Xiao Zhengde was secretly alarmed upon hearing this.
This city really trains people! This Xie boy, after only a few months away, has become incredibly adept at speaking and acting!
First, he mentioned his sister's contributions, then praised him for being fair and just, elevating him while extricating his sister from the situation. He also mentioned his relationship with the county government, saying that if he were sent there, the same crime would definitely be punished more severely. People said that breaking and picking locks is equivalent to robbery, and they wanted to punish them with a beating and exile!
If he doesn't take some action, this matter won't be resolved!
Well, we can't let a few bad apples spoil the whole village. Besides, I've warned her repeatedly, but Old Madam Xiao just doesn't take it seriously. She takes advantage of Xiao Yuanhang's scholar status to act recklessly, spoiling the Xiao family's children into being unruly. It's time to clean up the village's atmosphere!
Xiao Zhengde looked at Xiao Damei's family with anger at their lack of ambition, then glanced at Xie Yushu, and said...
"Xiao Damei's family, without the owner's permission, broke into the door, pried open the lock, robbed others of their property, beat a young girl, and damaged several items. According to the Xiao family rules, the whole family shall be punished with thirty strokes of the cane."
His conduct was egregious, causing extremely negative impacts on the entire Fenghuangzui Village. According to village rules, he should be given ten strokes of the cane!
After Xiao Zhengde finished speaking, he said to Xie Tianqi
"For crimes like theirs, they'd only get forty strokes of the cane when they're sent to the yamen. Are you satisfied with that?"
Xie Tianqi nodded, "Uncle Xiao is indeed fair, but my sister also damaged a lot of property!"
"Well, their family just returned from fleeing famine and has nothing left. They probably can't afford to compensate us!"
Xie Yushu spoke up
"The clothes are already on their bodies, and the food has been eaten. I don't want to ask for it back. But their demands are so despicable. Let's just add ten more strokes of the cane and consider it payment for these things!"
Xiao Zhengde thought for a moment and then nodded in agreement. He also found this behavior extremely distasteful and thought they deserved to be taught a harsh lesson. Not only was Phoenix Mouth Village far away, but such a despicable thing had not happened in the last hundred years!
Seeing that the clan elders had also arrived, he recounted the whole story, then waved to the young men who had come to watch the spectacle.
"Open the ancestral hall, drag Xiao Damei's family there, and execute them!"
"No, village chief, you can't side with Xie Tianqi just because he works in the yamen. Da Mei just eats some food and wears some clothes at her brother's house. It's no big deal. Why resort to the rod?"
Grandma Xiao questioned him indignantly.
Xiao Damei also cried out that she was wronged.
"Xiao Yi is my brother, what's his is mine, what's your right to punish us?"
"Village chief, you can't treat us like this! This is our own family matter, how can you call us robbers? I won't accept this!"
"Did Xie Tianqi give you something in return?"
Xiao Zhengde's face darkened as he watched them continue their shouting.
"Xiao Damei! You say this is your home? What's your husband's surname? What's the surname of all these men, women, and children behind you? They're surnamed Yang, not Xiao! A bunch of people with the surname Yang are coming to Old Xiao's house to bully others. What gives you the right to be so self-righteous here?"
Go out and ask around. Did that married sister-in-law bring her family of more than a dozen people to her brother's house to run the household?
I can't bear to lose face like you. With your behavior, even the unmarried girls of my Xiao family will be implicated!
If you can't even recognize your own place, what right do you have to make a scene like this?
Since you're not satisfied, then I'll just ignore you!
Let Xie Tianqi go to the yamen and sue you for breaking and entering, robbing, stealing, and assaulting people. Whether you chop off their hands, beat them to death, or exile them, it's none of my business.
However, our village can't afford to lose face like your family. I'll expel you, Xiao Damei, from this village and send you back to Yangjia Village. Do whatever you want with us!
Think it over carefully: do you want to go to the ancestral hall or the government office?
