Chapter 159 Funeral
Chapter 159 Funeral

"Compared to Li Guodong, you guys are just little bugs." Ye Xuan stood up and looked down, "And if Li Guodong hadn't taken the lead, you wouldn't dare to do it even if you were given the courage."

"Go back and tell your colleagues that this office will forgive the past and the stolen money of others except Wu Qizao does not need to be returned! But I have one condition."

Yao Guang was already overjoyed that Ye Xuan was willing to let bygones be bygones, not to mention that the previous stolen money did not need to be returned.

Hearing this, he was naturally overjoyed and hurriedly agreed: "Sir, please tell me, let alone one condition, even if it is a hundred conditions, I will never say no!"

Ye Xuan nodded and said, "That means from tonight onwards, you must be a good official for democracy and stop thinking about oppressing the people and exploiting their wealth. Otherwise, don't blame me for not warning you in advance!"

Yao Guang immediately kowtowed and said, "Your Excellency, your grace is so great that it is like a rebirth for us! If there are still people who are blinded by greed and do not repent, we brothers will take action first without your punishment!"

"Okay, don't forget what you said." Ye Xuan nodded.

Seeing this, Yao Guang didn't dare to delay Ye Xuan's rest any longer, and hurriedly left the room, anxious to inform the people in the official residence of the good news.

In fact, if it was not necessary, Ye Xuan did not intend to deal with Wu Qizao. He just wanted to give him a good beating and then squeeze out the money he had embezzled.

After all, the entire Beishan Imperial Farm covers 2,000 hectares of land. How can he manage it if he relies solely on himself to count the money and the common people?

It's just that Wu Qizhao is so bold and lustful that as soon as Li Guodong got into trouble, he actually wanted to rob the woman and happened to run into Ye Xuan's knife.

All we need to do is give these petty officials in Beishan Imperial Farm a good warning so that they won't dare to treat the people harshly anymore.

…………

The next day.

Accompanied by Yao Guang, Ye Xuan officially began his duties as the head of Beishan Imperial Manor and inspected the imperial manor.

When he came yesterday, he just took a rough look at the appearance of the main street, but today Ye Xuan would go into the farmers' homes from time to time to inspect them.

After visiting more than a dozen households, Ye Xuan was sad to find that almost everyone was living a life of hunger and cold.

Although the Ming Dynasty had been established for many years, the world had not yet fully recovered from the catastrophe.

Especially the people in Beishan Imperial Farm, most of them were displaced during the war and fled from other places.

He had no land or property and could only make a living by renting government-owned land.

Before Li Guodong became corrupt, the people of Beishan Royal Village could still get by.

Although there is still some distance between people having enough food and clothing, it is almost there. Even if people can't die from eating too much, no one has starved to death.

Some families with large populations can even buy two taels of pork to eat as a delicacy during the New Year and other festivals.

But ever since Li Guodong became corrupt, the lives of the people in Beishan Huangzhuang have become worse and worse.

After wandering around for most of the day, what Ye Xuan saw and heard was exactly the same.

Just when my patience was about to run out, a cry suddenly came from not far ahead.

Ye Xuan came over in the direction of the sound and stood in front of a low thatched house that was similar to the others around it. He saw a few simple pieces of white cloth hanging outside the thatched house, and one could tell at a glance that this family had just suffered a funeral.

Hearing the familiar crying sound, Ye Xuan couldn't help but ask: "Whose family is this?"

Yao Guang looked at Ye Xuan strangely and said, "Your Excellency, this family is Miss Yunfang's family."

Ye Xuan was slightly surprised and stepped into the hut. He saw a door panel in the middle of the dark room, and a body lying on the door panel. A woman and a little boy were kneeling in front of the body and crying softly. Who else could it be but Yun Fang?

"My Lord, why are you here?"

Yunfang turned around and immediately saw Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan did not answer, but just glanced around the room.

The low roof was less than a person's height and had long been blackened by the smoke from the fireworks. A touch of the roof with a finger revealed all black ash.

There were quite a few dusty spider webs in the corners, and fine dust was floating in the air.

The small and cramped hut was divided into three rooms. In addition to the main room in the middle where the corpse was placed, there was a kitchen on the right and a piece of rag served as a door curtain on the left.

Through the holes in the door curtain, which was so dirty that its original color could not be seen, one could vaguely see a low wooden bed in the room, with some messy clothes and bedding on it.

Yunfang hurriedly took the little boy's hand and stood up.

I looked around for a while, feeling a bit helpless, but in the end I couldn't find even a decent chair. I was so ashamed that I almost cried.

Instead, Yao Guang comforted him, "My master came out specially to understand the people's sentiments. Don't think too much about it."

Ye Xuan sighed lightly and glanced at the skinny body of the old man on the door panel.

Actually, although he is an old man, he is only in his fifties, but in this era, it is considered a long life.

"Your father should have passed away for some time, why hasn't he been buried yet?" Ye Xuan said.

Yun Fang grabbed the corner of her clothes with her hands for a long time before she said embarrassedly, "I really don't have the money to buy a coffin, so I have been delaying it until now."

Ye Xuan was stunned when he heard this and asked, "Why didn't Wu Qizao pay any money?"

"This bastard was so reluctant to even give up his coffin that he actually wanted to imitate others. His death was a worthy one."

What Ye Xuan said was not without reason. The Ming Dynasty emphasized governing the country with filial piety.

If Wu Qizao had not been so stingy and had directly helped with the Yun family's funeral, Ye Xuan Yunfang would not have been so resistant and might even have submitted.

However, when Yun Fang heard Ye Xuan mention Wu Qizao, she suddenly felt embarrassed.

Sighing again, Ye Xuan took out ten taels of silver from his pocket and said, "How much does a half-decent funeral cost? Is ten taels of silver enough?"

After thinking about it, a thin coffin now costs four or five taels of silver. I also need to buy some funeral supplies, such as incense, candles, paper money and other miscellaneous things. I also need to prepare two tables of banquets to thank the neighbors who helped me. Ten taels of silver may not be enough.

So he took out another five taels of silver and stuffed them into Yunfang's hand.

"Take this money and take care of the funeral first. The dead cannot be brought back to life, so please accept my condolences."

However, Yunfang was horrified and refused to accept it no matter what.

"Your Excellency just exchanged thirty taels of silver for me last night. How can I have the nerve to take your money?"

Ye Xuan was too lazy to say more, he just stuffed the silver into Yun Fang's pocket and said, "What are you embarrassed about? Are you going to cancel your father's funeral just because you feel embarrassed?"

After hearing this, Yun Fang suddenly became sad, and finally did not refuse Ye Xuan's kindness.

(End of this chapter)