Chapter 166: Raising an ungrateful person
There was a burst of laughter inside and outside the ancestral hall.
Ying Xiucai usually looks gentle and polite, but when he gets angry, his mouth becomes very sharp.
The yellow warbler, being compared to chaff, was both ashamed and annoyed, and wished it could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Everyone followed Ying Zhilin's gaze and saw Wen Yan in an inconspicuous corner of the ancestral hall.
Wen Yan, who was originally watching the show leisurely, unexpectedly became the focus of attention.
She glared at Ying Zhilin awkwardly before giving everyone a faint smile.
She had delicate features on her palm-sized face and a slim figure.
Although he still has a childish look on his face, he gives people a sense of calmness.
Aunt Jiao suddenly pointed at Wen Yan and shouted, "Wen Yan is a woman, how can she enter the Ying family ancestral hall?"
"I allowed it, why do you have any objections?" Clan leader Ying stepped forward and said.
The Ying family does have a rule that women are not allowed to enter the ancestral hall, but Wen Yan is an exception.
After she married into the Ying family, she not only took care of the household chores, but also allowed Ying Zhilin to concentrate on preparing for the Autumn Examination three months later.
He also opened a workshop in the village, making life better for several families that were on the verge of survival.
This indirectly increased the prestige of the Ying family in the village.
Such a woman who has made contributions to the clan will naturally be able to enter the ancestral hall as an exception when encountering major events.
Seeing that Yan was protected by the clan leader, Aunt Jiao and Huang Ying'er were even more unwilling to accept this.
But public opinion is not on their side.
Everyone compared Huang Ying'er and Wen Yan.
One grew up in a family of officials, and the other was an illiterate peasant girl.
One is beautiful and the other is plain.
One is a wealthy man, and the other's family has just escaped poverty.
One has the support of the General's Mansion, and the other has no background at all.
In an instant, the two women were compared to each other, with a huge difference between them.
Huang Ying'er's face was pale, she couldn't even stand steadily, and fell to the ground.
Aunt Jiao gnashed her teeth, wishing she could rush up and tear those people's mouths apart.
"Snap!" There was a sound.
Magistrate Song slammed the gavel on the table.
The noisy ancestral hall suddenly became quiet.
"Do either of you have any other evidence?"
At this time, the police dragged out another person.
The man knelt on the ground and pointed at Aunt Jiao and said, "Two evenings before the Dragon Boat Festival, I saw her go to Old Jiao's house with my own eyes.
The next day, Mrs. Jiao started spreading rumors in the village."
Magistrate Song looked at Mrs. Jiao and asked, "Do you plead guilty?"
Mrs. Jiao was at a loss.
She looked at Aunt Jiao with eyes asking for help.
Aunt Jiao nodded at her.
Mrs. Jiao knew that her daughter wanted her to take the blame.
She thought about what her daughter said, that she was just spreading rumors and gossip, and at most she would be reprimanded and given a few slaps on the palm of her hand.
She agreed: "I plead guilty, old woman."
"Since you have pleaded guilty, according to Dayong Law, spreading rumors and insulting others that harm their reputation is punishable by one year in prison and exile three hundred miles away."
"What!" When Mrs. Jiao heard that she was going to be exiled three hundred miles away, she screamed in shock.
She cried and begged for mercy: "Sir, I just spread a few gossips, why do you still want to sentence me? This is unfair!
Besides, I am just a country woman. When I have nothing to do, I just gossip about other people's affairs. Others are fine, so why should I be punished?
Moreover, I am an old woman in my fifties, and I have to be sentenced. I have lost all my face. I have no face to live anymore. The police are forcing me to death!"
Mrs. Jiao cried and made a fuss, almost rolling on the ground.
"You're lying!"
Outside the ancestral hall, a villager pointed at Mrs. Jiao and said, "When you were first brought here, you admitted in front of the officers and Ying Zhilin that you were the one who spread the rumors. You even threatened Scholar Ying that if he didn't marry, he wouldn't be able to participate in the Autumn Examination!"
Lord Song: "How can this be? You are framing me maliciously! Come, take the prisoner to the prison and send him to exile on a later date."
When Mrs. Jiao saw that Lord Song was ruthless and impartial, she was so scared that her legs went weak.
How could he remain stubborn? He quickly looked at Aunt Jiao and said, "Son, you must save me!"
Aunt Jiao gritted her teeth.
How could she, as a mother, be so careless with her words and say anything she wanted?
She was afraid that Mrs. Jiao would say something inappropriate again, so she winked at her and said angrily, "You were the one who spread these rumors! Why did you do this? Ying'er is your own granddaughter, why would you harm her like this?"
Mrs. Jiao was completely dumbfounded.
How come in the end, the criminal turned out to be me?
She wanted to protest her injustice.
But when she met her daughter's pleading eyes, she couldn't say the words of explanation.
She made up her mind and cursed with gnashing teeth: "I did it all.
I just can't bear to see the descendants of the eldest wife living a good life.
"Ying Zhilin, once he passes the imperial examination, will have the opportunity to become an official. Why? I will destroy all the descendants of the first house."
Mrs. Jiao signed on the spot.
This rumor has been confirmed and written into the county government files, thus receiving an official characterization.
In the future, no one should use this incident to attack Ying Zhilin.
Seeing that Mrs. Jiao was about to be taken away for exile, Huang Ying'er said with a look of pity: "Mother, my grandmother is so old, how can she bear it..."
Those who were exiled not far away were sent to nearby quarries or to dig river embankments.
Very hard work.
Mrs. Jiao is old and I'm afraid she can't hold on.
Aunt Jiao glared at Huang Ying'er fiercely.
Huang Ying'er was frightened by her mother's eyes and shrank back, biting her lips tightly and not daring to say another word.
The culprits were the Huang family mother and daughter, but they wanted to use an old woman to take the blame.
Wen Yan disagreed.
Instead, he asked on the spot, "The crime of spreading rumors and slander should be redeemable with money, right? A one-year prison sentence should be sixty taels of silver."
Lord Song looked at Wen Yan in surprise: "Madam Wen actually understands the Dayong Law?"
Wen Yan said modestly, "I read the Great Yong Law several times when I was bored in my spare time at home."
In fact, it was in her previous life that when she accompanied Huo Yaoxing in a demotion, she specially studied the Dayong Law in order to help Huo Yaoxing.
I didn’t expect that it would come in handy in this life.
Mrs. Jiao naturally didn't want to be exiled.
He immediately ran over and grabbed Aunt Jiao's arm: "Son, you have to save mother!"
Aunt Jiao was reluctant to agree.
That's sixty taels of silver.
The Huang family has a lot of land and their life is better than that of ordinary farmers, but they cannot save much money throughout the year.
Sixty taels would take her whole family five or six years of frugality to save.
She was unwilling to pay this money.
She took Mrs. Jiao's hand and whispered with tears in her eyes, "Mother, that's sixty taels. Instead of giving it to the government, it's better to keep it for your family."
"What do you mean?" Mrs. Jiao angrily shook her hand away. "You'd rather I suffer than pay this money?"
"No, mother, listen to me.
Isn’t my brother’s eldest grandson at the age of enlightenment?
Instead of giving the money to the government, why not let your precious great-grandson go to school..."
"Bah! You're going to use the money in your pocket to support my great-grandson's education? I think you want to leave it to your money-loser as a dowry!" Mrs. Jiao spat in her face, "Could it be that in your heart, I, your biological mother, am not as important as your daughter?
Oh my, I have raised an ungrateful wolf..."
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