Volume 1 Xiao Yuanba Chapter 8 Strict order under the Chen family
"Oh, I was just patronizing Wu Lang, but I forgot about this!"
Gao raised his forehead with his hands and said hurriedly: "It's better to choose a day than to hit it. The matter has reached this point. If we don't solve it quickly, I'm afraid the night will be long and full of dreams.
Just ask her to come in, and I will give her clear instructions so that she can do the work!" Chunfang agreed and came out, waving the woman in.
Mrs. Lao was standing in the corridor with her back sore. When she saw this, she gritted her teeth and walked into the house to greet Mrs. Gao first. Mrs. Gao felt much better. Looking at her, she knew she had been standing there for a long time and felt very sorry.
He asked someone to move Jin Dun over so that she could sit down and talk, and said, "You probably heard it just now. When something happened, the eldest sister of the Chen family panicked and hid in my house. Now she has been sent back.
Oh, I didn't ask her to go back, she thought about it for herself overnight and came to tell me in person this morning.
Alas! I have to say that she is a sensible and good child, but it is a pity that this matter in her family has nothing to do with my Li family.
That's why I called you over. Don't worry, Sister Hui will definitely have an argument with her family when she goes back. Her family won't blame you if you break off the engagement.
Originally, her family hurriedly sent Sister Hui over to marry my Wulang, and they even brought a dowry.
Our uncle became suspicious and sent people out to inquire. Only then did he know the plot of the Chen family's crime. Although the Chen family loves her daughter very much, she made a mistake. How could she do something like this?
No matter what happens, my family will never ruin their son's future just because they are greedy for this little gift, right?
Alas! To put it bluntly, this is a big event that shakes up the world. Even though Mr. Chen and my late husband are of the same age and share the same hometown, we can’t afford it!
You need to make this clear to her family when you go.
As for the dowry..." Mrs. Gao nodded towards Chunfang, watched her go into the back room, and soon took out a baggage.
Mrs. Gao pointed and said, "We can't return the food and clothing, so we have to pay two hundred taels of silver.
I asked the housekeeper to ask someone to estimate the jewelry, gold, silver, and utensils, and the price was reduced by one thousand taels, making a total of one thousand two hundred taels.
They were all exchanged for small-value banknotes of five taels, ten taels, and twenty taels, so that they could collect and use them on the road.
The contract between the land and the shop remains intact. If the Chen family also wants to exchange it for a banknote, I can help and ask them to come up with an amount."
As she said this, Chunfang put the baggage in Mrs. Lao's hand and put a small five-tael silver spindle on top. "This is your reward. Grandma rewarded it, so keep it."
"This..." Matchmaker Lao looked at Mr. Gao hesitantly.
"Take it. Maybe her family has something else she wants you to bring. If we can't come forward, we'll have to trouble you a few times.
You also need money to run some official business. Once this matter is over, I will give you another five taels!" Gao said.
"Oh, then, then I thank Second Grandma!" Mrs. Lao was overjoyed and quickly clasped her hands and bowed to thank her.
But Mrs. Gao looked like she couldn't bear it, waved her hand and shouted: "Chunfang, you give it to the Lao family. Do it well and make sure her family writes a divorce document and asks for the bride price from the Li family!"
Mrs. Lao was promised benefits, and she felt much more at peace. Thinking of this, for the sake of money, she bravely went to take this trip for the second mistress of the Li family!
So Chunfang sent him out and found Ma Jiu in the side yard and asked him to drive him to the Chen Mansion.
At this time, a young government servant holding a fire stick stood in front of the Chen family. Seeing the mule cart stop, he smiled and asked: "Uncle Ma Jiu, your family is very busy today! First, I sent the eldest daughter of the Chen family back to the house, and now I have to send her off again."
who?"
Mrs. Lao opened the sedan curtain and grinned, making the yamen servant take a step back: "From the Lao family? What are you doing here? Could it be that you came to propose marriage at this time?"
