The surprise on the face of the county magistrate couldn’t be concealed. How could something like this be said by a person from a peasant family? He opened his mouth and asked, “Where did you hear that?” 

Shao Yunan said frankly (shamelessly), “I think so myself.”

“Did you think of it yourself?!” There was a cry of surprise all around. 

“I thought of it myself.”  A certain person’s face was not red, even his ears did not blush a little. 

At the entrance of the county school, Wang Shijing, Wang Xing, and Sun Erjiang waited anxiously. Wang Shijing tried to barge in several times but was stopped. Then the other party directly said that if he barged in again, he would be sent to the Yamen. Wang Xing and Sun Erjiang desperately dragged Wang Shijing away to prevent him from going in. While the three were anxiously waiting for Shao Yunan to come out, Wang Shiping, Wang Tianyan, and Zhao Yuande arrived. 

As soon as they saw Wang Shijing, Wang Shuping and Zhao Yuande hurriedly asked, “Where is your wife?” 

Wang Shijing just stared at Wang Tianyan and said nothing. It was Wang Xing who replied worriedly, “My little sister-in-law has gone in.”

“What?! You didn’t stop him?!” Wang Shuping and Zhao Yuande’s expressions changed. Shao Yunan really went in. This was the county town school! In case of trouble, not to mention Wang Zhisong, the whole Xiushui village might be affected.  

Wang Tianyan opened his mouth and shouted, “Big brother! What did your wife do?! Why didn’t you stop him?!” Wang Shijing stood up and stepped forward. His face twisted as he gritted his teeth. “This is your sister-in-law! Why didn’t I stop him? Why didn’t you think of how you were killing me when you asked me for money?” 

Wang Shijing was more than a head taller than Wang Tianyan. He had also killed people on the battlefield and had come out of the pile of the dead. As soon as he unleashed his aura, Wang Tianyan immediately sat down on the ground with weak legs, unable to say a word. Not to mention Wang Tianyan, the others were also scared and could not say a word. 

Wang Shijing stared at Wang Tianyan like death himself and said word by word, “I can’t do anything about it, but if anything happens to Yunan, I want you and your wife to pay for it with your life! Wang Tianyan, I, Wang Shijing, have already separated. From now on, I have no parents, no brothers or sisters.  Even if I need to leave Xiushui Village with my wife and children, I will never let you bully my wife and children!”

“Brother Shijing!”

“Calm down Shijing.” 

Wang Shijing’s words scared the four people, in addition to Wang Tianyan they also brought others back to their senses. While Wang Tianyan was already scared to the point of pissing his pants. Wang Shijing arms were grasped by Wang Xing and Sun Erjiang as he walked to the bottom of the wall and squatted down with his back against the wall, emitting a dark aura. Zhao Yuande took a breath, walked over and said, “This matter will be handled impartially by my father and the Wang patriarch. Don’t be angry.”

Wang Shuping was there so Zhao Yuande’s words were actually for Wang Shuping to hear. However, Wang Shijing did not intend to go along with them and said directly, “These are not angry words, but something I said from the bottom of my heart.”

“Don’t talk nonsense!” Using filial piety for fighting, how can you casually say that you won’t recognize your parents? Zhao Yuande patted Wang Shijing trying to calm him down. Wang Shiping also went over, squatting on Wang Shijing’s other side he said, “In this matter it was aunt that was wrong. Try to calm down. When your wife comes out, we will go back to the village and my father will certainly give you justice.”

Wang Shijing, filled with dark thoughts, did not pay any attention to their persuasion. If he could get justice, he would have gotten it a long time ago and would not wait until now. Wang Xing and Sun Erjiang also grimaced in their hearts.

At this moment, a voice came, “Argh! You! It’s you! Your wife actually did not come to deliver the money at all, he actually came to get judgment from the master!” The gatekeeper who stopped Wang Shijing before, ran down the stairs and shouted to Wang Shijing. “He also disturbed the county magistrate and the Dean! This guy really has guts!”

Wang Shijing stood up, jumped up the steps, pushed the man away, and rushed into the county town school. The man shouted from behind, “Come back! Come back!”

