"Village head, what should we do with Ma Tiannian?"
The village head turned around and saw Ma Tiannian lying on the ground, weakly groaning in pain.
The village head's eyes revealed disgust: "Tie up this good-for-nothing, throw him in the ancestral hall, and wait to see how things go with Lin Moniang."
The young men exclaimed "Hey!" and carried Ma Tiannian away like he was a dead pig.
After all this commotion, things have finally calmed down for now.
The village head dismissed everyone, leaving only one or two people by the well. He forbade anyone to approach or draw water, insisting that people from the city come to test the water quality.
"We need to make sure the water in the well is safe before the villagers can continue to draw water."
This was Su Yun'er's reminder to the village head.
"Also, even if the test results say the well water is fine, we should still have that person purify it. We shouldn't have the intention to harm others, but we can't be without the intention to guard against them. It's always good to be extra careful."
The village head nodded in approval.
With the matter settled, Su Yun'er was about to go home when she heard a low, humming voice beside her saying, "I'm sorry."
Su Yun'er looked in the direction of the voice and saw it was Ma Xiaolan.
He hung his head, biting his lip, his face showing shame, gratitude, and a bit of awkwardness.
Guessing that he was apologizing for the fight with Xiaoshu, Su Yun'er hummed in agreement, indicating that she had heard him.
However, it didn't say whether to forgive or not. Ma Xiaolan hit Xiaoshu, so if anyone should say whether to forgive or not, it should be Xiaoshu himself, not Su Yun'er.
Back home, Grandma Chen had already put the two children to sleep. She kept peeking out, waiting for Su Yun'er to return.
After Su Yun'er returned, she briefly explained what had happened to Grandma Chen.
"That bastard actually tried to poison us! The village head probably won't let him off so easily this time!"
The village head had always been lenient with him because of their kinship, and often turned a blind eye to his misdeeds.
"No, it won't happen. When I came back, the village head had a meeting with the elders to discuss the matter. I estimate that they will have reached a decision by tonight. If we let Ma Tiannian continue like this, he really will kill someone, and then the village head himself will be in deep trouble."
"Serves her right," Old Mrs. Chen cursed without reservation, then asked, "What about Lin Moniang? How is she?"
Su Yun'er shook her head: "I don't know yet. I only heard that it's nothing serious, but it's a serious injury, so I guess I'll need to rest for a while."
"Poor thing." Old Mrs. Chen shook her head, then suddenly realized something, quickly glanced at Su Yun'er, and shut her mouth.
Su Yun'er knew that Old Madam Chen originally wanted to say, "Lin Moniang and her son have been abused for many years, and they have finally made it through."
But when she thought about her family's past and the things Su Yun'er had done, she realized she had said the wrong thing.
Su Yun'er lowered her head and petted the cat, pretending not to notice anything.
Later that evening, Aunt Song arrived. She came not for any other reason than to tell Su Yun'er and the others the village's decision regarding Ma Tiannian.
"Ma Tiannian injured his own wife, almost causing a death. The village could no longer tolerate him, so they removed him from the village and the Ma family genealogy, and even wanted to expel him from the village. I also heard that Lin Moniang woke up and, with the village head as a witness, signed a letter of divorce, divorcing Ma Tiannian."
Although the Tianyong Dynasty was also a patriarchal society, women's status was not low. Divorce was not only a matter of husbands retiring their wives, but also a matter of reason. In fact, if the husband committed a serious offense, he could report to the court and the wife could be granted a divorce.
Ma Tiannian's actions today—drinking, gambling, whoring, abusing his wife and son, attempting to poison the village well, and trying to harm the villagers—are all increasingly egregious and far exceed his wife's demands for a divorce. Therefore, Lin Moniang's desire to divorce him will absolutely not fail.
"Ma Tiannian will be taken to court for trial. He will be charged with every crime and will inevitably be beaten. After the beating, he will be thrown out of Qingshui County."
"Now that we've chased him away today, will he secretly run back?" Old Mrs. Chen was a little worried.
Not only did Ma Tiannian not get his money back, but he was also beaten up, expelled from the organization, and then kicked out. He must be even more resentful. If he secretly runs back and does something else, it will be troublesome.
"Don't worry, the village head said that government officials will escort him to the harsh border region and put a record on his body. He won't be able to come back later."
"Isn't this just exile? That's for the best. By the way, how's the well?" Su Yun'er was more concerned about the well.
"It's been checked, and everything is fine. They even disinfected it with some unknown substance, just as you said, saying it's safe to eat and use. But the village head is still worried, so he arranged for the young men in the village to take turns guarding it for a while."
"That's perfect. Now everyone can finally feel more at ease and have a peaceful New Year."
Ma Tiannian was taken to the authorities that very night and thrown into prison.
The government's verdict came down quickly. After spending a few days in jail, Ma Tiannian was given twenty strokes of the cane and then escorted away from Qingshui County by officials.
On the day Ma Tiannian was escorted, as usual, the officials and constables paraded Ma Tiannian, who was wearing shackles, around the city.
As they passed the gambling dens, brothels, teahouses, and theaters where Ma Tiannian owed money, they were met with a barrage of mockery and insults, some even accompanied by spittle.
However, there were no eggs, vegetables, or other food items as depicted in the TV series.
These things are so expensive, it would be such a waste to throw them away by this scumbag. Of course they should be eaten.
Su Yun'er sat on the second floor of a small tavern, by the window, watching the parade below with great interest.
Mu Ran, in the crowd on the street, her eyes met someone's.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
