Aunt Chen is back from the world of cultivation

After settling Teacher and Friends Qiao, Zhenniang went out with a few strong servants to open the gate.

The scholars outside were shouting and knocking on the door when suddenly the door creaked open and a group of tall and strong servants rushed out. They were so shocked by the momentum that they took a step back.

Zhenniang finally came out and stood on the steps at the gate of the Qiao residence.

Although she was facing so many scholars who were staring at her angrily, she was still a little flustered.

However, she had played out this situation in her mind countless times, and she quickly regained her composure.

"What are you doing at my doorstep so early in the morning? You're trying to break in. Do you have any respect for the law? Are you trying to break into a private house?"

"You are all educated people. Don't you know how to sentence people to prison for breaking into a private house?"

She shouted angrily.

It was so imposing that it stunned many people at once.

The people that Teacher Qiao interacted with on a daily basis were all poor kids like him. Most of them didn't have any strong backing and were very afraid of getting involved in lawsuits.

Hearing this, many people immediately took a few steps back and argued:

"Don't talk nonsense, little woman! When did we break into a private house?"

Ran Shichu, who was in the lead, said:

"Don't let her change the subject! You cunning woman, you must be Brother Qiao's wife Qin, right?"

"Yes, it's me."

Ran Shichu immediately asked with indignation:

"Qin, you beat your husband and parents-in-law. You are unfilial and disobedient. What crime should you be punished for?"

Zhen Niang said without fear:

"My dear, if you speak nonsense and slander others, you will be punished by a stick if you are reported to the government! I admit that I beat my husband, but when did I beat my parents-in-law?"

"Do you want me to bring my parents-in-law out right now for everyone to see? If they don't have any injuries, I'll sue you for slander, okay?"

When Ran Shichu saw her confident look, he was a little hesitant.

Even though he had the title of scholar and his family had some wealth, Ran Shichu had no intention of ever going to the government office.

After thinking for a moment, he immediately grasped the key point and said:

"The husband is the head of the wife, men are superior to women! You yourself admitted that beating your husband is a violation of ethics and is a great rebellion. Why don't you confess your sin and make amends as soon as possible!"

The scholars who came with him echoed loudly:

"Yes! Take her to the government office, beat her with a stick and put her in jail!"

"And parade them through the streets!"

Zhenniang was well prepared. Upon hearing this, she calmly took out a thick volume of laws and regulations of the dynasty:

"You are scholars, but you are so reckless! It's just a fight between husband and wife, who said I am guilty? Here are the laws of my dynasty, you can look it up yourself, which law says I am guilty?"

Ran Shichu took the law and started looking through it on the spot.

Several scholars came over.

However, when they actually turned to the page regarding fighting between husband and wife, everyone was dumbfounded.

"No! How could there be no?"

The husband is the head of the wife. In every dynasty, it has been a serious crime for a wife to beat her husband. How come there is no such provision in the laws of this dynasty?

There is only one sentence above: "If a husband beats his wife to the point of breaking her bones, although it is against moral ethics, divorce can only be granted if both husband and wife agree." There is no description at all about the wife beating her husband.

Seeing their incredulous expressions, Zhenniang couldn't help but laugh inwardly:

"Can't find it? Then I will kindly explain it to you. The Empress of our Dynasty, Zhongzong, abolished the rule of wives beating their husbands after Princess Qingyang beat her husband to disability. However, because it involved the royal family, it was not widely publicized!"

It’s no wonder that these scholars made the mistake of taking things for granted.

The fact is that in recent decades, the proportion of law in the imperial examinations has become increasingly lower.

It is a type of miscellaneous essay. Among the more than ten questions in the miscellaneous essay, there will be no more than two questions. If you encounter an examiner who does not attach importance to the law, there may even be only one question.

Although the proportion is low, there are thousands of legal provisions involved, and it takes a lot of time to study them thoroughly.

Buying such a thick book on law is ten times more expensive than the Four Books and Five Classics.

As a result, many poor students chose to give up studying laws and regulations and focus more on the main subjects of the Four Books and Five Classics.

Among ordinary people, apart from lawyers and legal advisors who make a living from this, there are very few people who can know every legal provision so clearly.

Moreover, when a couple fights, it is almost impossible for the case to go to court unless someone dies.

Over time, many people did not know that this law had been revised more than a hundred years ago.

The reason why Zhenniang knew this law was naturally because Chen Qingzhu had personally witnessed a case of a wife beating her husband and being acquitted during the eight years he was wandering as a wandering soul in his previous life, which was why he gave Zhenniang this idea.

Some scholars who read a lot of miscellaneous books have heard about the case of Princess Qingyang of Emperor Zhongzong beating her husband and causing him to become disabled.

Seeing the large volume of laws written in black and white placed before their eyes, and seeing Zhenniang's well-reasoned arguments, the morale of many people suddenly wilted.

"The case of Princess Qingyang beating her husband has had the law changed? What should we do now?"

"The world is deteriorating, and people's hearts are not as old as they used to be!"

If there were no laws to follow, how could they compete with the wealthy merchants?

Ran Shichu personally saw the tearful letter for help written by Teacher Qiao.

In his heart, Mr. Qiao is a poor man who is oppressed by the big businessman Yue family and his wife, who is a Hedong lion. Only he can save their family from the disaster.

