bookrandom Chapter 84 Tsukasa Sanrou, you useless thing!
Chapter 84 Tsukasa Sanrou, you useless thing!
"It makes no sense to pay money to buy it. That was compensation that Si Congming gave to the clan. Why should he pay for it? Even if it's only a hundred taels, we can't give it to him!"
Cheng Ruoan sneered: "Uncle Eighteen has quite the nerve, 'only one hundred taels'. Can the entire Si Family Village produce one hundred taels of grain in a season? Or is it that the clan is not short of money, but only of morality?"
"How dare you, a woman, act so presumptuously outside the ancestral hall!"
"I've already been presumptuous enough for two cups of tea. Either return the courtyard, or pay to buy out the property and transfer ownership. If this matter can't be resolved, then I'll appeal to the highest levels of government. If the local officials can't interfere in clan matters, then I'll appeal to the prefectural government and even to the capital!"
"All land under heaven belongs to the emperor. I don't believe it! I'll beat the petition drum and appeal to the emperor before him! Will he ignore this matter?"
"You! You! Where in the capital are you going to file a complaint with the emperor?!"
"I don't know. I'll ask a bodyguard to take me there. I have money, so Uncle Jiu doesn't need to worry."
"Cheng, you're too arrogant! You'll get thirty lashes before you can even beat the drum to petition the emperor. Do you even have the chance to see the emperor?"
"Thank you for your concern, Uncle Qi, but I have money. I'll take a beating while chewing on ginseng from two years ago, and I guarantee I'll live longer than your face."
The main room was in a chaotic mess, with some scolding Si Shaoheng and Cheng Ruoan, and Cheng Ruoan retorting and arguing back.
She insults people without using foul language, but every word she utters is sarcastic and hits right where it hurts.
And she had already vaguely sensed that something was wrong.
How could the elders of the Si family be so arrogant in the presence of government officials?
Even if someone in your family becomes an official, they're only a sixth or seventh-rank official in the local area. How can they be so arrogant?
Registrar Xu stopped fanning himself and took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat: "Madam Cheng is not wrong. It is only right to pay back debts."
"None of the elders of the Si family ever considered bringing Shaoheng's family back to the clan..."
Before Chief Clerk Xu could finish speaking, Si Dan rushed out of the ancestral hall, carrying a book in both hands.
Grandpa Si's eyes lit up, and he called out, "Registration Officer Xu, we'll know the truth as soon as we see the family genealogy. Look, the genealogy has arrived."
Cheng Ruoan was so angry she felt like her teeth were about to break.
Previously, they argued that there was no evidence from the clan, but now the clan genealogy clearly states: In the autumn of the thirteenth year of the Great Xia Dynasty, Si Congming, along with his wife Si Wu, son Si Fangbai, and daughter Si Tao, were expelled from the clan...
Si Shaoheng gently patted her hand, signaling her to calm down, and then stepped forward to speak.
"Grandpa Si's so-called evidence has only made a simple matter more complicated."
He cupped his hands to Xu, the registrar, and said, “It can be verified by the government that my grandfather arrived in Qingshan County, Bachuan Prefecture, at the end of summer in the thirteenth year of the Great Xia Dynasty to claim the abandoned wasteland.”
"That's truly bizarre! There are those who leave home first, wait until everyone is no longer in the clan, and then try to exterminate the entire clan?"
Cheng Ruoan's eyes lit up, and she snorted at the elders of the Si family, her silence already an agreement with Si Shaoheng's words.
Registrar Xu suddenly realized what was going on and looked at Second Grandfather Si with a troubled expression: "Clan Chief Si, if this matter really needs to be clarified, then our county government can also investigate..."
"Since Bachuan Prefecture has sealed off its borders, how can the government investigate?"
"Oh my, I have to say Uncle Jiu is quite domineering. Even the government has to report to you on how they do things. That's incredible. How many Hanlin scholars are there in your family? So arrogant?"
Cheng Ruoan is completely open today.
A woman who talks back to her elders like that will indeed have a bad reputation.
