The old village chief was in a dilemma. Fan Qian and the others had only had this idea, but they hadn't succeeded. What should be done?
Besides, they are native villagers of Shanshui Village, with fields, land, and houses, so they can't be driven out.
They offered grain as payment, but their family didn't have much grain. As for silver, they insisted they couldn't produce any. If their mother came forward and made a scene, crying and fussing, Fan Jin and his wife couldn't very well go to their house to get it.
Good fields and fertile land have land deeds, which need to be changed at the government office. Moreover, given how much Fan's mother values land, she would definitely cause a huge uproar. After all, this matter did not cause any real harm to Hu Shuiqing. Even if it did cause serious harm, given her mother-in-law's personality, she would not think that her eldest son and several grandsons had done anything wrong.
But if there is no punishment, they will inevitably repeat the offense.
Whether it's making an example of one to warn a hundred or punishing someone severely, Fan Qian's entire family must be punished for this!
"Former kid."
When Fan Qian heard the old village chief call out, he shuddered and, steeling himself, stepped forward to respond.
"Your heart is not righteous, and your three children have also become wicked. Do you know your mistake?"
Fan Qian immediately protested his innocence: "Old village chief, I didn't say that! I just said it casually. As for the children, they are still young. How would they know what they can and cannot say?"
They're still children, so please don't hold it against them, okay?
"How is he young! Sanzhu is already fifteen years old, he's old enough to be married, how can he be considered young?"
"The smallest four pillars didn't say anything, but you can say the first three are small? If they're small, why don't they learn about the four pillars!"
"I don't think the old village chief is repentant at all. He's still trying to argue. We should send him to the authorities and let the officials interrogate him. He'll probably confess to everything."
"Yes, I heard that the government is really tough when interrogating prisoners. If they don't talk, they'll beat them until they confess everything! Then they'll throw them in jail for a few years, and when they come back they'll be obedient."
"Heh, will they be able to come back?"
"Isn't it good that they can't come back? It saves us from worrying!"
...
The usually taciturn men were now responding fluently, and with each sentence they uttered, Fan Qian, Fan Dazhu, and the others grew paler and paler.
He almost couldn't stand up in the end.
Fan Qian wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, helped his youngest son stand up straight, and said to the old village chief, "Old village chief, I know I was wrong. I apologize to my sister-in-law. As long as she doesn't mind, is it okay if we don't have to go to the government office?"
Before Fan Qian could apologize, fearing that Hu Shuiqing might lose face, the old village chief took it upon himself to say, "You don't need to apologize. What's the use of empty words?"
Here's the arrangement: silver and grain are precious, so you don't need to compensate for them. Land is the foundation of your livelihood, so we won't touch that either. Mountain peaks aren't important; you can compensate Hu Shuiqing with a mountain peak.
I remember when we divided the family property, there were nine households on the hill. The sons got three, you got three, and your mother's three also went to you. Don't touch your mother's share; just take one share from yours for her!
Fan Dazhu and the other two looked at the old village chief in surprise and asked hesitantly, "Old village chief, isn't this punishment a bit too harsh?"
"We didn't do anything!"
The old village chief looked at them and asked in return, "You really didn't do anything? You did, you just didn't succeed!"
This time it was one hilltop, next time it'll be two, the time after that four... You may disagree, but with so many of us here, we can go to the authorities and have a proper discussion.”
Fan Qian opened his mouth, but thinking of the beatings given to prisoners by officials, he stammered, "Okay, I agree."
He never expected that he would follow along to watch the spectacle, only to end up losing an entire mountain!
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