Chapter 44 - Two people were not redeemed, the whole family was...
Old Man Lin remained silent. Lin Changhai looked at Lin Cunzheng and said, "Uncle, you're overthinking it. We have some money at home. But Xian'er is engaged, and that person will come to propose sooner or later. We'll go and get the betrothal gifts tomorrow to tide us over. It's no big deal."
This idea also made Lin Village Chief frown deeply. How could someone come to the door asking for a dowry without the family having come to offer betrothal gifts? How would Xian'er face people after marrying into the family?
But considering that his own family and his brothers' families were not well-off, they could only scrape together ten taels of silver, so he asked helplessly, "Will this work?"
"It can be done, it definitely can be done," Lin Changhai said. "Thank you for your concern, Uncle."
Lin Cunzheng said, "We're family, so let's not stand on ceremony. You go and see if it works out, and let me know tomorrow morning."
Lin Changhai responded, and Lin Cunzheng didn't linger, leaving the courtyard to go home.
Not long after Lin Cunzheng left, Lin Changhai and Lin Changbo also went out. Old Man Lin sat in the courtyard waiting for them, and the two of them did not return until late at night.
He went empty-handed, but returned with more than a dozen silver ingots in his pocket, each worth ten taels.
Old Man Lin frowned slightly: "Why did you take so many?"
Lin Changhai said in a low voice, "Take it first, just in case it's not enough. Dad, you should also see how much Mom has saved. We can chip in one or two later. It's a bit too conspicuous to have only silver ingots."
Lin Changbo nodded in agreement. Then, the three of them went into the inner room, found the old lady's key, and opened the small box where she usually kept her money.
They had some copper coins and silver scraps, and after counting them, the total amount was only a dozen or so taels.
Lin Changbo looked at the broken silver and copper coins, then at the silver ingot in his hand, and asked the old man, "Father, how much should we take with us tomorrow?"
Old Man Lin remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "Take forty-five taels with you."
The group poured out the loose silver and put it into a burlap sack, then added three silver ingots, bringing the total to forty-five taels.
Lin Changhai took two of the remaining ones with him, and hid the rest at home.
By the time they finished, the rooster in the backyard was already crowing.
After the father and his two sons finished their work, they all went to bed.
Pei Ying got up when she heard the rooster crow, and Lin Chuntao was also woken up by the system.
After washing up, the two hurriedly went out.
As soon as they left the village, Pei Ying took Lin Chuntao's hand, and Lin Chuntao smiled and let him hold it.
After walking for a while, Pei Ying said to Lin Chuntao, "Let's build a house this year, finish it before the New Year, and move in to celebrate the New Year."
Lin Chuntao raised an eyebrow upon hearing this and smiled, "How come you think the same thing as me?"
Pei Ying looked at her with some surprise, a slight smile playing on her lips.
"That's what I'm planning too, but I don't know if I can save enough money, and I haven't had time to find out how much it will cost to build it."
Pei Ying said, "It's not too late to ask now. I'll find out when I have some free time, and then we can talk about the money. What kind of house do you want to build?"
“I originally wanted to build a two- or three-story wooden house, with a yard, and then build the pigsty, chicken coop, and everything else all at once to save trouble. But I noticed that no one in the village builds a pure wooden house. They all have houses like the old courtyard houses, with earthen walls and two floors separated by wooden planks in the middle, which are a bit cramped. I wanted to design it before I built it, to make it wider and brighter inside.”
Hearing Lin Chuntao's words, Pei Ying roughly understood what she meant; he knew the house she was describing.
"If you think the adobe exterior walls don't look good, then go ask how expensive bricks are. Buy bricks to build the exterior walls, and hire a carpenter for the interior walls. Do the doors, windows and walls together, and make sure the colors are consistent. It should look really good when it's finished."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "If you have time, you can inquire about the price of bricks, the wages of bricklayers, and how much carpenters charge. We can calculate it later."
As they talked, they were about to part ways without realizing it. Pei Ying reluctantly let go of her hand and said, "Come find me after you've sold the mushrooms."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I know, hurry up and go, it'll be late."
After they parted ways, they both quickened their pace and got busy with their own things.
At daybreak, Pei Ying and the others finished slaughtering the pig, and Lin Chuntao finished picking mushrooms and carried them toward the county town.
When she arrived in the county town, the sun had just risen, and the market was already bustling with activity.
A crowd gathered around the spot where she often sold mushrooms, and they all smiled and surrounded her after she put down her basket.
