The second letter came later.

Looking at it, Xiang Yi was startled.

Xiang Yu's Qingzhou Academy is in Weiping Mansion. He got news that the Chaoyun River embankment had cracked. Tan Ting went to Weiping Mansion on his way back and discussed with the local magistrate and gentry of aristocratic families about fixing the embankment.

Xiang Yu was not interested in Tan Ting's affairs at all and wrote to her asking how she was doing.

"Why don't the eldest sister go home for a while? The eldest sister has worked hard for his Tan family for three years, why doesn't he allow the eldest sister to return to her parents' home?"

After Xiang Yi saw this, a helpless smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

The younger brother is afraid that Tan Ting will have a bad life if she comes back...

Xiang Yi feels a little sour and a little warm in her heart.

She did not rush to reply, but read the letter from beginning to end again, and couldn't help but think of Tan Ting's attitude when he returned home.

He must have felt that the sewage from the Xiang family had been splashed on him, making him, the eldest son of a noble family, covered in dust...

Xiang Yi was silent.

Qiao Yun, who was embroidering Xiang Yi's handkerchief on the side, suddenly thought of something and said something.

"Anyway, the uncle has spoken and asked Madam to go to the warehouse to pick some leather. If Madam doesn't like it, just go and pick out ten or eight pieces and wrap them from head to toe. On weekdays, Madam takes care of the warehouse neatly, and everything is done. I remember clearly in the accounts that nothing was touched. Now it’s time for Madam to go in and make a selection..."

She muttered unhappily.

Xiang Yi couldn't help but feel funny after hearing this.

The incident in the Weiping Mansion has made her husband very disgusted. If she touches the things in the Tan family's warehouse again, he will only think that everyone in the Xiang family is equally greedy and excessive.

It doesn't matter to her, whatever he thinks.

But the Xiang family should not bear such a stigma.

Xiang Yi said no, and Qiao Yun was not allowed to mention the matter again. Then he dug out an old notebook at the bottom of the box, clicked on the contents of the notebook, and wrote back a letter to Xiang Yu.

At the end of the letter, she reminded Xiang Yu.

"If my brother sees Uncle Tan, don't say too much, let alone argue with him. Just do what we should do."

"Remember, remember."

Weiping Mansion.

The plan to reinforce the frozen embankment has not been finalized, and Tan Ting has stayed here for two days.

Liao Qiu, the prefect, looked at the river embankment reinforcement plan drawn by Tan Ting and wondered.

"Master Tan, it's not that I don't want to use this method, but it's because I have to ask someone to measure it. How can I measure it in the cold weather? It takes a lot of time."

He looked at Tan Ting carefully, "Why don't we just follow the stupid method? The method is to build two more layers on the outside, which is safe and simple."

Mr. Qiu, the patriarch of the Qiu family, was standing by, stroking his beard and nodding.

Seeing this situation, Tan Ting put down his pen and smiled lightly.

It seemed that Magistrate Liao and Mr. Qiu neither wanted money nor trouble. They just wanted him to pay the money for them and solve the problem in a stupid way.

Tan Ting stopped talking, picked up the tea cup and sat aside.

Magistrate Liao and Master Qiu looked at each other.

Mr. Qiu's eyes signaled Magistrate Liao not to push too hard. If the Tan family stopped paying and became unhappy, there would be trouble.

Magistrate Liao also felt guilty and hurriedly signaled to the Yamen servant to refill Tan Ting's tea.

"Master Tan has worked hard for a long time. Let's take a rest first."

Tan Ting held up the tea leaves in the bowl without saying anything.

The two of them made excuses and went out. Only Tan Ting and his staff Qin Jiao were left in the hall.

Qin Jiao said, "This Magistrate Liao just wants to save trouble..."

He said, his voice lowered, "In the final analysis, it was the Xiang family that brought the uncle into trouble..."

This Xiang family, He didn't make it clear whether it was the Xiang family or Xiang Yi.

But no matter who it was, they all dragged the Tan family into this pool of sewage.

Qin Jiao said that he did not forget to look at Tan Ting's expression, but unfortunately he could not see anything. He only saw the uncle getting up and going to the sixth room of the prefect's Yamen.

