On the stone platform,
Zong Zheng, Zong Zi, and Zong Xiang were all tied up.
Yan Nan's wife, Fang Ju, was beside them, hugging her dead husband's bloody clothes that had become a pile of rags three years ago.
She was crying her heart out.
Qi Lirong stood by the platform.
She asked Zong Zi, Yan Fushou, "How did Yan Nan die?"
Yan Fushou refused to admit it.
"How would I know?! Who knows if he wanted to steal the money?
In the end, he was trapped inside? "
The militia called the coroner over and asked Yan Ji and Fang Ju for their opinions.
They examined Yan Nan's body in public. The coroner pointed it out.
He said that he was beaten to death and that five or six of his ribs were broken.
Yan Fushou shut his mouth.
Qi Lirong wouldn't let him play dead.
She continued to ask Yan Fushou, "Say it again. Yan Nan's body. Why was it in the dungeon of the ancestral hall? The ancestral hall.
Why did you build such a dungeon? "
He probably knew that he couldn't escape. Yan Fushou raised his head.
His eyes flashed fiercely. "He stole the red potatoes in the ancestral hall and ate them. According to the clan rules, if he eats the ancestors' things, he naturally has to pay with his life! "
The veins on the back of Yan Ji's hand and forehead bulged.
He was about to rush up and beat him up. "Is my father's life less than a few red potatoes? You Beast! "
When he was stopped by the militia, Yan Fushou had already been punched a few times and his nose was bleeding. Yan Ji calmed down.
He shouted again, "You liar! I clearly remember that you said a long time ago.
You want my father to pay the price for resisting the rent! "
Seeing that Yan Fushou admitted that Yan Nan's death was indeed related to him,
There was an uproar below the stage.
"Villagers.
Calm down! Calm down! "Someone in the militia blew hard on the loudspeaker. The loud and clear sound made the scene quiet down.
Whoosh. Zhang Yilang led a group of soldiers and poured the torture instruments found in the dungeon of the ancestral hall and the hidden back hall on the ground.
Qi Lirong led people to show them to the villagers of Yan Family Village.
The tiger bench was black and stained with blood. The handcuffs, shackles, chains, and steel whips were all heavy.
There were also some old clothes that were half turned to dust.
Many of the villagers cried out in surprise.
"That's Father's!"
"Ah! These are the clothes I sewed for San Lang! "Among the crowd, the women who were called over by the Revolutionary Army were also inexplicably shocked.
These were all missing people from the village.
The Revolutionary Army brought out boxes of gold, silver, and jewelry and placed them next to the tattered bloody clothes and torture instruments.
A man who looked like a teacher said to Qi Lirong, "We've counted it. The total is thirty thousand taels of silver and five thousand taels of gold. There were all kinds of pearls, gems, and banknotes. The property that doesn't belong to the Yan Fushou Family. "
This figure was actually transmitted to the ears of the people, and the brilliance of the jewels was vividly imprinted in the eyes of the people. The Revolutionary Army placed the gold, silver, and jewels beside the instruments of torture and the bloody clothes. Under the light of these treasures, the bloody clothes and instruments of torture became even more gloomy and hideous.
Everyone saw it and heard it.
When the ancestral hall was being repaired, the genealogy was being renewed, and the sacrificial ceremonies were being held. There was not a single time when Zongzi and the others did not beg the poor villagers for money.
But every time, not long after the ancestral hall was repaired, it would be said that some of the wood was broken, and the ancestors would appear in dreams and say that they wanted to repair the ancestral hall.
The people had already secretly speculated about the whereabouts of their relatives, and the reason why the ancestral hall was never repaired.
They were so concerned about Yan Nan's whereabouts, so how could they just be concerned about the upright Yan Nan?
He had placed his hopes on Yan Nan's luck, but when the ironclad evidence was placed in front of him, it became the straw that broke the camel's back.
Many young farmers shouted angrily, "Yan Fushou, what is this? Explain it to me!"
There were also many women who were originally gentle who shouted, "Tell me, where did these clothes come from? Where did you take my Master to?! "
If it wasn't for the Revolutionary Army stopping them, there would probably be hot-blooded youths who would rush up and grab the collars of these people and interrogate them.
Qi Lirong signaled the villagers to calm down. She let the Revolutionary Army separate Yan Fushou and the others from the Yan Family's farmers. When everyone's emotions calmed down a little, Lin Daiyu came up with a stack of papers.
The wind blew the corner of her dress, and the people listened to her and gradually quieted down.
"In the fourth year of the dynasty, because they stepped on the threshold of the ancestral hall and violated the rules of the family, twelve people were buried alive."
"In the fifth year of the dynasty, because they stepped on the field of the ancestral hall, three people broke their legs. Because they raised their head to look at their ancestor idol, four people had their eyes gouged out. "
"In the sixth year of the dynasty …"
"In the seventh year of the dynasty, Yan San Lang, because his family was poor, he couldn't take out one tael of silver to repair the ancestral hall. He was called by Zongzi Yan Fushou for questioning. He left and never returned. Zongzheng told his family that he had escaped from the village. "
"But today, in the mud of the dungeon, they found blood clothes and his broken limbs."
A woman let out a tragic cry of "San Lang" from below the stage.
Lin Daiyu was shocked by this tragic scene. She paused for a moment before continuing to read.
