Unlimited Resources: Raising a Minister with a Space Supermarket-Chapter 458 - 416: Show Mercy Where Mercy Is Due

Yu Ziqian casually tossed aside some foxtail grass and replied, "Big sis, Dad went to the shop in the city and hasn’t returned yet. Mom went to Fourth Grandpa’s house, and she won’t let me go."

"Did Mom go alone or did she take someone with her?" It’s quite unusual for the Protector and the Gatekeeper to be absent.

"She took people with her; Mom took all those who knew martial arts away!" Yu Ziqian really wanted to go and check out the situation but was forcefully forbidden by his mother, leaving him to stay quietly at home.

"Could it be something happened at Fourth Grandpa’s house? Do you know what happened?"

Yu Ziqian was already seven years old and couldn’t sit still. He usually caught wind of anything happening in the village.

"You know that son of Jiang Dingcai, called Jiang Haifu, don’t you, sis?"

"Yes, what’s happened to him?" Could it be that the issue at Fourth Grandpa’s house is related to Jiang Haifu?

"Jiang Haifu has taken a liking to Sister Manyun. Jiang Dingcai even went to Fourth Grandpa’s house to propose on behalf of his son, but Sister Manyun refused. The matter was dropped, but yesterday, as Sister Manyun was returning from the city, she ran into Jiang Haifu on the way, and Jiang Haifu shamelessly harassed her. Sister Manyun felt disgraced and threatened suicide. Mom just heard about it and took people to Fourth Grandpa’s house; it seems they’re going to seek justice from the Jiang Family."

Alas, too bad he couldn’t join in on the excitement.

Having grasped the gist of the situation, Yu Xiaolian told Yu Ziqian, "Stay home quietly, I’ll go take a look!"

"Sis, you’re not taking me to watch the excitement?" Yu Ziqian sighed at Yu Xiaolian’s back, "Ding Han is better; he always calls me along when there’s something interesting. I think I’ll go find Ding Han to play."

Yu Xiaolian passed by Sun Sillin’s house without entering, because she saw a crowd gathered at the Jiang Family’s entrance not far away.

Yu Xiaolian quickened her pace to the Jiang Family’s door and squeezed through the tightly-packed crowd to get beside Sun, calling out, "Mom."

Sun had already received Yu Xiaolian’s message, knowing she would be back soon. So when she saw Yu Xiaolian, she wasn’t surprised. She took Yu Xiaolian’s hand and urged her to stand back to avoid getting hurt in the chaotic scene.

Indeed, the scene was very chaotic. Several uncles from Sun Sillin’s house were already pinning Jiang Dingcai and his son to the ground, even Jiang Dingcai’s wife, Lu, wasn’t spared, scratched all over her face by the women from Sun Sillin’s family.

As for the old man and old lady Jiang, one sat on the ground with a pale face, clearly terrified, and the other sat crying as if the whole family had died.

"Dare to block my niece on the road again, try it, I’ll twist your head off!

Just because she doesn’t have a dad, you think you can bully her? She still has four uncles! You punk, you think we’re just decoration?" Sun Sillin cursed as he fought.

"Fourth, let’s just break this brat’s legs to save him from not learning his lesson in the future!" Sun Erlin said as he stomped on Jiang Haifu’s leg, and before others could stop him, Jiang Haifu’s leg bone cracked with a crisp sound, followed by Jiang Haifu’s wailing like a slaughtered pig. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Oh dear, a little lesson is fine, but don’t beat him to disability!" Qi Lizheng seemed already too late when he said this.

Jiang Haifu struggled to cover his broken leg with his hand, but Sun Erlin kicked him again in the face, changing him from a perfectly toothed lad to one missing two teeth.

"Alright, alright, Longhe’s family, can you persuade them to stop?" Qi Lizheng saw he couldn’t talk sense into Sun’s family, so he went to plea with Sun. He didn’t want anyone in the village to die.

Though Jiang Family was at fault, beating them so severely would be hard to resolve, and if the Jiang Family reported it to the government, what then?

Sun was just about to persuade them when Yu Xiaolian stopped her, "According to Great Liang’s new laws, anyone who attempts to dishonor a woman and causes her to commit suicide out of shame should be executed.

There are differences in punishment; those who lure with hands or feet will receive sixty-seven strokes of the cane for verbal harassment.

Let them go to the government, and after sixty-seven strokes, Jiang Haifu might lose his life."

Though Qi Lizheng was well-versed in Great Liang’s old laws, he was clueless about the new ones, yet he didn’t doubt Yu Xiaolian’s words were true. Firstly, Yu Xiaolian was a scholar, her knowledge widely acknowledged. Moreover, Yu Xiaolian had just returned from the Capital, it’s normal for her to know the new laws first.

"These laws... have changed?" Qi Lizheng felt bewildered; harassing a woman was never a capital crime before, is it this severe now?

"Yes, the new emperor has revised many legal articles, especially those unfair to women." Yu Xiaolian saw Jun Tingye working day and night for the people’s welfare, and considered him a good emperor.

"Wow, these new laws are great!"

Jiang Mangzi’s wife, Zeng, didn’t mind watching the chaos; though she didn’t understand the specifics of Yu’s words, she heard clearly about the execution and caning, deducing it meant physical harassment resulted in execution while verbal harassment without action meant caning. Sixty-seven strokes seemed to imply this, thinking of it made Zeng happy, she found the melon seeds in her hand tastier.

Originally, Jiang Haifu intended to report the matter, but now, hearing Yu Xiaolian’s mention of new laws, his spirit deflated entirely, feeling hopeless and seeing no point in living.

As Yu Xiaolian stated, after sixty-seven strokes, his life would be over!

"Son, he’s just trying to scare you, don’t be afraid, you didn’t really do anything to Sun Manyun, what are you afraid of? She’s still a pure maiden, not missing a bit of flesh, the Sun’s family is bullying too much, just because they have more people, we must report it, report it to the government!" Lu stumbled forward, holding Jiang Haifu’s face, "Son, don’t be afraid, mom is here, mom knows you wouldn’t actively bully Sun Manyun, definitely the girl lured you first.

Yes, we’ll say this to the government; it was Sun Manyun who shamelessly lured you, and later she falsely accused us, the officials will uphold justice for us."

"Since that’s the case... you, go help the Jiang Family report it!" Yu Xiaolian turned and instructed her Protector.

The Protector immediately responded and turned to leave.

Jiang Haiqiu raised a hand to stop the Protector and respectfully said to Yu Xiaolian, "Yu Xueguan, Haifu has been taught a lesson, I beg you for leniency, let this matter go?"

Qi Lizheng also pleaded on the side, "We’re all in the same village, Haifu’s nature isn’t bad, though he was momentarily muddle-headed and did wrong, he doesn’t deserve death, shouldn’t we also give him a chance to mend his ways?"

Yu Xiaolian pulled Sun Manyun, who was hiding behind Sun Wulin’s wife, "You decide whether to be lenient?"