Xie Nanjia tossed and turned all night and got up at dawn the next day.
Xiu'er's mother said, "The crops are all flooded now, and there is no work to do in the fields. You don't have to get up so early. Sleep a little longer."
"I can't sleep." Xie Nanjia said, "I want to see who the Marquis' Mansion will send to help us repair the house."
"This child knows how to worry." Xiu'er's mother said with a smile, "It's useless for you to worry. The Marquis's Mansion is more than 300 miles away from the manor. It will take a day even if you gallop. Now the road is not easy to travel, and it's uncertain when you will arrive!"
"Is that so?" Xie Nanjia indeed neglected the distance because of his haste, so he nodded and said, "Then I'll go out for a walk."
"There's water everywhere, and it's muddy and hard to walk. What's the point of walking?" Although Xiu'er's mother said this, she didn't stop her. "Don't walk too far. Breakfast will be ready soon."
Xie Nanjia agreed and went out alone.
The village, which had been ravaged by heavy rain, was in ruins everywhere, like a deserted city in the wind and rain, full of lifelessness.
Only the lotus pond surrounding Zhuangzi remained safe and sound, with the emerald green lotus leaves swaying in the wind.
Seeing the lotus pond, Xie Nanjia suddenly thought, could this manor be the Hongou Manor that the people in the Marquis' Mansion often talked about
There are countless farms in Dingyuanhou Mansion, but not all of them have elegant names. The reason why Hongou Manor has this name is because Dingyuanhou's mother loves lotus and likes to eat delicious food made from lotus roots. In order to please his mother, Dingyuanhou specially dug a hundred-acre pond here and found the best lotus root grower from Jiangnan to grow lotus roots.
When the current emperor heard about this, he praised his filial piety and personally named the manor and inscribed it as a reward.
Xie Nanjia walked along the muddy road for a while and saw the stone tablet of "Hongou Manor" at the intersection.
She couldn't describe the feeling in her heart. She stared at the words in a daze for a long time, then turned around and walked back.
Although she wanted to cry, she would not cry anymore. Her father, General Wu'an, who had fought in the military for half his life and made great achievements, once taught her that in this world, fists are far more useful than tears. If you are bullied, just fight back hard. Shedding tears is a cowardly act.
After breakfast, Xiu'er's mother was busy looking for things under the collapsed wall. She took out anything useful and washed and hung it out to dry.
Xie Nanjia wanted to help, but Xiu'er's mother said that her injury had not healed yet and asked her to go back to bed.
Xie Nanjia didn't want to sleep, so she moved a chair and sat in the yard to watch her work.
Xiu'er looked to be about 40 years old, with a slim figure, fair skin and delicate features. Even though wrinkles appeared at the corners of her eyes, it could not conceal her charming demeanor.
Xie Nanjia suddenly wanted to look in the mirror to see what she looked like now.
The family was so poor that they didn't even have a mirror, so Xie Nanjia fetched a basin of water to look at herself. In the water, the girl had hair as black as ink, eyebrows like distant mountains, a pair of phoenix eyes as bright as autumn waves, and lips as delicate as the tip of a peach with a touch of rouge.
She is really pretty, but too thin. Her small face is not even as big as a palm, which makes her chin look even more pointed and her neck look even longer. She is a natural beauty.
But she doesn't look like Xiu'er's mother at all.
"Mom, why don't I look like you?" she asked Xiu'er's mother who was still busy over there.
"No, you look like your father." said Xiu'er's mother.
Xie Nanjia wanted to ask how his father died, but he was afraid that Xiu'er's mother would become suspicious again, so he changed the subject.
At noon, Xiu'er's mother made a pot of wild vegetable porridge, and Xie Nanjia reluctantly ate a bowl.
Seeing that she had no appetite, Xiu'er's mother thought she was not feeling well and urged her to go to bed and rest.
Xie Nanjia couldn't sleep, as she was worried about the visitor from the Marquis' Mansion. However, she didn't see anyone show up after worrying about it for the whole day.
Xiu'er's mother said that the journey was delayed because the road was too muddy.
I waited all morning the next day, but still no one came.
Xie Nanjia had wild vegetable porridge for lunch. She ate half a bowl listlessly. Just as she put down her chopsticks, she heard someone outside shouting, "People from the Hou Mansion are here."
Xie Nanjia stood up suddenly, knocking over the dishes and chopsticks. Xiu'er's mother quickly reached out to hold her back and said angrily, "Girl, why are you always so startled?"
Xie Nanjia calmed down and said, "I heard outside that someone from the Marquis' Mansion has arrived. Let's go check it out!"
Xiu'er's mother was also thinking about repairing the house, so she took off her apron and went out with Xie Nanjia to check it out.
There is a residence built specifically for the master in the manor. It is a large courtyard with three entrances and three exits. There is a special person to clean it daily. People in the village are accustomed to calling it a mansion.
When Xie Nanjia arrived, Hu Sanmu had already welcomed people into the main house. The villagers who came after hearing the news were stopped five steps away by a row of majestic guards.
There were too many people, and Xie Nanjia couldn't even see the situation in the courtyard even if he stood on tiptoe, let alone see the person who came. Just as he was getting anxious, he heard some villagers talking nearby, saying that the person who came was the second son of the Marquis's Mansion.
Second Young Master
Is it the illegitimate son Zhao Jingyu from the west wing
(End of this chapter)