The Sealed Beasts of the Divine Realm, Part 11

Xie Guijin then repeated what she had just said to the system to Xue Linchuan, adding quite a bit more.

Upon hearing this, Xue Linchuan was indeed filled with righteous indignation and cursed, "Absurd!"

"Speaking of which, I only spent seven days in the human realm before," Xie Guijin asked, tilting her head. "I wonder how such incidents are handled here?"

"According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, anyone who commits indecent acts or forces another person into sexual relations shall be punished according to the severity of the offense. If the act is not completed, the offender shall be flogged one hundred times and exiled three thousand li; if the act is completed, the offender shall be hanged but imprisoned with reprieve; if the act causes injury, suicide, or other serious consequences, the offender shall be beheaded immediately, and half of the offender's property shall be compensated to the victim, while the other half shall be confiscated. If the victim dies, the property shall be compensated to the victim's relatives or a person designated by the victim during the victim's lifetime. Officials who commit such acts shall be dismissed from their posts and never be employed again, and their punishment shall be increased by one degree; imperial relatives and commoners shall be punished the same. Anyone who knows of such acts but fails to report them or conceals them shall be punished along with the offender."

Xue Linchuan spoke in one breath without uttering a single stutter.

"So strict?" Xie Guijin was surprised; this was completely different from the ancient times she knew.

"There's a reason for this," Xue Linchuan said, seeing Xie Guijin blinking her eyes and looking at him curiously. He felt a surge of tenderness in his heart and then told him about a major case during the reign of Emperor Taizu of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The case itself is not significant; what is significant is the series of shocks it has caused.

The dynasties before the founding of the Great Zhou by Emperor Taizu were no different from the ancient times Xie Guijin knew.

The previous dynasty collapsed, and the world was in chaos.

Emperor Taizu, who came from humble beginnings, rallied heroes from all over the land to pacify the Central Plains and brought his army to the capital of the previous dynasty.

The head of the Qingyan Marquis's mansion in the city personally opened the city gates to surrender and welcomed the Taizu into the city to ascend the throne as emperor.

When Emperor Taizu ascended the throne, the country was newly settled, the people were impoverished, all industries were in need of development, and foreign tribes were eyeing the country covetously.

To consolidate his rule, Emperor Taizu accepted the surrender of a group of officials, led by the Marquis of Qingyan.

Because of the Qingyan Marquis's contribution in opening the city gates and his role as a leader, Emperor Taizu granted him a special pardon and allowed him to retain the title of Qingyan Marquis, though at a lower rank.

After Emperor Taizu ascended the throne, many of the civil and military officials in the court were women, and the common people did not impose many restrictions on women in order to survive.

Women in the upper and lower classes were not like women in previous dynasties, but women in the middle class were still bound by the times.

Emperor Taizu intended to promote the policy of allowing women to establish their own households. However, considering that implementing it hastily would be counterproductive for women who lacked the ability to protect themselves, he encouraged women to leave their homes and engage in various professions to establish themselves first.

Three years later, the four borders were pacified, and the country was prosperous and the people lived in peace.

The efforts to get women out of their homes are beginning to show results, especially as more and more women become business owners.

In the capital city, there was a young woman surnamed Wei who took over the family business after her parents passed away. Her family's business was neither small nor large in the capital city.

Miss Wei was beautiful and had a family fortune that kept generating money. She had no shortage of suitors, but she declined them all, citing the need to observe mourning for her parents.

Fei Qilang, the grandson of Qingyan Marquis, took a liking to Miss Wei and wanted to take her as a concubine, but Miss Wei refused.

Fei Qilang then came up with a terrible idea: while Miss Wei was at the restaurant discussing business, he drugged her and raped her.

Although the social atmosphere had improved, it was not like it is now, where women who are humiliated do not have to commit suicide to prove their innocence, but they are ashamed to report it to the authorities and let it become public knowledge.

Fei Qilang thought that this would allow him to force Miss Wei into marriage.

Unexpectedly, Miss Wei, being of a strong character, angrily reported the matter to the authorities as soon as she escaped, requesting that Fei Qilang be brought to justice.

It caused a great sensation in both the government and the public at the time.

