After Shen Danqing finished chatting with the village head, he walked over.
He handed a letter to Su Qian and said, "Here, this is the letter your father left for you."
Su Qian obediently took the letter. "Oh, ah? My father left me a letter? I'll open it and have a look."
Shen Danqing stopped Su Qian. "Don't open it. This letter is forged to draw out Su Yue and the bandits. You take the letter to find Su Ming and test if he is in the same group as Su Yue. If not, ask him to tell Su Yue about the existence of this letter. Su Yue doesn't trust you, but she will surely trust him."
"Once Su Yue knows about this letter, she will worry that Su Ming's birth secret will be exposed and will surely come to kill you."
Scared, Su Qian hid behind Shen Heqing. "Will I die?"
Shen Heqing helplessly pulled him out. "Die? No way. There will surely be a group of people lying in ambush for Su Yue to catch her."
"From the government's perspective, it's Su Yue who tried to murder you for the family property and was caught in public. You are the victim and won't be implicated by Su Yue."
Shen Danqing nodded. "Exactly. The compensation has also been negotiated. It will be calculated according to the money your parents sent back every month before, and a one - time settlement for twenty years, about 720 taels of silver. Also, your household registration should be registered in Sujia Village."
Su Qian had no objections, but 720 taels was a large amount. He didn't have that much silver on hand and might have to sell his property.
The village head voluntarily proposed, "How about you still give three taels of silver every month, but make a contract with us. If you fail the imperial examination, you'll come to Sujia Village as a private tutor and teach the children in the village for free."
Su Qian felt extremely ashamed. "It's okay, but won't it be too much of an inconvenience for you?"
The village head just smiled and didn't say a word.
The village head could tell the difference between Su Yue and the Su family. Moreover, Su Qian's parents had tried their best to make up for it, and Su Qian had a bright future. Not only could they send Su Yue to prison, but they could also firmly tie Su Qian to the village with this matter. Sujia Village wouldn't suffer a loss.
After the matter was preliminarily settled, Shen Danqing politely declined the village head's suggestion to stay for a while. The group soon returned to the capital.
...
In the evening, according to Shen Danqing's instructions, Su Qian strode into Su Ming's shop with the letter in his hand.
Su Ming was wiping the table. He had a distant relationship with Su Qian. Seeing him come, he was surprised. "Why are you here?"
Su Qian summoned up his courage. "Brother, I've been assassinated these days..."
"What? You study hard on a daily basis. How could you have incurred such misfortune? Wait a minute. I'll go with you to report it to the government." Su Ming threw the rag on the table, wiped his hands casually, and then pulled Su Qian out.
Su Qian quickly stopped him. "No, what I mean is, is it possible that it's a vengeful ghost..."
Su Ming was greatly shocked. He stared at Su Qian. "Are you out of your mind? If it were really a vengeful ghost, it would just strangle you with a rope or smash you with a stone... Why would it need to find someone to harm you? That vengeful ghost would be really useless. Su Qian, you've really been studying stupidly!"
Su Qian was scolded so much that he couldn't even raise his head. He lowered his head, and his voice became even smaller. "I went back to the village a few days ago. The village head said that my father guessed I would be chased and killed. If such a day really came, he would let me call you all back and open the letter together. Could you help me inform elder sister..."
"Really? Su Qian, do you know what Su Yue said to me yesterday? She actually said that after you die, all the family property will belong to me. I suspect that your assassination is related to her!" The more Su Ming said, the more he felt he was right. "It must be that father guessed Su Yue's vicious thoughts. God bless us. We should drive Su Yue out of the family. I don't want to support her every month anymore."
Su Ming was sincere in every word and couldn't wait to drive Su Yue out.
He snatched the letter from Su Qian's hand and put it in a wooden box. "Such an important thing should be well preserved. I'll go and tell Su Yue now. I'll try to open the letter tonight and drive Su Yue out."
"You're so eager?" Su Qian knew Su Ming's identity. Seeing his eager look, he was surprised.
Su Ming gritted his teeth and said, "Nonsense. I've wanted to drive her away for a long time. How ridiculous it is for a younger brother to support a married elder sister! Because of her, it's even difficult for me to marry a wife!"
"Father treated me the best. But just a few days after father passed away, she actually gave me a bright red dress and asked me why I didn't wear it!"
"And when we were kids, our parents gave us copper coins to buy food. She actually snatched mine!"
