CHAPTER 77

Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen made a big fuss at Wang Luosheng’s house and said a lot of unlucky things. Although Mrs. Wang was also cunning and aggressive, her cunningness and aggressiveness were still not as strong as the fighting power of Old Woman Shen and Old Man Shen combined.

Old Woman Shen threatened that now they couldn’t find Shen Lin, and it was the Wang family that had taken possession of Shen Lin’s house, so from now on it would be the Wang family that would be filial to them.

Wang Luosheng was afraid of Old Man and Old Woman Shen and wanted to tell them where Shen Lin and Su Wan lived, but he really didn’t know where Shen Lin and Su Wan had moved to. Finally, Wang Luosheng stood up and told Old Man and Old Woman Shen that he would definitely find where Su Wan and Shen Lin lived, and then let Old Man and Old Woman Shen go to find Shen Lin.

In fact, seeing the extent of the trouble Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen were making, Wang Luosheng had already made up his mind. Even if Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen hadn’t asked him where Shen Lin and Su Wan lived, he would find a way to tell Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen so that they could go and make a fuss.

Then, Wang Luosheng thought, since Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen were so noisy and couldn’t find Shen Lin, then they must not know that Shen Lin had gone to Songshan Academy to study. Otherwise, they would most likely go to the academy and make a scene. If Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen made a scene in the academy, Shen Lin would definitely be very embarrassed.

So Wang Luosheng quickly told Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen that Shen Lin was studying at Songshan Academy.

After hearing about Shen Lin’s whereabouts, Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen gave up and stopped making trouble.

After leaving the Wang family, Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen planned to go to Songshan Academy to make some trouble tomorrow. However, even though they were old and confused, Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen knew that the management of the academy was very strict. If they made a big noise during class, they would be beaten out by the guards. Therefore, the lunch break was the most appropriate time to do so.

On the second day, before noon, Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen were waiting at the gate of the academy. Both of them were wearing thick cotton-padded clothes with their hands tucked into their sleeves to keep themselves warm.

Su Wan had nothing to do, so she planned to go to the snack street. From the newly bought house to the snack street, she happened to pass by the entrance of Songshan Academy.

Su Wan saw two familiar and annoying figures not far away. They were Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen.

Without thinking too much, Su Wan had already guessed what Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen were here for. They were definitely going to make a big scene in the academy. One was to embarrass Shen Lin, and the other was to extort something from him. This was indeed extremely despicable.

Su Wan remained calm, took another route to the street market, hired a carriage, and headed to the county government office.

Su Wan had come in contact with the county magistrate several times, and because Su Wan would slip a few copper coins to the yamen workers when handling documents, Su Wan met the county magistrate without any effort. She explained his concerns to the county magistrate, and the county magistrate immediately assigned two yamen workers to Su Wan, saying that if they saw Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen starting to make trouble, they could take the two back to the yamen for questioning on the grounds of causing trouble in the academy.

Su Wan thanked the county magistrate, took a few yamen workers, and hurried to Songshan Academy in the carriage.

Su Wan went back and forth very quickly without wasting a single moment.

When they arrived at the academy, they didn’t know that school was over in the afternoon at Songshan Academy. Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen were still shivering and waiting at the gate of the academy.

Su Wan and several Yamen workers remained calm and waited quietly in the dark.

When school was over at noon, Wang Luosheng was a little disappointed. He had told Old Man and Old Woman Shen yesterday that Shen Lin goes to the academy to study, hoping that Old Man and Old Woman Shen would come over to make some noise. However, Wang Luosheng waited for them for the whole morning, and even because of waiting, he didn’t listen to the teacher’s lectures carefully, and he still didn’t wait for Old Man and Old Woman Shen.

After school at noon, Wang Luosheng went to the bathroom. As soon as he walked out of the school, he saw two familiar figures at the gate. Wang Luosheng was delighted and hurried out of the gate. He said to Old Man Shen and Old Lady Shen, who were waiting outside, “Grandpa and Grandma Shen, why are you here in such cold weather?”

Old man Shen was so cold that his voice was trembling: “I came to find Shen Lin. Have you seen Shen Lin, that unfilial grandson?”

Wang Luosheng smiled: “Shen Lin is in the dormitory. He will come out soon. However, at noon, no one comes to the entrance of the academy. Shen Lin will probably be the only one who comes out.”

What Wang Luosheng meant was that it was pointless for Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen to make a scene outside as there weren’t many people watching, so they had to go inside and make a scene.

But the academy is a majestic place, and Old Man Shen didn’t dare to step in. There was hesitation on Old Man Shen’s face.

Seeing that Old Man Shen didn’t move, Wang Luosheng said, “You two elders have come to the academy to visit your grandson, so there is no reason for you to wait outside. Filial piety is the most important virtue, so you two elders can go in and visit him.”

Old Man Shen was persuaded by Wang Luosheng and immediately said, “Let’s go. I don’t know the way. You take us to find this unfilial son.”

Wang Luosheng was very pleased and said hurriedly, “Grandpa and Grandma Shen, please come this way.”

