already thought about this in his mind, mainly because His younger brother is really lazy in studying at home. He plans to send the useless things to Boyun Academy after the year. He is close to the capital and can supervise.

Tan Jian is a brother, and so is Xiang Yu, his brother-in-law.

Tan Ting said that, but he was not anxious to see Xiang Yu's reaction. Instead, he looked at his wife out of the corner of his eye.

She raised her eyes at his suggestion.

The corners of Tan Ting's eyes raised slightly, not wanting Xiang Yu to speak at this time.

"Xiang Yu is very good at Qingzhou Academy. It's better not to bother Mr. Tan."

He was not saying polite words, but he seriously rejected Tan Ting.

Tan Ting thought that if he entered school and made great progress, he would probably agree by default, or else at least hesitate for a while, but who would have thought that he would reject the offer in one breath.

Tan Ting couldn't help but give him a few words of advice based on Bo Yun Academy's excellence, but the young man didn't want to pay attention to it.

Tan Ting was really surprised by this. He looked at his wife and saw Xiang Yi lowered his eyes again. He didn't know what he was thinking.

At least she didn't refuse like Xiang Yu, and as he looked at her, she seemed to have something to say to Xiang Yu, but it was inappropriate to do so in front of him.

When Tan Ting saw this, he said he wanted to give Zhengji some instructions and went out.

He left the room, and both Xiang Yi and Xiang Ning looked at Xiang Yu.

Xiang Yu was not indifferent to Boyun Academy. On the contrary, he had mentioned this academy in the capital where great scholars gathered many times.

"Ayu, what do you think?" Xiang Yi asked his brother warmly.

Except for the things he did against the Tan family and the Tan family's uncle, Xiang Yi always respected his younger brothers and sisters in other matters.

Xiang Ning was obedient and didn't speak. Xiang Yu was still in conflict with the old man.

"Although I also want to go to Boyun Academy, I don't want to benefit from that uncle of the Tan family." He said and snorted, "His attitude towards the eldest sister has changed a bit now, who knows when it will change back. ? ! Don't let the eldest sister owe him anything because of me!"

The young man is arrogant and knows how to be cool, but Xiang Yi feels very soft in his heart.

But the opportunities at Boyun Academy are too rare. How many chances do ordinary people like them have to get into Boyun Academy without the connections of noble family members?

The nobles of the aristocratic families enjoy everything at the top through natural channels, but common people like them cannot see it all when they raise their heads.

Now that there is such an opportunity, Xiang Yi cannot let Xiang Yu miss it like this.

Even if she owed Uncle Tan, she would just find a way to pay him back.

If Xiang Yu can be sent to Boyun Academy and pass the exam as soon as possible, the Xiang family will be proud, and his sister's marriage will be better settled in the future.

She shook her head with Xiang Yu, and was about to say, "Don't turn down such a good opportunity because of this," when Xiang Yu spoke first.

"Eldest sister, if I don't pass him, I might be able to enter the Boyun Academy!"

Xiang Yi raised his eyebrows and listened to him again. The Boyun Academy is not a vassal of the aristocratic family. Seeing the hardship of poor scholars, they specially opened it Passed the admission exam.

Scholars from poor families of the common people who have real abilities can enter the academy as long as they pass the spring entrance examination!

The boy said, straightening his back.

"Xiang Yu is not talented, I am willing to give it a try!"

After these words came out of his mouth, the narrow room seemed to become taller and spacious immediately.

Xiang Ning clenched his two small fists, "Ayu can do it! Elder sister believes in him!"

In the solemn room, Xiang Yi looked at his younger siblings and almost shed tears.

She took out the handkerchief and wiped her eyes, saying hello repeatedly and couldn't help but smile.

"Then go take the exam, eldest sister, I believe in you."

The younger brothers and sisters raised the corners of their mouths.

Xiang Yi looked at his younger brother and couldn't help but think of what his adopted brother had said before.

It seemed that everything about the common people, the Xiang family, and even her was becoming more and more promising...

But when Tan Ting returned to the room again, he asked Xiang Yu if he was willing, This time Xiang Yu didn't need to speak, but Xiang Yi declined.

He really didn't expect it.

...

Because of what happened to Liuyang Village before, everyone did not dare to stay longer and returned to Tan's house before it was too late.

Although the Xiang family did not respond to the matter of Boyun Academy, Xiang Yi also found that the Tan family uncle had changed a lot compared to before.

