Chapter 125 Selling One's Own Mother
"Stop! Don't smash it!"
The village headman rushed in and snatched the stick from Old Man Lu's hand.
"What are you brothers doing! You'll get sued if you smash something like that!"
"It's not certain who will be sued!" Lu Qingqing said coldly.
"The Great Law states: Stealing someone's grave is the same crime as trafficking in people, extortion, and murder, and shall be punished by dismemberment."
For injuring someone and breaking their leg, the punishment is merely paying compensation in silver and receiving thirty strokes of the cane.
If he wants to take legal action, then go ahead.
"What? What? Grave robbing? Who?" The village headman couldn't believe it.
Grave robbing is a heinous crime punishable by heaven. Who could be so despicable? Could it be...?
He looked at Lu Xingde.
"You deserve it!"
Actually, Lu Qingqing has subtly changed the subject here.
Lu Xingde destroyed someone's grave, not stole it.
Theft is punishable by dismemberment, while destroying someone's grave is punishable by beating and compensation from the authorities for ordinary graves.
However, no matter what, Lu Xingde dared not report it to the authorities.
"I dug up his wife's grave because he and Chen had an affair!" Lu Xingde shouted resentfully.
Before anyone else could make a move, no one expected Lu Feng to suddenly stomp on Lu Xingde's calf.
With Lu Xingde's scream, his lower leg broke.
Lu Changfa and Lu Changshun involuntarily stepped back.
"No one can slander my father or offend my mother!"
Ever since he learned that his mother's grave had been dug up, Lu Feng had been burning with anger.
He was older than Lu Qingqing and Lu Yun, and he remembered his mother's appearance clearly, so his feelings for her were naturally the deepest.
How could she allow some nobody uncle to dig up her grave!
The Lu family was completely stunned, and the only sound in the yard was Lu Xingde's wailing.
Granny Liu finally followed along, her steps faltering.
"Hey donkey turd, have you found him yet?"
Liu Lizheng's childhood nickname was Little Donkey Egg, but no one called him that anymore. After his mother died, only Granny Liu still called him that.
Liu Lizheng then remembered what he had been doing.
"Are your wives all here? Aunt Liu said she saw someone being chased away by a group of people, so I sent Liu Erzhu and a few others to chase after them."
“My family is all here!” Lu Changshun shouted.
Lu Xingde's wails subsided somewhat.
Lu Qingqing looked at the few dilapidated houses.
The eldest son's wife and the second son's wife peeked out through the crack in the door.
In the small, dilapidated house on the far side, the window was half-open, revealing the face of a thin, sallow girl who bore a resemblance to Chen Cuihua.
She was also looking outside, but her eyes were indifferent, as if everything was irrelevant to her.
Lu Qingqing frowned, sensing that something was amiss.
“No, Auntie isn’t here,” Lu Qingqing said.
"She went to cut pig feed!" the eldest daughter-in-law shouted through the crack in the door.
Granny Liu suddenly said "Oh, oh".
She remembered—weren't those the shoes Cuihua wore when she jumped into the river?
Because his thumb was hooked into the hole, he didn't fall off his feet when he jumped into the river.
"That person is Cuihua!"
"What nonsense are you talking about! My mother went to cut pig feed!" Lu Changshun threatened Granny Liu.
Granny Liu shrank back.
But seeing Lu Qingqing there, he craned his neck and said, "Maybe she was kidnapped while cutting pig feed!"
Anyway, we'll know when Erzhu gets back!
"Grandma Liu is right!" Lu Qingqing nodded affirmatively to her, then took out the only five candies left in her bag and gave them to her.
"Grandma Liu, how did you discover the flower shop owner?"
Lu Qingqing is now absolutely certain that the person is Chen Cuihua.
This family is so inhumane! They actually sold their wife and their own mother!
Granny Liu was so happy to receive the candy that she gave out five pieces at once, so she could share it with everyone when she got home!
Qingya is too generous.
She grinned, revealing her few remaining teeth.
