Chapter 172 Meeting an Old Friend

Chapter 172 Meeting an Old Friend

In front of several tenant farmers, Xie Wanniang did not pry into the matter. She first accepted everyone's greetings with a smile, and then gently dismissed them to disperse in an orderly manner.

Once only Xie Daorong and the people she brought were left at the scene, she turned her clear, questioning gaze to Xie Daorong, who had clearly aged considerably.

Xie Daorong glanced at the guards behind Xie Wanniang and the little maid Haitang who was looking at him with surprise and delight. "Let me take you to the house first."

He needed a place where there were no outsiders to talk to Xie Wanniang about his troubles.

Xie Wanniang readily agreed, "Okay."

Led by Xie Daorong, Xie Wanniang and the others soon arrived at the second courtyard house belonging to the owner of the estate.

Leaving the guards in the front yard, Xie Wanniang, along with Haitang and Xie Daorong, went to the second courtyard at the back.

Somewhat absent-minded, Xie Daorong invited Xie Wanniang to sit down in the main room and then busied himself preparing tea and snacks for her.

Xie Wanniang stopped him, her expression gentle but revealing an undeniable seriousness and determination, "Uncle Rong, Haitang can handle these matters."

Xie Daorong gave a slightly embarrassed "Oh, oh," and then said, "Okay."

As soon as he nodded, Haitang had already swept away like a gust of wind to the kitchen in the second courtyard to work.

Only Xie Wanniang and Xie Daorong remained in the house. Xie Daorong then sighed and told Xie Wanniang why he had left the village.

Although he was a member of the Xie clan, he did not belong to the direct line of the Xie clan, which, despite suffering heavy losses during the war years and having to bide its time, was still able to quickly gain a foothold in the new dynasty by relying on its profound foundation accumulated over hundreds of years.

As ordinary members of the Xie clan who were already beyond five degrees of kinship with the main branch and had no outstanding descendants among their close relatives, their family was originally just the kind of "farming and studying family" that was most common in Xiejia Village.

The word "耕" (gēng) refers to their livelihood through farming, while the word "读" (dú) is related to the fact that the direct lineage uses most of the expenses of the sacrificial fields each year to support the children and elderly in the clan.

Those Xie clan members who have no children to support them, or who, even if they have children, are still destitute in their old age due to financial difficulties, will have their basic living needs guaranteed by the clan.

Children, regardless of whether they were born into the main branch of the family, could attend the clan school for free. The clan school not only did not charge tuition, but also provided the children with a certain number of books, writing materials, and a lunch.

Xie Daorong also attended a clan school for free when he was a child. He and Xie Daoheng hit it off at that time and became friends. However, unlike Xie Daoheng, he didn't have much talent in studying.

Xie Daoheng was a natural scholar, but he preferred martial arts and swordsmanship.

In the Xie family, which takes pride in "passing down poetry and books," Xie Daorong would undoubtedly appear out of place among his cousins.

In addition, Xie Daoheng rarely stayed in his hometown; most of the time, he lived in the capital with his family.

The two rarely saw each other, and their circumstances were vastly different. Their childhood friendship seemed to have faded to almost nothing due to distance and time.

Just when Xie Daorong thought that he would carry on his unrealistic dream of wandering the martial arts world, and be forced to stay at home as an ordinary farmer for the rest of his life because of his parents' anger and tears, while Xie Daoheng would have a smooth career and rise to prominence in the officialdom, the previous dynasty suddenly collapsed.

The pillars of the Xie family's direct line chose to sacrifice themselves for their country. Xie Daoheng, who was still very young at the time, was forced to step forward and support the elderly, weak, women and children in his family.

He led a large group of people, overcoming countless hardships and dangers, and fled back to the Xie clan's territory in a very sorry state.

Not all members of the Xie clan are of good character. He is a young man who is not yet twenty years old and has lost his support. Just because he is the direct descendant, he takes the majority of resources and even wants to become the clan leader and ride on the heads of his elders. Many people are not convinced.

They were better off observing coldly and testing them; some even harbored thoughts of replacing the direct line and making their own branch the direct line instead of a collateral branch.

At that time, only a very small portion of the Xie clan members chose to stand with Xie Daoheng without hesitation.

This includes Xie Daorong, who at that time was of low status and his voice was insignificant; whether he stood up or not would not have made much difference, but he himself would become a tool for others to make an example of because of his rash behavior.

To everyone's surprise, Xie Daorong, an unknown nobody, dared to stand up against the clan elders, and indeed, the elders vented their anger on Xie Daorong immediately.

He thought to himself, if he couldn't do anything to the direct descendants, including Xie Daoheng, openly, could he really not handle a mere mediocre and incompetent junior from a collateral branch?

Perfect timing! He'll use Xie Daorong, this chicken that deliberately walked right into his trap, to give those fools who actually tried to help that greenhorn Xie Daoheng fight against him a good scare.

However, something even more unexpected happened when he revealed a ferocious expression to Xie Daorong.

Having come prepared, Xie Daoheng had himself and his two sons arrested.

Then, amidst the astonished, confused, and angry gazes of his clansmen, Xie Daoheng had a large amount of evidence brought out, proving that he and his two sons had abused their positions to seek personal gain for their own family.

Enraged by the evidence, his family was expelled from the village. Xie Daoheng, however, used this incident to establish his authority and became the new clan leader.

Including Xie Daorong, all those who firmly supported the direct lineage were later cultivated and given important positions by Xie Daoheng. Xie Daorong even got his wish and, with Xie Daoheng's support, openly began practicing martial arts.

His parents, who had initially strongly opposed his martial arts training, stopped pressuring him to "behave properly" because he had gained Xie Daoheng's favor.

It was only at this moment that Xie Daorong realized that Xie Daoheng had never forgotten his childhood friend.

He could not only accurately call out Xie Daorong's name and birth order, but also clearly remember the interesting experiences they had when they were being mischievous together.

The reason he hadn't communicated with his clansmen for so long was that he and the other members of the Xie clan's direct line had also had a difficult time these past few years.

After listening to Xie Daoheng recount the trials and tribulations the Xie clan's direct line had experienced over the years, Xie Daorong realized that the direct line members, whom the clansmen had once envied so much, had actually been living in constant fear and trepidation all these years.

After a deep conversation, the two quickly resumed their close friendship without any barriers. The separation of the past ten years had not affected their pure friendship at all.

After that, Xie Daorong stood firmly by Xie Daoheng's side, doing everything he could to help him. Xie Daoheng also treated him very well. Because of Xie Daoheng, their family quickly went from being an ordinary, unremarkable farming household to one of the most prominent and respected families in Xiejia Village.