"My lady, what kind of mushrooms are you selling today?"
"Are there any green-headed mushrooms?"
Lin Chuntao looked at them and smiled, "Yes, today we have green-headed mushrooms and chanterelle mushrooms."
As she spoke, she placed the basket firmly on her back, removed the leaves that had been trimmed, revealing plump mushrooms. The woman in the lead smiled and said, "Give me two pounds of green-headed mushrooms."
Lin Chuntao agreed, weighed out two jin for her, handed it over, and put the copper coins into her bag.
There are few sellers and many buyers at this market, so whether you can buy any depends on luck.
Ever since Lin Chuntao found a fixed spot, people who knew about it would come and wait in advance, and her basket of mushrooms would sell out very quickly.
Lin Chuntao packed her things and prepared to carry her basket to find Pei Ying. Thinking that she didn't have much food left at home, she put the basket on the stone block next to her, then brought up the control panel, took out four dou of rice and one dou of flour, and carried it to the butcher shop.
At this time, a large crowd of people had gathered at the entrance of the government office.
There were many people outside when the case was heard yesterday, and the crowd only left satisfied after the verdict was delivered.
Eighty strokes of the cane and a year of penal servitude. Although it could be redeemed with copper coins, the Lin family was clearly not wealthy, so no one thought they could raise the money to redeem the old woman. Those who loved a good show finished their breakfast early and came to wait, wanting to see this wicked old woman being punished with caning.
Early this morning, Old Man Lin brought his family into the city, and Lin Cunzheng and Sun Shi also came along.
When they arrived, the officials had just started their shift, and a large crowd of people had gathered at the entrance.
Old Man Lin took Lin Changhai and the others to handle the matter of paying the redemption copper, while Village Chief Lin and the Sun couple did not go in.
The officials in the yamen were somewhat surprised when they heard that they had come to pay the ransom for the copper. Several dozen taels of silver—this family were all farmers; where did they get so much money?
Although the magistrate was puzzled, he still acted in accordance with the law, since many people had sold several children into slavery in order to save an adult.
He had the legal advisor fetch the documents: "The redemption of the copper requires forty-one taels of silver."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Changhai presented the cloth bag containing the silver. The bag was open, and the magistrate glanced at it. The clerk then took out the redemption document from behind and said to Lin Changhai, "Pour out the silver."
Lin Changhai did as instructed, picking up the cloth bag and pouring the silver coins onto the table.
The magistrate glanced at the three ten-tael silver ingots and immediately noticed them. He frowned, reached out and took the ingots, examined them carefully for a long time, and then looked at Lin Changhai and asked, "Where did you get these silver ingots?"
Lin Changhai said with a fawning smile, "My lord, this was left to me by my ancestors."
The county magistrate chuckled lightly, his expression instantly becoming sharper.
What was your ancestral surname?
“I am a lowly person, my ancestors were surnamed Lin.”
As soon as Lin Changhai finished speaking, the playful smile on the magistrate's lips vanished, leaving only a gloomy expression.
"I'll give you one more chance. Tell me the truth! Where did you get this silver ingot?"
Standing in the courtroom, Lin Changhai was reprimanded and knelt down with a thud. He looked at Old Man Lin with some unease.
Seeing Lin Changhai's expression, the magistrate slammed his hand on the table and said heavily, "Speak!"
Lin Changhai trembled with fright and stammered, "Reply...Reply to my lord, this...this silver ingot was picked up by me."
The county magistrate stared intently at Lin Changhai, then said to the county assistant beside him, "Lord Chen, come up and take a look at this silver ingot."
The county magistrate, Chen, whose name had been called, walked over, picked up the silver ingot, examined it, and said, "Sir, this... isn't this the batch of silver from Prefect He's tomb?"
The magistrate nodded slightly and sneered, "This man told me he found it!"
As Lin Changhai listened to their conversation, his clothes were soaked through. He... they really had found it.
Just as he was about to raise his head to continue his defense, he heard the county magistrate shout, "Guards, take Lin Hongtai and his entire family to jail!"
"You robbed a tomb and stole silver! And you dare to argue your way out of it!"
Upon hearing this, the entire Lin family was stunned. Grave robbing? Stealing silver? What were they talking about?
Unaware of the inside story, Zhang and the others looked at Lin Changhai and Old Man Lin with shocked expressions.
Lin Changhai was unsure of himself. He had found the silver in the mountains, but in his greed, he hadn't reported it to the authorities and had hidden it in the cemetery. For more than ten years, they hadn't dared to use it much. Except for when Lin Laosan remarried and when his two sons got married, they took out three pieces of silver, ground them into pieces, and used them. The rest remained buried untouched.