Even the most ignorant among them had heard that when the government caught thieves, those who committed robbery or vandalism, the lightest punishment was a beating, and the heaviest was having their hands chopped off or being exiled.
The reason they dared to go to such extremes was because they were taking advantage of Xiao Yi's family. They thought that Xiao Yi was nowhere to be found, and Xie Yushu was just a young woman without a man to back her up, so she was at their mercy.
The only unexpected thing was that Xie Tianqi and Xie Tianming came along and immediately delivered a fatal blow!
Moreover, Xie Yushu didn't take them seriously at all!
They certainly didn't want to be exiled with their hands chopped off, but they also didn't want to be flogged in the ancestral hall, so Xiao Damei had no choice but to ask Old Madam Xiao for help.
“Mother, you and Father are the ones who make the decisions in our Xiao family. Xiao Yi is your son, so why shouldn’t he be yours? What’s wrong with letting your daughter use some of your things? Why are you sending us to be beaten?”
No matter how capable Xie Yushu is, does she think she can rule her in-laws' home? Shouldn't such an unfilial daughter-in-law be divorced?
These words reminded Old Mrs. Xiao that, well, at worst she could just divorce her. After all, Xiao Yi and Xiao Jinyu were nowhere to be found. Since the men were gone, why keep a disobedient wife like her?
Old Mrs. Xiao looked at Old Mr. Xiao, who also thought it was a good idea. As long as they divorced Xie, Xiao Yi's things would rightfully belong to them!
Old Man Xiao stopped hiding behind him, coughed, and stepped forward.
“Village chief, Xie is disobedient and unfilial, and has no children. She meets the conditions for divorce. We must divorce Xiao Yi!”
From then on, the Xie family had no connection with the Xiao family and naturally had no say in their affairs. Besides, she and her brothers beat up our Da Mei family, so she should pay us for our medical expenses!
Xiao Zhengde was so angry that even his newly grown mustache trembled!
"You dare to call yourself a scholar's father? The actions of Xiao Damei's family are a testament to what happened before. Even if you divorce Xiao Yi's wife now, it won't make up for their punishment!"
I'll say it again: if you want to go to the government office, then I'll leave; if you want to go to the ancestral hall, then so be it!
Seeing this, Old Man Xiao threatened Xie Yushu.
"Xie, have you thought this through? If you insist on causing trouble, I will divorce you on behalf of Xiao Yi. Let's see how your Xie family will be able to hold its head high in these surrounding villages!"
And if you get divorced, aren't you worried about your unmarried sister's reputation being affected?
Xie Tianming realized that Old Man Xiao was trying to use Xie Yumin to threaten Xie Yushu, and immediately said...
“Yu Shu should go back to her parents’ home if she wants to. As her brother, I’ll give my sister an extra five taels of silver as a dowry when she gets married. She won’t have to worry about not finding a husband!”
Xie Yushu raised an eyebrow and said
"I will also give Yumin five taels as a dowry when she gets married in the future. Our Xie family's daughters will not have to worry about marriage!"
Old Mrs. Xiao was furious, like a toad. She'd made all sorts of excuses to help Xiao Yan with her dowry, but had been so quick to help her younger sister. She immediately roared...
"Divorce her! I want to divorce her right now!"
Xie Yushu said indifferently
"Fine, do as you please, but whether I'm a daughter-in-law of the Xiao family or a girl of the Xie family, Xiao Da Mei's whole family is going to get a beating today! I'll count to three, and if you don't go to the ancestral hall, I'll go to the yamen! One, two!"
"How can you be so heartless!" Xiao Damei roared.
"three!
Tianqi, go to the yamen and report this to the authorities!
Xie Tianqi turned and left!
"No, don't report this to the authorities! Let's go to the ancestral hall! Let's go to the ancestral hall!"
Xiao Damei's husband called out to Xie Tianqi. He had just returned from fleeing the war and had no desire to be exiled again!
"I'm not going, you can go if you want!"
Xiao Damei said unwillingly.
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