"I already told you that I didn't take it, how can you ask me to compensate!" Shi Qi was angry at their unreasonableness, and he didn't understand why Xiao Xiang wanted to wrong him. When he put the pair of jade pendants back into the brocade box, Xiao Xiang
Xiang obviously saw it, but in the blink of an eye, he told the people in the Marquis that he had stolen the pair of jade pendants.
Du Datong's eyes quickly flashed with a hint of pride, but his face remained fierce, "Boy, don't toast or drink the fine wine. You can't just take the things from the Marquis."
Uncle Zheng watched for a long time, and seeing that things were getting worse, he boldly stepped forward, nodded and said: "Master Du, is there any misunderstanding in this? I have seen this kid Shi Sheng since he was a child, and he will never do that kind of sneaking around."
matter."
Du Datong pushed him to the ground and spat: "Old man, stop meddling in other people's business. If you talk too much, I will tie you up as an accomplice and send you to prison!"
For people in Jianji, the most fearful thing is to see an official, because regardless of whether they are justified or not, anyone who wants to see an official has to be beaten with twenty fire sticks first, because they are the sinners left by the previous dynasty and have no chance to see an official.
Qualifications. Moreover, since the introduction of the people, it has never been heard of anyone who has been reprimanded in court. They were all severely punished and kicked out, and some even died unjustly in prison.
Uncle Zheng knew that his begging was useless, so he had no choice but to get up from the ground and step aside. On the other side, Du Datong asked again, but Shi Sheng insisted that he had never taken the pair of jade pendants, which made him very angry, and finally called the person next to him.
The boy then beat Shi Sheng indiscriminately. These people beat him mercilessly, punching and kicking him. Soon Shi Sheng was beaten until his mouth and nose were bleeding, which was horrific.
Uncle Zheng really couldn't bear to watch Shi Sheng, who was almost the same as his own son, being beaten to death by them. He knelt down and begged Du Datong: "Master Du, please be kind and let Shi Sheng live. If he continues to be beaten like this, he will be killed."
I'm dead! Please!" Seeing that Du Datong was indifferent, he kowtowed repeatedly and said, "We will pay how much the pair of jade pendants cost."
"Compensate?" Du Datong raised his head and laughed loudly, saying with great sarcasm: "Can you two poor devils afford the compensation? But..." He rolled his eyes and said: "I can ask the young master for you.
, only the young master knows the price of that jade pendant."
"Thank you Master Du, thank you Master Du!" Uncle Zheng was overjoyed when he heard this and kowtowed repeatedly. No matter how much the money was, it was better than going to the official to see him. When he got to the Yamen, he was afraid that Shi Sheng's life would not be saved.
Du Datong signaled his subordinates to stop, and he took the lamp and left. After about half an hour, he came back and coldly snorted: "Young master said, it took him three hundred taels of silver to persuade the other party to endure the pain for those pair of jade pendants."
If you want to part with me, I don’t want to give you too much, just pay the original price of three hundred taels."
Hearing the number three hundred taels, Uncle Zheng was completely stunned. He knew that the pair of jade pendants were expensive, but he never expected that they would be so expensive. Three hundred taels? Even if it costs the people living in the long alley,
If you add up all the money, you can't even get a tenth of it.
"I've already told you, why are you still hanging around here? My master is generous and gives you three days to collect the money. If you still can't collect the money after three days, then see you in the Yamen!" Du Datong dropped this sentence.
Then, he ordered people to lock Shi Sheng, who was all injured, to the woodshed, and wait three days before making a decision.
Uncle Zheng returned to Changxiang in despair. Shi's mother had not seen Shi Sheng return for a long time. She was worried and leaned against the door to look at her. She knew that her son was going to a wealthy family to serve as an errand and also to a neighboring town, but it had been a whole day.
It’s time to come back anyway.
Ling Ruo put away the dishes, walked to the door and said to Shi's mother who was looking at the long alley: "Auntie, you go in and have a rest, I will wait here for you when Shi Sheng comes back."
