Chapter 272 Broken Jade Pendant
"Mother, what should we do? This jade pendant is an heirloom of the Liu County Magistrate's family. Young Master Liu asked us to come and get the jade pendant. He originally said that he would not pursue the matter if Chunwang could return it. Now that the jade pendant is broken, how should we explain to Young Master Liu?"
Gu Taohua looked distressed.
"Right now, County Magistrate Liu doesn't know, but he will know sooner or later. When he knows, it will be difficult to deal with this matter." Tong Huaqiong looked at Chunwang with sympathy and condemned, "Chunwang, you too, you can play around with Young Master Liu, but why did you touch his jade pendant? Don't you know that a young master like him is not like us country folk? What he wears is often inherited from his ancestors. If it is damaged, we can't afford to pay for it even if we want to."
Tong Huaqiong looked heartbroken.
"Tell me, what should we do? The broken jade pendant can be hidden from Lord Liu for a while, but it can't be hidden for long. He will find out eventually. I don't have any other choice now. How about letting Chunwang follow me to the county government office and apologize to Lord Liu? Maybe Lord Liu will forgive me." Tong Huaqiong sat on the stool with a helpless look on his face.
"Mother Dashu, Chunwang can't go to the county government office." Mrs. Luo begged while hugging the trembling Chunwang.
Her grandson broke someone's ancestral jade pendant. Could County Magistrate Liu forgive him?
"Then what do you think we should do?" Tong Huaqiong said.
Cao lowered her head and shed tears, wanting to beg Tong Huaqiong for help, but she also knew that her son had caused a big disaster. The jade pendant was broken and that was it. What good solution could Tong Huaqiong have? It was impossible to restore the jade pendant.
"Sister Luo, let me say something that shouldn't be said. Your Chunwang is not young anymore, how come he is so ignorant? He has learned to steal things at such a young age. It is said that a child's character can be seen at the age of three. If a child steals a needle when he is young, he can steal a cow when he grows up. Chunwang has already learned to steal jade pendants before he even grows up."
Tong Huaqiong's every word hurt Luo Pozi and Cao Fugui.
Mrs. Luo defended herself: "My Chunwang didn't break the jade pendant on purpose..."
Tong Huaqiong interrupted Luo Pozi: "No matter if it was intentional or not, it's true that he stole the jade pendant, right? It's true that he broke the jade pendant, right? Why don't you go and tell Lord Liu that your grandson didn't intentionally break the ancestral jade pendant. I'm not saying that Chunwang is like this because of you. What do you think we should do? Will you bear the blame or will Fugui bear it?"
"I heard that this ancestral jade pendant costs one thousand two taels of silver. Who can afford it? Even if I tie your family and mine together, we still can't afford it."
When Mrs. Luo heard the price of one thousand and two taels of silver, she was so frightened that she almost fainted.
Chunwang was so scared that he burst into tears on the spot.
One thousand taels of silver!
He just wanted to take revenge on Liu Yanhong. He really didn't expect the jade pendant to be so expensive.
He just wears such an expensive jade pendant around his waist without caring about it?
He didn't know how the jade pendant broke into two pieces.
Cao was so scared that she burst into tears.
"I didn't know the jade pendant was so expensive... I just wanted to take revenge on Liu Yanhong, because he didn't let me take Chunni's corn..."
"I don't know why the jade pendant broke. I didn't drop it..."
Chunwang's crying was deafening.
Tong Huaqiong sighed: "You're already taking revenge at such a young age."
Tian Fugui was annoyed by Chunwang's crying, and he was also under pressure from his family to pay a compensation of 1,200 taels of silver, so he grabbed Chunwang and beat him with the sole of his shoe.
"I'll let you steal!"
"You spendthrift, why did you steal from the county magistrate's son when you could steal from anyone else?"
"One thousand taels of silver, even if I sell you it won't be enough to pay it back."
Tian Fugui cursed and attacked ruthlessly.
Chunwang was beaten and cried loudly.
Mrs. Luo felt sorry for her grandson and went to stop her son.
He stopped her and scolded her: "Why did you hit him?"
