The Mingjie Hall is a place set up by the Gu family in Wu County to deal with disputes within the clan and punish those who violate the rules and erring slaves and tenants. Whenever there is a dispute or the Gu family rules are violated, the Mingjie Hall is convenient for the Mingjie Hall.
Public punishment.
To put it bluntly, it is the private court of the Gu family in Wu County.
In the laws of the Jin Dynasty, there are clear provisions on the privileges of wealthy families. If a slave commits a crime against his master, he will be hanged regardless of the reason. The master has absolute power of life and death over his slaves. Even if there is no reason to commit a crime,
Killing the servants and servants is just a fine of some money. Besides, the master will find a reason for killing the servants.
Buqu slaves had no legal status. In front of their masters, they were not considered human beings at all, but their private property, which could be disposed of without responsibility.
Of course, the aristocratic families of the Jin Dynasty want to be famous, and they don't want to make a fuss about the accusations of thousands of people, so they always have to find ways to follow procedures to show fairness and justice. For example, the so-called Mingjie Hall of the Gu family is a place for them to show fairness.
Mingjie Hall is an ancient courtyard house on the west side of the Gu family's north residence. When Gu Chang led people to escort Li Hui into this musty-smelling courtyard with ancient trees, there were already more than ten people standing in the hall.
There were dozens of people standing in the courtyard.
Gu Chang quickly entered the hall and said loudly: "Master, my grandson has brought the slave who talked nonsense and caused huge losses to my Gu family. Please punish me."
An old man wearing a dark yellow toga and with a thin and sallow face leaned sideways on the side of the bed. Hearing this, he raised his eyes and looked at the bright sunlight under the steps outside the door. A young man was being pushed in.
.
The old man was Gu Chun, the head of the Gu family, who resigned from his official position in the court and returned home to raise his family due to old and ill health. In fact, he was not too old, only over sixty years old, but he looked like an ancient man who was about to die.
"Bring it up." Gu Chun said slowly, his voice was very small and weak, as if it was being squeezed out of his chest.
"Bring that slave up." Gu Chang said loudly.
Several servants pushed Li Hui in. When he first entered the room under the bright sunlight, Li Hui's eyes couldn't adapt for a moment. He couldn't help but squint his eyes to see the person in front of him clearly. Suddenly, he received a heavy blow on his calf.
One kick, kneeling on the blue bricks, the pain was extremely painful.
"Kneel down, you slave dog. How dare you be rude when meeting the master of the house." Gu Chang's shouting and cursing sound came to his ears.
Li Hui gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and was extremely angry. But at this moment, he knew that he could not be impulsive. Otherwise, it would be difficult for him to survive today.
"Are you Li Hui?" Gu Chun stretched his neck and asked, looking at the commoner boy kneeling below. There was a huffing and puffing sound in his throat, and his breathing was as unpleasant as a broken bellows.
Li Hui slowly raised his head and saw that thin, inhuman figure with large red spots on his pale skin, which looked chilling. Li Hui's first reaction was whether this person had a serious skin disease.
.Looks like a ghost or a ghost.
"Li Hui has met the head of the family." Li Hui said in a deep voice.
Gu Chun nodded and continued to ask: "Did you use deception to deceive Qianzhi and destroy the ten thousand acres of fertile land in my Gu family's East Lake Manor?"
Li Hui shook his head and said: "Master, please be aware that I did not do this. Thanks to your trust, I was asked to help divert water for irrigation, and I did it. Other things are not my idea. Please be aware of this."
Gu Chun laughed twice, took a few breaths, and said: "Manager Han of the South House has already said it, and it's useless for you to deny it. My third brother is kind-hearted and can easily be deceived by cunning things like you. Han Yong
He said, you swore in front of him that it would rain soon. Naturally, Qianzhi was thinking about the Gu family and wanted Zhuangzi to suffer less losses, so he believed your words. Who would have thought that he would be deceived by you? Hey, I had told him a long time ago
I told you not to trust you people gullibly. He didn't listen. He came to see me before noon to apologize and said he wanted to make up for it himself. When I asked, I found out that it was someone like you who deceived him. Naturally, I wanted to take you."
Li Hui didn't know what to say. He seemed to be unable to defend himself in this situation. Unless Gu Qian admitted that it was his own decision. But that was probably impossible. Gu Qian wasn't even here, so how could he defend himself?
absolve.
Li Hui's mind was racing, trying to find a countermeasure, but his mind went blank.