Su Qian was so dizzy from listening. Did Su Ming hate Su Yue so much?
In the carriage not far away, Shen Baozhu was getting a bit impatient. She directly lifted the curtain of the carriage, ran all the way into Su Ming's shop, and dragged Su Qian out. "The sun is about to set. Let's go home quickly."
Seeing that Su Qian was about to be dragged away, Su Ming was unhappy. He had finally found an opportunity to vent his pent - up anger. If Su Qian left, he wouldn't find anyone to talk to again.
Su Ming coaxed, "Little girl, don't be in a hurry. Let Su Qian stay a while longer."
"I have toys and pastries here. See if there's anything you like."
Toys and pastries...
Shen Baozhu stopped in her tracks. She looked back at Su Ming, hesitating.
[Does Baozhu still have the silver bracelet on? If so, she can stay. Su Ming won't be able to hurt you.]
Shen Baozhu shook the small silver bracelet on her wrist and then looked at Su Ming as if asking what toys and pastries there were.
Su Ming was overjoyed. His shop was a grocery store. Besides daily necessities, there were also some strange toys. Coincidentally, the shop next door had given him some pastries today, and now they came in handy.
When Shen Heqing and Shen Danqing came to look for Shen Baozhu, they saw Shen Baozhu sitting there playing with toys and eating pastries from time to time, while Su Qian looked as if he were facing death as he listened to Su Ming's complaints.
Shen Heqing wanted to take Shen Baozhu and Su Qian away, but was stopped by Shen Danqing. The two stood at the door and listened as well.
Su Yue wasn't very kind to Su Ming either. She often beat and scolded him and snatched his money. A few years ago, she suddenly changed. She began to ask after Su Ming's well - being and even wanted to help him take a bath.
Su Ming was extremely annoyed. "Do you think she's crazy? She also thought mother was partial and only let you study. I don't know how many times I've said that I don't like studying. It's enough for me to be able to read."
"Later, when mother was seriously ill, you were studying, and I was in charge of the workshop. She actually asked me to give the workshop to a disfigured old man? She said that the workshop would be mine in the future and that the old man would help me manage it."
Shen Heqing was surprised. "Isn't Su Ming Su Yue's own son? Why is she so harsh on her own son?"
"Probably Su Yue separated from the bandit. Every time she saw Su Ming, she would think of the bandit. They reconciled a few years ago." Shen Danqing had never seen a person like Su Yue before.
He sighed. "I wonder who is more cunning, Su Yue or Shen Yunfeng."
With this unexpected surprise of Su Ming, Shen Danqing changed the plan. He directly asked Su Ming to impersonate Su Qian and make an appointment with Su Yue to meet at the workshop. The officers and soldiers were lying in ambush in the workshop, which would also prevent Su Qian from taking risks.
When Su Ming learned that Su Yue would be sent to prison, he was extremely excited. He didn't have Su Qian's scruples about family ties. His mind was full of the thought that Su Yue was going to get her comeuppance.
Watching Su Ming happily leave with the government officials, Su Qian was extremely entangled. Seeing that he was about to act stupidly again, Shen Danqing pulled him to Shen Baozhu's side.
...
At night.
Upon receiving the news, Su Yue rushed over in a hurry with a disfigured middle - aged man.
She was clutching poison in her hand and had a dagger in her bosom. She planned to pour the poison into Su Qian's mouth as soon as she saw him. If Su Qian resisted desperately, she would kill him with the dagger.
Su Yue thought it through clearly. As long as Su Qian died, even if she was locked up in prison, the family property would still fall into Su Ming's hands.
And she was Su Ming's mother. In the end, the family property would still be hers!
Thinking of this, there was a hint of cruelty in Su Yue's eyes. It was all the fault of those two old fools. They had promised that the family property would all be hers, but they had to have another child to compete with her for the property.
Su Qian also deserved to die. If he were a girl, the family property would be Su Ming's, and she wouldn't have to take such risks.
Sujia Village was deathly quiet, so quiet that it was a bit scary. But Su Yue was eager to harm someone and didn't notice.
On the contrary, the man accompanying her was warily looking around. He felt something was wrong and was just about to run away when he was firmly held down by Su Dazhuang.
Su Dazhuang's eyes were red as he held the man down. "It's him! He's the bandit leader! My father scratched his face at the cost of his life!"