My domineering ex-husband is living off his wife in ancient times.

Chapter 11 Subsidy Money? Forget about it!

When it came time to pay, Cheng Ruoan gave Si Silang his share as well. It didn't make sense for someone who came in to help to pay for their own things.

She's not like Zhao Shi, the kind who's completely biased towards her.

"Third Sister-in-law, I told you I paid for this myself..." Si Silang said somewhat embarrassedly.

He had his own selfish motives for going to the city; it wasn't entirely to help his third brother and sister-in-law.

"I'm going to..."

Si Shaoheng knew what he was thinking when he saw him scratching his head, so he quickly stopped him and instructed him, "Si Lang, stop talking and get down to business!"

"Oh, good."

When the donkey cart arrived at Zhang Da, the son of the village chief of Xinghua Village, Si Shaoheng immediately told people to get on the donkey cart.

Si Silang took over the job of driving the cart, and Si Shaoheng took a break to ask Zhang Da, "Brother Zhang, could you please tell me what happened to Liu Lizheng and the others at the county government office?"

Zhang Da felt a little awkward, after all, Cheng Ruoan was half-lying on the donkey cart.

He only dared to sit with his back to the donkey and facing the back of the cart. When he heard Si Shaoheng speak, he didn't dare to turn around, so he just said one sentence.

"You'll find out when you get to the county government office."

Si Shaoheng: ...

He glanced at Cheng Ruoan, indicating that he couldn't judge whether or not we should go to the county government office unless Cheng Ruoan explained it clearly.

Cheng Ruoan gave an OK sign.

She immediately launched into a tirade: "Zhang Da, I am Cheng Shi, the wife of Si Sanlang."

My family has always collected soybeans in your village. Do you recognize me?

Zhang Da glanced at her briefly and nodded.

"It's good that we know each other. We're from the same village, let's chat."

Zhang Da: ...

If I want to talk, I'll talk to your man. How can I talk to a virgin like you?

"Husband, your fourth brother is driving the carriage, why don't you sit in the back and chat with Zhang Da? It's still a long way to the county government office, isn't it?"

"My wife is right."

Si Shaoheng naturally moved to the back of the van to listen to Zhang Da's chatter.

The former Qingshan County was located in Bachuan Prefecture, which was the fiefdom of a certain prince. The prince's palace was located in Qingshan County. Bachuan was plagued by bandits, so the fearless prince built the city walls here even thicker than those of the prefectural city.

The road leading to the city wall and gate is about half a mile long, roughly equivalent to a hundred meters in modern terms.

Zhang Da had attended school for two years when he was young, so his communication skills were decent. He was able to explain things clearly in the short distance the donkey cart traveled from the city gate to the main street of the county town.

It was pretty much as Si Shaoheng had predicted.

The officials in Qingshan County were not very honest and did not pay much attention to the earthquake disaster. When Liu Lizheng and several village chiefs came to the county government to ask the government to organize people for rescue, the county magistrate simply stalled.

Liu Lizheng and his men rushed over as soon as the earthquake struck yesterday, but they were not able to see the county magistrate until this morning.

After some back and forth, the magistrate of Qingshan County said: "Of course we will manage it, but we'll have to wait for the imperial court's arrangements before we can discuss the specifics."

The village chief of Wenhua Village was an old scholar. He said that if it was not convenient to send people to help now, then according to the imperial law, they should first pay part of the disaster relief subsidy, and they would use their own money to organize people to help.

The magistrate then said, "This is the law of the Great Xia Dynasty from ten years ago. In recent years, His Majesty has been ordering people to revise the law. Whether it is still in effect today or not, I will have to ask the court for instructions."

In short, they want people, but won't give them; they want money, but have no money.

The village chief of Wildflower Village was a retired centurion from the battlefield, and he immediately got into a fight with the county magistrate.

The scene became chaotic, and Liu Lizheng and the village chiefs were all detained.

Only Zhang Da, because he wasn't the village head, didn't go to the county government office to discuss matters, so he hurriedly wanted to go back to the surrounding villages to get help.