"It's not a proposal of marriage, it's an annulment of the engagement!" Ma Jiu replied expressionlessly.
"Breaking off the engagement?" The yamen servant curled his lips in disdain: "Guidao sent the eldest lady of the Chen family back, it turns out he dislikes her family!"
"You know nothing! You are talking nonsense, be careful when your father is looking for a bride, I will find you a loudmouthed bitch!" Mrs. Lao glared at the boy, raised her legs and walked inside.
"Hey, who is this that speaks so harshly?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Wei Xiong held the handle of the knife with his left hand, and with his right hand behind his back, he emerged from the shadow of the coupon door and looked down at Mrs. Lao, making the matchmaker shrink back in fright.
"Oh, you surprised me. It's Mr. Wei who is on duty?" Mrs. Lao immediately put on a smile.
Wei Xiong was different from these government officials. He was a formal official of the county government, equivalent to a "civil servant" in later generations, while the twenty or so people under him were actually helpers, that is, "temporary workers."
The county government has a limited establishment. There are chief clerks under the county magistrate, clerks in each room, chief ministers of Zhaomo, execution chambers, and inspections. The lowest one is the magistrate like Wei Xiong. So what should we do if we don't have enough manpower to do the work?
The yamen can set aside a small amount from the taxes collected to support some "servants". The number of servants depends on how much the local area can bear. Those with more money can use more people, and those with less money can use fewer people.
According to the system of this dynasty, the county's servants had to be allocated to the subordinate Baojia, and each family took turns sending their strong men to the county to serve as envoys. But everyone was not happy, because sending strong men to serve as corvees would affect farm work and production.
So the county magistrate was considerate of everyone and charged each family an extra two dollars per year so that you don't have to hire anyone. The county hires people to serve on your behalf. This is the role of helpers!
The people felt that their homes would not be hindered and the losses could be tolerated, and the county was able to resettle idle workers and stabilize public order, killing two birds with one stone!
Therefore, an ordinary code official like Wei Xiong, with his "established" status, can also command more than ten or twenty helpers, and he can pretend to be powerful or not.
In the eyes of ordinary people, this kind of person is a brat, but he can't afford to offend him, so Mrs. Lao accompanied her when she saw him. She told him that it was the second mistress of the Li family who sent her to break off the engagement, and she quietly let him go. I gave him two loads of loose silver for his convenience.
When Wei Xiong heard that it was the Li family's envoy who had summoned her, he raised his eyebrows, coughed loudly and warned her: "Don't be nagging, get to work quickly, don't cause trouble for me!" After saying that, he waved her hand to let her in.
Ma Jiu didn't say a word when he saw it. He gathered the mule cart from a distance, knelt down and took out the fire sickle to smoke the tobacco.
Wei Xiong was from the yamen. He had known that this old man had retired from the army and was not easy to mess with, so he just ignored him.
Unexpectedly, before the pot of cigarettes was finished, there was a horse's hoof at the entrance of the alley.
At the head was Zhou Dutou, who led two servants to clear the way. The two behind them were wearing crimson flying fish uniforms and leather belts wrapped around their waists. Below them were the school captains in brocade clothes on horseback, with pleats spread across the black ground.
"Hey, this is Mr. Tiqi!" Ma Jiu cooed, and then he saw a blue woolen sedan turning around from behind, and Mr. Fan, the county honorary, also came.
Wei Xiong hurriedly ran out and saluted at the door to greet him.
The two captains jumped off their horses and came to the door. The older one stroked his beard and looked up at the plaque "Tixuefu". He frowned and asked, "This is it? Mr. Chen is an official in Jiangnan after all. Why is his family like this?" Shabby?”
"My lord, it is indeed true here. Chen Shi'an's parents died early, so it was his in-laws who sent him to study and take the imperial examination. Now the family only has one wife, one concubine and two daughters, and no male sons."
