A fierce wife enters the house: She helps up a house full of spineless people.

"Scholar?" Wang Xiaobao stepped forward and poked Chen Shuyan's knee with a wooden stick, causing Chen Shuyan to kneel down with a thud.

"You beast who let the wolf into the house, behave yourself, or the stick won't have eyes!"

Chen Shuyan wanted to cause more trouble, but Wang Tianfang walked over expressionlessly, took a piece of rag, and stuffed it directly into his mouth.

The world is finally quiet.

The group escorted the prisoner onto an oxcart, and under the watchful eyes of the entire village, they marched in a grand procession toward the county town.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the Yongning County government office, the yamen runners, upon hearing that they had come to report a crime and that they had captured bandits alive, hurriedly went inside to inform them.

Soon, the county magistrate took the stage.

Wang Jinzhu, Wang Tianfang, and village chief Chen Defu, as plaintiffs, knelt in the main hall. Chen Shuyan and the other vagrants were held aside.

The county magistrate, surnamed Wu, was in his forties, with a thin face but sharp eyes. He glanced at the crowd below the court, picked up the gavel, and slammed it down.

"Who is standing here, and what is your complaint?"

As the village chief, Chen Defu spoke first, recounting in detail what had happened the previous night.

The account is clear and logical, detailing how Chen Shuyan lured the refugees, how they scaled the walls and broke into their homes, how Wang Jinzhu's family fought back, and how the entire village finally captured them.

Magistrate Wu listened, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper. He turned to the group of refugees: "Is what he said true?"

Those refugees had never seen anything like this before. They were so frightened that they ran away in terror, scrambling to pin all the blame on Chen Shuyan.

"Your Honor, please see the truth! We were just blinded by hunger, it was all this scholar Chen's doing! He said his uncle had plenty of money and grain, and he even said... he even said that the woman in that family was beautiful, and that we could have whatever we wanted with her after we got our hands on her..."

Upon hearing this, even the constables on both sides showed expressions of disdain.

Magistrate Wu's face darkened completely. He turned to Chen Shuyan, whose mouth had been gagged.

"Chen Shuyan, do you know your crime?"

Chen Shuyan trembled all over. He knew he couldn't admit it no matter what. He kowtowed desperately, crying out, "Your Honor, you've wronged me! I've been wronged! I was coerced! If I've uttered even half a lie, may I be struck by lightning!"

"Coercion?" Magistrate Wu sneered. "Then I ask you, where did they find you and coerce you?"

Chen Shuyan's crying stopped abruptly, and she froze.

Where? His eyes darted around anxiously. In town? At the village entrance? Or on the road? Which one was the most plausible?

"What? Haven't you finished making this up yet?" Magistrate Wu's patience had clearly run out. He slammed his gavel down and roared, "Confess the truth to me!"

"I...I..." Chen Shuyan's lips trembled so badly that he couldn't utter a single word.

"Like mother, like son! You harbor resentment, seek revenge against your relatives, and invite bandits to wreak havoc—your crime is doubly grave! The northern border is currently unstable, with refugees rising everywhere. The imperial court has repeatedly issued orders to severely crack down on those who take advantage of the chaos to commit crimes! As a scholar, you knowingly committed this offense, making your crime even more unforgivable!"

Magistrate Wu grew increasingly angry as he spoke, and suddenly slammed his gavel: "Guards!"

"Yes, sir!" the constables on both sides replied in unison.

"Chen Shuyan, who instigated displaced people to break into homes and rob, intending to rob and kill for money, is of depraved character and his crimes are heinous! His scholar's degree is revoked, he is to be flogged eighty times, tattooed on his back, and exiled three thousand li away, never to return home again!"

"The remaining refugees shall be punished the same way! They shall be flogged eighty times and sent to the frontier as soldiers!"

This verdict is heavier than anyone imagined.

Eighty strokes of the cane, even if you don't die, will leave you severely scarred. Tattooing and exile, that's a lifetime of shame, practically the same as death.

