Chapter 10: An Old Man and a Young Man
How could Mother Dong do something that would betray her master? She would never do that even if she was beaten to death.
Mrs. Xu had no choice but to take action herself.
The Su family was short of manpower, so Su Ruojin wanted to bring Dong's mother back. But now it was no longer possible to pay the rent with money. The evil woman surnamed Xu wanted the Su family's craftsmanship.
Su Yanli was a Jinshi graduate and a Doctor of the Five Classics at the Imperial College. Logically, he should have been able to scare off people like Xu Pozi. However, not only did he not do that, he even let her take advantage of him.
Why is she so arrogant? Of course she has a background.
Mrs. Xu's sister is the housekeeper of the Princess of Jin, and her brother-in-law is the housekeeper of the Prince of Jin's mansion, a seventh-rank official in the Prime Minister's office, not to mention the housekeeper of the Prince's mansion. Her sister's family bought a big house in Kangyuanfang and they were quite prestigious in that area. All the prominent figures would give some face to the Lu family, and as a result, Mrs. Xu also acted arrogantly in the area around Xiqiao Lane.
Two years ago, Su Yanli rented a courtyard from Mrs. Xu through an agent. He paid the rent in the first quarter and everything was fine. But in the second quarter, Mrs. Xu raised the rent for various reasons.
Su Yanli had to support a large family with a salary of ten taels, so how could he afford to increase the rent? Even if he had money, she couldn't just increase it. Su Yanli wanted to move out, but his father, a scholar, was cheated by the renter and Mrs. Xu. He didn't notice an unfair clause in the lease, which required that even if he moved out, he would still have to pay the rent for two years.
There was no other way, Su Yanli had to swallow the loss and pay the increased rent. From then on, things got out of control and the rent had to increase every quarter, making the already tight financial life even more difficult. In the past year, her father either went to Lord Fan or borrowed money from his colleagues, like a pauper.
Tell me, is this life frustrating?
Mrs. Xu was not afraid of a yellow-haired girl. She stuck out her chin and said sarcastically, "How dare a doctor from the Imperial College do business? I will report it to the government office, and not only will you lose your business, but your father will also be fired."
When she was three years old two years ago, Su Ruojin had no chance to participate in the family affairs, but now that she is the head of the family, how could she allow others to step on her.
Her expression was not much better. She looked over coldly and said sarcastically, "Go, go now..."
Mrs. Xu was so nauseated that she turned around and went to the government office to report it.
Su Ruojin added slowly, "The beginning of winter is coming. I heard that the government disciplines the kings, dukes, generals, ministers, scholars and officials every year before the winter solstice. I don't know who will be disciplined this time."
Mrs. Xu turned her head suddenly, and her eyes darted over like knives.
Su Ruojin spread her hands and said, "My father is only an eighth-rank official. He can't reach the emperor's ears, nor is he an imperial censor. He can't influence anything."
Mrs. Xu's face was full of fat, so that her two small eyes were squeezed to a slit. Now she narrowed her eyes and stared at Su Ruojin, as if she wanted to get something out of her. A vicious smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, "￥%& You can't raise her." She turned around and walked away with an unfathomable look on her face.
Su Ruojin didn't let her go, and shouted behind her, "Xu Ai, I'll come to your house on the beginning of winter."
Mrs. Xu paused, turned her head again and looked at Su Ruojin.
The little girl met her eyes with a smile.
She was clearly a six-year-old girl, but at this moment, Mrs. Xu couldn't see clearly. She smiled contemptuously: "Do you think you can just step over the threshold of my house?"
"I don't cross."
What's the meaning?
Su Ruojin deliberately looked at the crowd of onlookers.
Mrs. Xu's face darkened, but she suddenly remembered her sister's warning to her. She relaxed her expression and restrained her arrogance.
Su Ruojin saw everything. She walked to the side of Mrs. Xu with a smile on her face, but her voice was very low so that only Mrs. Xu could hear it. "I stood at the door of your house and beat the gongs and drums until everyone came around and asked why."
"You..." Mrs. Xu shot a venomous look at the six-year-old girl in surprise, and actually accused her of relying on her sister to seize the thing. What a vicious plan.
Mrs. Xu wanted to tear the dead girl's face apart with her hands.
Su Ruojin raised her head slightly.
The two looked at each other.
Before she became the head of the family, Su Ruojin had always encouraged Shu Tongshu to listen and see more outside, from court decrees to street gossip, and come back and tell her everything he heard or saw.
In March or April this year, the wife of a minor official in Beijing hanged herself and left behind a suicide note which read: I thought my husband had studied hard for ten years and sold his fame to the emperor's family in exchange for a worry-free life. But I never expected that he couldn't even afford to rent a house to marry and raise children. Rather than being chased out like a dog, it's better for me to hang myself.
The incident caused a huge uproar and I heard that even the emperor knew about it.
Su Ruojin seized this opportunity and threatened Xu Pozi that if she did not let her family give up the lease, she would follow the example of that family and hang herself in front of her house. She would also ask the censors in the capital to report the case to the emperor.
In the end, Mrs. Xu agreed, but she still squeezed the Su family and detained Mother Dong for a year.
As an eighth-rank official, Su Yanli had no one to seek justice for a villain like Mrs. Xu who had a background in the royal palace. Besides, there were only children at home, so it was better to have less trouble than more. In the end, he had no choice but to let Mother Dong stay to work for a year.
In fact, the reason why Mrs. Xu was afraid of threats was not because she was really afraid of being reported by the censors, but because the houses she had were all owned by building and store owners. She relied on her sister's status as a manager of the Prince of Jin's Mansion to rent them at extremely low prices, and then rented them to small Beijing officials like Su Yanli at extremely high prices. She was no different from the landlord who forced the wife of a small official to death. She let the Su family go mainly because she was afraid that the public rental housing she had hoarded would be investigated.
Dayin was similar to the Song Dynasty. Small commodities developed extremely rapidly and a large number of people flocked to the city. Not everyone could afford to buy a house or build a yard, so house rental came into being.
The booming housing rental market has led to a sharp increase in rents, and more and more people cannot afford to rent a house and have to sleep on the streets.
According to what Su Ruojin had inquired, there were no more houses available for rent in Xu Po's family.
What surprised Su Ruojin was that the King of Jin's anger over being punished did not spread to the people below. Not only did Sister Xu not lose her job, but even Mrs. Xu herself was fine except for losing her public housing.
Why? Is the King of Jin a magnanimous person?
Su Ruojin didn't think so, there must be a reason she didn't know.
(End of this chapter)
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