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墨書 Inktalez
Zhang Shuitao not only was a thief but also caused the death of Song Sanniang. As a married woman who engaged in an affair, there was no longer any chance for her to escape the consequences of her actions.
Although Xie Qing Shou summoned Zhang Shuitao, claiming to take responsibility for his crimes, Li Long hated him deeply and insisted on sending him to prison as well. Qing Shou's Daughter-in-Law and her mother-in-law Aunt Zhang argued fiercely but could not stop it. Xie Qing Shou was already disliked, and this matter was handled so poorly that no one would plead for him.
When Zhang Shuitao was taken away, she looked at Xie Youshun and shouted angrily, “Xie Youshun! Do you think marrying this woman will lead to a good life? You are cursed! Being with her will surely bring you an early death! Xiao Lihua, I hate you! Why didn’t you just die back then? If you had died, I wouldn’t be in this situation now. Even in death, I won’t let you have peace!”
Zhang Shuitao resented Xie Youshun for refusing to marry her in the past and hated Xiao Lihua for living happily by Xie Youshun's side. She wanted to curse them, ensuring that even in death, they would not have a comfortable life.
Xie Youshun looked pale as he held his wife’s hand tightly to comfort her. Xiao Lihua thought that perhaps Zhang Shuitao had mistakenly guessed her background. In the past, she might have worried about such things since people were somewhat superstitious at that time, but now she was no longer afraid. She could make this village thrive, and she slowly began to remember her previous memories. No one could expose her; she would just treat Zhang Shuitao's raving as madness.
Zhang Lianxiang shouted, “Zhang Shuitao! Li Hua used to be difficult because of past trauma, but she wanted to live well and naturally changed back. Didn’t you also become bad after being traumatized? Are you possessed too? Unfortunately, you no longer have a chance to change! We must send you to prison today!”
Several women who were close to Xiao Lihua also spoke up, taking turns to scold Zhang Shuitao.
The villagers had previously heard suspicions about Xiao Lihua being possessed, but after spending time with her, they felt it was impossible. She knew about past events; how could she be a ghost? Coupled with the evil deeds of Zhang Shuitao, they didn’t believe her words at all. When they heard what Zhang Lianxiang and the other women said, they joined in cursing Zhang Shuitao.
With such a commotion from Zhang Shuitao, everyone hated her even more. They thought she was too wicked and wanted their village rid of such a misfortune. Many picked up dirt and stones from the ground and threw them at Zhang Shuitao, hitting her repeatedly and causing more injuries to her face.
The two were taken to prison. There was no need to say much about Zhang Shuitao, who faced multiple charges and was sentenced to execution after autumn. Xie Qing Shou, shouting that he was taking responsibility for his crimes, found himself hated by the county magistrate and Captain Wang. Somehow, the fire incident in Xiaqiao Village had reached the magistrate's ears. The magistrate questioned the county magistrate, who urged Captain Wang. After a month of chaos, it was strange that they would let someone like Xie Qing Shou, who clearly knew who started the fire but remained silent, go free.
Captain Wang informed the magistrate of Xie Qing Shou's offenses. In the end, the magistrate ordered Xie Qing Shou to compensate Li Long twenty taels of silver and pay fifty taels of silver to those whose wheat had been burned due to his concealment of the arson.
In this incident, Li Long suffered greatly as well; he lost two daughters-in-law and an unborn child all at once while having to repay the losses incurred by those whose wheat had been burned because of Zhang Shuitao.
Li Long now felt lost and wooden, sitting in his house all day without moving. The Village Chief and the Village Chief's Daughter-in-Law, who had been angry with him for embarrassing them, could no longer afford to hold a grudge. The Village Chief's Daughter-in-Law cooked for him and tried to encourage him. If it weren't for Dog Egg, who was also feeling down, they would have called him over. The Village Chief, seeing his wife come home with red eyes every day, became annoyed and went to give Li Long a good beating.
After being beaten by the Village Chief, Li Long cried out loud, and once he started crying, he stopped sitting there in a daze. He began to think about the debt he owed Zhang Shuitao. He still had some money in hand, enough to gather over ten taels, but he was still more than thirty taels short of the fifty taels the county magistrate demanded. He had no choice but to seek help from his parents. The Village Chief had taken out all his savings to help him pay this debt. Originally, Li Xing wanted to help too, and Yang Cao agreed as well, but the Village Chief did not consent. However, Li Long felt that his brother's wife was truly a good person.
After repaying the debt, Li Long felt stifled staying in the village and wanted to venture out. After leaving his son with his parents and brother's wife, he packed up and left.
"Going out for a walk is good; otherwise, one would become useless!" The Village Chief was reluctant to let his son go. Although Li Long had indeed been disappointing for a while, he was still his beloved youngest son. Now that his son finally wanted to step out into the world, he didn't want him to continue being listless and could only let him go with peace of mind.
The Village Chief's Daughter-in-Law held Dog Egg and wiped her tears.
In recent days, Dog Egg had been accompanied by Xiao Yue and others, so he wasn't as dazed as before. However, he still didn't like to talk much and followed Xiao Yue closely every day. He truly looked like a good child. Xiao Lihua couldn't help but feel heartbroken upon seeing this; the change was indeed too great.
Li Long used the money he repaid to compensate those whose wheat had been burned, which made them feel much better. With this comparison, they urged Xie Qing Shou even more to repay his debts. The county magistrate learned about Xie Qing Shou's situation from Captain Wang and knew that he had no money. Instead of keeping him locked up, it would be better to release him so he could find a way to repay what he owed. Thus, he handed Xie Qing Shou over to Li Xing and others to urge him for repayment. Although Li Xing was honest and kind-hearted, he hated Xie Qing Shou deeply and did not let up at all. Coupled with the villagers' pressure, Xie Qing Shou truly lived in constant anxiety every day—people were demanding debts outside while others came knocking at his door.
Xie Qing Shou had no money at all; his wife didn't care either because of Xie Qing Shou's infidelity, and they were still at odds with each other.
In the end, Aunt Zhang went to find Xie Qingfeng again, asking him to help his brother repay the debt. Xie Qingfeng had already quarreled with their mother over Yumiang's near-miscarriage incident long ago. Now that Xie Qing Shou had done something so disgraceful asking him for money, he naturally refused and told Aunt Zhang to leave.
"Oh! My life is so hard! I raised my son for nothing; now that he's wealthy, he doesn't even recognize me as his mother! His brothers don't care about me either! Why didn't I just drown you in the urine bucket back then? I can't go on living; I'll crash into your house today! Let's see if your son will live a long life!"
Aunt Zhang sat on the ground crying loudly enough for several nearby households to hear her. Since she had brought people along when she visited Xie Qingfeng’s house before, there were even more spectators now that she was crying passionately.
Xie Qingfeng's face turned blue with anger as he wondered how he ended up with such a mother who had always favored one child over another as if he were adopted! He knew that Xie Qing Shou owed an enormous amount of money this time; since it was an order from the county magistrate, it couldn't be avoided—he definitely had to repay it. They were determined to ask him for money since they had none themselves. While he could firmly decide not to give them anything like before, now his mother was cursing his unborn child; Xie Qingfeng was truly furious beyond measure.
The author has something to say: Some are short.
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