Chapter 234 233. What is obscene, what is tongue
A sunny and auspicious day.
A solemn execution ground.
County Magistrate Meng Yao had a stern and awe-inspiring expression as he announced to the people the criminal facts of all the people involved in the human trafficking case, including the household registration clerk, the pawnshop owner, and others.
There was an uproar in the execution ground.
The people were all shocked, angry and frightened.
"above--"
Meng Yao looked at the dozens of criminals kneeling on the execution platform and said sternly,
"Does anyone have any objections?"
"I have!"
An old man on the execution platform was indignant. "My family is poor and can't afford to raise children. What's wrong with selling a few dolls? I'm selling my own dolls, not someone else's. Why do you want to chop off my head?!"
"Their lives were given by me and his mother, why can't they be sold?!"
"If I don't sell the baby, can his mother and I survive? Can his brothers and sisters survive? You, a corrupt official, want the baby to watch his parents starve to death and his brothers and sisters starve to death?!"
The old man shouted at the top of his lungs, as if he really had no way out and could only sell one or two children in tears to barely survive.
But he was not like the other farmers with dark complexion and wrinkled hands and face. Instead, he was quite fair-skinned and had a big belly, like a rich lord who was well-fed with gold and jade.
Meng Yao looked at him coldly.
Some people at the execution ground were indeed shaken. They thought that although the old man was a bit cruel, the child was his after all. He did not steal or rob anyone else's child. He raised the child well until he was five or six years old. It was understandable that he sold it for money.
——Those girls and boys who have been raised to the age of fifteen or sixteen will be married to whichever family offers the highest bride price. This is also exchanging one's own children for money.
Is this considered human trafficking?
After all, they are his parents!
Is it too much to behead someone for selling a few children? What will happen to the remaining children after their parents die?
Most people think these people are extremely evil and deserve to die. If they can sell their own babies one by one, what else can't they do? If they can't have children, will they steal other people's babies and sell them?
no!
He must be beheaded!
There was a lot of discussion and chatter below the execution platform. Some people on the execution platform were struggling to death, while others were dejected.
The household registration clerk had long since accepted his fate, the pawnbroker boss had been beaten into silence, and several human trafficking leaders, knowing they were guilty of capital crimes, had long since confessed to their crimes and even pointed fingers at each other, hoping to suffer less punishment.
Lei Li and Zhou Yi stood not far from the execution ground, watching coldly without making any comment.
"bump!"
Meng Yao slammed the wooden stick, and the entire execution ground fell silent. He spoke sternly and directly imposed the punishment:
"The head of the household registration office, the pawnbroker boss, and Old Man Li, among several other human trafficking ringleaders, have committed heinous crimes and deserve death. According to the laws of our dynasty and our county, they are sentenced to death—
"Execute immediately!"
"bump!"
The shock of the wake-up stick in judging the case, the resounding words, and the red rust all over the ground!
Dozens of heads rolled to the ground, blood splattered everywhere. After a moment of deathly silence, screams of terror suddenly pierced the sky, and cheers of joy and cries of fear mixed together.
Zhou Yi subconsciously covered Lei Li's eyes. When he met his slightly raised and smiling eyes, he realized that this man had caught a big snake with his bare hands and dismembered a wild boar without batting an eyelid. He would not be afraid of such a small scene at all.
...if this is considered a small scene.
Lei Li had a smile on his face as he looked towards the execution platform. His right hand, which was close to Zhou Yi's side, quietly held his hand, and his fingertips stroked the silver ring on his ring finger.
Amidst the blood and weeping.
He thought casually, the ring finger, the nameless one, but with his ring on it and his name engraved on it, it will have a name like the other fingers.
Thumb, index finger, middle finger, little finger.
——Thunder Lizhi.
Lei Li let go of Zhou Yi's hand and met his slightly puzzled yet obedient eyes. Her peach blossom eyes curved cunningly, and the left hand with the wedding ring reached out and gently held his left hand, interlocking their ring fingers and holding them close together.
Two silver rings.
Sparkling.
Zhou Yi's eyes also curved. From a certain angle, he and his husband had some indescribable similarities, just like a little fox smiling after eating meat.
His heart, which was originally filled with righteous indignation towards the human traffickers, was warmed by these small gestures, and he tightly grasped the hand that had come around to hold his.
On the high platform, Meng Yao was not shaken by the voices of opposition. He remained solemn and cold, and announced the punishments for the remaining people involved in the case in an orderly manner.
Those who committed serious crimes were either tattooed on their faces, demoted to forced labor for the rest of their lives; or their homes were searched and all their property confiscated, and both men and women were forced to perform forced labor for a dozen to several dozen years.
Those with minor crimes may be sentenced to several years of imprisonment and forced labor, with the term reduced depending on the degree of labor reform; or their homes may be confiscated; or they may be fined from hundreds to thousands of taels.
Those whose crimes are minor and who are repentant can return home after serving their sentences. Their children will still live with them, but they will be under a three-year observation period.
"In this case, the innocent woman and her husband who were oppressed are ordered by this official to divorce their husband and establish their own household registration. All property and land will belong to them, except for a fine. The children will take their mother's surname and be registered with their mother."
