After listening to Yang Qi's report on the situation encountered in Fangqiao Town.
"Oh, the head of the Fang family is playing tricks on us. Not only does he want to sell the land at a high price, but he also wants to gain me as his son-in-law as a long-term meal ticket. It's very wishful thinking."
Xu Yuan chuckled. There were many people who wanted to plot against him, but it was quite rare to find someone who was so shrewd in their calculations.
Xu Yuan was not very angry about this, he just found it ridiculous and funny. The greatest ability of those landlords and gentry, as well as the Confucian scholar-officials for thousands of years, was probably calculation.
If Yang Qi hadn't been smarter and discovered something fishy this time, he might have actually taken advantage of the opponent.
"Master, that Fang Chengxiu deceived us, do you want to continue this cooperation?" Yang Qi asked again.
"We still need the land, and the more the better. Since the other party wants to sell the land, there is no need for us to refuse. However, considering the tricks played by the Fang family, the price can only be 100 taels per mu. Any higher.
It’s impossible, I can’t sell it if I love it,” Xu Yuandao said.
"Yes, owner!"
Yang Qi nodded.
"By the way," Xu Yuan stopped him again and asked, "What do you think of the concubine named Fang Qingyan of the Fang family?"
"Well……"
Yang Qi thought for a while, then remembered the pretty face and the extremely stubborn eyes that left a deep impression on him, and said: "Master, this woman is extremely strong-willed. She would rather die than give in when framed, and she would be beaten without saying a word."
, she is an admirable woman, but her status is too low and she is far from worthy of the owner of the village."
"What is her age and appearance? Is she a natural?" Yang Qi became a little more interested.
"Eighteen years old, pretty good-looking, no feet bound."
"Okay, this is the woman! Although she can't be married as a wife, she can be taken as a concubine. Prepare the betrothal gift and take someone to the Fang family to betrothal her." Xu Yuan said.
"Master, I'll do it right away!"
Yang Qi was overjoyed. It's great. The owner of the village has finally figured it out. He finally knows that he needs to find a woman to give birth to an heir for the manor. This is what everyone has been most worried about and worried about in the past two years, but the owner is not in a hurry at all.
Now everyone can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Of course, Xu Yuan suddenly realized that he planned to take a concubine, not because he needed a woman or had a physical need, but mainly for two reasons.
On the one hand, I did have some interest in this woman Fang Qingyan, because she had a personality that was rarely seen in ancient women.
On the other hand, in the late Ming Dynasty, the landlord class and the scholar-bureaucrat class had extremely huge energy and controlled a large amount of resources. Although this class was backward, decadent, and must be destroyed, at this stage, Xu Yuan has not yet overthrown their strength. Not only must they not be too
If you are offended, you have to take some measures to establish cooperation with them, gain their trust, and then obtain more resources.
Finding a landlord to marry is a good way to combine interests.
But he can't accept women with bound feet. He doesn't have that kind of perverted hobby. He only likes women with natural feet.
So I haven't found a suitable partner, otherwise I wouldn't have grown up to be an older man - of course, according to Blue Star's standards, he is still very young, and it won't be too late to get married in a few years.
…
the next day.
Fangqiao Town, inside the Fang family mansion.
"It's only 100 taels of silver per mu. This price is too low. How about 180 taels?" Fang Chengxiu shook his head repeatedly, finding it difficult to accept. You must know that his previous psychological price was two hundred taels per mu.
"There are only so many. The owner of my village said that if the price can be sold, then sell it. If not, forget it." Yang Qi picked up the cup and took a sip of tea.
"Here... how about adding a little more, 120 taels?" Fang Chengxiu didn't give up yet.
"Master Fang, if you hadn't deceived me yesterday, I would have agreed to this price. But after what happened yesterday, my owner told me that this is the price. If you don't agree, I'll leave now." Yang Qi stood up.
road.
