Chapter 152 The Cage and the Cry (2) Let's go to the Land of Women and change the laws...
“That’s not right. It’s not that you’re saying it. You should call her a ‘subject under her skirt’ instead of ‘a vixen who brings disaster to her.’” Xiao Changgeng said in a low voice.
Arslan's anger surged, and he punched Xiao Changgeng in the cheek. He was a skilled martial artist and naturally strong, and he had used all his strength. Xiao Changgeng was instantly knocked to the ground by the force, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
Arslan stepped forward and grabbed Xiao Changgeng's collar, each word seemingly ground from his throat, "Xiao Changgeng, I don't deny that you do have some wisdom and are helpful to her in court, but don't forget, she has someone she loves. Put away your fox tail, and if you dare to flaunt yourself in front of her again, I'll rip you out by the roots."
The two were very close, and within that small space, Xiao Changgeng could clearly see the flames of anger burning in Arslan's amber eyes.
Yu Changsheng, a young man who grew up freely in the world, possessed the same clean and open-minded temperament as Zheng Qingru and Jin An. Was this the kind of person she liked?
Xiao Changgeng, having been beaten and restrained by Arslan, looked quite pathetic. He raised his long eyelashes and replied to Arslan with a half-smile, "She's a fickle person; she can have many lovers."
Arslan threw another punch.
The sound of the flesh and blood being reunited was so loud that it startled the owls perched on the old plum tree in the courtyard, causing them to flap their wings and fly away.
Feng Tan opened the door and looked down to see Arslan half-pressing down on Xiao Changgeng, restraining him. He rubbed his temples and said, "Gentlemen, if you're going to fight, please find another place. You're making a lot of noise."
Xiao Changgeng raised an eyebrow, gesturing for Arslan to get off him.
Arslan withdrew his strength, concealing the ruthlessness he had displayed earlier, and smiled at Feng Tan, saying, "Lord Feng, are you finished with your work?"
It wouldn't be a good sight to see two men fighting out of jealousy. He was a ninth-rank martial artist, while Xiao Changgeng was just a weak scholar, so naturally he couldn't beat him. But he had to be taught a lesson, otherwise, it was hard to guarantee that Xiao Changgeng wouldn't end up in a place he shouldn't be.
Feng Tan responded with a "no," then looked at the man standing silently in the dark corridor wiping blood with his thumb and said, "Arslan is young and has a strong sense of masculinity; please be tolerant of him."
Arslan raised an eyebrow arrogantly. These words clearly indicated that Feng Tan considered him one of their own, while Xiao Changgeng was merely an outsider.
Despite the fact that the situation was unfolding under Xiao Changgeng's strategic planning, a bitter feeling inevitably arose in his heart, along with an increasingly uncontrollable urge to kill.
Xiao Changgeng smiled and said in a good-natured tone, "Of course I won't hold it against you. My lord, I almost forgot something just now. Since you detained Liu E at the Feng residence today, the Ministry of Justice will definitely send someone to the residence tomorrow to follow the procedures and take Liu E to the Ministry of Justice. Besides them, there will definitely be others coming."
A flash of inspiration struck Feng Tan, and he said, "We want to win by appealing to public opinion. Prince Jing can do that too; he can incite the people to demonstrate in front of the mansion."
King Jing was not interested in what laws Feng Tan wanted to change, but if he could take the opportunity to suppress Feng Tan's power, he would definitely take the opportunity to retaliate.
“Exactly.” Xiao Changgeng turned to look at Arslan. “If you keep cowering and do nothing, it will damage your official prestige. It would be better to let someone with exceptional martial arts skills suppress the enemy.”
He didn't name names, but he had already prepared a pit for Arslan.
Arslan's expression hardened slightly, and he said, "I will suppress it."
*
The next day, just past dawn, before the rising sun had dispelled the thin mist at the alley entrance, the bluestone street in front of the vermilion gate of the Vice Minister's Mansion was already completely blocked. The two white marble lions were pierced by stones thrown by the crowd, leaving several white marks. The copper rings held in the lions' mouths were being overturned and pulled in the chaos, making a jarring clanging sound. The crowd pushed and shoved, shouting incessantly in front of the mansion gate.
Inside the mansion gate, four burly men dressed in gray cloth servants' uniforms held up thick jujube wood sticks, bracing against the heavy door. Each of them was bent over and exerting force with all their might, the veins on their foreheads bulging and moving like earthworms, their faces full of tension and strain.
The gate of the Vice Minister's residence was made of thick cypress wood, and the door bolt was already secured with a four-inch-long pear wood latch, but it was shaken by the impact from outside.
