Fifth Madam held Wu's hand and sighed: "You and Wang Fu have no heirs, and Wang Fu's daughter married long ago, so how sad it is for you to guard such a big house by yourself, without even a caretaker. Balang has his own house, you are raised by your own son, no one can say anything wrong with you."
Although several rooms in the Lu family live together, they all have their own houses and independent gates, and they just communicate with each other to facilitate gatherings. At that time, in order to find a suitable place, they had to move to a land far away from other officials.
The person Wu remarried was Wang Fu, a man from Kaibuzhuang, a native of the capital. Three years ago, when she checked accounts at a store in Lin County, the capital city, she suddenly fell ill and died. Mrs. Wu just took off her mourning clothes last month. Wang Fu and his first wife had only one daughter, who had already been married, but married Wu but had no heirs. Due to his status, Lu Balang couldn't go to accompany him, lest others think that someone with a foreign surname wanted to seize the family property, so Wu could only guard the old house of the Wang family all by himself.
Wu's face was dejected, and she sighed: "I don't want to, but if I move here, I will no longer be part of the Wang family."
The second lady snorted coldly, "You are not remarried, so you are not the Wang family? Those people are just greedy for your family's property, so they use such fallacies to deliberately make things difficult for you. If you raise your stepson, those people will not take it. That's a matter of fact. After all, it's been three years, and you still haven't figured out who to make your stepson? It's not a problem to always be so procrastinating, making it difficult for you to even see your own son. "
Wang Fu was just a peddler at first, but the Wang family's business grew bigger and bigger after Wu's marriage, and now the Wang family's wealth is very rich. Everyone said that Mrs. Wu was a prosperous man, but they didn't know that Wang Fu, who had always been healthy and healthy, suddenly died suddenly in such a prosperous life. Such a large family property undoubtedly makes people very jealous. The members of the Wang family have been staring at it, and everyone can't wait to come up and take a bite.
Wang Fu's childlessness means that his household is extinct. In Dayou, if the household is extinct, he needs to have a step-son. If the husband is dead and the wife is alive, follow his wife. However, the scope of his wife's selection of stepchildren is also limited, 'preserving the family business, so that the ancestors will not enjoy the sacrifices', so the king's family is given priority. If you don't have the talent, you can choose from the family of your wife. If you still don't have the talent, you can adopt children under the age of three. Although it is said that he is giving his child to someone else as a son, but after all, he is connected by blood, so how can he lose his own in the future? Therefore, everyone in the Wang family made this calculation, wanting their son to become a step-son, and then inherit the family business under Wang Fu's name, and enjoy the blessings themselves.
The Dayou law stipulates that if a wife remarries, she can only take away her own dowry, and cannot take away any property of the husband's family, and has no right to control it, let alone participate in the establishment of a stepson.
Although Wu did not remarry, but she returned to her ex-husband's family, which means she left the Wang family and was no longer Wang Fu's wife, and it became natural for Wang Fu's family to intervene in the inheritance. Such a statement is somewhat absurd, but it is not untenable. The matter of property inheritance has always been difficult to determine, even if you sue the government, most of the time it will be judged that the Wu family can only move to live with Lu Balang only if they have a stepson.
Wu used the excuse of not discussing the matter while still in mourning, and postponed the matter of succession until now. In addition, although Mrs. Wu remarried, she has always had a close relationship with Mrs. Lu's family. Lu Feng is now a third-rank military officer. Although martial arts are not as good as literature, he is a presence that merchants dare not provoke. It made Wu Shi easy for three years.
But Wang Fu loved Lu Balang very much during his lifetime, and always treated him as his own son. Lu Balang spent most of his time in the Wang family, so Wang Fu watched him grow up. If Wu and Lu Balang hadn't insisted on it, Wang Fu really wanted to change Lu Balang's surname into the royal family tree, and Lu Balang would inherit the family business from now on. The people of the Wang Fu clan have always worried that the Wu family wants to occupy the family business and let Lu Balang inherit it, so they have always been very jealous. When Lu Balang went to visit Wu Shi, he was ridiculed and ridiculed. If Wu Shi didn't stop him, he would fight several times.
The third lady was also puzzled, "Yeah, you are not a procrastinator. Why can't you settle this matter? Money is something outside of your body, and it belongs to their royal family after all. It doesn't matter who you choose as your stepson. You There is also Hachiro raising it, so don't care about those."
Lu Balang also said seriously at this time: "Mother, I will study hard and earn my life as a high-ranking official. It is enough for me to honor you, you don't need to care about that."
Mrs. Wu shook her head, "I haven't lived a life, so why would I miss those things. It's just that I'm worried that my uncle Wang's hard-earned property will be cheap for nothing!"
After saying this, other people didn't understand. Although it is true that people from the Wang Fu tribe sometimes act in a nasty way for money, they are not treacherous and evil, and it is understandable. The Wu family is not a tricky person, besides this matter, he also respects the people of Wang Fu's clan very much, why would he talk like this now
The eldest lady asked, "Mother Hui, where did you start talking about this?"
Wu didn't answer directly, but looked at Zhuang Zhong with a guilty expression on his face, "Brother Zhong, today should be a good day for you to come back and reunite, but it's my aunt's fault, I have to say something unpleasant at this point, Let everyone follow the bad luck... "
Mrs. Wu burst into tears as she spoke, making everyone even more confused, so she said solemnly: "Auntie, please don't say that. You are willing to say that the grievance in your heart is that everyone treats me as a family. I can only be happy. If I can share your worries, that would be even better. It would be wrong for a family to get together and avoid unpleasant things.”
The others are people who know the Wu family well, knowing that she would not be so ungrateful if she hadn't been really helpless, and seeing that Zhuang Zhong is so open-minded and courteous at such a young age, they are very happy from the bottom of their hearts.
