The people in the yard were forced to stop talking. Yu Jinyue scratched his head and shouted outside, “Who is it?”

“It’s me, Uncle Ye.” Ye Chongshan, who was knocking on the door, put down his hand and was relieved when he heard Yu Jinyue answering and opening the door. He glanced at the middle-aged man in casual clothes standing beside him and whispered to the person beside him: “Sir, this is Yu Jinhuai’s home. The one who answered just now was his cousin.”

“Mm.” The middle-aged man responded in a low voice with his hands in his pockets.

At noon today, Ye Chongshan was free and prepared to go to Daqing Mountain for a walk. In winter, wild boars and wolves in the deep mountains will run down the mountain if they can’t find food, attack the villagers’ poultry, and destroy the fields that farmers rely on for their livelihood. Therefore, he will walk around the foot of the mountain every winter. Although they rarely run out of the deep mountains, it is better to prevent them before they happen.

In the winter six years ago, the Liu family, who lived at the end of the village near Daqing Mountain, was ravaged by wild wolves, leaving only a half-grown boy. At that time, most of the able-bodied men in the village were conscripted to the battlefield. He ran to the county government overnight and called the people from the government office to drive away the wild wolves. In order to scare them, the people from the government office went to Daqing Mountain early the next morning. It is said that more than a dozen wolves were killed. They almost killed a pack of wolves to scare them.

Since then, he would walk around at the foot of Daqing Mountain every winter to prevent any accidents.

But today, when he went out, he saw the county magistrate and his men appear at the door of his house. When he asked, he found out that they were looking for Yu Jinhuai. The county magistrate did not say what the specific matter was, and he could not speculate too much. He could only lead people to the Yu family house, then the current scene appeared. They stood together at the front door of Yu’s house, waiting for the owner to open the door.

 Yu Jinyue opened the door from the inside and asked Ye Chongshan, “Uncle Ye, why are you here? What’s the matter?”

Ye Chongshan, who was standing outside the door, responded unhappily, “Hurry up and open the door, stop talking nonsense.”

Yu Jinyue couldn’t help but mutter a few words and opened the door. The silly smile on his face gradually subsided when he saw the strange man next to him. He took a curious look and saw that the clothes on his body did not look like the clothes of farmers, and his temperament was incompatible with their Cangnan Village. He also saw that there were followers behind him, and he was stunned for a moment.

 This guy seems to be someone important, but he didn’t know what he was doing at his second cousin brother’s house?

Ye Chongshan looked at him stupidly. He raised his hand, knocked on his forehead, and said with a stern face: “Why don’t you let the guests in quickly? Why are you blocking the door?”

The other people sitting in the yard heard their conversation and heard that there were guests?

Yu Jinhuai said: “Xiao Yue, please let them in.”

After being reminded by his second cousin brother and the village chief, Yu Jinyue hurriedly opened the door and motioned them to come in.

 Ye Chongshan gestured to the county magistrate to go first, and he walked behind. When he passed by Yu Jinyue, he glared at him and tapped his forehead with a look of disappointment, “Pay attention.”

Seeing that everyone had gone in, he was still stupidly leaning against the door, which made Ye Chongshan angry. He strode over and pulled him to close the door himself, shook his sleeves heavily, and said helplessly: “Catch up.”

“Oh, I’m coming.” Yu Jinyue came back to his senses and quickly followed him. When they walked into the yard, they happened to see Yu Jinhuai and Meng Yunshu leading people to the main room. The small table still had the dishes and chopsticks they had just eaten with and had not had time to clean up. They must not let the distinguished guests sit here and talk.

The door curtain of the main room was rolled up by the county magistrate’s entourage and placed aside. The county magistrate also sat in the main seat. Below him sat the village chief on one side and his second cousin brother on the other.

 Meng Yunshu came out of the main room and stood aside. After making sure that his position would not be seen by the people in the main room, he waved towards Yu Jinyue and called him softly.

Seeing him calling him, Yu Jinyue hurriedly ran to him and asked with a smile: “What’s wrong brother-in-law?”

Meng Yunshu said: “Please clean up the dishes first. I’ll do it with you after I make tea.”

“Okay.”

Meng Yunshu was about to go to the kitchen. He caught a glimpse of Yu Jinlan and Yu Zhining sitting at the small table and looking at them. He couldn’t help but chuckle. There were strangers in the house that dressed differently from them, followed by servants, and some of them carried swords. At their age, they were curious and wanted to find out.

Yu Jinhuai had scolded the two big dogs to go to the backyard when they came in. In addition, they were all staying in the main room. Not to mention that Yu Jinhuai, Daqing and Dahei were around, so basically nothing would happen.

 Farmers don’t have good tea at home. Most of them are wild tea picked from the mountains or dried wild flowers and bamboo leaves. A bowl of sugar water is the best thing a farmer can offer when guests come.

Since three years ago, the Yu family has not often had visitors, so the family did not prepare tea, only the wild honey brought back from the mountains by Yu Jinhuai.

Meng Yunshu took out a few bowls from the cupboard and rinsed them with warm water. Then he dug out a spoonful of solidified honey from the honey jar. He held the jar and looked inside. There was only a shallow layer of honey left. He could already see the bottom of the jar at the place where he dug just now.

The weather was dry and cold in winter, and he had to drink a bowl of hot water from time to time, so Meng Yunshu specially warmed the water in an idle pot every day. There were sparks left at the bottom of the pot when cooking, and it was always warm when he drank it.

