Chapter 23: Past Dust

  Retribution?

  Chen Jiong is a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, and from a young age he studied the oldest inherited traditions of China. As such, many things that later generations view as superstitious or inferior are believed by Chen Jiong.

  Anything related to human health is related to medicine. No matter how difficult the disease is, it has a cause, and Chen Xiang does not believe in pathological demon possession or retribution.

  A chronic illness that cannot be cured is simply because the cause of the disease has not been found or the wrong cause has been identified.

  "What retribution?" Chen Jiong asked.

  "It's been five or six years now." Chen Qi originally had some anger and wanted to say something, but after opening his mouth, he thought of something else and lost interest in continuing.

  Chen Jiong gave him a glance.

  Chen Qi pretended not to see and turned his head to listen to the opera.

  Chen Jiong couldn't help but smile, thinking that this kid was really too arrogant. His arrogance, Chen Jiong didn't bother to intervene, and instead turned his attention back to Chen Ba, hoping he would finish speaking.

  Chen Ba was going to say something, but after Chen Qi messed it up, he didn't want to say it anymore.

  "What's wrong?" Chen Jiong asked proactively.

  Chen Bayan was young and couldn't keep things to himself, so when Chen Xuan asked him, he plucked up his courage and leaned in close to the back of the front row chair, whispering to Chen Xuan.

  "It's been more than five years. Five years ago, He Zhen followed his classmates to gamble. He was young, only 16 years old, and not very skilled, so others set him up to lose. At first, he won a lot. Gradually, he became addicted and always lost."

  San Gu mother was the first to know. Afraid that San Gu's husband would scold He Zhen, San Gu mother secretly gave He Zhen money to pay off his gambling debts and had someone keep an eye on him.

  But he gambled endlessly, and thought of every way to get out. The servants at home couldn't keep an eye on him. He won quickly, but lost even faster. He stole all of Third Aunt's private savings, and even wanted to steal the deed to Third Aunt's dowry house to sell for cash. When Third Aunt found out, she had five or six women watching over the house, and the cabinets were locked tightly, so he couldn't steal anything anymore.

  Third Aunt was afraid that others in the house would find out, so she put on a false face and deceived those above and below her. She was afraid of being too strict and revealing her true intentions, lest Third Uncle discover them. Little did she know, it was precisely this attitude of hers that indulged He Zhen.

  He Zhen couldn't steal money from his aunt, so he went to steal the jewelry of his uncle's concubine. The concubine was six months pregnant at that time. He Zhen happened to be caught by her when he was stealing things. There was no one in front of her, and she wanted to stop him herself, but He Zhen pushed her down from the stairs... Chen Ba said up to here, also slightly paused, sighed and then said, "One corpse and two lives were lost. The concubine had a miscarriage, and it was a male infant."

  Chen Jiong's face also darkened after hearing this.

  Is this considered killing one's mother and brother?

  A stepmother is also a mother.

  However, the laws of this era were not so strict for the landlord class.

  As long as He's family doesn't report to the authorities and gives some silver to that aunt's brother, and bribes the county magistrate with some silver, this matter will be settled.

  Moreover, although the concubine was a stepmother, she was sold into servitude. The contract for her sale was in the hands of Third Aunt, and if thoroughly investigated, it would be found that beating a household slave to death was not something the county magistrate needed to make an issue out of, and in the end he might offend local dignitaries.

  This household chore is hard to get rid of.

  "Then what? Did he get sick?" Chen Jing asked.

  It wasn't. When something happened, San Gu Mu couldn't hide it anymore, and San Gu Fu was heartbroken and wanted to beat He Zhen to death. Then San Gu Fu went to check the accounts and found that He Zhen not only stole San Gu Mu's dowry jewelry and private money but also stole many of San Gu Fu's ancient paintings and calligraphy from the warehouse.

  San Gu Fu tied up He Zhen, intending to beat him to death. San Gu Mu begged for mercy, and other uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters of the He family also begged for mercy, but San Gu Fu would not spare him. In the end, it was He Zhen's grandmother who begged for mercy that San Gu Fu finally spared his life. He beat He Zhen until his skin was torn and flesh exposed, then tied him up under the scorching sun in the courtyard of the ancestral temple, making him kneel for a whole day and night.

  Later, He Zhenfa had a high fever that didn't subside for half a month. After that, the fever receded, but his whole body felt cold, and even on the hottest days of the year, he was still shivering with cold despite wearing a thick padded jacket.

  "After San Gu's husband passed away, she sought medical treatment everywhere for five years, but saw no improvement. Everyone said that this was a case of being possessed by evil spirits and suffering from retribution," said Chen Ba.

  Chen Jiong understood the situation and fell silent for a moment.

  Then he glanced at Chen Qi.

  He finally knew why Chen Qi stopped talking. It was probably about He Zhen's matter, warning other families not to spoil their children, or else they would brew big trouble. And Chen Qi was the most spoiled by his uncle, so his great-uncle must have personally warned him, and others in the family also advised him.

  Although Mingming had nothing to do with Chen Qi, Chen Qi was also implicated, so he must have been annoyed and said a few words, too lazy to explain.

  Whenever Hè Zhèn is mentioned, Chén Qī's expression turns hateful, and his tone is filled with disgust. Chén Xíng finally understands the reason.

  "When something happened, was it on a big summer day?" Chen Jiong asked Chen Ba.

  "Yes." Chen Ba was very certain, "I heard that it's during the Great Heat days. Those few days are the hottest of the year, hot enough to make one feel irritable and anxious, otherwise San Gu Fu wouldn't have been so furious, all because of the heat adding to his anger."

