Chapter 52 Brothers Turning Against Each Other
The feud between Li's father and Qin Tao's family has come to an end. In the end, Li's father was still worried, so he specially asked Li Shiyang to draw up a written agreement, which stated that as long as Qin Tao gave Li's father fifty taels of silver, then all the grudges and entanglements between the two would be wiped out, and they would go their separate ways and live peacefully without disturbing each other.
After watching the play, Li Shiyue planned to leave with Shitou.
But as soon as she turned around, she saw Li Wangming walking towards her with a dejected look on his face.
"Second Uncle?"
Li Shiyue only called out once, but then she saw Li Wangming's mother waving to her from behind.
Walking to Li's mother's side, she said, "Mother, Second Uncle..."
Li's mother nodded, then followed Li Shiyue's gaze to Li Wangming walking ahead: "Your second uncle has his own things to do."
Although Li Shiyue didn't understand what her mother was saying, she kept quiet. She, her mother, and Shi Tou stood aside and saw Li Wangming walk up to Li Youfu and kneel down in front of him.
"Wangming, what's wrong?"
Li Wangming knelt on the ground, cupped his hands in a salute, and then raised his head. He first glanced at Li Youfu, then looked at the three clan elders behind Li Youfu, and then looked around at the people of Li Family Village who were watching.
Of course, Li Wangming's gaze paused for a moment when it swept over Li's father.
Li Shiyue met Li Wangming's eyes for a moment, and she saw a resolute look in them.
She was a little worried. "Mother, what is Second Uncle going to do?"
Li's mother did not reply, but simply shook her head at Li Shiyue and remained silent.
Li Wangming's gaze finally landed on Li Shiyang. Li Shiyang was a very clever man; from the moment Li Wangming knelt down, he had already guessed what was going on.
"Grandpa Fu, Third Uncle, Fifth Uncle, Eighth Uncle, Brother Shiyang," after asking these people, Li Wangming looked up and asked the crowd around him, "And all the uncles and aunts of Li Family Village, today, I would like to ask you all to be my witnesses!"
Everyone was surprised; they really hadn't expected Li Wangming to do this.
Why do we need them to be witnesses?
What is this meant to witness?
Li Wangming raised his voice and said loudly to Li Youfu, "I, Li Wangming, am the sixth-generation descendant of the Li family, who have accumulated virtue. I now ask the clan elder to make the decision!"
Li Wangguang caused my mother's head to bleed to death for his own selfish reasons!
Such an unfilial, inhumane, and unjust person deserves to have his entire clan exterminated!
Please, clan leader, make the decision!
Exterminate the clan!
This is now the most severe punishment for someone who has made a mistake. All people are born with parents, live in their clan, and are buried in the clan's ancestral cemetery after death.
It can be said that a person lives under the control of the clan from birth to death.
Even when someone leaves their ancestral home and interacts with others in other places, their origins are still questioned. They are asked where they come from, what clan or lineage they belong to. This is a person's place of origin and a crucial sense of belonging for living in society.
If someone is expelled from their clan for a mistake, it's practically equivalent to social death in modern society—a direct social death. Living is worse than being dead, which is absolutely unacceptable.
Therefore, apart from Li Wangming, who proposed the idea of eliminating the clan, only Li Shiyang had some speculations but remained expressionless.
Oh, and Li's mother, who knew Li Wangming's plans in advance, remained calm.
But everyone else, from Li Youfu and the three clan elders to the villagers of Lijia Village who were watching, as well as Li Shiyue and Li's father, none of them expected that Li Wangming would start with such a big move.
"Li Wangming, you've gone mad!"
These words were shouted out by Li's father. He knew that he could not escape the fact that he had accidentally killed Li's grandmother. Although he had shifted the blame to Qin Tao, he had pushed Li's grandmother in public, in full view of everyone in Li's village.
However, he never imagined that Li Wangming would actually want to exterminate his clan!
What difference is there between this and killing him?
Li's father, as if possessed, grabbed a wooden stick and ran towards Li Wangming, but halfway there, he was stopped by a villager who gave him a signal from Li Shiyang.
Although they stopped Li's father in his tracks, they didn't shut him up.
"Fine, fine, Li Wangming, you're ruthless!"
You want me to pay with my life?!
Okay, come here, come here, if you dare, come and kill me!
Come on, kill me!
All he could hear was his father's frantic, hysterical screams. Suddenly, the image of his grandmother's death flashed into Li Wangming's mind. The grass was covered in his grandmother's blood. Li Wangming, who was holding his grandmother's head and calling out to her, still remembered the warmth of that blood.
"Please, clan leader, make the decision!"
Li Wangming shouted these words to Li Youfu again. Looking at the resolute attitude on Li Wangming's face, Li Youfu knew that a decision had to be made.
As Li Wangming finished speaking, the last ray of sunlight faded away, and torches were lit one by one, illuminating the area as bright as day.
Zhou Lanhua was now truly certain. Just over two weeks ago, a similar scene unfolded: flames lit up the darkness, illuminating the adulterous affair between Li's father and Qin Tao.
Li Youfu and the three elders turned their backs and whispered among themselves, and the villagers of Li Family Village who were watching started talking about the matter of Li Shiyue's family again.
"This...this is really..."
"If you ask me, Brother Wangming is right. A person who can even harm his own mother is so unfilial that he should be expelled from the clan!"
"Keeping such a beast in our Li family would make our ancestors so angry they'd crawl out of their graves."
"You've got to be kidding me!"
We fled famine so badly that we even abandoned the land our ancestors left us. Even if our ancestors were to rise from their coffins, we wouldn't be able to see them.
The men huddled together, discussing Li Wangming's claim that his father's clan would be exterminated, while the women and children were also busy.
"Exterminate the clan?"
"Young man Wangming, he really dares to speak his mind."
Zhou Lanhua looked up at Li Wangguang, who was crying and cursing, and curled her lips. She whispered to Erdan's mother, "What's there to be afraid of saying?"
If you ask me, this beast who killed my mother should be beaten to death!
He didn't die at the hands of refugees, nor on the road to escape famine, but was pushed headfirst onto a rock and killed by his own son!
If it were me, I'd be so angry I'd crawl back up from the underworld and beat that inhuman beast to death!
Listening to the differing opinions among the crowd regarding the handling of Li's father, Li Shiyue couldn't help but sigh, "In a society where the legal system is imperfect, clan is indeed a useful thing."
With the moon high in the sky, Li Youfu and his group finally finished their discussion.
Previously, Li Shiyue and her mother went over to try to help Li Wangming up, but Li Wangming stubbornly refused to get up, making it very clear that this matter had to be settled today.
Li Youfu stood up. He first glanced helplessly at Li Wangming, and then his gaze swept over Li's father, who was kneeling on the ground with his arms being held down.
Standing in front of the two men, Li Youfu coughed lightly. After the crowd gradually quieted down, Li Youfu spoke: "After discussing with the three clan elders, we have unanimously agreed that Li Wangguang's accidental death of his mother is an unforgivable crime. According to clan rules, he shall be flogged fifty times and confined to his homeland for life, never to leave the clan territory."
"Once we arrive in Andong and settle down, I will personally administer the whipping!"
After sighing, Li Youfu said to Li Wangming, "As Li Wangming requested, I have discussed it with the clan elders. Once we arrive in Andong and rebuild the ancestral hall, we will formally separate the family from Li Wangguang's family!"
You two brothers will live your own lives separately, with separate weddings, funerals, and clan ancestral rites. From now on, you will have no further connection. Do you agree to this division?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
