Other families in the village had also heard Li Jiaofeng's scream. When Miao Yu arrived at the village chief's house, Zhao Youdang and Wu Guixiang had already put on their clothes, lit torches, and were about to go to the village to take a look.
Miao Yu told them the situation directly: "My brother said that the village chief should go to Old Shen's house. We are going to confront the people of Old Shen's family. If this is true, we will not let Shen Zhiwei off!"
The village head and his wife were dumbfounded when they heard this: "What? How does this involve Chen Zhang? Chen Zhang has been dead for many years. Don't tell me that Li Jiaofeng is just making up stories! When Chen Zhang died, she hadn't even married into our Lantang Village yet. How could she know about this?" Zhao Youdang slapped his thigh and said, "What is Li Jiaofeng thinking? She didn't come to me, the village head, when she encountered problems. She even dared to go to Qing Ge'er and talk nonsense!"
Wu Guixiang quickly calmed down and asked Miao Yu, "What does Qingge mean? What does your aunt think?"
Miao Yu glanced at the anxious Zhao Youdang, and whispered to Wu Guixiang: "I think my aunt believes what Li Jiaofeng said. She has long suspected that someone hurt her when she slipped, but she doesn't know who did it. My brother thinks the same thing."
Wu Guixiang nodded and pulled her husband: "Let's go, we'll know once we get to Old Shen's house and confront him whether Li Jiaofeng is blind or not." She glanced at Zhao Youdang: "Let me tell you first, if Li Jiaofeng is blind, it's fine, but if this is true, you can't protect those bastards in Old Shen's family anymore. What's true is what's false, so we should deal with it as it should be dealt with!"
Zhao Youdang's mind is full of lawsuits. Rather than asking who he intends to side with, what he hopes most is that this matter does not exist at all and does not happen. The village is always peaceful and stable, why do some people just feel uneasy? He sighed repeatedly: "Who can I protect? Who do I dare to protect? If I dare to protect the old Shen family, Qing Ge'er will eat me up!"
"It's good that you know," Wu Guixiang snorted twice, "Killing someone and paying with your life, owing money and paying it back, this is all right, no matter how many years it takes, you can't escape it! I don't ask you to favor Qing Ge'er for the sake of this workshop, because our whole family is paid by him, you just need to be fair!"
Zhao Youdang glanced at his wife and said, "It's easy to say. If this is true, Shen Zhiwei must be beaten to death! We grew up together in the same village. How can I say that and destroy a life? I really can't bear this!"
For Zhao Youdang, he could accept the county magistrate's sentence to behead Shen Zhiwei, but he could not let him make this decision. He could not get over that hurdle in his heart!
In fact, things have come to this point. No matter what Zhao Youdang said about Li Jiaofeng's lies, he believed it about 60 to 70 percent in his heart. Although he was puzzled as to why Shen Zhiwei, who was always honest and simple, would do such a thing, Qing Ge'er was never the type of person who believed everything he heard. Just like when he left Old Shen's house, Qing Ge'er would never do anything without certainty. If he did do something, he would have to hit the target with one strike and catch the person off guard!
"You couldn't bear to spare his life, but you showed no mercy when he killed your nephew and caused your sister-in-law to have a miscarriage!" Wu Guixiang was a little annoyed. In the past, she felt that it was good for men to be soft-hearted. The couple would be considerate of each other when they lived together behind closed doors. But whenever there was a major event in the village, Zhao Youdang acted like he couldn't handle the responsibility, which was very annoying: "If you don't have the heart to punish him, just shut up and let me talk. I'll say whatever I say, and you just have to agree to it!"
The sound of spring thunder.
The small mountain village gradually became lively again late at night. The scattered torches were gradually gathering towards the old Shen family in the village.
People living near Old Shen's house were all looking into the yard. The yard had been bustling for quite a while, and perhaps they later noticed that someone was watching outside, so the family moved into the main room. Standing outside the yard, there was nothing to see, but the curious crowd did not disperse. Instead, they gathered in groups of three or four to exchange information: "What's going on? I heard Shen Zhigao is back, and the two brothers started fighting?"
"You deserve to do it. If I were Shen Lao Er, I wouldn't be able to swallow this anger! Why is it that you gave birth to a golden nugget, while my daughter is as cheap as grass?"