"Good nephew, good nephew Yang, I have something to say. In that case, I won't bargain any more. One hundred taels an acre is one hundred taels an acre!"
Fang Chengxiu said quickly, his heart aching with blood. Just because of a few evil obstacles, he lost hundreds of thousands of taels at once. The Fang family's accumulation in a hundred years has not been so much.
"By the way, Nephew Yang, you just said that the owner of your village has taken a fancy to your daughter and wants to take her as his concubine. Are you serious about this?"
Fortunately, the lost mulberry tree was harvested in the east. Although the income from selling the land was not ideal, I didn't expect that the owner of the village actually fell in love with his concubine and wanted to take her as a concubine. Although it was far less than his wife, it was unexpected.
After all, if you can get the favor of the other party and give birth to the eldest son, it may not be able to bring benefits to the Fang family.
"It's true. The betrothal gift is on its way and the gift list is here."
Yang Qi took out a red gift list from his pocket and handed it to the other party.
Fang Chengxiu opened the gift sheet and looked at:
Two thousand silver dollars
Two sets of gold jewelry
Two bicycles
Twenty pounds of sugar
Twenty pieces of soap
Twenty pieces of fine cotton
and other items, etc.
All added together, the value is at least more than ten thousand taels of silver, which shows how wealthy and generous Xujiazhuang is.
Then there was anger, uncontrollable anger towards those evil sons.
If there were not these evil things, the land sale price negotiated today would be 200 taels per mu; the betrothal gift received today would be a betrothal gift according to the standards of a head wife, and the quantity and amount would be increased several times.
So after Yang Qi said goodbye and left, Fang Chengxiu gritted his teeth and said to the housekeeper: "Butler, prepare a stick as thick as a bowl for me, and then call those evildoers over!"
"Yes, sir."
…
The Fang family's big house and back house.
In a very dilapidated and small wing room.
Lying on a bed with a door panel, she took off half of her shirt and exposed part of her back. Zheng, a mother with half of her hair white and a face full of vicissitudes, who looked like a fifty-year-old woman, was holding a bruise and giving it to her daughter.
Applying it to the black and purple injured area, he said with great distress:
"My dear, you have been beaten like this by several young masters again. Why are you so stubborn? They have wronged you, just accept it. Why should you receive such a good beating for nothing? How many times have you been wrongly accused? You have been beaten.
Isn’t it a few times? It’s better to obey them. If you admit your mistake, you’ll be whipped a few times and locked up in a woodshed for a few days. Your mother will give you food. If you continue to be stubborn like this, they will beat you to death sooner or later.”
Mrs. Zheng burst into tears. She felt distressed and helpless for her only daughter. She tried to persuade her many times, but to no avail, so she could only wash her face with tears.
"Mother, bicycles are very expensive, costing tens of thousands of taels of silver each. If I admit it this time, in order to give an explanation to the distinguished guest, I can be beaten to death. If I don't admit it, I can still die innocently.
, rather than doing this, it is better to choose innocence."
Fang Qingyan turned her head and explained, her face still stubborn.
In fact, the problem encountered that day was not serious. The bike just had the chain off, which could be easily repaired. However, several young masters did not understand and thought it was broken, so they rushed to find someone to take the blame. It happened to be that day.
Out of curiosity about the bicycle, Fang Qingyan stood aside and took a peek, but was caught. It can be said that if she had not been so curious at that time and had not gone over to join in the fun, maybe this incident would not have happened.
.
She also has her own reasons.
But even so!
Even if she encounters a similar frame-up again, she will never admit it, not even to death, because this is her character.
Because she knows that even if she pleads guilty and takes the blame, there will be no good results. Her life is still in the hands of others. No matter whether she makes a mistake or not, life and death are in the hands of others. If she really wants to take her life,
Just find any excuse.
Like my mother, if you are weak and give in, just want to be content with everything, and compromise at every turn, you will not get any good results. You will not get any kindness and kindness in exchange, but will only get worse. You must not have any illusions.