But so what?
Her mother and sister were notoriously shrewish, but in the end, they still managed to find a scholar like Si Sanlang for the original owner to marry.
In such an unstable world, people laugh at poverty but not at a woman's prosperity.
Whoever has the biggest wallet can speak louder!
To put it bluntly, since her family won't be relying on the Si family clan for a living in the future, who can kidnap her?
This terrified Registrar Xu.
In my nearly forty years of life, I have never seen a woman who dares to challenge the elders of the clan like this!
"Alright, alright, this matter with Chief Si really shouldn't be continued. You know, the Si family has submitted nearly two thousand taels of medicinal herbs to the imperial court."
If they were to add a few hundred more taels of medicinal herbs, the county government would be willing to give them a plaque.
What's the point of you two making such a mess of things?
"Give me some face. According to their plan, we'll buy the yard, transfer the ownership, and provide a written explanation. That would be the end of it, okay?"
Grandpa Si didn't say anything.
I was so angry I could die. How could he say that?
He never expected that after so many decades, with Si Congming, his wife, and their son and daughter all dead, there would still be someone who could remember when Si Congming left the North.
How old was Si Fangbai when he left?
His wife, Zhao, was from Bachuan Prefecture. Her name wasn't even on their family genealogy. She was currently bedridden and unable to get up.
Surprisingly, Si Congming's grandson remembered!
Since Grandpa Si didn't speak, the elders of the Si family naturally remained silent as well.
Registrar Xu then looked at Si Shaoheng and Cheng Ruoan, "Give me some face, and don't charge the market price for the courtyard. Discount it by 20%, and consider it compensation for the hard work of the clan in taking care of your ancestral home."
"Madam Cheng, don't worry. I know you're a businesswoman, and you probably feel the price I quoted is unfair, but the clan elders went to the trouble of issuing the necessary documents. It's reasonable for you to give them some money for tea, isn't it?"
Cheng Ruoan and Si Shaoheng exchanged a glance, both seeing affirmation in each other's eyes.
For now, this is the best-case scenario.
"I'll do whatever the official says." Si Shaoheng sighed, looking very tired and dejected.
Cheng Ruoan bit her lip and snorted, turning away with a very unwilling look on her face.
Of course, it was all an act.
Ultimately, neither of them ever intended to return to their clan and spend their lives under its control.
Originally, all I wanted was to live peacefully in my grandfather's courtyard, register my household registration, and then pretend to do some reselling. After three, five, or seven months, I would pretend to have made money and move to the county.
Who would have thought the Si family would bully us like this!
Yesterday's accident left an elderly person and a child in the family, one sick and one injured. Not only did they refuse to vacate the yard, but they also wouldn't even let them borrow a place to stay temporarily, only allowing them to build a shack on the village dam!
If Cheng Ruoan and Si Shaoheng hadn't made such a scene today, they would have been skinned alive by their clan if they wanted to register their household registration!
After discussing it with the other elders, Grandpa Si Er decided that they couldn't let things escalate any further.
I could only nod in agreement.
Second Grandfather Si: "Just for the sake of Registrar Xu and Lord Fang, we won't continue arguing with the descendants of those who have already been expelled from the clan. Take the money, and let's go to the yamen today to transfer the deed."
One by one, the clan elders left the main hall, each of them glaring fiercely at Cheng Ruoan as they left.
They were all very angry.
It hurts to spend the money!
Even if the courtyard is only worth 80% of the market price, the blue brick courtyard will still cost close to 90 taels!
After all, Si Fangqi only gives the clan a thousand taels of silver as tribute every year, while Si Lianzhan still frequently asks the clan for money to bribe officials!
I really can’t figure it out.
How could a stubborn grandson like Si Congming manage to live off a woman who has no power or influence but is rich?
He's a coward too!
If it were any other member of the Si family, they would have already seized control of the Cheng family, who were an orphan and widow, and forced them to hand over their skills in gathering herbs, making medicine, and making tofu!
Shisaburo, you're useless!