"What do you mean by fighting with Shen Zhigao? Wasn't it fighting with Li Jiaofeng? I vaguely saw Li Jiaofeng running out with the child in her arms, as if escaping for her life. Then I heard the old couple of the Shen family scolding the second Shen, and Zhao Aiye crying there..."
"No matter what Li Jiaofeng is like, she is still my sister-in-law. How can a brother-in-law fight with his sister-in-law?"
"From what I see, it seems that Shen Lao Er and his brother are fighting with knives?"
"You used a knife?"
…
For a while, there was all sorts of talk and noise, until the fire in the distance got closer, and Zhao Youdang and his wife and Shen Qing and his party came over one after another.
Shen Qing didn't bring many people with him. Apart from Miao Yu, he only called two patrol members who were young and had a good relationship with Miao Yu and had no grudges against Shen Qing. He had a rosewood stick knife on his waist, and at first glance it looked like a wooden stick.
Seeing that everyone was there, Wu Guixiang stepped forward and knocked on the door. After knocking for a long time, the yard of Old Shen's house, which had been making rustling sounds, finally became completely quiet. After a long time, Old Man Shen finally opened the door with a stiff face.
Old man Shen rarely appears in public and takes care of these trivial matters at home. All family matters, even big ones like selling Shen Xiaojuan, were handled by Old Lady Shen, as if Old Lady Shen had great authority in the family. However, Shen Qing and Miao, who had lived in the old Shen family for more than ten years, knew that old man Shen was the real head of the family. He had the final say and old lady Shen had no choice but to obey him.
It is rare for him to come to answer the door in person at this time.
"It's nothing. Who doesn't have someone who has teeth knocking against each other? Are the two brothers' quarrels worth watching?" Old man Shen opened the door only a little and glared at everyone in front of the door with a sinister look. When his eyes swept to Li Jiaofeng, who was holding the child behind Shen Qing, he paused obviously.
"It's so cold, and you're still running around with the child in your arms. How can you be a mother like this?" Old man Shen scolded, but seemed unwilling to talk much to his daughter-in-law. He put on the attitude of a virtuous old man in the village - a decent old man would not stay in the same room with his daughter-in-law alone, let alone say a few words to her.
Old man Shen turned around and shouted into the house, "Boss, bring your wife back."
After a long while, Shen Zhigao came forward and waved at Li Jiaofeng at the door, with his other hand behind his back: "Jiaofeng, come back soon. I went to the county town to get some medicine. The child should take it now."
Li Jiaofeng shook her head in horror and shrank behind Shen Qing.
When Shen Zhigao saw her hiding behind Shen Qing, he was furious for no apparent reason. He was about to step forward and force Li Jiaofeng to go back when he heard Shen Qing say, "We are not here for your family's problems. I have something to ask Shen Zhiwei, ask Shen Zhiwei to come out."
After hearing this, Old Man Shen suddenly flew into a rage and yelled at Shen Qing: "Who the hell are you? You're yelling at me! Did you call Shen Zhiwei?! You're an unfilial bastard, get out of here! You're no longer a member of our Shen family. Whatever happens in our Shen family has nothing to do with you. It's not your turn to interfere!"
He glared at Shen Qing fiercely, and said to Shen Zhigao: "Boss, why don't you bring your wife back!"
Shen Zhigao quickly responded and walked around Shen Qing to pull Li Jiaofeng. Li Jiaofeng glanced at Shen Qing, and now she was desperate, crying loudly: "Master, your second son wants to suffocate our child, you have to make the decision for us! If you make the decision for me, I will go back with you! Otherwise, I dare not enter this house!"
The neighbors who were watching the excitement were suddenly in an uproar: "What? Shen Lao Er wanted to suffocate Shen Qiang? That's why Li Jiaofeng ran away with the child?"
"Oh my god, this is so cruel, even my own nephew can do this!"
"What's the big deal? If it weren't for this nephew, Mr. Shen's daughter wouldn't have been sold. Who wouldn't be angry?"
"You can't kill your nephew even if you're angry. He's the root of the Shen family. He's just a little girl. If you sell her, she'll be someone else's sooner or later..."
"You said that? Selling your daughter for your own kid is fine, but why would you sell your daughter for your brother's kid?"
