Yu Shu stayed at Aunt Cui's place until it was dark. She asked all the questions she needed to ask. However, Aunt Cui was so muddle-headed that she couldn't even remember the most important things, but she remembered the trivial things clearly.
After piecing it all together, Yu Shu understood the whole thing.
According to Aunt Cui, she had been a servant in the Yin Family since she was a child. At first, she cleaned the yard of Madam Dowager Yin, the current Prime Minister's wife. After a few years, she was promoted to be a curtain-folding maid. Later, Yin Zhourong, the son of a concubine, got married and left the family. So Madam Dowager Yin sent Aunt Cui to make trouble for her daughter-in-law.
Concubine Cui was interested in Yin Zhourong and kept throwing flirtatious glances at him. However, all of this was seen by Madam Yin Deng. When Yu Zhengyu's father went to the capital to attend the imperial examinations, he stayed in the outer courtyard. Madam Yin Deng used a little trick to make Concubine Cui, who wanted to throw herself into the arms of the master, and the poor scholar become engaged.
Aunt Cui won the lottery and became pregnant with Yu Shu. Madam Yin saw it. She took the opportunity to be a good person. She made a matchmaker for Papa Yu and gave him some money as a dowry. Then Papa Yu secretly took Aunt Cui back to the hometown to get married.
This story sounded good, but Yu Shu found that there was a big problem when she really looked into it.
First of all, Madam Yin didn't do it openly when she married Aunt Cui to Papa Yu. That was to say, it was done secretly. She let Aunt Cui go, gave the dowry, and sent her away without saying a word.
Moreover, Madam Yin didn't return the indenture to Aunt Cui, so it was not clear whether she gave it to Papa Yu or not. This was called dead men tell no tales.
"Shu Shu …" Concubine Cui called Yu Shu's nickname, which Yu Shu had long forgotten. Seeing that her daughter's face was so ugly, she didn't dare to be brave. Even her tone was weak, "Do you think that Madam Yin really didn't give my contract to your father?"
Yu Shu asked her, "Then do you remember that my father took you to the yamen to get rid of your slave registration?"
To get rid of the slave status and be a good citizen, it was not enough to just get the indenture. You had to go to the local government to get rid of the slave registration. Otherwise, even if the owner didn't care, you would still be a pariah.
Aunt Cui said with a sad face, "I said I don't remember. Your father didn't mention it to me." She hated him so much that she didn't even want to talk to him. Who knew if he helped her get rid of her slave registration?
As soon as Yu Shu heard her crying, she was annoyed. She glared at her and said, "The Yin family dared to take your indenture to the yamen because Yin Zhourong was a senior officer in the Ministry of Revenue. Even if you got rid of your slave registration, he still had a way to change it. They also said that they have witnesses who can prove that you eloped with my father more than ten years ago. As long as you go to the yamen and go to court, you won't be able to defend yourself. Just wait to be caught and used as a slave. "
Aunt Cui's eyes were dizzy. She trembled and said, "How can I do this? How can I do this? I'm already the wife of an official. In the future, I can count on you and Xiaoxiu to help me earn a title of nobility. How can I be a servant to his family? Isn't this killing me? God, this is killing me! Sob, sob, sob, sob! "
As she said that, she wailed and pointed at Yu Shu. She cried and scolded, "It's all your fault for offending others. In the end, the retribution is on me. If you didn't ruin the marriage with the Yin family, there wouldn't be so many disasters now. What sin did I commit to give birth to a debt-demanding ghost like you …"
"Bang!" Yu Shu punched the wall of the bed and made a loud noise. Aunt Cui was so scared that she froze. She was already under a lot of pressure because of Xue Rui's disappearance. Now, someone was using Aunt Cui to create trouble and add to the chaos. However, Aunt Cui didn't want to save trouble. She couldn't bear it anymore and exploded on the spot.
"Who told you to look for your old master when you had nothing better to do? For your glory and wealth, you're even willing to sell your own daughter! If you really want to bring up old scores, when my father died, you should have been a widow for him. At the very least, you should have set up a chastity memorial arch to accumulate merit for us sisters. Instead, you insisted on being someone's concubine. For the sake of your own good life, you implicated Xiaoxiu and I! We don't mind you making a fool of yourself, but you're blaming me for not letting you trample on yourself? "
If she hadn't taken over this body, how could Yu Shu tolerate such a sarcastic person like Aunt Cui? Although she didn't have the memories of her previous master, she had heard from the aunt who had taken care of the siblings that although Yu Family's father had died early, his ancestors had some savings and his family had land. Although the Yu Family was in dire straits, they had the help of the local clan. Aunt Cui was truly a good mother. With this family's wealth, it wasn't impossible for her to raise two children.
However, she couldn't bear the loneliness. Not long after Yu Family's father died, she hooked up with the third master of the Ji Family and sold the Yu Family's house and land to prepare a dowry for herself. Then, she happily went to the Ji Family to become a concubine.
If she became someone's concubine, it would be admirable if her children didn't have to worry about food and clothing. However, she only cared about her own happiness and didn't care about the life and death of the siblings.
After being scolded by her, Aunt Cui's face turned green and red. Finally, she rolled her eyes and fainted.
Xin 'er was guarding outside the door. She was crying and scolding inside. Knowing that she had heard something she shouldn't have, she simply lowered her head like a quail. After a while, the room suddenly became silent. Yu Shu came out and said to her, "Madam is tired. Let her rest. You stay here and beat the people in the yard. Report to me later."
