Chapter 62 Buying and Selling Land

  The couple who came to see Zhao Xun were the legitimate children of the eighth house, and his father had fallen ill last autumn. After that, his condition did not improve much, and he asked the doctor to take medicine. From winter to spring, it didn't stop. Zhao Xun went to visit him with her grandmother Zhang in December last year, so she naturally knew about it.

  Now the couple, with the old father seriously ill and their savings almost depleted, had to sell their land under the pretext of raising money, and asked Zhao Xun for help. At that time, Zhao Xun also couldn't think of a way to refuse.

  The ancestral land was originally to be sold with rules, and priority should be given to selling it to family members to avoid the ancestral land from flowing out. Nowadays, among the Zhao clan, the richest and most powerful ones are the sixth house of merchants and the second house with the title of public lord. It's not surprising that the elder brothers and sisters came to ask Zhao Xiu to sell first.

  But the problem is that his family has as much as 200 mu of land to sell, which is no small amount.

  That sister-in-law also said: "We've all inquired, nowadays in Songjiang Prefecture, the price of one mu of superior good land is twelve taels. If it's for my younger sister to buy, we're all family, so we'd be willing to offer a favorable price, how about ten taels per mu? Two hundred mu would be two thousand taels, which isn't a small sum for my younger sister, but for our household, it's truly life-saving money."

  Zhao Xuan originally had some sympathy for them, but as soon as she heard this, she felt that something was off.

  Although she had never bought or sold land, she was familiar with the prices of goods at home from listening to her grandmother and Lu Ma. The price of land in Songjiang was only twelve taels per mu for the best fertile land, but this was Fengxian, not Songjiang. The local land price was six or seven taels per mu for top-grade land, three or four taels could buy a mu of medium-grade land, and two taels could even buy a mu of low-grade land. Although the Zhao family's land couldn't be low-grade, the prices of medium to high-grade land were too far apart. Even if the 200 mu of land in Wai Ba Fang were the most fertile, they wouldn't reach twelve taels per mu. Eldest Sister-in-law still looked like she was giving a discount to her own family members. If Zhao Xiu didn't know the price level outside, wouldn't she have made a loss-making deal by "lowering" it to ten taels per mu?

  Two thousand taels of silver may be nothing to Xiao Er Fang, but whose money is blown in by the wind? Knowing it's a losing business, why do it anyway?

  Zhao Xuan looked at her elder brother and sister-in-law with some displeasure, suspecting that they were taking advantage of her youth and ignorance of market conditions to cheat her.

  She put on a serious face and said to them, "Buying land is not a trivial matter. My grandmother is not at home, I'm too young to make decisions, we have to wait for my grandmother to come back before making any decisions. Since Uncle is seriously ill and Brother and Sister-in-law have no money to see a doctor or buy medicine, let's report it to the ancestral house and ask them to lend a hand. As relatives living together, we should help each other out. I know you're having a hard time. Everyone will definitely not stand by and do nothing." She also instructed Bi Lian, who was standing beside her, "You go and send a message to Brother Jing and Sister-in-law, just say that the uncle of the outer eighth house is seriously ill and has no money to see a doctor, please ask them to go over and take a look. See if there's anything they can help with."

  Bilian hadn't even responded when her brother and sister-in-law's faces changed. Her brother hastily forced a smile and said, "How can this be? Our family isn't so poor that we can't afford to open the pot. Why bother troubling Zongzi and his wife? My father has always been proud, and whatever he can do himself, he absolutely won't ask others for help. My wife and I came here today, already risking my father's wrath. If he finds out that we even disturbed Zongzi, I'm afraid he'll break my legs. It's better... not to tell Zongfang about this, okay?"

  "Right, right," echoed the aunt. She paused for a moment, smiling with some depth of meaning. "As for buying land, sister shouldn't underestimate herself either. It's just two thousand taels to buy such good land. If our ancestor were at home, she would agree too. We originally wanted to wait for her return, but unfortunately, the illness of the old master cannot be delayed. Sister has money to support Sixth House's Huai Ge reading books and buying new and interesting things from Sixth House, can't she afford to buy a few pieces of land? If sister thinks the price is too high, we can still negotiate."

  Zhao Xun was unmoved: "Helping Huai Ge read books, that's what Grandma said when she was at home. Buying a few small things won't cost much money, but buying land is a big deal, I don't dare to make decisions on my own. Let's wait until Grandma comes back home and then we'll talk about it. If Brother and Sister-in-law are really short of money, I still have some silver here that was prepared for the Buddha's birthday ceremony at Wanfo Pavilion on May 13th. Brother and Sister-in-law can take it first and use it to buy medicine for Father. The illness cannot be delayed. As for what happens next, I'll ask Da Ge to come out and talk to the relatives, we can't just let Father not have money for treatment."

  After she finished speaking, she let Lu Ma go get the silver, then picked up her tea cup, hinting that it was time to see them off. Her brother and sister-in-law saw this and were anxious in their hearts, also somewhat at a loss for what to do. When Lu Ma brought over a small package, they only found twenty taels of silver inside, which differed from their original goal by a hundredfold. How could they possibly accept it?

  That aunt couldn't help but complain: "Sister's heart is too hard, at such a young age, she doesn't know how to show respect for her elders. It's just 2,000 taels of silver, the county magistrate's wife spends more than that on food and clothes in a year, but you're not even willing to spend money to treat your seriously ill elder's illness, it's really shameful! You're still the county magistrate's wife's own granddaughter!"

  "What are you talking about? Don't you see where this is? You dare to be so arrogant?!"

  His brother-in-law pulled his wife back, stopping her from continuing, but his own face didn't look good either: "Don't mind, sister, my wife is uncouth and doesn't know manners, she just speaks randomly."