Seeing the crowd's posture, the steward turned to Arslan, who was sitting in the courtyard like a sledgehammer, and said, "Your Highness, if you don't think of a solution soon, our Feng Manor will be broken into by these unruly people!"
Behind Arslan stood cavalry from Sotaha, each a burly figure, standing like an iron wall behind him.
Arslan stroked his broadsword, and as he stood up and walked towards the door, the tip of the blade sparked against the stone surface. His voice was somewhat languid as he said, "Open the door."
The steward hesitated for a moment, then waved for the servants who were struggling to open the gate.
As soon as the gate opened, Arslan waved for the cavalry behind him to rush forward and form a human wall. The heavy, sharp gold-inlaid swords in their hands frightened the troublemakers, causing them to retreat a few feet and dare not charge forward any further.
Arslan glanced at them; most of them were men in short tunics, their expressions indignant, and with an agitation that seemed to come from the violation of some "natural" right.
"I heard the Vice Minister is going to implement new laws! Ancestral family rules cannot be violated!" A burly, dark-skinned man waved his arm, veins bulging on his neck, his voice booming, "If a wife is disobedient, how can giving her a few taps break the law? Even an upright official has difficulty settling family disputes!"
“That’s right!” A tall, thin scholar in a slightly worn robe, with a refined appearance, spoke with the same excitement. “The Zhu Family Instructions says, ‘Avoid litigation in the home, for litigation will only bring misfortune!’ If this precedent is set, every household will be in turmoil, and women will go to court for the slightest dissatisfaction. How can this be tolerated? A hen crowing at dawn will only bring ruin to the family!”
He quoted classical texts to give this surging emotion a veneer of ancient wisdom. As a result, some young men on the periphery of the crowd were infected by the emotions and joined in the shouting, as if participating in this struggle would prove that they had entered the ranks of men who had the right to control their homes.
"We cannot enact such a foolish law!"
"It's best for officials to mind their own business!"
"Exactly! Having that ridiculous women's imperial examination system is already laughable enough!"
"If it weren't for the new imperial examination system, I would have married Xiaotao long ago. Now she studies hard every day and doesn't even think about marrying me!"
"We're just trying to make a living, how can we not take care of our wives?"
"......"
The clamor expressed their grievances and anger; they were not only opposing a newly promulgated law, but also instinctively fearing that the millennia-old order was about to be shaken.
As the sun rose, its rays shortened people's shadows to their feet, seemingly exposing the "domestic rights" that had been taken for granted for thousands of years, thus triggering an even fiercer backlash.
In the distance, some children peered out curiously, only to be quickly pulled away by their mothers.
As the uproar subsided slightly, the tall, thin scholar continued, "The Book of Rites says, 'The husband is the head of the household,' this has been the ethical norm for thousands of years! If Lord Feng cannot stand these things, then go to the Kingdom of Women and change the law. Our Great Huang cannot tolerate such a rebellious official!"
Arslan, who had already suppressed his temper and stood on the steps, lifted his eyelids upon hearing this, and a short knife shot out from between his fingers, the tip of the knife precisely tearing a gash along the corner of the tall, thin scholar's lips.
The wound wasn't deep, but the blood dripping down looked horrifying, and he was too frightened to speak. The dark-skinned man next to him was indignant, "You, how dare you injure someone in public? Do the people of the Vice Minister's Mansion have no law left!"
Arslan slightly curled his lips, the curve barely visible, "When the people force the officials to act, the officials have no choice but to act."
Arslan descended the steps one by one. He was already tall and imposing, and today, clad in armor, he exuded a powerful and heroic aura. The crowd gathered in front of the mansion gate unconsciously stepped back.
Arslan's voice was steady and unyielding. He pointed his golden knife directly at the tall, thin scholar who had been discussing the Dao, and said, "According to the 'Daytime Robbery' section of the 'Daohuang Penal Code, Criminal Law,' the ringleader shall be punished with eighty strokes of the cane and exiled two thousand li."
The tall, thin scholar's eyes flickered, while Arslan's voice boomed, each word like a hammer blow. His gaze then fell upon the people behind him, and he said, "Those who follow him will each be demoted by one degree! The new law has not yet been implemented, yet you do not await the court's judgment, but instead make a ruckus here. Do you not believe in the court's laws, or are you deliberately provoking trouble!"
The tall, thin scholar, intimidated, dared not incite public anger any further. The dark-skinned leader, unaware of the gravity of the situation, spat, spitting everywhere, "Boy, don't try to scare me with your damn laws! I only know that your new laws are outrageous! If you don't give us an explanation today, the Vice Minister won't be leaving! You'll be a coward in your residence!"