"No, your feet are quite nimble. You won't be able to stand for a long time. I'll just wait." As soon as Shi Mu finished speaking, she saw a figure wandering past through the faint moonlight in the sky. She was delighted and said, "Miss Ling."
, take a look, is that a stone?"
Ling Ruo looked in the direction of her finger, identified her carefully and said, "Madam, it's Uncle Zheng, but Shi Sheng went with Uncle Zheng to do the errands. Now that Uncle Zheng is back, Shi Sheng will be here soon."
Mother Shi nodded, but no matter how much she looked around, she didn't see anyone except Uncle Zheng. Instead, Uncle Zheng walked up to them and said with an old face pale in the moonlight: "Sister-in-law, something happened.
"
Shi's mother was startled, and she quickly held on to the door frame and said tremblingly: "His uncle, what happened? Shi is born to someone else. Why didn't he come back with you?"
Uncle Zheng told what happened tonight exactly. When Shi's mother heard that Shi Sheng had stolen the jade pendant of the Hou Mansion and wanted to pay three hundred taels of silver, she couldn't catch her breath and fainted on the spot.
Uncle Zheng and Ling Ruo hurriedly helped her to the bed, pinching her and pouring hot water. After struggling for a long time, they finally woke up Shi Mu and turned her around. Her first words after waking up were
That is, "My son will never steal anything from the Marquis!"
Uncle Zheng sat by the bed and said with a sad face: "Hey, sister-in-law, I don't believe it either, but the people in the Houfu insisted that Shi Sheng stole it. How can we argue with them? The people in the Houfu said that they wanted to steal it.
If you don't want to redeem someone with three hundred taels of silver, you have to go to the Yamen! Tell me, where can we get the three hundred taels, and they said they would only give us three days."
Shi's mother had heard Uncle Zheng say that people from the Hou Mansion had beaten Shi Sheng severely, and said angrily: "They caught thieves and took the stolen goods. They didn't even find the pair of jade pendants on my son. How could they say he stole them?"
"
"It was the girl named Xiaoxiang who testified vigorously. Besides...sister-in-law, who is the Houfu family? They are the local emperors in Qingjiang Town. They say that if a person is guilty, he is guilty. Even if he went to Yamen County, the grandpa would still help them.
Talk, I heard that the county magistrate has to respectfully call Master Hou when he sees him."
"Even if you do this, you can't just unfairly accuse people and beat my son like that!" Shi's mother felt extremely distressed when she thought of Shi Sheng being beaten. In addition, she remembered the past twenty years ago and said angrily: "See?
The official will meet the official, and if you are upright, you will not be afraid of the shadow. I don’t believe that there is no justice in this world!”
"Hey, old sister-in-law, it's not like you don't know our identity and nationality. It's a mistake to carry this identity wherever you go. If you go to the Yamen, you have to be fined twenty water sticks first. Those Yamen officers are all ruthless, no
They'll beat him to death as soon as the money is enough. I'm afraid that if the trouble goes to the Yamen, Shi Sheng will die in their hands before the court is opened!" There was an unspeakable heaviness in Uncle Zheng's words.
"Jian Ji! Jian Ji! Jian Ji again! How can we, the jian people, survive to the end? Our ancestors made mistakes because of us, so why should we be branded as jian people as soon as we are born!" Shi Muyue said.
He became more and more excited and slapped the bed hard.
"Aunt Shi, please don't get excited yet." Ling Ruo had always known that there were soldiers in both the previous dynasty and this dynasty, but she had never had any deep understanding of it until she was rescued by Shi Sheng and lived in Shi Sheng.
After staying home for more than a month, she truly realized how difficult it is for ordinary people to survive in this society.
Poverty and hardship are all secondary. The most important thing is the discrimination of the entire society. No one pays attention to them. No matter how wronged they are, they can only grit their teeth and endure it because they have nowhere to complain.