Chapter 195 Digging a Hole
The county magistrate snorted coldly and said, "Then I will summon all the mothers-in-law in your village and ask them which one treats their daughter-in-law like this. If it's not the case, I will double your punishment. Are you willing?"
"this?"
Mrs. Lin Wang was speechless for a moment. What she said was actually a denial of the mistake she had made. How could she dare to really agree to what the county magistrate said?
What she said was not wrong, she was half right. Which mother-in-law did not start out as a daughter-in-law and become a mother-in-law? Which mother-in-law does not torture her daughter-in-law to vent the frustration of years of torture, to feel proud, and to show off her dignity as a mother-in-law?
But among the mothers-in-law in their village, there is no other mother-in-law who tortures her daughter-in-law like she does. She treats her daughter-in-law like a slave and does not treat her as a human being at all.
The reason for doing this is that her son is dead and her daughter-in-law is still so young. If she is not kept under strict control and has endless work to do all day long, won't she go out and flirt with other men when she has free time?
Then who will do the work for her family in the Lin family?
The eldest daughter-in-law and the second daughter-in-law are not easy to deal with. They are good at cheating and are not as honest as the third daughter-in-law.
So after she has worked for ten or eight years, she will be old, and her grandchildren will be grown up and able to work in the fields. Then she will not run even if you ask her to.
"Why not?" The county magistrate raised his eyebrows. He dared to say this because he was sure that Lin Wangshi would not dare.
She didn't dare to admit the crime, but as long as she severed her relationship with Lin Xi and her son, she could be forgiven.
He has been the county magistrate for so many years and is not a fool. Even if Lin Xi and her son want to break off their relationship, they can't do it without a reason. There must be a reason.
The young lady was very enthusiastic about the mother and son, and she certainly didn't want to leave any trouble for them. Breaking off the relationship for no reason would cause people to criticize them, saying that they were ungrateful and disrespectful to their parents. In this world, filial piety can crush many people, not to mention that they are an orphan and a widow.
Su Yue also understood the county magistrate's intention and just watched coldly from the side, thinking that the county magistrate was not an idiot, but a sensible man.
It is not entirely his fault that such a wise man disregarded the lives of the people. It was the imperial power that crushed people.
What’s more, the dog emperor treats even his own son’s life as worthless, let alone ordinary people.
At this moment, Su Yue's dislike for the county magistrate decreased a little. She wanted to punish the county magistrate severely after this matter was settled, but after thinking about it, she decided to forget it. He was just following orders.
As long as she solved the problem of the wild beast for them and the county magistrate did not oppress the people, she would not bother with him.
There are countless county magistrates like him in Xifeng Country, and setting up standards does not solve the problem at all.
Su Yue looked at Lin Wangshi, to see if she would admit the crime like the county magistrate did.
As expected, Lin Wangshi dared not refuse. She kowtowed and said, "I know my crime and beg Your Excellency to show leniency. My actions were unintentional. I was worried that my son would die and leave them alone, so I wanted to give her more work and less free time. I never expected this to happen."
The county magistrate nodded in satisfaction. "You are quite clever. With your intelligence, you must have figured it out. In order to pardon your crime, you must sever all ties with Lin Xi and her son. You are no longer relatives. Then your crime can be pardoned. Mrs. Lin Wang, I am showing some leniency because of your age. What do you think?"
If Lin Wangshi still didn't understand the county magistrate's intention, she would be an idiot. She nodded without hesitation: "I am willing."
"Well, I will personally testify for you. Come..."
The county magistrate opened his mouth to call for someone, but then he realized where he was. He opened his mouth but refused to swallow the person behind him and looked at Su Yue.
Su Yue winked at Hongying, who understood and immediately flew out of the yard. Not long after, she flew back and handed the county magistrate three pieces of paper, a brush, and even an inkstone.
The county magistrate was only momentarily surprised, then he wrote a letter in triplicate. After putting down his pen, he summoned a yamen runner and said, "Go out and call the village chief."
The yamen runner glanced at Su Yue, and when he saw her nod, he quickly walked out of the yard.
While Su Yue was at the stall of the village chief, she took a look at the letter of severance. The first thing that caught her eye was the county magistrate's calligraphy, which was strong and powerful, and a very good hand.
The content of the letter of severance was that Lin Xi and his mother severed their relationship with the Lin family. The content was very detailed and well protected the future rights and interests of Lin Xi's mother. From then on, they were strangers and had no connection with each other.
Su Yue was very satisfied with this. There was one thing that was still acceptable here. If she wanted to get out of this situation, she could solve it in this way.
"Sir, do you know who issued the notice asking you to catch wild animals?"
After reading it, Su Yue chatted with the county magistrate. Such a big thing could not be done by an unknown official. She wanted to see who was so disregarding the lives of the people and dared to do such a thing.
The county magistrate sighed, asked the other two yamen runners to pull the old woman aside, and also asked Lin Xi to go to Sister Yuegui.
Su Yue knew that there were some things that she didn't want too many people to know, so she nodded to Hong Ying and the others. Hong Ying and the others simply went over to take Lin Xi and her son away and kept watch from a distance.
The county magistrate then said, "Madam, you may not know this, but this order was issued by the Crown Prince, so I dare not disobey. I will complete this mission even if it costs me my life."
"Prince?"
Su Yue didn't quite believe it. Even if the prince himself was not very smart, there were many talented people around him who would not let him collect wild animals among the people in such a high-profile manner.
If countless people were killed or injured while hunting wild animals in the mountains, and this matter was reported to the emperor, not only would the emperor be disappointed in the prince, but the people would also scold the prince for his inhumanity.
Is such a cruel and inhumane person worthy of being the crown prince?
The prince understood such a simple truth. Su Yue must have been set up by someone, but he didn't know if it was Murong Yi who set up the trap for him.
Only he could set up a trap without anyone knowing.
Su Yue guessed right. It was indeed Murong Yi who set a trap for the prince.
A few days ago, after the two of them left court, they heard the prince and a minister discussing what would be the most appropriate gift to give to the emperor for his 55th birthday six months later.
The emperor had no shortage of gold, silver and treasures, but he could not enjoy beauties because he was old. The ministers suggested that there should not be many animals in the royal hunting grounds, because there were hunting activities every year, and the emperor would also go hunting when he had nothing to do to show that he was not old and still young.
The wild animals in the hunting grounds could not reproduce quickly enough, so they suggested that the prince collect some animals from the people and send them to the hunting grounds so that the emperor could have a good hunt that day.
(End of this chapter)
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