Traveling to Daliang Kingdom starts from falling into the water

In other words, sending someone from the Da Hua family to visit him in his mother's name was a very good plan and a more appropriate one.

As for why Mrs. Liao suddenly fell ill?
He heard a thing or two from Senior Brother Qian today.

Mrs. Liao's elder brother, born of the same mother, has unfortunately passed away.

"...I heard that her older brother is exactly fifty-eight this year. Originally, Mrs. Liao was planning to go to Datong Prefecture next year to celebrate her older brother's birthday."

No one expected that she would be gone in just two or three months. Yesterday, before the city gates closed, someone from Datong Prefecture came to report the death, and Madam Liao fainted.

The body has already been placed in a coffin and transported from Datong Prefecture to their ancestral home. We need to send someone to visit the Liao family to inquire about the illness. It will be perfectly fine to go the day after tomorrow. Mrs. Liao should leave the day after tomorrow at the earliest.

It is said that if one were to escort a coffin south from Datong Prefecture, one could not enter Zhili through Yanmen Pass, but instead travel south along the western foothills of the Taihang Mountains to Baoding Prefecture and then take the Grand Canal south.

Master Liao had already gone to Taiyuan Prefecture before noon today. He would wait for his brother-in-law's coffin to arrive in Taiyuan Prefecture, and then walk along Yanggu Road to escort the coffin southward.

As for Liao Cheng, he was left by his master to accompany his mother on her journey south along the Grand Canal. Once Liao Cheng had settled the family business, he wouldn't be able to leave until the day after tomorrow at the earliest.

Young Master Liao needs to make proper arrangements before going to Jiangnan. Otherwise, if the head of the family, the future head of the family, and even the matriarch of the family all go south together, how can the family not be in chaos?
Zhou Banxia expressed her understanding, but the only thing she couldn't understand was, "Why did Master Liao go to Taiyuan Prefecture first? Wouldn't it have been better for his family to take the Grand Canal directly?"
It seems that Mrs. Liao agreed to marry the commoner Mr. Liao from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion for the sake of her elder brother's future, so her elder brother should also be a big pharmaceutical merchant, right?

"Master Liao rushed off to Taiyuan Prefecture in such a hurry. Did your Senior Brother Qian mention to you that this person's sudden disappearance has affected the Liao family's medicinal herb business?"

She is worthy of being his wife!
The two of them were indeed in perfect sync!
Upon hearing this, our first reaction was to ask the same question, just like everyone else!
While giving himself and his wife a thumbs up, Gu Wenxuan gave Zhou Banxia a thumbs up and said with a smile, "Just like you, the first thing I asked Senior Brother Qian was this question."

In conclusion, to summarize in Brother Qian's words, the sudden disappearance of this person will inevitably have a short-term impact, but in the long run, it will actually be more beneficial to the Liao family's development.

The branch of the family that was originally owned by Mrs. Liao's grandfather has now become too powerful to control. It can be said that for the past twenty years, that branch has only managed to avoid decline thanks to Mrs. Liao's elder brother's business acumen.

The reason the Duke of Zhenguo's family did so was partly because Madam Liao's great-grandfather had helped them with medicinal herbs in their early years, and partly because although their ancestors didn't share the same surname, they were still considered brothers.

Yes.

That's right.

A stepbrother is also a brother.

"But then again, how many generations have passed? Even brothers are not considered close relatives beyond five degrees of kinship, let alone the fact that their ancestors were not born to the same parents."

If it weren't for Mrs. Liao's great-grandfather helping the then-Duke of Zhenguo out of his predicament by personally escorting ten cartloads of medicinal herbs to the Duke of Zhenguo, what kind of affection could there be?

Putting that aside, let's assume that their generation remained as close as family. Starting with the Duke of Zhenguo, didn't they provide generous returns to Mrs. Liao's family?

clear!

Zhou Banxia nodded, "According to you, the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion no longer owes Madam Liao's family any favors, but because of the bad relationship between the two families, they don't allow Madam Liao's family to continue supplying medicinal herbs?"

