The Heir

Сhарter 195: Filing a Соmрlаint

Uрon returning homе, Zhеn Niang cоuldn’t very wеll disсuss thе Du brоthеrs’ аffairs in front оf her sister-in-law, so she quietlу рulled hеr eldеst brоthеr аside аnd mеntiоnеd thаt Hаi Rui had arrived in Нuizhоu, advising him tо keep аn eyе on the Du brоthеrs.

“Lоrd Наi is а just оfficial—hоw сould hе роssibly sidе with the Du brоthеrs?” Li Dalang ехclаimed, wide-eуed.

“It’s true that Lоrd Наi is a just оfficial,” Zhen Niаng rерlied, “but hе’s оnlу just аrrivеd in Нuizhou. Ноw cоuld he fullу understand thе chаrасter оf thе Du brоthеrs? Lord Hai stаnds up for the poоr, and the Du brothеrs are nоw as роor аs church mice. Our Li family is considered a prominent clan in Huizhou, so in Lord Hai’s eyes, the Du brothers are the underdogs. Isn’t it only right for him to side with the weak?”

In her previous life, she recalled reading some historical accounts about Hai Rui’s arrival in Nanjing, where he opened the floodgates for lawsuits, receiving nearly a thousand petitions daily. Moreover, his subordinates didn’t always follow his orders. Given such circumstances, how could he possibly have the time or patience to investigate each case thoroughly? Most of his judgments were based on the simplistic and subjective notion that the poor were always right and the wealthy were always wrong.

As a result, many scoundrels ended up benefiting from this approach.

Pausing for a moment, Zhen Niang added, “Of course, this is just my own cautious speculation and may not be entirely accurate. Still, it’s better for us to be prepared.”

“That makes sense,” Li Dalang nodded thoughtfully. “Over the next few days, I’ll visit the people involved in the tung oil poisoning case again.”

“Also, pay a visit to the physicians from the Medicine Halls who helped us treat the tung oil poisoning patients,” Zhen Niang suggested after a moment’s consideration.

“Alright,” Li Dalang agreed with a nod.

Then they each returned to their rooms to sleep.

Sure enough, starting the next day, the entire city of Huizhou was thrown into chaos, as if a pot of porridge had been stirred up. Groups of three or five people could be seen everywhere, discussing and drafting petitions. In short, Huizhou was now bustling with lawsuit preparations.

At noon, Zhen Niang was at the Ink Workshop, reviewing the final details for the Tribute Ink Selection. Everything was mostly in order, awaiting only the official day of the selection on April 2nd.

Just then, Xi Ge’er rushed in, flustered and anxious. “Second Sister, the Du family has brought a crowd to our home to cause trouble!”

“Is it about the oil workshop?” Zhen Niang asked. She had been anticipating this all along. As expected, the Du brothers were proving to be scoundrels.

“Yes,” Xi Ge’er nodded angrily.

“Let’s go,” Zhen Niang immediately grabbed him.

“Zhen Niang, Xi Ge’er, don’t panic. I’ll bring a few men with me to keep things under control,” Uncle Jingming said from the side.

“Alright,” Zhen Niang nodded. After gathering a few pounding masters from the Ink Workshop, the group hurried toward the Li family’s Eighth Branch residence.

Soon, they arrived at the entrance of the Li family’s Eighth Branch. A clamor of noise greeted them, with onlookers crowding around in layers.

Zhen Niang and her companions pushed their way through the crowd. At the entrance of her home, the Du brothers stood with a group of men, looking fierce and imposing. Shen Shi followed behind them, holding a two-year-old boy by the hand while tugging at Du Da with her other hand.

At the Li family’s entrance, Li Dalang stood at the forefront, while Li Jingfu and Zhao Shi remained calm inside the gate. Du Shi glared at her two brothers with reddened eyes.

Shen Shi was pleading earnestly, “Dalang, Er Lang, don’t do anything foolish. You mustn’t cut off your sister’s livelihood.”"Mother, don't let a few coins from others turn your heart completely toward elder sister. Don't forget, we are your sons. You'll have to rely on us in your later years. Now that Li Dalang has a livelihood, it seems there's no place for us anymore," Du Dalang retorted with a sour expression.

