After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 569 Arrangement
On this day, Haijiao returned home later than usual.

After he came back, he went to Jin Jiashu's house first, and did not come back until Ma sent someone to urge him to go home for dinner. Ma thought he went to the city's military training ground to practice riding and archery after school, and did not ask much. She urged him to eat quickly and take a bath after dinner, so as not to be sweaty all day and make everyone in the main courtyard cover their noses.

Haijiao chatted and laughed with his grandmother, ate his meal in a hurry, asked someone to bring a basin of hot water to wipe his body, changed into clean clothes, and that was all.

Of course, he would not waste time taking a bath. When the weather gets cold, taking a bath is too troublesome. It takes a long time to boil the bath water. It is not worth it. As for the problem of sweat odor, it will disappear after wiping the body and changing clothes. Besides, it is normal for people who practice martial arts to have a little body odor. He has grown up, and in two years he will be a real man!

It was getting late, so he hurried to the west wing study and did the new homework assigned by his cousin, Xie Wenzai. As for the homework assigned by the teachers of Weixue, he had already finished it, so there was no need to worry.

But before he started writing, he had to tell his younger sister Haitang the intelligence he got today: "Xiao Jin sent Zhou Xiaojian to find Captain Huang, asking Captain Huang to ask the head of the women's prison to persuade Aunt Jin. Zhou Xiaojian also gave Aunt Jin another sum of money. I guess when Aunt Jin returns home with the coffin, if she gives her a few more taels of silver, the matter will be almost resolved."

Haitang blinked: "Aunt Jin is planning to return home with the coffin?"

Haijiao nodded: "Although she is always worried about not having money and hopes that Xiaojin can help her, she actually doesn't want to stay in Chang'an. She wants to go back to her hometown in Zunhua Prefecture."

It is easy to understand why Aunt Jin had such thoughts. She had no need to leave her hometown, she just left with her mother and brothers to follow Mr. Jin. She left to avoid disasters, and now there seemed to be no disasters, so why not go back to her hometown?

What does she have in Chang'an? Now she has an old mother in prison. When her mother dies, her brothers and nephews will be exiled or flee. She has no relatives here and is homeless. The only cousin who has money regards her family as an enemy. Even if Jin Jiashu is soft-hearted and is willing to support her all the time, she will still live a much worse life than when she was in her hometown. There are houses and land in her hometown. Even if the second branch of the Jin family is ruined now, she still has a younger sister to go to. She can always find a place to stay. They have to live a hard and difficult life, so it must be more comfortable in her hometown than in a foreign land. At least she is more familiar with Zunhua Prefecture!

Hai Jiao said: "She must have had this idea for a long time, but she just didn't say it on weekdays. After all, even if she wanted to go back, she couldn't abandon her sick mother, and she didn't have any money, not even enough for the journey. The female jailer advised her not to count on her nephew, who was her mortal enemy, for help, and it would be best for her to return home with the coffin and live with her sister and brother-in-law. If she didn't have enough money for the journey, it would be okay to borrow some from her nephew, but if her nephew refused to lend her, she would have to think of ways to make money in advance."

Although the female jailer said these words in front of Aunt Jin on purpose at the instruction of Captain Huang, she had no bad intentions and was really planning for her. The female jailer thought that Old Lady Jin Er was dying and would not survive this winter. Considering her current status as a prisoner, it would be fine if her funeral was simple. No need to pay attention to the pomp and circumstance. She would wait until she returned to her hometown to discuss the pomp and circumstance. By then, not many people would know that she had been in prison in Chang'an, and with her young daughter and son-in-law to help her, it would not be too lonely. Being able to return to her hometown to be buried is the serious matter. In comparison, what's the use of holding a decent funeral in another place? She doesn't even have a filial eldest son who can wear sackcloth and break basins. Who should she show respect to? !

