??Chapter 266: Chapter 267 Spanking_1
Chapter 266: Chapter 267 Spanking_1
Muniang then raised her voice and said, “We are all villagers and neighbors here, and we have no desire to back anyone into a corner, but think of how terribly those two children were hurt. My aunt is a mother, too—don’t children hurt like one’s own flesh and blood when they’re injured? Now Mrs. Wang insists on asking my aunt to let bygones be bygones, but which mother could do such a thing?”
Muniang paused, then continued, “If we are to forgive Wang Shitou and spare him from prison, it’s not out of the question, but at the very least there needs to be a sincere apology. Mrs. Wang, when you can touch your heart and truly feel remorse for the harm done to these two children, then we can talk. Right now, every word of yours is an excuse for your son, how can we forgive him?”
As Muniang finished speaking, everybody fell silent. Even the Village Head realized that Mrs. Liang had not shown a hint of genuine remorse; she was just trying to force people into helping her. Thinking this, he darkened his expression and said to Mrs. Liang, “Next ti co with so sincerity, and don’t always think of using
as your tool.” With that, he made to leave.
“Ah—” Mrs. Liang imdiately grabbed the Village Head’s sleeve and began to entangle with him, desperate not to let him go, “How dare I use you as a tool? You can’t just ignore the plight of my Shitou!”
The Village Head snorted coldly, “What’s the use of
ddling? Do you expect
to beg the Qiao family for their forgiveness?”
The Village Head’s words were clear and direct—he had decided to watch how things would unfold. If Mrs. Liang could not sincerely apologize to Madam Liu’s children and appease her anger, she had no hope of anything else.
Muniang lifted her chin and looked down upon Mrs. Liang with a hint of superiority in her eyes, “Mrs. Wang seems rather reluctant to show regret. Your son caused soone else to suffer greatly, and now you don’t show the slightest remorse yet expect others to help save your son. You’ve really calculated this quite cleverly.”
The villagers murmured amongst themselves, truly disappointed—Mrs. Liang was indeed beyond redemption, shalessly begging without a trace of sincerity, truly disheartening!
Mrs. Liang’s face alternated between shades of green and white. She already had a difficult relationship with Qiao Muniang and Madam Liu, and now she had to humble herself before them—it was too much of a loss of face. But thinking of her son possibly suffering in prison, her heart tightened, and she clenched her teeth, bowing her head.
With tears and snot, Mrs. Liang cried out, “It’s Shitou’s fault; he shouldn’t have done sothing so vile. Stealing is one thing, but framing others, causing your children to be beaten for no reason—I’ll make sure to discipline him well in the future, so he won’t do such things again. Please, I beg of you, take pity on him this once. If the child stays in jail, he might not co out alive.”
Madam Liu watched Mrs. Liang’s pitiful state, her expression indecipherable. As a mother, she could understand another mother’s heart, but it was because she was a mother that she could not bear to see her own children mistreated.
But reason eventually prevailed over emotion. Muniang nodded at Madam Liu, who then said coldly, “Tomorrow I will go to the County Governnt Office, but whether my words carry any weight is uncertain. In the end, Lord Lu will decide his fate.”
Mrs. Liang imdiately expressed her gratitude tearfully, while Madam Liu ignored her and went straight into the house, not even giving face to the Village Head.
The Village Head did not mind; in fact, he felt sowhat embarrassed, as he knew his own actions were quite shaless. He just said to Muniang, “You help your aunt take good care of those two children. I shall not stay any longer.”
“Hmm.”
After the Village Head had left, and the villagers had dispersed, Mrs. Liang quickly approached, “Muniang, please rember to remind your third aunt tomorrow, don’t let her forget.”
Muniang gave her a sidelong glance and responded, “You needn’t worry. Better to go back where you co from. Otherwise, if you disturb my aunt and she changes her mind, it wouldn’t be impossible to retract our forgiveness.”
These words truly frightened Mrs. Liang, who promptly replied, “I’m going, I’m going. Just please rember tomorrow!” With that, she scurried away as if greasing her feet, fleeing quickly.
Early the next morning, Mrs. Liang was already waiting at the entrance of Madam Liu’s house. Muniang, unable to set her mind at ease, followed along. Yu Ze served directly as the coachman, considering that the children still needed soone to look after them, so he asked Mrs. Lin to co over and take care of them.
“Court is now in session~”
“Majesty~”
At Lord Lu’s command, Wang Shitou was brought up. Just one night had passed, yet his appearance had beco haggard, and his eyes still held deep fear. Upon seeing Mrs. Liang, he frantically yelled, “Mom, save ! I don’t want to go to jail, I don’t want to go to jail!”
“Silence in the court!” Lord Lu commanded with a strike of the shocking hall wood, and Wang Shitou could only ekly close his mouth.
Mrs. Liang looked pleadingly at Madam Liu, who then spoke up, “My lord, Wang Shitou is indeed guilty, but after all, he is just a child. I implore your honor to show leniency in his punishnt.”
Lord Lu nodded and said, “Though you are but a village woman, you possess such magnanimity; it impresses even this official. Since you can speak on behalf of Mrs. Liang, then this official need not adhere strictly to the law with undue harshness—”
Before Lord Lu could finish his sentence, Mrs. Liang imdiately burst into jubilant cries, “Thank you, my lord! Thank you, my lord! When will you release him, my lord? Please do it quickly!”
Lord Lu ignored her outright and continued, “However, while the death penalty can be avoided, punishnt cannot be escaped. Wang Shitou committed theft and frad others, with serious consequences. But in consideration of his youth, this court orders ten heavy beatings.”
Mrs. Liang’s face turned ghostly pale in an instant, “How can a child withstand ten heavy beatings? Are you deliberately being cruel to , my lord?!”
Lord Lu looked at her sternly and said, “Bring her forward! Mrs. Liang has repeatedly caused a commotion in the court, damaging this official’s reputation, and showing disrespect to her superiors. She is sentenced to twenty heavy beatings!”
Muniang inwardly acclaid, finding that so people simply cannot be reasoned with—in her experience, a beating is far more effective than any argunt.
As expected, Mrs. Liang imdiately began wailing as if the sky was falling, “Oh, my lord! I was just babbling nonsense. Please, your honor, overlook the transgressions of the lowly; spare , my lord!”
“Carry out the sentence imdiately!”
Following this, a swarm of governnt officials crowded around, brought in the Punishnt Bench, and pressed both Mrs. Liang and Wang Shitou onto it, and “smack, smack, smack,” they began administering the beatings.
Madam Liu couldn’t bear the sight of such a brutal scene and turned her head away. Yu Ze originally thought Muniang would be scared, seeking comfort nestled against him like a delicate bird, but reality was much tougher—Muniang watched intently with wide eyes, not even blinking, visibly excited.
Yu Ze felt embarrassed and sheepishly withdrew his hand that he had been ready to wrap around her for comfort.
This case was finally settled, and both Mrs. Liang and Wang Shitou ended up being carried out. Now that Muniang and her party had seen the excitent, they were ready to leave. Just then, a governnt official ca over and bowed, saying, “My lord invites you all inside for a cup of tea before you go.”
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