Uncle Zhang was pushed in by two young men and said, "Sister..."
Even though his face is full of innocence, his stiff body, cold sweat on his forehead, and twinkling eyes all reveal his uneasiness. Zhang Laoan has been his brother and sister for a lifetime, and there is no trace of his guilty conscience. .She felt that her vision was dark, she could no longer stand still, her arms were trembling, she pointed at Uncle Zhang and gritted her teeth and said, "Did Yan Niang steal the title deed of Sun's house?"
Uncle Zhang blinked his eyes and said with a grimace: "What about the house deed or the land deed? Yan Niang went to Fuzhou with her husband-in-law to visit her relatives last month."
Zhang Laoan stared at him, his eyes about to burst into flames.
Uncle Zhang removed his eyes, looked around at the Shen clan members sitting around, and lowered his head.
The Shen clan members looked at the two sisters with sneers. As expected, Chen Yongshan escaped. Fuzhou is more than two thousand miles away from Songjiang. Where can I find him again?
Shen Juren also stared at Uncle Zhang, feeling as if he had eaten his own uncle alive.
The patriarch frowned and glanced at the old man from the third room, just in time to see the old man from the third room wink at Shen Lian again.
I heard Shen Lian say: "On the day after the Double Ninth Festival, I met with Mr. Zhang and negotiated the deal for two villages, a silk and satin shop, and a grain and rice store. At the end of the month, I delivered the deal with your son-in-law, with 20 hectares of upper field and 40 hectares of middle field. hectare, the price is 26,000; a silk and satin shop, a shop floor, and goods worth 3,500 taels of silver; a grain and rice shop, a shop floor, and warehouse goods worth 2,500 taels, a total of 32,000 taels of silver. Today is the day I heard that selling off the property was not Brother Yuan’s original intention. If this is the case, please ask Mr. Zhang to return the more than 30,000 taels of silver."
While he was talking, he looked at Shen Lu.
Shen Lu said: "Yes, yes, I also negotiated with Mr. Zhang that day for two houses and two shops. At the end of the month, I will deliver the goods to your son-in-law. The two houses will be converted into one thousand one hundred taels of silver; the cloth village One place, shop, and warehouse goods were worth one thousand six hundred taels of silver; one place, the inn, and the shop land was worth one thousand two hundred taels of silver. We thought that Mr. Zhang was making the decision on behalf of the fourth house, so we bought it. We didn’t want to cause trouble again today. , Mr. Zhang is still hurrying to pay back the money."
The two spoke so eloquently that Zhang Laoan was almost furious. He grabbed Uncle Zhang's arm and said bitterly: "Zhang Changsheng, your conscience has been eaten by a dog? How dare you?"
Uncle Zhang's face changed greatly, he looked at Shen Lian eagerly and said: "Fourth Master, don't you want to spit on others? When did I discuss business with Fourth Master? I just happened to meet the Fourth Masters during the Double Ninth Festival, and we ate a few together." Drinking wine."
Shen Lian raised his eyebrows and said, "Master Zhang turned his back on me? If we hadn't negotiated properly with Master Zhang, would I have settled a deal worth tens of thousands of taels of silver with Chen Yongshan alone? I'd be crazy before I could gain or lose."
Shen Lu echoed: "That's right, that's right. Among us Shen clan members, who doesn't know that Uncle Si Fangyuan is a noble man, disdains to pay attention to common things, and leaves all family affairs to his uncle's family. Mr. Zhang came out with the property and asked another question. It's my Shen clan, so everyone naturally thought it was Uncle Yuan's intention. Clan relatives are just helping each other, so we took over."
Zhang Lao'an wanted to tear off a piece of Uncle Zhang's flesh, and Shen Juren's heart was completely despairing. Even though he hated the Zhang family, he still had a little extravagant hope in his heart, hoping that his uncle's family would care about their flesh and blood.