But this made Xiang Yi even more uncomfortable.

Xiang Yi quietly kept a proper distance from him, but found that his sister-in-law Tan Rong was getting more and more wrong.

Not counting the fact that Tan Rong had delivered medicine and clothes to Mr. Sheng earlier, this girl had a lot of people coming to her Taoist home in the past two days. She wanted to practice the piano but was afraid of being too noisy, so she had to go to Zhuangzi to practice the piano.

Xiang Yi couldn't help but ask, and she said openly that Mr. Sheng was not only well-educated and knowledgeable about etiquette, but also good at playing the piano.

She was asking Mr. Sheng for advice, but Mr. Sheng did not refuse and said that he could teach her to write superficially.

My sworn brother is indeed good at playing the harp. Not only is he good at playing the harp, but he is also good at sword dancing, painting, archery, horse riding, and playing chess.

In the past, when he lived at Xiang's house, the girls next door would always come to his house under various excuses.

Obviously before he moved into Xiang's house, both Xiang Yi and Xiang Ning had a quiet temperament and didn't interact much with the girls next door.

Some girls secretly asked where their adopted brother's marriage was, and they were all delighted to learn that he was not engaged.

If it weren't for his sensitive status and the fact that he was the nephew of Gu Xianying, the eunuch who had once been in charge of the front court of the harem, offended many people, and fell out of power, the person who came to propose marriage would probably have crossed the threshold of the Xiang family.

Girls come frequently, and Pian Yixiong has always been a patient and elegant gentleman. He has never been impatient with these girls. He occasionally gives them instructions on piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. He is not impatient, not impatient, and is serious and thoughtful.

The girls often come looking forward to it and return shyly.

Until the Xiang family became a family of criminals overnight, Gu Yansheng was afraid that his identity would harm the Xiang family siblings, so he left one night.

He didn't leave them a word, and the girls' hearts were broken into pieces as if they were waking up from a dream.

...

At that moment, Xiang Yi saw Tan Rong's eagerness and felt familiar for some reason.

She couldn't let Tan Rong know her adopted brother's true identity, but she couldn't watch Tan Rong follow the same path as the girls next door.

Xiang Yi gave some advice.

"Recently, the government is looking for bandits nearby. It's better for my sister to stay out less."

But when she said this, Tan Rong smiled indifferently.

"I know my sister-in-law is good for me, but even my mother thinks I should practice the piano more diligently. Mr. Sheng is good at the piano, isn't he the best piano player?"

The implication was that Mrs. Zhao didn't pay much attention to this matter. Word.

After hearing this, Xiang Yi could only stop persuading him.

She thought that her eldest brother would leave in a short time. Will Tan Rong be able to pursue him then?

I'll be sad for two days at most.

At the end of the day, it's not really a big deal.

Xiang Yi no longer cared about these matters, and Chen Wuye of Jinyiwei searched the Ningnan area, but never found the person he was looking for.

The day has quietly arrived on the fifth day of the lunar month.

Because Yang Zhen did not return home and did not go to her parents' house on the second day of the Lunar New Year, she had nowhere to go and actually made some clothes for the Tan family. With the help of the sewing room, they were completed on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year.

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year to welcome the God of Wealth, Tan Jian put on the bright red brocade robe made for him by Yang Zhen.

Thanks to the help from the sewing room, Tan Jian's clothes really fit him perfectly, and his eyes lit up when he looked at Yang Zhen.

Mrs. Zhao didn't have much hope for this daughter-in-law who was born in the military, but she also felt that a married girl should know how to make clothes. Now that she saw that she could really save a whole set of clothes, she didn't know what she wanted to say. What to say.

Anyway, she is not a serious mother-in-law. As long as Yang Zhen doesn't cause trouble for her, she just wants to be raised in Qiuzhao Garden and let them go.

Tan Rong was busy practicing the piano and couldn't go to the farm, so she asked her servant to bring Mr. Sheng's piano score to her. She copied it carefully word for word and had no time to go out.

Yang Zhen couldn't let anyone see the new clothes she made, so she took Tan Jian to the main courtyard.

Of course, Tan Jian still had to choose to go when his eldest brother was not in the main courtyard.

Xiang Yi asked the two of them to come in for snacks, but they didn't come here just for snacks. Yang Zhen took out the sword and asked Tan Jian to wear new clothes and dance the sword with her.

