That's how Zhao Minggeng unknowingly became a friend of women.
Just as Mai Miao and her mother were settled, they heard that the family who had bought Mai Miao from outside the city had gone to the county government office to beat the drum and appeal for justice.
In broad daylight, it's extremely rare for people to beat the drum and appeal for justice.
To report a case, one must go directly to the yamen runner or submit a petition. After the clerk reviews it, it will be handed over to the adults for trial.
The act of beating the drum to appeal for justice meant that no matter how busy the county magistrate was, he had to put down what he was doing and then hold court to hear the case.
After Zhao Minggeng took the stage, he learned upon inquiry that it was the family that had bought wheat seedlings to arrange a ghost marriage.
Zhao Minggeng was delighted. He hadn't even had a chance to deal with them yet, and they had already walked right into his trap.
"The laws of the Divine Dragon Kingdom forbid ghost marriages. Your He family knowingly violated the law and arranged a marriage between a living person, which constitutes suspected murder."
They gathered a group to beat up the yamen runners, hoping to cause an even bigger incident.
He Zhongshu and He Meishi, the heads of the He family, you two bear the main responsibility.
He was sentenced to serve in the mine for thirty years.
The rest of the He family members were all given fifteen strokes of the cane.
He Mei was terrified upon hearing this and immediately started throwing a tantrum. What good could an old woman who could buy living people for ghost marriages have?
Her arrangement for a ghost marriage is different from the usual practice of finding a wife for the dead. It involves burying the wheat seedlings alive.
This is utterly outrageous.
Therefore, Zhao Minggeng did not stop He Meishi from throwing a tantrum immediately.
Enraged, He Mei cursed him many times before ordering her to be beaten with dozens of strokes of the cane.
After Zhao Minggeng interrogated the case, he posted a notice outside the county government office.
It is emphasized that, unless the biological parents can sell their children, no one else, including older siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, is allowed to do so.
Ghost marriages are prohibited, and the use of living people as burial objects is strictly forbidden.
Women are also citizens of the Divine Dragon Kingdom and must not be beaten, abused, or even insulted at will.
Anyone who violates this rule will be severely punished.
The last point was added by Zhao Minggeng himself.
When he posted the notice, he did not write the law, which states: "The people of Dawar should know."
It can only be said that he is using a fallacy to distort the facts.
Because the notice was posted on the bulletin board of the government office, the common people assumed it was the law of the Divine Dragon Kingdom.
Families who frequently beat their children and wives will always gently clench their restless fingers before they feel the urge to strike again.
I'm thinking about it. If I were to actually do that, would there be any negative consequences?
After handling several major cases, Zhao Minggeng took on a few trivial cases.
The chicken theft case.
The Zhang family has lost their big spotted chicken, and the aroma of meat is wafting from the Li family next door.
So the Zhang family went directly to the Li family and questioned them about whether they had stolen the Zhang family's chicken.
The Li family denied it, saying that they bought the chicken for one hundred coins.
The two sides argued and then started fighting.
Then the Zhang family cracked open the skull of one of the Li family's sons, and the Li family's wife plucked all of the Zhang family's wife's hair.
The scene was quite chaotic. The two families kneeling in the county government hall looked utterly miserable.
Not only were their hair disheveled, but some of their faces were also covered in scratches, making them look quite gruesome.
The clothes were in a terrible state.
It wasn't good material to begin with, and who knows how long it rolled on the ground.
Aside from tearing off his sleeves and ripping his clothes, he knelt in the main hall, and every movement he made caused dirt to fall to the ground.
Look at the circles of dirt around these people's feet, it's really funny.
“Zhang family, you said the Li family stole your chickens, do you have any evidence?” Zhao Minggeng asked.
The Zhang family's response
"Sir, the Li family is so poor they're practically starving."
"Where would we get the money to buy chickens? Did they steal my chickens, or did they magically appear out of thin air?"
"How do you know so much about how other people live their lives?" Zhao Minggeng asked.
The Zhang family members showed disdain.
"Her youngest daughter-in-law is a big mouth. She talks about her family's affairs to my daughter all day long. Of course, I know about it."
Zhao Minggeng felt that if his own mother were to preside over the trial, the outcome might be better.
"This only shows that Li's daughter-in-law and your daughter are both gossipy people, it doesn't prove that the chicken was stolen by Li's family."
The Zhang family was unhappy.
"Sir, you can't side with the Li family. If they didn't steal the chickens, then where are my chickens?"
"Where your chickens go is something you can only ask your own family members. How do you usually take care of your chicken coop?"
As for the Zhang family, you'd better start by looking for the reasons within your own family.
However, based solely on speculation, this official cannot conclude that the Li family stole the chicken.
After Zhao Minggeng finished speaking, his gaze turned to the Li family.
"Li family, the Zhang family is questioning whether the chicken you ate was lost from their house. What evidence do you have to prove that the chicken wasn't stolen from your house?"
The Li family members quickly kowtowed.
"Your Honor is wise. My son received his wages today, and the whole family was happy, so we bought a chicken to eat."
I never expected to encounter such a troublesome thing.
That chicken wasn't stolen from my house.