He quickly followed.

"Sir, are you going to the workshop?"

The prefect's Yamen imitated the six ministries of the imperial court and had six offices, among which the workshop was responsible for bridges, rivers and other related matters.

Tan Ting strode forward.

"The river was built during the Xiang family's tenure. I remembered that the imperial court had issued a decree at that time, and the construction fortifications must be recorded in detail. The workshop should be able to check the number at the time of construction."

If the detailed number can be found, there is no need to send someone to measure it. .

But as soon as Tan Ting arrived in front of the workshop, Magistrate Liao and Master Qiu rushed over.

"Master Tan, do you want to check the booklet for building the river channel?"

Before Tan Ting could nod, Magistrate Liao immediately said, "There was a fire in the workshop, and the booklet for the construction of the river channel was gone."

Mr. Qiu also said, "It has been gone for a long time . Checked it. "

What a coincidence? Tan Ting frowned and glanced at the two of them.

Magistrate Liao persuaded him with an apologetic smile, "Look, if we use the old fool's method, it will cost more, but the construction can start tomorrow."

Tan Ting glanced at him silently.

It seems that Governor Liao still doesn't know that the new method he came up with this time is a modification of the general law just set by the Ministry of Industry this year. It not only saves costs, but also has better embankment consolidation effect.

The dam is not an ordinary project. Once it collapses, it will affect the grain fields and people in hundreds of miles, and no reduction can be made.

He stopped talking and stood on the porch with his hands behind his hands.

From time to time there are snowflakes falling from the sky, and the snow under the eaves condenses into ice cones, hanging transparently.

There are no old records to check, and in the current ice and snow, it is really impossible to send people to measure, and the prefect Liao Qiu is just trying to save trouble.

Tan Ting's brows were completely depressed.

At this moment, a government official suddenly ran over with a letter.

"My lords, someone sent this over, saying it is for the purpose of solidifying the embankment."

As soon as these words came out, everyone was surprised.

When I opened the letter and looked at it, I saw on the first page a drawing for embankment reinforcement, and the embankment reinforcement method used in the picture was exactly the plan proposed by Tan Ting.

On the second page, the expressions of everyone present changed.

On the second page, the measurements of the embankments along the river in that area are given in detail.

Finally, use this number to deal with the plan in the picture, and the problem of embankment reinforcement can be solved immediately.

Magistrate Liao was surprised, and Master Qiu looked strange.

Only Tan Ting's face softened a lot and he asked the yamen officer, "Who sent this letter?"

The yamen officer said that he didn't know him and only said that he was a young man wearing a blue robe with a bamboo hairpin in his bun. He was fifteen or sixteen years old. Up and down, delivered the letter and left.

Tan Ting didn't know who it was, but with the number in the letter, the matter became clear.

Magistrate Liao still hesitated and asked, "Can this number be taken seriously?"

Tan Ting directly asked someone to verify it, "You only need to verify a few things to know whether it is true."

Such verification is very fast, and it takes only an hour. There was a reply.

The numbers on the letter are indeed correct. Not only that, it will cost less to improve according to the method shown in the diagram.

In this way, the government can pay the required expenses itself.

Magistrate Liao was embarrassed. Seeing this, Mr. Qiu found an excuse and went back home.

Tan Ting didn't say much more. He set a construction period with Magistrate Liao and directly presented him with silver.

"The river embankment is a major matter that affects the people. Tan will do his best to do this, and I will ask Magistrate Liao to take more care of the rest."

Magistrate Liao was so embarrassed that he didn't know where to put his hands and feet.

He was afraid that something would happen and didn't want to spend a lot of money, so he wanted to blame the whole thing on the Tan family. Unexpectedly, the eldest son of the Tan family was knowledgeable and came up with a better plan to settle the matter without spending much money. .

On the other hand, he, the prefect, couldn't handle such a trivial matter, he was absolutely incompetent.

Magistrate Liao's face felt hot.

I wanted to make up for it, but when I looked up, I saw that the eldest son of the Tan family had left the Yamen and left.

...

Tan Ting and his entourage left the Weiping Prefecture and passed through Qingzhou County to return to the Tan family in Qingkan, Ningnan Prefecture.

