Sure enough, as soon as Jian Xiu spoke, the entire courtroom fell silent.

Seeing this, Jian Xiu continued, “For more than two years, my husband has been paralyzed. Our family of four has never lived a decent life. Over ten acres of land were mostly worked by our family. That alone would have been hard enough, but our three children had to suffer and live a life that was hardly human.”

“Have you ever tried to divide half a steamed bun among five people?”

“No? It’s not that there’s no food at home, but it’s that you don’t want to give us anything because I have a paralyzed husband.”

“We were finally separated, but they were afraid we’d come back, so they insisted on cutting ties with us.”

“If they cut ties, why should they still come into our yard to take what belongs to us? Did I say I wanted to cut ties? No, they themselves said they wanted to cut ties. So, should I be blamed?”

Her words left everyone speechless.

Not only the villagers outside, but even Old Liu was stunned. She didn’t even know when Jian Xiu had become so articulate.

But Old Madam Liu knew that if she didn’t speak up now, she would truly be finished.

So, she gritted her teeth and said, “You’re talking nonsense, what you said is all lies, it’s not true. After Zixuan’s legs were paralyzed, we…”

“If that’s really the case, then the magistrate can ask the people from Zhangjia village. One question, and the truth will be clear.” Jian Xiu interrupted Old Liu.

Sure enough, as soon as she spoke, Old Madam Liu fell silent.

She just stared at Jian Xiu, dumbfounded.

“What’s wrong? Did I say something wrong? Why don’t you continue?” Jian Xiu asked, feigning curiosity.

“You… you’re just making excuses!” Before Old Liu could speak, Zhang Zihua chimed in.

“Making excuses? What excuses? What did I say that wasn’t true? Did I fabricate anything?” Jian Xiu asked, her tone low.

Seeing Jian Xiu’s demeanor, Zhang Zihua became furious but didn’t know what to say.

He pointed at her, trembling, and stammered, “You… you…”

But he couldn’t even finish the sentence.

Jian Xiu merely smiled coldly and continued, “Is the filial piety you speak of simply doing whatever your elders tell you? Even when you know it’s wrong, do you still follow through? If that’s the case, how many tragedies would there be in the Da Shun dynasty?”

“If they tell you to kill someone, would you do it too? Don’t you have your own judgment? Right and wrong, it’s not for your elders to decide. Justice resides in the hearts of the people.”

“Take my current situation as an example. My parents were harsh, constantly beating and scolding us, the fourth household. My husband is paralyzed and unable to move. If I hadn’t left that house, the only way for us to survive would have been death.”

“I may not care about myself, but I can’t ignore my three children. I gave birth to them, and I want to provide the best life I can for them.”

“After we were separated, I risked my life to go into the deep mountains, digging traps and catching wild boars. What was my goal? It was to feed my family of five because I knew that without it, we would starve to death.”

“When I left that house, I didn’t even get a single grain of rice. If I hadn’t gone, my children would have died. I knew that going into the mountains, I might be devoured by a tiger, but for my children, I still went ahead.”

“But why should I give the fruits of my labor to them? What do they deserve? Just because of the filial piety you spoke of? If that’s what filial piety means, does that mean my family of five should die at their hands so that you can call it filial piety?”

At this point, Jian Xiu turned to face the villagers in the courtroom and Mo Shanrui, saying:

“Filial piety is a great traditional virtue of our Da Shun dynasty. We should pass on this virtue, and I believe that is the current goal as well. But if it’s blind filial piety, then it’s clearly counterproductive. It goes against the very meaning of filial piety that we speak of today. What’s the point of such filial piety?”

“Blind filial piety often ignores our own reason and logic. It’s just about blindly obeying and pleasing our parents, without considering whether this behavior is right or reasonable.”

“For me, this kind of blind filial piety is foolish. It not only leads to tragedies for our village and family, but it could also have a far-reaching impact on the entire Da Shun dynasty.”

After saying this, Jian Xiu felt her own words were quite moving.

“Wonderful, wonderful! Young lady, you’ve spoken so well, truly marvelous…”

Just as Jian Xiu was about to say something else, she heard a familiar voice from the doorway.

She turned and saw Wu Mingtang clapping and excitedly looking at her.

Jian Xiu: “… I knew it was him.”

She had guessed it from the sound earlier.

She hadn’t expected the shopkeeper, Wu, to put down his account book and come here to support her.

It seemed he had just arrived. When she was standing there earlier, she hadn’t seen him.

Mo Shanrui, sitting on the judge’s seat, noticed the old man and could tell he knew Jian Xiu.

However, Mo Shanrui had to admit that what Jian Xiu had said just now was quite right.

Even if Wu Mingtang hadn’t clapped, he would have.

“This young lady is right, filial piety is fine, but not blind filial piety. The consequences of blind filial piety for our Da Shun dynasty are immeasurable!” A familiar voice came from the crowd.

Hearing this voice, Jian Xiu couldn’t help but shake her head in resignation.

If she wasn’t mistaken, this voice belonged to Mo Shanhuai, the dean of the School of Letters.

Looking in the direction of the voice, she saw him standing there, exchanging a look with Wu Mingtang.

Given their relationship, seeing them now like this, Jian Xiu couldn’t help but laugh.

At this moment, Jian Xiu didn’t realize that, besides the two of them, there was another person in the crowd.