This is why the clans condemned the Wen Remnants...

...and why Wei Ying was not justified in freeing them.

Traditional Chinese law was deeply rooted in Confucian values, particularly filial piety. According to these principles, severe crimes such as rebellion or coup were not just individual offenses but implicated entire families. As a result, the punishment extended to the criminal's entire clan. Traditionally, all adult males were executed, while women, children (not of direct bloodlines), and elderly individuals (also not of direct bloodlines) were often condemned to forced servitude.

This code reflected the moral and legal framework of that historical context. A similar punishment was meted out to the He clan for the death of Jin RuSong. In that case, the Lan clan and other sects also condoned the extermination of the entire He clan, which would have included children.

Viewed through this historical lens, Wei WuXian had no legal or moral right to invade Qiongqi Path and free the enslaved Wen remnants. Neither Jiang Cheng, Lan WangJi, nor Lan XiChen could have intervened on his behalf because, legally, he was in the wrong.

While the Wen remnants were undoubtedly being mistreated by the Jin clan, the responsibility for the non-cultivator Wens had been entrusted to the Jin sect, giving them full authority over their fate. At most, one could petition for leniency, but no one had a strong legal basis to challenge the Jin directly, especially given the poor public opinion of the Wens at that time.

In the worldview of that period, the family was collectively responsible for the actions of its members. If a family failed to raise virtuous individuals, they were considered complicit and thus shared in the punishment. While modern moral standards find this practice abhorrent, it was considered just within the context of that era.

This has been on my mind lately, and I’m curious—what do you think Wei Ying or anyone else could have done differently in this situation, without outright defying the societal laws of their time?