Song Chen had already sent the agreement to the government for filing.
With Cang Yi asking one of the questions, the magistrate of Baofeng County, where Chongyun Town belongs, took this matter very seriously.
Song Chen handed a piece of complaint to the county magistrate. When the magistrate saw the location and parties involved, he hurriedly took people to Beiguan Village himself.
Three gongs sounded to clear the way, and the county magistrate's carriage arrived at Beiguan Village.
The people in Beiguan Village were frightened by this formation, and they knelt down to salute fearfully.
It wasn't until the magistrate's carriage was far away that someone realized what was happening and quickly spread the news throughout the village.
Everyone watched the county magistrate's carriage go directly to the old Song family, and they really couldn't figure out why. In less than half a year, this was the second official mission for the old Song family.
Old man Song, who was waiting for Mrs. Song Zhou to drink medicine in the room, heard something strange happening outside and walked out to take a look.
Through the low wall outside, Old Man Song could see the official officers outside at a glance.
At that moment, he felt happy, presumably it was Lao Liu who got the job done.
The sixth son of his family is really proud of himself, and it costs less to hire the county magistrate than others.
"The common people have seen the county magistrate." Old Man Song hurriedly ran out and knelt in front of the magistrate's carriage.
When the magistrate in the carriage heard someone talking, he opened the carriage curtain slightly and looked outside. Kneeling outside was an old man.
"Who is kneeling outside?" the county magistrate asked in a deep voice.
"My lord, the county magistrate, Song Wancai, a common man, is Song Qingyun's father." Old man Song hurriedly introduced himself to his family, and also brought Song Qingyun in by the way.
"You are Song Wancai. Come here and kidnap him to this county."
As soon as Old Man Song announced his name, the county magistrate had him tied up without saying a word.
Old Man Song was stunned and hurriedly cried out for injustice.
"My Lord County Magistrate, the common people have been wronged. Are you mistaken? Didn't my sixth son tell you?"
Old Man Song didn't dare to speak too clearly, but the rope on his body almost made him lose the ability to think.
The county magistrate snorted coldly, "You're wronged. How are you wronged? Look carefully at this agreement. It has your fingerprint on it. This county doesn't recognize you at all."
The county magistrate's words mercilessly shattered the illusion in Old Man Song's heart.
He thought that the county magistrate was invited by Song Qingyun to find connections, but he didn't expect that he came to arrest him directly with an agreement.
"Your Excellency, the county magistrate, the common people have been plotted against. This agreement is the fingerprint that the common people were forced to press." Old Man Song knelt on the ground and shouted loudly.
Except for Lin Maofeng, no one else in the village knew about the agreement he signed with Song Chen.
"Forced to press fingerprints?" The county magistrate simply refused to sit on the carriage.
"This county received this agreement a few days ago. The people from the plaintiff's side took it and filed it. This county remembers that according to this agreement, you took fifty taels of silver and left. But there is this matter."
After all, Old Man Song was just an old man from the country. No matter how courageous he was, he was being questioned like this in front of the county magistrate, and his whole body was shaking like chaff.
The county magistrate knew at a glance, "You took the money, but you said someone else forced you to press your fingerprints."
I want money, but I don't want to do anything.
Old Man Song clenched his molar teeth and kept silent. Because they heard these commotions, the two families, Song Lao Er and Song Lao Wu, quietly came out to take a look, and happened to hear about the fifty taels of silver.
Only then did they realize that their father had such a large sum of money.
However, it was impossible for them to stand up and say anything at this time. The county magistrate was so intimidating that they dared not speak out.
Old Man Song was lying on the ground, cursing Song Chen desperately in his heart.
She actually did it so brilliantly that she actually sued him!
Now that the matter has come to this, he absolutely cannot let her go like this, "Sir, Cao Min is really unjust. You have also seen the agreement. Cao Min has made an agreement with her. I will help her negotiate down the mountain, and she will give it to me."
One hundred taels of silver were given as a reward, but Cao Min had already gone to Shiping Village to help her negotiate the mountain, and she felt the price was too high, so she wanted to go back on her word."
The county magistrate wants to create the image of himself as the great master of Qingtian. Even if he has already made up his mind, he will still go through a symbolic formality.
"Someone, go bring the other party to the agreement."
"Yes, sir."
The county magistrate put his hands behind his back and directed people to bring Song Chen over. He ran away as soon as he finished speaking.
Not long after, Song Chen came, and with her came other members of the Song family.
"The common people have seen the county magistrate."
As soon as Song Chen arrived, he bowed to the county magistrate first. She couldn't kneel down, so the county magistrate didn't care about her, "Are you Song Chen?"
"Sir, the common people are Song Chen."
"This county wants to ask you, did you force Song Wanchai to sign this agreement?"
Song Chen looked at Old Man Song who was kneeling on the ground and said, "Sir, he signed this agreement with me voluntarily. Among the people present at the time was Li Zheng of our village, and it was he who approached me on his own initiative."
Song Chen told the story of that day in a neither humble nor arrogant manner.
