"The Anguohou Mansion was completely killed by Master An five years ago. Now that Master An has moved out of the Anguohou Mansion, no one lives there at all. Even the servants are not willing to guard there. Listen.

Say, in that mansion

There are many more fox monsters and ghosts than people. Young Master An couldn't bear it anymore, so he moved it out." Du Hengshuang's maid Zhihua brought a copper basin of wash water over and put it on the narrow table behind the screen.

, said while saying.

Du Hengshuang sat on the edge of the bed, and tied the long hair on her shoulders into a bun, hanging it loosely behind her ears. She secretly wondered if it would be a little awkward if she led someone to bury the white fox like this.

Abrupt? After all, she and Anguo Houfu are incompatible with each other.

For Du Hengshuang, she had never regarded relatives of her stepfather Xu Shao as her own relatives. Although An Zichang was Xu Shao's nephew, Du Hengshuang was determined not to call him cousin.

Zhihua placed the face wash and served Du Heng's cream to cleanse the face.

When Du Hengxue saw her sister getting up, she no longer lowered her voice and followed Du Hengshuang like a little tail. "The secretary also heard about it. He also said that five years ago, Master An was only fifteen years old and could kill someone."

It is really extraordinary that you killed your father."

Du Hengshuang put down the kudzu towel she was wiping her face with, poked her head out from behind the screen, and said with annoyance: "Xue'er, don't join in the fun of this kind of thing."

Killing the king and killing the father sounds majestic, but behind the scenes he is scolded by many people as "unfaithful and unfilial, a treacherous minister and a traitor".

But who caused the current chaotic times?

As the saying goes, heroes are created in times of trouble. Of course, those who are created in troubled times are "rebellious ministers and traitors".

The only difference is that there is one emperor and one courtier. The rebellious ministers and traitors of the old dynasty may be the loyal ministers and good generals of the new dynasty. It cannot be generalized.

But girls like us still need to know what's appropriate. They have to know what they should say and what they shouldn't say.

Du Hengxue knew that her sister was unhappy and said hurriedly: "I know. I won't learn these words anymore." After saying that, she came to Du Hengshuang's side, looked up at her beautiful and refined little face and smiled flatteringly: "Sister, I will help you comb your hair.

ah."

Du Hengxue is very handy and likes to play with Du Hengshuang's hair.

Du Hengshuang agreed. He sat in front of his dressing table and handed the white jade comb to Du Hengxue.

But seeing the mirror in front of her, Du Hengshuang felt dazzled again, so she reached out to close the mirror box and let Du Hengxue dress her up.

As soon as Du Hengxue picked up the comb, he completely forgot himself and devoted himself wholeheartedly to it.

There was silence in the room for a moment.

Ou Yangniang took the maid out to prepare breakfast.

After Du Hengxue finished combing her hair, Du Hengshuang finished breakfast with her, then sent her back to the house. He wrote a letter to Uncle Qian, sealed it with wax and sent it out.

Uncle Qian still lives in the Du family's old house in Luoyang.

When Fang Wu Niang remarried, the Du family had another quarrel. Especially the sons of Du Xiancheng's two eldest brothers wanted to take over their uncle's property as their own.

Even if Xu Shao is the Grand Sima of Luoyang, he cannot resist the deep-rooted clan concepts of ordinary people.

Before remarrying, Xu Shao was able to protect Fang Wu Niang and Du Xiancheng's family property from being taken away because Fang Wu Niang was still a member of the Du family. Now that Fang Wu Niang has remarried, and if he keeps the Du family's property, even unrelated people will

Can't see past it.

When the quarrel broke out, it was Du Hengshuang, who was only ten years old at the time, who stood up and said that they would not change their surname and would still be members of the Du family. In this way, before she and her sister got married, the Du family's property was still in Du's hands.

In the hands of family members.

This practice has precedent among several large clans in Luoyang. Some families even prefer to give birth to a husband at home in order not to divide their property.

Of course, it’s not that easy to find a son-in-law who comes to your home.

A son-in-law in the Zhou Dynasty is of the same social status as a beggar or a criminal. A decent son-in-law would not be willing to become a son-in-law. Of course not

It goes without saying that for a family without a son, it is actually a dilemma. Either give all the family property to someone else's surname, or ruin the daughter's life.

Everyone knows the situation of the Du family.

The eldest daughter, Du Hengshuang, has been engaged to her since she was a child. Although her husband's Xiao family is in Chang'an, her fiancé comes here every year and they have close contact with her.

The younger daughter Du Hengxue has not yet been engaged, and many people are spreading rumors that Fang Wu Niang will give birth to a husband for her younger daughter, leaving the family wealth in the hands of the two sisters.

Only Fang Wuniang and Du Hengshuang knew that they would never let Du Hengxue give birth to a husband. It would be easier to stab her with a knife than to do so.

Like Du Hengshuang, Uncle Qian only thought of Du Xiancheng's kindness, so he took the initiative to stay and help them look after the house and watch the business in the shop.

The shopkeepers and managers left by Du Xiancheng are still relatively capable. Now they are relying on the Sima Mansion. Knowing that the orphans and widows have their backs against the big tree, they are more conscientious than before, taking care of the business left by Du Xiancheng to prosper. In this troubled world

, and actually expanded several businesses.

Two years ago, Du Hengshuang took over most of the shops from Fang Wu Niang and began to learn to read the account books. Now she has gradually mastered it. If she doesn't understand something, she invites the big shopkeeper to the Sima Mansion to ask. She is meticulous and has a good temperament.

If you can work hard, you can learn pretty well.