Magistrate Fan was a little fat, but he still tried his best to hold up the front of his official robe and trotted after him from the sedan chair to answer the captain's question.
"Ah? It's not written in the document. Where did the concubine come from?" The captain was also a little confused.
"Oh, that was the dowry that his wife brought with her when she got married. Chen Shi'an took over the house when he returned to his hometown to visit relatives at the end of last year.
However, at that time, only about ten people including the official were invited to be witnesses, so many people did not know about it.
It seems that when he returned to Nanjing to take up his post, something happened before he could declare it to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, so the document only stated that his wife was named Chen Wei, and there was no concubine named Chen Song."
Magistrate Fan explained while wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.
"Oh, that's it." The captain pondered for a while.
At this time, the younger man looked at Ma Jiu next to him warily: "Hey, who are you? Didn't you say that you should keep a close eye on the door? Why are there visitors to his house?" He turned his face and asked Magistrate Fan.
"Uh, this...?" Magistrate Fan immediately glared at Zhou Dutou.
Wei Xiong and Zhou Dutou whispered, and Zhou Dutou immediately understood and quickly stepped forward to bow and said: "Sir, this is the car of the Li family.
The second master of the Li family was the magistrate of Dongchang, Shandong Province during his lifetime. After he died in the line of duty, the late emperor gave him a coffin with a posthumous title inscribed in his royal writing and sent it back to his place of origin for burial.
The eldest sister of the Chen family and the legitimate son of the Li family were engaged in marriage when Duke Li Wencheng was still alive. Everyone in the local area knew this.
But now that the Chen family is guilty, the Li family is no longer willing to have this marriage, so Wen Chenggong's widow sent a matchmaker to negotiate the annulment documents inside."
The two lieutenants looked at each other, and since they mentioned that the late emperor's imperial edict had been buried in his house, they had nothing to say.
But the young man muttered: "What's adding insult to injury?" Everyone remained silent and pretended not to hear.
The young man seemed to think this was not enough, so he waved his hand and said: "Then don't let him squat at the door, what are you talking about!"
Zhou Du leaned over and said softly: "Two adults, please calm down. If it were someone else, we would have driven away long ago. But this one is different, so you guys are usually more courteous."
"Hmm? What's the difference?"
"Master Ma Jiu is now being taken into custody by the Li Mansion. Although he only works as a coachman, he was originally the instructor of the Jinshan Guards in South Zhili. Many guerrillas and generals in the south have a master-disciple relationship with him.
He himself was injured while quelling the Japanese rebellion during the Renxuan period, and was rewarded for his meritorious services. He also had the title of Zhongyong Colonel..."
"Hiss...!" The young man couldn't help but turn his head and glance at Ma Jiu a few more times.
The older man raised his eyebrows, nodded and said, "In that case, go and talk to him and ask him to wait in the shade under the screen wall.
If you still like this place at the door, just wait until we finish our work and come back." After saying this, he greeted the young man: "Xiao Zhao, let's go in now."
Ma Jiu had actually heard them talking. He knocked the bags under his eyes, got up, took the animals, and walked towards the screen wall without saying a word.
Colonel Zhao smiled and said to the older man: "Uncle Lu, this guy has no airs and is easy to get along with."
Captain Lu smiled and shook his head as he walked inside: "Xiao Zhao, you don't understand. A person who survives like this in a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood is not afraid of anything, and he doesn't want to cause any trouble.
A day lived is a day earned! You will understand once you see blood on the knife."
"I've been busy with these shabby things all day long, how could I have the chance to see blood? If I were to go to the battlefield, I would have to earn a hereditary general back!"
Colonel Zhao pouted and followed behind Colonel Lu and said unconvinced.
Mrs. Wei had already heard the news about Tiqi's visit. When she saw her eldest daughter being sent back today, she knew that the Li family was going to leave. As expected, Granny Lao came.
However, when Mrs. Lao later took out those banknotes and explained that the second wife of the Li family had specially exchanged them for some with smaller denominations for easy use, she felt that they were not too ruthless.
