Aunt Ni was grabbing Ni Ruiniang’s hair and cursing loudly, "You shaless traitor, not only did you fail to bring any money ho, but you also dare to block your own parents from making a fortune. I’ll beat you to death, you ruined wench, good for nothing but to cost us money!"
Uncle Ni was also infuriated by Ni Ruiniang, swinging his hand and slapping her across the face, "You little wretch, daring to harm your own flesh and blood, I’ll kill you today!"
Ni Ruiniang was beaten quite severely, having not fought back at first, but upon hearing their unbearable insults, she burst into tears and began to punch and kick, along with biting Aunt Ni and Uncle Ni.
"Who taught to do this? Wasn’t it you two money-grubbing dogs who instigated ?" Ni Ruiniang cried as she cursed Uncle Ni, "You can’t succeed in business yourself, making our family’s life unbearable, wanting to use to connect with the Wan Family, and now seeing Wan Family’s deal fall through, and I’ve also lost my virtue, you’re disgusted with , you’re inhumane!"
And she cursed Aunt Ni, "You’ve ruined like this and still call ruined, unable to bear children, is that really how you see ? Fine, fine, fine, now I’ve seen your true disgusting faces, I’ll sever ties with you today!"
"Ptui! You think you can sever ties with us? I’m telling you, no way. Tomorrow I’ll go to the county’s broker, find a human trafficker and sell you off, got to earn back the money the Wan Family owes the Ni Family."
The three mbers of the Ni family were fighting in the alley, and Hai Zi, a Governnt Official from Si Li Square, was shouting beside them, "Stop, if you don’t stop, I won’t be polite anymore."
But the three Ni family mbers were fighting fiercely, paying no attention to him, letting him shout without stopping.
Father Luo, although skilled in martial arts, did not intervene, fearing being counterattacked by the Ni family, and asked a man watching the commotion, "Old Cai, what’s going on with the Ni family? Why are they fighting at the Wan Family’s back door?"
Old Cai, the Shopkeeper of a small food shop in town and a frequent custor at Gu’s Restaurant for spices, explained to Father Luo upon being asked.
"The Ni couple is too greedy, wanting to take advantage of the Wan Family’s property not yet sold off to sneak in and grab sothing valuable, but they ran into Ni Ruiniang. It seems that Ni Ruiniang has changed and didn’t cover for her parents; instead, she inford Kangzi and Hai Zi on the spot. The two opened the Wan Family’s door and dragged them out."
"The Ni couple hate Ni Ruiniang to death, and as soon as they stepped out of the door, they started cursing at her, resorting to physical violence when words failed. Kangzi has already gone to Si Li Square to call for people, and they should be back soon. Let’s keep watching the drama, don’t bother with the Ni family, they’re not good people anyway."
Ni Ruiniang ca to the Wan Family’s place wanting to retrieve her own belongings; her clothes, shoes, and bedding were all there. Though not much, they would still be valuable to her impoverished family if she could take them back.
But she was stopped by Kangzi and Hai Zi, begging them, and when she heard noises inside the house, she imdiately inford them.
After listening, Father Luo and others shook their heads, feeling that this family was truly beyond help.
Gu Dafu was sowhat angry, for the Ni family truly didn’t treat their daughter as human. If his Sister i were still alive, he certainly wouldn’t beat her like this.
"Stop! Everybody stop for !" Old Kong, along with his n, hurried over, hitting Uncle Ni directly with the sheathed sword.
After a few thuds, when Uncle Ni was hit and pained enough to let go, he was kicked over by Old Kong, who then turned to the arriving Kangzi and Dasheng, saying, "Tie up the Ni couple, and take them to the county governnt."
Aunt Ni panicked when she heard this, trying to escape, but was tripped by Kangzi, who then tied her hands together.
Aunt Ni shouted unjustly, "This is a false accusation, we haven’t done anything, we just ca to the Wan Family to retrieve the Ni Family’s things, please don’t arrest us."
While crying loudly, she tried to sar Old Kong and his n for wrongfully arresting people, but Old Kong stuffed her mouth with a cloth gag, scolding, "Truly a foolish and evil woman, caught red-handed and still daring to fra others. Listen well, you couple, sneaking into a property that is under seizure and taking things, this can’t be treated as re theft. You’ll be taken to the governnt office, for the Magistrate to hold court over you, pray for your own luck."
After hearing this, Aunt Ni sobbed miserably, and while Uncle Ni tried to plead for rcy, it was too late, Old Kong did not give him a chance to speak, gagging his mouth with a cloth, and set him aside.
As for Ni Ruiniang...
"Is it you who discovered them?"
Ni Ruiniang nodded, tears continuously falling, her heart wounded by the harsh words scolded by Uncle Ni and Aunt Ni.
Old Kong said, "Since that’s the case, the Si Li Square won’t arrest you. However, everything inside this mansion has been confiscated. You won’t be able to retrieve your belongings. You’d better go back ho quickly."
Ho?
Ni Ruiniang was weeping inconsolably; did she still have a ho?
Both her birth parents despised her, publicly shaming her as a worn-out shoe who had slept around, barren and unable to bear children... Even her own younger brother had taken money from the Wan Lifang, pushing her down resulting in her losing her child, and now she would be childless for life.
Would she still go back to such a ho?
In the end, Ni Ruiniang did return ho, but she didn’t stay long. She went back only to beat up her younger brother, and the next day, she went to the broker in the county and sold herself.
She laid bare her own story: "My body is damaged, and I’ll be barren for a lifeti. My family is toxic, nobody cares whether I live or die, and I have no more attachnts. I don’t care where you sell off to."
A broker’s matron bought her for half a tael; although the price was cheap, she found Ni Ruiniang a good place, becoming a maid for a wealthy lady.
Since Ni Ruiniang was barren and very loyal, she leveraged her loyalty to climb her way up to becoming a trusted nanny. Not only did she survive the subsequent military disasters, but in her old age, she also took in a servant as her adopted grandson, ensuring she would have soone to see her through her final days.
After being taken to the county, Uncle Ni and Aunt Ni each received ten strokes and were fined five taels.
The couple’s effort to steal a chicken only resulted in losing their rice: to pay the fine, they had to sell the two acres of land they owned, making their life even harder.
Only after paying the fine did they rember Ni Ruiniang was gone. The Ni Family searched for a while but eventually gave up when they couldn’t find her. However, during harder tis, Aunt Ni would curse Ni Ruiniang, bemoaning the loss of the indenture silver they could have earned from her.
...
It was only later that several families heard of Ni Ruiniang’s indentured servitude. They were in the county on the day she sold herself, there to witness Wan Lifang’s execution.
Wan Lifang’s beheading was a big event, drawing many spectators; it’s exactly what Ming Shaoqing wanted.
Ming Shaoqing told County Magistrate Xu: "The case of Zou Youlian has had a great impact on the countryside; so blood must be seen, or else if the villagers follow suit, where will we end up?"
Indeed, the execution of Wan Lifang had suppressed so of the county’s ill-intentioned folks, deterring them from committing further evils.
The day after Wan Lifang’s death, village chiefs from various villages led their villagers to the county to attend the trial.
The case involving the trafficking of n for labor conscription implicated too many people, including clerks from the Si Li Square, the old village chiefs, and the old village heads. However, Ming Shaoqing, the Junior Minister from the Da Li Temple, lived up to his title. Having already reviewed the case files, he clearly sorted out the case, promptly convicting Zou Youlian for trafficking n for labor conscription.
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