Uncle Zhang's face turned red and he jumped up and said: "Don't talk in vain! I just happened to have a meal with you and stole the deed of Sun's house. It was Yan Niang who negotiated the business with you. It's Chen Yongshan, and it's registered in the yamen. The person who sold it to you was the He family as the middleman; the person who sold it to the He family was you as the middleman, and the receipt was also made by Chen Yongshan, so what do you want me to do?"
He finished speaking in a crackling voice. The more he spoke, the more confident he became and his body straightened up a bit.
Zhang Lao'an could no longer stand still and staggered. Shen Jin happened to see it and hurriedly stepped forward to help him.
Zhang Laoan opened his eyes to Uncle Zhang and looked at all the relatives in the room. Everyone was disgusted with this confused old lady. She couldn't have a good face. Even the juniors had droopy faces. Mr. Zhang Anren was cheated by her natal family, which ruined not only the Sun family's inheritance, but also the Shen family's reputation.
There are nine heads of the Shen family, and four of them are involved. How can they go to court to complain? Everyone is holding back their anger.
Zhang Laoan's eyes finally fell on Shen Li, and he prayed a little: "Master Zhuangyuan, you have to make the decision for your aunt... In September, before your aunt passed away, someone else took over your property. Go. There is Brother Rui. How can Brother Rui be good?" After saying that, he looked at the fifth-fang master again: "Uncle is the most fair in his actions. You should say a few words of justice to the fourth-fang."
She originally hated these two people the most, but she also knew that these were the only two people she could count on. Although Si Fang had a great reputation, it was supported by the wealth brought by the Sun family. Si Fang itself had a small population and no other people. The concubine's branch and the direct branch are just a juren.
The fifth master looked at the patriarch, but said nothing. Shen Li looked at old uncle Zhang and said, "Since the Zhang family deceived my aunt into selling her property, it is only reasonable that she should recover from the Zhang family."
Uncle Zhang felt that he had become meat on the chopping board, and trembled: "You really don't want to do anything with the Zhang family? Chen Yongshan's surname is Chen, why don't you go to the Chen family?"
Since the Shen family wanted to seek compensation from him, there was no way they could tolerate him. The dinner party after the Double Ninth Festival was true, and Uncle Zhang's words also meant to inquire about everyone's family background, so there was no way they could allow him to default on his debt.
No one paid any attention to him. Even if the matter was not suitable for a high-profile trial, it was just a matter of a few words to scare old uncle Zhang in the Yamen.
Shen Jiang responded, but was taken down by the patriarch with a cane. Most of his soul and soul were gone. Shen Jiang still dared to think about money. He was thinking about how to plead for his wife, but he couldn't let his old wife enter the family temple. Lian and Shen Lu looked at each other, and they had a tacit understanding and defense against each other. The Zhang family looked bright, but most of the family property came from the fourth house, which was quite a lot. Even if they could make up for it a little, they still had to divide it. If we build three or two properties, the remaining losses will be huge. On the premise of not angering the clan leader and other relatives, it is still a question of which property to keep and which property to return.
Now that the opera was singing, Shen Li was already a little impatient, so he said to the two boys at the door: "Master Zhang, please come down."
Two young men stepped forward and dragged Uncle Zhang down without any mercy.
Shen Li took out a list from his sleeve and said: "The Zhang family's land property totals nineteen hectares, including five hectares of ancestral land. Later, three additional properties were added, one with two hectares, one with three hectares, and one with nine hectares. Among them, the upper field has six hectares. There are thirteen hectares in the middle field, worth 16,400 taels of silver. There are four houses, three entrances to two, two entrances to one, a total of 104 rooms, worth 1,110 taels of silver. Pian went out to collect rent. There are three shops for one thousand eight hundred taels of silver. Thirteen servants are worth one hundred taels of silver. The total value of the Zhang family's possessions is nineteen thousand four hundred taels."
When Shen Lian and Shen Lu heard this, they both breathed a sigh of relief. They thought it would be good to recover a few thousand taels of silver from the Zhang family, but they didn't expect that the Zhang family actually had a fortune of 20,000 taels.