…
The increasingly loud discussions around him made Old Man Shen so angry that he couldn't stop coughing. "What nonsense! You just listened to her fart! Boss, why don't you drag her back! Shut up, shut up!"
Shen Zhigao had no choice but to cover Li Jiaofeng's mouth with his hand behind his back. Only then did Shen Qing see that his right arm, which had been behind his back, had been cut with a long gash, and half of his sleeve was stained with blood. Li Jiaofeng kept dodging and screaming, and Shen Qing then made a move, grabbing Shen Zhigao's injured hand and twisting it, and Shen Zhigao fell to the ground screaming.
The neighbors who were originally chattering about Old Shen's family affairs fell silent in an instant.
Shen Qing pushed Shen Zhigao aside and continued walking towards the gate of the old Shen family. Old Man Shen's eyes widened in disbelief, and he stammered, "Rebellion, rebellion... You dare to hit your own father? You lawless little bastard... Don't come over here, if you come over again I, I...!"
Before he could figure out what was going on, Shen Qing had already kicked open the door of the Shen family's house. Old man Shen was hit by the door and staggered. If there hadn't been a wall behind him, he would have fallen to the ground.
Only then did he realize with horror that if filial piety could not suppress Shen Qing, if Shen Qing did not care about etiquette, he would have no ability to resist Shen Qing at all. He could only wail loudly at Zhao Youdang: "It's a rebellion, a rebellion... The grandson beats the grandfather, the brother beats his father... No one cares? Village chief, you saw it with your own eyes, you can't just ignore it..."
Zhao Youdang moved his lips a few times, but was pulled by Wu Guixiang. Before he could say anything, he followed Shen Qing into the Shen family yard.
Old Lady Shen tried to close the door of the main room to resist, but Shen Qing kicked the door open. She didn't dare to step forward and fight with Shen Qing, so she could only yell and curse at the side: "This is our family's business, we can solve it behind closed doors, what does it have to do with you! How dare you come to our door? The hen that doesn't lay eggs divorced by my son, and the bitch who stole your man, still want to come to our Shen family's door, do you have any shame or not..." She was scolding Miao.
Miao was totally unconcerned about what she was scolding. She looked around and soon found Shen Zhiwei, who was tied up like a pig to be slaughtered. His right arm was also covered in blood, much more than Shen Zhigao's. He looked completely dejected and dazed, as if the farce outside had nothing to do with him at all. Shen Qing looked carefully and found that he was stabbed twice in the same place. Zhao Aiye was tearing her clothes, crying and bandaging him.
Chen Zhuang is a grown up boy now, but now he can only stand there and cry stupidly.
"Tsk," Shen Qing knew what was going on and sneered, "How cruel."
"You are a jinx. Our family has not had a peaceful day since we married you... We should keep our family affairs within the house, but you, a bitch, go out and spread the news everywhere, and even bring this mad dog into our home..." Old Lady Shen was still cursing, and this time she had directed her scolding at Li Jiaofeng.
Shen Qing walked forward facing Zhao Aiye's terrified and resentful eyes, picked up Shen Zhiwei and threw him to the ground. With Zhao Aiye's screams, Shen Zhiwei's eyes slowly focused.
Shen Qing squatted down and grabbed his collar: "I know everything. Tell me, how did you kill Shen Zhang?"
Old Lady Shen's curses were stuck in her throat for a moment, like a hen with its neck strangled. Except for the people brought by Shen Qing who knew in advance, the people from the old Shen family and the neighbors who secretly followed in to watch the fun all widened their eyes in surprise.
Wh, what? Was Shen Zhang killed by Shen Zhiwei?
When Old Man Shen and Old Lady Shen scolded Shen Qing for meddling in other people’s business, they meant it sincerely! From their perspective, Shen Xiaojuan was sold out today, and Shen Zhiwei was so angry that he sneaked into Li Jiaofeng's room and wanted to suffocate Shen Qiang, but was discovered by Li Jiaofeng.
Although Old Man Shen and Old Lady Shen were angry, the second child was their own child after all. What else could they do except scold him and beat him a few times? Shen Qiang is not dead, so can Shen Zhiwei be killed?
It’s your own family matter, so just try to smooth it over! From now on, the second child will be treated like a slave and the eldest child will be compensated double!
