Chapter 454: Chapter 443: The Top Scorer from the Farming Family
On the second day, many people from Ye Village who were not busy went to the county government, and naturally, Ye Qiu and Wang Zhaoxing also arrived.
Perhaps the expectations of the masses were too high, or perhaps there hadn’t been any major incidents in Yi’an County recently, but the first case the County Magistrate reviewed was this one.
With both testimonial and physical evidence available, Ye Baomin and his accomplices had no room to quibble. Moreover, with Ye Mei emphatically insisting that she was being persecuted, the case came to a swift conclusion.
For the attempted murder, the principal criminal Ye Baomin was sentenced to exile, while the implementers Ye Ming and Ye Lin were sentenced to ten years of hard labor at the rock quarry.
Upon hearing the verdict, Ye Ming and the others were so frightened that they lost their composure on the spot.
Serving at the rock quarry was no lighter a penalty than Ye Baomin’s exile; many who went there never returned, and even if they did, they might not be whole.
The place was both dangerous and grueling; could Ye Lin and the others truly endure it?
Ye Wangshi was also terrified by the verdict, fainting on the spot. Without any men in the house, wouldn’t they be bullied to death?
Only Ye Mei had a flicker of satisfaction in her eyes. It was good; no one could control her anymore. She gave Wang Zhaoxing a shy smile; he had protected her so much the day before, he must have decided to take her in!
After the judgment was pronounced, the crowd dispersed, all sighing incessantly. This family, once so prominent and respected in the village, had fallen.
In the afternoon, after the villagers of Ye Village had gone home, the county government’s investigation into Ye Wei also concluded. While serving as a Government Official over the years, he hadn’t been clean, often using his position to collect protection money on the streets. Although he wasn’t the only one doing it, who’d support him now that the walls had crumbled? The County Magistrate wanted to do a favor for Wang Zhaoxing and Ye Qiu.
Thus Ye Wei was naturally unlucky. Given the severity of his extortion over the years, the County Magistrate stripped him of his post and confiscated his assets, leaving Ye Wei’s family overnight without a penny to their name.
However, Ye Wei and Mrs. Xiao Wang blamed all this on Mrs. Wang and Ye Mei, believing it was their greed for wealth and the disgusting deeds they committed that brought them to the attention of the County Magistrate.
Homeless, they returned to Ye Village with their children, resolved to demand compensation from Mrs. Wang, no matter what.
Consequently, the next day the villagers of Ye Village witnessed another spectacle, as Ye Wangshi was rebuking and beating Ye Mei. Ye Wei and Mrs. Xiao Wang, using the excuse of Ye Ming and Ye Lin’s hard labor and fearing that Mrs. Wang might abscond with the money, seized the Ye Family Mansion and simultaneously forced Mrs. Wang to hand over all the land deeds.
Mrs. Wang naturally refused; her husband and sons were only off to serve hard labor and it was not certain they wouldn’t return. Thus, she sought help from the clan elders, insisting that the Ye Family had already separated and Ye Wei had no right to their property.
But with no village chief left in the village, the clan elders were eager to distance themselves from this family. Yet, the tantalizing property of Ye Baomin’s house stirred greed in some with dubious intentions who joined the fray.
While the discussion was intense, Ye Laoer, who had been invisible throughout, also stood up. He stated that Ye Wangshi indeed was not fit to hold the property deeds of the Ye Family; since Ye Laosan wanted to take custody, he, Ye Laoer, even more so, should fulfill his responsibility and take custody of a portion too.
In the end, nobody knew how the debate unfolded, but Ye Wangshi and Ye Mei were driven to a desolate house in the village.
"It’s all because of you." Ye Wangshi stared resentfully at her daughter, convinced that if it weren’t for her daughter’s adamant accusations against her father-in-law, husband, and sons, they would not have fallen to such a state.
"You should never have defended what’s yours. Why didn’t you just die?" Ye Wangshi’s eyes were bloodshot as she glared at her daughter, nearly driven mad.
Ye Mei was startled by her mother’s demeanor and unconsciously took a step back, before regaining her composure and sneering: "Did they ever consider how I felt? Why should I be the one to die?"
"They are your father and brother!" Ye Wangshi roared.
"So what!"
Seeing that Ye Mei still refused to admit her wrong, Ye Wangshi gritted her teeth and advanced step by step: "You curse of a daughter, since I brought you into this world, today I will send you out of it."
Caught off guard by the shock, Li Mei tripped and fell. As Ye Wangshi was strangling her, she struggled fiercely and cried out: "Have you gone mad? Have you forgotten their fate?"
"I haven’t forgotten, but who will know if you die? I don’t want to live in this shabby house either. Once you’re dead, I’ll burn it down." A crazed flicker shone in Ye Wangshi’s eyes and her strength grew stronger.
And this time, no one came to save Ye Mei.
That night, four fires started in Ye Village. One was at this desolate house, one at the Ye Family Mansion, another at Ye Laoer Ye Gang’s home, and the last was at the clan elder’s home who had presided over "justice" for Ye Laoer and Ye Laosan.
The next day when people were clearing up, they found the elder dead along with the body in the abandoned house; however, Ye Laosan and Ye Laoer’s families had escaped, but everything in their homes had been burned to ashes.
Ye Wangshi, however, was nowhere to be found.
After several days of such events, the eventual outcome was lamentable. People from Ye Village reported to the authorities, and Ye Mei’s body was hastily disposed of and buried at the burial mound, which resulted in the county government issuing a wanted notice for Ye Wangshi.
But nothing that was lost could be recovered. The people of Ye Village learned a lesson from this incident: one should be kind and live honestly, avoid having improper thoughts.
Half a month later came the New Year, with firecracker noises dispelling the winter gloom of Ye Village. A new village chief was elected, initially, everyone wanted Wang Zhaoxing’s father Wang Yang to take the position, but he declined. In the end, the new village chief was still surnamed Ye, with a decent reputation in the village and a record of fair deeds. And so, the matter was put to rest.
On the sixth day of the first lunar month, the Wang family invited a matchmaker to propose marriage to Ye Qiu’s home. It was then that everyone realized that the two families had long harbored this intention.
This was, after all, normal; the two families were neighbors, and it was natural for the two children to have feelings for each other. Most importantly, both Wang Zhaoxing and Ye Qiu were scholars who could support each other in the future, making it a good match.
The villagers offered their blessings, except for the Ye Gang and Ye Wei households, who didn’t show up.
After the fifth day of the first lunar month, Ye Qiu’s family moved to Dingshui State, and though Ye Fu and Ye Mu were buried here, they did not sell the Ye Mansion but asked a villager to help watch over it.
Soon after, Wang Zhaoxing and Wang Po also moved over, but they didn’t stay at Ye Qiu’s home; instead, they rented a smaller courtyard. Wang Yang and Wang Xiangshi stayed behind in Yi’an County to help with Wang Zhaoxing’s elder brother’s business.
After the move, life gradually got back on track. Ye Qiu went to school, Xiutong devotedly tended her flowers, Xiuya embroidered her dowry in her free time, and only Xiuying liked to wander outside, vowing to taste every delicacy in Dingshui State. Fearing accidents, she was only allowed out if accompanied by maids and old women.