The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

"Doctor Guan."

After leaving the main house of the Li family, Li Xian immediately bowed to Heifu in fear and trepidation, saying, "I didn't expect that the clan leader asked me to invite Doctor Guan to the banquet for this reason..."

Heifu did not show any dissatisfaction, and smiled, "I have always respected Doctor Li. Even if the marriage is not successful, we still have a friendship. It doesn't matter. Don't take it to heart."

"Yes."

But Li Xian cursed in his heart, scolding the clan leader of the Li family for not being authentic enough.

It turned out that a few days ago, after Li Xian returned home with the title, in addition to his wife and children being very happy, the clan leader of the Li family really began to pay attention to him. He summoned Li Xian to the main house for the first time, encouraged him in person, and said that he was the most promising among the younger generation of the clan. Then he put on the posture of an elder and gave him a lecture, telling him what he needed to pay attention to when he went to the county to be a Wei Shi.

Although the Qin State did not allow large clans to live together, the connection between clans was still difficult to cut off. Even if the family was divided, the small clans still surrounded the large clan like stars in the sky. The orders of the clan leader were often more effective than those of the township officials.

Then, the clan leader suddenly asked Li Xian about Heifu. He seemed to have a strong interest in Heifu and asked Li Xian to send an invitation on his behalf to invite Heifu to a banquet at his house.

"Guan Dafu was the head of the pavilion in this township for a year. He solved many cases for this township. Until now, thieves and villains dare not do evil when they hear the name of Guan Dafu. Guan Dafu has done a great favor to this township, but I have never invited him to my home. It is really rude. This time I will regard it as an apology."

Li Xian thought that the clan leader wanted to please Heifu, so he did it without any doubt.

Heifu firstly wanted to save Li Xian's face, and secondly, the Li family was also the second largest family in Anlu County, second only to the Yun family in influence, and also had some conflicts with the Yun family. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so he readily agreed and went to the Yushui Township for a banquet on December 28.

Judging from the appearance of the house, the Li family still seemed to be prominent, but as long as you observe carefully, you can find that it has declined a lot compared to the past. Even the village tycoon Zhang that Heifu met in Huyou Township in Weidi is better than them, and the education and conversation of his disciples are far inferior to Zhang.

There was nothing nutritious at the banquet. The head of the Li family invited all the prominent figures in the township. Everyone surrounded Heifu like stars around the moon, complimenting him for his youth and achievements, and being a role model for the younger generations in the county...

Some people even said when toasting: "The left lieutenant should step aside and let the wise man go!"

At this time, the whole banquet was still normal, but when Heifu got drunk and got up to go to the toilet, the head of the Li family winked at the village stable clerk who Heifu had dealt with when handling the murder case.

The village stableman immediately stood up and followed. He waited outside the toilet. When Heifu came out, he whispered, "I heard that the official is still unmarried, so the head of the Li family asked me to cut a tree for him. The head of the Li family has a legitimate daughter who is only fifteen years old. She is beautiful, virtuous and polite. She is close to the age of the official, and may be a good match for him..."

Hearing the word "cut a tree", Heifu immediately woke up. After all, he was the matchmaker for Chen Ping, so of course he knew what this meant. He listened to the words of the village stableman silently, said he would think about it, and reply to the head of the Li family after the banquet.

Not surprisingly, Heifu personally helped the head of the Li family leave the table after the banquet, and politely declined the marriage...

"I am so abrupt."

The head of the Li family did not change his expression. The reason why he asked the village stableman to secretly tell Heifu about this was that if the negotiation failed, both sides would not lose face, and the two of them would say goodbye with a smile as if nothing had happened.

Heifu rejected another marriage proposal, and his heart was not moved, because this was the fourth one he had formally declined since he came back...

This did not include those speculators who came to their house with their daughters and did not even enter their doorstep.

In Chaoyangli, as early as the year before last, when Heifu just became the head of the pavilion, there was a climax of "cutting the tree", and Heifu refused anyone at that time. Now that Heifu has become an official, the people in the village probably feel that they are not worthy of his family and dare not humiliate themselves.

But in Yunmeng Township, many people are planning to give it a try. The village head, the three elders of the village, and even the village patrol have successively asked Heifu's aunt to be a matchmaker, wanting to marry their daughters, granddaughters, and even nieces to Heifu.

For these marriages, Heifu properly rejected them one by one, without letting the other party feel humiliated, but he still couldn't stand the constant visits, so he agreed to go to the Lai Li family for a banquet to hide, but he still couldn't avoid it.

Li Xian was still scolding the clan leader: "The older the clan leader gets, the more confused he is. He made his own decision without consulting me beforehand..."

If the Li family could really have a son-in-law like Hei Fu, it would be a good thing for the whole family, but Li Xian had been with Hei Fu for two years and could sense that he was arrogant. He was afraid that ordinary county and township girls would not be worthy of his attention.

Li Xian's guess was correct. Although Hei Fu, 20 years old, was indeed quite old according to the common marriage age of that era, he was not planning to marry in a hurry.

Not finding a suitable partner was one of the reasons, but there was another reason.