"That's pretty much the gist of it. I don't believe that every former Duke of Zhenguo liked having their ancestors' humble origins brought up again."

To put it nicely, the Duke of Zhenguo's family values ​​loyalty and righteousness; but in reality, isn't this also a reminder to the world that their ancestor's stepmother was no good at all?

Zhou Banxia burst out laughing.

"Is not it?"

“Yes, you’re absolutely right!” Zhou Banxia tried her best to suppress her laughter. “It was my ignorance that made me think of this point and understand it this way.”

"Wrong. It's not about knowledge, it's about human nature. When you look at someone, do you ever analyze why they succeed by considering the darker side of human nature? You don't have that concept." Who said that?
"Otherwise, how could a child raised by a widow who was brought into her stepfather's house after her remarriage, whose stepfather was not wealthy and had no children, possibly afford to study and practice martial arts?"

This has to do with his widowed mother. Just think, how much wealth could a peddler who couldn't even afford to marry a young woman, and who was so poor that he had to live with a widow, possibly have?

Leaving aside tuition fees, just practicing martial arts is a case of "the poor study literature, the rich practice martial arts." How could someone who has mastered all eighteen weapons be considered poor? When I learned martial arts from Grandpa Ma, my father gave Grandpa Ma quite a few gifts.

It's about my eldest brother. They say that Doctor Dong took a liking to him, and he didn't spend a single copper coin to become his apprentice and learn medicine. But in reality, our father had a lot of support for him behind the scenes.

It's nothing for our dad to send a jar of wine to Doctor Dong every now and then. Many times, that lunatic Doctor Dong would curse our dad for no reason, and our dad would have to coax him.

"Only now that you're backing up our father, even your great-grandfather doesn't give him the time of day anymore, so Doctor Dong won't easily lose his temper with our father—"

"You flatter me, brother!"

Zhou Banxia cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, a customary greeting in the martial arts world.

Seeing this, Gu Wenxuan, who was halfway through his sentence, just wanted to give his wife, who also called him "brother," a good whack on the head. "Stop interrupting me. Where was I?"

Yes, that's why they say the most poisonous heart is a woman's. That burden, abandoned by her father's family, is surprisingly capable in both literature and martial arts—truly the epitome of a burden!

Zhou Banxia was at a loss for words to refute it. After thinking for a moment, she wondered, "Wouldn't it be more appropriate to say 'I'd rather have a beggar mother than an official father'?"

"You could say that. Anyway, his widow mother couldn't possibly be a kind person. If she had even a little bit of kindness in her heart, she definitely wouldn't have raised a god of death."

Speechless, Zhou Banxia reached out and pressed down one of Gu Wenxuan's hands, which was pinching his fingers, while pointing with her other hand at the juicer and fruit plate on the island.

What happened to the promised juicing?
The cut fruit is all dried out!

"Hahaha, coming right now. I know you disagree with my point of view and want to use me to stop things, but do you think I'm just making things up without any evidence?"

"No, you wouldn't joke about an old lady whose bones are nowhere to be found. You must have heard something from your senior brother Qian to make you think that way."

"That's right!" Gu Wenxuan quickly turned around and gave a thumbs up. "Senior Brother Qian analyzed the current Duke of Zhenguo's character and conduct with me today, and what was the conclusion he reached?"

how is it?

Seeing Gu Wenxuan turn around and pick up the kitchen knife halfway through his sentence, Zhou Banxia was truly impressed by his petty nature!
—It's not that you don't want to listen?

Then I won't say anything more.

"Are you really not going to tell me what the final result will be?"

"Want to hear?"

"My skin is itchy!"

"When the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion interfered in Madam Liao's marriage and betrothed her to Master Liao, they never stopped thinking about Madam Liao's family."

"……That's it?"

"Brother Qian said a lot, but this is the key point. Think about it. Oh, and honey, Brother Qian also said that this year's summer tax can't be paid in silver instead of grain." (End of Chapter)