The number one scholar is a piece of shit that everyone wants

The onlookers thought they had heard it wrong at first, but then they saw Ye Fanxing with red eyes, head raised, neck stiffened, looking at Xu Yingdi with an unwilling expression.

"If I hadn't been lucky enough to be rescued from the hands of human traffickers by a kindhearted person, I would have... I would have followed in my mother's footsteps in my life."

"Woo woo, then I...I will also take the opportunity to sneak back and hang myself in the main house where you live, just like my mother who was sold by you. I wonder if you will feel at peace when you wake up in your dreams at midnight?"

Everyone was in an uproar!

"If there is a stepmother, there will be a stepfather!"

"Bah! Even if this vicious woman wasn't around, his father wouldn't be a good guy either!"

"This guy has such a miserable life, being born into such a terrible family!"

"Shut up, are you stupid? You believe everything he says? He is your father?"

"Don't you even think about it? Whose child can remember things and recognize people right after birth?"

"He must have listened to the nonsense made up by those gossipy women and accused me of that."

As the discussions grew louder, Xu Yingdi could not help but turn around and yell at the crowd outside.

Magistrate Wang slammed the gavel again, and only then did the clamor cease.

Looking at Ye Fanxing, he frowned, a little unhappy. He didn't expect that so many things would be involved.

"Ye Fanxing, is there anyone who can witness what you said?"

Witness? Yes, Qian Lizheng!

There is also Ye Yongsheng, the patriarch of the Ye family!

Ye Yongsheng had only seen yamen runners a few times in his life. When he heard Ye Fanxing mention his name, his legs started to go weak before he even went to court. If Qian Lizheng hadn't been supporting him, he would have been so scared that he would have sat down on the ground.

After class, Ye Yongsheng knelt on the ground, curled up in fear.

As the saying goes, "The gate of the yamen faces south. If you don't have money, don't come in." Entering the yamen is like being skinned alive.

Therefore, no matter who comes to the yamen for trial, they will be terrified.

Therefore, when people encounter conflicts in their daily lives, they usually resolve them privately to avoid government intervention. Most of the time, they will seek advice from the head of the village or the person in charge of the clan to resolve the issue.

Ye Yongsheng never thought that Ye Fanxing would ask him to come to court to testify.

Now that he was in court, before Magistrate Wang could ask him any questions, he kept kowtowed and confessed all the bad things that Ye Laosan and Xu Yingdi had done!

Even how Ye Laosan and Xu Yingdi hooked up and how they sold out Runiang were described in great detail.

Hearing everyone's astonishment and the murmurs of discussion, Magistrate Wang slammed the gavel once again.

"Ms. Ye Xu, may I ask if you are my wife or concubine?"

When Ye Wencai, who was standing by, heard Magistrate Wang's question, his face suddenly became as dark as ink. He quickly pulled his mother Xu Yingdi, signaling her not to speak.

Unexpectedly, Xu Yingdi did not understand what Ye Wencai meant. She first glared at Ye Fanxing, and then answered County Magistrate Wang with confidence.

"I, Xu Yingdi, was married to Ye Kui of the Ye family. My former lover, Ru Niang, was just a slave bought by my husband."

Listening to his mother Xu Yingdi's answer, Ye Wencai thought to himself, this is bad!

Even though he was not diligent in his studies, he was still familiar with the law.

The "Da Jin Law Code" clearly stipulates that if a commoner's family keeps slaves, he will be beaten with the stick 100 times and then released to become a free woman.

But not only did his parents not let Runiang go, they bought her instead. How could they understand it after being beaten with a hundred sticks?

If his mother said that he was a concubine and Runiang was his wife, then his father Ye Kui would be favoring his concubine over his wife, which is also a serious crime.

The "Da Jin Law Code" also stipulates that those who take their wife as a concubine will be beaten with the stick 100 times; those who take their concubine as their wife while their wife is still alive will be beaten with the stick 90 times, and will be ordered to correct their status and let their wife be their wife and their concubine be their concubine.

If a man who already has a wife marries again, it is considered bigamy and he will be punished with 90 strokes of the cane and both parties will be ordered to divorce.

As for selling the first wife, there are also provisions in the law code that the first wife cannot be bought and sold, except in years of famine, when the law can be lenient.

"Ms. Ye Xu, do you admit your guilt?"

"I don't know."

It is not Xu Yingdi's fault that she didn't know about this. After all, how many peasants could read and write? Even if they could read a few words, they probably wouldn't have the leisure to buy a law code to read.

Furthermore, even if there are farmers who call slaves and maids slavishly, favor concubines and kill their wives, etc., these are common situations where the people do not report them and the officials do not investigate.

Seeing that Xu Yingdi was unaware of her guilt and refused to plead guilty, and the onlookers were also puzzled, County Magistrate Wang ordered his legal advisor to explain to everyone the laws that the Ye family had violated.

After hearing this, Xu Yingdi's face turned pale. She never thought that she would be used as an example, so that the farmers in Chiding Town would not dare to have any evil thoughts in the future.

Listening to the noisy discussions, Xu Yingdi came back to her senses and thought to herself that she must get Wencai and herself out of these things.

As for Wencai's father, he is in prison anyway, so let him serve a few more years for them and their son!

"My lord! My lord! It's all Wencai's father. He hated Xing'er and told us mother and son to do this!"

"If we don't agree, he will divorce me and sever our relationship with Wencai. We are all forced to do so, sir! Please make a decision for me and my son!"

When Ye Wencai heard his mother put the blame on his father, he kowtowed and said in pain, "Mom, don't say anything. As your son, how can I not listen to your words?"

The mother and son did not know that at this time Ye Laosan was being held outside the hall by the yamen runners, waiting to be summoned.

He just stared in amazement at the mother and son in the hall who were pushing all the blame on him. He had never expected that there would be a day when he would be abandoned by everyone.

"Sir! What the mother and son said is not true. I am not aware of what they have done!"

Ye Laosan fell to his knees outside the hall, shouting that he didn't want to take all the blame on himself and spend the rest of his life in jail!

Magistrate Wang was already overwhelmed by the twists and turns in the case. He looked at the people in the hall with different expressions, then slammed the gavel with a wooden face and pronounced the verdict in court.

"Ye Xushi, Ye Kui, for the crime of bigamy, according to the law, you shall be punished with 90 strokes of the cane, and Ru Niang was killed because of you two, according to the law, you shall be beheaded. Ye Wencai, for selling a good woman, according to the law, you shall be punished with 60 strokes of the cane, be consigned to slavery, and have your face tattooed as a slave."

"Liu Liangwei, Li Zhiyong, Zhao Jiaqi and others, considering that you have a good attitude in admitting your guilt and that the violence was unsuccessful, you shall be punished with 40 strokes of the cane, each fined 100 taels of silver, and sentenced to three months of hard labor. In addition, each of you shall pay 50 taels of silver to the victim as compensation."

Xu Yingdi never thought that she and Ye Laosan would be beheaded!

How could she care about her precious son? Would he still be able to survive after enduring sixty more strokes of the cane?

"Sir! Sir!" Xu Yingdi cried and crawled forward.

"Take them all away and punish them with the cane immediately in public!"

County Magistrate Wang was furious. He wanted to see blood in public and see who dared to roar in the court again!

As for Liu Liangwei and others who could have paid to avoid the beating, they had no choice but to endure the beating. They gritted their teeth and stared fiercely at Ye Wencai who was screaming in pain after being beaten. They would remember this grudge!