He had just reached the city gate and was about to leave when he saw a large group of people from the Si family.

Zhang Da and Si Sanlang were not acquainted, but Si Sanlang had already become a celebrity in several nearby villages when he passed the imperial examination at the age of nine.

Zhang Da had seen this "other people's child" once when he visited relatives in Baihua Village, and he remembered it.

"Third Brother Si, you are a scholar. Can you talk to the county magistrate and ask him to release my father and the others?" Zhang Da rubbed his hands together, looking very anxious.

Hearing this made Cheng Ruoan's temples throb.

Si Shaoheng is a scholar, not a superman.

Si Shaoheng's lips twitched: "They broke the law by assaulting an official of the imperial court."

Cheng Ruoan: "Zhang Da, why don't you go ask the village chief of Wildflower Village?"

See if he has any life-saving tokens, such as the spear of a great general or the jade pendant of a military officer.

Zhang Da: "What do you mean?"

Cheng Ruoan: "Use the back door of a high-ranking official to get the county magistrate to be lenient and show mercy."

The county magistrate was clearly a corrupt official.

Liu Lizheng and the others kept urging him to do disaster relief, which annoyed him so much that he might be imprisoned for stepping into the county government office with his left foot first.

Not to mention they broke the law...

"But he's been dragging his feet on disaster relief, not treating the lives of our fellow villagers as human lives!" Zhang Da felt very aggrieved.

"So what? He's an official, and we're ordinary people." Even Cheng Ruoan, who came from the modern world, knew this.

In ancient feudal society, the imperial power was supreme. Apart from the lives of high-ranking officials and nobles, which were valuable, the lives of ordinary people were not.

Ah.

Forget it, I'll just wash up and go to bed.

A cold glint flashed in Si Shaoheng's eyes, quickly replaced by helplessness: "These past few years have been bad, with either natural disasters or man-made calamities. There are rebels in the Northwest, droughts in the Southwest, floods in the East, and so on in Jiangnan..."

He shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Jiangnan is prosperous, but those dressed in silk and brocade are not silkworm farmers."

Human life is probably the cheapest thing in the world.

Cheng Ruoan's original self didn't know as much about this era as Si Shaoheng's original self, but based on the novels she had read, with so many natural disasters, there must be something wrong with the whole era!

Even if we take a step back and assume the worst, shouldn't the emperor have issued an edict of self-reproach?

She tugged at Si Shaoheng's sleeve and whispered, "I feel like the entire Great Xia Dynasty is incompetent from top to bottom. You shouldn't go to the county government office; I'm worried you won't get out."

Si Shaoheng patted her hand lightly, "It's alright. Even if we don't ask for the subsidy, we still need to get the travel permit."

The county magistrate should be more than happy to let us villagers flee.

Cheng Ruoan pouted: "That's right. If one less person receives relief grain, he can embezzle an extra tael of silver. You still want to take the imperial examinations, right? Don't become such a corrupt official; I'm worried the retribution will fall on the children."

Si Shaoheng: "You should be glad that the Great Xia Dynasty still allows people to change their social status through the imperial examinations, otherwise I would have to consider rebellion."

Cheng Ruoan froze.

"Before you go crazy, give me a divorce agreement and write a letter of severance for the two children."

Si Shaoheng smiled and couldn't help but ruffle Cheng Ruoan's messy, dusty hair: "We've arrived at the clinic. You and Silang go find the doctor. Zhang Da and I will get off here and walk to the county government."

Cheng Ruoan nodded, and then heard Si Shaoheng call out to Si Silang and give him instructions.

"Si Lang, after you take your third sister-in-law to Xinglin Hall, go to the bookstore on West Street and buy me some books. Your third sister-in-law will help Si Niu find a doctor to get her medicine. As for food and dry rations, we can go buy them together when I get back."

Si Silang nodded: "Okay, Third Brother."

Cheng Ruoan: ? ? ?

What illness does Si Niu have?

What medicine should I get?

She turned to look at Si Shaoheng beside her. Si Shaoheng didn't look at her, but wrote four words in her palm.

[Space, Asthma]