Zhang Laoan was beside him and was already dumbfounded.
She is the daughter of the Zhang family, so she doesn't know her family's financial situation. When she got married, the Zhang family only had five hectares of ancestral land left, and their ancestral house was dilapidated. Although the Shen family's four-bedroom house was better than the Zhang family's at that time, it was still there. Even if she helped her mother's family, it was only three melons and two dates. When Mrs. Sun came in and lived in the four-bedroom house, she had a lot of money, so she used her private house to buy a two-acre small farm for her mother's family. She was also afraid that her younger brother would not be able to run it, so she had no money. With pocket money, I bought a rent-collecting shop for him.
Where did the remaining twelve hectares of land, three houses, and two shops come from? In addition to helping the fourth house take care of the property, where else could the Zhang family and his son make a living?
She had known for a long time that her brothers and nephews from her mother's side liked to take advantage, but she thought it was just a matter of needles and threads, but she didn't expect it to be like this. The sum of the four-bedroom ancestral property and the property acquired later, except for more fields, was the same.
Seeing the attitude of Shen Li and other relatives, they actually wanted to divide the Zhang family's property, including the ancestral property. Zhang Laoan knew that something was wrong, but he was unable to defend the Zhang family. When she married, she followed her husband. She was a member of the Shen family. , no matter how close the mother's family is, they can't be closer than their own children and grandchildren. As long as the three heads of households are willing to return the property of the fourth house, they can divide it among the Zhang family.
After Shen Lili finished the order, he saw that Shen Lian seemed to have something to say. Without waiting for him to speak, he said to the clan leader: "It's all the Zhang family that is responsible. Everyone in the house is considered innocent. It's not good for everyone to bear all the losses. I'm hurt." The family is harmonious. The Zhang family is married to the fourth house. The house deed and land deed were stolen from the fourth house. The fourth house must bear the responsibility. The money spent on purchasing each house has to be compensated by the Zhang family for losses other than compensation. Each house is responsible for improper transactions. I'll bear half of it, and let the fourth room bear the other half. The prefect's wife is still waiting to make the decision for Brother Rui, so it's not good to let her wait like this."
The patriarch's expression gradually softened, and he nodded and said: "Wei Yan is right." After saying that, he looked around at everyone and said: "This matter can be regarded as a lesson. Some advantages can be taken advantage of, and some advantages cannot be taken anyway. The He family Leaving aside the occupation of the two weaving factories, the remaining eleven properties will be distributed to Shen Rui and Shen Jin in accordance with Sun's last order."
The expressions of the old man of the third house and the old man of the ninth house were a little stiff. The patriarch looked at Shen Li and said: "Let's divide it first. Within three days, each head of the house will go to the Yamen to transfer the ownership. We don't want the children to suffer. If anyone has any objections, the clan house will go out first." Put the money aside and worry about it later."
When Zhang Laoan heard something was wrong, he wanted to ask questions. Shen Juren was afraid of causing trouble, so he hurriedly said: "Just follow uncle's instructions."
The clan leader nodded, and for the sake of fairness, he asked someone to take a pen and ink, divide the eleven properties into two, and let Shen Rui and Shen Jin step forward to draw lots.
Neither Shen Rui nor Shen Jin wanted to draw the lot first, but it was the patriarch who spoke, and Shen Rui stepped forward to draw the lot first.
On this piece of paper, there is a farm with an area of 20 acres, two cotton fields with an area of 18 hectares, a house, a silk and satin shop, and a grocery store.
The remaining one belonged to Shen Jin, and included a farm with an area of 40 hectares, a cloth farm, a grain store, an inn, and a house.
After the distribution was completed, Shen Li went to the east room to see the prefect's wife. He came back a while later and brought in Mr. Jiang.
Four copies of the property settlement deed were written, with the patriarch and Mr. Jiang serving as the middlemen, and all the clansmen witnessed it...