The bailiffs made multiple attempts to disperse them, but to no avail. In the end, they had no choice but to detain all thirty-nine people present. They were charged on the spot with obstructing official duties, storming the court, and disrupting court order, then taken into custody in the court's detention room.

That's right. Everyone spent the night at the court, accommodation provided free of charge.

"Uncle Qin, I just want to ask, how many days will they be detained?" eventually, Chen Zishi asked with great concern.

As a fellow villager, these women were his elders. After the trial ended, they hadn't hurried to leave and had witnessed everything that happened subsequently. News of Liu Mei and the others' arrest had spread like wildfire, and the village was in an uproar.

"They didn't storm the court during the trial, so it probably doesn't constitute the crime of disrupting court order; at most, they could be detained for up to three months," Qin Mu's mouth twitched as he answered.

What happened next once again went beyond his expectations. He also did not anticipate that the entire group would be taken to the court's detention room. The cost of lodging that night was saved.

The court also had prison-like detention rooms, fully capable of accommodating Liu Mei and the other thirty-nine.

The court must have been out of options. Otherwise, they wouldn't have directly 'taken in' these thirty-nine people.

But once the court 'took them in,' the nature of the situation changed completely. Liu Mei and the others' behavior was now suspected of obstructing justice. If they had been even more impulsive, adding insults and assault to their actions, their charges could have escalated to a criminal level, leading to sentencing.

The current situation would likely lead to a detention sentence. They would first be held in the court's detention room, and after the formalities were completed, they would be transferred to a detention center.

"By the way, the trial for Chen Daoguang's alleged illegal detention case is tomorrow. Remember to attend; I won't be there in person," Qin Mu thought for a moment, then sent a message back to Chen Zishi, reminding him.

This trip to the farmhouse had directly resulted in three cases. These were the wedding hazing case resulting in one death and three injuries, the illegal detention case involving Chen Daoguang and seventy-eight others, and the indecency case reported by Huang Lan. The three cases would be tried successively.

His main reason for attending the wedding hazing case was because it involved the principle of unlimited self-defense. Defending the defendant was extremely difficult. He had participated in formulating the defense strategy before the trial.

The other two cases—the illegal detention and indecency cases—were both prosecuted by the public prosecution office. The evidence was conclusive, set in stone. There was almost no possibility of reversal. The only point of discussion during the trial would be the sentencing for Chen Daoguang and the others involved in the illegal detention, as well as for the perpetrators in the indecency case related to the wedding hazing.

Chen Daoguang and the others, implicated in illegal detention and the crime of provoking trouble, faced a sentencing range of less than five years of fixed-term imprisonment. For those involved in the indecency case, the sentencing range was over five years.

It was a significant dividing line. He can just watch the live broadcast at the nursing home. He doesn't need to attend the trial in person.

Furthermore, he had taken leaves of absence too often recently. Wan Zhongyuan had practically forced the 'Outstanding Employee' title at the nursing home upon him. He truly felt undeserving and could only try to minimize his requests for leave. Staying at the nursing home, slacking off and watching the live broadcast... was practically the same.

「That night.」

「Chen Family Village.」

Dreadful news spread throughout the village. Everyone was shocked to hear that Liu Mei and the others had gone to Jin City to attend the trial but had not returned all night.

"What exactly is going on? Why were they all arrested by the court?"

"It's one thing to arrest one person, but to arrest everyone? Is attending a trial that dangerous?"

"I heard from Chen Qi's family that all the people who went are now staying at the court, with food and accommodation provided."

"Good thing I didn't go; this is just too frightening."

"..."

Every household was discussing the matter. Before Liu Mei and the others left, they had all said they would return after the trial and wouldn't stay in the city. After all, staying in the city was just too expensive.

However, word was that the murderer had been released outright, with the court ruling not guilty due to the invocation of unlimited self-defense. Liu Mei and the others had caused a small disturbance and were promptly arrested. Not a single one returned.

Counting Chen Daoguang and the seventy-eight others, over a hundred people from Chen Family Village had now been taken in.

"Who on earth did our Chen Family Village offend? We've always been honest and law-abiding; it was just some wedding hazing."

"Sigh, this is truly a calamity. Our village only has a few hundred households, and now a good portion of them have been taken in."

"Maybe... we shouldn't get involved in this anymore. The more we meddle, the messier it gets."

"Right, I just heard that Chen Laosan's son, who was at home recovering from his injuries, was suddenly arrested."

"It wasn't just Chen Laosan; Chen Laoliu's son was also suddenly taken away. It seems the town police station made the arrests."

"..."

「Before long.」

The news that those involved in the wedding hazing had been taken away by the police spread like wildfire. It spread throughout the entire village, striking fear into many hearts.

Aside from the deceased Chen Quan, everyone who had participated in the wedding hazing was taken away; not one was missed. Even the three who had been seriously injured and were recuperating at home were taken away.

Suddenly, an atmosphere of fear and apprehension descended upon Chen Family Village, with everyone on edge. All their previous arrogance and domineering attitudes vanished. Talk of seeking justice and the like instantly disappeared. Almost no one dared to bring it up anymore.

Even the wedding hazing itself was now regarded by the villagers as something akin to a ferocious tiger, to be avoided at all costs.

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