Chapter 16: Death to Those Who Insult One's Mother

The Black Man felt the sky collapsing and the earth sinking. He grabbed Du Du Du Sanye's leg and cried, "Third Master! Third Master, I beg you! Please don't take my daughter away! I'll pay the money! I'll definitely pay it! Give me more time! I'll definitely pay!"

Du Du Du Sanye struggled but couldn't break free, so he gave his men a look. Two of them went up and pulled the Black Man away.

"Let go of my dad!" Ah Wu rushed out holding the saber, but she was too weak to pull the saber from the scabbard, so she could only point the tip of the scabbard at Du Du Du Sanye.

Du Du Du Sanye laughed: "Yo! A gutsy one! Come, take this little girl away."

The Black Man roared, broke free from the entanglement, and protected his daughter behind him.

Little Ah Wu shouted: "Dad, let's report this to the officials, report them and have them arrested!"

Du Du Du Sanye touched his ring, looked at little Ah Wu, and smiled: "Good! You report it! It's best if you report it to the Jingzhou Prefecture! It's been a long time since anyone dared to sue me."

The Black Man knew reporting to the officials was useless.

This Du Du Du Sanye had a huge background and was connected in both the underworld and the official world. Not to mention that he had signed the contract, so he might not be in the right. Even if he were in the right, it was impossible to fight this person.

The commotion in the room alarmed the neighbors. The Lisi of the Eighth Camp Village brought seven or eight villagers and rushed outside the house.

The Black Man seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw and shouted: "Lisi-my lord, help! They want to snatch Ah Wu!"

Lisi shouted: "Who dares to cause trouble in the camp village!"

"It's me!" Du Du Du Sanye stood in the doorway, his face gloomy.

Lisi was startled and immediately put on a smile: "Isn't this Third Master? What wind blew you here?"

Du Du Du Sanye spat out one word coldly: "Scram."

Lisi smiled apologetically: "Third Master, look, it's so late..."

Du Du Du Sanye shouted: "Scram quickly!"

Lisi and the others fled in a panic.

Du Du Du Sanye looked at the Black Man and said impatiently: "Do it."

The four big men surrounded them. Seeing Lisi flee and hearing no movement from the east room, the Black Man was already in despair. Just as he was about to draw his waist saber to fight for his life, he heard a clear, bright voice: "Who dares!"

Wang Yang walked slowly out of the east room. The Black Man's tears flowed down instantly, and he begged: "Young Master Wang! I beg Young Master Wang to save Ah Wu!"

Wang Yang pretended to be cold and said: "I don't owe anyone favors. Captain Xue saved me, and you served me well. I originally wanted to make you a captain to repay you, but since this has happened, I'll help you once. As for whether you become a captain or not, that depends on your own fortune."

The Black Man hurriedly knelt and kowtowed several times: "Thank you, Young Master Wang! Thank you, Young Master Wang! I don't want to be a captain, as long as Ah Wu is safe, that's enough!"

Du Du Du Sanye and the others hadn't noticed anyone in the east room before. Seeing a handsome young man with a big tone walk out suddenly, they were all surprised.

Although a captain wasn't a high official, he was still a military officer in the army. This person was only seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed so ordinarily, yet dared to promise to make someone a captain. How could they not be surprised?

"Who are you?" Du Du Du Sanye stared at Wang Yang with his hawk-like eyes. Many people would lose their nerve just by being stared at by him like this, without saying a word.

Life in this world depends on acting!

Go for it!

Wang Yang didn't even look at Du Du Du Sanye. He sat down calmly on the seat where he had eaten dinner and said lightly: "Someone, bring a seat."

Du Du Du Sanye and the others were all stunned. The Black Man was emotionally excited and didn't react. It was Ah Wu who ran into the room, took out a tattered straw mat, and placed it neatly opposite Wang Yang.

"Sit." Wang Yang looked at Du Du Du Sanye.

Who the hell is this?!

