Chapter 335: One Person's Responsibility
"Are you members of the Qin family?" Su Ying asked now.
"Yes!" There were seven or eight men and women in total.
"How should I address you?" Su Ying looked at these people. She started to feel confused when addressing distant relatives who were more than three generations old.
"My name is Qin Tieniu, and my father and your grandmother are cousins!" one of the middle-aged men replied.
The most distant relations are beyond the fifth generation, and only "Qin" is left.
Actually, Qin Tieniu is my uncle.
"Is everything okay at my grandmother's family?" Su Ying asked with concern.
"I have some land and houses at home, so it's okay!" Qin Tieniu replied.
A lean camel is bigger than a horse. Old Mrs. Su and Qin Liang's family knew how to manage their lives. Back then, they were taken care of by the Su family, bought land, and later started a business.
Due to this frost disaster, the fields did not produce any crops, but there was income from outside. Although food was tight, we could get through it by tightening our belts and living frugally.
"Where is my second aunt's family? Are they okay?" Su Ying asked again.
Su Shiyan and Su Chenyan stared at Qin Tieniu, their concern evident in their words.
"Qin Jiu's mother's home..." Qin Tieniu hesitated, not knowing how to answer.
"Uncle Tie Niu, what's wrong with my grandparents' house? Tell me quickly!" Su Shiyan said anxiously.
"Are you Jiuniang's children?" Qin Tieniu asked the brothers and sisters.
"They are, but we are not!" Su Ying pointed at the two brothers.
"Alas! Your Su family suffered a disaster last year and was exiled to Lingnan, and Qin Shibao's family also suffered trouble." Qin Tieniu slapped his thigh.
"What happened in my grandparents' house? Uncle Tieniu, please tell me quickly!" Su Shiyan was extremely anxious. No wonder his letter fell on deaf ears.
"Your uncle, Qin Shibao, came into the city, offended a noble, and spoke rudely, so he was beaten with thirty boards by the government..."
Qin Jiuniang's parents had three children who all failed to survive, so they gave birth to a fourth daughter. Fearing that she would not survive, they named her Jiuniang, which means many and long-lasting.
Sure enough, the child was raised and later gave birth to another son named Qin Shibao, who was the uncle of Su Shiyan and Su Chenyan.
The couple felt extremely distressed and cherished the child more than their own eyeballs.
When they married into the Su family, the three brothers of the Su family gradually became successful, and Qin Jiuniang's parents were secretly happy that they had chosen the right person.
He would go to the Su family to beg for money from time to time and got a lot of benefits. He was one of the richest families in the village.
Unlike the old lady’s family, they use money to make chickens lay eggs, and eggs lay chickens, and the cycle continues endlessly.
Apart from building the house, Qin Jiuniang's parents spent all their time providing their son with good food and drink, and raised him to do nothing.
As Su Bucheng was promoted to the magistrate of Chang'an County, Qin Shibao became more and more arrogant in the village, often speaking without restraint and offending people.
Although the neighbors hated him, Qin Shibao hadn't done anything harmful, so everyone just tolerated him.
Last year, the Su family was exiled, and the Qin family lost their support. Qin Shibao’s usual friends no longer wanted to play with him.
Qin Shibao was feeling depressed, so he went to the county town to play alone. He went to a restaurant to drink and bumped into a young man who was coming out.
He was so angry that he cursed: "You are blind!"
Unexpectedly, the man was the third son of the prefect of Henan Prefecture. His father was the most powerful here and would not spoil him. He immediately slapped him twice.
Qin Shibao had never been treated so badly before. He grabbed the man and started beating him up, and was eventually arrested by the government.
After being beaten with thirty boards and thrown out, some neighbors who knew him ran back to inform the Qin family.
The drunkard Qin Shibao couldn't stand the beating and came back with a high fever. He died after more than ten days.
The parents-in-law did not dare to resent the prefect and vent their anger on their daughter-in-law.
She beat and cursed her daughter-in-law, thinking that she was a jinx, a bad luck to her husband, and that she couldn't lay eggs and gave birth to a girl.
After the frost disaster, she did not give her daughter-in-law and granddaughter any food, and the mother and daughter starved to death in their beds in the cold winter.
As the disaster became more and more serious, the old couple, who had little savings, were forced to sell their houses and land.
In the end, he had nothing and had to beg.
Before Qin Tieniu and his companions left, they asked the old couple if they wanted to go to Lingnan to make a living. The two shook their heads and stayed in the village, not going anywhere.
Come to think of it, where else can I go in my old age? Might as well live day by day and be buried in my hometown when I die.
"Bang!" Su Shiyan's eyes were red as he muttered, "How could this happen? The Henan prefect is so careless about human life, he's going too far!"
Qin Tieniu glanced at Su Shiyan, stammered a few times and said nothing.
Who could he blame? Qin Shibao had always been outspoken and rude. How could a commoner afford to offend the prefect's son?
He even fought with someone, and it was because the person showed mercy that he was not killed on the spot.
"Sir! I will resign tomorrow and return to my hometown in Xingyang!" Su Shiyan said to County Magistrate Lin in grief and anger.
"Shi Yan, please accept my condolences!" County Magistrate Lin advised.
"Now that things have come to this, it would be a good idea for you to go and find your grandparents, bring them back to Chang'an and take care of them, so that they can live out their days in peace!"
"Thank you for your help, sir!" Su Shiyan remained silent.
"Sir!" Su Chenyan stood up with a conflicted expression.
"Go, so you two brothers can have someone to take care of you on the road!" County Magistrate Lin sighed in his heart, and no matter how reluctant he was, he had to let them go.
"My two brothers, once we find our grandfather, bring him back to Chang'an. The old house has been returned to us, so we can temporarily place him there." Su Ying said after thinking for a while.
"Hmm!" Su Shiyan glanced at Su Ying and said sullenly.
"Take your grandparents away when you find them, and don't create any unnecessary trouble! The dead cannot be resurrected! Remember! Don't cause trouble for others!" Su Ying warned.
These two brothers were so stubborn that Su Ying was really afraid that they would run to Henan Prefecture to argue with someone.
I was in the wrong to begin with, I bumped into someone and started fighting with him, I didn't deserve the thirty strokes of the cane!
"Everyone is responsible for their own actions! It won't affect your first and third wives!" Su Shiyan glanced at Su Ying with disdain on his face.
"?" Su Ying found that it was really impossible to communicate with someone who didn't understand what she was saying. This cousin was determined to go down this path to the end!
"Shi Yan, why do you talk to Aying like this? She is thinking about you, why don't you appreciate it?" Su Quanyan couldn't stand it.
"Hmph!" Su Shiyan turned away.
"Brother!" Su Chenyan chased after him.
The rest of the people looked at each other in confusion, and it was only then that County Magistrate Lin realized that there was a rift between the brothers and sisters of the Su family.
Qin Tieniu was worried that he had said something he shouldn't have said, causing unhappiness to the other family.
I was originally counting on the Su family's help so that I could settle down here, but now, I have offended everyone!
"Aying!" Su Quanyan apologized, "Don't bother with them. Shi Yan is not good at speaking, he didn't mean anything else..."
Su Quanyan tried to smooth things over for a long time, but found that he couldn't make his words come back true, so he looked at his cousin awkwardly.
"It's okay! That's all I have to say. It's up to him whether he wants to listen or not! If he insists on banging his head against the wall, no one can stop him!" Su Ying smiled.
That night Su Ying wrote several letters, one to her grandmother's family in Xingyang, one to her second uncle in Dayuling, and one to her father in Chang'an.
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