Chapter 58: Chapter 58 Just Losing All Face!_1 Chapter 58: Chapter 58 Just Losing All Face!_1 Perhaps knowing she was no match for An Jing, Mrs. Xiao’s trembling fingers now pointed at Xiao Changyi, who had been silent all along. She gritted her teeth and asked, “Wretch, you tell me, do you also wish to be the death of me?”
Xiao Changyi did not respond to Mrs. Xiao’s words. He only said indifferently, “If you bother me again, I’ll go to the County Government and accuse you of not providing for your son.”
According to the laws of Xiyun Kingdom: Those who do not provide for their children will be flogged fifty times, detained for half a month, and fined fifteen taels of silver coins.
But as the saying goes, ‘If the people do not report, the government will not investigate.’ As long as Changyi did not make a report, the government would not hold Mrs. Xiao accountable. However, if Changyi did report, they certainly would pursue the matter.
Never expecting Changyi to say such a thing, Mrs. Xiao was angered to the point of nearly collapsing backward. If Xiao Gousheng hadn’t quickly supported her, she would indeed have fallen to the ground.
“Mother, mother, are you alright, mother?” Seeing Mrs. Xiao’s eyes almost rolling back, Gousheng anxiously and worriedly inquired.
Mrs. Xiao did not say whether she was alright. Her body shaking violently, she pointed her trembling fingers at Changyi for a long time before squeezing out words from between her teeth: “You even want to report to the authorities? Then I will also report. I will accuse you of unfilial conduct! For having a mother but not providing for her!”
An Jing laughed, “Fine, let’s go make our reports together and see who will win.”
It was Mrs. Xiao who had abandoned Changyi first, causing the so-called ‘unfilial’ behavior of his today. As long as the County Magistrate’s head is not filled with mush, Mrs. Xiao would lose.
Gousheng was obviously much more clear-headed than his enraged mother. He quickly whispered to her, “Mother, we can’t make a report. It was you who first refused to provide. If you report, you will definitely be beaten, imprisoned, and fined. Not to mention the prison and silver coin issue, just the beating… Mother, I’ve heard that last time someone died after just thirty strikes. If you take fifty, you surely won’t survive, mother!”
Mrs. Xiao took a sharp intake of breath out of fear, and her gaze at An Jing and Changyi carried a venomous edge.
“Mother, let’s forget about it. You should just act as if you never had this son. Don’t suffer a loss over this. You haven’t been done in by him yet. If you were to die under the flogging, how much more regrettable that would be, mother!” Gousheng advised again.
“But…” Mrs. Xiao was still unwilling. Changyi had become wealthy, and she, as his mother, deserved to enjoy that wealth.
One of the villagers, watching the drama unfold and not wanting their village to be taken to the County Government or for the County Magistrate to have a bad impression of them, interrupted, “Mrs. Xiao, Changyi has not become rich. I just saw them going to dig up wild vegetables. If they were rich, why would they eat wild vegetables? They are simply willing to spend their savings on something nice for his wife, like that thirty-coin per foot true-red cloth, not the wealth you’ve conjured up in your tales.”
Mrs. Xiao’s face immediately turned the color of a liver. All this fuss for nothing? She had lost face completely!
Gousheng’s face also turned red. How embarrassing. Truly embarrassing. He had never been so embarrassed before.
Throwing a final intense glare at An Jing and Changyi in the courtyard, Mrs. Xiao and Gousheng left dejectedly.
The villagers who had come to watch the show cast complicated glances at An Jing and Changyi before dispersing.
Only when everyone had cleared out did An Jing look at Changyi with a mournful expression, “Did I just embarrass myself too much?”
Changyi shook his head.
“It was the first time I ever cursed at someone,” she paused, “for you.”