Chapter 88088 Dilemma
Wang Shi was not called Wang Shi in the past, but Wang Nianci.
Wang Nianci's father was a successful candidate in the imperial examination and served as an eighth-rank county magistrate. He was pedantic, stubborn, and serious. His mother was the daughter of a scholar. She was easygoing and submissive, and only obeyed her husband.
Wang Nianci was extremely intelligent since childhood, and was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Before she even reached the age of 15, her talent and fame had spread far and wide, and people seeking marriage proposals lined up at her door.
She has a close friend named Chu Ran.
Chu Ran's father was a minor official in the county government. Wang Nianci met her at a banquet. They hit it off immediately and became good friends. They often played the piano and wrote poems together.
In Wang Nianci's mind, Chu Ran is both a close friend and a relative.
They will continue to be so good, and their children will become close friends like them.
On the eve of her coming-of-age ceremony, Wang Nianci invited Chu Ran to attend her coming-of-age banquet.
Chu Ran happily agreed, but broke the appointment on her coming-of-age day.
Wang Nianci waited until evening, but Chu Ran did not show up.
The next day, Wang Nianci went to the Chu family, but was told that Chu Ran had contracted an acute illness and was sent back to his hometown for recuperation five days ago.
Chu Ran didn't want Wang Nianci to worry about her and affect her good mood at the coming-of-age banquet, so she asked her parents to keep it secret.
Wang Nianci believed it, and after returning home, she often wrote to Chu Ran, expressing her concern for her condition, looking forward to seeing her again soon, and sharing daily fun and what she saw and felt in the book.
In this way, the days passed one by one, and in the blink of an eye it was early spring of the following year.
Early that morning, Wang Nianci took a carriage to a nearby temple to pray for her friend, hoping that she would recover soon.
Perhaps God heard her prayers, and she saw Chu Ran in the temple.
After a year of separation, Wang Nianci was filled with joy and tears welled up in her eyes when they met again.
In excitement, when Chu Ran asked the maid to leave so that they could have a long talk together, Wang Nianci agreed without hesitation.
During the conversation, Wang Nianci suddenly felt sleepy.
Fortunately, her good friend was by her side, so she fell asleep peacefully.
When she woke up again, Wang Nianci found herself not in the temple's living hall, but in a dilapidated house with a foul smell.
Her limbs were tied and she lay on a wooden bed unable to move.
At that time, Wang Nianci thought that they had met some bad guys and were abducted here.
She was worried about Chu Ran's situation and tried to cut the hemp rope to escape.
However, before she could escape successfully, a man with a rat-like appearance walked in.
Overnight, Wang Nianci was forced from being the daughter of a county magistrate to becoming the wife of a farmer.
She had resisted before, but each time she was severely beaten by the man named Li Dashan. She was locked up in a dark room, covered with bruises, and her life was worse than death.
Wang Nianci couldn't help but wonder if Sister A Ran had also met with an accident.
She began to regret. If she had known that she would reunite with Sister Aran, she would not have gone to the temple, otherwise they would not have fallen into the den of thieves.
Guilt and self-blame were like an endless tide, almost drowning Wang Nianci completely.
She didn't know how long she had been imprisoned here.
Maybe ten days or half a month.
Or maybe a year and a half.
This feeling of guilt followed Wang Nianci like a shadow, making her lose weight little by little.
Later, Wang Nianci became pregnant.
She didn't want the child. Li Dashan noticed her thoughts and tied her to the bed with a hemp rope.
As a result, no matter how many ideas she had, she could not put them into action. She was forced to carry the baby for ten months and give birth to a baby boy.
The day after giving birth, Wang Nianci finally saw her sister A Ran, whom she had been thinking about day and night.
But she never expected that the first thing Chu Ran said when he came up was: "Now that you have a child, it's time to give up the idea of going back. Stay here quietly and raise children for the mountains, right?"
Chu Ran's voice was as gentle as usual, but it made Wang Nianci feel like she was falling into an icy cave.
Only then did she realize that in the past year, Chu Ran had not contracted an acute illness and returned to her hometown to recuperate, but had been abducted by a beggar to Xiaohe Village and married to a man named Li Liang.
"I used to hate and resent him, but when I held the child I risked my life to give birth to, a wonderful emotion came over me. My heart softened, filled with love, and no more resentment."
"Ah Ci, don't you like Sister A Ran the most and always say that you want to be with Sister A Ran forever?"