"I just saw an ugly old man driving an oxcart..."
Originally, Lu Xingde's family hadn't figured out which "flower seller" Granny Liu was referring to, but now that they heard Granny Liu's explanation, their expressions all changed.
"Who told you to meddle in other people's business!" Lu Xingde shouted at the village head and Granny Liu, ignoring his leg injury as he got up.
"That wasn't a woman taking pictures of beggars! That was a relative from Chen Cuihua's family; they were taking her to see a doctor!"
"Didn't you just say that your sister-in-law went to cut pig feed?" Old Man Lu said coldly.
"I don't need to talk to you! In short, don't meddle in my family's affairs!"
Now everyone knows it's wrong.
The village headman angrily retorted, "I'm going to take charge today! You just drove your wife to the brink of suicide, and now I want to see what you're up to this time!"
"Uncle Village Head! The person has been brought back!"
At this moment, Liu Erzhu and two other young men brought the old man and Chen Cuihua back.
“It’s over…” The brothers Lu Changfa and Lu Changshun looked as if they had lost their parents.
Lu Xingde glared at his father with resentment.
"Chen, what's going on?" the village head asked.
The old man was the first to shout: "Lu Xingde, what do you mean? I've already given you the money!"
“Yes, the Chen family is yours now! I’ve already divorced her!” Lu Xingde said viciously.
Chen Cuihua's hair was a mess, making her look like a madwoman, and her mouth was bruised. Hearing this, she wanted to curse loudly, but her voice was too hoarse to shout.
She ate two bowls of noodles yesterday at noon, and now it's noon again, and she hasn't had a drop of water.
"Lu Xingde, you'll die a horrible death! You'll die a horrible death! You'll die a horrible death!"
“Mother, we are too poor. Where can we get the money to treat your illness? We, we are doing this for you…” The eldest daughter-in-law ran out and knelt on the ground.
The second daughter-in-law also ran out and knelt down: "Mother, your grandson is already three years old, but he's not as tall as other two-year-olds. Please love him!"
Lu Changfa and his brother also knelt down: "Mother, we know you have suffered in this life, and your sons will definitely be filial to you in the next life."
"Mother, you don't want your little sister to not find a good husband, do you? Now that she's short of her dowry, who will want her? Do you want her to become a concubine for a fifty-year-old man?"
With each sob, Chen's dry eyes filled with tears again as she stared blankly at her children and grandchildren.
She felt that jumping into the river back then would have been worse than dying.
Liu Erzhu and the other two villagers were speechless.
There's even a son who sold his own mother?
Old Man Lu also looked at Lu Xingde in shock.
"You've really gone mad, you're so cruel! My sister-in-law has worked for this family her whole life, and you actually sold her off?"
"Why don't you buy it yourself?" Lu Xingde said sinisterly.
"I think the Chen family would be very willing!"
"Ever since your wife died, she's been thinking about you. She's long wanted to leave this house!"
"You're talking nonsense!" Chen Cuihua shouted hoarsely.
Lu Feng stepped forward: "It seems you still haven't learned your lesson."
"Don't come any closer!" Lu Xingde fell to the ground again.
"Anyway, I've already divorced Chen. If you don't want her to go with Old Man Song, then buy her back!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Cuihua felt as if she had found a lifeline and couldn't help but look at Old Man Lu and Lu Qingqing.
Old Master Lu didn't care; Qingqing was in charge of the household.
Seeing this, the village head also said, "The Chen family is having a tough time..."
“Yes, it’s quite bitter. Uncle Village Head bought it, right?” Lu Qingqing said.
Liu Lizheng choked and dared not say anything more.
He remembered that Lu Qingqing and the magistrate's son were on good terms!
Lu Qingqing sneered: "I won't buy it, but divorcing a wife without cause is not allowed. My aunt felt wronged, so she went to sue."
Even if he divorces his wife, Lu Xingde has no right to sell her; this deal doesn't count. As for Old Man Song's money, you should ask whoever gave it to for it.
----------------------------------------
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com