The head of the prison suggested that Aunt Jin find a cheap nunnery to temporarily store Old Lady Jin's coffin, so that she could free up her hands to find work. It would be better if she did not wear formal mourning clothes, just not too colorful. Otherwise, if people knew she was in mourning, who would not find it unlucky? How could anyone be willing to hire her to work at home? !
Haitang understood a little after hearing this: "The female prison boss suggested that Aunt Jin go to work in other people's homes? Was this her own idea, or was it Brother Jin's idea?"

"I guess it was Xiao Jin who came up with this idea," Hai Jiao said. "Xiao Jin has also asked around. The daughter-in-law of the thirteenth branch of the Zhou family is pregnant recently. Unfortunately, there are too many children in the family and she can't take care of them all. Her mother won't arrive until the beginning of next spring, so they need to find a woman to help take care of the children. It would be better if she can read. Aunt Jin knows a few words and can do this job. Even if she only stays for one winter, at least the problem of food and accommodation is solved. She doesn't have to pay for it herself, and she can save up some wages. When the daughter-in-law's mother arrives in the beginning of next spring, she can quit her job and use the wages as travel expenses to accompany the coffin back home."

The thirteenth branch of the Zhou family has many descendants, but several sons are stationed in various border towns, and they have also taken their wives and adult sons to take up their posts. The youngest son has just finished his home visit and returned to the station. Because the youngest daughter-in-law is pregnant, she can't travel far, so she has to stay. In addition to the old lady and her, there are several children under the age of ten in the family, and they really need manpower. At present, the youngest daughter-in-law is still in early pregnancy, and there are maids and old women in the family, so things can still be handled. When her belly gets bigger and it becomes difficult to move, the children will have to be handed over to others to take care of. She didn't want to find someone casually, she wanted to find someone who could read and enlighten the little children, otherwise she wouldn't drag her feet and couldn't decide on a candidate.

Aunt Jin was not bad at other things, she had done a lot of work like taking care of children over the years, she could read a few words and do some simple calculations, so she could do this job. Her employer was the Zhou family, so she didn't dare to have any extravagant thoughts.

If Jin Jiashu didn't have Zhou Yijun's connection, he wouldn't have dared to guarantee that he could get this job for Jin Dagu. Even so, he still had to worry that Jin Er's wife would die too late, and Jin Dagu would be dragged down by her mother and might not be able to free up her hands to seize this opportunity in time!

Hai Jiao said sarcastically, "This is really a good job. If Jin Jiashu hadn't asked Zhou Yijun, how could the 13th branch of the Zhou family be willing to hire a prisoner's daughter to work at home? It was obviously the best job, but when Aunt Jin heard about it, she was a little disgusted. She felt that she was the daughter of a juren, and her family had houses and land, so she had not fallen to the point of working as a maid in someone else's house. It was the female head of the prison who scolded her, saying that the juren in her family were killed by her own mother and brothers. Now she is just a prisoner's family member, what qualifications does she have to show off? After all, the 13th branch of the Zhou family has produced several generals, and they may not look down on her!"

Haitang curled her lips, "If she doesn't want to, forget it. To be honest, she has been willing to do odd jobs like washing clothes and mending clothes to make a living these past few months, and she even thinks it's an insult to her to take care of children for an official family. Why should Brother Jin help someone who can't see the situation clearly? He's owing a favor for nothing. The Thirteenth Branch of the Zhou Family doesn't know Brother Jin, and they agreed to this only for Zhou Yijun's sake. What if Aunt Jin gets into trouble in someone else's house, wouldn't that implicate Brother Jin?"

Haijiao shook his finger and lowered his voice: "The daughter-in-law of the thirteenth branch of the Zhou family, her maiden name is actually Ma, and she is the niece of Ma Shangyi! Xiao Jin arranged for Aunt Jin to work for her, but he hoped that Ma Shangyi would not kill anyone in her niece's home for the sake of their relationship, and just consider it as accumulating blessings for her niece's unborn child! When Aunt Jin stays safely in the thirteenth branch of the Zhou family until next spring, and successfully returns home with her coffin, she may be able to save her life. Xiao Jin said that this is all he can do for the second branch of the Jin family, and he will feel at ease when he meets his ancestors in the future."

(End of this chapter)