Chu Ran sat in front of the wooden bed, his eyes doting and gentle as water, but he was like a man-eating evil ghost, tearing open Wang Nianci's flesh and gnawing at her heart.
Wang Nianci couldn't believe that Chu Ran actually betrayed their friendship of many years for two men whom she had only known for less than a year.
"If you want to regain your freedom, be a little more obedient and don't make Dashan unhappy."
"Oh, by the way, from now on you will no longer be called Wang Nianci, but Wang."
Later, Wang Nianci found out that in order to prevent outsiders from hearing their names and reporting them to the authorities, the women who were abducted to Xiaohe Village only had surnames, not given names.
From then on, Wang Nianci became Wang.
Li Dashan's wife, Ms. Wang.
Li Hai's mother, Wang.
Wang was unwilling to accept this. Her heart was burning with rage, enough to burn to ashes the Chu family and the people of Xiaohe Village who had assisted the tyrant.
But she knew that she was at the mercy of others.
When you are in a wolf's den, you cannot just resist.
So she lay dormant for a while, put away the thorns on her body, and acted gentle and considerate, coaxing Li Dashan to relax his vigilance and stop tying her up with hemp ropes. He would let her out for some fresh air every ten days or half a month.
Taking advantage of the half-hour break to get some fresh air, Wang contacted the women who were also abducted. After many attempts, she reached a consensus with the five people.
They want to fight back!
They want to escape from here!
Xiaohe Village is located near mountains and rivers, and there are many medicinal herbs in the deep mountains.
There are herbs that save lives, and there are herbs that harm people.
Six women, including Wang, spent two months and finally found a herb in the mountains that could cause people to faint.
The time to fight back has come.
Wang went to find Chu, crying out her grievances and reminiscing about their past friendship.
Chu was so confused by Wang's crying that she dazedly agreed to let Wang help at the wedding banquet.
One of the other five women was also fortunately chosen to host the wedding banquet for the Zhang family together with Wang.
Wang mixed the ground herbs into the rice and watched the people of Xiaohe Village eat it with her own eyes.
She was trembling with excitement.
She finally saw the dawn of victory!
Everything happened just as she expected. Those people were drugged and fell unconscious.
The only exception is probably the three siblings who came to Xiaohe Village to stay overnight.
Wang knew what those beasts were planning, and she didn't want any more innocent people to be harmed, so she took the risk of knocking over the wine glass.
After the group of beasts fainted, the three siblings disappeared without a trace.
He must have escaped overnight, right?
That's fine.
Xiaohe Village is about to be engulfed in a sea of fire, and all the people and all the sins will be blown away by the wind.
She wants to kill everyone.
Then go to death calmly.
......
"My name is not Wang Shi, my name is Wang Nianci."
Wang Nianci held the child high in her arms and threw him down with force.
The child opened his mouth and burst into tears, trying to win his mother's sympathy with his crying.
Unfortunately, Wang Nianci's heart had already become as hard as iron the moment she fell into the wolf's den.
She knew exactly what she was doing.
Including killing Li Dashan and throwing the child to death.
He is sin itself.
His birth was a mistake.
He shouldn't have existed.
Wang Nianci wants to restore order and restore everything to its original state.
"ah!"
Chu Ran looked at the child falling in a straight line, his eyes bloodshot.
She rushed forward desperately and protected the child with her body.
Unfortunately, it was still a step too late.
The child's head hit the hard bricks, and the severe pain made him cry out sharply.
"Wang, you are crazy!"
"Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. How could you treat the child you carried for ten months like this?"
Chu Ran questioned harshly, his eyes so fierce that it seemed as if he wanted to eat Wang Nianci alive.
Wang Nianci looked coldly at the child with blood oozing from the back of his head. She listened to his crying and remained unmoved: "No, I'm not crazy."
"You are the crazy one, Chu Ran."
"You are so well-read and knowledgeable, yet you are colluding with the beggars, teaming up with them to abduct innocent women and ruin their lives."
"It's ridiculous that the victim becomes the perpetrator."
Wang Nianci's hands were stained with blood, and his expression was sarcastic as he looked down at Chu Ran condescendingly.
"When you deceived the trust of one woman after another, abducted them to Xiaohe Village, forced them to marry and have children, or sold them for a high price, did you ever consider that you were once just like them, being sold for a price, becoming a tool for those beasts to continue their family line?"
Chu Ran didn't.
