When talking about this topic, Old Sun and his wife looked at each other, both a little scared and alert, and stopped talking.
Granny Sun sighed and shook her head: "Alas, what's the point of asking these questions? This is fate. Our family has been unlucky for so many years. As long as we can still make ends meet, we two old people... can barely raise the child, and that will be considered as doing justice to my son and daughter-in-law."
Granny Sun looked at the child holding the hen with a sad face, tears welling up in her eyes. She quickly wiped her tears with her sleeves, forced a smile and urged everyone to drink water, then wiped her hands on her apron and said, "I really want to thank you all for what happened today. We are a poor family and don't have anything to treat you. Please stay for dinner today!"
The hierarchy among the natives is much stricter than that among the wealthy families of the Han people. This can be seen from the Mu Mansion. It is obvious that the concept is deeply rooted in Sun Laozhang's family as well.
Otherwise, Councillor Yang embezzled the compensation money, which was already a way of leaving no one a way out. However, when Mr. Sun and the others brought it up, although he was not without resentment, he still suppressed it forcibly and intended to keep the matter peacefully, which showed clearly.
Originally, he didn't plan to stay any longer, but Xiao Heng and Cui Daru whispered a few words to each other, and then Xiao Heng smiled and said to Grandma Sun: "Then I'll trouble you, Grandma."
Granny Sun waved her hands and said, "There's nothing good in this remote area. It's just plain food. I hope you don't mind it."
Naturally, everyone said no, so Granny Sun and Grandpa Sun went into the kitchen to cook.
Liao Jingxu had been holding back for a long time, so he took this opportunity to lower his voice and ask Xiao Heng, "Your Highness, you just asked about the residences of those officers... Do you have any plans?"
Senator Yang is greedy, and this behavior is obviously not just the first or second time, but has long become a habit. The scary thing is that this cannot be done by Senator Yang alone, he must have colluded with other native nobles, otherwise the news would have leaked out long ago.
Is Xiao Heng planning to take down the whole thing
Xiao Heng glanced at Liao Jingxu and said, "Lord Liao has also seen that the natives have suffered greatly. The court has shown mercy, but has it ever really benefited the natives? Therefore, the court's mercy has only fattened up stupid and vicious people like Yang! This is also the root cause of the chaos in Yunnan. In the future, we don't need these middlemen. They have been drinking blood and eating flesh until now, and it's time to pay back!"
These two short sentences were very to the point and explained the whole reason. Even Liao Jingxu could not say anything else to object, so he nodded.
Cui Daru whispered again about the surrounding villages: "If all the villages like Sun Laozhang's can unite, then among so many people, some will know something about the garrison. Besides, their sons and brothers may serve as soldiers in the garrison..."
A single spark can start a prairie fire!
However, it is obvious that Mr. Sun and his companions are very afraid of Senator Yang and his companions. How to get them to put aside their concerns is also a difficult problem.
Everyone discussed for a while, and before they knew it, it was already late. Old Man Sun came out, wiping the sweat off his face, and warmly invited Xiao Heng and the others to come in for dinner.
There was a tattered eight-person table in the room, with a piece of wood under the table legs. There were only three stools, not that many. Old Sun was very embarrassed and kept saying, "My family is poor, and I am really sorry for letting you all suffer..."
He was really embarrassed and very awkward.
Everyone felt uncomfortable watching this, even Liao Jingxu did not show any disdain at all, he just shook his head in shame and said, "Father-in-law, please stop saying that, this is already good enough."
Everyone gathered together and saw that there were already two dishes on the table. One was stir-fried mushrooms, a specialty of the mountains in Yunnan, and the other was stir-fried bacon with green garlic. They knew that this must be the bacon from the Chinese New Year. Xiao Heng sighed in his heart, suppressed his reluctance, and said to Mr. Sun with a smile, "It's really rich. I feel hungry just looking at it."
Mr. Sun was originally very uneasy, but when he heard him say that, he hurriedly said, "Eat quickly, eat quickly!"
Xiao Heng tasted a bite of the mushroom and his eyes lit up: "Delicious!"
Everyone started praising him.
As she was speaking, Grandma Sun carefully brought up an iron pot, placed it on the table with the help of Grandpa Sun, and reached out to lift the lid of the pot.
A rich and fresh fragrance immediately spread out, and inside was a yellow soup with Cordyceps floating in it.
Xiao Heng's expression changed.
The others were silent for a moment.
The chicken in the pot was obviously the chicken the child was holding just now.
The children themselves know that this chicken is the egg-laying chicken in the family and cannot be killed.
But in order to entertain them, Mr. Sun still killed his wife.
Even Liao Jingxu, who had been an official for a long time, couldn't help but feel sad at this moment: "Father, why did you kill the chicken?"
Mr. Sun touched the back of his head in a simple and honest manner: "I don't have anything to offer you, but I am good at making soup! My benefactors, please drink some soup quickly, it's delicious!"
Cui Daru sighed in his heart, but still reached out to get a bowl of soup, and praised with a smile: "It's delicious! Delicious!"
Xiao Heng silently found an excuse to go out and took a walk outside. He saw a child squatting on the ground under the old peach tree outside the fence. He couldn't help but walk over, squat down, and gently touch the child's head.
The child sobbed and looked at Xiao Heng in a baby voice: "Big brother, it's not that I don't want to give up the chicken. You are good people who saved me. It's my duty to kill the chicken for you to eat."
Is this why he quietly ran outside to see the mess? Xiao Heng felt very uncomfortable, his throat was sore, and he asked him after a while: "Do you miss Dad?"
The child fiddled with the chicken feathers on the ground helplessly, tears falling on the back of his hands. He responded softly, "I think so."
Xiao Heng fell silent, and buried the chicken feathers in the soil with him. He said softly, "I'm sorry, I will buy you a lot of chickens in a few days." He then asked him what his name was.
"My name is Taodan." Taodan pouted, wanting to cry but holding back, and shook her head firmly: "No, you saved me. If we can't entertain you, grandpa and grandma will be very sad."
Such a young child spoke so maturely and sensibly. Xiao Heng stared into his eyes and asked, "Why don't you cry?"
He was clearly so sad, even looking at his back I could feel he was sad.
Taodan pursed her lips, her bright eyes drooped, then she opened them again and looked at Xiao Heng seriously, and suddenly said, "I'm holding it in."
I wanted to cry, but I held it back.
At that moment, Xiao Heng's feelings were indescribable.