Chapter 106 Taking Angry Out on Jingxi

Meng Jinyao was speechless.

After a moment, she glanced at Gu Jingxi and asked, puzzled, "Why did my husband send me here?"

Gu Jingxi said gently, "Madam, let's sit down and talk first."

Meng Jinyao was slightly taken aback, then nodded, moved to the chair and sat down, wondering what a woman from the inner quarters could do, since she didn't understand the affairs of the court.

Gu Jingxi walked to the desk, picked up an envelope, turned around, walked towards her, sat down next to her, and handed her the envelope: "Madam, please take a look at this first."

Meng Jinyao took the envelope, glanced down at the cover, which was blank and had no name on it. She looked up at Gu Jingxi blankly, as if to ask a question.

Gu Jingxi said, "Madam, please take a look first."

Meng Jinyao responded, opened the envelope, and took out the letter inside. There were several sheets of paper. She glanced at them casually, but when she saw the information about her stepmother, Sun, she immediately became serious and studied it carefully.

This is a detailed account of the relationships between the Sun family and those around them.

The people around Madam Sun were all reliable, the most reliable of whom was Granny Qiao, a loyal servant who would risk her life for Madam Sun.

After reading the list, she instantly understood that Gu Jingxi had specially investigated it for her, so that she could find out the cause of Cheng Yu's death and bring down the Sun family.

It hasn't been long since she told Gu Jingxi about the situation, and Gu Jingxi has already given her such detailed information, which proves that Gu Jingxi started investigating as soon as she finished talking about it.

Few people would take her affairs so seriously. The few light sheets of paper in her hand felt heavy, and an indescribable feeling welled up in her heart.

Seeing that she was staring blankly at the letter and hadn't come back to her senses for a long time, Gu Jingxi asked in a low voice, "Madam, what's wrong?"

After a moment of silence, before she could respond, Gu Jingxi called out again, "Madam?"

Only then did Meng Jinyao come to her senses and ask blankly, "Husband, did you call me just now?"

Gu Jingxi nodded: "What is Madam thinking about so intently?"

Meng Jinyao gently shook her head, looked up at the man beside her, smiled, and replied crisply, "Thank you, my husband."

The little girl smiled, her eyes crinkling, clutching the letter tightly, looking as if she had found a priceless treasure; she was clearly overjoyed.

Gu Jingxi said gently, "It was nothing, Madam, you don't need to be so polite." He paused, then added, "However, does Madam intend to find evidence and hand it over to the authorities, or handle it privately?"

Meng Jinyao's smile deepened: "Then it will definitely be handed over to the government for handling."

Her stepmother was jealous that Aunt Du had taken away her favor and that Aunt Du had twins. She used someone else to do her dirty work and absolved herself of all blame, while she became the one who caused her brother's death.

After enjoying so many years of success and taking such good fortune, when she is suddenly disgraced and the whole capital knows about it, and her two children are ridiculed for having a murderer as their mother, one wonders if she will regret her vicious actions.

If it were handled privately, her father, for the sake of the family's reputation, would at most send Sun to the estate under the pretext of recuperation, never to return home, as a form of punishment. How could it be as satisfying as handing it over to the government for handling?

Gu Jingxi looked at the little girl calmly. Her bright and beautiful face was adorned with a sweet smile, but her half-closed eyes concealed a ruthless intent. He chuckled to himself, thinking: So she's just a little kitten who can only scratch people.

A moment later, Meng Jinyao asked again, "Husband, what is the sentence for a stepmother who poisons her young son born out of wedlock?"

Gu Jingxi replied: "Because the rights of parents and children are not equal, our dynasty severely punishes parents who kill their children at will. Stepmothers who kill their children are treated as murderers, and the same applies to legal mothers who murder their illegitimate children. The principal offender is sentenced to beheading, and accomplices are divided into two categories: those who participate in the act are sentenced to hanging, and those who participate in the planning but do not act are sentenced to one hundred strokes of the cane and exiled three thousand miles away."

Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyao's eyes lit up.

Beheading is good, hanging is also good. When the time comes, the master and servant will be executed together. One will be beheaded and displayed to the public, and the other will be hanged with a hemp rope to appease Cheng Yu's spirit in heaven.

Seeing the girl's overjoyed expression, Gu Jingxi felt that she was too happy and had overlooked something else. Although he didn't want to discourage her, he still had to remind her: "However, children suing their parents is considered unfilial, and the crime of unfilial piety is punishable. Please think it over, my wife. I don't want to have to visit you in prison every few days in the future."

Meng Jinyao paused for a moment. When Sun Shi seized her birth mother's dowry, she first used the power of the Marquis of Changxing's mansion to force them to return the dowry, and then threatened to report it to the authorities.

That time, she was so confident that she had evidence and could use the power of the Marquis of Changxing's mansion to put pressure on them. She knew they would return the goods without her having to report it to the authorities. That's why she could so easily say that she would file a lawsuit in court and fight to the death.

Now that a life is at stake, even if she can leverage the power of the Marquis of Changxing's mansion, it will be difficult to force her father to sue his wife for murdering their offspring in his own name.

Because Sun Shi had the title of elder, it was considered unfilial for her to sue her stepmother, and it was also unfilial for her second brother to sue her stepmother. The most serious consequence was that her second brother's sue of his stepmother made him an unfilial son, and he could forget about ever entering officialdom again.

According to the law, if a son or grandson sues his or his grandparents or parents, or if a wife or concubine sues her husband or his or his grandparents or parents, even if all the accusations are true, he or she will be sentenced to twenty strokes of the cane and three years of penal servitude. If the accusation is false, he or she will be hanged.

For this reason, grandparents and parents who conceal crimes, and wives who conceal their husbands who commit crimes, can all be exempted from punishment.

Conversely, it is possible for elders to sue younger generations, and husbands to sue their wives.

Meng Jinyao curled her lip, scoffing at the law: "This law is bad, it has many drawbacks, and it's unreasonable. If elders can't be reported for their crimes, how can fairness and justice be upheld? Why doesn't anyone object?"

Gu Jingxi said calmly, "Because of the word 'filial piety,' filial piety has been revered since ancient times. Even emperors must be filial to their parents. With filial piety as the top priority, all the unreasonable things become reasonable."

Meng Jinyao looked indignant and asked again, "Then how can a wife be guilty of suing her husband? A wife has no obligation to be filial to her husband."

Gu Jingxi replied, "The husband is the head of the household, and according to the principles of morality, the wife cannot sue the husband. Otherwise, it would be against the moral order, and doing something against the moral order is also a crime."

In an instant, Meng Jinyao's anger surged, and she even started to dislike Gu Jingxi, because Gu Jingxi was also a man and a husband.

She couldn't understand why such an unreasonable law existed and was even being promoted.

At the same time, a sense of sorrow arose in her heart.

The so-called filial piety, the male superiority and female inferiority, is like an invisible mountain, making countless people unable to breathe.

Such ethical principles are unlikely to be overthrown for a very long time. Perhaps one day in the future, children who sue their parents for crimes will be forgiven, and wives who sue their husbands for crimes will be able to go unpunished and not have to go to jail.

Gu Jingxi met her angry eyes and knew that he had been angered by the young girl. He innocently touched his nose and asked gently, "Madam, are you even angry with your husband?"