She was addicted to false maternal love, and for the sake of her child whose body was filled with the blood of a sinner, she would not hesitate to use the knife in her hand to cut innocent people.
Chu Ran hugged the child tightly in his arms, coaxing him in a low voice, turning a deaf ear to the questions of his former friend.
"If anything happens to this kid, he'll hate you."
Wang Nianci didn't care: "If I ignore my own feelings and keep him, I will hate myself for the rest of my life."
Chu Ran shook his head repeatedly, looking at her as if she were a monster: "You have changed. You are no longer the simple and kind Ah Ci."
Wang Nianci laughed so hard that she fell backwards and laughed until tears streamed down her face.
"Ever since you took advantage of my trust and tricked me into coming here, I'm no longer the naive and foolish Wang Nianci I once was."
Wang Nianci took out the boning knife from her waist and moved it as fast as lightning. The blade cut Chu Ran's cheek and blood gushed out.
The pain came, but Chu Ran couldn't free his hands to touch the painful area. He glared at Wang Nianci angrily and cursed her hysterically.
Wang Nianci didn't care about her harsh words at all. She just said, "I've always known what you're thinking. You're jealous that my family background is better than yours, that I'm prettier than you, and that I'm proficient in everything from music, chess, calligraphy, and painting."
"Admit it, you didn't attack me because you wanted to be with me forever."
"You fell into the mire, so let me fall into it too."
"But you're wrong."
"I'm not going to let this get me down."
Hatred is her best motivation, driving her to lie dormant and wait for an opportunity to retaliate.
"For the sake of our past friendship, I won't kill you."
"From now on, we are completely separated."
......
Chu Ran screamed and ran away.
Perhaps she was looking for a doctor to treat the injured child, or perhaps she was trying to save her disfigured face, or perhaps her dark thoughts were exposed, leaving her with nowhere to hide, so she fled.
Who cares?
Wang Nianci laughed at herself, stumbled out of the west room and came to the yard.
She sat on the steps and looked up at the sky.
"Dad, Mom, I am an unfilial daughter and cannot fulfill my filial duties to you two anymore."
After saying that, he raised the boning knife high and pointed it at his chest.
"If I were you, I would never die in such a hasty manner."
A clear voice broke the silence. Wang Nianci opened her eyes and looked outside the door vigilantly.
The young man was wearing a green robe and had a tall and slender figure.
Wang Nianci's eyes flickered slightly.
She seemed to be glowing, and the light around her was enough to dispel the darkness.
"It's you." Wang Nianci didn't put down the boning knife. "I thought you had left a long time ago."
Du Qingtang walked into the courtyard and asked, "Are you willing to accept this? Dying alone in a remote village, without even being able to see the person you wanted to see for the last time."
Wang Nianci gripped the knife handle tightly, bit her lip and said nothing.
Du Qingtang stopped in front of her and said calmly, "You're not even afraid of death, so why are you afraid of living?"
Wang Nianci suppressed the sob that escaped from his throat: "What do you, a man, know?"
A woman's chastity is above all else; she is already an unclean person.
Even if you survive, your fate won't be any better.
Du Qingtang certainly knew what she was thinking.
Under feudal ethics, countless women hanged themselves or met a miserable end because of losing their chastity.
But women do not have to rely solely on chastity to survive.
Du Qingtang admired Wang Nianci's courage and clear distinction between love and hate. She should not die in obscurity like this.
"As long as people are still alive and the sun rises and sets as usual, there is no obstacle in this world that cannot be overcome."
Just like herself.
She was reborn again and again, repeating the same mistakes, and her end was tragic.
She had also lost hope in life, suffered from nightmares, lived in a daze, waiting for, and even hoping for, death to come again.
Fortunately, she survived.
Now she has passed the imperial examination with six first place and has been promoted to the third rank official.
Apart from potential crises, her future is bright.
Du Qingtang stretched out his right hand: "You haven't seen what happened to those people yet. There are still many women waiting for you to save them."
"Stand up, walk out of here, go home, and tell your parents that you are safe."
Wang Nianci looked at the slender fingers so close to her, remaining silent.
The two sides were deadlocked and no one spoke.
After a long time, there was a loud "bang".
The boning knife fell to the ground, and Wang Nianci held Du Qingtang's hand.
......
Du Qingtang and Wang Nianci came to the Zhang family where the wedding banquet was being held.
The people in Xiaohe Village were still unconscious, but there were far more than five women in the yard.