How could this be grave robbing and silver theft?
Lin Changhai hurriedly kowtowed and begged for mercy, but the county magistrate just looked at them coldly and ignored them.
"Guards! Take them all away!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Lin family was taken away by the officials in a chaotic mess. The magistrate instructed the county clerk: "Go to the Yongchang Prefecture and invite Lord He here. Tell him that the gang of thieves has been found!"
After agreeing, the county magistrate was about to leave when he was stopped by the county magistrate: "Wait a moment, I'll go myself, you conduct the interrogation!"
He was in a hurry to leave after saying that, but then he slapped his head and said, "Take the roster, and make sure no one from this family is missed!"
With that, he took a silver ingot and hurriedly left the government office with his men.
The Qian family was still inside the government office gates when, in the blink of an eye, the Lin family was about to be imprisoned. Qian Dingxiang had no time to be happy when the county magistrate looked at her and shouted, "Guards! Take this person away too!"
When the officers reached Qian Dingxiang, she quickly waved her hands and stepped back, saying, "Sir, I have nothing to do with their family, we want a divorce!"
The county magistrate said coldly, "Isn't this still a pre-divorce agreement?"
As Ms. Qian screamed, she was dragged away, leaving the Qian family members bewildered.
The crowd had come to watch the caning, but they hadn't expected the family to be able to raise money, which was of dubious origin and involved other cases. The old woman couldn't be redeemed, and the whole family was arrested again.
Everyone watching was stunned by the sudden series of events. Lin Cunzheng's face turned pale, and Sun Shi was completely bewildered.
"What's going on? How...?"
Before she could finish speaking, Lin Cunzheng pulled her out of the crowd and to a secluded spot. Cold sweat beaded on Lin Cunzheng's forehead as he muttered, "It's over."
Madam Sun frowned, full of doubt. They couldn't see clearly from the outside, but it seemed to be about the money.
"What exactly happened? Didn't you say that Lao Wu and the others went to Zhang Baojia to ask for the betrothal money? How did things go wrong?"
Lin Cunzheng shook his head slightly, "They might be lying to me."
Over the years, Old Man Lin and his family haven't cultivated much land, and the Lin brothers never go to the city to work. When Lin Laosan got married, Lin Changhai's two sons got married, and they didn't raise any money for the weddings. It seems like their family has never been short of money, but Village Chief Lin never thought about it in detail.
Seeing her husband staring blankly into the distance, Mrs. Sun was filled with anxiety.
"Explain yourself clearly, what exactly happened?"
Faced with Sun's persistent questioning, Lin Cunzheng dared not utter a single word. He pulled Sun and said, "Let's go home, let's go home first."
Seeing that the old man's expression was not right, Mrs. Sun had no choice but to follow him.
Even after they left the city gate, Sun continued to press Lin Cunzheng for answers, saying, "The fifth son's family might be hiding dirty silver."
"What dirty silver?"
Lin Cunzheng shook his head slightly, "I don't know either, but it seems that the official recognized the silver just now, which is why he detained them all."
Sun really didn't understand where they could get dirty money from their small town.
"All these years, everyone has stayed in the village. Where could they have gotten dirty money from?"
After Sun finished speaking, Lin Cunzheng paused and stood still, as if he had remembered something.
What came to your mind?
Lin Cunzheng said, "You forgot, more than ten years ago, Changhai and Changbo went with a group of people to look for ginseng, and it took them more than half a year to come back."
"But they didn't seem to have much money back then. Later, Changfu even borrowed money from us to get married, didn't you remember?"
Lin Cunzheng shook his head, "But they paid back the money not long after that, and it seems they never borrowed money again after that."
"You mean they brought it back back then? That was many years ago."
Lin Cunzheng couldn't understand it either; he was very puzzled.
A sense of worry arose in Sun's heart. After pondering for a long time, she asked her husband, "Will this matter implicate the villagers?"
"It shouldn't implicate the villagers, but we still need to take precautions. Chun Tao and the others will definitely be summoned by the authorities, so we need to tell them so they can prepare."
As Lin Cunzheng spoke, he quickened his pace and walked home.
Lin Chuntao waited for Pei Ying to finish her work before leaving the market together. On their way from the market to the city gate, they would pass by the government office. At this time, not all the onlookers had dispersed and were chatting in small groups by the roadside.
