Volu 24 "Litigation" of the Tang Code Annotation once recorded: When suing close elders, maternal grandparents, husband, or husband’s grandparents, even if proven true, the punishnt is imprisonnt for two years.
If the accusation is seriously weighted, the penalty is reduced by one level.
In the Song Dynasty’s "Xing Tong," a wife suing her husband, even if true, still requires imprisonnt for two years.
The "Great Ming Code" states that a concubine or wife suing her husband or his grandparents shall receive one hundred lashes and three years imprisonnt.
Although the current dynasty’s customs are relatively open, the "Great Zhou Code" has not improved much in this regard. It only shows so leniency when a woman’s finances or life is at risk.
However, before the complaint is presented, thirty lashes are still required.
Afterwards, punishnt is determined based on the case details.
The cost is so high that it can be said that Taohua County has never seen such a case in nearly a hundred years.
Therefore, the mont the grievance drum was sounded, the entire Taohua County erupted in uproar, especially since the person involved was the recently renowned Xie family woman, Xie Anning’s cousin.
Within half a day, the area outside the county office was already crowded with onlookers. Among them were many servants and attendants sent by wealthy households in the county.
The Lin family was naturally among them.
When brought into the main hall, Xie Second Ya’s face was still sowhat pale, yet even though fresh blood was still flowing beneath her, she stared straight ahead, her back perfectly straight at that mont, gritting her teeth as she almost word-for-word declared:
“Commoner Xie Rou from Xie Village accuses her husband Liu Wencai of, once gaining power, attempting to harm his legitimate wife and seek another beautiful woman!”
At the end of her words, the entire county office, including outside, imdiately fell into complete silence.
At this mont, there was no need for any evidence. Even though Liu Wencai, impeccably dressed, repeatedly tried to explain, not a single person inside the county office truly believed him.
For good reason, the price to pay was just too great.
In this world, it is said that a husband’s honor is a wife’s glory. If things were not truly unbearable, who would abandon a fine scholar’s wife, or even a future provincial graduate’s wife, to do sothing so harmful and self-defeating?
Moreover, the so-called three great joys for n—promotion, wealth, and wife’s death—is it really just an empty saying?
In short, at this mont, without any proof, in the eyes of almost everyone present, the Liu scholar before them was already a treacherous, ruthless, and vicious villain the mont Xie Second Ya spoke.
Even his refined appearance was so detestable.
Furthermore, the doctor did indeed find a problem with Second Ya’s body.
Inside her was a sedative dicine, but taken excessively, it easily causes drowsiness.
Who says destroying a person requires poison?
In the harsh winter environnt, just quietly opening a window a bit, or pulling away a few inches of the quilt, could cause a fatal cold.
It must be said that Liu Wencai’s thods were quite clever, but he misjudged the sensitivity of the seemingly foolish and love-blinded person beside him—Xie Second Ya.
Especially with the precedent of Fourth Ya in the previous life.
Anning leaned on the couch, lazily watching the scene before her through her system companion.
Was it a surprise? Not at all.
People often deceive themselves, especially when holding so earnest hope. Yet, the subtle disdain and disgust from the person beside them, day after day, no matter how dull, one would never be completely unaware.
So this ti, Liu Wencai fell hard, tripped up by the "ignorant fool" Second Ya whom he usually despised and didn’t even bother to hide his emotions from.
No matter how much soone resents or tries to explain now, it is all futile, making him look like a ridiculous clown on a stage.
On the soft couch, watching this, Anning sipped the freshly squeezed fruit nectar handed by a nearby maid with satisfaction.
Her system companion belatedly realized:
“Host, did you guess this all along?”
But why?
The system pondered. Aside from the one ti the host disrupted the Liu family’s imperial examination, it seed she hadn’t done much else. Why?
At that ti, it seed to be asking why not just decisively cut off Liu’s path to advancent, but the host had just smiled!
Could it be that then...
The system shuddered, fur bristling all over.
“Ho—host, all this was part of your plan?”
But why? Just to block one imperial exam, delaying a scholar’s title by two years?
“Because, there is a certain thing in this world.”
Holding a cold white jade chess piece in her hand, Anning smiled lightly and said:
“No matter how much upright scholars or noble literati disdain it, seeing it as vulgar, there is sothing they can never part from—silver money.”
When she first ca in this life, the first thing she did besides not wanting to work and finding a reason for her own change, was to pinch her cousin’s secret savings.