"If the husband's house is raided or his property is confiscated, the woman and children will be sent to a relief institution and supported by the county government."
Before he finished speaking, the people at the execution ground were arguing about the pros and cons, with mixed opinions on the sentences.
"bump!"
Meng Yao snorted coldly and slammed the wooden stick hard. The execution ground suddenly fell silent. He frowned coldly and looked around slowly. Then he said,
"This case is closed."
"Anyone with objections may go to the county yamen and beat the drum to proceed to court. To prevent anyone from deliberately disrupting the court and making unreasonable demands, they will first be caned with twenty lashes, and I will then deal with the matter."
“…”
The people below were silent and looked at each other.
Twenty big boards?
After the beating, the man couldn't stand up or speak, so who would dare to beat the drum?
"Meng Yao performed well."
Lei Li smiled and whispered to Zhou Yi, "Let him make an example of someone else and frighten the monkeys. His moves...tsk tsk, they almost shocked me."
"I thought he would soften at the last minute."
"The woman below held her child in her arms, weeping and begging him not to kill her husband. She rolled on the ground, holding her head, not afraid at all, holding her child and crying bitterly..."
Lei Li shook his head and sighed, "What a pitiful scene!"
"……really."
Zhou Yi was silent for two seconds, then nodded and said with the same tone,
"What a pitiful scene!"
"Um?"
Lei Li glanced at him with her smiling peach blossom eyes and said frivolously, "Shouldn't you be talking about some serious principles at this time? Why are you imitating my speech?"
"Why are you imitating my speech?"
Zhou Yi imitated Lei Li and glanced at him with a smile. He couldn't imitate his frivolous tone, but his smiling tone also had a teasing tone, which made Lei Li raise an eyebrow.
"There seems to be a kind of bird that can imitate human speech. Could it be... that's the same bird as my husband?"
Lei Li's eyebrows were frivolous, with a smile on his face, and his eyes lightly swept towards a certain place below him. What bird he was talking about...it was self-evident.
“…”
Zhou Yi's ears turned red and he looked away, "Don't say such indecent things in broad daylight."
"What's wrong with that?"
“…There’s nothing serious about it.”
"Huh?"
Lei Li pretended to be puzzled. "Which one is inappropriate? It's about the bird that can mimic human speech. My husband told me about it... something about obscene and tongue."
"It's this kind of serious tongue."
As he spoke, he stuck out a section of his crimson tongue, with the tip of his tongue slightly raised, like a flamboyant snake.
“…”
Zhou Yi saw him sticking out his tongue out of the corner of his eye, and his ears became even hotter. He subconsciously covered his mouth to prevent him from doing anything eye-catching.
But when he covered his mouth, Lei Li's tongue had not yet been retracted, and his palm immediately became wet, licked by the bright red and soft snake.
Zhou Yi suddenly withdrew his hand. The man glanced at him with a smile, showing no shame in teasing or seducing others in public.
“…”
Zhou Yi blushed to himself and tried to steer the conversation back on track. "The birds that can imitate human speech are parrots and mynah birds. The term for this is 'parrot mimicking'."
It's not about lust or anything like that.
He even pretended to have bad pronunciation to tease him.
"oh……"
Lei Li pretended to be enlightened and bowed to him with a playful smile.
"Master Zhou, I am grateful for your guidance."
“…”
Zhou Yi stared at him in silence, wanting to speak but hesitant. He wanted to say something, but was afraid that Lei Li would take the conversation in some indescribable direction again.
After staring silently for two seconds, he murmured pleadingly, "...Let's go home and play again."
"All right."
Lei Li also seemed to become serious, but his tone was smiling, "All listen to our Master Zhou. When I return home, I will listen carefully to the Master's teachings."
"……Um."
Zhou Yi felt his face getting even hotter, and only after a moment did he remember what he was about to say. "I'm not just imitating you to tease you, I really feel that way. Ignoring that the head she's holding belongs to a human trafficker, it's really pitiful."
"Her living environment has led to her ignorance. She only knows how to rely on her husband for her own and her children's future, and regards him as her God."
"Even though her husband had been oppressing and exploiting her, she still believed that he would change for the better and that he was better off alive than dead."
"She is unwilling to change, or doesn't know how to change. She doesn't believe she can change to create a better future for herself and her children."
"Everything is difficult at the beginning, so take your time."
Lei Li sighed.
Meng Yao, the county magistrate, had already left. The matter of the human traffickers came to an end, and the people left after talking about it. Lei Li and Zhou Yi also walked out.
"Meng Yao must be feeling bad this time. Should we go and see him?"
"What is he doing?"
Lei Li curled his lips and said, "He's the chief official of the county. He needs to establish his authority and win the support of the people. How can he just give him dates without using a stick? Xu Xingzhe left him not only a school and officialdom, but also a mess."
"Although our county is a land of plenty, it actually thrived thanks to merchants. Take taxation, for example. The biggest contributor is commercial taxes, and much of the money allocated by the county government to the school comes from these taxes."
"Xu Xingzhe has been in office for ten years. To improve his achievements, he has put a lot of effort into taxation. Not only has he improved the status of merchants in the county, but he has also had frequent interactions with merchants and gentry, and has developed close relationships with them."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
