happy event

Chapter 25

Dong Rong never regarded herself as a member of the Cao family, and naturally she did not have the idea of ​​sharing honor and disgrace with Cao's mother-in-law, mother and daughter.Sure enough, her generosity and carelessness made everyone feel more ashamed and more convinced.

Everyone was busy, so cousin Wang Jialu and sister-in-law Du Juan came to the door. Dong Rong happily welcomed them in. While pouring water and serving tea, she asked about the health of Aunt Cao and uncle and how many children they had.

Du Juan was originally a hardworking person, but she got orders from her mother-in-law before she came, so she only sat there for a while and asked Dong Rong to assign her work.

Dong Rong likes that she is straightforward and generous, and her family can trust her.So they arranged for the couple to receive the door-to-door steward in the front yard, and occasionally push the cart to help deliver the goods.Du Juan saw people pushing their wheelbarrows to the street to sell ice bowls. It must have been hard work in the sun and wind. She guessed that Dong Rong had given them extra care. Chores like rice are also snatched away.Dong Rong was finally freed from daily chores, and had more free time to check accounts and count money.

Cousin Wang Lu doesn't talk much, but he has a dutiful and honest temper.Before the little stewards who bought ice came to the door, he took a broom and not only cleaned the yard, but even climbed a tree to catch a cicada for his cousin.When the little stewards arrived one after another, he became even busier, pushing a wheelbarrow around the city to deliver goods.

It was so busy until noon, when Du Juan's sister-in-law cooked steamed japonica rice, fried tofu with minced meat, and mixed a plate of green wild vegetables.When she was about to go to the courtyard with a smile on her face, Wang Lu came back sweating profusely, grabbed her arm and asked anxiously, "Quick, quick! Where is Sister Rong and Brother Pingping... Woolen cloth?"

Du Juan was so startled that his face turned pale, and he replied, "They are in the backyard! What's the matter, what trouble have you caused?"

Wang Lu didn't have time to answer, so he turned around and ran to pat the door panel of the backyard, shouting loudly, "Sister Rong, Sister Rong, come out quickly! Your second mother exchanged fake money and was turned away to the Yamen!
Dong Ping was pouring saltpeter powder into the pool, when he heard this, his hands trembled, and he directly sprinkled half of the bag down.Dong Rong was also stunned. Although she had been prepared for this matter, this development was a bit too unexpected.

Before, she heard two small stewards who came to buy ice chatting about the shopkeeper of a bank in the east of the city, relying on the power of the owner, often mixed in fake silver, and ordinary people did not dare to say more when they suffered losses.Yesterday, she hated Niu's coming to make noise for a while, coveting her money, so she took the initiative to find that bank to exchange money.Sure enough, the shopkeeper saw that she was dressed in ordinary clothes and was alone, so he carried three fake ones among the four silver ingots.

She originally planned that when Niu Shi spends the money, if she finds out that the hard-earned money is fake, she will be shocked and pained, and let her taste the feeling of cutting her heart with a knife, which is a small relief.

But she never expected that this matter would develop so strangely that it even went to the Yamen, which is really a big deal.No matter how much Niu has, she also bears the name of the Dong family's wife. If it is true that she has committed a crime because of this, the first person to be implicated will be Dong Ping, who will take the county exam in autumn.

The more Dong Rong thought about it, the more she frowned, and her subordinates quickly took off the apron, and Dong Ping, who was at a loss, opened the door and went out.

Besides, Niu secretly dug up Tibetan silver in his arms in the morning, and went to the city to find a bank to exchange it for small change.I didn't want to hear two passers-by mentioning that there was a big cloth shop that was selling cloth at half price, so I ran to pick up a piece of fine cotton because I was greedy for cheap, and I planned to dismantle the silver scorpion into pieces when I paid. .In the end, the cloth was picked out, but after the money was handed in, the shopkeeper immediately changed his face, calling for the boy to come forward to help turn her to the yamen.

Niu is used to saying one thing at home, and the villagers respect Dong Xiucai for teaching children to read sage books, and they are more modest in dealing with her.She was pulled suddenly by someone at this moment, how could she be willing to suffer such a disadvantage, she scratched and beat the boy while jumping and yelling.A few customers on the sidelines saw this and wanted to go forward to persuade them, but the shopkeeper said coldly, "This woman pays the bill with three tins and seven silvers, it is really hateful!"

The onlookers immediately stopped their steps when they heard this, and even began to criticize, "Whose woman is this, she is so heartbroken! Fake silver of four or six fineness is wicked enough, yet she dares to take three or seven silver!" "

"That's right, that's right, it's not easy for anyone to save up some silver, and exchanging fake silver is the most deceitful!"

"Hurry up and send her to the yamen to be imprisoned!"

The shopkeeper got everyone's support, and with a smile on his face, he cupped his hands and made a circle, and then he was about to drag Niu out with his staff.

Niu's mind was still a little confused, and he didn't understand how a good silver ladle turned into fake silver.She wanted to ask a few questions, but the old shopkeeper refused to listen and wanted to send her to the yamen.She panicked and yelled, "I won't buy cloth anymore, I won't spend money anymore, you release me soon, I want to go home!"

