The early morning wind carried a slight chill. After wobbling along on the ox cart for half the day, Luo Wangshu leaned against Mo Li’s broad back and yawned. He really hadn’t expected Zhao Dayuan to actually have the guts to go to court, which was why they had gotten up so early.
On another ox cart, Zhao Dayuan cast a confident glance at Mo Fang.
Actually, his thinking was very simple. Entering the yamen meant receiving ten strokes of the board first. Once those ten blows landed, Mo Fang’s old bones would definitely be crippled. Zhao Dayuan was younger and could endure it, so he was determined to get that silver.
Mo Fang, however, looked completely relaxed, as though he were going on an autumn outing instead of to court.
At the hour of Yin, the city gates opened wide. By the time they arrived, the gates had just opened, and they entered under the lingering darkness of night.
After passing through two streets, they arrived at the yamen entrance. Luo Wangshu looked up and saw tightly shut vermilion gates, with a gold-trimmed plaque hanging overhead. To the right stood a large drum, and the two stone lions at the entrance were carved vividly and looked extremely imposing.
So this is the yamen?
Mm, it really wasn’t much different from what appeared in TV dramas.
Luo Wangshu thought that next they would beat the drum, followed by a drawn-out “Weeei—Wuuu—” announcing the court session.
Reality, however, was that they waited for over an hour until daylight fully arrived before the drum was finally struck.
Anyway, Luo Wangshu had gone from being excited at seeing a real yamen to catching up on sleep. Mo Li’s body was hard as a rock, so sleeping against him wasn’t exactly comfortable. His neck almost broke from the awkward angle, and he only jolted awake upon hearing the drumbeat.
After Zhao Dayuan finished beating the drum, the yamen doors opened not long after. A man dressed in a dark red official robe rubbed his eyes as he came out and asked unhappily, “Who beat the drum?”
“Official sir!” Zhao Dayuan dropped to his knees with a thud before the man, crying dramatically with tears and snot everywhere.
“That man deliberately treated my wife to death! My poor wife, she was only thirty-nine—”
The man frowned and asked, “Can this matter not be settled privately?”
The meaning was obvious: this sort of thing didn’t need to reach the yamen. If it could be resolved privately, then resolve it privately.
Zhao Dayuan still wanted to say more, but Mo Fang, who had been coldly observing from the side for a long time, finally spoke.
“Let’s handle it according to the rules.”
The man’s expression changed slightly upon hearing that.
“Since the drum was struck, then come receive the punishment first.”
After speaking, he gestured toward the people on duty inside. A man came over carrying two dark red boards as wide as two bricks.
“Boss, what now?” the man asked roughly.
The official impatiently raised his head and said, “Ten strokes first. I’ll go call the magistrate out.”
“Alrighty!”
Being disturbed from sleep so early in the morning, the man’s gaze toward Zhao Dayuan immediately changed.
Zhao Dayuan’s heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly said, “Official sir, can you hit him fir—”
Before he could finish speaking, the thick wooden board came crashing down, and he collapsed face-first onto the ground.
“I know perfectly well who should be beaten first. Don’t need you teaching me!”
As he spoke, the strikes landed harder and harder on Zhao Dayuan’s backside. Zhao Dayuan secretly thanked himself for wearing several extra layers of pants before leaving home, but it still hurt so badly he screamed nonstop.
He refused to believe this wouldn’t beat Mo Fang half to death!
Mo Fang remained calm.
Luo Wangshu quietly asked him, “Father, are you planning to let Mo Li take the beating for you?”
Mo Fang glanced at Luo Wangshu, and the contempt in his eyes clearly said:
You’re thinking too much.
“I was just asking…” Luo Wangshu curled his lips. If they beat the man crippled later, he definitely wasn’t going to save him. Hmph.
Mo Li stared at Zhao Dayuan and frowned.
Luo Wangshu originally wanted to ask whether Mo Fang had some backup plan, but then he noticed Mo Li wearing a conflicted expression. So he elbowed him lightly in the waist.
