W Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Shen Gui Files a Complaint

Don’t get angry, Ling Xing thought to himself silently.

Anger would only make him lose his reason and be led by the nose by others.

After taking two deep breaths, Ling Xing calmed down a bit. He stared at Fang Xiuxia, “Oh, so you know I fainted? Then do you know why I fainted? You won’t admit to what happened to Little Five, then let’s talk about my matter. Deliberate injury, attempted murder, I’d like to see which charge your son can handle.”

“Who saw my son lay a hand on you!” Fang Xiuxia shrieked.

It was just a push, how could it be injury, murder? Fang Xiuxia felt flustered just listening to the charges Ling Xing was rattling off.

Ling Xing completely ignored Fang Xiuxia’s anger, and said calmly, “You don’t really think you can cover this up by colluding here and hide it from the yamen, do you? Do you know how the yamen investigates cases?”

“Nailing boards into flesh, clamping fingers, branding skin with hot irons, hanging you by the neck with a noose to make you suffocate without letting you die… Which one can’t make people tell the truth? The adults can endure, but are you sure the little ones can?”

Ling Xing gave a few examples, and Fang Xiuxia’s face turned pale.

She knew that there were shady methods in the yamen. A perfectly healthy person would be stripped of a layer of skin, even if they didn’t die.

Before she could open her mouth, she heard her useless nephew wailing, “I saw Third Cousin hit him! Don’t nail my flesh!”

Soon he was silenced by his taciturn parents, who covered his mouth and prevented him from speaking further.

Ling Xing smiled slightly, looking peaceful, but his words were enough to infuriate Fang Xiuxia, “Look, nothing much has happened yet, and he’s already confessed. Everyone present has heard it, right? If you pretend not to know when the time comes, you will be subjected to torture.”

Everyone other than the Shen family members had only one thought in their minds: if only they hadn’t heard anything.

They really didn’t want to hear anything!

Fang Xiuxia stubbornly put on a brave face, “You think the yamen will torture people just because you say so!”

“I’m willing to pledge my life to the county magistrate, willing to sign a life-and-death agreement just to seek the truth. If it is verified that they are innocent, I am willing to apologize with my death. Do you dare to risk your life and say that what I said is false?”

Ling Xing’s words shocked Fang Xiuxia into silence. Was this a madman? He didn’t even want his life?

The Shen family members were stunned by Ling Xing’s words, then felt a surge of warmth in their hearts.

Shen Chengshan, as the head of the family, immediately stood in front of Ling Xing, “My Shen family has been in Xiao Liucun for more than ten years, and we have never argued with anyone. Today, my eldest son-in-law and youngest son have suffered so much injustice. Even if it costs me my old life, I will seek justice for them.”

Xu Youfang, Shen Gui, and Cao Manyue also expressed their stances, meaning that even if it meant their death, they would seek justice.

The several families other than the Fang family immediately had the intention of retreating. They had come here to curry favor with the Fang family.

They were already in the wrong, and they definitely couldn’t get through the yamen.

The Shen family was also determined to seek justice this time. If only they had known, they wouldn’t have come. They could have pretended not to know, but things had escalated to this point.

If only they had stopped Fang Xiuxia from saying a few words…

Alas, they couldn’t think about it, the more they thought about it, the more they regretted it.

Fang Xiuxia didn’t know what to do for a moment. All she could think about was forcing the Shen family to give up this idea.

“If you dare to report to the authorities, do you believe that the grain shop will no longer accept your Shen family’s grain! I can even make it so that you can’t survive in Xiao Liucun!”

Ling Xing was about to retort when he heard a steady and deep voice, “Who are you saying can’t survive in Xiao Liucun? Tell me, the village chief.”

The village chief had arrived.

The crowd made way for a path, and Ling Xing saw an unfamiliar middle-aged man with half of his hair white, but his body was healthy, and his voice was full of energy.

There was also a familiar person beside him, Xie Qingya, whom he had just met this afternoon.

While the village chief was talking to Fang Xiuxia, Xie Qingya quietly moved to Shen Chengshan’s side.

“I saw Fang Xiuxia leading a group of people to the Shen family in a threatening manner, and I was afraid that something would happen, so I went to ask the village chief to come.”

Shen Chengshan was truly grateful. Because of her capable husband, the Fang family was given face even by the village chief. The two families also lived close by. It was impossible for Fang Xiuxia to find these people without causing a stir. The village couldn’t hide anything from the village chief.

The fact that the village chief hadn’t come at the beginning showed that he didn’t want to get involved.

Now that Wang Juan had been invited to uphold justice for their family, the Shen family owed Wang Juan a debt.