But it has snowed continuously for the past two days, and the way here has been blocked.

They stopped in a nearby town to ask for directions, and saw some people dressed as students drinking tea and chatting in a tea shed.

As soon as they dismounted, a young man turned his head and looked over.

Tan Ting suddenly felt that this person looked familiar, but he also noticed the person's dress.

The young man was wearing a blue robe that had been washed white and had a bamboo hairpin in his hair. He was slim and neat, and he looked like he was fifteen or sixteen years old.

He couldn't help but step forward.

"Has this little brother ever gone to Weiping Mansion Office to deliver a letter before?"

The young man held a cup of tea and listened to Tan Ting's question. He chuckled for some reason, and then nodded casually.

In the eyes of others, this attitude seems somewhat arrogant.

But Tan Ting read his letter explaining the Gudi matter and was not angry. He just asked him.

"I don't know who my little brother is, and why do you know about the river embankment?"

He asked like this. Unexpectedly, the young man laughed out loud, then raised his head and drank the tea in the cup, and then turned his head to look seriously. Tan Ting glanced at it and spoke.

"So that Mr. Tan can know, my surname is Xiang, and my name has the character Yu. The number of river embankments comes from my father's handwritten notes."

Xiang Yu.

Tan Ting froze in place in surprise.

The young man in front of him was actually his brother-in-law.

Only then did he look at Xiang Yu carefully.

He vaguely remembered that three years ago, when Xiang Yu came to the Tan family to get married, he was still a short-sighted child, but now he was as tall as his eye level.

The young man's handsome face does look like that of the Xiang family, but compared to his wife at home, Xiang Yu's eyes are colder and sharper.

He didn't even recognize such a close relationship...

Tan Ting paused uncomfortably.

"Brother Yu, why are you here?"

The Xiang family's hometown is not here. Tan Ting guessed that Xiang Yi moved his younger siblings to live with the Tan family in order to facilitate the care of his younger siblings.

It's just that he just came back and didn't know about it.

So he called Xiang Yu, "It's getting late today. You can come home with me first."

When he finished speaking, Xiang Yu almost laughed.

Master Tan really doesn't know anything about their Xiang family's affairs.

I'm afraid, he doesn't want to know either.

"Returning to Mr. Tan, Xiang does not live in your Tan family, so Mr. Tan doesn't need to worry about it."

After Xiang Yu finished speaking, he didn't want to look at this "brother-in-law" anymore. He was worried that he would not be able to resist disobeying his sister. The advice in the letter started to argue with the person in front of me.

"Farewell."

He held back his temper, bowed his hands in a scrawled salute, turned around and walked out of the tea shed, got on his horse and left.

In the blink of an eye, Xiang Yu's figure disappeared from Tan Ting's sight, as if he was afraid that if he stayed for a moment longer, he would be mistakenly linked to the Tan family.

Tantington in front of the tea shed.

Qin Jiao said in disbelief, "Why is this young master of the Xiang family so rude? How could he be so rude when meeting you? Do you know etiquette?" After

he said this, the students drinking tea beside him sneered.

"You can't blame me, right? As a brother-in-law, don't you know your brother-in-law?"

After hearing this, Qin Jiao wanted to argue with these students, but Tan Ting raised his hand to stop him.

"It's my fault, don't say it anymore."

It was getting late, and Tan Ting asked Zhengji to ask for the way back.

None of the students in the group were willing to tell him, so he had no choice but to ask the shopkeeper for directions.

It was windy and snowy on the road, and it was pitch black when we got home.

Tan Ting returned to the main courtyard. When he entered the door, he saw his wife standing in the courtyard.

The lantern swayed in the corridor, reflecting a dim light.

She stood with her back to him and was letting the boys take down the branches that had been blown by the wind from the tree to prevent them from accidentally falling and hurting others.

She didn't notice his arrival until Tan Ting came up behind her.

A little maid suddenly discovered him.

Then she turned around in surprise.

Just the moment she saw him, she subconsciously took two steps back to distance herself from him.

Tan Ting was slightly startled when he heard her slightly distant voice.

"The uncle is back."