Even though there were no rules to follow, he still did not back down:

"Even if there are no laws, your evil deeds as a shrew are morally punishable by everyone! Beating your husband every day, aren't you just relying on your family's wealth to oppress your husband and your in-laws?"

Zhenniang had known that there would be such accusations, and she immediately acted out when she heard it. She seemed to have suffered a great injustice and a blow, and said:

"I really didn't expect this! I did everything for his good, but I was considered to be bullying him and everyone could kill me?"

She looked at the group of scholars with red eyes and asked:

"You all accuse me of beating my husband, but do you know why I beat him?"

Seeing her so aggrieved, someone couldn't help but ask:

"Why?"

"Because he forced me to go to my mother's house and take out a huge amount of money to bribe Master Zhang, the teacher of this year's provincial examination, to accept him as his apprentice! I refused, so he threatened to strangle me to death to threaten my father! This matter caused a big fuss at the time, and the surrounding neighbors can all testify!"

As he said this, he looked at the neighbors who had come out to watch the fun:

"Uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters, you can testify to this matter, right?"

Upon hearing this, the neighbors stood up and said:

"Yes! We can testify!"

"Yes, we saw it with our own eyes!"

The incident happened not long ago, and the neighbors are still impressed by it.

Although the Qiao family used sweet words and made up all kinds of excuses to slander the Qin family, everyone is a smart person and everyone knows that it was the Qiao family who used the dowry of the rich businessman's daughter and turned the tables on them.

After that incident, everyone privately said that the Qiao family was heartless, ungrateful and cunning, and that everyone must be more careful when dealing with his family in the future.

Zhenniang is kind and polite in her daily life, and she doesn't have the airs of a wealthy merchant's daughter or a scholar's wife at all. The neighbors have a good impression of her.

Everyone felt very sympathetic towards her for having the misfortune of marrying such a husband.

Now that they found out that someone was instigating the Qiao family to cause trouble for Zhenniang, the neighbors naturally felt obligated to stand up and testify for Zhenniang.

The dozens of scholars were greatly surprised when they heard these words.

They had only heard from Ran Shichu that Qiao Shiyou was locked up at home by the merchant Yue family and was beaten every day by his wife who took advantage of her power to bully others. They were all filled with righteous indignation and wanted to seek justice, but they did not expect that there was such a secret.

Regardless of the character of these people, as scholars, they appear to be indifferent to fame and fortune and regard money as dirt.

Some people secretly envied and were jealous of Mr. Qiao, who was lucky enough to marry the daughter of a wealthy businessman and whose family suddenly became wealthy.

As a result, many of these scholars who originally came to seek justice for Teacher Qiao showed contempt on their faces.

"I didn't expect that Mr. Qiao, who appears to be a noble person, is actually such a person behind the scenes!"

Seeing that the attitudes of these scholars had softened, Zhenniang also softened her expression and said loudly:

"Everyone present here is a sensible scholar. Please judge for yourself. The Spring Examination is less than half a year away, but my husband doesn't put any effort into studying. Instead, he spends all day trying to curry favor with the rich and powerful. Is this the right path?"

"Of course it's not the right way!"

Someone answered loudly.

The others did not refute.

Even if one has the same idea as Teacher Qiao, who would dare to admit it openly?

Zhenniang continued to ask:

"If someone like him can become the examiner's apprentice by dirty tricks, do you think it is fair to other students who study hard?"

Even if the scholars present here have slightly better family backgrounds, who can be so good as to have the opportunity to become the chief examiner of the provincial examination a teacher and rise to a high position in society?

Most people hate the rich, and this issue resonates with these readers from the bottom of their hearts.

"No fair! No fair!"

They raised their arms and shouted.

Zhenniang looked at Ran Shichu who was still unconvinced:

"I don't know what my husband said to you in the letter, but I beat him to teach him to study hard and follow the right path. Is that wrong?"

"His parents didn't teach him well, and if I, as his wife, don't take care of him anymore, if he passes the imperial examination and becomes an official, wouldn't that mean the court will have another sycophantic official who only knows how to curry favor with the powerful? Wouldn't countless people be ruined by such corrupt officials with evil intentions?"

No matter how important the moral principles between men and women are, can they be more important than the country, the nation, and the family?

Ran Shichu was speechless and his face turned red.

Zhenniang's reasons are so righteous.

At the end, she still looked aggrieved and said with red eyes:

"I know that my husband and my parents-in-law will definitely blame me for being cruel and hate me for being harsh and ruthless to my husband. But I believe that one day, they will understand my painstaking efforts!"

After hearing what she said, from now on, everyone would praise Mr. Qiao’s wife as a noble and upright woman of extraordinary character.

Perhaps in the future there will be an allusion to "Qiao's wife teaching her husband" passed down.

No one accused Zhenniang of beating her husband anymore, and many people even praised her for her magnanimity.

After all, although Teacher Qiao treated her like that, she did not harbor any resentment. Instead, she tried her best to guide her husband to be a good person and urged him to study hard, even if it meant temporarily causing discord between the couple and causing her to be blamed by her parents-in-law.

What a remarkable mind!

The scholars who were instigated by Ran Shichu left the Qiao family with full of praise for Zhenniang.

Including the initiator Ran Shichu, he felt guilty for blaming Zhen Niang without knowing the truth, and apologized to Zhen Niang before leaving.

Only Teacher Qiao, who was tied up and gagged behind the gate, was gritting his teeth in hatred with a distorted face.