When Fang Xiuxia saw the village chief, she didn’t restrain her arrogance, but became even more arrogant.

“It’s useless even if the village chief comes…”

“Say less, Fang Xiuxia.”

The village chief, Zhu Rushan, impatiently interrupted, “Did you find out that Shen Erlang went to the deep mountains to set traps and wasn’t at home, so you brought a group of people to the Shen family to bully them?”

“Don’t you think about it, Shen Er went to set traps, he’s not dead. What are you trying to do by making such a fuss today? Are you going to live only for tonight and not care about the days to come? Shen Er’s fists can kill adult wild boars, let’s see how many punches you, Fang Xiuxia, can take from him, and whether you can withstand his beating better than a wild boar.”

Thinking of the fiend Shen Hui, Fang Xiuxia’s face turned pale.

That man was really fierce. Not to mention wild boars, he had carried large pythons to town several times.

Every time she saw him, she would be so scared that her legs would go weak and she would faint. It was too terrifying.

“He, he’s so powerful, I won’t let them collect grain…”

Xie Qingya coughed lightly, Zhu Rushan frowned upon hearing the sound, and warned Fang Xiuxia with a very bad expression, “Your Fang family has relied on this grain shop son-in-law to reap a lot of benefits in our Xiao Liucun. Which family isn’t sucking up to you, and you’re taking all the cheap advantages?”

“I am the village chief after all. I want to see if that grain shop can really do without the grain of an entire village. By that time, will your husband, the shopkeeper, be able to withstand the anger of the owner?”

Fang Xiuxia could calculate. Not taking the grain from one family didn’t mean much to a grain shop.

But an entire village, especially Xiao Liucun, was a large village with nearly a hundred households.

If they didn’t take it, then her husband, the shopkeeper, would be finished.

For the sake of a few small profits, it was naturally not worth it for the various grain shops to break the tacit agreement.

But the profit from the grain of a hundred households was enough for other grain shops to take action.

No businessman would leave money on the ground unpicked.

Zhu Rushan watched Fang Xiuxia’s face change, and knew in his heart that she was afraid.

Fang Xiuxia asked with a bad expression, “Village Chief, are you deliberately helping the Shen family?”

Zhu Rushan snorted, “I’m helping you not to be beaten to death by Shen Hui, who’s coming down the mountain.”

If they continued to make such a fuss, Shen Hui could really tear down the Fang family overnight.

Fang Xiuxia had been thinking of a quick victory before, taking advantage of Shen Hui’s absence to get the land deed or a signed IOU from the Shen family. By that time, it would be useless even if Shen Hui came down the mountain, because she would have something in her hand anyway.

Who knew that Shen Lai would suddenly shout about reporting to the authorities, and that “Wedding to Ward Off Evil” ge’er would also chime in about reporting to the authorities.

Even more unexpectedly, the village chief would come.

But in the end, it was still because the second child, that stinky brat, didn’t tell her about the pregnancy mole, and the third child didn’t tell her in advance that she had knocked that “Wedding to Ward Off Evil” ge’er unconscious.

That’s why she was being manipulated, tied hand and foot.

Fang Xiuxia was so angry that her eyes rolled, “I am willing to give the village chief face and take a step back, but what about the Shen family? Their family is shouting about paying with their lives to report to the authorities.”

Reporting to the authorities not only affected the Fang family and several other families, but also affected the village chief.

If there were too many people reporting to the authorities in a village, it meant that the village chief was not managing well, and the county yamen could directly replace the village chief.

Of course, they would also choose from the village.

Zhu Rushan was surprised in his heart, but didn’t show it on his face. Fortunately, he came, otherwise the Shen family would have appeared at the gate of the yamen, and he would have just found out.

“Shen Brother, give me some face, let’s settle this matter privately among ourselves.”

Ling Xing didn’t listen to the rest.

If they could settle it privately, it would be the best choice for Little Five in this era.

It was not like later generations, women and ge’ers were not allowed to establish their own households and live independently, and it was even less possible for them to live in their natal families for a long time.

After their parents died, it was impossible for their older brothers and younger brothers to take care of them.

Ling Xing knew that even if the Shen family’s two older brothers guaranteed to take care of Little Five, the Shen family’s two elders would not be at ease.

Everyone had their own small family, so where would they have the extra time to take care of others? It might be good at first, but what about later? This kind of thing couldn’t be guaranteed, and parents wouldn’t dare to take risks for the sake of their children.

As expected, the Shen family eventually chose to settle it privately.

They demanded that several families apologize, guarantee that they would no longer lay a hand on anyone in the Shen family, and that the children would not be allowed to beat or scold Shen Lai again.

