"Who are you here? State your name."
Familiar words, but unfamiliar people.
"I am Yan Xia, the daughter of Sun Yingyun, the convicted woman beside me. Years ago, she sold me to the Chen family in the same village for five taels of silver, and we've had no contact since. I married into my husband's family and had three sons and two daughters. I was dutiful and dutiful, but I still suffered beatings and humiliation from my mother-in-law, almost to the point of death. I went to my parents' home to beg for help, but my mother told me that a married daughter is like water spilled from a cup, and I have nothing to do with her anymore, because my first husband had died in battle. To survive, I divorced my deceased husband with my frail children, and that's how I escaped this calamity. I thought good days were coming..."
Yan Xia wiped away her tears.
"I left home with nothing, taking my children with me. At first, we lived in a dilapidated temple, surviving on wild vegetables. I accidentally found a wild boar and a grizzly bear that had fallen to their deaths, which gave me the initial capital. I started making and selling pastries, and the Yan Family Pastry Shop in Shuangqiao Town became my business. I thought good days were finally coming, but then my mother, along with my eldest brother and nephews, caused trouble in front of the shop, trying to force me to support my brother's family. I refused, and she even tried to stab me to death with a hairpin. Luckily, my daughter-in-law pushed me away, but she was almost stabbed in the heart by the hairpin and is still unconscious..."
Yan Xia burst into tears.
She cupped her face in her hands and bent down; her trembling shoulders could be seen from afar.
She looked extremely sad.
If you were to lift her hands, you would surely see her eyes, which are wide open.
Damn it, what do I do if I can't cry...?
Yan Xia mentally complained, but she kept her eyes open, which forced tears to flow and made her eyes red.
She breathed a sigh of relief, lowered her hands, and continued to complain.
"Your Honor, I beg you, help me! My life has been so miserable; I've never enjoyed any happiness. I was harshly punished as a child, watching my elder brother go to school and eat meat and pastries at home. He gambled away my mother's dowry without ever being scolded, while I've never even had a full meal. She gave birth to me but didn't raise me, selling me like a piglet. Now she's forcing me to support her whole family. How can I be filial when she's so heartless? She's trying to kill me! She's holding a hairpin and stabbing me straight at me! If it weren't for my daughter-in-law, I would be dead already! Your Honor, I beg you, do justice for me!"
Yan Xia kowtowed, tears streaming down her face.
The sight of it made the people outside the hall feel heartbroken.
The magistrate remained expressionless, but the slight glint of tears in his eyes betrayed his true feelings.
"You audacious wicked woman, how dare you commit murder with a hairpin in broad daylight! She is your own daughter! A human being! Not an animal! Do you think you can just kill her as you please? Guards! Give her ten strokes of the rod first. I feel disgusted just looking at this kind of wicked woman."
Magistrate Lu was so angry that his beard almost stood on end.
He happens to have an only daughter, fourteen years old, whom he has doted on since she was little. He can't bear to scold her. He is heartbroken if she burns herself while drinking water, let alone anything else.
Looking at Yan Xia, he imagined that if his daughter were treated like this, he would probably want to kill the entire family.
Magistrate Lu is only thirty-five years old this year.
Born into a farming family, he was determined to pass the imperial examination and start a family, so he didn't marry and have children until he was twenty.
Naturally, their thinking is not as outdated as that of officials in their fifties or sixties.
Sun Yingyun, whose skin was torn and bleeding, fainted.
But the county magistrate will not let her off easily.
"Someone, bring water and splash it on him to wake him up!"
It's cold outside; it's already December, and only wearing winter clothes can make you feel a little warmer.
A bucket of ice-cold water was poured over him, and Sun Yingyun instantly sobered up.
She was shivering from the cold.
My jaw is practically clenched to pieces.
"I deny it! I never did it. It's all a lie she made up, sir! Please don't be fooled by her. I've never mistreated her since she was little, nor have I ever made her do any work. She had an affair with the Chen family boy without any matchmaker. The claim that she was sold for five taels of silver is all a lie! After the Chen family boy died, she couldn't stand the loneliness and insisted on a divorce. I don't know where she got the money. She said she picked up a wild boar and a grizzly bear. Who would believe that? Those are ferocious beasts. Does she think she's a silly roe deer?"
"I'm afraid she's having an affair with some hunter. Our family is struggling, and we only came to her house to borrow some grain, but she wanted to kick us out. Is she even her own daughter? She's utterly heartless! I'd rather have a dog than her! At least a dog wags its tail at me, but what about her? Sir, please don't be fooled by her. I didn't lay a hand on her at all. It was her daughter-in-law who bumped into my hairpin."
Sun Yingyun tried every means to smear Yan Xia.
In court, he actually accused his own daughter of having an affair.
That's really rare.
Magistrate Lu naturally did not believe it.
"Nonsense! Your mouth is full of filth! She is your daughter, not your enemy! Since you're so stubborn, I'll go to your village and find witnesses to question you and see if what you're saying is true or false. Zuo Li, drive the carriage to Baihua Village to find her and bring their village headman here for questioning!"
"Yes, I will go immediately."
Zuo Li turned to leave.
But he was stopped by people outside the hall.
"Your Honor, I am the husband of this criminal woman, and my wife and daughter are kneeling in the hall. Please allow me to come in and speak with you."
It turns out to be Yan Xia's father, Yan Hecheng!
Despite the cold weather, he was covered in sweat.
He was breathless even when he spoke.
It felt like I had run several kilometers.
Not only that, when Yan Hecheng finished his work in the fields and was about to go home, he found that his wife and children were missing. He interrogated his daughter-in-law and learned that they had come to town to look for their daughter. It turned out that Yan Chun had accidentally seen Yan Xia open a luxurious shop and went home to complain.
Sensing something was about to happen, he immediately dropped his farm tools and ran towards the town.
After traveling most of the distance, he saw his son and grandson looking flustered.
After finding out the whole story, they finally arrived in town.
He first went to his daughter's shop, where his grandson told him that his wife and daughter had gone to the yamen (government office), so he rushed over.
Luckily, I made it in time.
"Bring it in."
With the magistrate's permission, Yan Hecheng entered and knelt down in the hall to kowtow.
"It's all my fault. I failed to discipline my wife and children. I'm willing to accept punishment. Madam Sun is vicious. I'm far inferior to her. Because of my lowly nature, I've lived most of my life being bullied by her, causing my daughter so much suffering. As a wife, she's neither virtuous nor obedient; as a daughter-in-law, she's unfilial; and as a mother, she's even more unkind. I can testify that what my daughter said is true. I humbly beg Your Excellency to grant me permission to send Madam Sun a letter of divorce. All my property and children will go to her. I'm willing to leave with nothing. I hope Your Excellency will grant my request—"
Yan Hecheng kowtowed several times.
Until his forehead turned bluish-purple.
He didn't want to live with that vicious woman, Sun, anymore, but his kind heart couldn't bring himself to watch her grow old and die without a future. He left the house and his children and grandchildren to her, hoping only that his children would take care of her in her old age.
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