Chapter 16 The Crime of Treason
Dogtooth was extremely curious and leaned in to listen.
"ah!"
"You scared me to death!"
"My ears are perfectly sharp. If you keep spreading rumors that I'm crazy, I'll beat you to death!"
Dogtooth covered his ears and rolled on the ground, putting on airs.
Guan Zhiwei smiled, pursing her lips.
He stopped rolling and started laughing too.
Everyone was laughing and joking, squatting on the ground, slurping down their porridge from big bowls. Just as they finished eating and were about to get back to work, a team of armored soldiers stormed in menacingly.
Upon entering the room, he pointed fiercely at everyone, shouting, "Don't move! Put down what you're holding! Who is Yaozhuang?!"
They were pointing weapons at the unarmed workers, which startled everyone. Brother Yao quickly stepped forward and politely handed over the money.
"Sir, what's wrong?"
The other party threw the money down and said coldly, "Treasoner, take him away!"
They quickly surrounded Yaozhuang.
Everyone quickly chimed in, trying to explain: "Sir, you've misunderstood! What treason? How could we dare!"
"Shut up! Are you accomplices too?!" the officer shouted sternly.
Guan Zhiwei picked up the sledgehammer without making a sound.
[It's easy for you to kill this twenty-man squad by yourself. But after you're done, the authorities will send even more troops. You'll eventually have to escape, but can they? That would confirm your treason.]
The system is being poured cold water.
Guan Zhiwei ultimately did nothing because Brother Yao stopped everyone from talking at once.
"It's alright, everyone don't panic. Trust that the authorities will clear our names. We didn't do anything wrong, so we have nothing to fear."
Yao Zhuang calmly instructed Guan Zhiwei and Hei Lao Er to keep an eye on the house, and then left with the others.
Sister Ning panicked for a moment, but quickly calmed down. If it were something serious, she wouldn't have taken only one person with her.
She first closed the store and sent all the workers home. Then she spent money to inquire about information and bribed the prison guards to make things easier for Brother Yao in prison.
We finally got the information.
It turns out that the Zhou family was suspected of plotting a rebellion. Many officials came out to accuse Grand Commandant Gao of abusing his power and were labeled as his accomplices. In the past few days, some powerful families have been dragged out and their entire families have been killed.
As the matter escalated, those below, sensing the signal from above, began a more thorough investigation. Since the Zhou family had purchased their weapons from Yao the blacksmith, they arrested the person responsible.
A normal business transaction has been twisted into an attempt to rebel; it's truly an injustice. But then again, isn't the Zhou family also innocent?
The second brother got anxious and pounded his fists: "What are we ordinary folks doing rebelling? Or are these officials just trying to squeeze money out of us?"
"This is a serious matter that needs to be dealt with severely. We can't get it done even if we offer money. We have to wait for news."
Sister Ning wiped away her tears and said with a resolute expression, "I'm afraid things might go wrong, Second Brother. I'll give you some money. You can take my Sanlang back to the countryside to hide for a while. Sanlang is not even two years old yet, and I haven't registered him. Even if something really happens to him, we won't be able to find him."
“Going back to my hometown in the countryside is definitely fine, but leaving you and your children behind, I…” Black Second hesitated.
“And me too,” Guan Zhiwei said abruptly. “My family lives in the city. I don’t go anywhere else. Just come to me if you need anything.”
Sister Ning held her hand, her voice trembling, and said, "Good child, you are a good child!"
Guan Zhiwei looked at her, her black hair streaked with white, her eyes red-rimmed and bloodshot, showing the weariness of a middle-aged woman. Her heart skipped a beat, a pang of heartache.
She said softly, "Actually, I can rescue him. Give me two, no, three knives, and I can carry him all the way out and hide him in a village."
Sister Ning remained silent for a moment, seemingly weighing her options, but ultimately she gave up, shaking her head and saying, "That would blow things up, violate the law, and our family would have nowhere to go."
Guan Zhiwei felt that this era was truly a mess. Grand Commandant Gao framed and killed political enemies everywhere, while ordinary people obeyed the law and dared not defy it even if they were wronged.
Upon closer reflection, this is not surprising, as the law is meant to be obeyed by ordinary people.
Those beautiful words—conscience, upbringing, morality—are all used to discipline people, to form a stable foundation for obedience.
If that still doesn't restrain people, then add rules, principles, and laws.
By employing both soft and hard tactics, most people became obedient, a small number were dealt with, and society stabilized.
Why don't people rebel? Because people need stability, and this is a two-way street, so it's hard to say whether it's good or bad.
While pursuing stability, if all else fails, they seek out the gray areas outside the law.
Sister Ning repeatedly sent gifts and begged people everywhere, with Guan Zhiwei following behind her, but it seemed that she hadn't reached the right person, and Brother Yao still hadn't been released.
For now, all we can do is wait until this storm passes before ordinary people have a chance to survive.
But the wind lingered.
The resistance of the powerful families against Grand Commandant Gao became increasingly fierce. It is said that during the morning court session, Grand Commandant Gao drew his sword and stabbed a high-ranking official to death. He became more and more unscrupulous, and his soldiers gradually became less restrained.
When Madam Feng went out to sing, she would sometimes come back covered in dust and dirt, her face always bearing some injuries, bruises and welts. Fortunately, the reward money she received was quite generous, enough to buy some rouge and powder to cover it up.
"These damned brutes..." she cursed the soldiers through gritted teeth, insulting their ancestors, and finally told Guan Zhiwei to be careful.
"I know you can fight, but those bastards are beasts. They swarmed in and ruined so many girls. There's nowhere to complain to heaven or hell."
Looking at her bruised and swollen face, Guan Zhiwei said, "Why don't you stay home for a couple of days?"
Madam Feng was silent for a moment, then shook her head: "While I'm still young, I'll save as much as I can. When I get old, I'll be like the bark of an old tree by the wall, and nobody will want to touch it anymore."
Every woman has her own hardships.
She also had to dress up in her finest clothes to attract their attention.
Her husband, Yan Chunsheng, still seemed very amiable, never clashing with anyone, and was very generous, lending things to anyone who asked.
Only Atu felt sorry for his mother and begged Guan Zhiwei to teach him a move or two.
"I want to be as strong as you, so that if anyone bullies my mother, I can fight back."
"it's useless."
Guan Zhiwei said this not because her fighting ability came from skill points and she couldn't teach Atu, but because being able to fight wouldn't be useful.
Madam Feng lost not because of force, but because of money.
Money can render a person's dignity worthless, and can make them beg for mercy on their knees.
But I still have no money. The food I eat is bad, the clothes I wear are bad, the housing is bad, so why do I still have no money?
Is it because I haven't tried hard enough?
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