Su Wan saw clearly that Wang Luosheng led the way to Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen. Su Wan whispered something to the yamen gaurd next to her. The yamen gaurd frowned and said, “That scholar looks gentle, but I didn’t expect that he has a lot of bad intentions. I will deal with him and that rustic old couple together later.”

Wang Luosheng quickly led Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen to the school, and Shen Lin was just walking out of the school.

Wang Luosheng hurriedly shouted, “Shen Lin, look who came to see you. You haven’t seen your grandparents for such a long time, and your grandparents actually came to the academy to see you in person.”

Before Shen Lin could say anything, Wang Luosheng continued with a barrage of words: “Your grandparents have been waiting for you at the entrance of the academy for a long time; why don’t you bring them into the academy to warm up?”

As soon as Wang Luosheng shouted, people from the surrounding dormitories all came out to watch the fun.

After hearing what Wang Luosheng said, the scholars all whispered that the grandparents missed their grandson so much in the cold weather that they came to the academy in person to see him. Although it was against the rules, it was still touching.

Shen Lin saw through Wang Luosheng’s thoughts at a glance. Shen Lin said seriously: “Wang Luosheng, you know the previous judgment of the county magistrate. You are putting me in an unjust position by saying this today.”

Upon hearing what Shen Lin said, Old Man Shen cursed, “Shen Lin, you are an unfilial son. You don’t support your grandparents; you sell the house without telling us the location of your home in the county town. Don’t you intend to ignore us?”

Shen Lin had been tortured by Old Man Shen to the point of having lost his temper. These two scoundrel old people happened to be his grandparents, so he couldn’t just go up and punch them.

The scholars in the academy began to talk among themselves, and at that moment, several yamen gaurd and a beautiful girl came to the school.

The gaurd stepped forward quickly, and each of them held the arms of Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen.

“This is a most important place in the county. How dare you gather here to cause trouble?” The leading black-faced gaurd said sternly.

The academy was indeed not a place where one could cause trouble at will, and there was nothing unreasonable about the yamen gaurd arresting Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen.

Old man Shen became anxious and quickly told the yamen gaurds that his grandson didn’t care about him and was unfilial. He had no choice but to find the academy and tell them what he had said.

When the yamen gaurd heard this, he immediately retorted, “You are a street scoundrel; you are talking nonsense.”

The scholars watching were a little surprised. What was going on?

The black-faced yamen gaurd said, “A few days ago, you accused Shen Lin of being unfilial. The county magistrate has already investigated it clearly. Shen Lin’s filial piety toward you is more than ten times stronger than your son. And it was you who extorted and slandered Shen Lin. At that time, you were beaten for this. Have you forgotten it? Now you actually come here to slander Shen Lin again.”

“Take away these two troublemakers who are causing trouble in the academy and talking nonsense.”

The scholars all understood what was going on. Otherwise, if they really cared about and loved Shen Lin, they would not have quarreled in these academies without caring about Shen Lin’s face.

Su Wan stood and said, “Sir, are we going to take this trouble in the academy to the government office?”

The black-faced yamen gaurd replied, “Of course. The academy is a place to train talents for our Great Zhou Dynasty. If anyone can come and disturb them, then they should just stop running this academy.”

Su Wan smiled and said, “Then I think these two old people don’t dare to enter the academy by themselves, and they can’t find this school. There must be someone helping them.”

Wang Luosheng was shocked.

After hearing this, Old Man Shen suddenly realized that he could distance himself from the matter and hurriedly said, “Yes, yes, it was Wang Luosheng who told me that Shen Lin was in the academy and asked me to come to the academy to cause trouble with Shen Lin. It was he who bewitched me, and it was also he who brought the two of us in.”

Old Woman Shen also cried out, “Sir, we two old fools don’t know anything. It was Wang Luosheng who asked us to do this.”

The scholars in the academy all looked at Wang Luosheng and whispered to each other.

This Wang Luosheng is too unkind. He is the number one, but why does he do such a despicable thing? Otherwise, why would he be shouting so happily just now?

The black-faced yamen gaurd looked at Wang Luosheng and said, “Oh, right, those two old men were outside the door just now and didn’t dare to come in. You were the one who brought them in. Come on, you should come with us.”

As soon as the black-faced gaurd finished speaking, another gaurd who was escorting Old Woman Shen walked over and also arrested Wang Luosheng.

Wang Luosheng panicked: “This is none of my business; you can’t arrest me.”

The yamen gaurd holding Wang Luosheng said calmly, “Don’t worry, go to the yamen, explain the matter clearly, and after you are given a dozen or so strokes of the cane, we will let you go. It’s not a big deal.”

After hearing what the yamen gaurd said, the scholars were even more shocked. Wang Luosheng was the top student in the academy, but today he was going to be beaten with a stick. Moreover, the whole academy knew about it. It was too embarrassing.

The black-faced yamen gaurd said to the scholars, “Let’s take these troublemakers back. Everyone should study hard and take today’s incident as a warning. Don’t make the same mistake again.”

After saying that, he took away the crying old man and old woman Shen, as well as Wang Luosheng, whose legs were already weak.