The tsunami had just passed, leaving the streets in ruins and many shops severely damaged. However, Yuelai Inn and Linglong Pavilion remained intact, indicating that Qingyan had already considered the potential for disaster during the renovation process.
"Little darling, is the shop alright?" Yin looked at the damage report and rubbed his temples, worried that Qingyan's shop had also suffered losses.
"Fortunately, since there are houses in front and behind the shop, it didn't suffer much damage. However, the neighboring shops suffered more damage." Qingyan was quite familiar with the situation of her shop.
Moreover, most of the stored items were moved to warehouses at the naval port.
After the tsunami subsided, Qingyan had the shopkeepers send people to retrieve the items.
"Alright, let's start making porridge. The people's homes also need to be rebuilt, and I think the commercial street needs to be repaired as well!" Yin noticed that many shops on the commercial street had collapsed.
"Fourth Brother, the secret report says that Father Emperor directly transferred the reserve grain and supplies from Jiangnan. They should arrive in the next couple of days. Right now, the roads are muddy, so it's very difficult for the supplies to get in!" Qingyan was a bit worried. The reserve supplies might not be enough to support the delivery of goods.
Upon entering the disaster-stricken area, horse-drawn carts carrying goods would get stuck in the mud, making the journey extremely slow.
"Let's mobilize the disaster victims to go and help. We can't just sit here and wait, can we?" Yin rubbed his head, feeling regretful that he hadn't had the cement road repaired.
As she watched the endless stream of damage reports being sent over, she kept calculating with her abacus that if the road were to be repaired, it would probably require several hundred thousand taels of silver from the imperial court. She decided to take this opportunity to repair the road as well.
"Si Si, should we build a cement road? I heard from the old fishermen that there are disasters every few years!" Qing Yan was thinking that if a cement road were built, it would probably be more convenient to transport things if the naval port was built here.
Yin pondered, calculating in his mind how much more would be needed if Qingyan's suggestion to build were followed.
"Submit a memorial to Father Emperor, and we should shift the blame for all of this onto the transportation at the naval port!" Yin also felt that this was a practical thing to do for the people.
Knock knock knock!
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of the grievance drum being struck came from outside. Qingyan turned around and looked at him.
"Did I hear that right?" Qingyan asked curiously.
It is said that those who beat the grievance drum must be flogged 20 times before they can begin to appeal. Many people are beaten to the point of near death before they can even appeal. Therefore, unless there is a major injustice, one will certainly not beat the grievance drum.
"Su Peisheng, what's going on outside?" Yin was also curious and stood up to go outside the palace with Qingyan.
“Master, it is said that during the tsunami, the groom’s family moved the dowry. Now that the disaster is over, the woman wants the dowry back, but the groom’s family is unwilling to return it,” Su Peisheng said.
After saying this, Qingyan became furious. Here, all a woman could rely on was a generous dowry, and her husband's family was actually trying to seize even that, clearly not wanting her to live a good life.
"Hmph, we must take care of this!" Qingyan walked forward angrily, with Yin following behind. If Qingyan wanted to get involved, he would step in.
Su Lan quickly sent someone to gather some information, and by the time she entered the main hall, she already had a general understanding of the woman's situation.
This woman's parents have both passed away, and she is the only daughter in her family. Therefore, her generous dowry is everything from her maternal family. Her husband's family only allowed her to marry him because they coveted her family's possessions. After her parents passed away, her husband's family has already embezzled a considerable amount of the dowry under various pretexts.
"Go tell the prefect that the woman's 20 strokes of the cane are unnecessary." Qingyan was furious. The woman had encountered a scumbag and a bizarre mother-in-law; her life was over.
Su Zhu quickly ran out and informed the prefect that the board must not be used.
“My lady, the woman is a Manchu, while the man is a local. The woman wants a divorce, and it is said that she has three sons, all of whom wish to leave with their mother!” Su Lan told Su Lan about the woman and her children’s wishes.
Ugh!
Qingyan was stunned and looked directly at Yin. This was too strange. It wasn't that he had no children, so why didn't even his son want to stay at his father's house?
"I agree to a divorce!" Yin declared confidently.
The two entered the main hall. Yin sat on the left, with Qingyan beside him. In the hall, there was a woman dressed in blue, who appeared to be in mourning. Behind her, a grown man knelt, and two others were younger.
Beside her was a woman in her fifties. The woman had a harsh face, thin lips, and cold eyes, and didn't seem like someone she should get along with.
Beside the woman in her fifties was a man in his thirties. He watched Qingyan sit down, his eyes frequently glancing at her.
"Su Peisheng, open your mouth 50." Yin noticed the man's gaze and directly ordered Su Peisheng to open his mouth.
Qingyan tilted her head and smiled at Yin: "Su Peisheng, people like that should be punished with a cane!"
“!” Su Peisheng bowed respectfully, then looked outside and passed the board to the constables.
"No, sir, no!" the fifty-year-old woman cried out.
"Help that woman up, and let the children get up and answer us too; they're still young." Yin noticed Qingyan's fleeting moment of reluctance and immediately gave the order.
The woman lowered her head, watching as the children bowed in the direction of Yin and Qingyan.
"Whom does the magistrate wish to accuse?!" The prefect noticed that the Fourth Prince and his wife were siding with the woman, and he understood the situation somewhat.
"My esteemed guests, you must not listen to that vile woman's words." The old woman realized that Yin had been listening to Qingyan, so she quickly moved a few steps toward Qingyan.
Qingyan frowned slightly, her eyes turning somewhat unfriendly.
Su Lan blocked Qing Yan's way, preventing the old woman from crawling over. Su Lan then recounted many stories about the old woman and her mother-in-law, stories that were common knowledge.
A bizarre mother-in-law and a scumbag husband = a wife who tolerates her husband!
Now, the woman could no longer endure it and had no choice but to divorce.
"My lord, this is my dowry list. The land and mansion listed were purchased by my parents. Because I locked up the land deeds, they weren't sold. Many of the jewelry items on the list have already been taken by my mother-in-law and given to my two sisters-in-law as dowry. I've been married into their family for over ten years, given birth to three sons, respectfully seen off my father-in-law, and married off my two sisters-in-law. Now, my parents are dead, and they..." The woman cried out. Outside the courtyard, many of their neighbors came over, all condemning the mother and son, calling the mother-in-law an evil woman and the man a scoundrel.
“My dear husband, this young wife has had a tough time. We don’t want the village’s reputation to be ruined. If word gets out that she’s embezzling the dowry, who would dare to marry into the family?” The village chief and elders all stood up to support the couple.
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