After the death of the previous emperor, the Empress Dowager became arrogant

Chapter 356 You are so cruel

Yuan Qing fed the meat on the chopsticks to it, "Ah Huang, you have worked hard these days, so I'll reward you."

Ah Huang opened his mouth and swallowed it.

"Don't worry, these are all yours." Yuan Qing pushed the bowl over again, "Unlike some people, who are not good enough, even worse than our Ah Huang."

Ah Huang shouted twice in disapproval, then stuck out his butt and farted silently at the middle-aged man.

Yuan Qing smiled and patted Ah Huang's head. "I was wrong. I shouldn't compare Ah Huang with that kind of scum."

Only then did Ah Huang let out a satisfied cry, buried his head in the bowl, and ate the steamed meat happily.

The middle-aged man was humiliated one after another, and he couldn't help it, "Who are you scolding?"

Yuan Qing raised his eyes with amusement, "Oh, so you can understand human language? So many people tried to talk to you just now, but you didn't listen to a word. I thought you were a monster from some mountain valley, and you had only learned bird language since childhood. This was your first time as a human, and you didn't know how to communicate with others."

He just called him worse than a dog, and now he's calling him not a human being. The middle-aged man got angry and started spitting out all sorts of dirty words.

The amount of swear words contained in them made people frown.

Yu Shen also squatted down and asked in a low voice: "What are you waiting for, sir?"

"I'm waiting for his information." Yuan Qing looked at the increasingly agitated crowd. "This man just took dozens of taels of appeasement silver from the Jiang family a few days ago, but a few days later, he came to cause trouble for Jiang Qisheng again, intending to reverse the case. I just want to know what his purpose is. If I don't figure this out, he will always be like a dog-skin plaster covered with shit, disgusting and annoying."

If this continues, Jiang Qisheng will most likely be dragged down, not to mention that his mental state is not very good now.

If she was stimulated like this every day, she didn't dare to think about the consequences.

Soon someone brought her what they had found.

"So you used all that money to pay off your gambling debts, Old Ghost Shi. Wouldn't you have nightmares at night if you gambled with the money you earned from your daughter's life?"

The woman who had caused trouble on the street earlier had been brought in by the imperial guards.

Her face was filled with sorrow, and she looked at the person at the door with hope in her eyes, "Sir, please show mercy, my man has no other choice, that's why he was confused for a moment!"

"No way?" Yuan Qing chuckled, "Could it be that someone forced him to gamble?"

Shi Laogui glared at his wife fiercely, "Shut up, you stinky woman, don't you think I'm unlucky enough?!"

Yuan Qing looked up and saw a guard standing beside her. "What do you want, Lord Gong?"

"Go and invite the manager of Tiandi Casino to come and tell him that Old Ghost Shi can't pay his gambling debts and is willing to pay with his life."

Shi Laogui's eyes were red with anger when he heard this, "You dog official, you are trying to harm me?!"

Yuan Qing didn't look at him, but asked Yu Shen beside him: "What is the crime for insulting an official appointed by the court?"

Yu Shen answered loudly: "He should be beaten with ten sticks on the spot."

"Ten blows." Yuan Qing looked at Shi Laogui's gradually pale face and smiled, "I heard that the board weighs several kilograms. Two or three blows can cause his internal organs to rupture and his seven orifices to bleed. Even if he is rescued later, he will have to endure the excruciating pain every day. Tsk tsk, just listening to it makes me tremble all over."

With every word she spoke, Shi Laogui's face turned paler.

Yu Shen corrected him, “Sir, although the criminal law stipulates this, the reality is not like this.”

"Tell me."

Old Ghost Shi also propped himself up and listened.

"Generally speaking, if someone offends someone in the government office and the crime is not serious, he will just be dragged into the court for a while and will not be severely punished. If he is guilty of a serious crime, then we must first find out what crime he has committed and then punish him for all the crimes. This is the correct way."

Yuan Qing watched Shi Laogui sigh in relief and asked, "If a son does not support his parents, a husband does not respect his wife, and a father does not protect his children, can these three be considered serious crimes?"

Yu Shen replied respectfully: "Violating human ethics and morality is a serious crime and will be punished by heaven."

"Did you hear clearly, Old Ghost Shi?" Yuan Qing stared at him. "You can't escape any of the three crimes. If you confess honestly, the court may consider giving you a chance to live."