  He Zhen's body was hot as fire, but his head was cold as ice. No doctor could cure him of this strange affliction. The old monk said it was a case of yin evil entering the body, that the vengeful spirit of his deceased aunt and her child had not dispersed and were lurking on He Zhen's body. For years, the He family had spent a fortune seeking doctors and monks to cure him, but after five years, he still suffered like this. His existence was pitiful, neither human nor ghost...

  "He had it coming!" Chen Qi suddenly turned his head and said coldly.

  His words were a bit too sharp, Chen Ba was startled by him and immediately shut up.

  "...He has ruined two lives, and it's not even been two months since the incident, yet the He family is treating him like a treasure, seeking medical attention everywhere. When he's ill, everyone wants to pamper him. Apart from outsiders, who in the He family still remembers the evil deeds of He Zhenzao? Who thinks about that concubine and the unborn child?" Chen Qi said coldly.

  Chen Jiong finally really heard the sound of the words.

  Chen Qi disliked He Zhen, not only because of He Zhen, Chen Qi was also educated by his parents to be cautious, but also because the child killed by He Zhen was the son of his aunt.

  Chen Qi himself was also the son of his aunt.

  Is this harming one's own kind?

  Chen Jie looked at Chen Qi, who had been so arrogant until now, and suddenly realized that Chen Qi was actually very insecure. He felt inferior because he was born to a concubine, and probably no one had ever noticed before.

  So he cried out for injustice on behalf of that child who died before birth.

  Everyone has an unknown side to outsiders.

  It takes time to see people's hearts.

  Chen Jiong fell silent again.

  "Yes, indeed it is... " Chen Ba was slightly embarrassed by Chen Qi's sudden outburst, and seeing that Chen Jing wasn't responding, he awkwardly added this sentence.

  Chen Qi let out another cold snort.

  Chen Ba was extremely embarrassed.

  Chen Ba and Chen Jing talked, the result was that Chen Jing's words were dull, Chen Ba said ten sentences, and Chen Jing could hardly respond with one sentence. This is already the case, but Chen Qi still rushed over.

  "What's it got to do with me? I've said too much and now I'm in trouble." Chen Ba thought regretfully.

  Young boys all love face.

  Chen Jing fell silent for a moment, then asked Chen Ba again: "What does the He family do? Did they give a diagnosis fee when they sought medical treatment for He Zhen?"

  Chen Ba stared at Chen Jing in shock.

  How could you not know what Hsieh's family does?

  However, I've long heard that Chen Jing is a bookworm who doesn't care about worldly affairs. But the fact that even his own aunt didn't know was a bit too much. On second thought, though, Third Aunt and Qi Wanxiang weren't close, and she wasn't even a blood relative.

  Chen Ba was still feeling embarrassed, but as soon as Chen Jing asked him, he immediately became serious and started talking to Chen Jing about the He family's affairs. A boy's thoughts are simple, his emotions come quickly and go just as fast.

  "...the largest fabric store in Wangxian County is the He family's." Chen Ba said, "In the early years, the He family spent a lot of money to find a doctor and promised that whoever cured He Zhen would be rewarded with 10,000 taels of silver!"

  Chen Jiong hummed in response.

  Chen Qi heard the implication and asked Chen Xuan: "Do you want to go and treat He Zhen's illness?"

  "Boss and brother, can you still cure illnesses?" Chen Ba was also surprised. He had also heard that Chen Jing cured Third Uncle's sudden illness. But by the time it reached his ears, the story had probably changed flavor.

  So he didn't know Chen Jiong would be good at medicine.

  Chen Qi was clear.

  Chen Jiong is best at treating illnesses and has read a lot of books, and really has some skills.

  "Let's calculate it." Chen Jiong smiled at Chen Ba, then turned to Chen Qi and said, "Ten thousand taels of white silver, why not govern?"

  "Good for nothing!" Chen Qi scolded in a rage, "If your brother knew you were such an uncouth and impoverished wretch, he'd break your legs!"

  Chen Jiong smiled.

  When Chen Qi's emotions had slightly stabilized, Chen Jing whispered to Chen Qi: "Next time if Wen Gongzhu invites you to listen to music, do you have the nerve to go empty-handed? If I cure He Zhen, I'll give you half of the money."

  "My dad has money!" Chen Qi glared at him, but his voice was somewhat lacking in confidence.

  The Chen family children, at the age of ten, no longer need to attend elementary school, but instead attend clan school. For those over ten years old, each person receives twenty taels of silver every month as a stipend for buying books and stationery.

  The main thing is that books are expensive.

  Twenty taels can also be used to eat a good banquet outside. For ordinary people's families, living is tight, and twenty taels are enough to spend for a year.

  As for Chen Qi, every month his father secretly gave him sixty taels. In daily life, his food and clothing expenses were the best in the family, allocated from the common fund, without needing to spend extra money to buy them.

  He has eighty taels of pocket money a month.

  The purchasing power of eighty taels is quite considerable.

  And also Huang Lanqing gave him money to spend.

  That was all in the past. In the past, he went to Wan Jun Ge, but could only go to Ru Lan's room, eighty taels plus Huang Lanqing's money were enough. However, later on, he wanted to get close to Xi Wen's daughter.

  It is said that someone gave a hundred taels of silver tickets to the maid who was beaten by Dian Wen.

  Chen Qi being so young and not from a truly wealthy family going to Xi Wen's place is really quite embarrassing.

  When he said "my dad has money", I couldn't help but think of this point and felt a little embarrassed.

  "He Zhen is a victim of heavenly punishment." Chen Qi came to his senses and scolded himself for being worthless, just like Chen Xuan calculating wealth. He glared at Chen Xuan and said, "If you help him, that's going against the will of heaven, and you'll be punished later!"

  "If so, since I've cured him and can still tease him a bit, why don't we let Seventh Brother vent his anger?" Chen Jing asked with a smile.