Looking around, all I saw were pale, weak and sickly women.
Just as Du Qingtang witnessed the confrontation between Wang Nianci and Chu Ran, Du Yi and others, following her orders, searched house to house and rescued dozens of abducted women.
They were locked up in the house all year round and were often beaten and scolded. Although they regained their freedom, they were still anxious and uneasy, like a frightened bird.
They regarded Du Yi and others as their saviors and followed them to Zhang's house.
Du Yi came forward and replied respectfully, "Sir, everyone is here."
Du Qingtang nodded and said loudly: "You have two choices."
Everyone looked at her, with gratitude and expectation in their eyes.
"One is to kill them now and get revenge."
"The second is to hand them over to the authorities and let them be punished by the laws of Daxia."
As soon as Du Qingtang finished speaking, someone shouted angrily, "What's the point of handing it over to the government? They've even bribed the local county magistrate!"
"They not only sold the abducted women to bachelors from surrounding villages, but also offered them to the county magistrate and the county magistrate."
"Someone once escaped and reported the case to the county government, but was eventually sent back by that bastard official. Her body is still buried at the foot of the mountain."
"They have corrupt officials protecting them. Even if we report them to the police, they are still alive and well. They will kidnap more women in the future."
“That’s right!”
"Burn them!"
The woman who was working with Wang Nianzhi raised her arms and shouted, the anger in her eyes almost solidified into substance, she burned the beasts in the yard to ashes and threw them away.
Du Qingtang had not expected that this kidnapping case might involve collusion between the government and the people, but then he thought, how could the government be unaware of the kidnapping village like Xiaohe Village, which sells the kidnapped women everywhere?
The fact that Xiaohe Village could be so arrogant and lawless must be due to the connivance of the government.
Du Qingtang sighed, the administration in Daxia was truly rotten.
Yan Tiande was still inspecting the local area, but the magistrate of Xinyang County dared to commit a crime against the wind. He was truly like a man who hanged himself because he thought his life was too long.
Facing a chorus of doubts and objections, Du Qingtang rubbed his brows and said calmly, "If Xinyang County doesn't work, go to Pingyang Prefecture. If Pingyang Prefecture doesn't work, go to the provincial capital. If the provincial capital doesn't work, go to Xiajing. It's impossible for all officials in the world to be bribed."
"Rather than reporting them to the police, I'd rather kill them right now. What a relief!"
"Return the pain they have inflicted upon us a hundredfold!"
Obviously, the vast majority of women prefer the former.
Wang Nianci stood in the crowd with a calm expression, only the blood on her clothes and hands revealed what she had just done.
The women around him glanced sideways, their eyes full of shock.
They thought Wang was going to look for her child, but she came back covered in blood.
Whose blood is this?
An answer came to mind.
"Wang, what do you choose?"
The originally noisy crowd suddenly quieted down, and everyone looked at Wang Nianci.
They all heard that it was Wang Nianci who planned this counterattack and used the wedding banquet to drug those beasts, so that they were able to escape.
Wang Nianci turned her head and looked towards the yard.
She hated Li Dashan, Li Hait, and naturally hated everyone else in Xiaohe Village.
They were all the murderers who caused her tragic life, and they deserved to be cut into pieces and die painfully in a sea of fire.
but--
"Report it to the police."
The women's faces suddenly changed.
"Why call the police? Didn't we agree to burn them to death? I even have the tinder and kerosene ready!"
"I don't agree! They deserve to die!"
"Reporting them to the police would be too easy for them. Even beheading them would only last a moment. I want to watch them burn to death while they're still alive!"
Wang Nianci looked at the women who had the same experience as her.
Their eyes were filled with anger and disapproval of her.
At this moment, Wang Nianci felt unprecedented calmness.
She laughed, her voice soft but full of power, making people unconsciously convinced: "I know you think I'm just being too soft-hearted."
The women didn't say anything, but their eyes said it all.
——Yes, that's right, we think you are too kind, you shouldn't let them go so easily!
"To be honest, I've been abducted to Xiaohe Village for 385 days, and there hasn't been a single day where I haven't thought about killing them."
"Yes, we can indeed burn them to death."
"But is it enough to just kill them?"
"After killing them, the same thing won't happen again?"
"Besides them, there are tens of thousands of prostitutes in this world, and tens of thousands of innocent women who are suffering the same pain we have experienced."
