Tian Xiaoquan was the first to stand up: "In ancient Chinese characters, the character '母' (mother) is a pictograph. This character depicts a kneeling woman with her hands crossed. There are two dots in the middle of the character that represent breasts, indicating that this woman is responsible for childbirth and breastfeeding."

Whether it's a biological mother or stepmother, or an aunt, maternal aunt, or maternal aunt, these titles all contain the same respect and love that children have for their mothers, and deserve gratitude.

After he finished speaking at length, ignoring the bewildered crowd, he turned to Xu Dongjuan and asked, "You keep mentioning your stepmother, do you have any respect for her?"

Xu Dongjuan gritted her teeth: "Qin Ling isn't my biological mother, why should I respect her! She steals food and money, she's shameless."

In Xu Dongjuan's mind, Qin Shi was an outsider who came to her house to steal food and even wanted to take a share of her younger brother's property.

Forget about treating her with respect as a mother; she just wanted to kick her out immediately.

The stone monkey immediately followed up, saying, "Qin Shi was married into the Xu family in accordance with etiquette and law. According to family rules and national law, she is also your mother. No matter what Qin Shi does, you are being unfilial."

According to the Book of Rites, there are three levels of filial piety: the highest is to honor one's parents, the next is to avoid disgracing them, and the lowest is to provide for them.

Stone Monkey has only been in school for a little over a year, and he is finding it difficult to memorize even a few sentences from the Book of Rites.

Still stammering, he continued, following what Xia Xiucai usually said: "The highest level of filial piety is to establish virtue and merit, to seek the welfare of the masses, and to make one's parents praised and respected by others and society because of one's own actions."

The middle level is to abide by the rules and etiquette, and avoid causing one's parents shame or humiliation due to one's inappropriate behavior;

The most basic level is to do one's utmost to provide for one's parents, meeting their needs for clothing, food, shelter, and transportation.

"This means that to be filial to one's parents, the best thing to do is to do things that make one's parents feel honored and bring glory to the family."

The second level is ensuring one's actions do not bring shame or disgrace to one's parents. The worst level is simply providing for one's parents' basic needs.

“You fought and verbally abused your mother. Not only does she not feel honored by you, but you also intentionally tarnished her reputation. This is truly disobedient and unfilial, and you should be punished.”

Two punishments in a row left not only Xu Dongjuan but everyone else completely bewildered.

Jiang Zhi gripped the yellow thorn branch tightly, secretly praising in her heart: This new brain is really useful!

The first statement says that Qin Shi is the mother and should be respected. The second statement says that deliberately ruining the mother's reputation should be punished. Even filial piety is divided into three levels.

Well, as expected of the little madwoman trained by Crazy Brother! If Xu Dongjuan said these words in front of Magistrate Zhang and Chief Song, her bottom would definitely be spanked.

Two older children quoted classical texts, while the other younger children recited the "Standards for Being a Good Student and Child" in unison.

"The Rules for Students are the teachings of the sages. First, filial piety and brotherly love; second, diligence and trustworthiness."

Love all people and be close to the virtuous. If you have extra energy, study literature.

When your parents call, answer promptly. When your parents command, act diligently.

When parents teach, one must listen respectfully. When parents reprimand, one must obey obediently…

The child's voice was melodious and rhythmic, captivating the parents around them so much that they forgot what they were doing.

According to the children's thinking, Qin Shi was both a stepmother and a mother. Xu Dongjuan, as a junior, not only fought with her mother but also spoke ill of her, which was disrespectful and unfilial, and she deserved to be beaten.

As for what Qin did wrong, it seems impossible to say what she did wrong now; it's Xu Dongjuan who's being unreasonable.

The parents were pleased, but Xu Dongjuan panicked; the children's recitations felt like slaps to her face.

The only way she could suppress Qin Shi was by using the magic weapon of "elder" and "stepmother".

Elders should give way to younger generations; that's what my family has always said.

She's been using it for twenty years, and she's mastered it. She's never failed, and just now, someone even spoke up for her.

But now, when the children say it, they are accused of being extremely unfilial, and that they should not only not tell Qin Shi about stealing their food and money, but should also keep it a secret.

She could throw tantrums in front of the elders in the clan, and could directly tell an aunt like Jiang Zhi, "I'm not convinced, you're biased," and could cry and tell any adult in the village about her grievances.

There's no way to explain it to each of the children individually. I can't tell them that Qin Shi once took meat from them, or that Qin Shi once stole money from the family...

