If those three illegitimate children hadn't looked so much like Qi Quan, the Qi family would never have admitted that they were their offspring.
The more proud the Qi family was before, having a nemesis to raise their grandson, the more they resent Qi Quan now.
It wasn't him; the family was living a good life.
After Zhao Changgeng entered the main hall and took his seat, the Hong and Qi families below were still undecided about who would be beaten.
Zhao Changgeng had already reviewed the case file.
He deeply despised such immoral people.
The Hong and Qi families really think they can take advantage of Lin Kun.
Both families knew about it, but neither of them stopped it. Instead, they kept demanding money from the Lin family. They were like two nests of rats.
If that's the case, then none of them are innocent; they have to vomit up whatever amount they ate.
The courtroom wasn't a place for them to have a private tea party; Zhao Changgeng felt disgusted just looking at them.
With a slam of the gavel, he shouted, "Stop being so rude! Such a disturbance in the courtroom! Take them away and give each of them five strokes of the cane!"
This time, instead of shifting blame, they each sought their own gain, and outside the courtroom, wails and howls filled the air.
After they were flogged, they were dragged back one by one. When asked who had taken the fifty lashes, no one answered.
Zhao Changgeng counted the number of male members from both families and divided them equally.
Outside the courtroom, cries of agony rang out once more.
The women in the courtroom, especially the old women from the Hong and Qi families, who had originally intended to use their usual dramatic displays of crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide, were immediately deflated by Zhao Changgeng's glare.
They wouldn't dare cause any more trouble.
After the beating was finished, Zhao Changgeng felt a sense of satisfaction looking at the family members' grimacing expressions of pain.
They deserve all the torment they endured for how they bullied Lin Kun back then.
"Who is this person below? What brings you here to beat the drum?" Zhao Changgeng asked, feigning concern.
Then, the Hong and Qi families started arguing again.
With a snap, Zhao Changgeng slammed the gavel again. This time, they had learned their lesson. To avoid being beaten again, the wives of both families stepped forward, weeping and complaining about how hard their lives were.
The county magistrate's judgment was unfair.
Zhao Changgeng was secretly delighted. He had seen stupid people before, but he had never seen anyone this stupid. They had really dug their own grave.
Listen patiently until both representatives have finished speaking. The clerk takes notes and then asks the two representatives to put their fingerprints on the document. After they have done so, the clerk asks others if they have anything to add or if they agree with what the representatives have said.
A circle of handprints was pressed down, and without exception, everyone except the seven or eight-year-old children left their handprints.
The gavel struck again, startling the two families below the hall.
If a citizen sues an official, they will be punished with eighty more blows.
The eighty strokes of the cane were divided between the two families, except for the children.
When both families were being beaten, the same phrase flashed through their minds: "officials protecting each other."
They really misunderstood; it was simply that Zhao Changgeng couldn't stand their shamelessness.
Instead of reflecting on their own misdeeds and quietly working to correct their ways and live a good life, family members start finding fault and questioning the fairness of the judgment.
In his opinion, the magistrate's judgment was very fair.
Since both families treat each other as enemies, they must be prepared to bear the consequences.
It's unacceptable to only want to take advantage without accepting punishment.
Simply losing money isn't enough; these people are rotten to the core.
If it's not properly repaired, who knows how many more despicable things it might do in the future.
The two families, who had been beaten again, began to question the meaning of life. They hoped that their visit to the prefectural government office today was just a dream come true.
Once they wake up from their dream, they'll be free from being beaten, and their butts won't sting as much as they do now.
But the reality is that they weren't dreaming; they were living in the present moment in a very real way.
They were beaten up, and in the end, both families were kicked out of the courtroom.
Not only that, Zhao Changgeng also tracked down the whereabouts of Hong Shi and Qi Quan's family after they were sold, and only after learning that they had been sold to work as laborers in the mines did he feel at ease.
Don't even mention having compassion. The children are innocent, but those kids are not innocent at all. They already knew that Lin Kun wasn't their biological father.
It was only because Lin Kun was upright, earned a lot of money, and treated them well that they enjoyed his support while secretly mocking his foolishness.
If it weren't for these brats secretly mocking Lin Kun, which Lin Kun overheard, aroused his suspicion, and eventually began an investigation, he would have discovered that these children were all illegitimate.
This was truly a case of being easily angered and suffering greatly. Lin Kun couldn't hold back at the time and almost lost his life because of it.
Not enough, but it wasn't entirely without gain either. Ever since the news spread that Lin Kun had been cuckolded for over a decade, Lan Ruqiao, Lin Kun's mother and former fiancé, came knocking on his door.
Back then, Lin Kun was also tricked by Hong Shi. She deliberately walked with her head down, bumped into Lin Kun's arms, and then her mother saw it.
With all that publicity, and the fact that Lin Kun had already had physical intimacy with her, he had no choice but to marry her.
Otherwise, not only would they smash up Lin Kun's house, but they would also go to the yamen to accuse Lin Kun of harassing respectable women on the street. Once the charges were proven, not only would his reputation be ruined, but he would also go to jail.
Lin Kun originally intended to fight to the end, but his mother threatened to kill herself, leaving Lin Kun with no choice but to swallow this bitter pill.
