“Dad, you said that members of collateral branches in the Song family also used to sell their sons and daughters for money in the past. Why didn’t the Song clan members remove those collateral branches from the clan back then, and yet this time they are making such a huge fuss?”
Never mind being removed from the clan, Song Jiangshui was even beaten with ten iron whips right by the clan leader.
Zhang Daju, who was well up in years, was also divorced from Song Jiangshui by the clan on behalf of his deceased father.
Under the arbitration and witnessing of the clan, all the family’s real estate and farmland belonged to Qi Chunchun and her daughter.
The clan had only one requirement: if Qi Chunchun remarried, the houses and farmland would be reclaimed by the clan and used as clan property.
Having lived in the village for so many years and having witnessed quite a few people selling their children, this was the first time he had seen anyone receive such a severe punishment for doing so.
This was practically driving Song Jiangshui and his mother onto a path with no way out.
Wang Chengye leisurely took a sip of the medicinal tea in his hand. “For the sake of reputation.”
“Reputation?”
Seeing the look of foolishness still lingering in his eldest son Wang Yuanchuan’s eyes, even Wang Chengye, who was already accustomed to his son’s dull-wittedness, felt exhausted in his heart.
He could no longer maintain his previous calmness and composure.
The family of the second son, Wang Chinzheng, as well as several grandchildren, were all looking at him, waiting for him to analyze the purpose behind the Song family’s actions.
Only his youngest daughter, Wang Zhaoming, sat opposite him, her upper body leaning lazily against the chair, her hands behind her head, propping the chair up with its two rear legs and rocking herself back and forth.
A thought stirred in Wang Chengye’s mind, and he asked Wang Zhaoming, “Zhaozhao, what do you think is the purpose of the Song family doing this?”
Everyone in the courtyard wore expressions that seemed to ask whether Wang Chengye had gone mad.
“Dad, if you don’t know, you just don’t know. Why are you making things difficult for Little Sister? Her brain wasn’t working well to begin with, and she just got a little better recently. Don’t make her stupid again by asking her questions.”
Wang Zhaoming, who had not intended to answer, spat out the tea dregs in her mouth the moment she heard this remark from her eldest brother, Wang Yuanchuan.
“Eldest Brother, if you don’t plan on using your brain, you can donate it to someone in need.”
“Three people from the Song clan are about to participate in this year’s provincial imperial examination.”
Wang Yuanchuan and Wang Chinzheng still did not understand what the provincial examination had to do with the Song family expelling Song Jiangshui and his mother from the clan.
Wang Chinzheng’s wife, Zhao Guizhi, recalled something Wang Chengye had mentioned before. “I remember Dad chatting with us before about an unwritten rule for the provincial examination: students participating in the exam must not have anyone in their clan who has committed heinous crimes or possesses extremely base character.”
“Before taking the provincial examination, these participating students need to find a guarantor, but not everyone is willing to sign and act as one.”
“The very first thing they investigate is the clan background of the student. Once they find any impropriety among the clansmen of the student seeking a guarantor, they will refuse to do so.”
“If no one is willing to act as a guarantor before the provincial examination begins, one will lose the qualification to participate.”
The eldest daughter-in-law, Zheng Duowei, also understood the connection. “The Song clan could not possibly watch Song Jiangshui and his mother ruin the clan’s reputation at such a critical moment and affect the upcoming provincial examination of those three men. Of course they had to act decisively and severely punish the evildoers.”
“No wonder their Song family made such a huge deal out of this without hiding or covering it up at all, even having people escort that mother and son to make a public spectacle of them. It turns out it was to forge an image of strict household governance for the Song clan, so that the guarantors could write this point into their recommendation letters and make a good impression on the chief examiner.”
Listening to his two daughters-in-law sort out the twists and turns behind it all, Wang Chengye was immensely satisfied.
Although he couldn’t give birth to clever children himself, he certainly knew how to pick daughters-in-law!
“You idiots, learn a thing or two from your wives and stop thinking about food all day long!”
His two sons were like stubborn stones in a manure pit, possessing only brute physical strength. Asking them to use physical force was fine, but asking them to use their brains was like asking for their lives.
To prevent their descendants from continuing the foolishness of those two, he and the old woman had racked their brains and exhausted all their efforts when selecting daughters-in-law, finally managing to welcome two satisfactory daughters-in-law into the family.
Only…
Looking at the dim-witted expressions of the circle of grandchildren around them, a deeper depression filled Wang Chengye’s heart.
His mood only improved when his gaze fell upon Wang Zhaoming’s emaciated profile.
Things that none of his family members could see through, she had seen through at a single glance. With merely a single sentence, she had pinpointed the crux of the matter.
As for the fact that Wang Zhaoming used to be out of her right mind, unable to recognize people or speak, and requiring assistance with even her most basic bodily functions, Wang Chengye chose to selectively ignore it.
Is it forbidden for someone to blossom in intelligence a little later in life?