Children have the purest minds, and they do these things now too.

They shared snacks in the school, and then started fighting over them.

Sometimes, older children like Tian Xiaoquan and Shi Houzi would ask their families for money to buy things, and no one would think it was malicious, let alone understand why Xu Dongjuan said not to snatch things, especially since it was the younger generation snatching from the older generation.

Qin was laughing just now, but as she listened, she started to cry: "When have I ever been a mother? Who has ever treated me like a mother!"

Xu Genqing and Lianhua quickly came over to comfort her: "Mother, you've always been my mother!"

Lotus Maiden was still kneeling alone beside her; she had stopped trembling because she was about to faint.

Jiang Zhi gripped the yellow thorn branch tightly, then loosened it, feeling smug.

According to the children's words, Xu Dongjuan will no longer be able to use her status as Qin's stepmother to oppress people in the village, and she will have to take care of Qin first.

As long as Lotus Maiden doesn't become a fool, the Qin family will probably be able to live a peaceful life from now on.

However, Jiang Zhi was too optimistic. Xu Dongjuan's relationship with Qin Shi was not simply that of a stepmother and stepdaughter.

They were two girls of similar age, destined not to get along.

A glance, a word, a meal, a sewing kit—all on a certain day.

These seemingly trivial matters, when piled up, become a deep-seated feud between two girls of similar age.

At this moment, Xu Dongjuan was being beaten, and her gaze toward Qin Shi was filled with resentment: "I am the eldest daughter of the Xu family. Since she is a stepmother, why didn't she inform all the children in advance and ask for our consent before remarrying?"

I no longer agree; her marriage is off the table!

The classroom erupted in an uproar. Li Laoshi jumped up and shouted, "You black snake, talk nonsense! You think you can decide my marriage? You think your face is bigger than your ass!"

No law in any era has ever explicitly prohibited women from remarrying. Even in the Ming Dynasty, the law only prohibited the wives of officials of the seventh rank or above from remarrying.

However, remarriage is often arranged by the parents-in-law and other relatives, and the husband's family and the wife's family have a certain degree of decision-making power over a woman's remarriage.

Therefore, when Qin remarried, Wang Xiaoju used various means to get the Xu family to agree.

The son, Xu Genqing, also agreed in front of Xiaomanye and other elders in the clan, but did not attend the wedding banquet because Lianhua was in confinement.

Now Xu Dongjuan has come out to say that she disagrees, which is reasonable but unreasonable.

Xu Genqing didn't say a word since arriving at the school. He didn't have much of a relationship with this older sister; it was just a superficial thing between them.

He had argued with them before when they were fleeing famine, which severed ties between the two families.

But then Xu Dongjuan came and said that her mother's marriage was invalid, which made him laugh in anger: how could it be her place to interfere when her own son agreed to it?

No sooner had Li Laoshi finished speaking than Xu Genqing said, "I am his own son, and I decide what happens to my mother. My mother and Uncle Li have been living happily ever after since they got married. It would be best if my mother had another brother or sister, which would make you furious!"

Li Laoshi's face immediately lit up with a smile, and he said somewhat shyly, "Oh, is this alright?"

Qin burst into tears again: Only one's own flesh and blood is truly caring!

Xu Dongjuan, having already been beaten, was further enraged by Xu Genqing's words, rolling her eyes and pointing at him, saying, "You're a stupid pig, just like your worthless mother, utterly hopeless!"

Jiang Zhi told Tian Xiaoquan to take all the children away, explaining that the whole marriage thing was too complicated for the children to understand.

Moreover, the beating just now scared several people to tears, and they were even trembling while reciting their lessons. It seems that this act of making an example of someone has gone too far.

Tan's face turned ashen. She picked up Caixia and hurried away. Nini followed behind her, excitedly whispering to Leiwa.

After everyone left, Jiang Zhi said, "Xu Dongjuan, you probably won't be able to come back to Xujia Village again in the future. Why don't you stay here for a couple more days and let your husband's family come to pick you up before you leave!"

Originally, Jiang Zhi planned to beat Xu Dongjuan and then have her apologize to Qin Shi before releasing her. However, she decided to have the local official come so that she could confirm which pavilion chief it was.

Soon, Xu Dongjuan was locked in an empty classroom. Jiang Zhi sent someone to find Song Tingzhang and ask him to notify Xu Dongjuan's husband's family to come and take her away.

Old Song loved doing this kind of thing; it also gave him a chance to "have a heart-to-heart talk" with the village head.