  Zhao Xun took a sip of tea, glanced at him and said: "My grandmother is a kind and generous person, but she never does anything that would make her a laughing stock. She has always taught me to spend money where it should be spent. If there really are relatives who are struggling financially and can't afford medical treatment or medicine, I wouldn't be stingy. But no matter how good my heart is, I won't let others take advantage of me like a sheep waiting to be slaughtered. Do you think I don't know the land prices in this county? Or is your family's land actually located in Songjiang?"

  The couple's faces turned red and white, unable to speak, muttering some polite words, then ran away, not forgetting to take the package of silver with them.

  After they left, Lu Ma scolded: "What a thing! The girl is too kind-hearted. In my opinion, we shouldn't have given them those twenty taels of silver!"

  Zhao Xuan said calmly, "What's twenty taels of silver? I gave it to them. They have no reason to pour dirty water on my head. I didn't even ask for their land, and I gave them twenty taels for free. Isn't that being a good person? Can you still call me stingy?" She gave Bi Lian a glance: "Go to the ancestral hall and report this to Eldest Sister-in-law." Bi Lian curtsied and replied, then turned around and left.

  Lu's mother was puzzled: "Miss, what's the point of this? They can tell at a glance that they're here to extort money, why bother with them? Big Sister Jing is busy, where does she have time to deal with these people?"

  Zhao Xuan shook her head: "She is the mistress of the clan, and it's her responsibility to take care of the clansmen. If someone in one of the houses really fell ill and couldn't afford medicine, she wouldn't even lift a finger, that would be truly reprehensible. Besides, I also want to know what's going on. Previously, I hadn't heard that the eighth house was so short of money that they had to sell their ancestral land?"

  Shen received the letter and personally went to the outer eighth house for a trip. After returning, he was furious and arrived at the old mansion of the second house overnight, telling Zhao Xun the truth.

  The master of the house outside the eighth house was indeed bedridden due to a long illness, and the silver money in the family gradually decreased, but the houses, fields, gold, and silver were still there, far from not having enough money to invite doctors to grab medicine. The elder brother who sold the field to Zhao Xiu was his eldest son. Below is another younger brother of the same birth, now studying in the prefectural city, also a good seedling for reading books in the clan, and has become a child prodigy. In the family, he has always been more favored than him. This elder brother was dissatisfied in his heart, so he took advantage of his father's illness, during which time he was entrusted with managing the household affairs, to embezzle a lot of silver. Unexpectedly, someone reported it to his father. His father's condition was severe, but his mind was clear. In a fit of anger, he wanted to check the accounts, and if it was found that he had indeed embezzled a large amount of silver, he would be stripped of his inheritance rights and the family business would be handed over directly to the second son.

  The man who had been ill for a long time flew into a rage, and under the attack of his anger, he finished speaking and fell ill again. The family was in an uproar. His brother-in-law and sister-in-law saw this and worried that they would lose their inheritance and not get any money, so they stopped the family members from going to the county town to inform his younger brother, and then took advantage of their temporarily unrevoked rights to sell everything that could be sold, planning to take the money and run away with his wife to her parents' home to hide for a while, waiting until he had calmed down or died, and then return.

  Zhao Xun was also stunned: "He's so determined, can he really succeed? What if the clan thinks he's unfilial and makes a big mistake, and wants to expel him from the family, what will he do?" Didn't ancient people always attach great importance to these things?

  Shen sighed, "He's always been a thick-skinned person, and his father-in-law is an official in the county government, so he doesn't dare to compare himself with ordinary people. Compared to commoners, he has some status and power. If our family really disowns him, who knows, maybe he'll get his father-in-law to pull strings for his brother's exam. His father is also a softie, don't look at how angry he is now, after a few days when his anger subsides, he'll go back and apologize, and the matter will be settled."

  Zhao Xun thought about it and felt that it was indeed the case, after all, they were close relatives by blood. However, being greedy for family wealth and not being filial was a different matter altogether. Even someone like Zhao Jiong, who bore the name of a fratricide, still had his name on the family tree. Compared to him, what Zhao Xun's cousin did was nothing.

  Now that they knew what was going on, neither Zhao Xuan nor Shen Shi would intervene. At most, they would just remind the others in the outer eighth house to be careful and not let that unfilial son really neglect his father's medical treatment for the sake of money. The eldest son who was studying at the Imperial Academy also took advantage of the Dragon Boat Festival to hurry back home.

  The Dragon Boat Festival is both a holiday and the memorial day of the old county lord for Xiao Er Fang. Zhao Xiu had already made all the necessary arrangements with the help of Lu Mama and her husband, including the sacrificial ceremony and the temple fair. However, since his grandmother was not at home, Zhao Xiu had more things to worry about, and he was so busy that he even had to cut his daily painting and calligraphy homework in half.

  After the Dragon Boat Festival was over, she finally caught her breath and heard that there were new developments in the matter of the eighth house outside.

  That brother saw his younger brother return, and didn't even bother with the land sale. He took his wife and the silver he had embezzled and ran away. It wasn't until his father woke up that his younger brother brought their clansmen to scold him when he found out that he had somehow accumulated a huge debt of over 1,000 taels. If they couldn't repay the debt, the creditor would take him to court and also sue his father's younger brother.

  The creditor has already spread the word, and it's impossible to shut him up. If that cousin really sees the official, the Zhao family's face will be gone too, and his brother's career path may also be affected. The master of the outer eighth house struggled to hold on to a breath, speaking kindly to the creditor, and finally managed to drag out the repayment date for another month. At this point today, he really wants to sell the land.

  Zhao Xun then called Lü Mama over and asked: "What's going on with the land of Outer Eighth House?"