Questioning

Author: Potato Sweet Potato Pie

Questioning

After coming out of the bookstore, Xia Yuan followed the flow of people to a large market, where he found a stall and ate some random things. He bought cloth of various colors, snacks and candies, and even bought them for his little wife.

A new toothbrush.

The toothbrush she brought over had almost all the bristles, and it looked more like a smoking gun than a toothbrush.

Anyway, a toothbrush is not expensive as expected, you can buy one for twenty or thirty cents.

When Xia Yuan arrived at the village entrance carrying packages containing various items, it was just getting dark.

Rural people eat two meals a day and eat early, and usually have dinner at four in the afternoon. Usually at this time, most people have already filled their stomachs and are sitting under the big tree at the entrance of the village to enjoy the shade and chat.

But when Xia Yuan passed by the village entrance, he didn't see anyone. He walked home full of doubts, and there were almost no people on the road.

This gave him an inexplicable feeling of ominous premonition slowly rising in his heart.

When I got to the door of my house, I saw a small figure squatting in front of my yard. He was wearing homespun clothes, with a runny nose on his face, and was scratching the ground with a straw in his hand.

Seeing Xia Yuan coming back, Erniu threw away the wheat straw in her hand and ran over quickly: "Brother Yuan, your bride was captured by the clan leader and taken to the ancestral hall."

When Xia Yuan heard the words "captured and taken to the ancestral hall", he didn't know that something had happened. The situation was obvious. The village must have known that his new daughter-in-law had been replaced, so they arrested Zhao Yuerong for questioning, or... more probably

It's said to be a question of guilt.

Without any time to waste, Xia Yuan thanked him casually, threw the things he bought on the ground, turned around and hurried to the ancestral hall.

Erniu originally wanted to follow along to watch the fun, but when she saw the package Xia Yuan threw on the ground, she hesitated, then silently knelt down to help look at the things.

When he arrived outside the ancestral hall, Xia Yuan stood at the door and saw that the courtyard of the ancestral hall was full of people. The villagers of Xiajiazhuang had gathered here and were discussing in a hurry.

"How can this Zhaojiacun do things like this? Isn't it ugly?"

"This is simply bullying our Xia family."

"The clan leader must punish him severely."

"Yes, it must be severely punished."

Hearing the word "severe punishment", Xia Yuan secretly thought something was wrong and hurriedly squeezed into the crowd, "Uncles and aunts, please give way, please give way."

Hearing the sound, the villagers turned their heads. Seeing Xia Yuan coming back, a few familiar people asked: "Brother Yuan, why did you come back? Your wife has been replaced. Do you know?"

Xia Yuan opened his mouth to answer when he heard a sound of scolding coming from the ancestral hall, with obvious anger. It was the voice of the clan elder.

Hearing the sound, he didn't care about anything else, and said quickly: "I know, why don't I know, come on, come on, give me a moment, let me go in and take a look."

As he said this, Xia Yuan struggled through the crowd and walked quickly into the ancestral hall.

The clan leader, several elders in the clan, and his uncle were all in the hall.

The younger daughter-in-law, Zhao Yuerong, was kneeling on the ground, her eyes red and helpless. Her little body was trembling slightly with fear, and she looked helpless.

Seeing Xia Yuan come in, her eyes lit up, then turned a little redder, and tears instantly filled her eyes.

Xia Yuan gave her a look that didn't scare her, and bowed politely to the elders in the hall. Before he could speak, he heard a cold snort.

"Hmph." The patriarch held the armrest of the Taishi chair and snorted coldly, deliberately turning his head to avoid his courtesy, "You are a scholar, and you have the reputation of being a scholar. If you don't bow to the official, you are a rotten old man. You are so small.

Patriarch, how dare I accept your courtesy?"

Faced with such words that seemed sarcastic but actually angry, Xia Yuan's thoughts changed and he instantly understood the reason for the other party's anger.

In this era when the clan leader is equal to the village director, plus the moral construction chief, and the director of the police station, all matters in the village, no matter how big or small, must be reported to the clan leader and let him help make decisions.

But she didn't tell him about being cheated into a marriage at all, which made the old man feel that he didn't take him as the patriarch of the clan seriously.

After thinking about the reason, he bowed deeply to the old man again, "My uncle is an elder and the leader of the clan, so I naturally accept this courtesy."

This time, the patriarch accepted it calmly, and his expression softened slightly. He half-closed his eyes and asked: "So you still think of me as the patriarch and an elder. Then let me ask you, your wife has been replaced by another person.

Do you know what’s going on?”

"I know." Now that the matter was over, Xia Yuan had no intention of hiding it and nodded in acknowledgement.

Seeing Xia Yuan nodding in recognition, the clan leader slammed the table angrily: "Since I know you yesterday, why didn't you just come to my uncle directly?"

The old patriarch was impatient. Before Xia Yuan could answer, he slammed the table again angrily, "What the Zhao family wants to do is really unreasonable!"

"To actually engage in such deceptive marriage practices is simply too deceptive."

"Take this woman with you. Let's go to Zhao's house now to ask for an explanation."

"If they refuse to admit this, I, Xia Youde, will go even if I don't show my face."

Speaking of this, the clan leader squinted his eyes and saw Uncle Xia Yuan who was standing there, and said: "Xia Ru, your nephew is being bullied like this, why are you still standing there? Go and write the petition. If they don't recognize it, we will

Just go to the Yamen and sue the officials!"

Following the old man's order, two stout women walked into the lobby, each stretched out their hands and clamped Zhao Yuerong's slender arms.

Zhao Yuerong was so frightened that his little body shrank. He wanted to struggle but didn't dare. The tears in his eyes instantly blurred his eyes and he cried: "Husband, wuwu"

She felt that she was doomed this time, and her husband would definitely not be able to save her. She was despairing, and felt very unwilling to accept that her good life had only passed one day and one night.

They haven't had a wedding yet, and they haven't given birth to a child for their husband.

At this moment, she suddenly felt that the two pairs of hands that tightly squeezed her arms lost their strength, and then her body fell into a warm embrace.

In a daze, she only heard a soft voice.

"Dear uncles, uncles and aunts, please let this matter go. I have decided to let her stay."

As soon as these words came out, the whole hall of the ancestral hall could be heard. Everyone was a little unable to react for a moment, perhaps more because they doubted their hearing.

In this era, reputation is the most important thing for women, and the same goes for men. It is a shame for a newlywed wife to be replaced. If she still swallows it, she will definitely become a laughing stock.

Everyone looked at Xia Yuan dumbfounded, wondering what he was thinking.

In full view of everyone, Xia Yuan only gave his little daughter-in-law a symbolic hug. Feeling the little body in his arms trembling slightly, he gently patted her back to comfort her, and then leaned into her ear.

He said softly: "Don't be afraid, I'm here."

After saying that, he let go of his hand.

Zhao Yuerong looked up with red eyes. The setting sun shone in. Xia Yuan stood with the light behind her. She was bathed in a halo and couldn't see clearly, but it gave her an unprecedented sense of security.
Chapter completed!