Chapter 25: The consequences of slandering others
Chen Fenghe glanced at Qin Huanhuan dimly, and without saying a word, he walked up to her, raised his hand and slapped her twice!
"Ah! Chen Fenghe, you dare to hit me!" Qin Huanhuan covered her face, her nose and mouth were bleeding, and she stared at Chen Fenghe in disbelief.
Chen Fenghe looked at her coldly and said, "Hit you? Hitting you is too light! I, Chen Fenghe, am innocent. What you just said was clearly an attempt to deliberately ruin my reputation! Moreover, it would be fine if you only implicated me, but you actually dared to drag the official into this? Do you think you can slander the official at will?!"
Qin Huanhuan was suddenly frightened by what she said.
Exile could last for several months or even a year, and it was common for officials to be unable to bear the loneliness and force themselves on women among the exiles.
Everyone knew it, but who dared to speak out? They were afraid the officials would find a reason to beat them to death before they even reached their place of exile!
Otherwise, if the harm of talking nonsense is left, and it is reported to the higher authorities, the official himself will be dismissed from office at best, and imprisoned at worst.
The officers are not stupid. How could they joke about their own future, property and lives?
"What's more," Chen Fenghe continued, "what Mr. Yuan said just now was merely to give me justice. Everyone who went up the mountain with me saw it. Which word was false? How can I allow you to maliciously slander me?"
The onlookers listened, thought about it carefully, and nodded, saying, "That's right! We can all testify. Everything Mr. Yuan said is true, absolutely not biased!"
Chen Wu's face was cold, and he said sternly, "Madam Qian, Madam Qin, do you have anything else to say?"
It's fine if they slandered their fellow exiled prisoners, but they actually threw dirty water on the servants themselves? They really don't know their place!
Qian Qiuyun and Qin Huanhuan saw that no one was on their side, and that Qin Huanhuan's words had offended the official again. They were now pale and at a loss.
"Sir... Sir... I..."
Seeing that she had nothing to say, Chen Wu immediately said coldly: "Qian of the Qin family falsely accused Miss Shen with empty words, and her daughter Qin Huanhuan even slandered the officials. Their nature is vile. They are both punished with ten lashes each to serve as a warning to others!"
After hearing this, Qian Qiuyun and Qin Huanhuan's legs immediately weakened. The mother and daughter hugged each other and burst into tears: "Sir, we are innocent! Master, you...you must save us..."
When Qin Lizheng heard that his wife and daughter were punished with whipping, he was so angry that he glared at Chen Fenghe and Qin Mengyue. He just made a gesture of bowing and was about to argue.
Chen Wu continued, "Don't worry. I haven't finished my words yet. Qin Lizheng, you failed to educate your daughter properly, failed to discipline your inner chambers strictly, and condoned the behavior of your gossipy wife. Your behavior is even more unforgivable. You shall be punished with twenty lashes!"
After saying that, he waved his hand, and the other officers immediately came forward without saying a word, pressed Qin Lizheng, Qian Qiuyun and Qin Huanhuan to the ground, and then whipped the three of them hard with the whip.
How could the other members of the Qin family dare to step forward and say a word?
Moreover, the Second House felt somewhat relieved that the First House had suffered. They had bullied the Second House all along, and now they were getting their comeuppance!
The three of them screamed like ghosts and wolves, it was so miserable.
The one who whipped Qin Huanhuan was Li Yong. Although he had intended to let her go, he didn't dare to not use any strength at all in front of everyone. Therefore, Qin Huanhuan was still beaten to tears.
The most important thing is that he was whipped in front of so many people. It was all Shen Fenghe's fault!
She will never let her go!
Qin Huanhuan wailed and thought angrily in her heart.
The whipping ended quickly. Qin Lizheng and his family of three had just been poisoned and were now whipped again. They couldn't even stand up.
However, Chen Wu didn't care about their special circumstances, because Qian Qiuyun's random complaints had already delayed them for quite a while.
Today's journey will be delayed a lot. If he fails to reach the place of exile on time, he will be the one to bear the punishment!
Therefore, Chen Wu immediately announced his departure.
Although the second branch of the Qin family was not happy, they still reluctantly helped support the three beaten people and limped on their way because of Qin Jinzhong's order.
It was not until dusk that the exile team finally arrived at a small village market.
After Chen Wu sent someone to negotiate with the village chief, the village chief arranged for him to live in two empty houses in the village.
"But, sir, I can arrange for you to live here, but I hope you can make do with your food. My village really can't afford to honor you. Since this spring, there have been floods and droughts, and both spring and autumn planting have been delayed. sir, even though it's almost harvest time, the crops in the fields... oh!"
The village chief said tremblingly.
As Chen Wu walked along, he also found that many fields were deserted, so he said, "As for food, we can take care of it ourselves, so we won't bother the old man. However, I see that there are many empty houses in the village. What's going on?"
The village chief said, "The harvest is poor, and some villagers who can't make ends meet have gone to seek refuge with relatives or friends or to escape famine. I'm afraid those of us who remain won't be able to hold on for much longer..."
After hearing this, Chen Wu didn't ask any more questions. After thanking the village chief, he told everyone to spend the night in the empty house.
Chen Fenghe took out the chestnuts, bird eggs, and wild oranges that had been cooked at noon, and everyone ate them.
Then, she told Qin Mengyue to go out and see if she could ask the villagers to buy some food so that she could cook porridge on the way.
I walked to a secluded place and was about to enter the space to take a shower when I suddenly heard the voices of a man and a woman coming from behind the straw pile nearby.
She quickly hid in the dark and looked over secretly. She saw that the man and woman were Qin Huanhuan and an official named Li Yong. Who else could they be?
Qin Huanhuan was only wearing a bellyband, revealing her whip-bruised back, and Li Yong was applying medicine to her.
Qin Huanhuan groaned in grievance, "Ugh...Brother Li, you...please be gentle, it hurts. How could you have the heart to hit me so hard during the day?"
Li Yong quickly comforted her, "Hao Huan'er, there are so many people watching here. If I'm too obvious about letting you down, we'll definitely be suspected. You don't want your reputation to be ruined, do you? Don't worry, this is excellent wound medicine. Apply it and the pain will go away overnight..."
Qin Huanhuan was silent for a moment before she sighed and said, "Brother Li, you are so kind to me."
Li Yong pinched her forehead fiercely and said with a smile: "Just know that brother loves you. Brother will love you even more tonight!"
Having said that, he pushed Qin Huanhuan down, and the two of them started fighting.
Chen Fenghe avoided it calmly.
This... is too eye-catching, right?
Isn't it said that women in ancient times had a very strong sense of chastity? Qin Huanhuan shouldn't be married yet, and already...she's having an affair with a man?
She herself is not clean, and you have the nerve to slander her in broad daylight?
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