A car accident, our family of three crossed

Chapter 230: The Last Filial Piety

Chen Laoer leaned forward and kowtowed, saying, "We are old and cannot bear the punishment. Please show mercy and let me take the punishment for you!"

He paused, then continued, "Just think of it as my last act of filial piety after the severance of the relationship!"

"Although I really want to fulfill your filial piety, you are no longer a free man. You should ask your master before making any decision." The county magistrate did not pronounce the verdict directly, but looked at Hang Shuheng, "Hang Tongsheng, Chen Laoer is your man now. If these thirty boards are hit on him, I am afraid that he will not be able to go out to work for ten days or half a month. If you are short of manpower in your mansion at that time, it will delay things."

Chen Laoer looked at Hang Shuheng eagerly, fearing that he would disagree. The two elders of the Chen family also looked eagerly. If he disagreed, they would be punished. They were all old and could not bear it.

Even Chen Laosi was praying in his heart that Chen Laoer would take the fifteen strokes of the cane instead of him, so that he wouldn't have to be punished either.

"Young Master, please help me." The person Chen Laoer kowtowed to changed to Hang Shuheng.

Hang Shuheng looked at him and said objectively: "Chen Laoer, you know that they don't deserve your filial piety at all. You are being punished for them today. They may not thank you in their hearts. They may even think that all this is caused by you."

It has to be said that every word that Hang Shuheng said hit the nail on the head on what the Chen family members were thinking. One could tell just by looking at their guilty and evasive eyes.

Chen Laoer lowered his head and said solemnly: "I know." He had always known it, but he was just deceiving himself.

"You know you're still willing to take the blame for them?"

"The two elders are too old to bear the punishment, but I am young and strong, and I can bear thirty strokes of the cane. I will consider it as repaying the elders for raising me, and we will part ways and have nothing to do with each other from now on."

"In that case." Hang Shuheng bowed to the county magistrate and said, "Sir, for his filial piety, please grant his wish!"

The county magistrate made the final decision and the two elders of the Chen family would not be punished. Instead, Chen Laoer would take the punishment alone.

Chen Laoer and Chen Laosi were both held on a bench by the yamen runners. From the moment the first beating came, Chen Laosi started howling like a ghost, until he was beaten with fifteen boards.

The two elders of the Chen family went to help Chen Lao Si up, feeling extremely distressed. If he was not still in the government office, they would have scolded Chen Lao Er. He could bear the caning for the two old guys, so why couldn't he bear his brother's as well?

Chen Laoer gritted his teeth and endured the thirty strokes of the board. Apart from the occasional groans, he did not utter a single sound, which impressed the executioner so much that he unconsciously eased up a little.

Chen Laosi's wife, who was among the crowd watching the excitement, was so frightened when she saw this scene that she ran away quietly with her child, fearing that the county magistrate would catch her and beat her with a stick the next moment.

After the caning, Chen Laosi was helped up by Xu. Seeing the two elders anxiously circling around him and even glaring at him from time to time, his heart, which had already been broken by family affection, was completely dead.

Hang Shuheng came over and asked calmly, "Can you still walk?"

"Thank you for your help, young master." Chen Laoer was supported by Xu. He was a little weak, but not so weak that he couldn't even walk. "I can still walk."

"Let's go!" Hang Shuheng said, and took Song Ning's hand and walked out of the yamen first.

Uncle Chai, who had been waiting outside the yamen, saw them come out and took Chen Laoer from Xu's hands. Xu felt relieved instantly.

Zhou Huan walked out of the teahouse opposite with Mu Dun and left after saying hello to Hang Shuheng and Song Ning.

After returning to the house, Chen Laoer and his wife knelt in the main hall. Since their master didn't say anything, they didn't dare to speak either. For a moment, the hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

"Do you regret it?" After a long while, Hang Shuheng's voice broke the quiet atmosphere, "Chen Lao Er, do you regret severing ties with your parents and brothers?"

Chen Laoer paused for a moment. He couldn't reply immediately. After all, it was a blood relationship, and he had always been an honest and filial person. How could he let it go so easily?

After a while, he said, "Sir, I don't regret it, but the blood relationship is severed, and I feel a little empty in my heart."

No matter how difficult things were in the past, they left the village and lived far away from the Chen family, and they never thought of severing their ties with them. With today's incident, the blood ties were severed, which was somewhat regrettable.

"Although being filial to your parents is a good thing, being foolish is stupid. You have been foolishly filial for so many years, and you have made your wife and children suffer for so many years. As a husband and a father, you cannot provide them with a shelter from the wind and rain. Don't you feel that you have treated your wife and children unfairly?"

"If your wife hadn't risked being criticized by the world and asked the county magistrate to judge your separation, how would you have handled today's incident?"

Chen Laoer was speechless after being asked this question. He really didn't know how to deal with it.

Hang Shuheng continued, "You were willing to leave the house and split up the family, and you were willing to move away from the village and the Chen family to the city with your wife and children to make a living. Don't you have that backbone now?"

Chen Laoer thought about the past. He also wanted his wife and children to live a good life, but even after they separated, he still gave in again and again, was forced to leave again and again, and finally ended up selling himself into a slavery.

Even though he had already moved away from them, he was still being controlled by the Chen family. This was all caused by his cowardice and tolerance. The more he thought about it, the more he felt guilty towards his wife and children.

Little did he know that Hang Shuheng had stabbed him in the heart again, "Do you know how determined your wife was to ask the county magistrate to sever your relationship with the Chen family?"

Hang Shuheng smiled. He still admired Xu. "If I'm not mistaken, your wife has already wanted to divorce you. If you object to the severance of the relationship in court, what you will lose may not be the pitiful blood relationship, but the wife and son you have lived with day and night."

Xu was slightly stunned. She didn't expect that her secret thoughts were seen through by her master.

Chen Laoer turned his head to look at her in shock, "Mother, you..."

Unexpectedly, the daughter-in-law turned her face away, not looking at him, and did not say anything. Her attitude was obvious.

"You should decide for yourself what is more important and what is less important. I don't want this to happen again. This is your last chance." Hang Shuheng took a sip of the tea that was almost cold and said slowly, "No master would be willing to employ a servant who is full of trouble."

“Yes, sir, I know I was wrong.” Chen Laoer leaned forward and kowtowed. Now that his family ties had been severed, if he did not wake up, he would lose even his wife and children.