"I have nothing to say. Hey, I know you foreigners won't be grateful. When Qianzhi wanted to take in your mother and son, I didn't agree. If you are not of my Gu family's blood, how can you be loyal to my Gu family? Look at it now,
Isn't this a supercilious attitude? Instead, I was deceived by you. If this kind of thing is not severely punished, my Gu family will be bullied by slaves like you. If it spreads, it will make people laugh, let alone
, this time the East Lake Manor has suffered huge losses, which will affect the plans of my Gu family." Gu Chun slowly leaned on the armrest, with an angry look on his face.
Li Hui said loudly: "It's not that I have nothing to say, I have something to say. It's obviously not my fault, but you force yourself on me. What can I do?"
"You slave dog, you dare to be so stubborn." Gu Chang shouted loudly.
Gu Chun chuckled and said, "You are so sharp-tongued that I can see that I have not wronged you. All you have to say is, have you ever advocated that it will rain in a few days?"
Li Hui frowned and said, "I told you, but..."
"Then what else are you talking about? You have admitted it yourself. If you hadn't said such things, how could Qianzhi have done that? As people who are protected by my Gu family, you naturally cannot trust nonsense. You should think twice before speaking and consider the family.
.The consequences caused by this are not your fault?" Gu Chun said coldly.
Li Hui was speechless. He knew in his heart that at this time, any excuse was useless. They had determined that they were at fault, so there was no need to explain.
"Hui'er, Hui'er." A woman's cry suddenly came from outside. It was Li Hui's mother Gu Lanzhi who got the news and came over.
Gu Lanzhi rushed in crying, knelt down next to her son with a bang, kowtowed to Gu Chun and begged: "Master, please have mercy. My son is young, does not understand business, and has done something wrong. Please forgive me, master. If you want to punish me, punish me."
It's my fault in raising my son, so I can take the blame for him. Please be kind to the master of the family."
Li Hui said softly: "Mom, I didn't do anything wrong. Why do they want to accuse me?"
Gu Lanzhi turned around and scolded: "Shut up, you still dare to talk nonsense, it's because my mother didn't teach you properly, made such a big mistake, and refused to admit it. I, I will beat you to death, you are such a traitor."
When Gu Lanzhi said this, she raised her hand and hit Li Huitou on the face.
Gu Chun shouted: "What are you talking about? Do you think doing this will absolve your son of his sin? Do you think we are fools? Stand aside and wait until your son is punished before I punish you."
Gu Lanzhi shouted: "Master, please be kind, for the sake of my ancestors of the Gu family..."
Gu Chun shouted: "Your son's surname is Li, not Gu."
Gu Lanzhi sat down slumped, tears hanging on her face and speechless.
Li Hui said softly: "Mom, don't ask them. They are unreasonable. My son is unfilial and I am sorry for my mother. I will hurt my mother."
Gu Lanzhi looked at Li Hui with tears in her eyes and said, "Hui'er, Mom can't save you, I just need to go with you."
Li Hui was moved, but at the same time he felt very regretful. If he had known this, why would he have got involved in this matter? Now, less than half a month after traveling through time, he was about to lose his life. What a failure.
"Come here, take Li Hui to the water prison. Such a slave will not be treated lightly. After ten days in the water prison, we will talk about life and death." Gu Chun shouted.
Everyone present was shocked and secretly frightened. In the water prison, water and food were cut off. Let alone ten days, he would be half dead in three days. With Li Hui's physique, he would die in three days. Ten days in the water prison would be a punishment for him Dead.
Gu Lanzhi cried loudly and hugged Li Hui without letting go. Gu Chang called for thousands of people to pull Gu Lanzhi away and dragged Li Hui away. Gu Lanzhi screamed and hugged her son's legs, and was dragged on the ground. Several feet.
At this moment, someone outside the door shouted loudly: "Stop!"
A group of people came in from the gate of Mingjie Hall, and the person walking in front was Gu Qian. Everyone stopped quickly, and Gu Qian walked slowly to the hall.
Gu Chun straightened up and said, "Qianzhi, why are you here?"
Gu Qian bowed and said: "Qianzhi has met the head of the family and heard that the head of the family took Li Hui to the Ming Jie Hall for interrogation. How could Qianzhi not come?"
Gu Chun smiled and said: "Qianzhi, this slave has just admitted that he intended to deceive. He should be severely punished."
Gu Qian said in a deep voice: "Master, Qianzhi has made it clear to the master that Li Hui is not to blame for this matter. It is Qianzhi who did not act cautiously enough and thought of taking a gamble. The fault lies with me, Li Hui and You didn't trick me into doing that. Just spare him, this matter has nothing to do with him."