“Wife?”
Luo Wangshu blinked at him. “What? Scared?”
Mo Li shook his head. “He’s hitting too lightly. All soft and weak.”
His voice wasn’t very loud, but it was early morning and there were few people around. Plus, they were standing close. The man doing the beating looked at Mo Li in surprise.
He was already hitting with plenty of force, alright?!
Being criticized as “soft and weak,” the man immediately struck harder. It could clearly be heard from Zhao Dayuan’s uncontrollable howls.
“And he’s not beating according to regulations. It should be three hits on the calves, three on the thighs, three on the buttocks, and one on the waist.”
Luo Wangshu widened his eyes. “Really?”
In TV dramas, they always beat the butt! There were actually regulations like this?
Mo Li nodded very firmly.
The man who had just finished the first round leaned against the gate while panting and said, “Little brother, what you said is correct. But because we’re afraid of accidentally crippling or killing people, we usually do it this way.”
That’s surprisingly humane…
Luo Wangshu sneered inwardly.
If they were afraid of beating people to death, then why beat them at all? What was the point of setting such regulations?
“Law is law. It cannot be casually changed.” Mo Li’s face darkened as he spoke.
The man involuntarily shivered. This fellow’s gaze was kind of terrifying.
Before Zhao Dayuan, who was still yelping miserably, could even crawl up, the board struck his calf again.
“Aiyo!”
“Alright, alright! I’m scared of you already. I’ll redo it properly, okay?”
Only then did Mo Li reveal a trace of approval.
After seeing that expression, the man somehow became even more motivated while beating him. For some reason, he had the strange feeling that as long as this man approved of him once, dying in battle wouldn’t matter.
Luo Wangshu held his forehead.
This could work too?
Then what about when it became Mo Fang’s turn?
He shot Mo Li a look, but the latter looked utterly confused, completely different from the serious person who had just argued over legal procedures.
Ten strokes wasn’t much, but because of Mo Li’s comments, Zhao Dayuan ended up suffering ten more proper strikes. Cold sweat poured down his face, and blood had already seeped through his pants.
Luo Wangshu couldn’t help frowning.
He hated this kind of thing the most, but…
Damn, it felt satisfying inside!
After finally enduring the last strike, Zhao Dayuan’s lower body had gone numb. Still, he viciously glared at Mo Fang and weakly said, “Official sir… now it’s his turn, right?”
Panting heavily, the man waved Mo Fang over.
Mo Fang calmly said, “I am fifty years old this year, and…”
As he spoke, he pulled out a golden token from his wide sleeve.
“You’re… Doctor Mo?”
The man’s eyes widened before he immediately smiled flatteringly.
“Well then, you may go inside. No need for punishment.”
Zhao Dayuan froze for a long moment before shouting, “Why doesn’t he get beaten?!”
The man kicked him.
“He’s exempt from punishment at fifty! And besides, he’s Doctor Mo! Even the Emperor would give him some respect! What kind of thing are you to dare sue him?”
Luo Wangshu’s expression turned blank.
“Just what kind of background does Father have?”
It felt like he’d discovered something incredible.
Mo Li scratched his head, seeming completely clueless about what they were talking about.
Court was officially convened.
As family members, Luo Wangshu and Mo Li were allowed to sit on chairs at the side thanks to Mo Fang’s status. Mo Fang had originally wanted to kowtow to the magistrate, but in the end, it was the magistrate kowtowing to him instead.
The scene was too painful to look at.
Zhao Dayuan had wanted to leave, but Mo Fang counter-sued him for beating someone to death. Thus, Zhao Dayuan became the only person kneeling in the courtroom, trembling in fear.
“Doctor Mo, if you have any requests, please speak freely.”
The magistrate’s pleasant expression somehow looked a little…
Bootlicking, in Luo Wangshu’s opinion.
Mo Fang leisurely took a sip of tea.
