binnovel Chapter 445 Being a Coolie
Chapter 445 Being a Coolie
Song Chunlin became even more arrogant after hearing this. He looked at the child with a strange smile, and there was a hint of coldness in his voice.
"Your Third Uncle is so powerful, but he's only a county magistrate. I didn't know the county magistrate was so well-connected that he could arrest people without even knowing it. Tell me, what's the background of your Liu...what's that? Oh, Liu San, who actually holds more power than the county magistrate?"
This was a compliment on the surface, but in reality it was an implicit criticism that the third son of the Liu family had exceeded his authority and even abused his power for personal gain. According to the division of duties among officials in Dajing, the county magistrate was equivalent to the county governor, and the county magistrate's secretary was equivalent to the assistant to the county governor's secretary, one level lower than the secretary. His main job was to help the secretary issue various documents for the county governor. To put it bluntly, he was like a messenger, slightly better than the clerk who specialized in writing in the county government office, and sounded more respectable.
But it only sounds respectable. In fact, it has no rank at all, so he has no right to put people in jail. That is the job of the county magistrate.
But this little kid in front of him, who didn't know his place, actually told Liu San to arrest Song Chunlin. This was not just ignorance, it was sheer fearlessness.
The child's mother, Liu Xiu'e's stepmother, covered the child's mouth with her hand. She was just a woman, but she had heard of the title of the National Protector Sharpshooter. Although it was just a title and had no rank like the county magistrate, he was the only one in the whole Dajing, and it was bestowed by the emperor himself and announced to the world. She didn't dare to arrest Song Chunlin no matter who else she arrested.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Song, this child is still young and naive, and he's not very careful with his words. I hope you can forgive him and not take it to heart."
Song Chunlin knew that she was trying to gloss over the matter, but was Song Chunlin the kind of person who could be easily fooled? Before Song Chunlin could speak again, the child broke free from his mother and was about to rush up to hit Song Chunlin viciously. Fortunately, Song Chunlin reacted quickly enough and dodged to the other side, leaving the child empty-handed.
The child missed the attack and was not convinced, so he started rolling on the ground, crying and howling.
"Ahhh, you are all bad people. Bad people bullied my mother. I must let my third uncle send you all to work as coolies. Bad people! Ahhhh, mother, go find my third uncle~"
How could his mother dare to look for his third uncle? Now she wanted to stuff this son back into her belly and pretend that she had never given birth to such a fool!
The crowd watching this scene was very happy. Among the guests were relatives of the Liu family and neighbors who came just to join in the fun. The Liu family relied on the fact that they had a county magistrate and usually looked down on these neighbors. The neighbors had long been fed up with their condescending attitude, and now that someone could control them, they found it very funny.
But it was not the case in the eyes of Liu's relatives. Some of those who had a little knowledge of the law had completely darkened their faces and kept urging Liu's stepmother to get the person away quickly.
Just when the situation was about to be under control, the noise in front finally alarmed Liu Xiu'e in the backyard. She heard the noise in front, but it did not sound festive. Instead, it was mixed with her brother's hoarse crying. Liu Xiu'e frowned. She did not think that her brother was crying because he couldn't bear to leave her. This kid had been taught by his stepmother not to be close to her since he was a child. It was definitely not a good thing for him to cry outside at this time.
Liu Xiu'e listened to the increasingly outrageous noise outside, and finally could not help but walked out from the backyard. Before she stepped into the front yard, she heard words that made her tremble with anger.
He was so audacious as to say something like "capturing people to do hard labor" in front of everyone. He must be afraid that Uncle Liu wouldn't die soon enough.
After listening for a while, Liu Xiu'e couldn't help it. She quickly walked into the front yard and looked at the guests in the hall. They were laughing at her brother on the day of her engagement. Liu Xiu'e took a deep breath and almost fell down.
When the guests saw that the main characters of this engagement had come out, they knew that the climax of the engagement was about to come.
Sure enough, Liu Xiu'e slapped her brother with a slap, silencing him. After that, she stared at her stepmother and reminded her word by word.
"My brother might have gone insane. Mother should take him home quickly and give him some medicine to see if he can get better."
The stepmother of the Liu family had been frightened to the point of losing her backbone. Naturally, she did whatever Liu Xiu'e said and did not dare to refute at all. After dealing with the stepmother and her brother, Liu Xiu'e tried her best to pretend that nothing had happened, and then she smiled and saluted Song Qinshi. She did not recognize the imperial edict clothes of the lady, but she was not stupid. The clothes worn by Song Qinshi were obviously not something that ordinary people could wear. Thinking of the identity mentioned by the other party, Liu Xiu'e was naturally the first to salute the other party.
"I'm sorry, Madam, for making a fool of myself. My brother is young and has no sense of propriety in what he says and does. I apologize to Madam. From now on, I will ask my parents to discipline my brother properly."
Song Chunlin stood aside and looked at the girl from the Liu family carefully. He found that she was indeed an outstanding person. The slap she just gave him was very powerful and it made him feel very good. He just didn't know if she knew what her stepmother had done to her dowry.
"Ms. Liu, I suggest you take a look at this first and then decide whether or not to marry my brother Wang Mian."
Liu Xiu'e looked at the young man in front of her, and he handed her a piece of red paper. Liu Xiu'e knew a few words, but not enough to understand her dowry list. She could only guess from the number of words that the items on the list were pitifully few.
Liu Xiu'e's face suddenly turned pale, and Song Chunlin felt a little sorry for her.
Wang Mian finally came out at this time and whispered to Liu Xiu'e the items on the dowry list. Liu Xiu'e was so confused by his few words that tears welled up in her eyes but refused to fall.
"Brother Wang, I understand. It's my Liu family who has let you down. If you want to break off the engagement today..."
"I won't regret the marriage!"
Liu Xiu'e widened her eyes, seemingly not understanding what Wang Mian meant.
He said he didn't regret the engagement, does that mean he still wants to marry me?
But, but this dowry is too shabby. Compared with the betrothal gift sent by the Wang family, it is even worse. This is obviously a losing deal. Even if Wang Mian is willing to marry her, Liu Xiu'e thinks it is impossible.
"Yes, we will not regret the engagement. Since the Liu family has drawn up such a dowry list, we will also prepare the betrothal gifts according to the items on the list."
Song Chunlin told Liu Xiu'e their thoughts in a few words. As for marriage, it is natural for the couple to decide together.
At this moment, the elders of the Liu family wanted to jump out and say that it was unreasonable, but Song Chunlin refused to listen, Song Qinshi also ignored them, and Wang Qin and Wang Mian only talked to Liu Xiu'e.
Liu Xiu'e herself didn't bother to care about those elders at all. These people were only interested in profit and wanted to withhold her betrothal gifts and dowry. They had a good plan. If Liu Xiu'e listened to them again, she would be a pig.