This article is from Lu Longqi's "Three Fish Tang Anthology"
In the early Qing Dynasty, Zhu Yunzhang, a citizen of Lingshou County, had only one daughter and no son, so he took He Xiaozhang, the son of his colleague He Shaolan, as his son-in-law. When Xiao Zhang was eleven years old, he came to the Zhu family. Zhu Yunzhang and his wife caressed him like their own sons, took care of food and clothing, taught him to read, and did their best, but they were afraid that they would not go along with their wishes. However, after He Xiaozhang grew up, his fierce temperament was gradually revealed, and he often quarreled with his father-in-law and mother-in-law, and his unmarried wife came out to persuade him, and was always beaten by him.
One day, he had an argument with his father-in-law over an incident, and he was angry with his unmarried wife, and he injured her shoulder and waist. Zhu Yunzhang and his wife worked hard for nine years, and they were sad to the bone, knowing that this son would be difficult to rely on, and if the ancestral property was delivered to him, the prospects would be unimaginable. The couple agreed that, on the occasion of not getting married, they would expel him from the house on the grounds of disobedience, filial piety, cruelty and fierceness, so as to ensure that the family property would not fall into the hands of the wicked. So he began to discuss with the He family about abandoning the marriage.
At this time, He Shaolan and his wife had died. The He brothers thought that if Xiao Zhang returned to the sect, he would divide up a share of the property, and in this way, they all expressed fierce opposition. When Xiao Zhang got this news, he was even more crazy and roared, making a lot of noise. Zhu Yunzhang had no choice but to complain to the county about the request to retire his son-in-law.
Lu Longqi of Lingshou ZhiXian was a famous Qingzheng Xianliang ZhiXian in the early years of the Qing Dynasty, and a famous scholar of science who admired the Song Confucian Zhu Xi. After interrogating the people involved in the case, he thought that this kind of family dispute should be persuaded with kind words, and it was the most ethical and humane way to deal with it. Therefore, while gently persuading Zhu Yunzhang, he forced He Xiaozhang to apologize to his father-in-law and mother-in-law, so that weng and his husband and wife could be reconciled as before.
Where did he think that He Xiaozhang was already fierce, not only unwilling to perform the courtesy of Zhu Yunzhang's son-in-law, but also to Lu Zhixian's kind words and reprimands, and also violently confronted and argued. He also openly threatened that if the Zhu family's father and daughter dared to offend him again, they would definitely beat their unmarried wife to death.
Lu Zhixian saw that He Xiaozhang was so rampant and violent, and he was rude, and he knew that it was difficult to get through the way to promote the reunion. He thought to himself that the law clearly stipulates that a couple who breaks off their marital rights may be allowed to withdraw from marriage, but this refers to couples who have already married. As for the unmarried couple, grace and righteousness have not yet occurred, and there is no such thing as "breaking" or "absolute". Abandonment without cause, although prohibited by law, if a fiancé often beats his fiancée for no reason like He Xiaozhang, resulting in bruises all over the body, it means that the gap and hatred between them have been formed, even if they are barely reconciled in the future, they will never have kindness and righteousness to each other.
After Lu Zhixian made up his mind, he immediately summoned He Xiaozhang up and sternly reprimanded: "He Xiaozhang, you have been in the Zhu family since you were eleven years old, and it has been nine years now. For nine years, your father-in-law and mother-in-law have provided you with food and clothing, sent you to school, and raised grace, endlessly.
And now that you have grown up, your feathers have just been plumped, and you are ungrateful, and you repay virtue with resentment, and people with a little heart cannot do such animal behavior! Your father-in-law accused you of disobedience and wanted to expel you from the Zhu family, which was really intolerable and helpless, but it was also reasonable that you blamed yourself.
According to national law, if a step-son who disobeys the wishes of his stepfather and stepmother is allowed to propose the abandonment of the inheritance relationship and establish another person, the father-in-law and mother-in-law shall also be allowed to do so for the son-in-law. You He Xiaozhang insulted and raised your father-in-law and mother-in-law who grew up, and then beat your unmarried wife, and your behavior is in line with the abandonment of the article of the state law in the inheritance category, and also in line with the marriage category of another marriage.
Based on these two provisions, your behavior cannot be tolerated any longer. Therefore, in accordance with the law, the county allowed Zhu Yunzhang's request to abandon the agreement that he Xiaozhang had been admitted as a son-in-law nine years ago, he Xiaozhang immediately returned to the sect, and all marriage agreements were also dissolved, and the two sides chose another match, and there was no interference between each other. In addition, He Xiaozhang injured Zhu Nu, who should have been reprimanded for forty, but Gu Nian was not seriously injured, and He Xiaozhang also had the intention of repentance and was allowed to be exempted from punishment.