Chapter 499: 499: If You Have the Guts, Sue Me
Qiao Xiaomai was right just now, it was he who failed to protect Zhuang Luhe, not Zhuang Luhe who had wronged him.
Upon hearing this, Sun raised her eyebrows. One hand on her hip and the other hand holding a fan, she yelled at Qiao Changshun, “What about right and wrong?! She’s a woman who chose to marry you. What’s wrong with suffering a bit? All the women in this village have to endure hardships, don’t they? Why aren’t they all running away?!”
“Your father was ill back then, and I led you brothers through hard times, and I never ran away?!”
“Zhuang Luhe is just a despicable woman who can’t take a bit of hardship! Now, she’s still a despicable woman who’s been defiled by another man! Bringing such a person into our household is a disgrace to the Qiao family!”
Qiao Changshun hung his head in shame, “Mother, please don’t say anymore, please leave.”
“Leave? I’m telling you, if you dare to go find her, I’ll dare to report her to the County Government Office! That such a disgraceful woman who’s been defiled by another man dares to step foot in the Qiao’s house again, she must be out of her mind! Abandoning her husband and child, such a despicable woman deserves to be drowned in a pig cage!”
Sun revealed her shrill and harsh side, her loud voice ringing in everyone’s ears, with saliva flying and a ferocious look on her face.
Qiao Changshun panicked on hearing this, could the county magistrate really handle such matters?
Qiao Xiaomai snorted and retorted, “Go ahead and report her, Sun, I’d like to see how the county magistrate will rule. There’s no such thing in the ‘Daqi Law’!”
The previous dynasty took elopement as a serious crime; both men and women had to be punished.
Males were to be expelled from their families, their lands and properties confiscated, and they would also be beaten harshly.
The punishment for women was even harsher. Those who eloped would become concubines, and they were regarded as outcasts by their parents and all citizens. Most of them would either be beaten to death or drowned after being caught.
But Daqi was different.
The ‘Daqi Laws’ did not have any provisions regarding elopement. According to Tong Sanlang, if such an event occurred, it would be handled by the family itself.
But now, the Qiao family could hardly be called a family, and even if it was a family, Qiao Xiaomai would make sure to separate herself from it.
So, everything Sun said at the moment was nonsense to her.
Seeing her fearless attitude, Sun stomped her foot in anger. What’s the matter? Does the government office ignore such things now?
Uncertain about what to do, she decided to put this issue aside and ask Sun Junyan when she got home. She spoke to the point, “I thought you were smart, but why are you being so stupid now? Zhuang Luhe doesn’t want you anymore, she nearly caused you to be sold!”
“As a good mother, she should have let herself be sold instead of letting you get sold!”
Upon hearing this, Qiao Xiaomai sneered, “Sun, you are the one who wanted to sell me. You wanted to sell me to a brothel.”
“I was thinking about your father then. If I didn’t sell you, should I have sold the house? Should I have let your father work as a laborer with his lame leg? Failure to pay taxes means performing hard labor!”
“Stop trying to make yourself look good!” Qiao Xiaomai was getting impatient with her. She waved the broom in her hand, “Are you leaving or not?”
Sun glared at the broom for a moment, stomped her foot helplessly, and then reached out to grab Qiao Changshun’s arm, “Changshun, walk me out!”
“Don’t go!” Qiao Xiaomai intervened immediately upon seeing this.
Qiao Changshun sighed, he handed the clothes in his hand to Qiao Zhaodi next to him, “Xiaomai, calm down, let me talk to her properly about this.”