Pei Ying, noticing Lin Chuntao's expression, asked, "Should we go over and take a look?"
Lin Chuntao nodded, and the two turned into the right-hand road, walked through the long alley to the entrance of the government office, where the gate was tightly closed.
The woman next to her saw Lin Chuntao peeking towards the door and said with a smile, "Girl, are you here to see that wicked old woman being executed? You're late."
Lin Chuntao frowned slightly, then smiled and asked the woman, "Auntie, is the execution over?"
The woman shook her head and said, "It's not over. Their whole family has been imprisoned."
Lin Chuntao frowned in confusion. "Huh? Why is that?"
The woman replied, "We were standing outside and too far away to hear clearly, but it seems that there was something wrong with the money that the family brought to ransom the people, and it has been confiscated by the magistrate."
Is there something wrong with the silver? Lin Chuntao couldn't figure it out for a moment. What could possibly be wrong with the silver?
Seeing her lost in thought, Pei Ying, who was standing next to her, asked, "Could it be some stolen silver?"
The man next to the woman chimed in, "That's quite possible, but we haven't heard of anyone losing money lately."
"What about before? Have you heard of any wealthy family losing money?"
Upon hearing Pei Ying's question, the man frowned and pondered for a long time. "Now that you mention it, I am reminded of an old story, but that was more than ten years ago."
Pei Ying remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
"More than ten years ago, it seems that an official's ancestral tomb was robbed, and all the silver and utensils inside were taken away. At that time, the officials went door to door to question people, but it seems that they did not catch the thieves. Could it be that they were the ones who stole it?"
"This family looks like honest, simple farmers, not really."
The man muttered to himself, but the woman beside him disagreed, saying, "That's not right. You can't judge a book by its cover. Maybe it really is them."
The man waved his hand: "Never mind, let's go home. The authorities will definitely continue the investigation in a few days. We'll come back to see you then."
As they spoke, they called over an acquaintance nearby and prepared to leave. Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying also left the alley together.
Many people in the city were talking about this, and Lin Chuntao frowned as she listened.
Pei Ying said, "Don't worry, we are separate households from them. Theft usually doesn't implicate family members, unless it's robbing an imperial tomb."
Upon hearing about robbing an imperial tomb, Lin Chuntao couldn't help but chuckle, "What imperial tomb is there here?"
Pei Ying smiled and her lips curved into a smile as she looked at her. "So, don't worry."
Although she was comforted, Lin Chuntao still went to see Lin Cunzheng and Sun Shi after returning home.
"Grandma, have you heard that they've all been imprisoned?"
Sun said, "Your great-grandfather and I went and saw it."
"Does Grandma know the specifics of what happened? We only overheard passersby mentioning that there was something wrong with the money."
Lin Chuntao frowned, looking completely bewildered, and muttered to herself, "What could be wrong with the money?"
Mrs. Sun gently patted her back to comfort her, saying, "It's still too early to say for sure. Go back and hide the money in your house."
Hearing Sun's words, Lin Chuntao asked, "Will the officials come to search our door? Will we also be taken to the yamen?"
Sun shook her head, her eyes filled with sorrow.
"We don't know yet, we can only wait."
Sun looked at Lin Chuntao, whose face was full of worry, and then at Pei Ying beside her, and said, "It's alright, we didn't do anything, and we don't know anything."
Pei Ying nodded slightly and thanked Madam Sun. Lin Cunzheng and the others were also busy, so Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying didn't linger, quickly said goodbye, and went home.
Lin Chuntao was completely unaware of what had happened to the Lin family. She called them all over and solemnly told them what had happened. Then she instructed them, "The officials may come to our house later. Don't be afraid. We don't know anything. If the officials keep asking, you can cry and say that your mother died early, and that your grandparents and father disliked us because we were daughters and treated us badly. After your father remarried, he kicked us out."
The younger sisters looked a little confused, but seeing Lin Chuntao's serious expression, they nodded obediently.
"You guys go cut pig feed this afternoon, and your brother-in-law and I will go to the field to see if the corn has sprouted."
Lin Chunxing nodded in agreement. After lunch, she carried a basket on her back and left with her two younger sisters. Lin Chuntao counted the copper coins she had saved up over the past few days, kept about twenty copper coins at home, and put the rest into a small bamboo basket, planning to take them to the field to replant corn seeds and bury them in the ground.
Pei Ying also went back into the house, took out the money he had saved, and handed it to Lin Chuntao: "Bury it in several places."
