Rebirth: Official Fortune Prosperity

Hong Chengli shook his head and said, "Is it because of drinking? Oh, forget it. Anyway, you finally admitted that you had that thought!"

"Just tell me honestly, and all the elders, what did you say to Liu Fusheng? Did you betray the villagers?"

Hongwu never expected that Hong Chengli would go through so much trouble and finally force him to admit something he had never done.

Hongwu shouted: "Chief, no, I didn't say anything, you can't wrongly accuse me!"

Hong Chengli's face was as gloomy as water. He patted the armrest of the armchair and said, "Hongwu, I have explained so many truths to you earnestly, but in the end you still refuse to change? Do you really have to force me to enforce the family rules?"

Family rules!

Hongwu was so frightened that he was shaking, but he still cried out, "Chief, I really didn't serve as an insider for Liu Fusheng, and I didn't sell out the interests of the village. If I lied, let me be struck by lightning!"

Hong Chengli sneered, "God bless you? You are still the same nonsense character... Come here, punish him according to the family rules, and see when he will tell the truth!"

The Hong family's family rules are divided into several levels.

The lightest punishment is flogging, which involves using a whip dipped in cold water to whip the body repeatedly. After the wound heals, scars will be left on the body to prove that this person has betrayed the interests of the clan. From then on, he will never be trusted by his clan members again.

The next level of caning is cutting off fingers, toes, and even entire palms and soles of feet. At this point, it is already horrific enough and constitutes a provocation to the country's laws, malicious harm to others' bodies, and disability of others.

After that, Hongcun no longer dared to use it because those were sufficiently fatal punishments, such as hanging, drowning in a pond, etc.

Now that society has progressed, it is less likely to cause loss of life, but flogging and amputation of limbs are already terrifying enough.

Several strong members of the clan captured Hongwu, tied him to a pillar outside the ancestral hall, stripped him of his clothes, and started beating him violently with a whip.

The screams were endless, and no matter how Hongwu begged for mercy, it was of no use.

Two minutes later, Hongwu's skin was torn and his body was covered in blood.

Hong Chengli waved his hand and said, "Stop."

The tribesmen stopped beating.

Hong Chengli asked: "Hongwu, can you tell the truth now?"

Hongwu's tears fell, and he shouted at the top of his voice: "Chief, I really didn't sell out the interests of the village. Liu Fusheng and I didn't say anything!"

Hong Chengli nodded and said, "Okay, keep fighting."

After being whipped three or four times, Hongwu was breathing out more than breathing in. He stared at Hong Chengli with dead fish eyes, knowing that if he admitted to this false charge, he would face even more terrible punishment, so he chose to continue to protest his injustice.

"Patriarch, I, Hong Wu, am loyal to the Hong family. Heaven and earth can bear witness to this!"

Hong Chengli nodded and said, "Okay, the family rules are not strict enough. Break one of his legs and see if he is willing to tell the truth!"

Hong Haoyu, who was standing next to him, was so frightened that his clothes were soaked with cold sweat on his back.

He had only heard about how cruel the family rules were before, but it was not until he witnessed what happened to Hongwu with his own eyes that he had an accurate understanding of the word "cruel".

When Hong Haoyu heard that Hong Chengli was going to break Hong Wu's legs, his heart skipped a beat. He wanted to plead for mercy, but found that he was not allowed to speak freely in the ancestral hall.

An elder nearby said, "Village Chief, we just suspect he has a connection with Liu Fusheng, but breaking his leg is a bit too serious, isn't it?"

Hong Chengli said solemnly: "Hongcun has come this far because of the unity of the people. If people's hearts are scattered, it will be difficult to lead the team."

"Hongwu is now committing the great sin of betraying his clan members. I must suppress this evil trend and teach him a profound lesson. If anyone begs for mercy, I have reason to suspect that you, like Hongwu, have all betrayed the clan."

After being accused of this slap, the elder who had come to plead for mercy no longer dared to speak.

Hong Haoyu was so scared that he took two steps back and thought: Fortunately I didn’t speak just now.

At the instruction of Hong Chengli, a strong man holding an iron rod walked up to Hongwu and said, "Brother, you'd better tell the truth to the village chief, otherwise, if I hit you with this rod, your leg will be completely broken."

Hong Wu's face was filled with despair, he cried and choked up, "I, I swear, I really didn't betray the Hong family... Just believe me!"

The strong man shook his head and said, "Brother Hongwu, I'm sorry!"

After saying that, he looked in the direction of Hong Chengli, who nodded slightly. The sturdy man swung the iron rod and hit Hongwu on the knee.

With a crisp sound, the kneecap was completely shattered. Hongwu screamed and fainted on the spot.

Hong Chengli said calmly, "Carry him to the street and walk around Hong Village three times so that everyone can see that this is the fate of betraying the Hong family."

Several tribesmen immediately took action.

Hong Haoyu watched helplessly as the half-dead Hongwu was carried onto a three-wheeled cart, and then left the ancestral hall and walked towards the village.

The Hong clan ancestral hall was completely silent. All the elders kept their eyelids drooped and said nothing.

Hong Chengli looked around, smiled and said, "Does everyone think that I have wronged Hong Wu? Maybe he really didn't betray the village?"

None of the elders said anything, but their expressions said it all.

Hong Chengli said: "In fact, I have also considered this possibility. Before smashing his knee, I was inclined to believe that Hongwu was wronged and he did not betray the Hong family."

Several elders raised their eyelids and looked at Hong Chengli in surprise.

Hong Chengli said expressionlessly: "But even if Hongwu is wronged, I will break one of his legs!"

"why?"

An elder of the tribe couldn't help but ask.

Hong Chengli said: "Because there is a traitor in our village. Although I don't know who this traitor is, I can make this traitor deeply aware of the consequences of betraying Hong Village and betraying our ancestors. I want him to never dare to betray the village again!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone understood Hong Chengli's intention.

It turned out that he had long known that Hongwu was wronged, and his purpose in doing so was just to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, and to use Hongwu's broken thigh to intimidate other members of the tribe.

Hong Chengli wanted to use this bloody way to tell all the villagers that the Hong family rules are still there, the patriarch's authority is still there, and he will never show mercy to traitors!

As long as the goal was achieved, it didn’t matter whether Hongwu was wronged or not.

Just as Hong Chengli said, Hongwu is good for nothing and is just a nobody hanging around in Hong Village.

There are many people like this in Hongcun. Not to mention breaking one of his legs, even if you beat him to death, it won't affect anything at all.

Using an insignificant little person to shock the entire village and assert authority, this deal is really a good deal.