"Can the jade pendant remain intact if he is beaten to death?"
"Kill me first before you kill him."
Mrs. Luo couldn't stop her son from hitting her eldest grandson with the soles of his shoes, and she lay straight in front of Tian Fugui.
Cao cried and tried to stop Tian Fugui and her mother-in-law.
For a while, the Tian family was in chaos.
Tong Huaqiong and Gu Taohua sat on their chairs as steady as a mountain, fully acting as qualified spectators.
When Chunwang was beaten, Tong Huaqiong acted as if she was gloating over his misfortune.
Although he was spoiled by his family, he himself is not innocent.
He deserves to be beaten just because he stole someone else's jade pendant in revenge against Liu Yanhong.
If this child was born in the Gu family, she would have disciplined him well long ago.
"I do not care!"
Luo Pozi tried to stop Tian Fugui like a somersault, and Tian Fugui threw away his shoes and sat on the ground.
"Chunwang, does it hurt?" Cao held Chunwang's hand and cried with heartache.
"Go away."
Chunwang was beaten so badly that his buttocks were bruised with pain. It was the first time he had been beaten in his life.
He was holding his anger in his heart, and he took it out on Cao, kicking and beating her.
Tong Huaqiong watched all this coldly. Chunwang was not as good as Yaozu. Even when Yaozu was naughty, he was always respectful to his elders.
This child is hopeless.
A shadow flashed at the door, and Tong Huaqiong saw Chunni in the moonlight.
Chunni seemed to have a happy smile on her face.
"Mother Dashu, I beg you, please think of a way to prevent Chunwang from being captured. One thousand taels of silver, my God, even if I kill or sell all the people in my Tian family, I can't raise the money." Mrs. Luo grabbed the corner of Tong Huaqiong's clothes and begged without caring about her image.
Tong Huaqiong held a jade pendant that was broken into two pieces in her hand.
Laughing inwardly.
What kind of ancestral jade pendant is this? She is making it up.
This jade pendant is the most inconspicuous and worthless thing on Liu Yanhong.
"We all live in the same village, and since you've asked me for help, I can't help but help. I heard that there are skilled craftsmen in the jade shop in the city who can repair jade. I'm going to the city in a few days, so I'll go and see if it can be repaired." Tong Huaqiong said.
After hearing this, Mrs. Luo and Tian Fugui looked grateful.
They knew that Tong Huaqiong had a way.
As long as the jade pendant can be repaired, anything is fine. At least they don't have to raise one thousand taels of silver.
Gu Taohua muttered, "It's easy for mother to say that. Last time my jade bracelet broke, I asked my third brother to repair it for me in the city and it cost ten taels. Wouldn't an ancestral jade pendant like this cost hundreds of taels? I guess a hundred taels is too little."
One thousand taels of silver was beyond their psychological endurance, and Luo Pozi and Tian Fugui were already numb to a hundred taels.
"Okay, okay, as long as it can be repaired, one hundred taels is one hundred taels." Mrs. Luo got up and said hurriedly.
Although the one hundred taels was enough to drain the Tian family's wealth, it was nothing compared to the one thousand taels and Chunwang's fear of being branded as a thief.
"We only have twenty taels at home." Tian Fugui revealed his family's financial situation, and they still needed seventy taels.
It would have been better if Chunni had been sent to Heilongtan as a child bride earlier.
"We don't know the price of repairing the jade pendant, so Taohua can just pay as much as she wants," said Tian Fugui.
Tong Huaqiong stood up and said, "If you don't want to repair it, forget it. You can't afford one thousand taels. Then let Chunwang follow me to the county government office. Then he won't be able to hide the stolen jade pendant..."
Tian Fugui and Luo Pozi were so frightened that they almost fell to their knees beside Tong Huaqiong.
The fact that Chunwang stole the jade pendant must never be spread.
Cao said to Tong Huaqiong with tears in her eyes: "Aunt Tong, I am sorry to trouble you. We will definitely pay the 100 taels, but we really don't have any silver at home. I will give you 20 taels. Can you wait for the remaining 70 taels?"