She shouted like this for a long time, but the shopkeeper and the boy still ignored her, so she had to change her rhetoric again, "My master has a reputation as a scholar, you can't drag me to the official. Whoever calls my master, let He came to save me, I was wronged."

She was born tall and burly, and she was even more heavy when she struggled hard.The cloth village boy rolled his eyes from exhaustion, panted heavily and scolded, "You... your master is just a scholar, even... even the county magistrate can't get past the law, so you just wait to spend ten years in jail !"

ten years!Hearing that he would live in a dark prison for ten years, Niu was so frightened that his legs went limp and his face turned pale.Seeing the two vermilion lacquered gates of the county government getting closer and closer, she didn't know where the strength came from. She broke free from the old shopkeeper and the boy, hugged the porch pillars tightly, and then cried loudly, "Dong Wenyuan, Where did you die, come and help me. If you don't come again, I will be wronged to death!"

The yamen of Qing County is only one street away from the busy city, and there are many people coming and going in front of the gate.Seeing interesting things to see at the moment, dozens of passers-by soon gathered, asking one another to listen, and soon everyone knew the truth of the matter.As a result, those spectators who had suffered from fake silver couldn't help cursing, and even an old lady picked up eggs from the basket and rewarded Niu with golden flowers all over his face.

Niu only felt that she was wronged more than Dou E. She was so angry that she wanted to fight back immediately, but she was afraid that she would be dragged into prison after letting go, so she had to grit her teeth and shout, "I am wronged. That is the dowry money I received. How could it be fake?" After saying this, she thought of Mrs. Cao's famous stingy reputation, and suddenly felt that the fake silver might have been tampered with by her.

At the beginning, she was afraid that Dong Rong would cry and ask for the dowry, so she buried the money in the back garden without even looking at it carefully.Now that this happened, even if she found the Cao family, Mrs. Cao would probably not admit it.

"Damn old woman, wait until I get back to settle accounts with you..." Just as she was cursing fiercely in her heart, two yamen servants in black robes and soapy white boots came out of the gate.

One of the yamen servants squinted at Niu, and said cursingly, "Where did you come from such an ignorant and stupid woman, you can hug the pillars at the gate of the yamen? Hurry up and go in and intervene honestly, otherwise you will be punished, don't blame the officials The subordinates are not sure."

Niu shrank her neck in fright, and was about to beg for mercy again, but when she raised her eyes, she saw Dong Rong and Dong Ping standing behind the crowd.Immediately, as if she had seen a savior, she pointed at them happily and shouted, "Master, that money is the dowry gift I got for marrying my daughter. Even if it was fake, it was done by the Cao family. If you want to go to jail, you should arrest the Cao family. Really. No, you can catch my eldest daughter, she is standing there..."

Originally, Dong Ping was still thinking about the relationship between the family and planned to come forward to say something for his stepmother, and then wait for his father to come to find a way to get rid of the crime together.He didn't want Niu to open his mouth and arrest his sister to take the blame, his face immediately turned ashen, he turned his head and dragged his sister back without thinking.

Dong Rong was also annoyed at Niu's clinging to her, but she was very happy to see her younger brother defending her so much. She asked her cousin Wang Lu in a low voice to help her go back to the village to find Dong Xiucai, then she followed her younger brother back to the courtyard with a smile.

Seeing Dong Rong and his brother walking farther and farther away, Niu's eyes were bigger than copper bells, and he dragged his neck and cursed loudly, "Little brat, where are you going, don't come back!"

It's a pity that Dong Rong's sister and brother ignored her at all, and the yamen servant couldn't bear to listen to her crying and howling, so he pinched her from left to right and dragged her into the lobby of the yamen.

Mr. Xu, the county magistrate, had a personal relationship with the treasurer of the cloth village. The two were sitting and talking, laughing and drinking tea separately.Niu rolled all over the floor in pain, and didn't know what to say other than shouting that he was wronged.The county magistrate Xu directly waved his hand and asked the yamen servant to take the grumbling Niu to the prison, without any intention of interrogating him.

The old treasurer of the cloth village lowered his head and drank his tea, as if he didn't realize how messy the trial procedure was. Instead, he laughed and talked with the county magistrate about drinking someday...

By the time Dong Xiucai got the news and came sweating profusely, the crowd in front of the yamen had already dispersed.After all, he had eaten salt for more than forty years, and he didn't read enough to read. He looked around and went straight to the teahouse opposite the yamen.Sure enough, the boy in the teahouse got a reward of more than a dozen coins, so he told the story from beginning to end.Hearing that Niu's crime was defrauding with a fake bank, Dong Xiucai was so frightened that white hairs covered his forehead.

Although the great Zhao Kingdom loves luxury and pleasure from the royal family down to the nobles, the government has been corrupt, and the law has long lost its majesty, but the fake silver has always been the tail of a tiger that cannot be touched at all.After all, the operation of a country requires money to support everything. If fake money is allowed to flood, wouldn't it be self-destructive.Therefore, if Fanhua is convicted of using counterfeit money, the lightest sentence will be ten years in prison, and even the whole family may be distributed.

(End of this chapter)