"Execute!" Prefect Qin threw out a token.
Immediately, several constables carried in three long benches and forced Li Zhiyuan and the other two onto them.
Then the beating began with a series of loud "bangs".
Li Zhiyuan was sweating profusely from the beating, but the ten strokes were quickly finished. It wasn't too serious; he only needed to stay in bed for a few days to recover.
But physical pain was nothing compared to the humiliation and breakdown he felt at that moment.
He lost his honor and his life was ruined...
Furthermore, his descendants are no longer allowed to participate in scientific expeditions.
Li Jiaojiao and Li Ziming have also finished their fight.
Li Jiaojiao was in so much pain that she couldn't even groan. Li Ziming gave her twenty lashes, and she immediately fainted and started bleeding.
After the beating, the brother and sister were dragged away by the constables; one was imprisoned for a month, and the other for three years.
Ye Caiping and the others watched with great enjoyment from behind the screen.
Ye Caiping put the melon seeds in her hand into the fruit plate: "Let's go home too!"
Grandma Ye and Ye Daquan left in high spirits.
As she walked out, Grandma Ye said:
"I just heard from the adults that Li Zhiyuan's descendants are not allowed to take the imperial examinations, so what about Jin'er and Huan'er's future children..."
Ye Jin'er blushed: "What child?"
Ye Caiping said, "Mother, don't worry. Jin'er and Huan'er are no longer related to Li Zhiyuan's family because they have been removed from the family genealogy. Just like Li Ziming was included in the Earl's family genealogy, so it was not ruled that Li Ziming's descendants could not take the imperial examinations."
"Because he is now a descendant of the Earl's family, the prefect cannot make a judgment on someone related to a noble title; he can only submit a petition and wait for the higher-ups to make a decision."
Ye Jin'er said, "But wasn't he just sentenced to be flogged and imprisoned? And his academic achievements were also revoked."
Ye Caiping said, "That's different. His cheating is a done deal, and there are laws to follow. He should be judged according to the law. This concerns the descendants of the Earl's family, so I submitted a petition."
Ye Jin'er nodded.
As they left the yamen, Shanzi came running up to them, panting, saying, "Madam Ye."
Why are you here?
This time, none of the servants came; Ye Daquan and Ye Xuan personally drove the horse-drawn carriage and oxcart.
After catching his breath, Shanzi said, "The village, the village... a lot of officials have come, saying they're looking for Lady Ye!"
Ye Caiping was taken aback: "Official?"
Shen Zhiyan stepped forward: "The rewards have arrived. I just received the letter a few days ago, saying they would arrive in the next couple of days."
Ye Caiping exclaimed happily, "Really? Good things come in pairs!"
Ye Daquan asked, "What reward? What is it?"
Ye Caiping said, "When I first discovered cassava, didn't the government reward me with 50 taels of silver?"
"Yes. I'm going to give you another 50 taels this time?"
"It should be more than 50 taels."
Ye Daquan chuckled and said, "100 taels?"
Shen Zhiyan chuckled and said, "Let's go back first and talk about it later."
The group quickly boarded the carriage, and Shen Zhiyan also went to Qinghe Village.
The rest of the people rode in oxcarts.
Inside the carriage, Ye Caiping, Jin'er, Huan'er, and Old Lady Ye sat together.
Ye Caiping looked at Ye Jin'er and her sister and said, "Are you alright? After all, Li Zhiyuan is your biological father..."
Ye Jin'er was taken aback, then sneered: "I wish he would be beaten dozens more times and spend his whole life in jail."
Ye Huan'er scoffed, "I think the sentence is too lenient!"
Ye Jin'er lowered her eyes: "Mother, do you think I'm too cold and heartless?"
Ye Caiping shook her head: "No."
Ye Jin'er said, "From childhood to adulthood, he has never liked us. He treated us like livestock."
“When I was little, I tried my best to please him and hoped to get his fatherly love. But the way he looked at us was like he was looking at something dirty.”
"At the time... I thought it was because we were girls. Although we were afraid of him and our lives were hard and tiring, we didn't hate him much. I felt that this was what we, as girls, had to endure."
“I will hate him until he divorces my mother.”
"Later, he married Zhang Shuiniang. He doted on Li Jiaojiao, even trying to steal her mother's jade for her, and couldn't bear to let her do any work. That's when I realized that he did have fatherly love. But this fatherly love wasn't for us. He didn't dislike us for being maids; he simply disliked and hated us."
"That's why I hate him even more. Seeing him fall into such a state makes me feel very happy."
Ye Caiping nodded, a classic case of love turning into hate. The more she longed for it, the more she hated it.
Li Zhiyuan is their biological father.
They longed for their father's love when they were young, but Li Zhiyuan never gave them a single bit of it.
That's not all. In the beginning, they even doted on their stepdaughter, which was like grinding Jin'er and her sister's hearts into the ground.
Li Zhiyuan treated his two biological daughters like livestock, so it's no wonder they were indifferent.
Grandma Ye felt somewhat gratified upon hearing her two granddaughters' attitude.
It's good to know who treats them well. The problem is that some people are not clear-headed and, seeing their biological father in distress, they feel sorry for him and want to help him. That would be terrible.
...
Qinghe Village, under the big banyan tree.
There were three people dressed in official robes standing there, and Ye Li was speaking to them carefully.
The villagers gathered in the distance, whispering among themselves.
"I heard they're looking for Caiping. Could it be... she's gotten into trouble?"
"How could that be? If someone commits a crime, we can just send the constables to arrest them."
"Isn't this similar to the time we rewarded Cai Ping with 50 taels of silver? But back then it was because cassava was discovered, what is it now?"
"You'll know when Caiping gets back."
Just then, two horse-drawn carriages came speeding toward them, followed by an oxcart.
It stopped after a short while.
Ye Caiping and the others got off the carriage, while Shen Zhiyan got off from another carriage.
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