CHAPTER 64
The county magistrate was told them to speak.
Old man Shen immediately said, “County magistrate, this is not acceptable. My eldest and second grandsons are still studying and have no money to honor us. But Shen Lin is different. He has already started to earn money.”
The county magistrate frowned. “Why is it different? Your eldest and second grandsons have no income, but they can rely on their parents. I have also heard about your situation just now. Shen Lin not only has no parents to rely on but also has to seek medical treatment for his seriously ill mother and save money to get married in the future. The burden is much heavier than your eldest grandson and second grandson. Therefore, it is reasonable for Shen Lin and your eldest and second grandson to give you almost the same amount of filial piety money.”
Old man Shen opened his mouth again, “But…”
“No buts.” The county magistrate interrupted Old Man Shen, ” They are both your grandsons; why are you so partial ? Shen Lin is so filial to you as an elder, and he is willing to show respect to you. He is already filial.”
Old Man Shen was extremely unwilling and still wanted to say something: “Then the house and land left by our second son…”
“You have already separated. The house and land left by your second son naturally belong to Shen Lin. There is no doubt about that. Well, I have finished the trial of Shen Lin’s unfilial case. You can all leave now.”
Old man Shen wanted to cry but had no tears. After working so hard for so many days, in the end he could only earn fifteen cents a year from Shen Lin, which was not even as much as before.
Before, not counting the food Shen Lin brought and the work he did every day, even the silver he sent as a tribute after the autumn harvest every year would have amounted to several hundred coins.
Su Wan still caught the omission, “County Magistrate, before, Grandpa Shen and Grandma Shen always asked Shen Lin to help them with work endlessly. Now, Shen Lin has to earn money for Aunt Shen’s medical treatment and has no time to help with work. How about Shen Lin set aside a few days every day to work for Grandpa Shen and Grandma Shen?”
It would not be justified to not do any work for Old Man and Old Woman Shen at all, but if I had to work, Old Man and Old Woman Shen would have endless demands, so it was best to make things clear.
The county magistrate waved his hand and said, “Only when the superior is kind can the subordinates be filial. From what I have seen today, the two elders of the Shen family have not cared about Shen Lin at all and have slandered and extorted him everywhere. As an old man like this, Shen Lin does not need to help them with the work. Well, that’s it. I have other cases to try, and I don’t have time to waste time with you here. Shen Lin, from now on, you will give your grandparents fifteen cents every year. If you can’t do it, come and get the beatings. As for the rest, you can do it if you want to, and it’s reasonable if you don’t want to. Well, leave.”
The county magistrate had told these people to leave several times. Even though Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen wanted to make more trouble, they were afraid of the county magistrate’s punishment.
Old man Shen, Old Woman Shen, and eldest son Shen, as well as the confused eldest and second grandsons of the Shen family, all walked out of the court.
Su Wan took the fifteen coins from Shen Lin and hurried to catch up with Old Man Shen. “Grandpa Shen, these are the fifteen cents given to you by Brother Shen as a gift. Don’t forget the money.”
Old man Shen waved his hand and said, “Who wants these copper coins of yours?”
The copper coin in Su Wan’s hand fell to the ground.
Su Wan didn’t pick it up either; she just said, “I’ve already given it to you. Whether Grandpa Shen wants to take it or throw it in the dirt, that’s Grandpa Shen’s business.”
Afterwards, Su Wan turned to the villagers of Qingshi Village who were gathered in front of the government office and said, “Everyone has seen that this year’s filial piety gift was already given to Grandpa Shen by Brother Shen Lin, but Grandpa Shen himself did not want it.”
After Su Wan finished speaking, she called Shen Lin, got on the carriage tied outside, and rode away.
Normally, Shen Lin would intentionally avoid people when he went in and out of a carriage. But now, all the villagers of Qingshi Village have seen him, and they all thought he was very impressive. One by one, they were envious of Shen Lin.
At the same time, everyone was talking about Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen. Everyone heard and saw clearly the attitude of the county magistrate today, what he said to Old Man Shen, and how he beat Old Woman Shen with a stick. Before, everyone was talking about Shen Lin’s unfilial piety, but today, the direction of everyone’s discussion has changed.
“Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen are too biased.”
“That’s right, who can’t see that he favors Eldest Shen’s family and doesn’t show any kindness to Shen Lin at all?”
“Isn’t it like this on weekdays? They love the two sons of Eldest Shen like crazy, but they always take advantage of Shen Lin and make him help them with work.”
“The county magistrate sentenced Shen Lin to give them fifteen cents of filial piety every year. This really makes me laugh to death. It’s his fault for being unfair in his daily life. Now, retribution has come.”
“Shen Lin has become rich, but Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen Shen have not benefited from it at all. This is really gratifying.”
The villagers were discussing this, but when someone said that Shen Lin had become rich, Wang Wu retorted, “What do you mean by rich? He just opened a food stall and became popular. Even if he made money from selling food, Shen Lin is destined to be poor. He has an old mother who needs medicine at home. Medical treatment and medicine are a bottomless pit.”