Tan Jian was a little shy. But Xiang Yi had an extra sight to watch, and he was very interested. He smiled and encouraged him a few words.

Tan Jian thought that his eldest brother was not here anyway, and his sister-in-law was not an outsider, so he took Yang Zhen's sword.

The two of them practice a lot at Xia Yingxuan on weekdays. Xiang Yi was secretly amused when he saw that Tan Jian's writing was not much improved, but he was good at dancing with the sword.

Fortunately, the uncle didn't see it.

Unexpectedly, as soon as her thoughts fell, the next breath, the old man returned to the yard.

Tan Ting saw his incompetent brother at a glance -

that incompetent brother, instead of handing him over, actually dressed in fancy clothes and ran to his yard to dance with a sword!

The man's eyes widened.

Tan Jian turned around and saw his elder brother, and his eyes widened.

Tan Jian was so frightened that he stopped.

Unfortunately, Yang Zhen didn't notice it at all. She was enjoying the sword dance and sent the sword forward according to the original movement.

Tan Jian originally wanted to avoid the sword tip she sent, but he was frightened by the sudden appearance of his elder brother in front of the door, and he actually stood there without moving.

Seeing that Yang Zhen was about to stab him, she hurriedly turned her sword to the side with a "Oh!"

But after all, it was an emergency move. Although it didn't hurt Tan Jian, it poked a big hole in the armpit of his new bright red clothes.

Tan Jian barely regained consciousness, only to find that his fine clothes had a hole in them in an instant.

All the cotton wool in the room fell out.

He looked at the tattered clothes and cotton wool dumbly, and when he looked up at his wife, her face was livid, but when he looked back, he saw his elder brother's unkind eyes again.

Tan Jian was dizzy and heard his wife's angry voice, "What are you thinking? These are the new clothes I finally made for you?!"

In the next breath, the voice of his elder brother's hatred for iron was also heard.

"You're worthless, why don't you go back!"

"Madam...brother..."

Tan Jian was so shocked that his heart trembled, and he looked at Xiang Yi for help.

"Sister-in-law..."

He looked pitiful, and Xiang Yi quickly comforted him softly, "It's okay, it's okay, go back quickly."

Tan Jian simply covered his head and ran away, and Yang Zhen followed him angrily . The land has gone.

The two enemies just ran away.

The situation of the enemy on a narrow road just now was still in front of him, Xiang Yi kept trying hard to keep the corners of his mouth tight, not wanting to laugh out loud.

But when she looked up and saw the Tan family man who had just scolded his younger brother with a straight face, his face became angry for a moment, and then he coughed lightly and couldn't help laughing.

As soon as he smiled, the little maids in the courtyard couldn't hold it in any longer, and they all covered their stomachs and started laughing.

Xiang Yi couldn't hold himself any longer now, so he smiled and rolled his eyes.

Tan Ting was angry and laughed, and muttered a few words about "useless things", then turned his head and saw his wife's face.

She lowered her head and smiled, with her snow-white teeth exposed, and a faint dimple on her face. The dimple seemed to be filled with wine, the kind of sweet and delicious wine, the kind of wine that makes people tipsy... ...

Tan Ting caught his eye immediately, and his heart beat three times.

The handkerchief fell down in her hand, and she bent down to pick it up. Her fair neck was exposed between the plush collar.

Tan Ting suddenly remembered something.

Today is probably the fifth day of the Lunar New Year...

the shop where Chen's side branches gathered in Fengling.

Chen Fuyou searched this area for many days without rest, but could not find the person he was looking for.

Only the tiger-fighting hero who came to the Tan family a few days ago was a bit suspicious.

He asked someone to ask if it matched the portrait, but it didn't look like it.

Chen Fuyou still wanted to see for himself the tiger-fighting hero that the Tan family had taken in, but after all, it was the Tan family's territory and he couldn't go there rashly.

The Piantan family didn't have any news about that person.

No news at all.

He recalled the attitude of Tan Ting, the eldest son of the Tan family, at that time. Didn't he have any intention of helping him?

He suddenly felt troubled.

Without the Qingkan Tan family's help, and even the Tan family members intentionally or unintentionally avoiding the matter, he would never have been able to find anyone.

The prince's response is coming soon.

Chen Fu became anxious and felt that no matter what, he had to find a way to get Tan Ting, the eldest son of the Tan family, to come to his side.