Lin Chuntao nodded, glanced around the room. The iron pot was issued by the government and had been officially issued. She was a little afraid of being questioned by the government about the kitchen knife, so she put the kitchen knife into the bamboo basket as well. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Take your scissors and bury them too."
Pei Ying nodded slightly, turned around and went back into the house to get the scissors for her.
After the Lin family returned, the other three families, noticing that the old man and his wife hadn't come back with them, came to ask what had happened.
With so many children in the family, it was impossible to keep secrets, and some things were difficult to say. Lin Cunzheng opened the gate of the ancestral hall, and the four brothers and their wives, along with their eldest son, entered the hall. Old Man Lin was caught off guard by this matter, and Lin Cunzheng was completely bewildered, unable to anticipate the seriousness of the situation. He could only try his best to take precautions, fearing that if the officials came to the village to search the house, even if they didn't find any stolen silver, the little bit of hard-earned money he had saved up over half a lifetime would be taken away.
As soon as they sat down in the ancestral hall, Lin Changzong asked, "Father, what exactly happened to Fifth Uncle's family?"
Lin Cunzheng sighed and looked at them, saying, "Last night I asked you to help him raise money. Later I went to him, intending to ask how much he had and see if our families could contribute enough. But Lin Changhai said we didn't need to raise any more money. They went to the family that was going to give Xian'er the betrothal gifts and got them in advance. Although I felt it wasn't good for Xian'er, I didn't say anything about their decision."
"Who would have thought that when Changhai and his men went to ransom the people, they were immediately detained by the government officials and imprisoned."
"It seems that some of the silver they took was tainted. The magistrate even said he was going to find some official and left in a hurry."
As soon as Lin Cunzheng finished speaking, the expressions of the several families changed drastically. The old lady of the second branch asked Lin Cunzheng, "Brother, did the fifth brother and his family get the money from the family that arranged the betrothal for Xian'er? If so, shouldn't they be asking that family?"
Lin Cunzheng shook his head slightly, "I doubt it. Changhai and the others didn't say anything when they were taken away, so the money should have been in their own hands."
"Where did Lao Wu and the others get the money?"
Lin Cunzheng didn't know either. He looked at his younger brothers and nephews and said, "I don't know either. I called you here to tell you to hide the silver that the family has saved up. The officials may come to search the house, but don't hide it all. Leave a small amount so that people can find it."
The families all nodded solemnly, their faces full of worry.
"Will the fifth brother and the others be beheaded?"
"have no idea."
"We don't know anything right now, so we just do what we're supposed to do."
After Lin Cunzheng finished speaking, everyone dispersed and went home.
The villagers were unaware of what had happened to the Lin family. They only noticed that their yard was empty and there was no one there. They saw that the old couple, the village head and his wife, were also at home. They were all curious as to why the old man and his family had not returned yet, but they did not feel comfortable asking the village head.
In the afternoon, Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying were replanting seeds in the field when the curious onlookers went to the edge of the field.
"Chuntao, why haven't your grandparents come back yet? Has something happened?"
Lin Chuntao looked up at the person who asked the question and asked in return, "Where did they go? You'll have to ask the people in their courtyard."
Looking at Lin Chuntao's sincere face, which seemed genuine, the person asking the question exclaimed in surprise, "Don't you know? Your grandma didn't come back yesterday."
Lin Chuntao frowned. "Where did you go if you didn't come back?"
When Lin Chuntao asked the question, the woman didn't know how to answer. She guessed, "I don't know either. Wasn't she taken away by the officials? She should still be at the government office, right?"
Lin Chuntao didn't respond, and the woman continued, "This morning I saw the village head and your grandfather's whole family go out of the village. The village head has returned now, but your grandfather and the others haven't come back yet."
Lin Chuntao smiled upon hearing this: "Then Auntie will have to ask Grandpa. I don't talk to them, so how would I know?"
The woman gave an awkward smile and changed the subject: "What are you doing?"
Lin Chuntao said, "Some seeds didn't sprout, so I'll add some more."
"It's no use adding more now, is it?" the woman said as she walked. Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Just add a little bit. We'll have to add some grass even if we don't have corn later."
Seeing that she couldn't get any information from Lin Chuntao, the woman slowly walked away.
Lin Chuntao spent most of the day repairing corn. After finishing the two plots of land at the village entrance, she went to the back mountain. She divided the money into several portions, burying a small amount in the vegetable garden and most of it in the back mountain. She also buried the knife in the sandy soil of the back mountain.
The sun was already setting when Lin Chuntao finally returned home carrying her small bamboo basket.
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