"Pah! Rely on you? If it weren't for the silver elder sister gives me every month these past years, little official and I would have starved to death long ago." Hearing Du Da's words, Shen Shi understood that these two unfilial sons were determined to make trouble this time. Thinking about how she hadn't had a single peaceful, comfortable day since these two returned, sorrow welled up in her heart.

Then, hearing the nonsense from these unfilial sons, she grabbed Du Da's arm with all her strength, glaring at him fiercely: "Favoritism? I am biased! When you were young, whenever there was good food or drink at home, wasn't it all given to you two? Did your elder sister ever get to taste anything good? Even when she married, her dowry was saved from her own needlework earnings, yet I still withheld her dowry for your expenses. If this isn't favoritism, what is? I am biased, but who did I favor?"

These two black-hearted, unfilial sons—she regretted it, oh how she regretted it!

The onlookers outside, hearing Shen Shi's words, all shook their heads. Everyone knew about Shen Shi's favoritism—it had always been toward her two sons. Before Du Lüniang married, she suffered plenty at home. It was only after marrying into the Li family that she had a comfortable life. Those who knew the details couldn't help but sigh—Shen Shi had raised two ungrateful wolves.

Each person thought this, looking at the Du brothers with eyes full of contempt.

Exposed by his own mother like this, Du Da felt he had lost face. Annoyed, he waved his hand: "Mother, what nonsense are you spouting? Don't act crazy here. Go home. You don't need to meddle in this matter." As he spoke, he gave a heavy push, actually sending Shen Shi tumbling far away onto the ground.

"Grandma, grandma!" Two-year-old little official was so frightened he burst into tears.

"Scoundrel! Even your own mother you hit—are you human?" At this moment, Li Dalang, standing at the entrance of the Li family's gate, said angrily. Beside him, Du Shi saw Shen Shi fall to the ground and hurried forward to help her up. Turning around, she also glared fiercely at Du Da and Du Er: "Second brother, third brother, there are gods three feet above your heads! Aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"

Du Da looked even more displeased: "Pah! What am I afraid of? Elder sister, don't pretend to be a good person either. Back then, seeing you had no support in the Li family, we gave you a small share in the oil mill. But what did you do? You colluded with the Li family, deceived mother, bribed the former county magistrate, deliberately created the Tung Oil Poisoning Incident, schemed to take our oil mill, and even caused us brothers to wander outside all these years, living a life worse than beasts. Now, we must absolutely reclaim justice." At this point, Du Da spoke with righteous indignation.After Du Da finished speaking, Du Er immediately shouted at Li Dalang, "You surnamed Li, our Du family's affairs are none of your business! Let me tell you, the oil mill belongs to our Du family. If you know what's good for you, return the oil mill now. Considering your management over the past few years, we'll give you a small share. Otherwise, with Lord Qingtianhai here, we'll go to him for justice. By then, you won't even get a single share!"

"That's right! That's right! Hand it over quickly!" A group of troublemakers echoed in unison, putting on quite an intimidating show.

Du Shi listened to her second and third brothers' shameless lies, her lips trembling with anger.

Li Dalang, his face flushed with rage, charged forward and punched Du Dalang. "I'll beat you two black-hearted thieves to death!"

He was not eloquent with words, so he resorted to fists. Reasoning with such people was useless—only fists could speak.

Du Da hadn't expected his brother-in-law to attack so directly. Caught off guard, he fell to the ground and immediately began to make a scene. "He's killing me! Li Dalang is killing me!"

On the side, Du Er waved his hand, and a group of troublemakers surged forward. However, the Li family had more people—servants from several branches and ink artisans, all holding thick, arm-sized sticks. The troublemakers were merely bluffing and dared not actually fight.

This situation left Du Da in a dilemma. Getting up on his own would be humiliating, but sitting on the ground was also embarrassing. He resented his second brother for not taking the hint and helping him up.

Du Er angrily shouted, "Let's sue the Li family! They're nothing but bullies, using their power to oppress others!"

"Sue if you want! When has our Li family ever been afraid of a lawsuit?" At this moment, Old Man Jingfu stepped forward, glaring fiercely as he retorted. He then instructed Du Shi, "Take your mother back home." With that, he called for the family to return indoors and addressed the servants and ink artisans, "If these troublemakers cause more trouble, beat them up. Once they're down, toss them into the pond outside to feed the fish."

Zhen Niang, standing nearby, was also furious. She took the opportunity to kick Du Dalang hard. "Go ahead and sue! In fact, even if you don't sue, our Li family will sue you!"