"We must report this matter to the authorities, who will then completely destroy the numerous gangs of beggars operating in Xinyang County."
"If possible, I also hope to attract the attention of the imperial court and send special personnel to various places to destroy the Paihuazi gangs."
"Every time a gang is dismantled, thousands of women are spared from harm."
Wang Nianci's words resounded through the night sky, shocking everyone like a sound piercing through the clouds and splitting the rocks.
The scene was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
The women looked at each other, their throats felt like they were blocked by a ball of cotton, and they couldn't say anything.
The anger faded, replaced by shame.
"I didn't think about that. Before this, I just wanted to kill them and avenge myself."
"Can the authorities really arrest them?"
"What if they have all been bribed?"
"Sister Wang is absolutely right. What we have experienced is certainly painful, but if it can save the women of this world from suffering, I am willing to give it a try."
"Me too."
"And me."
Du Qingtang stood with his hands behind his back, and raised his voice several degrees: "Those who agree to report to the police, raise your hands. Those who agree to settle privately, don't raise your hands."
After a brief silence, nearly two-thirds of the women raised their hands and chose to report the matter to the authorities.
Du Qingtang nodded and told Du Yi and the others: "Tie him up first, and after daybreak, follow me to the capital to report to the authorities."
"Before the officers and soldiers arrive, you can leave on your own, or you can stay as witnesses."
After saying this, Du Qingtang left, leaving Du Yi and others to clean up the mess.
Although I didn't do anything that night, it was still very thrilling.
When he returned to Li Tai's house, the door that had been closed was wide open. Apart from the wooden bed, there were only hemp ropes and iron chains in the room.
It is obvious that Li Tai's daughters-in-law were all abducted using the same method.
It is known that the eldest of Li Tai's sons is already in his forties.
By this calculation, Xiaohe Village has relied on trafficking women for a living for at least 10 to 20 years. During this period, countless women were killed, and the corpses of countless women who bravely resisted but failed are buried at the foot of the mountain.
Du Qingtang sighed lightly. Many things had actually existed for a long time when they were discovered.
As long as there is profit to be made, there will always be people willing to take risks to do this business.
"Tang Ge'er, what's the situation outside now?"
Du Qingzhu's voice brought Du Qingtang back to reality from his thoughts.
Earlier, Du Qingtang rushed to Li Dashan's house to stop Wang Nianzhi from committing suicide. Zhu Ju and the others followed after notifying Du Yi and others.
Du Qingtang didn't want them to see too much blood, otherwise they would not be able to sleep at night and would easily have nightmares, so he let them go back.
Zhu and Ju couldn't persuade the youngest one, so they had to suppress their curiosity and left, looking back every few steps.
I've been looking forward to seeing the youngest one come back for a long time. I have to ask him about it in detail.
Du Qingtang told the truth.
Du Qingzhu rubbed his cheeks: "They are all good girls."
Du Qingju nodded in agreement: "Good people will be rewarded. They will surely have everything going their way and live in peace and happiness in the future."
"I hope so." Du Qingtang took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "It's the middle of the night now. Go to bed early. I have to go to the capital city early tomorrow morning."
Zhu and Ju nodded and went back to their rooms to rest.
......
The next day, at dawn, Du Qingtang set off for the provincial capital.
All Daxia officials were on duty at the hour of Mao. Pingyang Prefecture Governor Qiao Zhen had just finished a bowl of mung bean soup to clear away heat and was about to deal with official documents when a minor official came to report that Du Qingtang, the former co-governor of Runing Prefecture and current vice-minister of the Ministry of Revenue, wanted to see him.
Magistrate Qiao had heard of the popular Minister Du.
He passed the imperial examination with the sixth place at the age of eighteen and became an official of the third rank at the age of nineteen.
He cooperated with the imperial envoy to overthrow Feng Shu, who had been entrenched in Runing Prefecture for eight years, and presented new accounting methods, cowpox, Tianju Drink and masks and isolation suits.
A while ago, Magistrate Qiao received an order from the imperial court to promote and popularize the new accounting method.
I believe that it won’t be long before the imperial court will allow local officials like them to organize the people to be vaccinated against cowpox.
Cowpox is a good thing, otherwise the court would not have taken it so seriously and made an exception to promote Du Qingtang to the third-rank minister.
You know, many people may not be able to reach the third rank even after spending their entire lives until they are old and gray.
