As soon as he saw Mrs. Liu, Master Bai quickly asked about it.
Mrs. Liu asked someone to serve him tea, and asked the kitchen to prepare some sweet soup for Mr. Bai to fill his stomach temporarily, and then said: "You may not believe me, but I think they are here for my Bai family."
Master Bai couldn't understand, and asked, "Why?"
Mrs. Liu didn't answer, but asked instead: "Lizhi, they seem to be looking for someone in the village. It should be a young man. At Zhou Jin's house, both sides reacted very well. Do you know that he has a younger brother named Zhou? silver?"
Master Bai was startled, "Are they here for Zhou Yin?"
Liu couldn't help but sat up straight and asked, "Do you know him?"
Master Bai coughed uncomfortably, turned his head and asked, "Why is Auntie suddenly interested in these things?"
Liu said: "You tell me first, and I'll tell you later."
Sensing Liu's vigilance, Master Bai didn't feel sad, but was even more shocked. Auntie didn't even believe herself because of the magnitude of this matter.
Master Bai pondered for a while before he said, "Zhou Jin has a younger brother. He was not in the village when my family moved here, but I can often hear people talking about him in the village."
But in the past six years, everyone subconsciously avoided talking about Zhou Yin, as if it was a taboo, but in fact it was.
Master Bai organized the language and said: "In the 11th year of Dade, this area suffered from severe drought. The family situation of Zhou Jin's family was not good at that time, because the population of the ancestors was small, and there were many children in their generation, so the family was very difficult. Their family is the worst affected by this disaster."
After the founding of the country, the dynasty began to divide the people and land, and it has only been divided into three generations so far.
So Zhou Jin's father only left a piece of Yongye Tian for the two brothers.
But Zhou Jin was able to give birth to six sons and a daughter. At that time, Zhou Dalang had just married, but he was not yet a child, so another person was added to the family.
A drought directly pushed their family into desperation.
Master Bai said: "I heard that Zhou Yin was brought up by Zhou Jin's daughter-in-law, Mrs. Qian. She is very filial and clever. He was only fourteen years old at the time. He sold himself to a caravan when no one was paying attention. , in exchange for a bag of food for the Zhou family."
Mrs. Liu listened silently.
"Not only that, but he was also very righteous, and he was thinking of the villagers. He didn't talk about what he did for the village before, but he said that he left with the villagers and came back with the caravan not long ago. The young and middle-aged men won a part-time job, and introduced people from several families to work as coolies in the county town. With that little food, many people survived."
"But after that, he left with the caravan and never came back," the village head said all these things about Zhou Yin like a bamboo tube pouring millet in order to ask Master Bai to help cover it up. Zhou Yin was also very impressed, and this matter has been kept in his heart, so he always remembered, "The Zhou family went to look for it later, including the caravan that passed by here, and heard that he caught a cold shortly after he left. , when he caught the epidemic, the people in the caravan left some money for him and left, and there was no news after that.”
Liu said: "It's luck that people who catch the epidemic are still alive."
"Yes, Zhou Yin was indeed still alive at that time. The first time my nephew saw him was early summer six years ago. At that time, he returned home with his wife and children. I talked to him for a while, and I felt that he was a clear and bold person. .”
It was also because of this that he invited the other party home for a drink at that time. Master Bai felt that if Zhou Yin had been alive at that time, they might have become good friends.
As for Mrs. Liu, when she heard the word "Chu Xia", she couldn't help but clenched the handle of the chair, and asked, "What happened next?"
Master Bai lowered his eyes and said, "The second meeting, they are already dead."
Master Bai paused and then said: "Zhou Jin said that his younger brother wanted to go back to live in his hometown, so he entrusted someone to send all his belongings to the county seat. At that time, he and his wife went to the county seat to pick up things, but they didn't come back that day. The villagers who went up the mountain to look for mushrooms found that they had fallen on the mountain, covered in blood and scratched on their faces, but the villagers knew the two of them very well and recognized them at a glance, so they carried them back."
"At that time, they had nothing on them, not even the donkey carts they bought, so the Zhou family believed that they had encountered robbers, and they were about to report to the county. Who knew that officers and soldiers would come to the village first to investigate."
Master Bai said: "I was the first to receive the people. At that time they were not doing well. I first saw the portrait of Zhou Yin and his wife, so I asked one more question. They said they were arresting bandits, but how could Zhou Yin be a bandit?" ?”
But Mrs. Liu asked, "Does their family have a donkey cart?"
Master Bai was taken aback, and nodded in confusion, "Yes, Zhou Yin brought it back. He took his wife and children back to his hometown, and he couldn't walk back, so he bought a donkey cart. What's the matter?"
Mrs. Liu shook her head slowly, "And then?"
Master Bai was a little embarrassed. He had just lived in Qili Village for just over a year. Although the villagers were very enthusiastic, he always felt out of place given his status.
For the sake of Zhou Yin, and also to improve the relationship between the two parties, he held up the official messenger at that time and sent someone to inform Zhou Jin's family first.
Then when the officials went to check again, almost everyone insisted that they didn't know the two people in the portrait.
Master Bai said: "Almost everyone in the village has the surname Zhou. Even if they don't come from an ancestor, they are all related to each other. Moreover, everyone in the village has received the favor of Zhou Yin. And these official posts are not from Luojiang County. It's easy to pass them."
"But just like that, Zhou Jin's family didn't dare to erect a monument for Zhou Yin and his wife, so they were buried quietly on the mountain."
Mrs. Liu seemed a little uncomfortable, and leaned her elbow on the table and asked, "What about their children? Don't they say they are wives and children?"
Master Bai paused for a moment, then said softly, "My aunt has seen that man too."
A bright light flashed through his mind, and Liu asked, "Yes, Zhou Man?"
"Yes, it was the child, but she didn't know it."
Mrs. Liu nodded, tears could no longer be held back, and began to fall in a rustle.
Master Bai was taken aback, and hurried forward, handing her the handkerchief, "Auntie, what are you..."
Liu wiped away her tears and said softly, "Maybe it's fate."
Master Bai: ...
"Qier didn't die at the hands of bandits."
Master Bai was taken aback, and quickly asked, "Why?"
"Why not?" Liu said a little excitedly: "Qi'er just wanted to suppress bandits, so she shouldn't have come to Luojiang County. Shu County is not close to Luojiang County."
"Didn't Ziqi die while suppressing bandits in Shu County?"
"No," Liu said with certainty, "They transported Qi'er's body to Shu County as a disguise."