The four big men looked at each other, all a bit confused.

Du Du Du Sanye wasn't bluffed. He snorted coldly: "No need to sit. State your name."

Wang Yang knew that his clothes and the occasion didn't fit the persona of the Langya Wang family. But if he explained it himself, he would appear too guilty.

So he had to choose an opportunity to naturally reveal some information to them.

The information didn't need to be much; he just needed to let them use their imaginations and then find a reasonable explanation themselves.

People are like this; the explanations they find themselves are much more convincing than those given by others.

A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, as if he were talking to himself: "This trip was quite interesting. I've seen many people I couldn't see before and seen many things I couldn't see before. Even cats and dogs can run over and ask about my family background."

Hearing Wang Yang say this, the Black Man's body trembled in fear.

Du Du Du Sanye's face changed instantly. The four subordinates cursed and rushed forward: "Damn you!" "Little slave!" "Dare to talk to Third Master like that!"

Seeing the four of them rushing up as if to beat him, Wang Yang was terrified! But his face was full of contempt, his eyes as disdainful as possible, treating these people as if they were ants.

"Holding the sun and moon in my hands, there is no one like me in this world!" Wang Yang recited frantically in his heart.

Black Man, come over and block them, damn it!

The Black Man was still in a daze, but Wang Yang wasn't beaten. The one who stopped the men was Du Du Du Sanye.

The saying goes, "The older the Jianghu, the smaller the guts."

The more experienced one is in the Jianghu, the more cautious one acts.

Don't dare hit me?

Wang Yang was happy.

Then don't blame me for pushing my luck!

Wang Yang's face darkened: "Black Man, kill the one who just cursed."

Kill?!

Everyone was shocked!

The Black Man's eyes widened, unable to believe what Wang Yang had just said.

"My mother is from the Chen Jun Xie family. Death to those who insult one's mother! Put this killing on my account. You don't need to be afraid; even if it goes to the Emperor, nothing will happen."

"Chen Jun Xie family? Your mother is from the Chen Jun Xie family?! Then you are..." Du Du Du Sanye's expression was a bit out of control. He never expected to run into a great noble in this kind of ghost place!

The Xie family and the Wang family were both top-tier high-ranking families of the Southern Dynasty, collectively known as "Wang Xie." At that time, marriage emphasized "matching social status." Since his mother was from the Xie family, his father certainly wouldn't be a commoner. Wang Yang used this method to lay a foundation for his identity.

Wang Yang didn't respond to Du Du Du Sanye at all. He looked at the Black Man, gave him a look, and said displeased: "Still not moving!"

Little Ah Wu poked her father with her little elbow at almost the same time.

The Black Man's intelligence came back online. He drew his saber with a 'swish' and said loudly: "Yes!" He moved toward the person who had just cursed.

"I... I didn't know! I really didn't know!"

That person never expected that cursing would bring about a death sentence. He was so scared that he lost his head and even forgot to run away, just trembling and saying: "Third Master, Third Master, save me!"

The others were afraid of getting into trouble, and secondly, without Du Du Du Sanye's order, who dared to step forward to save him?

Du Du Du Sanye knew that this young man was bluffing, because even if he were a great noble family, a genuine high-ranking aristocrat, there was no reason to kill someone just because of this sentence.

Killing someone in this situation, even for a noble son, wouldn't necessarily mean he could walk away unscathed.

But he didn't dare to gamble.

What if this kid was a hothead who was used to being lawless? What then?

What if blood was spilled, provoking the Black Man's ferocity, and he started killing everyone? What then?

What if this little person really had heaven-reaching power and could get away with self-defense or silencing witnesses? What then?

The possibility of these situations was small, but it couldn't be ruled out. Actually, it didn't matter if a subordinate died, but the matter here absolutely couldn't attract attention. This was something specifically explained from above! If a bloody conflict really occurred with this noble, then the matter here might not be covered up.