The two daughters next to her tried to persuade her, and she softened her heart and signed the divorce document. As a result, Tiqi arrived as soon as Mrs. Lao put away the document.
The whole room was filled with panic, but Mrs. Wei got up, put the house deeds and land deeds into her bag, and asked her daughter to bring all the deeds hidden in the cabinet in her room and give them to Mrs. Lao.
"From the Lao family, I have to trouble you to go and bring these to the second grandma of the Li family and ask her to sell them for us. With the money we get, we will deduct the betrothal gift from the Li family and exchange the rest for me for a few large denominations.
Just vote.
If you don't have time to hand it over to me, please keep it under Wulang's name and take it out to earn interest or run it, I don't have anything to say."
"Oh, it's not easy for grandma. It's such a pity that your family has such a fate!"
Mrs. Lao didn't want to get involved anymore, but later she felt that there was money to be made, so why should she push it out? So she quickly took it and hugged her tightly.
"Hey, who are you? Matchmaker? Go out, go out, are there any other people from this family waiting for you? If so, leave quickly!"
Captain Zhao scolded loudly, and then he and Captain Lu stood still in the courtyard, loudly saying: "Where is Wei Chen? Please come out and wait for the release of the documents from the Ministry of Punishment of Nanzhili!"
Mrs. Lao ran away with her baggage in her arms. When she came out, she hurriedly found Ma Jiu's mule cart and kept urging: "Go, go, go back to the house to see the second grandma, hurry up!"
Mrs. Gao was greatly surprised when she came back with more books and deeds in her bag. After asking, she found out that Tiqi had entered the Chen family.
"Oh, it turns out that Madam Chen's intention is this. Does this mean that she has entrusted her family's entire family fortune to her?"
Just as he was talking, Li Shuo came in to greet his mother. Seeing that Mrs. Lao was there, he hurriedly asked about the situation of the Chen family. Hearing that Tiqi had arrived, he couldn't help but slumped down in his chair.
Mrs. Gao couldn't bear it, so she told him about the Chen family's entrustment of their real estate.
Li Shuo took a while and then said: "My family is sorry for the Chen family, but they can still trust each other. It really makes me ashamed! What is mother going to do about this?"
"This..." Mrs. Gao looked at Mrs. Lao and said to her son: "I want you to know that there are a total of 240 or 50 acres of land here, as well as four shops and a mill.
What I mean is that Tiqi is in this county now, and if we deal with it, it will easily attract attention. It is better to wait and see, after the Tiqi gentlemen leave, it will not be too late to decide how to deal with it."
"Just follow mother." Li Shuo raised his head and said: "If it still can't be dealt with after one month, I will send it to the son's name as the Chen family said. When they return from release, the son will be returned to the Chen family!"
Gao was originally the daughter of a small landowner and was a little greedy, but she had only read a few books.
Thinking about it, these things are only two or three thousand taels of silver at most. There is not much meaning in it. It is better to let the son be a good person in front of the laboring matchmaker.
Then he agreed and said, "Okay, let's do it like this." Then he rewarded Mrs. Lao and asked her to take the time to go to Chen's house and give her a reply.
The next day, news came from the county government. It turned out that the Nanjing Criminal Department in Yingtian had sentenced Chen Shi'an's family to be exiled to Guiyang, Guangxi, and had sealed the family property and confiscated it.
The mother-in-law of the Chen family, Wei Shi, and her two daughters were taken to the county government and detained. After waiting for the approval of the emperor of the capital, they set off for Nanchang, where they met up with the team escorting Chen Shi'an and headed south together.
As for the servants at home, they will be dismissed, and those who are slaves will be sold separately, etc.
"Hey, Old Zhou, why is Aunt Song not mentioned here?" Li Dan invited Zhou Dutou to have tea in the tea shop next to Mr. Chu's sauce shop. After hearing the news, he noticed the difference.