Chapter 34: Cutting Hair
Xingnong’s eyes lit up. Did Big Brother perhaps know her heart’s desire and was actually going to punish her by cutting her hair?!
It was simply too perfect!
Chu Tiankuo glanced at Xingnong and saw that those beautiful eyes had brightened a few degrees.
He was surprised. Did she really want to cut her hair that much?
Shen Mingzhu: “…”
What the h*ll was a good idea?!
What kind of punishment was this?
Although hair should not be cut easily, cutting hair was a major event. Once it was cut, she wouldn’t be able to style it into beautiful cloud buns. When her great-grandfather passed away before, she had been heartbroken over cutting just a little bit.
But cutting hair was neither painful nor itchy!
Li S*i was dumbfounded. “Your Excellency, isn’t this punishment too light? My face is all swollen from being slapped!”
Ren Zilin said with a serious face, “‘One’s body, hair, and skin are received from one’s parents; they should not be damaged. This is the beginning of filial piety!’ Cutting hair is like cutting one’s head. Am I cutting her head? How is this punishment light?”
Li S*i: “…”
Soon, a yamen runner brought a pair of scissors to Xingnong.
Seeing the scissors, Li S*i was eager to move. She wanted to shave off that b*stard’s hair. It would be normal to accidentally cut off her ear!
Li S*i: “Your Excellency, I…”
Chu Tiankuo: “Your Excellency, let me carry out the punishment!”
Ren Zilin nodded. “Let Shiye do it. He’s the best at shaving heads.”
Back then, the hair on the head of that b*stard prince from Zhao Kingdom was shaved clean by him with a single sword s*roke.
Shen Mingzhu’s heart sank.
She always felt that something was wrong. Why did this Shiye and County Magistrate seem to be protecting Shen Xingnong? It couldn’t be, right?
Chu Tiankuo walked down expressionlessly and stood behind Xingnong.
He picked up the scissors from the tray in the constable’s hand.
Xingnong looked up and smiled at Chu Tiankuo. “Shiye, have mercy.”
Then she reached behind her back, formed her hand into a scissor shape, grabbed her hair below her neck, pulled it in front of her, removed the straw rope tying her hair, and then gently tossed her hair back behind her.
Hearing this, Li S*i gritted her teeth and said, “Shiye, shave it all off! Otherwise, how can it be considered punishment?”
Chu Tiankuo saw Xingnong’s little actions and frowned slightly, not understanding why she wanted to cut her hair so short.
He stretched out his slender, jade-like fingers and gathered her hair.
The dry, yellow hair looked even more withered in his fair, jade-like hand.
Hair would also consume the body’s essence and blood. Thinking of this, he followed her request and gently snipped with the scissors.
Seeing this, Li S*i shouted, “Shiye, it’s too long! Shave it all off! Keep cutting!”
Li S*i was so anxious that she wished she could do it herself.
Chu Tiankuo glanced at her coldly.
Ren Zilin was also annoyed and slammed the gavel. “Silence!”
Li S*i’s buttocks tightened, and she immediately dared not move.
Chu Tiankuo carefully cut off a strand of withered hair and placed it on the tray.
Looking at the hair scattered on her shoulders, he frowned. On a whim, he took out the handkerchief from his b*som and tied her hair up.
Xingnong: “…”
Ren Zilin in the hall: “…”
What was he doing?
After finishing all this, meeting Ren Zilin’s surprised gaze and the astonished looks of everyone around him, Chu Tiankuo came back to his senses and realized what he had done.
He calmly picked up the strand of hair he had just cut from the tray and handed it to Xingnong.
Xingnong came back to her senses and waved her hand. “Don’t want it. Throw it away!”
Big Brother was truly a good person!
Xingnong combed her hair with her fingers. Good, the length was just right!
Chu Tiankuo frowned. How could one simply throw away hair? Even if it was cut, it should be properly kept.
But seeing her indifferent look, he knew she would probably throw it away anyway, so he took it and walked back to the hall.
Ren Zilin: “…”
✿✿✿
Shen Mingzhu felt that things were becoming even more strange.
But she glanced at Xingnong, at her dark and thin appearance, her skinny figure…
She shook her head. Unless that Shiye was blind!