Lu Balang is impatient, and he was already impatient waiting by the side, "Mother, what's going on? Could it be that those people bullied you?!"
As soon as this was said, all the men in the Lu family rolled up their sleeves and were ready to fight. Lu Feng said angrily: "Hui Niang is my younger sister now, if she dares to bully her, it's just against Lu Feng with me. Don't be afraid, Hui Niang, those little bastards!" I can crush them to death with a single pinch, and I, Lu Feng, will back you up!"
Mrs. Wu shook her head again and again, "Although they have been trying to make me have a stepson, they dare not do anything to me."
Seeing that Mrs. Wu didn't say a word, Lu Feng was even more anxious, "Then why?"
Fifth Madam thought for a while and asked: "Hui Niang, do you still think that Brother Wang didn't die of illness?"
When Wu heard this, tears immediately fell, "Yes, I don't believe that Wang Fu would be willing to leave me like this! Although Wang Fu is not as healthy as the Lu family, he has always been in good health, and he has never experienced hardship since he was a child. Sick, there is no hidden disease, why suddenly died of sudden illness after going out for two days?! Could it be that I was born with Kefu..."
"Bah, bah, bah! Don't say that." The eldest lady spat, "Isn't it more difficult to say that the wife of the former prime minister? When she married the prime minister, two of them died before her. If there is such a fate, what about the prime minister? Dare to marry?"
Mrs. Wu held Da Furen's hand, "I don't believe it either, so I always feel that this matter is strange. But I couldn't find evidence, so I gave up all these years. But I heard that Brother Chong was found the day before yesterday, so I stayed up all night I was doing needlework, I accidentally fell asleep while I was doing it, and I had a dream lying on the table. It was a dream that Wang Fu was bleeding all over his face and complained to me! He said that he didn’t die of illness but was killed! Back then, Shiro When I first left, I dreamed of him every day. When Wang Fu left, I never dreamed of him. I was very strange. I didn’t expect to dream of him suddenly three years later. You still entrusted the dream to me like this. You say yes Isn’t it weird? And it’s not just the day before yesterday, last night I slept with this hat and had the same dream again!”
The theory of ghosts has never been completely broken since ancient times. Even in the modern age of advanced technology, some dare to say that they don't believe it. After hearing this, everyone felt that the dream was implying something, and all looked at the solemn hat.
Zhuang Zhong didn't care, but asked: "When Uncle Wang passed away, did my aunt see his dead body?"
Mrs. Wu nodded, "Yes, I changed his shroud for him. His complexion was slightly yellowish and white, and he looked like he was dying of illness, and there was no sign of injury on his body. Uncle Wu helped find a doctor to test, but he didn't find out what happened, he just said that he died of illness."
The Lu family knew about this, and they also felt something strange at the time, but they couldn't find anything, so they thought it was because Wang Fu's time was up, so they left in such a hurry. Unexpectedly, Wu Shi has been disbelieving all these years, but he has no evidence and can only give up. Who knows that he had that dream and then brought up the old story again.
Zhuang Zhong asked again: "Who was around Uncle Wang at that time? Can you say what was unusual that night?"
Mrs. Wu remembered clearly what happened back then, "The shop was managed by your uncle Wang's younger brother Wang Gui, and Uncle Wang stayed at Wang Gui's house that night. The two brothers also drank that night, and Wang Gui said it was not Nothing unusual, the guy who followed your Uncle Wang also said that he was in good spirits that night, but somehow he lost his spirit the next day, and they couldn't figure out what was going on."
"Wang Gui and that guy didn't hear anything at night?"
Mrs. Wu shook her head, "Wang Gui said that he drank too much that night, and it was dawn when he fell asleep. The guy also said that he slept very deeply at night because he had been traveling all day, and he didn't hear anything."
"Is there anyone else in the family?"
"No, your Uncle Wang and Wang Gui separated a long time ago. Later, when they got rich, they saw that Wang Gui's family couldn't make it through, so they helped him and asked him to help manage the affairs of the shop. So Wang Gui's family is just a small family. There are no servants in the house. Wang Gui's daughter-in-law has something to do with her mother's family, so she took her two children home two days earlier, and bought the meal for dinner from outside."
Seeing that Zhuang Zhong was asking carefully, Wu originally thought that Zhuang Zhong must be unusual because of that dream, but now she felt even more so, "Do you also think this is inappropriate?"
After serious consideration, he said: "I dare not guess wildly, but I know that some illnesses will come on suddenly and cause death. But at the same time, some deaths seem to be normal, but they are actually man-made..."
The impatient boy waited for a long time to hear such a sentence, and immediately shouted, "Aren't you talking for nothing!"
Lu Feng patted the boy on the back of the head unceremoniously, "Brother Chong didn't finish his sentence, what are you talking about! Good boy, I know you must have something to say, speak boldly, there is no need to avoid suspicion in our family."
Zhuang nodded and said seriously: "Since there is doubt, if you want to know the truth, you must open the coffin for an autopsy."
The author has something to say:
The inheritance law here is basically in accordance with the laws of the Song Dynasty, and it is roughly based on the book "Research on Folk Legal Life in the Song Dynasty". In fact, the Song Dynasty was still relatively enlightened. The status of women, hired workers, tenant farmers, etc., later reversed. Now most of the house fights are based on the later more feudal era, so it will be different from my article, please do not use other articles to copy it mechanically.
Because the laws of the Song Dynasty are different at different times, I will use the ones I need as the standards in the article.
In addition, this article is not fantasy 23333, it’s just that I read the ancient book "Folding the Tortoise Mirror" to make up, the cases in it are often such dreams, signs and so on, and the case is solved, hahaha, I will also use it.