Wang Shijing rushed in, so Wang Xing and Sun Erjiang gritting their teeth also followed behind him. Zhao Yuande caught up with the gatekeeper and said, “We are all from the same village, let us in. We definitely won’t make trouble!” 

Several people ran into the courtyard at the same time, but seeing the courtyard situation, they hurriedly stopped and looked at the one who was circled in the middle. Shao Yunan calmly waited for the reply from two masters. 

“Then the late generation asks again about preaching. Will preaching teach a despicable way?” All four people sitting did not look worried. “Teaching, are you teaching about taking away other people’s family wealth?”

Without giving everyone a chance to ask questions, Shao Yunan asked again, “Then solve my confusion, is the solution of my dilemma forcing people to death?” 

Wang Shijing, who was still thinking about how to save Shao Yunan, froze. Wang Xing, Sun Erjiang, Zhao Yuande, and Wang Shuping, who scratched their ears and cheeks also froze. The gatekeeper who caught up with them swallowed his shout in time, so no one noticed them coming in. They were all focused on this nameless person who came for judgment. 

The county magistrate said coldly, “Since you have already made it clear what a teacher is, why do you ask this question? This is an insult to the Dean and the two teachers here, as well as all the teachers in the Great State of Yan.” 

Shao Yunan looked straight at the county magistrate and said strongly, “Yes, I have stated what the teacher is, but among these students in the classroom of the Dean and the two teachers there is a scholar who is despicable, shameless, and ruthless. He allowed his family to take away others’ money and watched coldly as his family forced them into desperation. He even forced his own eldest brother, sister-in-law, and their two children.” 

“Wow!”

The whole room was in an uproar. The expressions of the county magistrate, Dean, and two teachers instantly froze. Among the students gathered around, there was a person whose heart thumped as he stared at Shao Yunan in panic. Shao Yunan let go of all the aura he had been suppressing and shouted sternly. “That person has been reading virtuous books since childhood and is full of the words of virtue, but all the things he did were selfish and self-serving! But such a person has been praised by teachers for his talent and intelligence and having a bright future.” 

“Everyone says that ‘ugliness of the family should not be made public,’ but today, in order to let the two masters judge and keep my husband alive, I have to ask all of you here whether filial piety can be done without kindness and whether merit can offset morality. I will speak publicly about my family affairs.” 

“My name is Shao Yunan and I am from Shaojia Village.” A certain man’s face instantly became white, as he backed out a step, hitting a fellow student. 

 “When I was fourteen years old, the son of a certain family had a strange disease and they insisted on finding a person with the same eight characters to eliminate the evil. Their family found my parents and bought my marriage with 50 taels of silver. I am an adopted son whose adoptive parents are greedy for money, so despite my wishes and regardless of the lack of matchmaking, because the parent’s orders can’t be disobeyed I become engaged. I had no choice but to repay their kindness for raising me, even if I didn’t want to, I still obeyed my parents’ orders.” 

“But who would have thought that two years later, when the man became a child student his family would withdraw the marriage. My parents were unwilling to do so, and I was forced by both sides to jump into the river and kill myself.”

“Hiss -” many students sighed, while others whispered whether they knew who the other person was.  Someone with shrunken shoulders and tightly clenched lips wanted to sneak away but there were people all around, so he was left standing there in a dilemma. The people sitting around heard that Shao Yunan wanted to commit suicide so their expressions become a bit more gloomy. Such a thing was not uncommon, but they were often unable to do anything about it.

Shao Yunan took a deep breath as his voice became hoarse. “Because I almost died, each side took a step back. But the marriage was still held. Not to that person, but to his elder brother. On the wedding day, I was put on a sedan chair after drinking drugged porridge. Perhaps God had mercy on me, although my husband is a widower and had a son and a daughter already, he is very kind to me and his two children are also very sensible. This marriage was a good match for me.” 

A man looked at Shao Yunan through the crowd with red eyes, his whole body tense. His eyes were not sad, but were filled with extreme resentment and self-blame. When Shao Yunan said that the marriage was a good match, he could no longer stay put and rushed over, but was caught by four people. 

Edited by: Jaisland

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