The street in front of the Vice Minister's residence was so crowded that it was impossible to move. Arslan glanced over and saw that the alleyway was also packed with people. Prince Jing had played his cards right, hiring two actors to put on a grand show and pushing the anger of the people in the capital to its peak.
He didn't have Feng Tan's sharp tongue and couldn't spout any grand principles. His fingers rubbed the hilt of the gold-inlaid knife, gradually tightening his grip.
As the two groups prepared to attack, the Yu family army led the way from the alley entrance, and a woman in a green robe emerged gracefully from the crowd. She wore the official robes of a ninth-rank official, her black hair was neatly tied into a round bun, and she wore a black official hat.
Cheng Ruihui walked with composure, his gaze clear and dignified, glancing slightly at the man at the head of the group as he approached.
The man, after being looked at like that, subconsciously lowered his arm, which had been raised high.
Cheng Ruihui walked up the steps, stood beside Arslan, nodded slightly to him, and then turned to the people below the stage and said, "Fellow villagers, I am the clerk of the Ministry of Justice's Office. I have been ordered by the Minister to come to Feng Prefecture on official business. Since you are blocking the way here, I cannot enter the prefecture. So I will come up here to discuss the new law."
Her voice was incredibly penetrating, instantly silencing the noisy crowd.
Cheng Ruihui continued, "What troubles you all is nothing more than 'domestic unrest,' 'the infringement of husbands' authority,' and 'women's arrogance based on the law,' is that right?"
These words resonated with many people, eliciting widespread agreement.
Cheng Ruihui then subtly changed the subject, saying, “However, I have a question for you all. What is the core of the laws of our Great Huang? It lies in punishing evil and promoting good, in protecting the good and kind, and in ensuring that ‘widows, widowers, orphans, and the lonely are all cared for, and the strong and the weak are all properly positioned’! This is the fundamental principle of the laws enacted by Emperor Taizu, and it is also the ultimate truth of heaven and earth.”
Seeing someone about to speak, Cheng Ruihui raised his hand to stop him, saying, "You are all pillars of your families, working hard to support them and maintain your households. The court naturally understands the hardships you have endured. However, this law is not intended to condone women, but to punish tyranny!"
If your family is harmonious and peaceful, with a virtuous wife and filial children, would this law be imposed on you without cause? This law is aimed at those who bully the weak, readily resorting to violence against their wives, children, and elderly parents, causing injury and destroying their homes! Is this the kind of behavior you all recognize as 'husband's authority'? Is this what our ancestral family laws advocate?
If all family matters can be categorized as 'private affairs,' while official laws differ, then is a father killing his son a family matter? Is a husband abusing his wife to death also a family matter? Where then would ethics be? Where would the law of the land stand? The family and the nation are one; if the family is not well-governed, how can the nation be governed and the world at peace?
The tall, thin scholar retorted, "Sir, even so, I fear that women might use this to control their husbands, leading to unrest in the household!"
Cheng Ruihui said, “You have studied the classics and should understand the principles. The law is like a mirror or a dike. A mirror can straighten one’s clothes and also expose evil spirits; a dike can restrain floods and also protect fertile fields and homes. For virtuous families, this law is like a stone lion in front of the door, a guardian; only those who harbor evil thoughts and act tyrannically will feel it as a shackle on their heads! As for whether women take the opportunity to cause trouble, the law has detailed rules to distinguish between them. Why should we throw the baby out with the bathwater? The purpose of the court’s legislation is to guide people to goodness and to draw a clear line between light and darkness, not to disrupt the social order.”
Cheng Ruihui surveyed the assembled crowd, his words earnest yet resounding: "You have gathered here today seeking justice and fearing change. I hereby declare to you all that the justice the court seeks is justice for all people, including the weak who weep silently in the shadows! This law is not to deprive you of your rights as husbands and fathers, but to help you cultivate yourselves, manage your families, and govern with virtue and reason. This is the way to lasting harmony and to demonstrate true manhood! If you rely solely on fists to establish your authority, how are you different from beasts? Is this the conduct of a true man of Dahuang?"
His words were like cold water poured into boiling oil, stirring up a wave of reflection and extinguishing most of the blind anger.
Some people on the street were deep in thought, while others looked ashamed. The surging crowd, though not immediately dispersed under the influence of reason, had quietly dissipated its restless and defiant spirit.
Arslan gave Cheng Ruihui an approving look, gestured for her to come in, and said, "She said that the slightest touch of your lips could make a dead man's coffin lid pop open. Seeing this today, Arslan is truly impressed."
Cheng Ruihui's face remained indifferent, showing no emotion. "I learned it from her."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