"Yes, Madam."
.....
After venting her anger at Aunt Cui, Yu Shu felt comfortable and began to think about countermeasures.
It was beyond her expectations that the Yin family would choose such a method of shedding all pretenses of cordiality to seek revenge. Although there were grievances between them, it was not to the extent of deep hatred. However, the Yin family's complaint to the yamen showed that they wanted to fight to the death with her.
Could it be that they saw the Xue family was in trouble and saw her eldest brother was missing. They thought that she had no backing, so they took the opportunity to step on her?
Yu Shu felt that she had found the truth.
Yin Zhourong was the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue. It was too easy for him to tamper with the household registration. In addition, there was the so-called "witness" and the "sale contract" that she didn't know was real or fake.
So, she wouldn't let Aunt Cui go to the court to testify against them. At most, she would just "drag it out". Anyway, the matter had already become big. Was she afraid that people would know? If the constables came to ask for her tomorrow, she would also beat them out!
Yu Shu was never afraid of trouble. She took out the yao coin and made two divinations. She immediately made a decision. Seeing that it was getting late, she washed and went to bed.
.....
The next day, Yu Shu went to the Celestial Commissioner's office early in the morning and returned to the mansion after five o 'clock. She calculated that there would be people coming to the yamen today. As expected, around nine o' clock in the morning, several constables came to arrest people.
Yu Shu was talking with Zhao Hui in the backyard. Zhou Hu personally ran over to report. He handed the white, fat, and adorable He Xiaochuan to the wet nurse and led him to the front yard.
"Is it the same group of people from yesterday?" Yu Shu asked Zhou Hu as soon as they came out of Zhao Hui's yard.
"No. Yesterday, it was the minions of the yamen in the north of the capital. Today, it's people from the Ministry of Revenue." Although Zhou Hu was a martial artist, he had been a steward in Yu Shu's mansion for a few months. He was no longer a novice and had some understanding of the power factions in the capital.
When Yu Shu heard that there was a different group of people today, she thought for a moment and guessed what trick Assistant Minister Yin was playing.
According to the Yin Family, Aunt Cui was an escaped slave of the Yin Family. After more than ten years, they found her and wanted to catch her. However, Aunt Cui had set up her own family. This was a civil dispute. Anling City had two yamens in the north of the capital and the south of the capital that specialized in handling lawsuits for the common people. That was why the constables from the yamen in the north of the capital could come to Yu Shu's mansion aggressively to arrest people. Their target was not Yu Shu, who was an official of the imperial court, but Aunt Cui, who was a "commoner."
The Ministry of Revenue had the authority to control the household register. Concubine Cui's household register was fake, so it was reasonable for her to sue the Ministry of Revenue yamen and ask the supervisor in charge of the escaped slaves to come forward.
Otherwise, they could go to the Supreme Court to complain and accuse Yu Shu of harboring and harboring a slave. That would also make the officials come to ask for her.
No matter how one looked at it, they were on the side of reason. Assistant Minister Yin was thorough in all aspects and took advantage of the situation. He was determined to bring Aunt Cui to the court.
On the other hand, if she stopped them and didn't allow Aunt Cui to be taken away, then she would be in the wrong. In the end, the matter would become more and more serious. She would incur public anger and still have to hand over Aunt Cui.
When the Yin Family caught Aunt Cui and brought her back, Assistant Minister Yin would have the final say. It had to be said that this man's methods were many times better than his wife's.
But did he really think that Yu Shu would obediently submit?
"Miss, they're in the front hall." Zhou Hu pointed to the front. "The guards in the residence are all standing on the back porch. If they make a move, they'll definitely suffer the consequences."
Lu Hong and Xu Qing were also beside Yu Shu. When they saw Zhou Hu's fierce expression, they instinctively tightened their grip on the scabbards at their waists. They had heard about what had happened yesterday. As Yu Shu's personal bodyguards, they naturally knew what to do.
The group of men rubbed their fists and rubbed their palms together, waiting for today's big fight. Who would have thought that when Yu Shu saw the officials from the Ministry of Revenue, she showed a smiling face and politely invited the constable to sit down. She walked to the main seat and asked knowingly, "May I know why the constables are here?"
"Why didn't anyone come to the residence yesterday?" The constable who spoke had triangular eyes. No matter how one looked at him, he was not pleasing to the eye. However, he was just a lowly official. When Yu Shu offered him a seat, he dared to sit down calmly. When Yu Shu asked him a question, not only did he not stand up and respectfully answer, he even retorted.
Lu Hong and Xu Qing had been by Yu Shu's side for a long time and had never seen such a despicable person who didn't know how to respect others. Their faces immediately turned cold and they were about to scold him, but they were stopped by a look from Yu Shu.
"Unfortunately, I didn't come back yesterday. What happened? Constable Hou, why don't you tell me?" Yu Shu still had a pleasant expression on her face.
Constable Hou narrowed his triangular eyes and revealed a serious expression, "Someone reported that your mother was originally a fugitive slave from another residence. Sixteen years ago, she stole her master's money and eloped with someone else. Today, she has changed her appearance and falsified her household registration. We received a warrant and came to arrest her. We hope that Official Yu will make things easier for us and not make things difficult for us."
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