Shi Laogui looked like he was struggling.

The woman broke free from the restraints of the imperial guards, knelt down in front of the steps, and cried, "Just tell me, in the face of your life, you still plan to--"

"Shut up, what do you know?!" Old Ghost Shi shouted.

He absolutely cannot say it now. If he does, that person will not let him go!

"Do you think they will let you go if you don't tell them?" Yuan Qing handed the information to Yu Shen for safekeeping. "Even if you haven't read any books, you must have heard of the term 'murder to silence someone', right?"

She placed her hands on the table, slowly moved forward, and said in a low voice, "A chess piece that has no use and no background, they can do whatever they want with it. Old Ghost Shi, you have a long history of bad deeds, and if you die for no reason afterwards, I'm afraid no one will find it strange. Not only will your life be in jeopardy, but even your wife and children, and even..."

His illegitimate child who was hiding out there.

Old Ghost Shi suddenly raised his head.

The manager of Tiandi Casino has been invited.

He bowed respectfully to everyone and said, "I wonder why you asked me to come here?"

Yuan Qing raised his chin and nodded at the dazed Shi Laogui, "Look at this, is he the one who owes your gambling house 500,000 taels?"

The steward stepped forward to take a closer look and nodded, saying, "This man is indeed a frequent visitor to our gambling house."

"I heard that he signed a bet?"

The steward had already prepared everything before coming. When he heard the master mention it, he quickly took out the gambling contract and presented it respectfully, "This is the gambling contract signed by Old Ghost Shi."

"You are so cruel." Yuan Qing squinted at Shi Laogui, "You don't plan to keep any of your wife and children. Are you going to sell them all?"

The woman couldn't believe it and stared at the man she had served for more than ten years.

He, he actually sold her and their two children for gambling?!

She rushed over, grabbed his clothes and asked, "Why? How did we do anything wrong to you that you treat us like this?!"

Old Ghost Shi was speechless and dared not say anything.

"He has another woman outside who gave birth to a son. Now that there is someone to inherit the family line, he will naturally not show mercy to you."

The woman slumped to the ground.

Yuan Qing took the opportunity to ask her: "Do you still want a man like this?"

"What do you mean, sir?"

"The laws of this dynasty stipulate that if a couple divorces, their wives and children who were not involved and did not know about it can be exempted from punishment at the discretion of the court. Those who expose and report it can also be rewarded, and his gambling debt has nothing to do with you anymore."

The woman wiped away her tears and glared at Shi Laogui hatefully.

"Leave, must leave!"

Shi Laogui panicked and grabbed his wife's hand tightly, not letting her leave. "You can't leave. What will I do if you leave?"

"What's your problem to me?" The woman raised her foot and stepped heavily on his face. "I have finally seen clearly that you are a heartless person, Old Ghost Shi. It's a pity that I broke off relations with my parents in order to marry you. From now on, whether you live or die has nothing to do with me. You can die wherever you want!"

Yuan Qing looked at the steward and asked, "Can concubines and illegitimate children be used to pay off debts?"

The steward replied: "As long as someone can prove the relationship between them, of course."

The imperial guards hurriedly reported back: "My Lord, the woman ran away with the child a long time ago!"

"That's wonderful!" Yuan Qing clapped his hands and laughed, "Neither side has anything to do with you now, so you have to pay off the gambling debt yourself."

She then asked, "What should I do if I can't pay back the bet or the money I owe?"

The steward raised a standard smile and said, "Cut off one of your hands, and it will be considered as repayment."

"Is that so?" Yuan Qing raised his hand, "Then you can do it here."

There were no suitable torture instruments in the Dali Temple, so the guards brought an old rusty guillotine from the backyard.

Shi Laogui was dragged to the guillotine. The guard put one of his hands into the groove and comforted him: "Although it has been a long time since you used it, the knife is still sharp. If it doesn't work once, try it a few more times. Don't worry, it's just a matter of a snap. It will pass if you bear with it."

Old Ghost Shi was so frightened that he closed his eyes, his body trembled, and a large puddle of water spread out from under him.

Everyone pinched their noses and stepped back.

The steward remained calm, holding the hilt of the knife, "With this strike, the money you owe to Tiandi Casino will be written off."

After saying this, he shook his arm and the guillotine made a very harsh sound.

Shi Laogui could no longer hold back and lay on the ground wailing: "I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything, please forgive me!"