619 Cut the Gordian knot
"My father had a brother, but unfortunately he died at the age of thirteen, so there was no one to take over. This has always been my wish. My father hoped that I could adopt a son for my second uncle."
"Master, what are you doing?"
Old Master Chen ignored her and said, "Second Uncle, Seventh Uncle, Thirteenth Uncle, today I ask you to help me fulfill my father's wish and give the second son to my second uncle, along with his two sons."
"No, Dad, I won't go. I won't do it. My eldest brother is gone. I am your only son. Don't you even want a son?"
Chen Sheng didn't expect his grandfather to do this.
But he was excited in his heart. If his second uncle was really adopted, they would be members of his great-uncle's family, and they would be cousins of his through several generations.
The two unpromising cousins are just relatives who are almost members of the same clan.
"Xue Wen, are you really doing this?"
Old Master Chen bowed deeply and said, "It has to be this way. Otherwise, I will let Sheng'er go back to the Qi family and take back his mother's surname. I can't help him and I can't harm him."
"Second brother, then let's adopt him. This will also fulfill our eldest cousin's wish."
The old lady roared, "You are dreaming! I only have my second son now. If you want to adopt someone, then adopt your son. Why should you adopt my son when he died at the age of thirteen?"
Unfortunately, no one in the hall paid any attention to them.
A young county magistrate is hooking up with a marquis and a fourth-rank prefect, while the other is a student who is nothing. Who wouldn't know which is more important?
Old Master Chen took out a piece of paper from his bosom and said, "Second Uncle, Seventh Uncle, Thirteenth Uncle, this is a divorce letter. I'll leave it with you first. I've already signed it. If the old woman does anything bad to Sheng'er, the divorce letter will take effect.
There are two copies of this divorce letter. I have one copy here. I am afraid something might happen. Anyway, I am sorry to bother you. "
The whole house was quiet.
"Master, I have been married to you for more than 40 years, and you want to divorce me because of this child? Sheng'er has a tough life. He killed his father when he was young, and then killed him too."
"Shut up, is this something a grandmother like you should say? Qin Meihua, I'm divorcing you right now."
He took out another divorce letter from his arms and threw it directly into the old lady's arms.
"Ah?" The old lady hurriedly threw down the divorce letter, "Master, you can't divorce me. I'm over 60 years old and there's no one left in my family. If you divorce me now, where will I live? Do you want me to die?"
Chen Sheng knelt down and said that his grandfather could not divorce his grandmother today, otherwise he would be unfilial, after all, it was because of his fault.
"Please, grandfather, take back the divorce letter."
Chen Muhua was also stunned, but he still knelt down with his wife and two sons: "Father, please, we don't want to adopt the child, and I won't go to the capital."
"Xue Wen, give Sheng Er a favor today. We will keep the divorce letter. If she talks nonsense again next time, not only you, but we will divorce her on behalf of the Chen family. Anyone who dares to hinder Chen Sheng's future will be a sinner of the Chen family."
Old County Magistrate Chen took out another piece of paper from his bosom and said, "Please keep this piece of paper for Uncle Er. If Chen Muhua and his family do anything that is detrimental to Chen Sheng in the future, and if something happens to me, please expel them from my Chen family. Chenjia Village does not want such people.
I will transfer this ancestral home to Chen Muhua's name, just as if it was given to my second uncle. I will also find a piece of land in the village to build a house.
The old woman lives here with her son and his family. I will never live under the same roof with her again in my life."
If it weren't for this woman's actions, her son wouldn't have gone out in the rain to look for his daughter-in-law who had run away in anger, and he wouldn't have contracted severe typhoid fever, which led to his poor health and eventual death.
That's how it was. When Sheng'er's mother asked to return home, she actually extorted 10,000 taels of silver from Qi Jiaojiao and agreed to let him change the child's surname. When he arrived, it was already written in black and white. Fortunately, the child came back in the end, but the 10,000 taels of silver were not returned to Sheng'er, but spent on the second son's family.
That was Qi Jiaojiao's dowry, and these people have lost all their dignity.
