When they arrived at the town, Li Xiu'e was waiting on the roadside. Yu Ruhai glanced at her with displeasure.
Li Xiu'e called him "Uncle", and Yu Ruhai snorted coldly and turned away.
Li Xiu'e just thought that Yu Hanshan wanted to marry her, which made Yu Ruhai unhappy, and she didn't think much about it. The fact that Yu Ruhai came along to write the document to establish him as a concubine was already giving her some respect.
Yu Hanshan asked for a matchmaker in a nearby alley, but for safety reasons, he did not dare to ask Wang, the matchmaker he knew in the village, to be a guarantor.
When they found the matchmaker's house and heard that it was a document to establish a concubine, the matchmaker suspected something was fishy and refused to agree.
Yu Hanshan stuffed three taels of silver into her hands and tried his best to persuade her to go to see Li Xiu'e and Yu Ruhai. With her relatives present and the concubine being a widow, the matchmaker agreed to help write the documents to establish the concubine after seeing the deed in Yu Ruhai's hand.
Holding the newly issued document of establishing a concubine, several people went to the city.
The drizzle was still falling. When they arrived at the yamen, Yu Ruhai introduced himself. The yamen runner knew that his family had a scholar, so he did not make things difficult for them and took them to see the county magistrate.
Yu Mengshan first took out the document of establishing a concubine for preservation, and then sent Li Xiu'e away to avoid any complications. Then he and Yu Ruhai went through the separation process.
This matter completely bypassed the head of the village, Chen Gensheng, because it involved the Yu family of Xie Yuanlang, so the county magistrate sent someone to inform the county magistrate Gao.
When Yu Ruhai saw the official books kept in the county, he saw that Yu Jiao's name was written next to Yu Qizhe, and that it was his wife Meng Yu Jiao. Only then did he realize that what his fifth brother said that day was not a lie, and that the household registration deed had really been changed.
But he had always kept the household deed at home, and there was no proof. Yu Ruhai was puzzled as to how the fifth brother had come to the county government to change the official deed.
When County Magistrate Gao heard that the Yu family was planning to split up the household, he came over to take a look because he was optimistic about Yu Qizhe.
"County Magistrate Gao." Seeing Gao Yunsheng walk in, Yu Ruhai hurriedly bowed and greeted him.
Gao Yunsheng smiled and said, "Mr. Yu, why do you suddenly want to separate the household?" As the saying goes, cultivate yourself, manage your family, govern the country and bring peace to the world. If a family has prosperous descendants living together for generations, it will be very beneficial to its reputation. It will make people think that this clan is harmonious and the children are of good character, so they can live together as a family.
Yu Ruhai said with some shame, "I am ashamed to say that there is an unfilial son in my family. In order to avoid discord and hurting the nature of the people, I have to separate the family."
He took out the letter of severance and handed it to Magistrate Gao. "He wants to take a concubine and ruin the family tradition of my Yu family. I will definitely not allow it. Please be my witness. This unfilial son has been driven out of my house and will have no relationship with my Yu family in the future."
Yu Ruhai only mentioned that Yu Hanshan wanted to take a concubine, and never mentioned that he had an affair with the young widow, which made him appear to be of high moral character.
County Magistrate Gao took the severance letter and glanced at Yu Hanshan. Yu Hanshan felt a little ashamed at this moment and lowered his head.
Magistrate Gao retracted his gaze and read the severance letter. "The draft law states that all people who are registered under one household are one family. If one's parents are still alive and one wants to register another household, one must obtain permission from the parents, and the government will not be involved in the decision."
He looked at the county magistrate standing beside him and said, "Since you have already discussed it, County Magistrate Liu, please help the old man to separate the households."
The fact that he was able to have the heart to sever ties with his own son shows that this old man Yu has a strict family tradition and a clean family background. He is worthy of being able to raise a grandson who won the highest prize in the imperial examination. Gao Yunsheng couldn't help but look up to Yu Ruhai.
County Magistrate Liu registered and opened an account for Yu Hanshan, and transferred the names of all the members of the three branches of the Yu family to another household deed.
County Magistrate Gao invited Yu Ruhai to sit down and drink tea, and asked with a smile, "Does your Yu family have any acquaintances in the capital?"
Yu Ruhai shook his head. "Not really. As you know, our Yu family is just a small family in the countryside. No one in our clan has retired for generations, and we don't have any connections or background." He wondered why County Magistrate Gao asked this.
"Really?" Magistrate Gao was also a little confused. "A few months ago, a captain of the Jinyiwei came to the yamen to change your family's household registration. If I remember correctly, it should be a girl from the second branch of your Yu family. They said that she was bought by your family to marry a bride. But they made a mistake in the last registration, and recorded her as a girl from the second branch, so we made her Wulang's wife."
"A captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard?" Yu Ruhai was surprised. He was completely confused. Although he lived in a remote area, he had heard of the name of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. They were officials from the capital who had direct access to the heavens. They were rampant and had confiscated the homes of countless criminal officials and arrested them. They had always been notorious.
How could Fifth Brother know someone like that?
Looking at Yu Ruhai's expression, County Magistrate Gao felt that he did not seem to be hiding anything, and that he really did not recognize the Jinyiwei people. In that case, it seemed that he could only be an acquaintance of Wu Lang from his family.
"Come, have some tea." County Magistrate Gao greeted him with a smile, and then said, "I am very optimistic about your Wulang. Has he ever had a teacher? Do you want me to introduce him to an elder in the capital? My former tutor was the chancellor of the Zhanshi Mansion. If Wulang is willing, I can write a letter to the capital, so that when Wulang goes to the capital for the imperial examination, he will have someone to take care of him."
Yu Ruhai hadn't even swallowed his tea when he heard that County Magistrate Gao was willing to help Qi Zhe introduce a teacher to an official in the capital. He was overjoyed and quickly swallowed the tea in his mouth. Fearing that County Magistrate Gao would go back on his word, he quickly bowed and said, "Let me thank you on behalf of my grandson. I'd like to trouble you to help write a letter to introduce that gentleman. I'm unfamiliar with the capital, and it would be great if my fifth brother had someone to take care of him."
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