As a result, when Shen Zhigao came back, he couldn't find Li Jiaofeng and the child. He got angry when he knew what had happened, but he refused to let it go, so he started fighting with Shen Zhiwei. Shen Zhiwei was very angry today. He was a man who usually did not fight back when being beaten or scolded, but today he suddenly took out a knife and cut Shen Zhigao's arm.
This knife really hit Old Lady Shen's heart, and she kept beating and scolding Shen Zhiwei. Even Old Man Shen helped Shen Zhigao to tie up Shen Zhiwei. Zhao Aiye and Shen Zhuang wanted to go up to help, but one was dragged and beaten by Old Lady Shen, and the other was kicked and scolded by Old Man Shen, so they dared not move, and they didn't even dare to save their own father.
Shen Zhigao became more and more proud, and was so angry that he cut Shen Zhiwei's arm twice.
When Shen Qing and the others arrived at the door, Shen Zhigao had just passed Shen Zhiwei.
There was such a commotion at home, with knife attacks and blood, and Li Jiaofeng ran away again. Suddenly, the village chief came to their house, so the Shen family felt a little guilty. But no matter how guilty he felt, what did it have to do with Shen Qing? Why did he go crazy and get involved with Li Jiaofeng, come to cause trouble, and even beat his own father?
But when Shen Qing said this, everyone was shocked and understood. Although I don’t know how Shen Qing knew it, if Shen Zhang’s death is really related to Shen Zhiwei, he and the Miao family will naturally come to cause trouble!
Shen Qing asked this just to try his luck. It happened too long ago and he really didn't have any evidence in his hands. As a witness, Li Jiaofeng could only prove that Shen Zhiwei had bad intentions towards Shen Zhigao's child, perhaps for the family property or some other small reasons, but she could not prove that he must have killed Shen Zhang. So Shen Qing could only take advantage of Shen Zhiwei's absent-mindedness and trick him. If he could get some useful information, even if it was Shen Zhiwei's subconscious reaction, it would be good.
At this time, Shen Qing couldn't help but miss Chen Jiaqian's abilities. If Chen Jiaqian were here, she wouldn't have to worry about Shen Zhiwei lying, because the truth would easily come to light.
pity……
But Shen Qing's luck is pretty good. Shen Zhiwei's eyes turned slightly, stared at Shen Qing for a while, and suddenly burst into laughter.
He was a man who usually kept silent and lowered his head, and seldom laughed. Even Zhao Ai Ye had only seen him chuckle in a simple and honest way. He suddenly revealed such a wild smile, which even seemed a little scary.
"You know... you know..." he murmured, staring at Shen Qing viciously, and then quickly passed Shen Qing and looked at Miao, Li Jiaofeng, Shen Zhigao one by one... Finally, his eyes fell on the swaddling clothes in Li Jiaofeng's arms: "It doesn't matter if I killed you, I wish you were all dead, all of you!"
Before Shen Qing could say anything, Miao had already rushed forward and slapped Shen Zhiwei hard: "Why! He is still a child, and he usually respects you and calls you uncle. How did I provoke you that you want to kill him like this! Since I married you, I have treated you well. I am not a sister-in-law who treats her brother-in-law harshly. Why do you want to harm me and my child!"
Shen Zhiwei also did not deny harming Miao. He looked at Miao, a trace of guilt flashed in his eyes, but it was soon replaced by resentment: "He didn't provoke me, but as long as he is alive, as long as you keep giving birth, your children are harming me, and my children! Just like his father, sucking my blood and gnawing my flesh!"
"We are all born by our parents, and we are all boys. Why do the best things in the family go to the eldest, and I am given the leftovers, and sometimes there is nothing left at all. He is the eldest brother, so he can marry a girl, but what about me? Our family is not without money. My eldest sister got married for so much money. Our family can obviously be like the Lian family, with both brothers marrying girls, but they dragged it on for so many years before arranging a marriage for me, and they said it was a boy! Why does he deserve to marry a girl, but I deserve to marry a boy who is difficult to raise? Do I deserve to have no descendants?!"
