The court's suppression of Jianghu became increasingly severe, and the entire Tianyuan Dynasty seemed to be moving in the direction of emphasizing civility over military affairs.
On this day, as usual, Xia Po was telling stories to Xia Sichou.
The story he told this time was a cool story about a good-for-nothing who married into a big family and became a son-in-law, and then woke up and pretended to be a pig to eat the tiger.
After telling the story for two hours, Xia Sichou was dancing with joy when the protagonist of the story slapped his mother-in-law in the face.
After the excitement passed, he seemed to have thought of something.
"Speaking of a son-in-law, we seem to have one in our family."
"Is he your eldest sister's husband-in-law?"
Xia Sichou still had some impression of Xia Po, his son-in-law.
Not long after the Spring Festival, he married into the Xia family and became a glorious son-in-law.
It is said that the family used to be quite wealthy, but I don’t know why it declined.
As for why he wanted to join Zan Xia's family, he didn't know.
Xia Po shook his head, he didn't think this son-in-law could have the abilities of those in the previous life's online articles.
"He is my eldest brother-in-law. He made my eldest sister unhappy a few days ago and punished him by shutting him up. Then the third brother asked me to secretly bring him food every day."
Xia Sichou's father, Xia Xiangwen, had three children in total, the eldest one was his daughter, and the other was his third brother.
Although there are eight brothers and sisters, only these two share the same father and mother.
As he spoke, he pointed to the lunch box beside him.
"So you haven't given him food yet?"
"Yeah, I thought it wouldn't be too late to listen to the story for a while before delivering it, but then it was night time without paying attention."
Good boy, can you forget such a thing?
The poor son-in-law must be so hungry that his chest is touching his back, right?
"You naughty kid, if you don't hurry up and deliver food to your eldest brother-in-law, you'll starve to death later."
Hearing this, Xia Sixou looked at the night outside and shrank his neck.
"The place where my eldest brother-in-law is being held is very gloomy. I'm afraid."
With no other choice, Xia Po had no choice but to lead Xia Sichou towards the so-called small dark room.
Although I have never had much contact with this so-called adopted son-in-law, I can imagine that he is a coward.
After all, in this society where men are superior to women, women can still be bullied like this.
But when I think about it, I feel relieved. There is no such thing as male superiority and female inferiority in the world. To put it bluntly, it means dignity with high personal value and humbleness with low personal value.
In this society that relies on physical strength to realize personal value, men naturally seem to be taller than women.
With the development of society, this phenomenon will become increasingly rare.
When he walked to the door of the small black room, Xia Sichou hid behind Xia Po.
"Brother, go and deliver it."
Xia Po knew that this little guy also realized that he had done something wrong, and was afraid that his brother-in-law would blame him, so he was too embarrassed to deliver the food.
However, this was just a piece of cake for Xia Po, so there was no need to refuse.
Taking the lunch box, Xia Po walked into the small dark room.
This house is not as cold as expected, just a bit simple.
A simple desk, bed, and a little candlelight.
At this time, the son-in-law did not look hungry and cold as he had imagined, but instead read a book by candlelight with a calm look on his face.
"Uncle, that boy Xia Sichou was having fun at my place today and forgot to bring you food. Don't blame me."
This uncle's name was Liu Anran. He slowly put down the book in his hand, opened the lunch box silently, and looked at Xia Po.
"Is there any wine?"
Xia Po blinked.
As for wine, he really has it.
Because his cheap master hasn't come back yet.
The last meal of wine and meat sent to his master was brought back by him. The meat was finished but the wine was still untouched.
So he nodded.
"Two bottles of Changle wine, seven years old."
"Can you lend me a drink?"
"Can."
After Xia Po sent Xia Sixou back to the inner courtyard, he went directly to his small room to get the two bottles of wine.
Liu Anran dug out two worn-out cups from somewhere, washed them with some wine, and then poured two cups into them.
"Can you have a drink with me?"
This son-in-law is actually only seventeen years old, and Xia Po is sixteen, so they are considered the same age.
And he is the son-in-law, and Xia Po is Master Wei's apprentice. There is actually not much difference in identity between the two.
Therefore, there is not really any gap between the two of them.
Xia Po didn't feel uncomfortable staying with such a person, so he sat down and had a drink with him.
"Why do you suddenly want to drink this late at night? Is it because you were sent to this small dark room and you want to drink away your sorrows?"
"There is no need to use wine to relieve sorrow. It's just that I feel cold and use the power of wine to drive away the cold."
"You mean, being punished here doesn't make you feel sad?"
"No, after all, even in the emperor's harem, isn't there a cold palace?"
"The Cold Palace is for women, and you are for women."
Xia Po was speechless. After drinking another glass of wine, he noticed a wry smile on Liu Anran's face.
"They are all the same. Most of those palace maids flattered the royal family and became palace ladies for the sake of their own families, while I flattered the Xia family and became a son-in-law for the sake of my family. What's the difference?
Since there is no difference, they can all be punished to the cold palace. I am locked up in this small room and can still eat meat and drink wine, so what sorrow can I have?"
It turns out that this person is still an optimist.
Xia Po smiled and said, "You should be open-minded and go away."
As he spoke, he raised his glass and drank another glass.
Xia Po: "But if you think about it carefully, the emperor is really happy. He has three thousand beauties in the harem to serve him while he is alive, and he is buried with so many beauties when he dies."
"That's why they made such a big fuss just to become the emperor."
"What's the noise?"
"you do not know?"
Xia Po was a little confused. His daily life was just eating, drinking and having fun, and he really didn't pay much attention to the rumors outside.
"have no idea."
"Hmph, I don't know. Let me tell you something. Before Emperor Chiyuan ascended the throne, two of his royal brothers suddenly died of illness. Even his father, who had been the emperor for more than ten years, died overnight. What do you mean?
What a coincidence.”
Xia Po was speechless. Isn't this just what he said?
He was not surprised at all by such a thing. After all, mortals just like to chase power, and the royal family, as the pinnacle of power, pursues it the most ferociously.
"The most ruthless emperor's family!"
"Not only that, I heard that the newly appointed emperor is thinking of ways to suppress the world every day, and no one knows what he wants to do."
"What can I do? I just feel that I am invincible, and then I feel that there is no need for things like martial arts. I feel that the role of civil servants is greater than that of martial arts schools."
"You mean, he did this out of good intentions?"
"I don't know whether it was out of good intentions or not. I just hope that future generations will read the contents recorded by historians and not sigh and go astray."
Xia Po and his son-in-law chatted more and more animatedly, starting with the struggle for royal power, talking about governing the country, and finally even talking about equality between men and women.
The wine Master Wei drank was extremely potent, and the two people who were overwhelmed by the alcohol gradually fell into drunkenness.
I don't know how much time passed, but the two of them just fell asleep.