He Xiaoni wanted to turn and leave, but Qi Wangshi, however, heard the crux of the matter. "Jiao's father, isn't this girl the eldest daughter of He Song's family?"
"She is."
"Jiao's father, hasn't He Song's family been missing for two or three years?"
"Yes, they have."
"Why would they be here?"
"I'm wondering too."
"Could it be that they came to join Elder Brother a long time ago?"
"Possibly."
When Qi Wangshi thought of He Song's family coming to join her elder brother-in-law long ago, she felt her own family had been at a disadvantage.
"No, we must go and ask Elder Brother for an explanation. Why should the He family come and take advantage, while our family lives a hard life eating chaff and vegetables."
"Right, Mom and Dad should go find Elder Brother." Qi Jiao stared at He Xiaoni's new clothes and said enviously.
"Let's go, we'll go back and find your Elder Brother." Qi Wangshi was quite confident at this moment, and walked towards the Wei Su (garrison) with righteous indignation.
He Xiaoni: She hadn't done anything, had she? She just asked if that person was Qi Jiao. Why was Qi Jiao's mother acting like a lunatic and taking them away?
In the Wei Su, Qi Yuanshan was still talking about village matters with the old village chief and his two grandsons.
"This year there's a severe drought. We who rely on heaven for our livelihood must tighten our belts."
In fact, the old village chief brought his two grandsons over because he wanted to see if there was a way out for Yuanshan and if he could find a livelihood for his two grandchildren.
The harvest this year was less than half of previous years. Their family had many mouths to feed, and the grandsons were at the age where they could eat their parents poor.
Qi Yuanshan knew the old village chief's intentions and was about to reply when he heard the commotion outside.
Qi Yuanshan led the way out and saw Qi Wangshi with three children, brazenly standing at the entrance of the Wei Su, about to force their way in.
The two guards stopped them, and Qi Wangshi extended her two big claws, swiping at the faces of the two soldiers.
Qi Yuanshan looked at the bloody scratches on the faces of the two soldiers and was immediately enraged.
"You trespassed into the Wei Su and assaulted soldiers. This is a capital offense."
Qi Wangshi didn't quite believe it when her elder brother-in-law said it was a capital offense. "I just scratched two people, who are you trying to scare?"
Qi Yuanshan gave Qi Wangshi a look of disgust and asked, "When you were back home, would you dare to scratch government officials or yamen runners?"
"..." Qi Wangshi dared not answer. Of course, she wouldn't. If she dared to scratch those yamen runners, she would surely be beaten and imprisoned.
But it was different in this Wei Su. Elder Brother was the highest-ranking official here, and she could scratch anyone she pleased.
She didn't believe her Elder Brother would dare to hit her.
Qi Yuanshan guessed her thoughts from her expression and her fearlessness. With a cold face, he sternly shouted, "Guards, throw this audacious woman who trespassed into the Wei Su out."
"Yes." The guards at the gate responded loudly. One of them grabbed Qi Wangshi by the arm and led her outside.
"..." Qi Wangshi was frightened when she saw her elder brother-in-law truly lose his temper. She didn't dare to utter a single word, only her legs trembled.
The three children were about to cry, but seeing their uncle's glaring eyes, they all pouted and dared not cry.
Seeing that his elder brother was really angry, Qi Lao Er hurriedly stepped forward to plead for Qi Wangshi.
"Brother..."
Qi Yuanshan looked at his younger brother with disappointment, as if he were a hopeless case, and said coldly, "Do you know this is the Wei Su, and trespassing is punishable by death?"
"Brother..." Qi Lao Er wanted to say, aren't you my brother, which is why my wife is a bit bolder? But he also knew that his brother was angry, and he dared not say such nonsensical things, for fear of being kicked.
Having left home for a full ten years, when his mother was alive, she would subtly mention his brother's spinelessness and his sister-in-law's domineering nature when she asked someone to write letters for her.
He hadn't intended to interfere, as it was his brother's own life to live.
But later, he learned that his sister-in-law had spent the money he sent back and also abused little He, which he could not tolerate.
"Lao Er, don't wear out the brotherly affection we have. You should go back."
"Brother, if our family goes back, how will we live?"
"How can you not live?" Qi Yuanshan looked at his brother and started to calculate for him. "I'll have Elder Brother leave you ten taels of silver. Building three mud-brick houses, including the foundation, is enough with three taels of silver. With the remaining seven taels of silver, you can buy an acre of medium-grade land and still have money left over."
"Brother, this is nothing," Qi Lao Er disagreed with his brother's words.
"Heh heh, you and your wife have taken a lot of money from Mother over the years, haven't you."
Qi Lao Er: ...
"Before Mother passed away, she had thirty taels of silver. Even after Mother passed away and you spent money on her funeral, could you have spent half of it?"
"We didn't spend that much. The family set up an account book, and the gentry from the village, as well as from the North and South villages, and the wealthy households in town, collected a total of thirty-six taels and fifty copper coins. The funeral expenses for your mother were nine taels and eight hundred and twenty copper coins."
The old village chief had a boy from the village who was studying in school keep the accounts, so every expense was clearly recorded.
After Qi Yuanshan finished listening to the old village chief, he looked at his brother and continued to calculate. "Nine taels and eight hundred and twenty copper coins, let's round it up to ten taels. Thirty-six taels minus ten taels leaves twenty-six taels. Add the thirty taels Mother left before, plus the ten taels I'm leaving you this time, totaling sixty-six taels."
Qi Yuanshan looked at his spineless brother and said with a cold laugh, "With sixty-six taels of silver in hand, you dare to say that your family cannot live?"
When Qi Jiao heard her uncle calculate that their family had sixty-six taels of silver, she turned to ask her father.
"Father, do we really have that much silver?"
Qi Lao Er lowered his head and said nothing to his eldest daughter's questioning.
Seeing her father like this, Qi Jiao seemed to understand everything and looked at Qi Wangshi and asked, "Mother, did you give our silver to my maternal grandparents again?"
Qi Wangshi's eyes flickered for a while when faced with her eldest daughter's questioning, and then she stammered, "No."
"Sister, I saw Mother give silver to Grandma and Auntie."
"Eldest, if you lie, I'll beat you." Qi Wangshi quickly tried to stop her eldest son, who was about to expose her.
"Sister, I'm not lying. That day Mother gave Grandma a silver ingot, and Grandma was not satisfied and complained it was too little. She snatched the money bag from Mother's hand. Mother tried to snatch it back, but Auntie stopped her from doing so."
"Then why didn't you help Mother snatch it back?" Qi Jiao was so angry she could die.
"If I had snatched it back, Grandma wouldn't have given it to me and would have cursed me, saying my nephew is a dog, who eats and leaves."
"Grandma is greedy, Auntie is greedy, they take everything after eating," Qi Xiao Er, who was five years old, still spoke with a lisp.