“Are we going to court? Good, good. First, the plaintiff has to write a petition and then have someone submit it to the county administration. After that, the county administration will review it, and finally, the plaintiff and the defendant will go to the court.”
Zhou Wencai walked out of the courtyard leisurely and said unhurriedly, “oh, by the way, the plaintiff who wants to sue his children for being unfilial must pay five taels of silver as a case fee. Otherwise, the case will not be opened.”
Lin Sanniu and Chen Xiaoqing were dumbfounded when they heard Zhou Wencai.
They never knew that when parents wanted to sue their children for being unfilial, they would have to pay five taels of silver.
“Impossible!” Lin Sanniu said in disbelief, “We’ve never heard of parents needing to pay a fee to sue their children for being unfilial!”
Zhou Wencai was still chuckling as he said, “Just because you haven’t heard of it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. There are so many parents in the world. If every parent can just walk into the court to sue their children, can the court still function?”
Lin Sanniu was a little suspicious.
He stared at Zhou Wencai in confusion and asked, “Who are you? How do you know all this?”
If one had not experienced these processes, one would not know about them unless they were a member of the court.
Zhou Wencai folded his fan and cupped his hands at Lin Sanniu as he said, “my surname is Zhou. I’m Miss Lin’s friend. I do some internal affairs in the court, so I’m familiar with these things.”
Lin Sanniu looked at the young man, who seemed to be around fifteen or sixteen years old. He was even more puzzled. How could there be such a young internal affairs officer in the court?
Upon seeing Lin Sanniu’s puzzled expression, Zhou Wencai naturally knew what he was thinking. He said with a smile, “although I’m young, someone in my family holds a position in the county court. Therefore, I occasionally go to the county court to help.”
Zhou Wencai was the county magistrate’s son. His position would frighten most villagers. In fact, once he said he was related to the court, most villagers would be afraid already.
The highest-ranking official that they came into contact with was the village chief. They could not even come into contact with a town official, let alone the people in the county court.
After Zhou Wencai appeared, Lin Yuelan didn’t need to think of any countermeasures anymore. Since Zhou Wencai was Lin Yuelan’s friend, no matter how bold Lin Sanniu and Li Cuihua were, they wouldn’t dare to report her to court.
When Lin Sanniu heard that the young master was Lin Yuelan’s friend, his confidence became deflated. They had that instinctive fear of people of authority, especially since they knew Lin Yuelan was friends who someone who had connections in the court.
Lin Yuelan smiled and asked, “Young master Zhou, how many cases are there in the county court now?”
Zhou Wencai said with a smile, “if this uncle really wants to sue you for being unfilial, he’ll have to wait for at least half a year before his case will be handled.”
“Is it this long?” Lin Sanniu asked in a daze.
“Uncle, there’s a first come, first served order!” Zhou Wencai replied with a smile, “the court doesn’t only deal with the ‘filial piety’ case. There are many other important cases. That relative of mine is so busy every day that he’s in a terrible fix.
“So, uncle, if you’re going to file a lawsuit, you’d better hurry up. Otherwise, when your case is brought to court, I’m afraid Miss Lin would have spent all her money already.”
Lin Sanniu’s face turned red.
He didn’t really want to sue Lin Yuelan. He just wanted to get money.
Since Lin Yuelan refused to give him money, he used filial law to scare her.
However, they didn’t expect Lin Yuelan to befriend someone from the court.
Lin Yuelan immediately said coldly to Lin Sanniu and Chen Xiaoqing, “Uncle and Auntie, if you’re here to ask for family support money, I’m sorry, but I don’t have 300 taels of silver. Even if I do, I won’t give it to you. If you want to sue me, then go ahead!”
With Li Cuihua’s greedy nature, she would not pay the court five copper coins, let alone five taels of silver, to sue Lin Yuelan.
In the end, Lin Sanniu left with Chen Xiaoqing and his two children.
Before she left, Chen Xiaoqing wiped her tears and said, “Lan ‘Er, you are always my eldest daughter in my heart. It’s just that I have my own difficulties. You must forgive me, okay?”
Lin Yuelan ignored Chen Xiaoqing and turned her head, turning a blind eye to Chen Xiaoqing’s tears.
Chen Xiaoqing had her own reasons. Her reason was that she was afraid of divorce. She didn’t want her reputation to be ruined.
Such a mother was extremely selfish.
Chen Xiaoqing looked at Lin Yuelan, who had turned her face away. She could only cry in pain and follow Lin Sanniu back with her children.
Zhou Wencai’s expression immediately turned serious as he watched Lin Sanniu’s family leave. He asked, “Miss Lin, we’ve scared them away this time, but they won’t be so easy to get rid of next time. Have you thought of any countermeasures?”
Everything was attributed to the ‘law of filial piety’ of the Long Yan Kingdom.
Lin Yuelan smiled faintly and said, “When there’s a will, there’s a way. Young Master Zhou, thank you for everything!”