With that, she pulled Xi Ge'er into the house. Before entering, Xi Ge'er added two more kicks to Du Da.

Du Da, who had just gotten up, was caught off guard by the kicks from the siblings and fell to the ground again—this time for real. Fuming, he shouted, "What are you all staring at? If you want money, fight for me!"

"Want to fight? We're ready!" Li Liujin snarled at the troublemakers at the door.

With that, he raised his stick and swung it at the troublemakers, who immediately scattered, covering their heads as they fled.

If anyone else from the Li family had uttered Old Man Jingfu's harsh words, the troublemakers might not have taken them seriously. But Li Jingfu had once been one of them, and many of these troublemakers had suffered at his hands before. Hearing his words now, they felt intimidated. Seeing the Li family members actually resorting to violence, they wasted no time in running away. In no time, the troublemakers had dispersed.

The group then headed to the magistrate's office to file a lawsuit. Sue, sue them!

…………The Du family had once again sued the Li family, accusing Li Dalang of scheming to seize the oil mill. This time, Du Da had put considerable thought into the lawsuit, even implicating the former Magistrate Wei, claiming the Li family had bribed him.

"Excellent, truly excellent. Who would have thought that with just two days left until the Tribute Ink Selection, the Li family would stir up such trouble? Second Brother, find someone to intervene further. Say that the Li family bullies the local community and schemes to seize private property. Such wicked conduct should disqualify the Li family from participating in the Tribute Ink Selection."

At the Tian household, Tian Ronghua received news of the Du family's lawsuit against the Li family and smiled, remarking, "This is like sour plum soup on a hot June day—refreshing and timely."

"Good, I'll have Wang Decai handle this," Tian Er replied, his face alight with excitement. Madam Su's husband had arrived two days earlier and had offered many suggestions since then. Naturally, such matters were now entrusted to him.

"Second Brother, why do you always leave everything to him?" Tian Ronghua frowned. Her second brother was truly hopeless. If it weren't for the marriage alliance with the Xu family, she wouldn't have bothered helping him compete for the Tribute Ink Privilege.

"That fellow is very capable, and he hates the Li family. Entrusting him with this matter is sure to succeed," Tian Er said, grinning.

Only then did Tian Ronghua recall that Wang Decai had once been a son-in-law living with the Li family. Her second brother's arrangement was indeed clever.

Back then, the Cheng family had taken advantage of the Tian family's troubles to seize their Tribute Ink Privilege.

This time, she would take advantage of the Li family's troubles to strip them of their right to compete for the tribute. It was a case of borrowing flowers to offer to the Buddha—making use of another's misfortune for her own gain.

In the evening, at Luo Village.

Luo Wenqian was chatting with Third Uncle Luo.

"Third Uncle, the Tribute Ink Selection is in just two days. After that, we'll need Third Aunt to discuss the wedding date with the Li family on my behalf," Luo Wenqian said.

"Don't worry, I've already spoken to your Third Aunt about this. We'll go as soon as the Tribute Ink Selection is over," Third Uncle Luo assured him.

"Good, then I'll trouble you, Third Uncle," Luo Wenqian nodded.

Just then, Luo Ping An hurried in. "Third Uncle, Wenqian, the Du family has sued the Li family."

"Sued them for what?" Luo Wenqian stood up abruptly.

"It's still about that oil mill from before," Luo Ping An replied.

Since becoming engaged to Li Zhenniang, Luo Wenqian had naturally taken a greater interest in the Li family's affairs. He hadn't known about the dispute between the Du brothers and Li Dalang initially, but when the Du brothers returned and caused a scene, he had made inquiries and learned the details.

"Wasn't this case already brought to court once? The two brothers were even under a warrant back then. If not for the new emperor's ascension, they wouldn't have been able to return. What's the point of suing again?" Luo Wenqian frowned.

"This time is different. The Du brothers are determined. They've even sued the former magistrate, claiming the Li family bribed Magistrate Wei to fabricate the Tung Oil Poisoning Incident as a pretext to seize the oil mill."

"The Li family is in trouble this time," Luo Wenqian thought to himself upon hearing this. Magistrate Hai's handling of cases in Nanjing hadn't been entirely satisfactory either—some troublemakers had filed false accusations, causing legitimate businessmen to suffer significant losses.