Chapter 279 Punishment
After Jiang Tangtang took over Lingnan, the laws were greatly revised. For example, according to the laws before the Great Zhou Dynasty, raping a woman would not be sentenced to death.
The most severe punishment under the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty was exile, while lighter punishments could even be dealt with by fines.
But the law revised by Jiang Tangtang directly imposed the death penalty.
To help the people better understand the law, Jiang Tangtang sent female doctors to each village to spread medical knowledge and also to promote the law. In addition, books were printed for the villagers to read free of charge.
But Lu Bowen was very dissatisfied with the Lu family's actions, and was even more dissatisfied with Lu Shiyan for not using the men of the Lu family and giving such great power to a woman like Jiang Tangtang.
Influenced by his father, Lu Lang was also full of complaints towards Jiang Tangtang and Lu Shiyan.
Therefore, not only did I not listen to any popular science articles related to the law, I also avoided reading any new books on the law.
Meng had to secretly have an affair with Lu Lang and find a way to hide it from her husband, so she had no time to learn about the new laws.
When Lu Lang asked her this question, her mind went blank. She became anxious and turned around and ran home.
Lu Lang grabbed her and asked, "What are you going to do?"
Meng said anxiously, "I'll go pack my things and run with you."
Lu Lang misunderstood her meaning, thinking that adultery was punishable by hanging. He was anxious and said, "Then why are you still packing? Let's run away first."
Mrs. Meng was excited about being able to stay with Lu Lang forever, but she was also worried. "But where can we go? There's a drought everywhere outside right now. Here, we have General Lu and Madam Lu. They will definitely find a way to help us through this difficult time. If we go somewhere else, how can we survive?"
In the past two years, Lu Lang has heard many people praising Jiang Tangtang and Lu Shiyan, as if they were the saviors of this world.
He was also a descendant of the Lu family. When he was in the capital, he lived under the dazzling glory of Lu Shiyan. When he was in exile, he was like an invisible man, and no one noticed him at all.
Now, Lu Shiyan has become the sun in the sky, and he seems to be the dirty mud underground.
Hearing his woman praising Lu Shiyan and Jiang Tangtang, Lu Lang suddenly felt a rebellious spirit in his heart.
"Why is there no way out? If I could have the same opportunities as them, I wouldn't necessarily be worse than them."
Lu Lang felt that he was just unlucky. He didn't have a father like Lu Shiyan to cultivate him on the battlefield, nor did he have a wife like Jiang Tangtang to help him.
If he had a father and daughter-in-law like that, he might be even more powerful than Lu Shiyan.
He suddenly felt an urge to leave Lingnan, to try his luck and become more powerful than Lu Shiyan.
He quickly grabbed the only weapon in the house and said, "Let's go to the back mountain and avoid their pursuit first, then find a way to leave Lingnan. There's chaos and turmoil outside now. Once we get out there, we can just get a random identity and live together like a proper couple. When the time comes, I'll make a career for you and let you become an official's wife."
Meng was full of longing for the life he had described. Her worries gradually faded, and she said confidently, "I know a small path that can avoid people."
Because Meng informed Lu Lang in advance and took a small road, Yuan San and his men missed him when they went to catch him.
In the end, only people from the second branch of the Lu family, as well as Lu Bowen and Lu Lang's younger brother Lu An were captured.
Except for Lu Chengxuan, the crimes committed by other members of the Lu family were not particularly serious. Most of them were petty thefts. Jiang Tangtang directly sentenced everyone to serve hard labor in the mine.
When he heard they were going to work in the mines, Lu Yingxun immediately acted like an elder and started scolding Jiang Tangtang and Lu Shiyan for their unfilial behavior. "If you hadn't disregarded family ties and deliberately suppressed us, would we have been unable to survive and resorted to such shady things? You don't reflect on your mistakes, but you still want to send us to work in the mines. Aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"
Jiang Tangtang was so angry that she laughed, "Don't you have arms or legs? You're lazy and have bad behavior, but you blame everything on others. With such bad behavior and irresponsibility, how can you act like an elder?"
The villagers all applauded Jiang Tangtang's criticism of Lu Yingxun.
Of course, they all work hard on the farm to make a living, so why can't they do the same?
Even Jiang Tangtang, a disciple of the immortal, and Lu Shiyan, a god of war, went to work in the fields.
Is he more noble than the God of War and the disciples of the immortals?
Moreover, the villagers had long known that Lu Yingxun and Lu Bowen were not Madam Lu’s biological children, but the sons of a concubine.
Although no one in the village took a concubine, they still knew a little about the rules of wealthy families.
That is, children born to a concubine are called illegitimate children and are not as good as legitimate children.
How could Lu Yingxun have the nerve to pay respect to his elders in front of the God of War and the immortal disciples? In the eyes of the villagers, anyone who disrespected Jiang Tangtang and Lu Shiyan should be struck by lightning.
But letting Lu Yingxun go to the mine for forced labor was too easy for him.
The angry villagers picked up stones and mud from the ground and threw them at Lu Yingxun. Lu Yingxun never expected that the villagers, who always valued filial piety and loved to talk about it, would not only not blame Jiang Tangtang, but would instead throw stones and mud at him.
He dodged left and right, but was no match for the villagers.
Especially those villagers whose chickens, ducks and food he had stolen, looked at him now and wished they could drink his blood and eat his flesh.
Seeing that Jiang Tangtang did not stop them and let them smash things, he became even more determined to vent his anger.
In a short while, Lu Yingxun was covered with bruises.
Lu Bowen and Lu Huaiyun, who were close to him, were also affected. They were all covered in dirt and looked very embarrassed.
After the villagers had vented their anger, Jiang Tangtang had them taken away and sent directly to the mine.
As Lu Chengxuan's case was more complicated, he was sent to Raoying County, where the county magistrate conducted a careful trial before executing him.
As for the escaped Lu Lang, she asked Yuan Si to lead a team to chase him, and also sent a document to the border and various state governments to track down the fugitive.
By the time everything was done, it was already dark.
Considering that Yuan San and the others had just traveled all night last night and were busy all day today, she decided to postpone the trip to see the wild rice and let everyone rest for a night in Zhounan Village to recover their energy.
"Madam, you've worked hard all day, so please have some food. I had someone catch some fish in the pond and make some fish soup."
That night, He Qiuniang personally delivered the food.
In order to avoid suspicion, Jiang Tangtang would also eat some food from outside. She raised her hand and asked He Qiuniang to bring the food in, and said, "Come and eat with us!"
He Qiuniang was flattered, but quickly refused, "How can that be! How can I sit at the same table with Madam?"
"I just happened to have something to ask you." Jiang Tangtang said, "If you're uncomfortable, just take a bowl and sit down there!"
He Qiuniang then sat down and asked, "Madam, what do you have to ask?"
Jiang Tangtang picked up a piece of fish and asked, "This fish was caught in the pond behind our wasteland, right? How is the water in that pond?"
"I caught it in that pond."
He Qiuniang said with admiration, "We followed Madam's advice and built a roof over the pond. With the roof to block the water, it really did dry up more slowly. Other villages don't have roofs for their ponds like we do, and many of their ponds have already dried up and cracked."
Jiang Tangtang thought that the pond in the wasteland was slow to dry up, but it wasn't all due to the roof. In addition to putting spiritual spring water in it, she also used the space to add water.
Thinking that this was a fish raised with spiritual spring water, Jiang Tangtang took a bite of the fish and found that it tasted a bit more delicious than ordinary fish.
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