He is already over sixty years old. If he passes away one day, his second son's family might go and make things difficult for Sheng'er. If such things are left in the clan, the clan elders will not allow the second son's family and the old woman to do whatever they want even for the sake of the clan.
Seeing that there was no turning back, Chen Muhua could not help but sneer, "Dad, I should call you my cousin later. Since childhood, you only have my elder brother in your heart. After my elder brother died, you only have Chen Sheng. Now, for him, you actually gave me to a dead man who has been dead for decades.
Okay, father forced his son to be adopted, and the son dared not disobey, but could the son ask father to show some mercy and give me all the good farmland and two shops in the county town in addition to this house, because your two grandsons still need to go to school. "
The seventh great uncle's eyes widened: "Your family has a hundred acres of good farmland and two shops. If you take them all, how will your father survive after he retires? How will Chen Sheng, his wife, and children live? No way."
The old lady raised her head and said, "If we agree, all these things will belong to us. Isn't it true that the master only has Chen Sheng in his heart? Then Rong Yang will live with Chen Sheng. As a county magistrate, can't he support a few people? Doesn't Chen Sheng still have his mother's dowry?"
County Magistrate Chen was furious: "Back then you withheld 10,000 taels of dowry from Chen Sheng's mother, saying you would give it to him after Sheng'er got married. Where is the silver?"
The old lady bit her lip and said, "The money is gone. I have already spent it all."
Everyone in the room was so angry, how could this happen?
Ten thousand taels could buy eight hundred acres of land. Needless to say, it was all given to the second son's family.
"Xue Wen, why do you keep such a person? Divorce her with a divorce letter and let her live with Chen Muhua. Give them the house and divide the land and shop equally. If they quarrel again, they will have to pay back the ten thousand taels. No matter what, even the woman's dowry cannot be touched."
County Magistrate Chen nodded: "I will listen to my second uncle."
The old woman and his second son's family had worn out all his patience.
Ignoring family affection and being greedy, they still stay together. Sheng'er will definitely not be able to leave in the future.
There are many things that Sheng'er cannot do, but he can. He has to clear all obstacles in the way for his only capable grandson.
Chen Sheng lowered his head and said nothing more.
If his grandfather had not forcefully taken away the gifts he received when he returned home this time, he would not have been able to get even a tael of silver in the end.
His grandmother is only his grandmother when she asks him for money. It is better not to have such a family member.
His grandfather was helping him clear away all the unfavorable factors in the future, so he just had to accept it silently, otherwise he might not have such an opportunity again in the future.
In the end, each family had 50 acres of land, each family had a shop in the county town, and the house belonged to Chen Muhua.
The old man said that all the money in the family was in the hands of the old lady, and he had nothing left anymore, so he didn't want the previous silver anymore. The silver should be given to the old lady for her retirement, and they would have nothing to do with each other from now on.
The old man immediately gave the twenty acres of land to the clan, claiming that he had thirty acres of land and a shop, which was enough for his retirement, not to mention that he would rely on his eldest grandson in the future.
As for Chen Sheng, the old man burst into tears and cried that he had no choice but to kick him out of the house.
Chen Sheng didn't want the 12,000 taels of silver as a dowry from the Qi family, and just gave it to his grandmother and his second uncle's family of four. However, everything had to be written down on paper, in black and white, in triplicate.
Finally, he begged his cousin, the clan leader, to give him and Sheng'er another piece of residential land. After all, Chenjia Village was the root of him and his grandson, and they couldn't be left without a home.
Several clan elders are the elders of their own family, and this grandparent and grandson are the most capable people in the Chen family. How could they not agree? Having a family will give them something to think about in the future.
In the afternoon, County Magistrate Chen packed up some personal belongings, took his eldest grandson and his family of three, left Chenjia Village without saying a word, and headed straight for the county government office.
We can't make it to Gyeongju Prefecture today, but the county government office where the old man is located is only half a day's drive away from the prefecture. If we get up early tomorrow, we can arrive in the morning, which won't delay our trip too much.
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