Magistrate Qiao did not dare to delay and hurriedly put down the official documents to meet Du Qingtang.
"Your humble servant greets His Excellency, the Minister."
Du Qingtang returned the greeting and stated his purpose directly: "I, Du, have come here today because the Xinyang County Magistrate has colluded with the people under his jurisdiction to illegally abduct and sell women..."
After Du Qingtang explained the whole story, Governor Qiao's expression became more serious.
"...Now the villagers of Xiaohe Village have been subdued by the abducted woman. I hope you will handle this matter impartially to prevent the situation from escalating and causing panic among the people."
The whole village is full of beggars, and eight or nine out of ten women are abducted. You can imagine how horrible it is.
If the news spreads, people with ulterior motives will follow suit, and human trafficking villages will spring up everywhere. I'm afraid the women of Daxia won't even dare to leave the house.
Not only women, but also children.
Whether in ancient times or modern times, children carry the hope of a country.
Magistrate Qiao couldn't imagine what terrible consequences would be caused if the beggar extended his evil hands to children.
Thinking of this, Prefect Qiao's expression became extremely serious. "Master Du, please understand that I was completely unaware of this matter. Otherwise, I would never have condoned the Xinyang County Magistrate's corruption and abuse of power to harm the people!"
After saying this, Governor Qiao bowed and said, "Please put it down, Lord Du. I will send people to arrest those involved in the kidnapping and trafficking case, destroy the gang that beat the beggars, and rescue the victims."
Du Qingtang knew that Magistrate Qiao was a good official, otherwise he would not have personally left the city to welcome the refugees who had moved out of their hometown due to the locust plague.
"Then I'll trouble you, Master Qiao."
Magistrate Qiao repeatedly said he didn't dare, but after much deliberation, he decided to lead people to Xinyang County in person.
He first arrested the county magistrate, county magistrate and others, then threw the villagers of Xiaohe Village who had woken up and were struggling hard into jail and sent people to interrogate them severely.
At the same time, he also found several tight-lipped doctors and sent them to Xiaohe Village to treat and regulate the victim's body.
However, years of imprisonment have caused great physical and mental harm to the women. They are afraid of strange men and also hate them.
The doctor sent by Governor Qiao couldn't get close to them at all and had to return disappointed.
Fortunately, there was Du Qingju in Xiaohe Village. She accepted the medicinal herbs brought by the doctors and personally treated the women.
Du Qingzhu was also busy. She found many interesting books from somewhere and distributed them to the women who could read. She also read to the illiterate women.
Although Du Qingtang lives in Xiaohe Village, she is a "man" after all. In order to avoid causing stress reactions among the women, she rarely shows up and only sends Du Yi and others to follow the progress of Governor Qiao's investigation.
In order to minimize the impact, Governor Qiao sent people to interrogate the beggars in Xiaohe Village day and night.
Six days passed in a flash, and under torture, everyone confessed their crimes. The village chief of Xiaohe Village also gave out dozens of accomplices.
Prefect Qiao did not dare to hesitate and immediately sent out the government soldiers to destroy six trafficking dens in one go and rescue hundreds of women who had been tortured beyond recognition.
Prefect Qiao was furious: "I never thought there would be so many bad apples in Pingyang Prefecture!"
"This is my negligence. I will immediately report this case to His Majesty and the Governor-General. These beggars will be severely punished. I will also propose a nationwide anti-trafficking campaign!"
Magistrate Qiao is not only a local official, but also a father.
Whenever he thought about the possibility that the injuries suffered by the abducted women would happen to his children, Governor Qiao became extremely angry and wished he could eat those beggars alive.
Anti-trafficking operations are imminent. Otherwise, with the arrogant behavior of the beggars, more and more women will be abducted or even killed in places unknown to them in the future.
Du Qingtang cupped his hands and said, "Your Excellency is so righteous."
Prefect Qiao repeatedly said he dared not do so: "If it weren't for Lord Du telling me, how could Qiao know that Pingyang Prefecture was hiding so many extremely treacherous and evil people? I am truly ashamed."
Du Qingtang said sympathetically, "Your Excellency is very busy with official duties, so it's inevitable that you will be overwhelmed."
These words made Governor Qiao feel very relieved, and his stern expression softened.
Afterwards, Du Qingtang expressed his personal views on the fight against human trafficking and then said goodbye: "It's getting late, Du, I'll take my leave first."