She looked at Xingnong again. That hair, neither long nor short, seemed to be telling her that the punishment was neither painful nor itchy. She felt extremely frustrated!
Were this newly arrived County Magistrate and Shiye too kind? They had no official authority at all.
Chu Tiankuo placed the hair and scissors on the desk. “Your Excellency, the hair has been cut.”
Ren Zilin nodded, then looked down at the strand of hair. He managed to force himself to look away and focus on the complaint. “The complaint states that Miss Shen also stole a purse from a guest at Welcome Inn, containing gold beads and silver ingots?”
Hearing this, Li S*i perked up and straightened her waist. “Replying to Your Excellency…”
Xingnong didn’t want to waste time listening to Li S*i’s nonsense. She bowed and said first, “Replying to Your Excellency! You are already aware of the matter of the gold bead.”
Ren Zilin nodded. “That’s right. It was a misunderstanding.”
Li S*i: “…”
Shen Mingzhu: “…”
The two of them looked back and forth between Ren Zilin and Xingnong in astonishment.
Did that b*stard really know the County Magistrate?
Ren Zilin explained, “I happened to see Miss Shen return the gold bead to its owner.”
Shen Mingzhu looked at her maid, anger in her eyes. What was going on?
The maid was also shocked. She had clearly confirmed it with the shopkeeper of Welcome Inn. It had only been a day, and the gold bead was already returned? But if the gold bead was returned, what about the silver ingots?
She had already bought things with them. It was impossible for her to have returned the silver, right?
She immediately said, “Your Excellency, she didn’t just steal the gold bead, she also stole silver! I saw her with my own eyes using the stolen silver ingots to buy many things!”
Li S*i also came to her senses and chimed in, “Your Excellency, that b*stard Shen Xingnong, her whole family are destitute, the poorest in the village! How could she possibly have so much silver to buy so many good things? So, she must have stolen the purse from the guest at Welcome Inn! Your Excellency, that d*mned b*stard is stubborn! You have to have the yamen runners give her a beating with the board, then she’ll confess.”
“Silence!” Ren Zilin slammed the gavel.
This woman kept saying “b*stard” over and over again. It was really unpleasant to hear.
Shen Mingzhu, being who she was, knew from a single glance at Ren Zilin’s expression that Li S*i’s words were too v*lgar and had displeased the County Magistrate.
Worried that it would affect her own image, she immediately said in a gentle voice, “Grandmother, don’t say that about Cousin Xingnong. Although Cousin’s family is poor, she’s not that kind of person. She wouldn’t steal anything.”
Li S*i looked at Xingnong with disdain, as if she were looking at a pile of dung. “Someone like her, driven mad by poverty and without parents to teach her, what wouldn’t she do? Born of a mother, but without a father to teach her! Does she even know what propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame are…”
“B*ng!” The gavel made a loud b*ng, making everyone in the hall jump.
Li S*i’s heart almost jumped out of her chest. Her mouth hung open in fright, and the rest of her words automatically disappeared!
Shen Mingzhu was also startled. She subconsciously clutched her chest and looked at Chu Tiankuo in surprise.
Xingnong also glanced at Chu Tiankuo.
Chu Tiankuo calmly withdrew his hand and said in a light tone, “Your Excellency, should she be slapped for speaking such filth in the courtroom?”
Ren Zilin looked at Li S*i and warned, “Watch your language! One more offense and you’ll be slapped!”
Li S*i quickly covered her mouth, her face full of fear and bewilderment. She didn’t understand. What she said was clearly the truth.
Ren Zilin ignored her and looked at Xingnong. “Miss Shen, how did you come by the silver?”
“Replying to Your Excellency, I earned the silver. I’m not at liberty to reveal how I earned it. Since they say I stole it, from whom did I steal it, and how much did I steal? Do they have any evidence? Is there a victim?”
Not at liberty to reveal? What was there to hide about earning silver? It must be silver of unknown origin for her to be unwilling to reveal it. Shen Mingzhu glanced at her maid.
The maid immediately understood. She said loudly, “Replying to Your Excellency, we can ask the shopkeeper of Welcome Inn about this.”