“Alright, why are you meddling so much in other people’s business? Zhaozhao, come over here.”
“Tell me how you managed to run outside during the day.”
Wen Caimei walked out from the main room, a forced, insincere smile hanging on her face.
Before going out, she had clearly locked all the doors in the house. How on earth did this young girl manage to run out?
When she came back and didn’t see anyone, her legs had gone soft with fright.
She used to be a source of worry when she was foolish, and now that she was better, she was still a source of worry.
Wang Zhaoming remained silent.
Was she supposed to tell them that she was starving to death and had gone out to forage for food?
Sighing stealthily and glancing at a home so poor that even visiting mice would leave behind two copper coins, Wang Zhaoming didn’t even have the strength to lift her eyelids.
She needed to save a little energy so she could wake up tomorrow morning and open her mouth to drink the northwest wind.
Seeing her indifferent attitude once again, Wen Caimei’s anger flared right up.
Her gaze swept around the base of the wall. Where was her old lady’s weapon?!
Seeing that she was about to make a move, Wang Zhaoming had already prepared herself to flee.
A knock on the door rang out, granting a temporary reprieve to the mother and daughter’s chaotic brawl.
Wang Yuanchuan got up and opened the door, wearing a rather surprised expression when he saw the person standing outside.
“Third Sister, why are you here?”
Qi Chunchun was the third-born in her family, and since her household used to have dealings with Wang Yuanchuan’s family, they would address her as Third Sister.
“I’ve come to bring Zhaozhao a few things.”
Zhaozhao?
Hearing their own daughter’s name, Wang Chengye and Wen Caimei became alert at the same time.
Could it be that their own daughter had run outside and caused trouble?
Before the two of them could react, Qi Chunchun pulled Meihua over to Wang Zhaoming and dropped straight to her knees.
“Oh my, Chunniang, what are you doing? Get up quickly! Kneeling to a child like this is cutting into my family’s Zhaozhao’s lifespan!”
Wen Caimei hurriedly stepped forward to pull the two of them up.
At the same time, she gave an不动声色的 kick to the motionless Wang Zhaoming.
Tsk…
Wang Zhaoming was furious.
Under Wen Caimei’s watchful gaze, Wang Zhaoming silently stood up and stepped away from their kowtow.
“Auntie, don’t stop the two of us. If it weren’t for Zhaozhao’s help this time, the two of us mothers and daughters wouldn’t have survived.”
Wang Chengye used his eyes to question Wang Zhaoming: What did you do?
“Get up first, and tell us whatever you have to say once you’re up.”
“Don’t get things wrong. You know very well what kind of condition our Zhaozhao is in.”
Following Wen Caimei’s strength to stand, Qi Chunchun spoke with a choked voice, “Yesterday, that pair of beastly mother and son suddenly told me to return to my maternal home, telling me to go back with peace of mind and not worry about the child since they would help me take care of her properly. Who would have known that they were so heartless and cruel? The only reason they sent me away was to sell my daughter.”
“On the way back to my maternal home, I saw Zhaoming and Scar-face Zhang from the village. Scar-face Zhang was holding a pancake at the time, trying to coax and deceive Zhaoming.”
Upon hearing this, everyone in the Wang family who understood Scar-face Zhang’s character changed expression simultaneously.
Wen Caimei, paying no heed to the presence of an outsider, pulled Wang Zhaoming over to inspect her inside the house.
Qi Chunchun hurriedly shouted, “Auntie, I chased Scar-face Zhang away; he didn’t succeed.”
“Later, I saw Zhaoming staring fixedly at the pancake in my basket. Thinking the child might be hungry, I gave Zhaozhao a piece of pancake.”
It was originally just a kind-hearted gesture, but she never expected that it would end up saving her life and her daughter’s life because of it.
Qi Chunchun did not dare to imagine what would have become of her if her daughter had been sold and her home destroyed. She probably would have simply found a river to jump into and end it all.
Or wandered the world looking for her daughter, becoming a refugee—lucky if she became a beggar, and unlucky if she were sold deep into the mountains with no way out left.
Wen Caimei: “What does this have to do with our Zhaozhao?”
The few of them still couldn’t fathom what a single piece of pancake had to do with Wang Zhaoming.
Wang Zhaoming looked at the sky and the ground, stubbornly refusing to look at them.
“Zhaozhao said that since I gave her a pancake, she wouldn’t eat my food for nothing, and she could help me tell a fortune…”
Qi Chunchun recounted everything she had experienced after meeting Wang Zhaoming.
This included how Wang Zhaoming taught her to find the village chief, what to say in front of the village chief, and how to steady herself so as not to alert the enemy while leading the village chief and others to catch the Song family mother and son red-handed in their crimes—detailing the whole process meticulously.
Everyone in the Wang family felt as though they were listening to a fairy tale.
When on earth did our daughter/sister/little aunt acquire this kind of skill?