Old Man Shen and Old Lady Shen were extremely surprised. They never expected that the reason why Shen Zhiwei killed Shen Zhang could be blamed on them. Old Lady Shen was stunned for a long time before she started to curse: "You should be grateful that your parents gave you a family, but you are still being picky? There are so many families that can't even have a son! Why? Because your eldest brother is the eldest son! There are many eldest sons in the village who marry daughters, and the younger brothers marry sons. Even if they have sons, they can still provide for their uncles in their old age. How come they can do it, but not you?! Besides, you are not childless, and the son you marry will not be the same son you gave birth to! Why are you complaining? Your parents gave you a family, and you made a mistake!"
She was extremely angry and looked at Shen Zhiwei with resentment. She truly felt that Shen Zhiwei was really ungrateful. How could she have raised such an ungrateful person who blamed his parents!
Zhao Ai Ye on the side also stared at Shen Zhiwei in a daze. When he first learned that Shen Zhiwei had killed Shen Zhang, he was very scared. But no matter how scared he was, it was not as terrifying as Shen Zhiwei saying in person that he didn't want to marry a brother and despised him for being a brother!
They have been married for more than ten years, and Shen Zhiwei has always treated him very well. He knew that he was a boy, a boy of ordinary appearance and family background. He was willing to endure it for Shen Zhiwei even if he had to endure some grievances in the old Shen family if he could get a man who truly loved him. In the past, when he went back to live in his mother's home, even when Shen Xiaojuan was sold, he hated and resented the old Shen family, but thinking about their relationship as husband and wife, he never thought of divorce.
However, today he suddenly realized that he seemed to have never understood the person next to him.
Shen Zhiwei shed two lines of tears. That's it. His parents have always had only his elder brother in their hearts, not him. Being nice to his elder brother is a matter of course, and they have to be doubly grateful and repay him for any kindness they show him... He doesn't love Zhao Ai Ye, this brother is ordinary in appearance and has a bad temper. But on the second day after their marriage, Zhao Ai Ye carefully put an egg into his bowl. According to custom, eggs were given to young men who had just lost their virginity to replenish their bodies. It was also the first time that someone gave Shen Zhiwei an egg. He suddenly realized that in this family, Zhao Aiye, a stranger whom he was not very familiar with, was the only one who would definitely stand by him.
Later, Zhao Ai Ye gave birth to a boy for him, and Shen Zhiwei was very happy. But he gradually realized, what's the use of having a boy? Although they are both kids, he is inferior to Shen Zhigao in every way, and his child is also inferior to Shen Zhang in every way.
Shen Zhang could eat eggs every now and then, but if Shen Zhang broke off half an egg white and gave it to Shen Zhuang, Shen's mother would scold Shen Zhuang for being greedy. Shen Zhang didn't have to do anything at home. Miao taught him a few words, and old man Shen praised him to the sky and said he would save money to send him to school. But when it comes to Shen Zhuang, not only does he never mention the matter of studying, he also asks them not to raise their children too carefully, because farmers' children will have to go to the fields sooner or later.
And Miao is pregnant again... Giving birth to one child by sucking the blood of his family's Shen Zhuang is not enough, how many more does she want! Do you want to squeeze the marrow out of them?
So he secretly sprinkled the oil on the stone road that Miao often walked on. It was his first time and he was very nervous. But perhaps God felt sorry for him, so he succeeded easily. Miao's child was lost and she can't have another one. If Shen Zhang didn't exist, his child Shen Zhuang would be the only boy in the Shen family. Eggs, education... and the love of his parents would all be his child.
So he said he wanted to take Shen Zhang out to play. Shen Zhang trusted his uncle very much, so he tricked the child into the river and drowned him.
But he didn't expect that even if Shen Zhang died, Miao didn't give birth again, and Old Man Shen and Old Lady Shen didn't send Shen Zhuang to study. They would rather spend the money to help Shen Zhigao marry another wife and have another child, continue to love Shen Zhigao's child, and sell his daughter.
Those who are not favored are not favored.
Just like today. He could have denied it in front of Shen Qing. So what if Shen Qing knew? When Shen Zhang died, Shen Qing was less than ten years old. What evidence could he have?
But before Shen Qing came, Old Man Shen and Old Lady Shen helped Shen Zhigao tie him up, and let Shen Zhigao kick and beat him, and even slashed him twice.
He suddenly didn't want to deny or struggle anymore.
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