Lin Dan had long been fed up with the woman's ignorance, paranoia and weakness. However, they had known each other for a long time and had a good relationship with each other. They also had the same name. How could she watch her and her two children jump into the fire pit?
"Crying will not help, just hold back your tears." Lin Dan sighed.
The woman wiped her tears hastily with her sleeves. It took her a while to get her breathing back to normal and her mind was much calmer than before. In this way, she realized more deeply that she was almost tricked by Xu Zuguang into falling into an abyss and being shattered to pieces! As a Beijing official, how could he not know about such a serious disaster as the one that hit Tanzhou? He knew it but never thought of going back to take a look. How cruel was his heart? It would be fine if he just gave up her and his two children, but he still has his parents in Tanzhou! Doesn't he even want his parents?
Yes, he never wanted any parents! Apart from asking for money from his parents, what else has he done? He even knew about Madam Lin who presented the prescription, but he didn't know that Madam Lin was himself. It can be seen that he has no interest in finding out about the affairs of his hometown. I guess he is trying to avoid it as much as possible? In order to curry favor with the rich and powerful, he has been prepared to give up everything in his past, and even plans to kill people to silence them. He has such a cruel heart!
They say even a tiger won't eat its own cubs, but he is even more vicious than a tiger!
The more the woman thought about it, the more angry she became, and her teeth were chattering.
Seeing that she was getting emotional, Lin Dan instructed: "You should understand that for the sake of your two children, you can only be tough now and fight for the benefits you deserve for yourself and them. Being a second-rank official may sound very prestigious, but you don't have to be afraid. As long as you find the right way, you can still have a future. Tomorrow, when Xu Zuguang comes, you do this..."
Lin Dan taught the woman again and again, and before she knew it, a night had passed. In the early morning, just as the sky was getting light, Xu Zuguang and Wan Xiuer came personally with a group of servants to pick her up, but were rejected by the woman.
The two children who were happily waiting to return home to enjoy a happy life were stunned. They walked up to their mother, one on the left and one on the right, and gently pulled her sleeves, meaning that she should stop making trouble and make peace with her father as soon as possible.
Seeing the child's eyes full of longing, the woman felt sad. It wasn't that she wanted to make a fuss, she was forced to do so by the situation and had no choice but to do so! She calmed herself down and shook her head, saying, "I didn't sleep last night. After thinking it over, I still feel that I can't go back with you easily. In the past ten years, you have made many promises, but none of them have been fulfilled. I don't trust you anymore. Why don't we sign a contract in black and white to combine our respective interests? Otherwise, I will be uneasy."
"How do you bring it together?" Xu Zuguang asked patiently.
"If I hand over the marriage certificate and consider myself your concubine, you will have to hand over all the property that the children deserve, including the white fields, silver, shops, and Yuling's dowry. Nothing can be left behind!" Although the woman tried her best to conceal it, a hint of greed still flashed across her eyes.
It’s all about money! This is the only knowledge an old country woman has! Wan Xiuer, who was originally on high alert, couldn't help but reveal a look of contempt, and then winked at Xu Zuguang, asking him to go along with them for the time being. As long as you can coax people back home and close the door, who cares whether you are dead or alive? After a few days, they would say that they were seriously ill and sent them to the farm to be recuperated. A few years later, the news of their sudden deaths would be leaked, and the matter would be over. But it’s just dealing with a concubine and illegitimate children, it’s that simple!
Xu Zuguang understood what he meant and nodded immediately, saying, "Okay, I'll sign a contract for you."
The woman immediately spread the paper and pen she had prepared on the table, asked Xu Zuguang to write the contract, and demanded one thousand taels of silver, two shops, two hundred acres of fertile land, plus a dowry for her daughter. She also asked Xu Zuguang to sign his name and put his fingerprints on the contract. After picking up the deed and looking over it for a long time, she perhaps felt that it was not safe enough, so she asked Wan Xiuer to add two lines of words at the bottom, saying that she would never treat illegitimate sons and daughters harshly, and would definitely find a good husband for the illegitimate daughter in the future. Finally, she asked the other party to sign and seal it.
"Are you satisfied now?" Xu Zuguang asked with a wry smile.
"Sister, from now on we are a family. You and the two children should come back with me. I will take good care of you and make up for all the hardships you have endured over the years." Wan Xiu'er smiled very sincerely and pinched Xu Weibai and Xu Yuling's cheeks affectionately. She is only twenty-three or twenty-four years old now, young, beautiful and of noble birth. As long as she is willing to please others, she can quickly win them over.
Just after two encounters, the children's attitude towards her changed from being wary to liking her.
The woman looked at him with tears in her eyes, and said sarcastically, "Whenever you send the silver and the title deed to us, we will go back. Anyway, I will not fulfill your wish without seeing the things. My child and I have suffered for so many years, I can't let you get away with it for nothing."
The more she didn't act quickly, the more Xu Zuguang and Wan Xiu'er looked down on her. Naturally, they would not think that she had other thoughts, so they could only turn back.
The two children looked on eagerly as the low-key carriage left. They couldn't help but complain, "Mom, why don't you take us back? Dad and Madam are so good to us. We don't want money or a shop. We just want to be together as a family."
The woman had a hard time speaking out her feelings and could only say a few perfunctorily with red eyes.
Lin Dan sighed and said, "You have taught these two children bad things. You always mention their father who is an official in front of them, and they have lost their backbone in the face of power. You should change in the future!"
"Well, I will make them change." The woman smiled bitterly in her heart. That afternoon, she wrote a petition under Lin Dan's instruction and hid it in her arms. She also made a few sticks of incense according to the recipe she gave, and knocked out all the servants in the yard. Then, she took two tablets, rented an ox cart and came to the capital, and directly struck the drum at the Que Gate.
