Chapter 683: Meet Force with Force

red indigo blue three-piece suit without a tie, with a blue checkered scarf around his neck that added a finishing touch.Zeng Hongliang held a cigar in his hand, raised his hand to signal the ripples...When Meng-shi saw Song Dacao come back, she told him about the matters of the old Song family again. Hearing that Old Master Song fainted, Song Dacao's brows furrowed.

Aunt Meng finished speaking and took her sewing kit and left. Anyway, the words had been said, and how the Song couple would handle it was up to them.

A family of three sat in the main room. While Tiger was giggling, the other three members seemed pensive.

The ripples knew exactly who those people were and why they went to Song Dashan's house. It was clear that the other party hadn't found anything and definitely wouldn't give up. They would come after the Song family sooner or later. The only unexpected thing was that there were yamen guards helping out, but when Ripples thought about the Dong family in Wanshan Town, she understood.

There must be some involvement from the Dong family here. Anyway, this place is so far from Beijing, I don't think Old Master Yao would find out. Besides, since they're pretending to collect debts, no one else will suspect anything.

However, this would make Song Dashan's second brother a suspect as well. Although the two brothers have fallen out, these people probably wouldn't give up any lead.

"Dad fainted, I have to go take a look. It could be serious, if I knew and didn't go see him, people would talk."

Song Dachuan's voice rose, clearly telling his two mothers of his decision.

"Want to go with me"

Zhang Hui's mother immediately asked.

"No, I'll go myself. The spring planting just finished not long ago. You'd have to run to the fields every day, replanting where nothing has sprouted. And ripples's mother doesn't like her anyway, she wouldn't need to follow and suffer."

Song Dachuan immediately vetoed it.

After thinking for a moment, Lian Yi said:

"Father, this time you go, it's best to bring along the village head or an elder from the clan. Also, take five taels of silver and personally deliver them to Master's hands."

After hearing the ripples' words, both husband and wife looked at the ripples. Apparently, they hadn't expected her to say that.

"Our family has only managed to save six taels of silver so far. If we give all of it to your grandfather, we won't have any money for emergencies if something happens."

Zhang Hui'niang wasn't against giving it, she just didn't want to give so much.

Obviously, Song Dachuan thought so too. He nodded and said:

"Your mother is right, a couple of silver taels would be enough for me. I still need to save dowry for you and can't give it all to your grandpa. Though I am his son, I am not his only son. This trouble wasn't caused by me. Just showing my sincerity is enough."

After hearing this, Lianyi felt that Song Dachuan was a clear-headed person. Although he respected his elders, he wasn't blindly filial. He considered his own small family and children, and made decisions based on his best effort, not trying to appear more capable than he actually was.

"Father, I have the silver here. This silver has to be given, you must first listen to me explain the reason."

Ripple smiled and said.

"Hey girl, what do you say"

"Just now, I heard from Auntie Meng that their house was ransacked, everything they could take was taken. This definitely includes Uncle's family. Now that it's just spring planting, the food in the fields hasn't grown yet, so what will they eat and drink"

My uncle got into trouble and is hiding, but the constables have come to our door. Who in Songjia Village would lend money to help them survive My older brother's family has no shame coming to us, after all, he is our elder brother. There's no saying that a younger brother should support his older brother!

But your grandparents are different. They're elders, and while you've moved out, it doesn't mean you're estranged. With what's happening at home now, if you don't show any concern, Grandma will definitely urge Grandpa to move in with us or pressure you into giving them money to get through this difficult time.

Since we're going to be given silver anyway, why can't we adopt a higher stance and make everyone and public opinion stand on our side

Farmers all make a living from the soil. Just a quick calculation shows how much silver they can save in a year. Besides, our family also has Tiger to raise, and five taels of silver is all our family's wealth. Sending it to our grandparents is the greatest filial piety.

No matter how filial you are, it's impossible to starve your wife and children to please your grandparents. So give them this amount of silver. The villagers all know that you've emptied your family coffers.

In front of the village head and the people from Songjia Village, this way you can show that even after dividing the family, you still respect your elders, and it also cuts off their road to ask for money from our family again. Even if grandma and grandpa want to rely on us, they won't have the face to do so. I estimate that before they even reach our doorstep, they will be pushed back by the villagers.

Once the silver arrived, I told my mother to go around and visit everyone, letting them all know that in order to help the Song family through this difficult time, we had emptied our own coffers and even used the reward that Miss Dong's second daughter gave me.

This way, the villagers won't keep thinking about the things I brought back home. It lets everyone know that my father is filial. This can be considered as my father's pension for grandma and grandpa.

Although the divorce papers state that my father left with nothing and is not obligated to provide for our grandmother, if our family lives much better than hers, people will surely gossip behind our backs. They'll say that my father enjoys the finer things in life but doesn't care about his mother's well-being. People tend to side with the weaker party.

After hearing a long string of words from Lian Yi, Song Dachuan nodded, feeling that his daughter was right.

Then Lady Hui laughed and said:

"Our Ripple is still clever, you see. Even though serving at the Dong Mansion is difficult, she's gained a lot of experience."

Ripples smiled, then entered the bedroom and took out a solid silver hairpin weighing three ounces, along with two ounces of silver coins. At a glance, it was clear that they were rewards from the master.

"Dad, take these to Grandma!"

"Ripples, you leave that silver hairpin behind. I've been watching it—it's a new style. Keep it for your dowry. As for the rest of the silver, we can just use it to add to what we have at home."

Chang Hui-niang immediately said, and Song Dachu also expressed his agreement.

"Father, mother, this silver hairpin is indispensable. It proves that you even used my dowry to save it, showing that you haven't hidden anything. This way, people will trust you."

Ripple smiled and said, she always did things carefully, never leaving any trace for herself.

"Ripple's right, let's save up some money. When the autumn harvest comes this year, we'll get our daughter a new silver hairpin to replace the old one."

Song Dachuan immediately agreed.

After the arrangements were made, the family had a happy dinner together. The next morning, Song Dachuan went out early.

By the time it was nearly noon, Hui-niang and her two companions hadn't returned. Instead of Song Dachuan, they were met by yamen officers brought by the Yao family.

When Hui's mother saw the yamen officers, her heart was pounding. Her legs felt weak, and she could barely stand straight without Lian Yi supporting her.

With a sweep of her rippling eyes, she knew what these people wanted to do. She immediately stepped forward and bowed respectfully before opening her mouth to ask:

"Officials, may I ask what brings you to my humble home"

The head of the Yao family glanced at Lian Yi, finding her to be well-mannered, and directly asked:

"Isn't this Song Dachuan's house"

"That's right."

Where is everyone

“My father went to Songjia Village to see my grandmother. I heard that my uncle was unfilial, owed money and ran away. He was visited by creditors, and my grandfather fainted from anger. The family's silver was all used to pay off the debt, not even enough for medical expenses. My father went there specially to have a look.”

"Hmph! You sure talk a lot. We're here to collect the debt."

The head of the Yao family said unhappily.

"My lord, our family has long since separated, how could my father be responsible for my debts!"

It's not your turn to be searched, but he stole something and we suspect he hid it in your house, so we need to search your home.

"I see. Please search, official!""After the ripple finished speaking, it took another step closer and whispered:"Director Lu, a while ago when I went back to Luojiatun village, I heard from the villagers there that there was a family...