Chapter 510: The Old Devout Woman Who Sold Her Daughter
After Zhang Yan'er was taken away, Jiang Qi and Squad Leader Lin quickly tied up Zou Hai and dragged him aside. Jiang Qi then stood up and said to Old Zhong, "Take people to search the Sun Residence three times or more, and be sure to find everything Zou Hai has hidden here."
"Yes," responded Old Zhong, an experienced handler of affairs, who immediately led the county soldiers to search the Sun Residence, turning it upside down.
Jiang Qi showed great respect to Squad Leader Lin, allowing him to search the study. After more than an hour of effort, they found several boxes of gold and silver, a box of silver notes, and a box of property and land deeds in a secret room of the study.
"God Almighty, Zou Hai really is a crafty servant, how did he amass such a fortune?" Squad Leader Lin was stunned by the riches laid out before him. His uncle, who had served as Captain of Yujiang County for many years, had not managed to accumulate as much. It was unbelievable how much Zou Hai had secretly hoarded.
Jiang Qi was also shocked by the amount of wealth and remarked, "It's just illicitly obtained wealth; no matter how much there is, it's useless."
Squad Leader Lin snapped out of his surprise and replied in agreement, "Brother Jiang speaks truth."
Having said that, they together tallied the wealth, made records, and sealed the boxes and cases.
When Zhang Yan'er learned of the wealth Zou Hai had hidden in the study, she broke down and wept again, exclaiming, "Damned scoundrel! To think that I've been with you for all these years, yet I knew nothing of the silver hidden in the study... and you threatened me, forbade me from entering the study, saying if I dared to sneak in while you were away, you would divorce me."
"Scoff! So you were guarding against me, fearing I might discover some damned secret room and plunder your silver, oh, oh, oh, why is my life so miserable."
Zhang Yan'er was inconsolable, not knowing what to do next.
After Jiang Qi and Squad Leader Lin had secured the treasure, they searched the study again, but found nothing more, and then ceased their search.
Old Zhong and his team searched the Sun Residence three times and dug out a pot under a tree outside the perimeter wall, "Inside are ten ingots of gold and ten hundred-tael silver notes. It seems he feared this hiding place being discovered, so he buried this gold and silver outside the residence wall, ready to flee."
Squad Leader Lin was astounded, "Zou Hai's foresight is really deep, making such preparations. If not for our luck this time, once he got the news, he might have taken the contents of this pot and fled to live a carefree life elsewhere."
Jiang Qi was only surprised for a moment before he approached Zhang Yan'er and asked, "How did you come to know Zou Hai, or Sun Tianxi, and what has he given you and your family? Speak clearly and in detail, and if there's any concealment, especially regarding the money, your family will suffer severe consequences."
Zou Hai is the Zou family's slave, and all his wealth originated from County Magistrate Zou. Now with the County Magistrate in prison and his assets seized, Zou Hai's wealth would naturally be confiscated.
Hearing this, Zhang Yan'er became anxious and asked while crying, "What does this mean, Your Honor? Could it be that my family will be ruined because of Zou Hai?"
Jiang Qi said, "Just be honest, and as for how it will affect you and your family, the authorities will decide."
Zhang Yan'er, upon hearing this, burst into loud sobs again, pointing at Zou Hai who had been dragged into the courtyard of the study, and cursed: "You damn beast, you've doomed both me and my maternal family. I won't let you go even as a ghost."
Zou Hai had many wives, and Zhang Yan'er was merely one of his four wives. Unaffected by Zhang Yan'er's furious scolding, he actually found pleasure in her tears… Hmph, marrying him meant sharing life and death with him. If Zou Hai was doomed, she and the Zhang family could not escape their fate either. If he was to die, everyone would die together!
Seeing Zou Hai's disdainful look, Zhang Yan'er realized this man was unreliable and completely gave up. She recounted how her family had met the Sun Family, how the engagement and marriage were arranged, and the benefits she received after marrying Zou Hai.
Finally, Zhang Yan'er cried out: "It was her father, Sun Dazhu, who came to propose. Everything was done as normal, nothing particularly inappropriate… if anything was inappropriate, it was that his family had only two men, no other relatives. A few old relatives from his hometown did visit, but they left hastily after a brief encounter."
"Now I think those so-called relatives from his hometown must have been fake!"
"Initially, my father did have some reservations, but he could not resist the generous dowry from the Sun Family, and ultimately agreed to the marriage. I was married off at seventeen, and now after six years, this is what I have come to."
After finishing, Zhang Yan'er covered her face and cried bitterly.
Zhang Yan'er's parents' home was in a village just outside the county, about half an hour's journey from here. Now, knowing that something had happened at the Sun Residence, Zhang Yan'er's parents came rushing over with their two sons, shouting towards the Sun Residence: "Sir, sir, we are the Yue Family of this household, please let us in."
Zhang Yan'er's mother cried out even louder: "Sir, my son-in-law is a good man. Not only does he earn money, but his family background is also clean. He must have been wronged by bad people. You must not believe the slander of the evil ones and wrongly arrest my son-in-law!"
Zhang Yan'er's mother's voice was loud, and the Sun Residence, having only two courtyards, made her voice clearly audible in the first courtyard where Jiang Qi and the others were.
Jiang Qi frowned but before he could speak, Zhang Yan'er dashed out like a gust of wind, yelling at her mother through the gate: "Wronged? What rubbish! Sun Tianxi, that bastard, is just a house slave. He has doomed our whole family, and you're still speaking up for him!"
She cried again: "It's all your fault. If it weren't for your greed for the generous dowry from the Sun Family, I wouldn't have married into this family, and now my life is ruined."
Zou Hai was more than a decade older than her and his family background was somewhat unclear. If her greedy mother hadn't carelessly agreed to this marriage, she wouldn't have ended up in such a predicament.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yan'er's mother was furious and pointed at her, scolding: "You ungrateful girl, your old mother is saying all this for you, for the family. If your son-in-law really faces trouble, both you and our family won't end up well. Would you be happy then?"
The Sun Residence in Huaining Lane was surrounded by Squad Leader Lin and a group of soldiers, and the news spread throughout the county. If the Sun Family was truly in trouble, the money and property the Zhang family had received from them would have to be returned, and worse, the whole family might be arrested. Naturally, the best outcome would be if the son-in-law were wrongly accused so that their possessions could be kept.
Over the years, the Zhang family had obtained a lot from the Sun Family, including seventy acres of land, more than two hundred taels of silver, a mule cart, and two oxen. These assets had greatly enhanced her social status, and she was not willing to return them.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yan'er furiously rebuked her own mother: "You old devout woman who sold her daughter, still thinking about wealth now, do you know our whole family is about to be thrown into prison?!"