"Mother, when I recover from my injuries this time, I will take you away from Fang's house. You cannot stay in this place any longer. Sooner or later, we, my mother, will be dead. Only by escaping can we survive and live a good life.
"
Fang Qingyan suddenly revealed her plan, which she had been preparing for a long time.
"Leave? This is absolutely impossible!"
Zheng was startled and turned pale with fright: "The outside world is more miserable than the Fang family. We are all female immigrants. When we encounter human traffickers and thugs, there is nothing we can do. Even if we don't encounter them, what can we do?"
Support yourself? Where should you stay? My dear daughter, stop thinking about these things. You must not run away. If we leave the Fang family, we two will not be able to survive, and we will only become lonely ghosts."
"Why can't I live? I have strength and I can work!"
Fang Qingyan said: "I have found out clearly these days that Xujiazhuang is expanding and needs to recruit a lot of workers, including female workers. When the time comes, I will do the heavy work. Mom, you can cook for them. If it doesn't work, I will find one."
If I marry a man who treats me well, as long as he agrees to my mother’s marriage, you can eat with me and be filial to my mother as I am. I will marry such a man. I don’t believe I can’t find such a man!”
"this……"
Mrs. Zheng couldn't help but be stunned. She didn't know how to evaluate her daughter's highly feasible plan for a while. Moreover, she occasionally thought about leaving the Fang family, which gradually made her despair, but she immediately shook her head.
No, it’s just that my daughter is still young, she still has a future, and her personality is so strong, so leaving the Fang family may not be a bad choice.
"Good! As expected of our Chengxiu daughter, her unwillingness to accept fate is exactly the same as mine."
A cheering voice came from the door.
Brush it.
Fang Qingyan's face suddenly turned pale, while Zheng's face was filled with despair. She hurriedly came to Fang Chengxiu, knelt down with a plop, and begged: "Master, please spare Qingyan's life. If you want to punish me, punish me. It's all my fault."
!”
"Get up quickly, what's wrong with you?"
Fang Chengxiu lifted her up, who was like crumbs, and said: "I have come to regret today and realized how much I owe you and your daughter. Don't worry! I have broken the legs of those evildoers. I will not bully you in the future."
, Also, this wing room can no longer be lived in. I have ordered my servants to pack up a wing room. You mother and daughter will move into the wing room immediately. Two maids must be arranged to serve you. From now on, you, Mrs. Zheng, are the Fang family.
My concubine, you, Fang Qingyan, are the daughter of our cultivator. If anyone disrespects me, I will kill you with a stick!"
"Yes, sir!"
The servants who came over said one after another.
It can be said that in a few words, Fang Chengxiu greatly improved the Zheng family's status in the Fang family, and officially recognized Fang Qingyan as his daughter, re-establishing her status, and her servants were no longer allowed to humiliate her in the slightest.
"Master, my master!"
Mrs. Zheng exclaimed, extremely surprised, after all the hardships came the joy, after all the hardship came the joy, she shed tears countless times, this moment she had finally looked forward to.
"Stop being pretentious!"
However, Fang Qingyan climbed down from the bed, walked to Fang Chengxiu and said, "I don't want the charity from you, Mr. Fang, if you treat me as your daughter, allow me to leave the Fang family and make a living on my own!"
"Of course my father will let you out of the Fang family, and he will also find you a good husband. Look at this betrothal gift list. Master Xu of Xujiazhuang has fallen in love with you and wants to take you as his concubine. I don't know how many lifetimes of cultivation it will take."
It's such a blessing. In a few days, you can go to Xujiazhuang to enjoy the blessings."
Fang Chengxiu took out a gift list from his sleeve, handed it to her, and sighed with a smile.
See the red gift list.
Fang Qingyan was stunned, not knowing what to say for a moment. Her dream of escaping from the Fang family many years ago was about to come true?