Some pedantic scholars who had long been dissatisfied with the Taizu Emperor's policy of promoting women's independence spoke out, denouncing Miss Wei as a lewd and immoral person, and demanding that she be drowned in the lake or strangled with a white silk ribbon to prove morality.

Many people have also criticized the woman for being allowed to appear in public, which they believe caused harm.

This sparked a series of extensive discussions both within and outside the government.

The Qingyan Marquis's mansion was thrust into the spotlight, and Fei Qilang was temporarily imprisoned by the Jingzhao Yin Prefecture.

As the leader of the surrendered officials, the other surrendered officials did not want to ruin the Qingyan Marquis's mansion because of what they considered to be a trivial matter, so they also joined the battle.

At the center of the vortex, the Qingyan Marquis's mansion acted decisively. The Marquis's wife and Fei Qilang's mother went to the Wei family with generous gifts to apologize and publicly expressed their desire to arrange for Fei Qilang to marry Miss Wei as his principal wife.

The area outside the Wei family compound was packed with onlookers, and under the watchful eyes of everyone, the people from the Qingyan Marquis's residence didn't even manage to enter the Wei family compound.

Lady Qingyan didn't take it to heart and personally placed the gifts at the Wei family's door, repeatedly apologizing through the door.

They went again the next day.

After three days of this, the Wei family could no longer bear the disturbance.

Emperor Taizu was furious upon hearing this and issued an edict to severely reprimand the Qingyan Marquis's family for their hypocrisy and bullying. He demoted the Marquis's title to Earl, stripped the Qingyan Marquis's wife of her imperial title, and ordered the entire Qingyan Earl's family to reflect on their mistakes behind closed doors and not to leave until the case was closed.

At the same time, the Prefectural Governor of the Capital and the Censorate were held accountable for dereliction of duty. The Prefectural Governor of the Capital failed to safeguard the security of the Imperial City, and the Censorate failed to impeach Qingyan Hou in a timely manner. The Prefect of the Capital and the Censor-in-Chief were both fined one month's salary as a warning to others. The three departments were ordered to conduct a public trial of the case and conclude it as soon as possible.

The Emperor's attitude was so clear that the three judicial departments dared not delay, nor did they dare to follow the example of the previous dynasty and let the case go lightly. After a joint trial by the three judicial departments, the facts of the case were clear. Based on the defendant, Miss Wei's, firm refusal to marry and her request to punish Fei Qilang, the court jointly proposed a judgment: Fei Qilang shall be exiled three thousand miles away, and 30% of his family property shall be compensated to Miss Wei.

Since the Qingyan Earl's Mansion had not yet been divided, the government decided to divide all the public property of the mansion equally according to the number of people, and to give 30% of Fei Qilang's share to Miss Wei.

When the Qingyan Earl's Mansion divides its assets in the future, Fei Qilang shall not be compensated in any form.

The verdict was presented to the Empress for review.

The Empress decreed that Fei Qilang be executed immediately, with half of his rightful estate to be compensated to Miss Wei, and the other half to be confiscated by the state. The Qingyan Earl's family was found guilty of failing to properly educate their children and then bullying the weak; both crimes were punished together, with 10% of their property confiscated and given to Miss Wei, and the remaining 10% to be confiscated by the state. Simultaneously, this case was used as an example to revise relevant articles of the Great Zhou Code.

After weighing the options, the then-Minister of the Court of Judicial Review said, "I'm afraid the punishment will be too severe."

Other officials also shared this concern.

In the long run, compared to other crimes, such a heavy punishment does indeed pose a risk of inappropriate sentencing.

However, the Taizu Emperor overruled the objections and, citing the fact that the crimes committed by the nobles had caused a negative public opinion impact, added another degree of severity to the sentence, thus finalizing the verdict.

After receiving the compensation, Ms. Wei donated it all to the national treasury.

The consequences of this incident go far beyond this.

First, relevant laws and regulations were revised.

Secondly, Miss Wei sold her business, participated in the imperial examination, became the top scholar, and after decades of ups and downs in officialdom, finally became the third female prime minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Thirdly, Emperor Taizu used this case as a starting point to launch an investigation into lawless playboys within the Great Zhou territory, and subsequently carried out a moderate purge of their families.