"I was still confused at first. We have no contact with him for a long time. He took the initiative to ask me for help. I didn't expect that he was trying to trick me. There are less than 200 acres of barren hills in Shiping Village. He
Take me to buy it with five thousand taels of silver. Dare I ask the county magistrate, are all the barren mountains in our county so expensive?"
The county magistrate did not know what Song Chen said. When he heard what Song Chen said, he became furious.
The land purchase and sale prices are all set by the imperial court, and then reported and adjusted by local officials as appropriate. What did he hear now?
A barren mountain of less than 200 acres costs 5,000 taels of silver!
Does this still take him as the county magistrate seriously?
"Bring Li Zheng from Shiping Village to this county!"
The official did not dare to delay, so he rode his horse and galloped towards Shiping Village.
Shiping Village is still some distance away from Beiguan Village. By the time Shiping Village was being brought there, the county magistrate had already finished interrogating Old Man Song.
Furthermore, the Zhou family of Song Dynasty was brought out.
"Sir, I heard that Song Wancai is planning to sell the land. I think he wants to return the fifty taels of silver. So I would like to implore you, sir. If this is really his plan, I can just use the land without any further investigation."
Just pay it in silver."
Song Chen sincerely requested the county magistrate.
But when Song Wancai heard this, he didn't even care that the county magistrate was still there. He jumped up and scolded Song Chen, "You shameless girl, you want my land, just dream! I won't give you any money.
You can't even imagine it. I'm your grandfather. Is it illegal for you to give me some money?"
Lin Maofeng hurried over and said, "I have met the county magistrate."
The chiefs of each village are appointed by the county magistrate. Magistrate Lin Maofeng knows him well. When he saw him coming over, he frowned slightly and said, "Lin Maofeng, tell me what is going on."
"Yes, sir."
Lin Maofeng explained everything in detail about the agreement signed between Song Chen and Song Wancai and the fact that Song Chen's father, Song Dashan, asked himself to leave the clan.
"I was present when the agreement was signed, and I also read the agreement to Song Wancai. He pressed his fingerprint after confirming that there was no problem. After the agreement was signed, Song Chen gave him fifty taels of silver. As for the grandfather he was talking about,
Song Chen's father, Song Dashan, had severed ties with Song Wancai two months ago and invited himself out of the Song family."
The county magistrate narrowed his eyes, "Is there any record for leaving the clan?"
In the countryside, it is not uncommon for people to ask themselves to leave the clan, but most of them are just words.
"There are filing documents, and Song Dashan's family has opened a new household registration." Lin Maofeng replied.
The county magistrate nodded, "In this way, there is no relationship between Song Chen and Song Wancai, so there is no such thing as a younger generation paying filial piety to an elder. According to the content of the agreement, Song Wancai did not complete the agreement and violated the agreement. Double compensation is required. In other words, Song Wancai
In addition to the fifty taels taken away before, Song Chen also needs to be given one hundred and fifty taels of silver as compensation!"
There was nothing wrong with the agreement Song Chen sent over. He just needed to figure out whether it was signed voluntarily or forced.
As soon as the number one hundred and fifty taels came out, Old Man Song almost fell into the mud because he could still jump just now.
"Sir, grass people, grass people..."
He couldn't shout out that he was wronged, otherwise he would be saying that the county magistrate had unfairly decided the case, but how could he have so much money to compensate?
But if he couldn't get the money out, he would go to jail, and Lao Liu's path to the imperial examination would be ruined.
Song Chen!
Song Chen!
Why don't you die!
"You signed the agreement voluntarily. Because the defendant went to the Yamen for breaking the contract, the county came here to resolve the case. Do you still feel that you were wronged?" The county magistrate looked at Song Wancai coldly.
As the county magistrate, he could naturally see that there were some problems with this agreement, but if Song Wancai hadn't been greedy, how could it have been like this.
"Grass people, we don't feel wronged. It's just that we can't afford so much money. Even if we sell our land, we only have about ten acres of land. Moreover, we have a seriously ill wife at home, who needs to drink decoction every day.
Grass people..."
Song Wancai made a sad face and tried to win sympathy.
But Song Chen's mind was unusually lively. She felt strange that Mrs. Song Zhou was ill before. It happened that Old Man Song was about to sell land at that time. She absolutely did not believe that Old Man Song would sell land in order to treat Mrs. Song Zhou's illness.
of.
"I know a little bit about medical skills. Since I bumped into her, I'll go and help her." Song Chen also asked someone to ask Li Langzhong before, but Old Man Song only asked him to get medicine, not to check his pulse.
Old Man Song knew that Song Chen knew medicine. It was said that she cured the sick young man in their Wang family.
She must not be allowed to check her pulse.
"No!" Old Man Song refused loudly, "My old lady has quarreled with you many times, and I'm afraid you will harm her."
Song Chen was not surprised, but the county magistrate spoke again.
"This county is here, how could anyone dare to harm others under the eyes of this county?"
"The doctor is kind-hearted. Even if she has done so many things to harm me before, I will not harm her at this time. This is my basic bottom line as a person. Don't worry, I won't charge you a penny for medical treatment.
The one hundred and fifty taels you owe me will be paid with your land. If it's not enough, I won't argue with you."
Old Man Song lowered his head, his eyes full of resentment.