Prefect Qiao ordered a minor official to see Du Qingtang off, then began to draft an urgent memorial, which he handed over to a messenger to send 800 miles to Xiajing at an express speed, and then continued to deal with the mountain of official documents.
When he reached the gate of the government office, a handsome young man in a green official robe came towards him.
The man and Du Qingtang met each other's eyes, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. His body moved faster than his brain, and he bowed and stepped aside: "Your humble servant greets you, sir."
Du Qingtang nodded and walked away slowly.
The man stared at her back until his colleague called out, "Master Cao."
The man came back to his senses, responded, and strode towards the second hall.
......
Three more days passed like this.
When the Governor of Shanxi Province learned about the kidnapping and trafficking case in Pingyang Prefecture, he was furious.
In order to serve as a warning to others, the governor decided to severely punish the beggar and his accomplices in Xiaohe Village.
When the verdict was delivered to Pingyang Prefecture, Magistrate Qiao immediately ordered someone to copy it and post it.
The kidnapping and trafficking case in Xinyang County had already spread throughout Pingyang Prefecture, and the people of the prefecture were paying close attention to the outcome of the case.
When they learned that the governor had sentenced these people to death by beheading, everyone applauded and spread the news.
When the news reached Xiaohe Village, the women were listening to Du Qingzhu reading the story vividly.
Du Qingju was pounding medicine nearby and asked softly, "The execution will be in two days. Do you want to go and watch it?"
The women looked at each other in confusion. After a long silence, they said in unison, "Go!"
They chose to report the incident to the authorities and hand the animals over to them for disposal instead of burning them to death, which was a huge concession.
They still hope to see their end with their own eyes.
Du Qingju smiled, Du Qingzhu continued reading the story, and the women listened attentively.
After these days of conditioning, their complexions have improved a lot. Although they are not yet healthy, at least they are no longer as pale as paper and can be blown down by a gust of wind.
Just like the cracks in my heart, it is repairing itself little by little.
I believe that one day, they will all recover and become new people.
......
Two days later, Paihuazi was executed.
One or two hundred people were locked in prison vans, paraded through the streets, and then sent to the execution ground.
The streets were crowded with people watching the excitement, and rotten vegetable leaves and broken stones rained down on them.
When the parade ended and they arrived at the execution ground, all the prisoners had bruises on their faces.
The bailiffs opened the prison van, roughly dragged the prisoners down, took them to the execution ground, stripped them of their clothes, exposing their waists, and ordered them to lie prone on the iron chopping block.
It was noon, and the supervising official Xie Tongpan threw out the fire sign order.
"Execution!"
The prisoner began to struggle, crying and begging for mercy.
Chu Ran was among them.
Although she was abducted, she had colluded with the beggar in the past two years and abducted more than ten women. She was considered an accomplice and was sentenced to beheading.
She was naked in public, with disheveled hair and a dirty face, trembling like a sieve and begging for mercy.
"I was abducted. I am innocent. You can't kill me!"
"Aci! Aci! I know I was wrong, please come and save me!"
Wang Nianci wore a veil on his head and stood among the people watching the execution. He just looked at Chu Ran with tears streaming down his face with cold eyes, and was not moved at all.
The executioner grabbed the guillotine by the handle, lifted the blade, and then brought it down quickly.
Screams rang out.
The execution ground was flooded with blood.
The women were so frightened by the scene that they trembled all over, but they still stared at it without blinking.
They laughed and cried at the same time.
......
Beheading is not used for decapitation. It means that the person still retains consciousness after being cut in two by the guillotine.
They could feel the pain and eventually died with desperate cries.
Special personnel came to bury the body, moved it onto a donkey cart, and transported it to a mass grave in the suburbs.
They will become food for crows and hyenas and end up with their bodies torn to pieces.
After watching the execution, the women walked to the city gate.
There, Du Qingtang prepared a carriage and bodyguards for them.
Du Qingzhu and Du Qingju came to see them off.
The two girls hugged and said goodbye to each woman one by one.
"The money in the carriage is enough for you to get home without having to save money."
Du Qingju gave another address: "If you have nowhere to go, you can come find us."
The women thanked him with sobs, looked back every few steps, and boarded the carriage, which drove off along the official road into the distance.
Wang Nianci lowered the curtain, stroked the purse filled with silver, and smiled slightly.
She never asked where the child had gone, or whether he was alive or dead.
That night, she had killed Li Dashan and Li Hai and regained her freedom.
Now, she is going home.
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