"What about the children?" After putting down the drumstick, the woman was already covered in cold sweat.
“Don’t worry. Once things get out of hand, Xu Zuguang will not only not dare to treat them harshly, but will also carefully provide for them.” Lin Dan said calmly.
As soon as the drum sounded, an official brought the woman into the yamen for trial. When he heard that she wanted to sue her husband, he handed her a punishment stick without saying a word, ordering her to be beaten with a hundred sticks. In this era where patriarchy is supreme, if a son sues his father or a wife sues her husband, they must first be tortured. Only if they can survive a hundred beatings are they qualified to submit a complaint.
The woman was so frightened that she trembled all over. She kept saying in her heart: "God, that's not what you said at the beginning! Why am I the one who got beaten?"
Lin Dan said calmly: "Do you still dare to come after I told you? Don't be afraid, just take out your commendation order. This piece of paper is enough to be worth hundreds or thousands of boards."
The woman hurriedly took out the commendation order and spread it out in front of the officials. When they saw the emperor's signature and seal on it, they did not dare to torture her and reported the matter to their superiors. When the people from the Ministry of Justice investigated, they found out that Madam Lin was actually a god-like figure in Tanzhou. There were at least hundreds of thousands of people who survived her care. She was a female hero highly praised by the emperor. She had made great contributions to the country and should be treated well. Now she has been demoted to a concubine by her husband. Isn't this a slap in the face of the emperor?
Her husband was just a minor official of the sixth rank, so it was not difficult to deal with him. The trouble was that his current wife was actually the concubine's daughter of Censor Wan, so there were many tricks involved. If this woman were to succeed in suing, would Censor Wan still have the reputation he deserves?
Several officials were hesitating, but they didn't expect that the woman would run outside the yamen, kneel on the street and cry. You have to know that this is Dengwen Drum Courtyard, located at the gate of the palace, and people coming in and out are all royal family members and high-ranking officials. If she starts making a fuss, the matter can no longer be covered up, not to mention that her identity is very special.
She was lucky, as there really was a distinguished person sitting in the carriage traveling to and from Quemen. Although he did not lift the curtain to check, he sat quietly in the carriage and listened to the whole story. Later, he asked the guards to hand over a handwritten letter, ordering the officials involved to handle the case impartially. No matter which powerful person was involved, they were not allowed to bend the law for personal gain. He would send people to inquire about the progress of the case at any time.
The little emperor now sitting in the Golden Throne Hall is just fifteen years old. Because he is the legitimate son and younger than his brothers, he has suffered a lot of hardships. He was even led out of the palace by someone with ulterior motives and was almost killed in the northern wilderness. It was this nobleman who rescued him, and in the name of clearing the court of corrupt officials, executed several princes who plotted to usurp the throne and poisoned their biological father, and then promoted the young emperor to the throne. Bit.
Therefore, both the young emperor and this noble lady were very sensitive to the dispute between legitimate and illegitimate children, especially those in a higher position. At the beginning of his reign, he consolidated the law of primogeniture. Anyone who dares to favor a concubine and kill his wife, or to pass off a concubine as the legitimate heir, will be skinned alive by the censors!
In the past, if a family's legitimate son died, a concubine's son could inherit the family title if he made proper plans. But nowadays, there is no such good thing. When the legitimate son dies, the legitimate grandson will inherit. If there is no legitimate grandson, the legitimate branch will adopt a child. It is a daydream for the illegitimate branch to seize the title. Whoever sets a precedent will have his title taken away. The little emperor can really be so willful.
When the official in question received the letter, he thought of the little emperor again. The bloody storm during his reign completely extinguished the thought of trying to please Censor Wan, and he kindly invited the woman back to the yamen and asked her to produce the complaint. Fortunately, she was well prepared. In addition to the complaint, she also brought a lot of evidence, including the tablets of her parents-in-law, many IOUs written for the burial of her parents-in-law, a marriage certificate, and a deed.
Not to mention other evidence, this deed alone clearly shows Xu Zuguang's dirty thoughts of divorcing his wife and remarrying, and attempting to demote his wife to a concubine. Below it is Wan Xiu'er's promise, signature and fingerprint, which shows that she is also a perpetrator. Well, this couple really brought bad luck to that nobleman, and even Censor Wan cannot escape the blame this time!
As the evidence was irrefutable, the chief judge immediately issued a warrant to the bailiffs to arrest the suspects. That same day, Xu Zuguang and Wan Xiu'er were chained up and forced to kneel in the hall. Also brought in were the woman's two children and Xu Zuguang's two concubines.
What she never expected was that while Xu Zuguang was crying out for injustice, one of his concubines actually knelt down and insisted on suing him for divorcing his wife and remarrying. It turned out that in addition to that woman and Wan Xiu'er, the daughter of a certain official in Tanzhou who had long since died was also his legally married wife. He squeezed out her surplus value and neglected her, causing her to die of depression, leaving behind only an orphan girl.
The concubine was loyal to the daughter of the rich girl, so she pretended to devote herself to Xu Zuguang, but in fact she did so in order to take care of her master's orphans and wait for an opportunity to take revenge. Now that the woman had sued Xu Zuguang for divorcing his wife and remarrying, she seized the opportunity to stand up, bringing with her a marriage certificate as well, and then ran headfirst into the gate of the yamen to prevent Xu Zuguang from escaping the crime by borrowing the power of Censor Wan.
The Wan family's housekeeper, who had hurried over to inquire about the news, was immediately panicked and turned around and ran away. After returning, he told all the details. Even though Censor Wan felt sorry for this concubine's daughter, he could only shake his head and sigh, and was unwilling to use any of his connections to save Xu Zuguang.
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