In the aristocratic etiquette of the Spring and Autumn Period, men were crowned at the age of 20 and women were married at the age of 15. But it was also stipulated that men should marry at the age of 30 and women at the age of 20. Why was it so late? Why did they have to wait so long after adulthood?

The reason was simple. They were waiting for a marriage that could create the greatest benefits for the family.

Through Chen Ping's marriage, Hei Fu also accepted this theory.

"There is no need to elaborate on the laws of nature and human nature. Marriage is all about profitability!"

The marriages that have come to the door in the past few days are not beneficial to Heifu himself and his family, but profitable to the woman.

Heifu knows his potential and will not stop at being an official or a small county in Anlu. So he wants to wait until he reaches a wider area before looking for a suitable marriage. Of course, there is also some modern delusion in this.

"Maybe I can find a woman I like if I wait a little longer... Why are you in such a hurry!"

...

Although the matter was not settled and they left early, it was almost dark. The two townships were a bit far apart, and Heifu could not go home today. Li Xian invited Heifu to his home to drink some hot soup to sober up, and he would personally send Heifu to the guest house later.

"Okay, I'm going out today and I've brought some gifts for your wife and son."

Heifu returned to the carriage he had bought for 20,000 yuan, and took two pieces of silk cloth bought in Yunmeng Township, as well as two pounds of brown sugar in a wooden box...

Li Xian was somewhat moved. Heifu did not lose his manners to him just because he was an official doctor. He quickly led Heifu to the depths of "Lili" where they were.

Li Xian introduced: "Originally, this village was a family. After the separation, they lived together as a clan. According to the closeness of the relationship, those who were close to the Li family mansion were close relatives, and those who were far away were distant relatives."

Lili was not small in size. It was roughly estimated that at least sixty or seventy families could live there. It can be seen that the power of the Li family was still not small, but Heifu did not regret rejecting this marriage.

Li Xian also said: "This is actually nothing. The Yun family in the northern suburbs of the county is also a clan living in one village, with more than a hundred households and seven or eight hundred people!"

Hei Fu nodded. This is the root of the strength of the local clan. Although Shang Jun's separation order formally broke up the clan and increased taxes. But in fact, they still changed their way and held together tightly, prospering together and suffering together.

These county tycoons often colluded with officials in the county and took them as their backers. It seems that it is not an easy task for me to kill the Yun family.

Li Xian is obviously a distant branch and lives in the outermost part of the village. However, when walking on the road, anyone who met him would bow and greet him respectfully. It can be seen that Li Xian's situation has changed greatly.

Li Xian smiled on his face, but he didn't take his fellow clansmen seriously behind his back. In the past twenty years, he had had enough of the warmth and coldness of human feelings.

"Just like what Guan Dafu said, there is no shortage of people who add icing on the cake, but there is a shortage of people who help in times of need. Li Xian will not take these people who curry favor with the powerful to heart."

The implication is that Hei Fu is the one who "helps in times of need".

Soon, they arrived at Li Xian's house, but saw that the house was not big, and the wall had just been repaired. It looked very new. The wooden door that was originally full of cracks and gaps had just been painted with black paint.

Hei Fu laughed dumbly. Isn't this what their house looked like when he just became the head of the pavilion?

Li Xian pushed open the door and invited Hei Fu in. He saw that the yard was very tidy. On the left side of the open space were a group of newly purchased furniture that had not yet been arranged, and on the right side was a vegetable garden with sparse chives.

Walking further in, Heifu's main room was found to be cleaned just like the courtyard. The mats, low tables, and even the floor and walls were spotless. It was obvious that Li Xian had married a diligent wife.

"Wife, the official doctor is here, why don't you bring Cang'er and Yuan out to greet him!"

Li Xian invited Heifu in, apologizing for the mess at home, and shouted loudly. Soon, a woman in her twenties came out of the kitchen with two children aged five or six, and hurriedly bowed to Heifu.

Hei Fu stepped back and bowed, saying, "Please stand up quickly. Although I am a senior official of Li Jun in the army, I treat him as my brother on weekdays. Sister-in-law, please stand up quickly!"

Li Xian's wife was a little overwhelmed when she was called sister-in-law by the "noble lady" her husband often mentioned. After she stood up, Hei Fu squatted down, stuffed two small boxes of brown sugar into the hands of the two children, and said with a smile, "How old are you and what are your names?"

"My name is Yuan, I'm six years old..." The little girl blushed and was a little shy. After she finished speaking, she hid behind her mother.

Only the little boy with a tuft of hair on his head was not afraid of strangers at all. He looked at Hei Fu boldly and answered loudly, "My name is Li Cang, I'm four years old!"

"Li Cang?"

Hei Fu was stunned for a moment. This name sounded so familiar. Could it be that Li Xian's son was a historical celebrity?

After the children happily ate the brown sugar and ran away, Hei Fu suddenly remembered where he had seen this name.

"Licang, isn't he the owner of the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha, Hunan!"

Hei Fu couldn't help laughing. Shuihudi and Mawangdui, the two major archaeological discoveries in Hubei and Hunan, actually met in this way in this time and space?

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