Though most of the villagers vindicated Shen Lin, there were still some people who felt uncomfortable with Shen Lin’s prosperity, and Wang Wu was one of them.
Everyone was a little envious of Shen Lin, but after hearing what Wang Wu said, they realized that it was true. It was not easy for Shen Lin to turn things around. So everyone started talking about how difficult it was for Shen Lin. Since Shen Lin came back from Qingzhou Prefecture, no one had seen Shen. Maybe Shen was still too sick to go out.
Everyone sighed and walked out of the yamen.
At Old Man Shen’s place, Old Woman Shen was scolding her eldest and second grandsons with a bitter face, “Ask yourselves, how do we two old people treat you on a daily basis? We gave all the delicious food and drinks to you three brothers, and we thought you would be filial to us in the future. In the end, one of you brothers is willing to give us ten cents a year, and the other is willing to give us eight cents a year. Are you treating us as beggars like this?”
The eldest and second grandsons lowered their heads and said nothing, but in their hearts they resented their grandmother for being nosy. They had always thought that their grandparents’ dedication to them was selfless, but now it turned out that they were thinking about getting a bigger reward in the future. Shen Da and Shen Er were both a little annoyed.
Old man Shen also cursed, “You two idiots, do you know that Shen Lin has to pay as much as you pay? You two just say that you want to pay a hundred or eighty taels every year, so what? Can we really ask you for a hundred and eighty taels? If we ask Shen Lin for a hundred and eighty taels, we will spend it on you two. You two are so good; one gives ten cents and the other eight cents.”
Shen Da couldn’t listen any more. “We are just studying; how can we afford a hundred and eighty taels…”
Shen Er echoed Shen Da’s words, “That’s right, one hundred and eighty taels, isn’t this going to cost both of our lives?”
Old man Shen was so angry that he covered his chest and couldn’t speak. He didn’t really want the money from these two people. Isn’t this just to get Shen Lin’s money? But these two only heard that he wanted their money and didn’t understand what this meant at all.
Eldest Shen couldn’t stand it anymore and patted his eldest son on the head, “You idiot, you didn’t even understand what your grandfather said. You must have read the book into a dog’s stomach.”
Shen Er defended his brother, “No matter how useless or stupid we are, we are still better than Shen Lin. The Imperial exam is coming soon. We can at least take the exam, but Shen Lin can’t even take the exam. Just based on this point, the two of us are a thousand times better than Shen Lin.”
Old Woman Shen was very angry with her eldest and second grandsons today, and she said casually, “Come on, you two, you have taken the exam so many times and failed.”
As soon as Old Woman Shen said this, she realized that she had gone too far. In Qingyun County, there were many people who had not passed the imperial examination to become scholars until they were in their twenties. Most people had to wait until they were twenty-seven or twenty-eight to become scholars. It was normal for her two grandsons, one twenty and the other nineteen, not to have passed the imperial examination to become scholars.
This is just a casual remark.
Both Shen Da and Shen Er seemed to have suffered a great insult and looked at Old Woman Shen in disbelief. Shen Da wanted to say something, but in the end he didn’t.
Shen Er said, “So, grandparents have always thought of my brother and me this way. In that case, grandparents might as well just love Shen Lin and see if he can pass the exam, if he can get a place on the list of successful candidates, and if he can let you two live a life of wealth and glory.” Shen Er said this out of spite, deliberately trying to anger Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen.
Sure enough, Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen’s faces turned red and pale, respectively, due to anger. Eldest Shen hurried to calm the two old people.
Shen Da and Shen Er walked towards the school together without looking back.
Su Wan and Shen Lin were both sitting in the front driving area of the carriage. Both of them were wearing thick cotton coats, and the horse was not moving fast on the street, so they were not cold.
Su Wan had always wanted to buy a house in Qingyun County, but since she was buying a house and she would marry Shen Lin in the future, the house would naturally be related to Shen Lin. However, Shen Lin also had a pair of grandparents who would definitely come to her house to make trouble, and it was possible that they would live in the house they bought in the county town.
Now, the county magistrate has clearly ruled that Shen Lin only needs to pay Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen fifteen cents every year, and he doesn’t have to do anything else.
In this way, no matter how many houses and lands Su Wan buys, it has nothing to do with Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen, and the two of them cannot come to blackmail her.
Su Wan and Shen Lin said that they wanted to sell the house in Qingshi Village and use the money to buy a house in the county town.
Su Wan could of course buy it with her own money, but Su Wan felt that Shen Lin, Mrs. Shen, and Shen Yaya would feel uncomfortable living there, so it would be more appropriate to use the money from selling the house in Qingshi Village.
Shen Lin nodded. “The house in Qingshi Village is yours; you can do whatever you want with it.”
Su Wan was completely relieved. She was really grateful to Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen for taking Shen Lin to court. Otherwise, although she could have dealt with the two of them, it would not have been as quick and satisfying as this.
T/N :- Thank you Iza for the Ko-fi<3 It really motivates me to do better. Here’s a 2 extra updates for you. <3