To avoid escalating the situation, Du Du Du Sanye turned around and slapped his subordinate: "Still not apologizing to the Young Master immediately?!"

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Note: ① Wang Yang ordering the Black Man to kill someone just because of a curse is, from a modern perspective, purely unreasonable and making a mountain out of a molehill. But in the medieval era, the custom of revenge still existed, especially regarding one's parents. For example, Yang Qiu of the Eastern Han: "A county official insulted his mother; Qiu gathered dozens of youths, killed the official, and wiped out his family, becoming famous because of this." (Book of the Later Han, Biographies of Cruel Officials). During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Northern Zhou code "forbade revenge in the world, and offenders were treated as murderers"; Emperor Wu of Liang issued an edict: "Do not use private grudges to retaliate. If there are offenders, strictly investigate them." Both the South and North explicitly forbade revenge, targeting the revenge customs left over from ancient society. So even someone as shrewd as Du Du Du Sanye couldn't be sure of Wang Yang's pulse, because in his eyes, Wang Yang might really kill someone because of this sentence.

② There is a misunderstanding on the internet that the gentry had the power of life and death over commoners. Actually, this was not the case. At that time, even one's own slaves couldn't be killed at will. For example, in the Book of Southern Qi, Biography of Wang Jingze: "The concubine Lu of Wang Yizhi, the Inspector of Guangzhou of the Song Dynasty, was cruel and killed a maid. Wang Yizhi's son Falang reported it, and Jingze sent her to Shanyin prison to be killed." This was a concubine of a high-ranking family killing someone, so she paid with her life. To give another example of a gentry family, Shen Wenxiu of the Wu Xing Shen family was the Magistrate of Jiankang, "was punished for whipping a private slave to death while serving as the King of Xunyang, was dismissed from office, and received 100 strokes of the cane" (Book of Song, Biography of Shen Wenxiu). Serving as an official and killing someone for the King, he didn't pay with his life, but he was punished. The Northern Dynasty was the same. For example, Book of Northern Qi, Biographies of Relatives: "Wenlüe killed a horse and a maid, and used two silver vessels to hold the maid's head and horse meat and sent them to him. The King of Pingqin complained to Wencuan, and he was tied in the Jingji prison."

It can be seen that once a killing is reported, it will still be punished. However, the discipline was lax at that time, and there was no lack of cases where people escaped the law after killing. But if the matter was really exposed, it wouldn't necessarily be possible to avoid trouble completely. This is also why Du Du Du Sanye thought that if Wang Yang really killed his subordinate on this occasion, he wouldn't necessarily be able to walk away unscathed.

As for the rumor on the internet that the gentry could kill at will, it probably comes from the story of "toasting and beheading beauties" in the Shishuo Xinyu. But firstly, Shishuo is mainly a collection of anecdotes and gossip, and cannot be regarded as official history. Secondly, the two Jins were the peak of the gentry's power, so Mr. Tian Yuqing argued that the term "aristocratic politics" can only be used for the Eastern Jin. The imperial power of the Southern Dynasty rose, and the gentry could no longer restore the glory of the Jin Dynasty. Thirdly, there were indeed cases of nobles killing at will, but they were either "no report, no investigation" or had special twists and backgrounds, and cannot be cited as general examples. ===== CHAPTER 17 =====

As for the rumor circulating online that the aristocracy could kill at will, it likely stems from the story in *A New Account of the Tales of the World* about the execution of a beauty during a drinking game. Firstly, *A New Account* is primarily a collection of anecdotes and gossip, not to be viewed as official history. Secondly, the two Jin dynasties were the peak of aristocratic power, which is why Mr. Tian Yuqing argued that the term "aristocratic politics" should only be applied to the Eastern Jin; with the rise of imperial power in the Southern Dynasties, the aristocracy could no longer reclaim the glory of the Jin era. Thirdly, while instances of nobles killing people did occur, they were either cases of "no accusation, no investigation" or had specific, complex backgrounds, and should not be cited as general examples.