When Xu Shao met, he secretly reminded Fang Wu Niang that the skills of merchants were of the lowest level, and that Du Hengshuang should not be allowed to fall into evil ways. It would not be good to always be in the public eye, and the Xiao family might not be happy to see him marry a mistress full of copper odor.

Fang Wuniang once disagreed, saying that the Xiao family was originally a merchant family. Although the family's business had been taken away a lot before, some noble people she met in Xiao Shiji not only took back the shops and properties that had been occupied by others, but also took back many of them.

Many new shops have been opened. In such a house, the mistress can read the account books, isn't it the icing on the cake?

Xu Shao knew that Xiao Shiji was able to revive his family business at such a young age, and it was definitely not through his own strength. He went to Luoyang every year over the years, and would go to Taizhou on the way. Taizhou was the hometown of Qi King Qi Boshi

.Xu Shao was the Grand Sima of Luoyang, and he had secretly taken refuge with King Qi a long time ago. He and Xiao Shiji were now the same master.

With Xiao Shiji's ability, how could the Xiao family always be a businessman?

However, Xu Shao would not say anything more.

After listening to Xu Shao's words, Fang Wuniang discussed with Ou Yangniang and asked Du Hengshuang not to focus all his energy on the ledger.

The man is the master of the house and the woman is the master of the house. What she needs to do is to take care of the house. It is the man's business to support the family.

Du Hengshuang restrained herself a little. Even when she looked at the account books, she did so secretly. Only Ou Yangniang knew about it.

In his spare time, in addition to studying painting, he also practiced calligraphy and became good at hairpin and small regular script. He often corresponded with Xiao Shi and wrote letters.

As soon as Du Hengshuang's letter was delivered to Uncle Qian of Du's house, Uncle Qian immediately sneaked into the Anguo Hou Mansion to look for the body of the white fox.

As expected, An Guohou's Mansion was desolate, even in broad daylight it was chilly.

An Zichang moved away and even left the door unlocked. No one dared to enter when the door was opened.

There were many idle people outside the gate, but they only dared to point outside and at most pick up a stone and throw it in.

Qian Boyi was a brave man. After sneaking in, he found the body of the white fox on a big tree without much effort.

Following the instructions in Du Hengshuang's letter, Qian Bo took out the white fox's body. After cremation, he put the ashes in a small porcelain jar and sent it to Du Hengshuang.

At night, Du Hengshuang placed the small porcelain altar on the window sill and secretly opened the window a crack. He also lit a stick of incense in front of the altar and offered a plate of fresh fruits.

In the dead of night, the window creaked half open. The little white fox got in, circled the small porcelain altar on the window sill a few times, and made a whining sound in its throat, like a baby crying.

sound.

Du Hengshuang was dozing next to the table with her head propped up. She saw the little white fox coming in dimly, and she quickly held her breath for fear of disturbing the little white fox.

The little white fox raised his head, looked at Du Hengshuang, walked over slowly, and touched Du Hengshuang's hand with his small nose.

Du Hengshuang spread her palms, and the little white fox climbed up and curled up into a small ball on her palm, only as big as a palm. Du Hengshuang's heart almost melted when she saw it.

"Is that your mother?" Du Hengshuang asked quietly.

The little white fox nodded, and big tears fell from his round black eyes, dripping on Du Hengshuang's palm.

Warm tears fell on Du Hengshuang's palms, which made her sit up with excitement.

Du Hengshuang woke up completely. She lowered her head and looked at her palms. Apart from being slightly moist, there was no palm-sized white fox anywhere. Looking at the window sill, the small porcelain altar containing the ashes of the big white fox had disappeared without a trace.

Du Hengshuang quickly stood up and looked out the window, only to see a flash of white light between the branches of the maple tree. When he looked carefully, he couldn't see anything. He only saw the wind blowing on the treetops, and a cold air.

Biting.

Du Hengshuang sighed, waved to the window, then closed the window and went back to sleep.

At this time, Xu Yanhui and Xu Yanbang, the eldest young masters of Sima Mansion, were not asleep yet and were talking together.

Xu Yanbang relayed the information An Zichang had inquired about to Xu Yanhui.

Xu Yanhui sat behind the desk with a gloomy face and remained silent for a long time.

"Brother, this is what happened. My mother's death was indeed not caused by someone else. If you don't believe it, why don't you believe it, Cousin An?" Xu Yanbang picked up the tea cup and blew on it, already looking calm.

Xu Yanhui sneered and slapped the table, "You think I don't know? You fell in love with that little bitch, so of course you tried to excuse them both inside and outside the words! - Huh! Do our Xu family owe their Du family women? One

Both of them are obsessed with lard and worried about them..."

Xu Yanbang's face suddenly turned red, and he said harshly: "Brother, don't talk nonsense. When did I become interested in that little... girl? I scolded that little bastard every time I saw him. He shrank like a little mouse.

The same, she will only hide behind her sister. When her sister gets married, I wonder if she will also go out with her as a dowry, and the sisters will serve the same husband together..."

Xu Yanhui was even more angry. With a flick of his sleeve, he swept all the cups, bowls and saucers on the table to the floor, and said sternly: "You little bitch, you are just a slave to others! You still want to get married?! - Stop dreaming!

"

Xu Yanbang heard that this was wrong and couldn't help but ask: "Brother, it has been proven that their mother's death has nothing to do with their mother. If you continue to do this, it will be too difficult for dad. Also, you are getting married at the end of the year, but

Stop looking so gloomy every day, which will embarrass your sister-in-law."

Xu Yanhui knew that he had lost his composure. He took a deep breath, retracted his fists into his sleeves, closed his eyes and leaned back on the chair. He said calmly: "You think my mother's death has nothing to do with that bitch, but I know that my mother's death has nothing to do with that bitch."
To be continued...