Gu Chun frowned and said in a deep voice: "Qianzhi, what are you doing? Why do you insist on taking the responsibility on yourself?"
Gu Qian shook his head and said: "Master, it is not Qianzhi who seeks responsibility, that is the fact. This Li Hui has indeed nothing to do with this matter. Master, please spare him."
Gu Chun gasped for breath and glared at Gu Qian: "Qianzhi, you are too kind-hearted and can easily be taken advantage of by others. These slaves are taking advantage of your good intentions to do evil. How can I be lenient when an evil slave bullies his master? I, Wu Doesn’t the Jun Gu family have rules and dignity? This slave clearly swore in front of you the lie that it was going to rain. He was trying to trick you into making that decision, and he was taking advantage of your weakness of trusting others. This was a deliberate conspiracy. Maybe, this slave was bribed by someone else, and the person who took advantage of this drought to weaken our Gu family and put us in a difficult situation is unknown. In short, we cannot spare him."
Gu Qian smiled apologetically and said: "Master, I'm afraid you are overly worried. Li Hui has been under the guidance of my Gu family since he was a child and has been protected by my Gu family. Lanzhi mother and son have not had any disputes with others for so many years, so how could it be someone else's work? Besides, with Li Hui's status and age, how can others take notice of him as a meticulous artist? The head of the family really thinks too much."
Gu Chun's face was solemn and he said in a deep voice: "Qianzhi, do you mean that I am old and confused? Or do you mean that I deliberately go to make things difficult for this slave?"
Gu Qian smiled bitterly and said: "Master, where do you start talking about this? Did Qianzhi have such intention?"
Gu Chun said loudly: "I want to clean up the rules in the family. The reputation of my Gu family has been low in recent years. Not only the wealthy overseas Chinese people don't value us, but also the southern aristocratic families, we are a little disrespectful. It's because the rules of my Gu family are a bit lax.
Let others look down upon you. If you are like you, how can others be afraid of my Gu family? Even the servants in the family dare to bully the master, let alone outsiders? Qianzhi, I just ask you, are you the master of the family, or am I the master of the family? "
Gu Qian was stunned and speechless. The head of the family raised this matter to this level, what else could he say?
Gu Qian turned to look at Li Hui who was being twisted by a servant outside the door, and thought: Li Hui, I can't save you now. I can't fall out with the head of the family because of you. Maybe I can only do it for you.
Take good care of your mother, this is the only thing I can do.
"That's what the head of the family taught you." Gu Qian said softly.
Gu Chun nodded and said: "As long as you understand, be humble and don't be too kind. In today's world, you have to be hard-hearted. In this regard, you are not even as good as Gu Yan."
Gu Qian was silent. Gu Chun sneered and ordered: "Gu Chang, take that slave away and put him in jail. I'm tired, so let's disperse."
Gu Chang promised loudly and shouted: "Take him away and put him in jail."
Li Hui's heart was filled with despair. Even Gu Qian's arrival was of no use. It seemed that he could not escape this disaster. Li Hui felt very powerless and helpless. Li Hui raised his head to the sky and thought to himself: God, you have allowed me to travel through time, but why?
Are you doing this to me? Isn’t this teasing me?
The sun in the sky was fierce, the air was scorching, and everything was suffocating. But suddenly, Li Hui saw that the motionless tree tops seemed to start to sway, and it seemed that the wind was blowing. In almost a short time, the wind started to blow.
It became louder, and the thick leaves on the big trees in the yard made a rustling sound.
Li Hui looked at all this in astonishment, trying his best to distinguish the scene in front of him. His nostrils smelled a strange smell in the air. It was the earthy smell of water vapor emitted after rain fell into the dry dust.
As someone who has lived in coastal cities for many years since he was a child, he is very sensitive to the signs before a hurricane strikes. The smell in the air is particularly familiar. Li Hui subconsciously looked towards the east sky, through the trees above the fence and the canopy of trees.
During the gap, he saw groups of clouds rolling in in the eastern sky.
"Come on, what are you looking at?" The servant behind him pushed Li Hui.
Suddenly, the wind became stronger, the crown of the big tree shook violently, the branches and leaves fluttered down, and there were electric lights flashing among the clouds in the eastern sky.
Li Hui shouted in surprise: "The hurricane is coming, the rain is coming. Look, everyone, my prediction is not wrong, my prediction is not wrong. It's going to rain..."