Fifth, it broke down the high moral standards that various social classes placed on women, enabling women to obtain basic human rights.

Sixth, it laid a solid foundation for the implementation of the policy of female households.

Xie Guijin listened quietly, then sighed, "The Great Zhou Dynasty's founding emperor was truly an extraordinary woman. Why hasn't such a great leader appeared in my world?"

"Although we haven't had a leader like Chairman Mao, you told me that in our world, widespread women's education has only been around for about 100 years. Many outstanding women have emerged in all walks of life, and given time, things will surely get better and better..."

Before Xue Linchuan could finish speaking, he stopped, raised his hand to touch his face, and asked in confusion, "Is there something on my face? Why are you staring at me and smiling like that?"

"I'm just curious, you have no memory, yet you believe me when I say you come from the same world as me. Aren't you afraid I'm lying to you? Or that I'm wrong?" Xie Guijin smiled.

"How could that be? Even without my memories, I know that I came into this world for you, and my mission is to follow you and protect you," Xue Linchuan said with deep affection, his eyes clear and unwavering.

"Come on, I don't remember you even existing in my original world. I haven't lost my memory." Xie Guijin shifted her gaze from Xue Linchuan's face to the blue gauze curtains hanging by the bed and pouted.

“Sigh,” Xue Linchuan sighed, feigning melancholy, “It seems I lived a very unsuccessful life in that world. But now I will definitely accompany you to complete all the missions and return to our original world with you.”

Xie Guijin snorted softly and turned over: "You smooth talker, I'm ignoring you, going to sleep."

"Go to sleep," Xue Linchuan said, turning off the light and sitting quietly by Xie Guijin's bedside.

Xie Guijin's heart finally settled down, and she slowly drifted off to sleep.

When he woke up the next day, Xue Linchuan was still by his side.

Seeing that Xie Guijin had woken up, Xue Linchuan was about to use magic to return to his room.

"Are you afraid someone will see?" Xie Guijin sat up in bed, deliberately saying, "I'm not afraid."

Xue Linchuan chuckled and said, "We're siblings now. If people see me coming out of your room early in the morning, they'll misunderstand."

"Oh dear, I forgot about that. You'd better hurry up and get going."

After driving Xue Linchuan away, Xie Guijin sat on the bed for a while, lost in thought, until a servant gently knocked on the door, bringing her back to her senses.

The servants came in to help Xie Guijin wash up and change her clothes, and then served her breakfast.

A servant came to report that the Master of Xunzong Pavilion had brought a group of people to request an audience.

Xie Guijin then had his servants lead the Xunzong Pavilion Master and the others to the flower hall.

When the Pavilion Master arrived at the flower hall, Xie Guijin was already seated at the head of the table, enjoying tea.

The leader of the Seeking Pavilion hurriedly led everyone in bowing and then introduced each of the people he had brought to Xie Guijin.

Xie Guijin didn't say whether it was good or bad, but simply ordered his servants to give the reward money to the master of Xunzong Pavilion.

The Master of the Seeking Pavilion accepted the money and then tactfully took his leave.

Xie Guijin ordered his servants to see them off, and also ordered someone to summon the group of people who had come earlier.

"I'm busy today and don't have time to listen to you all," Xie Guijin said, glancing around at everyone. "Then you can have a competition and judge for yourselves. One person speaks, and the others give scores from one to ten. The winner will be rewarded."

Having said that, he ordered someone to bring over a small table and writing implements, leaving servants to add water and serve tea, and to record the scores.

After that, he and Xue Linchuan rode the clouds to the capital to find the Minister of Justice and get the roster. The roster not only contained names, but also a list of each person's misdeeds.

The people on the roster are concentrated in the southwestern border region, a place known for its rugged mountains and treacherous waters that breed unruly people.

The two compared the map, marked the locations of the people on the list, and discussed and planned a reasonable route.

Then, Ling Yun rode the wind to the southwestern border, under the guise of eliminating evil for the people, masked his face and pretended to be a martial arts master to arrest the people on the list, tie them up with ropes, and throw them onto a carriage.