Upon hearing the verdict, Chen Shuyan's eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.

Wang Jinzhu was also slightly startled; she hadn't expected Magistrate Wu to make such a swift and ruthless judgment.

It seems Chen Shujie was right. The Prince of An's rebellion has made the government extremely cautious. This is a case of making an example of someone to deter others from making trouble.

"Thank you so much, Your Honor, for upholding justice for us!" Chen Defu and Wang Tianfang quickly kowtowed in gratitude.

"Execute him!" Magistrate Wu gave the order without any hesitation.

The constables immediately stepped forward, dragged Chen Shuyan and the other vagrants up, and right there in the hall, pulled down their pants, exposing their buttocks.

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

The heavy board struck flesh solidly, the dull thuds mingling with the piercing screams, sending chills down one's spine.

After leaving the county government office, the group walked back to the village in silence, the atmosphere heavy with tension.

Village chief Chen Defu puffed on his pipe, one puff after another, his brows furrowed in worry.

The dull thud of the board hitting flesh in the courtroom, and Chen Shuyan's inhuman screams, still seem to echo in my ears.

He was flogged eighty times, tattooed, and exiled three thousand miles away.

The verdict was far harsher than he had imagined. He had thought that Chen Shuyan, being a scholar, would at most be beaten, stripped of his degree, and imprisoned for a few years, out of consideration for his academic achievements. Who would have thought he would be sentenced to a fate that was practically death?

"That Magistrate Wu is really ruthless," a villager following behind muttered quietly.

Another villager immediately chimed in, "Being ruthless is good! We should be ruthless towards these beasts! Otherwise, anyone will dare to trespass into our village as bandits!"

"Exactly! If you ask me, it's a good sentence! It'll save him from causing trouble again!"

The villagers were buzzing with excitement, their words filled with satisfaction. But Chen Defu and Chen Tianfang, who were walking at the front, felt anything but at ease.

Back in the village, a number of people were already waiting at the entrance. They gathered around them as soon as they saw them return.

"Village chief, how did it go? What was the magistrate's verdict?"

When Chen Defu announced the verdict, the crowd erupted in cheers. Some applauded, some sighed, and many more were filled with lingering fear.

A scholar, gone just like that, dragged out and beaten like a dog—the authority of the government is truly etched into everyone's hearts today.

Old Chen was also waiting in the crowd. He hadn't slept all night and seemed to have lost his backbone. He was hunched over and leaning against an old locust tree.

When he heard the verdict, his cloudy eyes remained expressionless, only his wrinkled face paled even more. His lips trembled, and after a long while, he managed to squeeze out a few words: "A sin...it's all a sin..."

After saying that, he turned around, leaning on his cane, and walked very slowly, step by step, towards the old house. His back view was indescribably desolate and forlorn.

Wang Jinzhu watched Old Chen's retreating figure and sighed inwardly. There's always a reason why someone is pitiful. If he hadn't been so biased and hadn't spoiled the second wife so much, things wouldn't have come to this.

He doesn't deserve any sympathy.

When they got home, Chen Yuxiang and Chen Shi had already prepared dinner. They quickly came to greet them when they returned.

"How is it?" Chen Yuxiang asked with a worried look.

"Mother, it's alright now," Chen Tianfang said in a muffled voice. "The verdicts have been handed down."

The family sat down to eat, but the atmosphere at the table was still somewhat tense. Chen Shi ate a couple of mouthfuls of rice and couldn't help but ask, "Then... Shuyan, he..."

Wang Jinzhu immediately took over the conversation: "Dad, let's leave it at that. From now on, we'll pretend he never existed in our family. He chose this path himself, so no one can blame him."

Chen Shi sighed and said nothing more.

The meal was unappetizing, and just as they put down their chopsticks, Wang Xiaobao ran in from outside.

"Little sister, a carriage has arrived and stopped in front of our house. They say they're from the prefectural city and are looking for you!"

From the prefectural city? Judging by the days, Liu Mingyuan should be here to pick up the goods around this time.