“Magistrate, I memorized all medical texts at age four, learned to identify herbs at seven, was summoned into the Imperial Medical Bureau at ten, and resigned from office at thirty to return home. My family lived beside Zhao Fangshi’s, and our parents shared a deep friendship. Though I was decades older than her, I always regarded her as a younger sister.”
“Ten years ago, changes befell my family, and filled with worry and sorrow, I traveled the world. When I returned years later, Zhao Fangshi had already married.”
Luo Wangshu leaned against Mo Li’s arm and listened attentively to the story.
Turns out the father he randomly acknowledged had such an impressive background.
“If the man she married had been good, I would never have said a word. Unfortunately, Zhao Dayuan is vile by nature, indulging in drinking, gambling, and prostitution alike. The reason Zhao Fangshi married him was because he sneaked into her room one night and ruined her reputation. Her parents had no choice but to marry her off, and afterward both died in depression.”
Zhao Dayuan shrank his neck and didn’t dare breathe loudly.
Mo Fang continued:
“Afterward, he frequently beat Zhao Fangshi and even forced her to solicit customers by the official road like a prostitute to earn money for his gambling.”
“After I returned, Zhao Dayuan repeatedly ‘borrowed’ money from me, totaling over three hundred taels. Now Zhao Fangshi has been beaten to death by him, and he even dares frame me for murder. Zhao Fangshi was carrying his child, yet he kicked her until she hemorrhaged heavily. I ask the magistrate to punish such scum according to the law.”
The magistrate also looked full of sighs, clearly not expecting such trash to exist in this world.
Coldly glancing at Zhao Dayuan on the floor, he asked, “Advisor, what punishment does the law prescribe?”
The advisor immediately replied, “Deliberately killing one’s wife warrants thirty years imprisonment.”
Mo Fang frowned, clearly dissatisfied with this result.
Zhao Dayuan let out a sigh of relief.
At least he wasn’t being executed…
After thinking for a moment, Mo Li spoke:
“Law Article 108: Wantonly humiliating one’s lawful wife results in a fine of twenty taels and one month imprisonment. If unable to pay, imprisonment extends to one year.”
“Law Article 56: Privately soliciting customers without official documentation results in five years exile. If accompanied by other crimes, the offender shall be branded and exiled for life, and family members share the same punishment.”
The advisor listened in stunned silence.
“That’s correct… it is indeed written that way.”
He hadn’t expected someone from such a remote place to know the law so thoroughly.
Branded?
Zhao Dayuan froze.
If words were branded onto his face, no matter where he went, people would beat and curse him. If he died on the road, even charity graves wouldn’t take his corpse.
“Magistrate! Please, don’t brand me! I know I was wrong!”
“Men, drag him away for branding and exile him a thousand li!”
Two large men dragged away the crying and screaming Zhao Dayuan.
Mo Fang then added, “Please write a divorce decree for Zhao Fangshi, Magistrate, so she may be buried in her ancestral grave.”
“That’s easy enough. Doctor Mo, why not stay here for a few days and allow me to properly play host?”
The magistrate smiled warmly.
Mo Fang waved his hand. “Thank you for your kindness, Magistrate, but there are matters at home awaiting me. Please forgive me.”
“Haha, no matter. Important people are always busy. I understand, I understand.”
Luo Wangshu watched them exchange several more meaningless pleasantries before taking the divorce decree and leaving in the ox cart.
The magistrate visibly relaxed afterward.
Along the way, Luo Wangshu kept giving Mo Li and Mo Fang strange looks, making both of them increasingly uncomfortable.
“What else are you two hiding from me?”
Mo Li shook his head foolishly. “Wife, I’m not hiding anything from you.”
Mo Fang remained silent. His eyes carried deep exhaustion, but even more relief.
Seeing that, Luo Wangshu said nothing further and leaned against Mo Li to continue sleeping.
The autumn wind was slightly chilly as the ox cart slowly swayed toward home.