Manbao suddenly felt a bit sour in her heart and asked, "Are there still any relatives left?"
The vendor said, "Haven’t heard of any, why, is Old Cultivated Talent Xia really the person you are looking for?"
Bai Shan noticed that the smile had disappeared from Manbao’s face, and quickly said, "Perhaps he is, so we want to inquire if their family still has any relatives. If not, who is living in the house they used to live in now?"
"I’m not sure, young master. You can ask around Songhua Alley."
Bai Shan thanked him, and the guard who had arrived early in Shangzhou to make arrangents approached, having already secured an inn for them.
The group ate so noodles, then went to the inn to rest and unload their luggage before sending soone to inquire about Songhua Alley.
Inside the bundle found in the mountains by Manbao, there were two property deeds, one for a house and one for a shop;
three land deeds, and two household registrations. It was because Xia Xin’s na was on Xia Yan’s household registration that Manbao could know her grandfather’s na, making it easier to search.
Otherwise, with only her mother’s na, it would be hard to find, as in this era, won rarely had permanent property or were active outside.
The sun was too intense, so Bai Shan wore a bamboo hat before leaving and said to the sowhat sleepy Mr. Zhuang and others, "Sir and uncle should rest at ho, we’ll go to Songhua Alley to inquire."
Old Zhou imdiately assigned Zhou Dalang and Zhou Wulang, saying, "You two accompany your sister and take good care of her." Don’t let the Xia Family snatch her away.
Zhou Wulang thought his father was overthinking it. If there was no one left in the aunt’s family, the Xia family probably wouldn’t be happy to see Manbao appear, let alone snatch her away.
Manbao, however, said, "Let’s split up to inquire, Big Brother, you and Fifth Brother find this shop, this is the land deed my little... father kept."
Zhou Dalang reached out and took it. He nodded after discussing with Zhou Wulang, "Then we’ll go."
"Go on, go."
Zhou Dalang and Zhou Wulang weren’t worried about the three of them going out alone. In terms of travel experience, the three were far more experienced than the two brothers.
Not knowing how big Shangzhou was, the three of them brought their horses when they headed out. Daji only brought one guard with them.
The five rode their horses down the main street, and after asking around, they headed towards Songhua Alley.
Along the way, the three looked around, observing the stalls and shops on both sides of Shangzhou’s streets from atop their horses.
By the ti they turned into Songhua Alley, there weren’t many people around. It was afternoon, and only a few children were playing in the alley, with almost no adults in sight.
Manbao dismounted, raised her head to look at the house numbers on the gates, and searched downward, though so households didn’t display their numbers.
Therefore, they couldn’t find them all, but the numbers usually followed a pattern, so they calculated in their minds and moved along the alley, checking back and forth among four houses before finally knocking on one of the doors.
In this house, the sound of chickens clucking could be heard faintly from inside, clearly indicating soone lived there.
They heard footsteps inside, and soon, the main door opened, revealing a woman. Bai Shan took a step back to let Manbao go forward.
Manbao instinctively smiled, greeted her, and asked, "Excuse , elder sister, which household is number twenty-three in Songhua Alley?"
"Number twenty-three?" She hesitated for a mont, then laughed, "Little lady, with you asking suddenly like this, I don’t even know which one it is. I don’t even know my own house number."
She walked out the door, smiled, and asked, "Are you looking for soone, little lady? May I ask the na you are looking for?"
"The surna is Xia," Manbao paused before continuing, "More than ten years ago, he was a cultivated talent, and their family used to live here."
"There is a family with the surna Xia here, but they don’t have a cultivated talent. Did you rember incorrectly?"
Bai Shan asked, "Which family has the surna Xia?"
"There, just the house across the street."
The three turned to look and, after thanking her, decided to go and ask.
Manbao felt a bit nervous, swallowed, and stepped forward, raising her hand to knock on the door.
Just as she knocked once, the door creaked open slightly, and they realized it had been ajar the whole ti.
From inside, soone seed to have heard the commotion, and a woman’s voice called out loudly, "Co in, the door’s open."
Manbao then pushed the door open and could see the entire courtyard at once.
On the left side of the courtyard hung a pole with many clothes drying on it. By the door was a small room with one person wiping her hands as she ca out of the kitchen. Seeing the people at the door, she paused for a mont and asked, "Who are you? I thought it was Sister-in-law Fang from next door."
The three hurriedly greeted her and said, "Sister, we are here looking for soone."
She frowned and asked, "Looking for whom?"
The elder sister from the opposite door, who was watching the fun behind Manbao and the others, imdiately raised her voice and said, "Sister-in-law Xia, they are here looking for a Cultivated Talent Xia. I said no cultivated talent lives in our alley, but they won’t believe it. Might it be your relatives?"
Sister-in-law Xia frowned and said, "We don’t have a cultivated talent in our family; maybe you have the wrong place?"
Manbao took a look around the courtyard before withdrawing her gaze to look at her, asking, "Sister, do you know a cultivated talent nad Xia Yan?"
Sister-in-law Xia’s face slightly changed, and she instinctively denied it, "I don’t know him. You have co to the wrong place."
The three of them weren’t foolish, noticing her expression was off, they realized there was more to the story, but Sister-in-law Xia didn’t give them a chance to speak further, directly driving them away, "I need to start cooking, so please leave without disturbing us..."
Saying so, she began closing the door.
The neighbor from across the street couldn’t help but say, "Sister-in-law Xia, it’s already this ti, and you haven’t had lunch yet? Aren’t your children out playing?"
"What does our family’s business have to do with you? Busybody, getting full and staring at people’s courtyards like a gossiping woman..."
The neighbor sister was clearly not expecting to be scolded. After a mont of surprise, she retorted, "Gao Clan, who are you talking to? I kindly helped guide your family’s relatives, and not only do you not appreciate it, you scold people for no reason. Did your family really do sothing guilty that they can’t let people see?"
The two of them instantly began a shouting match.
Manbao and the three were so startled they kept retreating, squeezing themselves to one side, watching the two argue with arms akimbo.
Bai Shan took out a handkerchief to wipe his face, saying disdainfully, "I need to wash my face."
Manbao glanced at him and said, "We should ask where the water well is."
Bai Shan nodded, turned, and said, "Let’s go, ask those kids in front."
Bai Erlang asked, "We’re just leaving like this?"
Bai Shan replied, "What else can we do? Do you want to stay and argue with them?"
He said, "I definitely can’t argue with her."
Manbao added, "Neither can I."
Bai Erlang: "...So we’re not searching anymore?"
Bai Shan glanced at him and said, "We’ve already confird it’s this house. Even if it isn’t, it must be related to the people in this house. The rest, we can ask the Chief or directly find the county magistrate."
If they were common folk, they naturally wouldn’t think of going to the county magistrate, but Manbao is an official, and the two of us are students at the Chongwen Pavilion. This status is quite intimidating outside.
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