In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 198 A worthy death

After snapping Yuan Fu's neck, Xu Zhiwen's sharp gaze swept over all the Yuan family members in the backyard. Everyone who met Xu Zhiwen's gaze lowered their heads, afraid that Xu Zhiwen would notice them.

Chen Dao stepped into the room where the woman was being held. The room was carpeted, which was both beautiful and soft, but Chen Dao had no time to pay attention to it. He was only looking at the woman in the room, his face ashen.

These women were all covered in numerous wounds; some bore whip marks, others had bruises all over their skin, and traces of blood could even be seen on the ground. In the corner of the room lay two women who had already stopped breathing…

It's hard to imagine the torment these women endured.

Chen Dao took a deep breath and looked at the woman behind him: "What's your name?"

“My benefactor, my name is Zhang Limei.”

The woman quickly replied.

Do you know them all?

Chen Dao pointed to the women who were either lying on the ground with lifeless eyes or leaning against the wall staring blankly at him. He said that these women's eyes were full of numbness and no sign of life, as if they had completely lost any hope of living.

"I only met them after I came here."

Zhang Limei replied, "I fled here with my parents, but they died on the way, leaving me alone to reach Taiping County..."

As she spoke, tears welled up in Zhang Limei's eyes, as if she were recalling the hardships of her escape. Her parents had died along the way, and she had barely made it to Taiping County thanks to her younger age and the meager rations her parents had left her. But who could have imagined that what awaited her was not the life of having enough to eat that she had imagined, but rather...

Hellish torment.

"I understand!"

Chen Dao exhaled, as if trying to expel some of the depression in his heart.

He couldn't even bear to look at the women inside the room, so he walked out of the room and looked at the Yuan family members.

"Magistrate Xu, I've decided how to deal with them."

"Ok?"

Xu Zhiwen looked at Chen Dao: "Young friend, what do you plan to do?"

“The Yuan family deserved to die.”

Chen Dao slowly said, "Kill all the men!"

Chen Dao originally didn't want to be a butcher, but the moment he learned about the fate of Zhang Limei and the other women, he could no longer suppress the murderous intent in his heart.

Every member of this family who could commit such heinous acts deserving to die!

"As for the women..."

Chen Dao paused for a moment and then said, "You can handle the woman yourself, Magistrate Xu!"

Chen Dao was not a murderer after all. Killing all the male members of the Yuan family was the limit for him. He simply could not bring himself to kill the remaining women, so he passed the problem on to Xu Zhiwen.

Xu Zhiwen had no objections. His thoughts were similar to Chen Dao's. When he learned of the fate of Zhang Limei and the other women, he had already made a similar decision in his mind: all the men of the Yuan family must be killed, as for the women…

Chen Dao couldn't solve the problem, but Xu Zhiwen had a way to handle it. The government had a brothel called Jiaofangsi, and Xu Zhiwen could simply fill these women into Jiaofangsi.

As for whether doing this is inappropriate...

Before seeing Zhang Limei and other women, Xu Zhiwen might have had some psychological burden, but now, he no longer pities these women of the Yuan family. They have enjoyed the blessings of the Yuan family, so naturally they must also bear the consequences of the Yuan family's misdeeds.

Upon hearing Chen Dao's decision, despair flashed across the faces of the Yuan family members. Living in the Yuan family, they knew all too well the vast difference between ordinary people and martial artists, therefore they dared not resist in the slightest. And not resisting meant…

All the men must be killed!

This is clearly unacceptable to them.

Then, a beautifully dressed woman stepped forward, looked directly at Xu Zhiwen and said, "Magistrate Xu, you are also an official in charge of this area. How could you do such an outrageous thing? Dozens of young male members of my Yuan family were slaughtered. How can you bear to do this?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhiwen glanced at the woman and asked, "Are you Yuan Ju's wife?"

The status of the principal wife in Xia State was quite high. Yuan Ju would occasionally bring his wife to some occasions in the past, so Xu Zhiwen recognized the person at a glance: it was Wu, Yuan Ju's principal wife.

"Exactly."

Madam Wu looked directly into Xu Zhiwen's eyes and said, "If Magistrate Xu is willing to let us go, I am willing to offer up all of the Yuan family's wealth!"

"The Yuan family's wealth?"

Xu Zhiwen laughed, "No need for you to offer it, I will take it myself!"

After saying that, Xu Zhiwen continued, "As for whether I would feel sorry for them... many of the women locked in the house are still very young. When your Yuan family abused them, did you have even the slightest bit of pity?"

Ms. Wu opened her mouth, but had no answer.

As the matriarch of the Yuan family, she was certainly aware of what those women were doing, but she had never taken it to heart.

In her view, the women recruited from the refugees were nothing more than lowly people, and it was an honor for them to serve the men of the Yuan family.

But Wu never expected that Xu Zhiwen would actually plan to slaughter the entire Yuan family because of this matter...

At this moment, Wu couldn't help but feel a little regretful, regretting that she hadn't stopped the men in the clan from humiliating those women. But now... it was too late to say anything.

At this moment, Zhang He had already led the county constables to the backyard, and bowed to Xu Zhiwen, saying, "Your Excellency, please give your instructions."

"Kill all the men!"

Xu Zhiwen replied without hesitation, "As for the women, send them all to the brothel."

"Yes!"

Upon receiving the order, Zhang He waved his hand, and the constables who had come with him immediately sprang into action, launching a massacre in the Yuan family's backyard!

"what!"

Screams echoed endlessly, and before long, the ground was covered in blood. All of the dozens of male members of the Yuan family were beheaded on the spot.

As for the women... they also wanted to resist and even stepped forward to stop Zhang He and his men from slaughtering them, but Zhang He and his men did not show them any courtesy. They either slapped these women down with their hands or with the back of their knives and continued to kill them!

At this moment, the entire backyard of the Yuan family was covered in blood, with the blue bricks on the ground stained crimson.

After killing all the male members of the Yuan family, Zhang He ordered his men to tie up all the women of the Yuan family. He then went to Xu Zhiwen and reported, "Your Excellency, all thirty-one male members of the Yuan family have been executed, and all the women have been tied up!"

As he spoke, a look of disbelief flashed in Zhang He's eyes. Even he, who had come from Liangzhou to seek survival, had heard of the Yuan family's reputation. But who would have thought that the most prominent Yuan family in the entire Taiping County would be like a lamb to the slaughter at this moment?