Without money, no step can be taken; this truth holds everywhere.
Especially for a scholar needing to pass the imperial exam.
Last ti, disrupting the exam was also to consu the small amount of silver the opponent had.
Indeed, Second Ya’s embroidery workshop was relatively decent, but honestly, her embroidery skills were not outstanding. After marrying into the Liu family, she lost her spiritual energy, and her hands beca poorly maintained.
Under such circumstances, being lucky to earn a small half tael of silver monthly was already good. How could it possibly cover all Liu Wencai’s expenses, including the imperial exam fees?
“In such a situation, what would Second Ya do for her husband, in whom she placed high hopes? It’s actually not hard to guess!”
Anning rested her chin on her hand, her gaze cold and distant but filled with unshakable certainty.
From this point on, the chess ga had completely begun.
The cheap cousin thought she was sacrificing for her husband, unaware that in Liu Wencai’s eyes, a man with excessive pride and dignity, a wife who publicly embarrassed him before everyone, including his classmates, and yet insisted on supporting his exam expenses, was a laughingstock—an existence that fed off his wife’s hard work.
How glaring and annoying that must be went without saying.
Considering how hard Widow Lu worked, washing clothes with hands blistered in the cold winter, yet this man still wouldn’t take off the long gown symbolizing his scholarly status.
One could see his nature.
Would he be grateful for such a wife and such experiences?
No.
This only made him toss and turn countless nights later, filled with hatred and despair.
“I guess even if Second Ya hadn’t had that 'adventure' in her previous life, Fourth Ya’s fate wouldn’t have been much better, right?”
Seeing the system’s pupil suddenly shrink, Anning smiled and said:
“Actually, when I first arrived, I suspected that the cheap cousin might be a rebirth, but later I learned that Second Ya might truly be reincarnated, but not a simple one.
At least her mories or sothing else indicated she received so modern civilization’s legacy.
This showed in her unconscious contempt for ordinary villagers, her sowhat excessive confidence, and indifference toward clan relations.
And her occasional muttering about 'business.'
Even if reincarnated, these would never appear in a genuine farr girl.
As for whether Second Ya herself is the mastermind, I don’t really doubt it. Because if she were purely a transmigrator, with her way of acting and carelessness, her second aunt Xia Zhaodi wouldn’t just suspect her after so many years.
In fact, even after all these years, what truly made Xia Zhaodi firmly believe Second Ya had problems was after the so-called 'business.'
Second Aunt, being a simple farr woman, naturally couldn’t conceive such complex ideas. For soone with great personality changes and knowledge that Second Ya couldn’t have, there was only one possibility:
Her daughter was possessed by soone else.
This was also why, over these years, no one, including Second Aunt, ever intervened in Second Ya’s affairs, even as the Xie family prospered.
And this attitude from the old Xie family also caused Liu Wencai’s haste to act.
Even the freshest snacks lose their earning power after one or two years.
Disgraceful and useless, constantly reminding him of his dark past, it’s no surprise Liu Wencai was anxious to act.
Likewise, an ordinary farr girl might not dare sue her husband, but Second Ya, with modern legacy and the disappointnt of two lifetis, had the ruthlessness to overturn everything.
Such a nearly transparent outco—what else did she need to do? Just sit back and watch the show.
Seeing the system’s face stiffen, Anning continued, resting her chin:
“Let guess again—despite having this legacy, why would Second Ya still hold such high expectations and trust in the Liu man’s character and ability, and be so guarded toward her cousin?
It must be that in her previous life, the Liu man did sothing, like a devoted lover act?”
“For example, like in novels where n compose countless mourning poems for their deceased beloved wives, moving all the lovesick n and won, including so naive young ladies.”
System: “!!!”
“Oh, looks like my guess is correct!”
Seeing the system’s increasingly terrified face, Anning smiled brightly and said:
“System, you guessed right!
My host’s goal from the start was that Liu man.
As for Second Ya, even without her intervention, she would never have a peaceful life this ti.”
Through the system screen, watching Liu Wencai before her, forcibly stripped of his blue robe, his whole appearance wild and insane, no trace of his forr refined deanor remained.
Anning then took another satisfied bite of the sweet tangerine offered to her.
Hah!
A dog of a man who drinks his wife’s blood and steps on her corpse to rise—what’s frustration compared to that?
Disgraced and infamous for eternity—that is the ending he deserves!
System: “!!!”
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