"In the eighth year of the dynasty … Yan Fulu raped a woman, Yuan Niang, colluded with Yan Fushou and slandered Yuan Niang for adultery …"
Her pleasant voice continued to read year after year. The Revolutionary Army cooperated with her and brought out the remains and evidence found in the ancestral hall one by one.
The audience became quieter and quieter.
This silence was not like when the Revolutionary Army forced everyone to be quiet. It was like the silence before the storm.
Every inch of the Yan family's ancestral hall was stained with blood.
When Lin Daiyu finally stopped, she stood beside Qi Lirong and bent down to pick up a pearl necklace. Then, she picked up the rusty and bloodstained handcuffs and raised them together.
There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"Same surname, same family? A thousand taels of gold can't buy the same surname? "
Her voice deepened. She seemed to be asking Yan Fushou, but also seemed to be asking the people below the stage.
"May I ask, which family uses this butcher's knife to entertain their relatives?"
The wind blew the Revolutionary Army's red flag on the stage. There was dead silence below the stage. No one spoke.
Suddenly, a woman rushed up. She was so fast that the Revolutionary Army soldiers could not stop her in time.
She bit a piece of flesh on Yan Fushou's face and tore it off while he was still alive.
Lin Daiyu was shocked and could not help but take a step back.
The woman sat on the ground and stared at Yan Fushou who was howling in pain. She carefully swallowed the flesh in her mouth and then laughed strangely. She patted her chest and laughed loudly. As she laughed, she screamed and ran off the stage.
Zhang Yilang had already found out that the Yan family's village had a blood feud with the Patriarch. He whispered to her, "This is Yin Mei, Yan San Lang's wife. Zongzi said that Yan San Lang escaped to avoid donating to the ancestral hall and never returned. This was a very disgraceful thing. She was despised everywhere in the village. Yan Fushou did not even want to rent the ancestral hall to her. In the end, she had no choice but to become an unlicensed prostitute in order to support her children. She became the village's infamous broken shoe. "
Yin Mei ran away like a madwoman.
The crowd's anger suddenly broke through the cage.
Previously, they only grabbed the Yan brothers and asked them to explain. Now, if the Revolutionary Army had not hurriedly stopped them, Yan Fushou and Yan Fulu would have been beaten to a pulp.
A short woman on the stage pounced on Yan Fulu and slapped him. "You said my daughter was a slut and drowned her in the river. You were the one who defiled her! You bastard, in terms of seniority, you are still my uncle! "
…
When it was over, Lin Daiyu knew that from now on, the Yan family's village and the clan would no longer be an obstacle to dividing the land.
She rubbed her eyebrows tiredly. Her eyes flashed as she seemed to see a familiar woman from the corner of her eye.
She looked again, but in the blink of an eye, the woman was gone.
She thought that it was her imagination.
…
"Fellow villagers, please don't be deceived anymore. The so-called ancestral hall's land is everyone's land. It's just a complete lie! If it really is everyone's land, why did Zongzi and the others refuse to pay your taxes when the harvest was not good? If it really is everyone's land, why did you never see the ancestral hall's income being used on the poor villagers who lack food and clothing? If it really is everyone's land, why did they set so many clan rules, such as digging out eyes and chopping off legs? "
That melodious voice was bone-chilling.
"The so-called clan and ancestral land are just tools used by Zongzi, Zongzheng, and the others to deceive and oppress you! Have they ever forgiven you for a single day because you share the same surname? The ancestral land provides for the villagers and the officials. When did they choose to help you when there was a conflict between you and the Zongzi? "
Yan Furong was also hiding in the crowd. When she heard the crazy woman's words, she trembled all over.
She knew that her uncle was also finished.
Just like her father.
The reason why her uncles were still alive was because these short-haired thieves wanted to use the villagers' hatred for them to divide the land.
Her stupid cousin was still babbling and weeping, complaining about the ingratitude of her clansmen. But she couldn't see the hatred in the eyes of the ungrateful villagers around her.
Although Yan Furong looked delicate, after experiencing so many changes, she had changed from a weak girl to a shrewd and sensitive girl. She had developed some courage.
She couldn't stay here any longer. She thought to herself as she glanced at her arrogant and silly cousin.
Although her uncle also used the ancestral land to selectively provide for a few promising relatives who passed the imperial examinations and became officials in the dynasty.
In the past, it was because of this relationship that her uncle could continue to suppress the villagers and leisurely be a Zongzi in the village.
But now, the connection between the dynasty and Yunnan had been broken. It was the world of the short-haired thieves! Those relatives couldn't care less about this.
Fortunately, I have studied. Otherwise, I would be as ignorant as my cousin and not even know how I died.
Yan Furong thought this and was glad that she had lived in seclusion ever since she came to her uncle's house and complained about her past. Not many people knew her.
But when she thought about who she should go to after leaving her uncle's house, she was extremely worried.
As she complained, she quietly lowered her body and walked along the periphery of the crowd. Her willow-like body bent as much as possible to avoid people's eyes as she walked toward her uncle's house. She was prepared to take her bag and quickly leave this troublesome place.
In the crowd, she suddenly heard a voice call out, "Mr. Xiaoxiang, slow down. I have something to tell you!"
Mr. Xiaoxiang?
"What is it?"
This voice … Yan Furong poked her head out to take a look. She would never forget this woman's face.
She had raided her house and destroyed her uncle's house.
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