Chapter 377 - Ten Strokes
"It is ready." Butler Zhou held the whip with both hands and showed it to Old Mister Wei.
It turned out that the Wei family's family law was punishment by whipping.
"Grandpa, this…Keli was in the wrong, but isn't it too harsh to use family law?" Li Xiangrong was unable to hold back any longer and pleaded mercy for Wei Keli.
The whip was not as simple as it looked.
It was a design that had been passed down in the Wei family.
Of course, it was not the whip that had been passed down for generations.
There had been countless others that were already worn out.
However, as they had patented the design, they could always order a new one.
This whip was covered with many thin barbs.
They were so thin that if one did not look closely, they would not be able to see them.
However, when whipped, the barbs on the whip would scale away the skin.
There would be many thin, fine blood streaks around the marks from the whip.
The barbs were very fine, and when the whip was in contact with the skin, there would be a painful and itchy sensation.
If one could not bear the itchiness and scratched the skin, one would directly scratch the wounds.
Because although they only looked like streaks of blood, the barbs had pierced the flesh and torn some flesh out.
Scratching them would cause the skin beside them to become wounded also.
It was scary to think about that kind of pain, not to mention to experience it personally.
This was only the blood streaks caused by the barbs, not to mention the wounds caused by the leather whip.
Accidentally scratching the main wounds from the leather whip would cause the pain to double.
Thus, when Wei family members mentioned the family law, their expressions would change.
Nobody was willing to go through it.
"Harsh? No matter how harsh it is, it is only physical damage. How can it be compared to a girl's reputation? He bears the Wei family name, and as a Wei family member, he not only wanted to use force on a girl, but even colluded with outsiders to scheme against her." Old Mister Wei got angrier and angrier the more he thought about it. "When has our Wei family ever done such a despicable thing?
"Previously, Tan Mo did not tell anyone. She did not tell her family and did not tell us. If not for Zhiqian who happened to be there, if she hadn't said anything, nobody would have known that she was bullied. She had hidden it for Wei Keli, but Wei Keli did not know how to be grateful, did not know how to tone it down, and even colluded with others to scheme against her!" Old Mister Wei was so angry, he slapped the arm of his chair. "Wei Keli thought that Tan Mo was kind, so he thought that she was easy to bully, was that it? Being kind to him was wrong."
"It was wrong for Wei Keli to dare to have such intentions," Wei Zhijian said. "We scolded him."
"Obviously scolding him was not enough. Why else would he dare to make mistakes one after another?" Old Mister Wei said coldly. "Butler Zhu, ten strokes!"
"No!" Li Xiangrong quickly jumped over to protect Wei Keli.
Wouldn't ten strokes from such a whip cause Wei Keli to lose his life?
"Grandpa," Wei Zhijian also pleaded for mercy, "aren't ten strokes too many? One stroke, it will be enough to make him learn his lesson."
"How can he remember if we don't hit him until he doesn't forget for a lifetime? Not having rules has not shaped him well. This family law was to prevent Wei family members from doing as they pleased because they bear the Wei family name. If there is no fear and we let our descendants wreak havoc, the Wei family will descend into chaos and we would not have what we have today!
"Today, this will be burned into his memory! Not only to Tan Mo, to anyone else, if they do not want him, he can't be unscrupulous and do anything he wants to get them. This earth does not revolve around him!" Old Mister Wei was truly angry.
Wei Zhiqian had made up his mind to use the family law against Wei Keli.
Thus he had called Old Mister Wei and told him everything about what Wei Keli had done. While he did not hide anything, he did not exaggerate either.
When Old Mister Wei heard that Tan Mo had been bullied by Wei Keli, he was so angry he almost spat fire.
Tan Mo had been coming to and from the Wei mansion since she was very young.
When she was young, she would sit in Old Madame Wei's embrace and massage the Old Madame's head and the pain would fly away.
Such an adorable young lady had almost been destroyed by Wei Keli.
If Wei Keli had succeeded, how would the two elders ever have been able to face Tan Mo again?
Old Mister Wei looked at Wei Zhijian and Li Xiangrong meaningfully and asked, "How did you educate your child? To what extent would you let Wei Keli be when he was in the wrong?"
"Grandpa!" Li Xiangrong hugged Wei Keli and would not stop shaking her head and pleading while crying, "Ten strokes are too many. He is wrong, please reduce the number of strokes! He will need to go to the hospital after ten strokes."
"What is there to be scared about? He will not die!" Old Mister Wei's heart did not soften. "Pull her away!"
Two bodyguards immediately came forward and, with one on each side, hoisted Li Xiangrong.
Li Xiangrong still wanted to struggle.
Old Mister Wei glanced at her coldly. "Plead for him one more time and I will add a stroke. Do as you see fit."
"A kind mother makes a wastrel!" Old Madame Wei was also very angry. "Wei Keli is like this today not only because he himself was incompetent, but because both of you have spoiled him.
"When he made mistakes when he was young, he was only scolded slightly. He was scolded not because he was wrong, but because he had been caught when he was wrong. With such an education, Wei Keli is in this situation now thanks to both of you!" The Old Madame slapped the table. "Butler Zhu, whip him!"
Butler Zhu came forward with a stern expression.
"Butler Zhu, let me do it." Wei Zhiqian stood up and walked in front of Butler Zhu.
Butler Zhu was in charge of executing the family law. Wei Zhiqian was worried that Wei Zhijian would thus hate butler Zhu and try to sabotage him.
Butler Zhu smiled and said, "Young master Zhiqian, I understand your intentions."
Butler Zhu stepped forward and said to Wei Zhiqian in a low voice, "When there comes a day that I am not protected by the two elders, don't I still have you? Moreover, with my age, after the two elders pass away, I do not have much time left. I am an old man with nothing much to be scared of."
However, Wei Zhiqian was different. Wei Zhiqian was still young.
There were many things that Wei Zhiqian did that were enough for Wei Zhijian and Wei Keli to hurt him.
There was no need for this matter to be the last straw that snapped their sanity.
"Zhiqian, go back." Old Mister Wei also understood Wei Zhiqian's intentions. He had been angry for the whole night,. At least here was something that caused him solace.
"Butler Zhu is strong," Old Mister Wei said.
Wei Zhiqian nodded and returned to his seat.
Butler Zhu stood behind Wei Keli.
Luckily, the hall was big enough for Butler Zhu to use the whip.
He was not worried that he would hurt others accidentally.
Two bodyguards came forward and stripped Wei Keli of his shirt.
Wei Keli was still struggling, but what use was it?
"Move again, and I will remove you from the Wei family register!" Old Mister Wei angrily said.
"You do not take responsibility after being in the wrong. You are timid and afraid. How did the Wei family have someone like you?" Old Mister Wei looked down on Wei Keli even more.
When Tan Mo fell sick from taking care of Wei Zhiqian, and Old Mister Wei mentioned the use of the family law, Wei Zhiqian did not say anything but accepted it without as much as a blink.