 He lifted the lid of the pot and scooped a ladle of water to make honey water. Yu Jinyue also cleaned up the dishes in the yard and brought them in. Hearing his footsteps, Meng Yunshu turned around and asked, “Xiao Yue, do you want to drink honey water?”

Yu Jinyue, like Yu Jinhuai, doesn’t like sweet things. He sat in front of the sink and washed the dishes while answering, “Brother, I don’t drink it.”

“Little uncle, I’ll drink it, I’ll drink it.” Yu Zhining ran in and hugged Meng Yunshu’s leg. He looked up with a pair of big eyes looking at him expectantly. He pouted his little mouth slightly, and looked like a spoiled child.

“Okay.” Meng Yunshu used one hand to pinch his nose, “I’ll make a bowl for Ah Ning and Xiao Lan.”

After seeing Meng Yunshu’s nod, he ran out happily with a cheerful smile on his face. Meng Yunshu held the honey water, and could hear him talking happily to Yu Jinlan from a distance with a smile on his face.

——

In the main hall, after watching Meng Yunshu leave, Yu Jinhuai looked at the county magistrate sitting in the main seat. He had been to the county government office before, but he had almost never met the county magistrate. However, he had met the legal advisor standing next to the county magistrate once or twice. From the respectful attitude of the legal advisor towards him, it was not difficult for Yu Jinhuai to judge his identity.

When he ran into the county magistrate’s teasing eyes, Yu Jinhuai pretended to be calm, saluted him, and said, “Sir.”

The county magistrate’s eyes flashed. He didn’t say much but from the smile on his lips, it was not difficult to see that he was happy after being recognized. Whether it was Yu Jinhuai or the scholar Yu Jinjiang of that year, he was surprised. The sensitivity of these two people can be called superior.

“Yu Jinhuai, Yu Jinjiang’s younger brother.” The county magistrate stroked his beard and looked at him straight.

 Yu Jinhuai didn’t understand why he mentioned his brother, but he still said, “I am Yu Jinhuai.”

After a while, he asked bluntly, “What is the matter, sir?”

The village chief Ye Chongshan sat beside him, listening more attentively than anyone else.

He got straight to the point, and the county magistrate couldn’t hide it. He coughed lightly, and the master behind him handed him a booklet at the right time. The county magistrate took it and handed it to him, saying calmly, “For your brother’s reputation as a scholar.”

Yu Jinhuai frowned slightly. He took it with doubts, and opened it at the signal of the county magistrate’s eyes. This was Yu Jinjiang’s  booklet that he had handed to the county government before, proving that he was a scholar. In simple terms, it was a piece of paper.

Meng Yunshu came in with honey water, and saw Yu Jinhuai holding a small booklet in his hand. He took the excuse of delivering water and quickly glanced at it. He put down the water one by one, and then left.

 “You went to the county government office before for the land under Yu Jinjiang’s name. The court stipulated that the land under the name of a scholar with 20 mu of land could be exempted from land tax. This grace should have been taken back after Yu Jinjiang’s death.” The county magistrate paused, licked his lips, looked down and saw a bowl of water. His brows slightly frowned and then relaxed quickly. After all, he was in the village and few people prepared tea at home.

Ye Chongshan, who was always paying attention to him, felt a little guilty when he saw this. He should have brought his own tea when he came. Now, he made the county magistrate unhappy.

The county magistrate sighed silently in his heart. After walking for so long and not saying much, he was thirsty. He stared at the water in the bowl and had to pick it up to drink. After drinking it, he realized that it was not water but honey water. The unhappiness in his heart disappeared as honey was also precious.

 Then he said, “Do you have a noble person helping you? He said that you can enjoy the grace of the court for a few more years.”

“Noble person?” Yu Jinhuai had a bad guess when he heard this. He lowered his eyes and looked at the booklet belonging to his brother in his hand, and his fingers slowly tightened.

“Yes, a noble person.” The county magistrate smiled happily and said, “Just lend your brother’s title of scholar to him, and the Yu family can enjoy the policy of exempting land tax for generations. How about it?”

Ye Chongshan’s eyes widened when he heard it. He looked at the county magistrate sitting in the upper seat in shock. He was so angry that he almost jumped up and pointed at him and cursed. He was the county magistrate of Hua’an County. How could he easily say that he would give someone else’s fame to another person?

 It was not easy for a peasant family to raise a scholar, but in the end, this scholar could only get a little bit of favor. A few words were worth more than ten years of relentless studying by Yu Jinjiang?

Hearing the voice, Yu Jinhuai glanced at him and laughed mockingly. The scar on his forehead added some hostility to him. Look, how harsh it was.

 Is this a favor? Is it a reward? His brother’s hard-earned reputation and his parents’ frugality are all for the sake of helping others?

Yu Jinyue’s eyes were full of sarcasm. He said disdainfully, “How about giving you this noble position? Your position as a county magistrate must be more valuable than the reputation of a mere scholar.”

After hearing this, the county magistrate was provoked by a commoner in front of his subordinates. Where would he put his face as a county magistrate? He slapped the table angrily, and swept the bowl on the table to the ground. He stood up, pointed at Yu Jinhuai, and said calmly, “I’ll give you three days. If you don’t agree, the Yu family doesn’t need to exist.”

He put down his words and saw Yu Jinhuai lowering his head and pinching the book in his hand. The blue veins on his neck were clearly visible, and his back was straight. It can be seen that he was extremely angry.

 The county magistrate left in a swagger, leaving behind a sentence; “Think about it carefully, I will send someone to ask.”

Meng Yunshu, who was in the kitchen, had already heard something was wrong, and hurried out to bring the two children in. He looked at the main hall worriedly, feeling extremely anxious.