In addition, the Fang family had to compensate Shen Lai five taels of silver because Zhao Erbao pulled Shen Lai’s hairband and exposed the pregnancy mole.

Ling Xing was pushed down by Zhao Sancai and fainted. The doctor from the neighboring village came to see him and said that he needed to rest well, so he was compensated two taels of silver to see the doctor and buy medicine.

The other families each compensated Shen Lai five hundred wen, which was the money they could take out after emptying their savings.

They were not as wealthy as the Fang family. In a large village with a hundred households, no more than five households could save ten taels of silver in a year.

After the compensation was discussed, they also had to sign and put their fingerprints on it, guaranteeing that everyone present could not say anything about Shen Lai’s pregnancy mole being seen.

They also wrote down the punishment for leaking the secret. In the Yu Dynasty, such a letter of commitment would have binding force as long as a third party signed and put their fingerprint on it as proof. If either party broke the contract, the other party would report to the authorities according to what was written in the contract, and they would win the case every time.

However, if they wrote punishments similar to exterminating nine generations of relatives, it would not be recognized, and the county magistrate would judge according to the impact.

Some didn’t even need to report to the authorities, and the clan and village had certain powers of punishment.

The group led by Fang Xiuxia came aggressively, and when they left, they all bowed their heads and apologized, and also sent people back to get the money, wanting to give it all tonight.

When the people were completely gone, it was very late.

Xie Qingya accompanied the village chief back. The Shen family wanted to thank him, but now was not a good time, so they could only wait until the day.

The Shen family was exhausted from this ordeal. After eating, they washed up and went straight to sleep.

In the village, the sound of children being beaten rang out in several families.

Five hundred wen, that was really going to take half their lives! They had to beat the children! They would never get involved in the Fang family’s affairs again next time. They didn’t curry favor with anyone, and they even lost five hundred wen!

Xu Youfang said that all the silver compensated to Shen Lai would be saved for Shen Lai and would not be touched.

The compensation given to Ling Xing was also given to Ling Xing, and he was directly told to keep it himself.

Xu Youfang’s attitude was firm. After Ling Xing took it, he put it in the wooden cabinet, keeping it for later use. Only then did he find five copper coins on the wooden cabinet.

It must have been the five coins that Xu Youfang had exchanged from Shen Lai’s hand.

Shen Lai slept quite peacefully that night, the same as usual. The only difference was that he punched a few times and muttered “I’ll bite you to death” a few times, and then he calmed down a lot.

Ling Xing confirmed that Shen Lai was fine, and also went to sleep at ease.

When the moon was in the middle of the sky, Shen Hui, draped in starlight and braving the cold wind, finally returned home.

His movements were very light. He directly washed himself slightly with cold water, and then found the food left by Xu Youfang in the cabinet as if he knew the way.

He ate it without heating it up.

“Who?” Shen Hui held the pottery bowl in his hand, his eyes sharply scanning the doorway.

“It’s me, Second Brother.”

Shen Gui couldn’t sleep tonight. Hearing the movement in the yard, he guessed that his second brother had returned, so he put on his clothes and came to the stove room in the dark.

“Second Brother, a big thing happened at home tonight.”

Shen Gui filed a complaint for two quarters of an hour, without stopping his mouth for a moment. Finally, he concluded, “I didn’t expect our Little Five to be so brave and righteous, even though he is a ge’er.”

“The eldest brother-in-law is also like that. You don’t know what he looked like when he said those words in front of Fang Xiuxia. He was calm and composed, but he made people not dare not believe him. It’s completely different from his usual smiling and happy appearance. He looks like a well-read young master.”

Shen Hui’s voice was as cold as ever, “Where are Little Five and Brother-in-law injured? Who came to make trouble at home?”

Shen Gui said like exploding firecrackers, crackling and rattling about where Shen Lai was injured, and said that Ling Xing was pushed down and fainted. Then he counted on his fingers, carefully telling Shen Hui the names of the people who came to make trouble at home.

After finishing the complaint, Shen Gui lifted the bamboo lid on the large water tank, and used a gourd ladle to scoop half a spoonful of cold water to moisten his throat.

Then he returned to the house and lay down, falling asleep contentedly.

The next morning, the people who went to the Shen family to make trouble, one after another, were all thrown in front of their homes, lying on the ground.

They all had minor injuries on their bodies and faces, and each injury was uniform. The back of their necks were still aching. They knew who did it with their toes.

It was Shen Hui, that living fiend of the Shen family. Only he could silently knock people unconscious and throw them outside the door to sleep for a night.

At this time, Shen Hui and Ling Xing had already set up their stall in town.