Zhao Minggeng frowned.
“Li family, since you bought the chicken, where did you buy it from, when, and how much did you spend? Do you have any witnesses to answer these questions?”
The Li family's gaze turned to their youngest daughter-in-law.
"Old Six's family, tell me, where did you buy the chicken from, and how much did it cost?"
The sixth son's wife and Zhang's daughter often went around exposing their family's dirty laundry.
Hearing his mother-in-law's question, he paused for a moment, "Mother, that chicken was bought by my daughter-in-law, it only cost 100 coins. It was at the intersection of West Street."
"Whose chicken did you buy? You heard the adults' question, so answer it now. Are there any witnesses? Otherwise, your man will have gotten beaten up for nothing today."
When the sixth son's wife saw her husband's face covered in bruises and his not-so-useful arm, she made a huge decision.
"Mother, if I tell you the truth, you can't beat me, and you can't let Sixth Brother divorce me."
Upon hearing this, the Li family member's expression hardened. After all, she was a mother-in-law and still possessed a certain composure.
"Alright, tell me, and I promise I won't beat you today, nor will I let your man divorce you."
The sixth son's wife glanced at the Zhang family girl and said, "Actually, I didn't buy that chicken on the street."
The conversation had barely begun when the Zhang family erupted in anger.
"I knew it was your family that stole my chicken. You're a whole family of black-hearted scoundrels. Aren't you afraid of your intestines rotting out?"
Zhao Yonggeng slammed his gavel. "The Zhang family, shut up. Any more innocent noises will be punished with ten strokes of the cane."
The Zhang family shut up.
The sixth son's wife continued.
"Today I went to the street to buy chicken and ran into Zhang's daughter, Cuihua. When she learned that I was going to buy chicken, she said she could sell me her family's big spotted chicken."
Her family's large, plump chickens weigh at least seven pounds.
Normally it could sell for over 100 coins, but you sold it to me for 95 coins.
I thought it was a good idea; it didn't matter whose it was, and I could save 5 coins.
I was tempted by greed and thought that even five coins of my own money would be good, so I bought it. Little did I know that Zhang Cuihua had set a trap for me.
"Mom, you know that big, sturdy chicken is really heavy. You even praised me for being good at buying things. Please don't hit me."
Zhao Minggeng and everyone in the Li family looked at the sixth son's wife with expressions of disbelief.
The sixth brother slapped her across the face, saying, "You stupid woman, the whole family got this beating because of you."
Zhao Minggeng couldn't just stand by and watch someone beat his wife in the main hall.
"Mrs. Li, when you bought the chicken, did anyone see you, especially when you paid for it? Was there any witness?"
Li Guoshi shook her head.
"At the time, I was quite puzzled as to why Zhang Cuihua was being so cautious, even though she usually has a very loud voice."
I assumed she was afraid my mother-in-law would find out I was looking for the five coins.
I was being so careful, I thought she was doing it for my own good. Turns out she was setting a trap for me.
They sold the chickens first, then tried to extort money from me. This is absolutely outrageous!
Zhao Minggeng continued, "Was there any marking on the money you gave out?"
Li Guoshi thought for a moment, then slapped her thigh.
"You know what, there really is one. I remember on that string of coins, one of the coins had a corner missing."
When I was counting the money, it even scratched my finger.
Because I needed to take 5 coins, I tied a bow on the string holding the coins together, and my left leg was 1.5 inches shorter than my right leg.
This is one of my habits.
If Zhang Cuihua hadn't recounted the money when she got back, then the money would definitely be like this.
At this stage of the investigation, it seems that only body searches and home searches are possible.
"Zhang Cuihua, do you have anything else to say?" Zhao Minggeng asked.
Zhang Cuihua stubbornly insisted, "Nonsense, I didn't sell her any chickens. Where would they get so much money?"
Their family is usually incredibly stingy; how could they possibly afford to eat chicken? It's all that Li Guo's fault for framing me."
After saying that, he launched into a tirade of profanities at Li Guoshi.
Li Guoshi naturally couldn't let this go unpunished.
"You, Zhang Cuihua, how dare you treat me like this after I treated you as a good friend? You're not even human."
Do you dare swear to God?
You can say that if you sell your chicken to me, you'll never get married in this life, and in your next life you'll be reborn as a chicken to be eaten, and in the life after that you'll be a prostitute sold into a brothel.
Do you dare swear?
People in ancient times were superstitious, especially when it came to oaths of faith, which were truly exceptionally potent.
A normal person's vow is at most to go to the eighteenth level of hell and not be reborn, but she's gone and has already planned out her fate for the next life, not just the next.
Zhang Cuihua's face flushed red.
"Why should I make a solemn oath? Who do you think you are to me make a solemn oath?"
Li Guo sneered.
"Even if I'm a scoundrel, I dare to admit what I've done, I dare to swear an oath, and you don't. You're just a coward, a bastard, an old orphan who'll never get married."
Look at how ugly you are, yet you dream of marrying into a rich family and becoming a concubine.
Don't you think about it? Those rich lords aren't blind. Do they want you because you're ugly, or because you're illiterate and your farts are smelly?
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