Su Xiaozhang’s eyes couldn’t help light up. He thought that his sister-in-law was going to tear her face and fight for the title with him today, but it seemed there was still room for discussion.
“I, as a woman, don’t know much about the title. I originally thought that we were a family, that there’s not much difference whether brother-in-law or my son inherits the title, but…”
Zhao Shi took out her handkerchief from her sleeve and patted the corners of her eyes, and suddenly burst into tears.
“I’ve been holding a heavy burden for many years, how much money there is in the family? My heart is clear as a mirror. Even if there wasn’t enough it wouldn’t be necessary for Yu’er to sell fish! You black-hearted people want to starve us to death!”
As she spoke, Zhao Shi began to cry, while crying she scolded Li Shi’s black heart for not giving Su Yu food and not giving her medicine if they didn’t pay enough money every day.
The poor child couldn’t lift or carry heavy items but he was still forced to sell fish in the cold weather, and his hands and feet suffered from frostbite. It was just sad to see her heartbreaking tears.
Su Xiaozhang and his wife were dumbfounded and Su Yu was stunned as well until the furball on his back crawled out to his collar. Then he came back to his senses and quietly rubbed his head against the kitten.
If his mother hadn’t said so, Su Yu really wouldn't realize that they had such a miserable life.
The two clan elders also frowned. The Su family had been prosperous at the very least, it was really shameful to be like this now.
“Xiaozhang, your brother's bones aren’t yet cold, and you treat his widow like this. How can the clan give the title to you?”
Su Xiaozhang fiercely glared at his wife, who always failed to do things right. It would be good if she managed to force Zhao Shi to death, but instead, she had forced her to the point where she retaliated. How troublesome!
“Zhao Yuhua, stop making such villainous slanders. I haven’t shortchanged you a single penny of your medicine decoction all these days.” The eldest aunt’s eyes bulged as she jumped up and cursed.
It was fine if she didn’t talk about this, speaking of that medical soup, Zhao Shi immediately asked Chun Cao to show the medicine dregs she used every day to the two clan elders.
Anyone with a clear eye could see that the medicine dregs had been cooked more than five times. That kind of thing was no different from boiled plain water, there was no need to talk about treating illness.
“Yu’er gave you enough money to buy three doses of medicine every day, but you only gave me one dose every two days. If I hadn’t been so lucky, I’m afraid that I would have seen the King of Hell a long time ago.” Zhao Shi said, covering her mouth with a handkerchief and coughing, she looked very weak.
Her other hand was still holding tightly the Imperial Approval yellow silk on the table.
“If was ground to death by you like this, how could my Yu’er survive? I am determined not to let you win this title!”
Su Yu’s father was a second-class general of the country. Whether it was him or his uncle, they had to be demoted by two levels.
Passing the second-class Town Army general and becoming a third-class Guard general. Although they didn’t have much power and were forced to fight during the war, the third-class Guard general had thirty Shi Lumi(石禄米) and 130 strings of copper coins of salary every year. Enough to feed a family.
For a moment, the atmosphere became stiff. Su Xiaozhang was silent for a moment with his face ashen and then said with a sneer: “With the status of a son of a concubine, the Zong Zheng Department will directly take back our Su family title and no one will benefit at that time! ”
The nobility was always very strict. Under normal circumstances, they must be the main wife’s eldest son.
If there was no legitimate son it was very likely that the Zong Zheng Department would judge that they had no heir and directly strip off their title.
Although Su Xiaozhang was concubine-born, his mother was later promoted to wife status. In the family record, he was the legitimate son of the first wife, so he was more confident in inheriting the title.
However, Zong Zheng Department’s duty was to control the reduction of nobility. If Zhao Shi makes things big, once Zong Zheng Department decides that Su Xiaozhang’s virtue was at fault, the title definitely will not fall on his head.
The white-bearded clan elder looked around, coughed dryly, and said: “Lao’er wife, don’t be impulsive. The Su family must not lose their title and it’s not good for Yu’er to make trouble.”
With their title, the Su family was still noble. Without this title, the relatives of the collateral branches will also lose face, and the family will be completely destroyed in the future.
An Hongche yawned on Su Yu’s shoulder.
The Su family was in such a state, what is there to contend for this title? Serve us well and We could even name you a prince.
“There are still five hundred taels of silver for cutting down the title. So I can set up a farm, which is enough to support us, mother and child.” Zhao Shi stopped crying, dried her tears twice, and calmly folded the yellow silk into the box.
Su Xiaozhang became nervous. According to the customs, reducing the rank would indeed give some money, which could be considered the last grace of the royal family.
It was not necessarily five hundred taels of silver, but there were always two or three hundred taels.
Su Yu raised his eyebrows. He seemed to understand his mother's idea.
“Sister-in-law, we are a family. Why should we be so distant?” Su Xiaozhang barely showed a smile.
“The Su family is blessed with glory and honor. With this tile preserved, there will be a salary every year. Won’t it be enough for you to eat and drink? ”
If these words had been said before, they would have been able to smooth things over. Now, it was obvious that both mother and son had no food to eat.
Moreover, even ghosts wouldn’t believe that they would be treated well in the future.
As soon as this remark came out, Su Xiaozhang himself felt unable to say anything else.
“That salary is yours. If you can give us the sun, it will rise from the west.”
Just then, a head poked out of the entrance. he looked five-points similar to Su Xiaozhang, but he looked sullen and not so energetic.
“If I may say so, just cut the title, and give me 30% of the five hundred taels of silver!”
Shi Lumi(石禄米)->in ancient china, the hard currency is grain (Rice and wheat), as well as the official salary. 1石 = 59.2 kg， 30 shi = 30x 59.2 kg =1776kg, 禄米 = official salary.
String of copper coins-> Each string had 1000 copper coins.