Chapter 211: 96 Chapter Brushing Past_2
Lu Tong handed over the silver, "How is it that when the father finds himself in trouble, his son gets arrested instead?"
"It’s not the same thing." The woman wiped her hands on her clothing, took the silver, and stored it away before lowering her voice, "Did you hear about the earlier exam fraud case?"
"I’ve heard of it."
"Liu Family’s second son was involved this year, and his name was on the list of those who hired others to take the exams for them. Not just that, the Imperial Court, upon investigation, found that Liu Family’s eldest had also taken a dishonest route in his earlier exams. Once that came to light, didn’t they end up in the same prison?"
When the mistress of the shop spoke of the matter, her tone was filled with utter disdain, "Back when Liu Zide came out on top, Liu Kun and Wang Chunchi spared no effort to show off in front of all of us neighbors, even saying ’once Liu Zixian becomes an official, we will move south of the city and start a business,’ pfft, as if anyone was inferior to them. I used to say they were bragging before the exam was even over, turns out they had the replacements lined up all along, shameless!"
It seemed that Liu Kun’s family wasn’t well-liked in the neighborhood and once trouble struck, everyone just watched the excitement. Lu Tong looked down, "So this shop..."
"Sold, of course! Both sons are in the deep prison; they had to smash silver to bribe their way. I hear that the buyer knew she was desperate for money and purposely quoted a very low price... Ah," the shop mistress suddenly stretched her neck towards the door, tipping her chin at Lu Tong, "Look, here they come."
Lu Tong turned her head to look.
Que’er Street was spacious. Amid the drizzling rain, a line of soldiers escorted a prison cart. The people on the cart, in shackles, disheveled and grimy, were exposed to the outside. They were the cheaters caught up in the exam fraud case.
The cheaters were paraded in cangues for three months. Not long ago, these same individuals were scholars in the exam halls, but now, they were a disgrace to the very essence of scholarship.
A crowd slowly gathered on both sides of the street, pointing at the criminals from a distance.
At the back of the prison cart, among the shabbily dressed prisoners laden with cangues, was one who tried to wipe the rainwater from his face with his hand, but due to the cangue, he failed and had to awkwardly rub his face on the wooden cart.
They were Liu Zixian and Liu Zide.
The exam fraud case, when traced back, quickly implicated Liu Zixian soon after Liu Zide’s arrest. Ironically, it’s always much easier for the poor to be punished than the rich. The Liu brothers were arrested almost immediately.
The woman’s laughter echoed faintly.
Lu Tong’s gaze sharpened.
By the side of Liu brothers’ prison cart, there was a disheveled woman following. This woman, dressed in a short brown robe stained with filth and missing a shoe, had a mad and delirious demeanor, laughing as she clapped her hands and said, "My son has passed, my son has passed! I am going to be a government official’s wife, I will become a titled lady someday!"
Yin Zheng was surprised, "Isn’t that..."
The voice of the shop mistress came from beside her, "The Liu brothers are to be sent to serve in the military, and Wang Chunchi went mad after finding out. She roams day after day behind the prison cart, telling everyone her sons have passed." She sighed again, a touch of sympathy in her eyes, "Such a tragedy."
Lu Tong looked towards Wang Chunchi. The prison cart’s wheels rolled closer, and the shackled prisoners hung their heads, either blank-eyed or limp like puppets. Liu Zide and his brother stood there dully, their eyes as dry as dead water.
"We had an agreement, we had an agreement, the high official promised us the positions... The high official keeps his word, my son will pass any moment now, hee hee..."
Wang Chunchi, laughing, walked past Lu Tong without giving her a glance.
Lu Tong cast her eyes downward.
In this examination of Shengjing, the imperial family was furious, hence the punishment was severe. The culprits involved in the case were paraded in cangues for three months before being sent to a remote location to serve in the military, where they would also receive a hundred beatings.
Despite the Liu Family’s poverty, Wang Chunchi always doted on her sons. Liu Zide and Liu Zixian, spoiled and unable to fend for themselves, would likely not survive until they reached the place of their exile.
Wang Chunchi must have been stricken with such a panic that led to her mental breakdown and madness.
Mental breakdown and madness...
Lu Tong clenched the oilpaper packet in her hand.
People from Changwu County said that her mother, before death, was also out of her mind, babbling crazily day after day, holding the paddle drum they used to play with as children by the river, mumbling to herself. She could not know the pain her mother felt in her heart back then, only remembering that as a child, she hardly ever saw her mother truly upset or angry. Her mother was always broad-minded and cheerful, calm and expansive like a long river, gently encompassing all of life’s disappointments.
But that long river eventually shattered.
Her family was torn apart, relatives scattered – this was what her mother had suffered.
Financial ruin and compounded disasters – this was now what Wang Chunchi was suffering.
She could no longer see her mother. Yet in this world, there were others who felt her mother’s pain, who went mad with her mother’s madness, showing that in the mysteries of fate, there was a cause and effect.