He reluctantly called off the engagement and even gave Lan Ruqiao a considerable amount of compensation.
Over the years, Lan Ruqiao has relied on the compensation Lin Kun gave her to gradually build up her business, and now she has opened a small embroidery shop.
Upon learning of Lin Kun's "tragic experience," Lan Ruqiao did not take advantage of his misfortune; instead, she remembered Lin Kun's kindness.
Lan Ruqiao has remained unmarried all these years, partly because she can't let go of Lin Kun, and partly because she has lost faith in men.
Since she had developed her own ability to earn money, she naturally overlooked the matter of getting married.
Having learned of Lin Kun's whereabouts, Lan Ruqiao came to him again to rekindle their past romance.
When they reunited more than a decade later, they were both getting on in years, nearing thirty.
There wasn't much time to waste, and when the wedding was discussed again, it was much more pleasant.
All the formalities were skipped; they simply exchanged marriage certificates, registered them at the government office, and the two were considered legally married.
Of course, the wedding still has to be held.
Lin Kun, dragging his injured arm, rode his horse to greet his bride.
The neighbors all mocked Lin Kun, saying, "With injuries this severe, how can he possibly consummate the marriage?"
Some people chimed in, "Why not? At worst, the bride can be on top."
Lin Kun ignored their teasing. What he wanted to do most right now was to marry a wife as soon as possible and have a few children of his own.
It's heartbreaking to raise someone else's child.
Looking at my arm again, it really hurts.
The pain is real, absolutely real.
Some people talk about Lin Kun, while others talk about the Hong and Lin families, both of whom are notorious.
It's impossible to find work in the town or county.
Anyone who knows either of these two families knows that they have character flaws.
Even if a worker with questionable character is cheap and a good deal, the employer won't hire them casually. They're afraid that one day the other party will bite them, and they'll be left with nothing but tears.
Finally, both families reluctantly returned to their rural hometowns, which they had once scorned.
If they hadn't kowtowed, cursed, and sworn oaths, their people probably wouldn't have accepted them.
This is truly a disgrace to our ancestors.
After Zhao Changgeng finished judging the case at the front office, he returned to the back office and told his parents the whole story.
The three people in the backyard were completely stunned by what they heard.
"The world is going to the dogs, and people's hearts are no longer what they used to be." Zhao Qianci didn't know how to describe it.
Huang blinked for a long time.
"That Lin Kun is really stupid. He's been wearing a green hat for so many years, how could he not be able to resist?"
He got beaten up for no reason; what a coward.
Wang Caixia has always been a staunch supporter of her mother-in-law, believing that whatever her mother-in-law says must be correct, and nodding in agreement.
Zhao Changgeng was both amused and exasperated; it seemed these people were treating the case as a joke.
Then, he recounted how he had beaten up those two families.
Having won his mother's praise, Zhao Changgeng was so proud of himself that he was practically wagging his tail in the air.
At his age, Zhao Changgeng is very content to still receive praise from his own mother.
In fact, he was only in his forties.
These days, people get married early. They become grandfathers early and then think they've reached retirement age.
Before the sun even sets, they automatically become like old trees and crows at dusk.
The elderly couple stayed in the Northwest for about a month.
The eldest son, two grandsons, and one granddaughter—who wouldn't want to visit them?
Then comes the gift-giving to the grandchildren. Without going into too much detail, each grandchild is budgeted at ten taels of silver. Adding them up, a hundred or so taels of silver disappears in no time.
Having many descendants may seem lively, but it really costs money.
In particular, the older great-grandchildren are all going to Beijing with the elderly couple this time.
They were led by Da Bao and Da Ya.
Da Bao wanted to supplement his knowledge because Mr. Tong had already taught him everything he could.
Daya is about to reach the age of marriage negotiations. Zhao Qingfeng and his wife are thinking that if their child can't find a good marriage in the capital, at least she can find a good nanny to teach her manners.
The other boys were the same; they all came to the capital to study.
Huang didn't want to bring these burdens with her to the capital, fearing she might anger the princess's daughter-in-law.
It wouldn't be good if people said I was taking advantage of them.
But the great-grandchildren were the hope of the Zhao family, so she had no choice but to bite the bullet and accept them.
Before returning to Beijing, he had already sent back the message that he was going to take a group of little kids back with him via a messenger bird.
Zhao Qingyang and Zhao Qingyi went to find Zhao Qingyan immediately to tell her they wanted to buy a house.
They will pay for it themselves; they only need Zhao Qingyan to help them find a place to live.
Oh dear, buying a house in the dead of winter really doesn't seem like a good time.
Since her younger brother had spoken, Zhao Qingyan naturally gave the order.
Soon, a house was found. Although the location was not as good as the Zhao family mansion, it was still quite good.
Two adjacent two-courtyard houses.
Zhao Qingbei didn't have enough money in the East and West wings, so she borrowed some from Zhao Qingyang. Zhao Qingbei's main source of income was earning money through painting.
He also writes sketchbooks to sell. Although the boy himself doesn't have much life experience, he is quite knowledgeable.
Especially since the boy didn't have much to watch—especially shrewish women cursing in the street—his sketchbooks became very popular.
The characters are portrayed very vividly.
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