Miss and farmhand

"I understand what you've said. Removing the genealogy is a matter within your clan, and I have no right to interfere. At most, the government can act as a witness and register for you. If you've reached an agreement yourselves, I naturally have no objection. However, there is one more matter."

He instructed a clerk to go into the storeroom to find something, and afterwards the clerk came out with a thick account book.

Huang Xingyu didn't recognize him, but Huang Xingtong became alert.

This is the Yellow Register, the local household registration system. This document has been kept and registered by the government throughout the ages. It records a person's entire life, origins, and future. It is one of the most important documents and has always been kept secret in the government archives. It cannot be opened or used without authorization.

Shen Jingzong glanced at him. "Don't worry, this is an old register compiled by this prefecture. The actual register that was submitted to the authorities will naturally not be shown to you. I'm just using this old register to tell you something."

He turned the page and found the record in the Yellow Register from the year the Huang brothers separated their family property many years ago.

"After your parents passed away, you divided the family property and your brothers took separate houses. From the outside, you were considered two separate families, but you were never registered as a separate household. Your property division was never formally registered when you divided the family property."

Huang Xingyu thought Shen Jingzong was deliberately obstructing him and finding fault with him to prevent him from cutting the genealogy, so he hurriedly said, "Back then, we divided the family according to custom. It wouldn't look good for brothers who had grown up to be in the same household. So we divided the family. On the surface, we were considered two separate families, but in reality, brothers who were close to each other were still considered one family. Therefore, we did not go to the government to register a separate household. But we have done all the necessary procedures. The division of property was personally determined by our parents when they were still alive. There are written records in my house, which you can retrieve now."

Shen Jingzong sighed inwardly. What a fool! Huang Xingyu didn't even understand that some things, especially accounting matters, should be handled with the clarity of one's own mind, while the accounts presented to others should be as vague as possible! Only then can one have room to plan for oneself in crucial moments.

If it weren't for the desire to suppress Huang Xingtong, no one would be willing to promote him or mentor him. He could easily ruin a perfectly good opportunity.

Shen Jingzong ignored him and spoke directly to Huang Xingtong: "Removing someone from the genealogy is tantamount to severing ties. Since you brothers are severing ties, have you discussed the issues regarding the accounts and land? You live next to each other, and I've visited both sides; it doesn't seem like the distribution has been fair. Do you have anything to say?"

Huang Xingtong was certainly not as foolish as his older brother. He immediately used this opportunity to his advantage, saying, "No, everything is as he said, and the records are based on the records from that year."

Stable and watertight.

Seeing his expression, Shen Jingzong was genuinely annoyed.

Shen Jingzong's own academic background and experience were not bad. He was also in his prime. Although his ranking in the imperial examinations was not high enough to secure a position in the capital, the Jiangnan region was wealthy, and being a county magistrate there was no easy task. It was a place where many people would fight tooth and nail to be assigned, a place with plenty of lucrative opportunities. Shen Jingzong's ability to reach that position already made him one of the best in the officialdom.

He has his own set of wisdom for dealing with people, and Huang Xingtong is the absolute opposite of his wisdom.

So, not for Huang Xingyu's sake, but for his own, and considering all the mess he'd made at sea before, he wanted to kick Huang Xingtong while he was down.

After a moment's thought, he said, "Your elder brother is kind and generous. For many years, he has devoted himself to supporting your education and helping you to become a scholar, while he himself has wasted so many years in his studies without complaint. After you achieved success, instead of helping your brother, you acted willfully and recklessly, resigning from your official post and returning home, betraying the sacrifices and efforts of your brother and parents over the years. That's not all; you even enjoyed your brother's sacrifices at home. You wanted to open an academy, but you didn't manage it yourself; your brother took care of everything, and you almost neglected your students. Fortunately, our government supervised the case and finally gave your brother justice, but for him, the years of wasted time can never be recovered. Now you have committed a serious mistake, assaulting your brother, a grave crime of disobedience. It would not be excessive to sentence you to a beating and imprisonment. Yet your brother does not hold this against you, still preserving your dignity, and even refusing to resort to the national law, only wishing to use the patriarchal system to settle the kinship with you."

The two musicians below the hall listened, somewhat stunned.

Huang Xingyu thought to himself, "After all these years, finally someone understands my predicament. Lord Shen is my kindred spirit."

Huang Xingtong was thinking that the bureaucratic system, which turns right and wrong upside down, hadn't changed in all these years. He used to think that leaving this filthy cesspool would protect him, but now he understood that the environment wouldn't change just because he fled; it would only oppress him more fiercely because he was powerless to change it. He had truly made a mistake in resigning from his post back then.

At the end, Shen Jingzong tapped the table and concluded, "I may record this, but I am a kind-hearted official and cannot bear to see good people being bullied. You must make amends to your brother for a moment, otherwise you will never be able to repay the kindness of this lifetime. Even if I grant you permission to sever ties, as long as the kindness remains, you will owe your brother for the rest of your life."

Huang Xingtong didn't know how Shen Jingzong wanted him to react, so he was filled with shame and wept bitterly.

He forced a smile at Shen Jingzong.

Finally, it was ruled that Huang Xingtong should compensate Huang Xingyu with two hundred taels of silver. Shen Jingzong reviewed the family genealogy, outlined and crossed out Huang Xingtong's name, and recorded Huang Xingtong's family as a separate household in the Yellow Register.

The two brothers had no further relationship from then on.

The two hundred taels were cash notes that Huang Xingtong had drawn and handed over to Huang Xingyu, as if to signify a settled transaction, and it seemed as if he couldn't wait to buy peace with two hundred taels. The silver notes were pressed in a wooden box, on top of the family genealogy, as if it were a great irony.

After Huang Xingyu brought these things home, Shen Yurui saw the two hundred taels and thought it was compensation from the yamen for Huang Xingtong's assault. After Huang Xingyu explained, her heart sank.

She turned to look at her husband.

She looked down on Huang Xingyu from the very beginning, but this was mainly due to their family background. Before they rose to prominence, the Huang family was insignificant. No matter who said it, Shen Yurui's marriage to Huang Xingyu was an absolute humiliation and a marriage of convenience. After the marriage, Shen Yurui attributed many of their conflicts to the difference in their family backgrounds, and when she was sarcastic towards Huang Xingyu, she would always start by saying things like "your Huang family."

To be fair, she didn't have much dissatisfaction with Huang Xingyu himself, before Luo Shutao. Huang Xingyu's dullness, lack of eloquence, and lack of charm were only compared to someone like his younger brother. But if you looked at other eligible and well-matched men in the area, Huang Xingyu's character was simply outstanding. He was too honest; he really didn't know any of the dirty tricks of wealthy families.

Even after the incident with Luo Shutao, Shen Yurui felt she wasn't entirely innocent either. She thought about Huang Xingtong, and that made her feel uneasy. Besides, Huang Xingyu was a man.

Shen Yurui never thought that Huang Xingyu himself was unworthy.

This person is so cheap.

Shen Yurui's heart sank.