I just want to be a princess, no, you want to be a queen

"This is the grave of Zheng the Butcher's wife. If she was beaten to death, there would definitely be marks on her body." Yang Xier explained, "According to the laws of Dasheng, a husband who beats his wife to death shall be hanged."

Yang Nian'er looked at the gloomy grave and swallowed.

"Let's plan together."

In the tug of war between fear and hope, the two men dug shovel after shovel.

"Second sister, why didn't you ask me to come along?" Yang Nian'er asked.

"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed." What's more terrifying than despair is despair in hope. Yang Xier wasn't sure.

Yang Nian'er choked up, "Then why don't you ask Tian Qing to come with you? It's so dangerous to come alone."

"Hurry up and work, it will be dawn soon." Yang Xier patted her sister's shoulder. In her heart, she really wanted Tian Qing to come with her, but she was afraid.

Afraid he won't want to.

The coffin was exposed, and the two men worked together to dig it open. On the body, which had not yet decayed, there were obvious scars.

Yang Nian'er said excitedly: "I'll report to the police."

"Don't!" Yang Xier held her sister back. The law was written only to appease the people. Furthermore, wives were always considered their husbands' private property, and the law was rarely actually enforced.

"If we go and sue, Dad will know. Besides, we have no right to sue. Mom was right about it. It's different when you have your brothers. Even if Butcher Zheng's wife's family doesn't care about her, with such a money-making scheme, her brothers can't help but be interested."

Yang Xier decided, "Tell her brothers from her mother's family."

The two were worried that wild animals would carry off the body at night, so they waited until dawn. After someone discovered the "corpse", they went to inform Zheng the Butcher's wife's family.

More and more people gathered at the grave, and rumors of ghosts and gods like "the wronged spirit appeared, or appeared in dreams after being resurrected" spread throughout the village. Soon, the brothers of Zheng the Butcher's deceased wife also arrived.

On the distant hillside, watching Butcher Zheng being harassed by his deceased wife's brothers, Yang Nian'er felt both excited and anxious: "Second sister, can you make it?"

"It should be possible." Yang Xier nodded: "He is worried about being tortured, so he will definitely give a large amount of silver to keep his mouth shut."

But they didn't know how much wealth Butcher Zheng had.

When the two sisters returned home, Mother Yang was sitting on the kang, making new clothes for the two girls, and she was working very anxiously.

"Your father said that the head tax will be collected at the beginning of next month. He has already discussed it with the man's family and wants you to marry him at the end of this month."

The two looked at each other and waited silently for news from outside.

"Something happened!"

Yang Tiezhu rushed in, picked up the teapot on the table and poured it into his mouth, drinking half of the water and spilling the other half.

He wiped his mouth and panted, "The imperial court is recruiting men between the ages of sixteen and forty, and every household must send at least one man."

Mother Yang was stunned for a moment, then patted her chest and gasped, "It's okay, it's okay. You, the head of the family, are 42 years old this year."

"But our two new sons-in-law..." Yang Tiezhu frowned at his wife, "Tian Qing is eighteen years old, and Zheng the Butcher is thirty-six years old."

Mother Yang became nervous. "Going to the battlefield is no joke. If he dies, our daughter will be a widow at such a young age."

"Being a widow is a good thing. You can get married again."

Yang Tiezhu bent one leg and sat on the kang, sighing, "I heard from the village head that the court's investigation isn't strict, and that they can have their names erased for ten taels of silver. I'm worried they'll come after me to break off the engagement and demand a betrothal gift."

As he was speaking, Zheng the Butcher, who had been beaten black and blue, walked into the yard, shouting that he wanted to cancel the engagement.

Yang Tiezhu hurried to the yard to comfort Zheng the Butcher, advising him not to worry and to find a way to borrow some from relatives and friends.

Butcher Zheng had just been cheated out of a large sum of money and had been beaten up. He was too lazy to listen to Yang Tiezhu's nagging. He grabbed the thin man and shouted angrily, "If you don't give it back to me, we will go to the officials and have a talk."

After all, it was a pork chopping arm, so it was very strong. Yang Tiezhu's feet were off the ground, and he was strangled to the point of suffocation, so he could only reluctantly agree.

Ten taels of silver were gone. At night, the couple sat on the kang, looking at the remaining silver and began to worry.

Yang Tiezhu said, "Mr. Li has a foolish son. His wife hasn't given birth to a child in several years. Mr. Li wants to find him a concubine who is good at bearing children. He can give her thirty taels."

Having said this, he paused.

"However, Mr. Li's foolish son is not eligible to take a concubine. He can't pass the official documents and will have to sign a contract. The third girl hasn't had her period yet and can't have children. If Tian Qing comes to cancel the engagement, the second girl will have to go."

So, although she was called a concubine, she was actually just a maid who gave birth to children.

"Master, this is a death contract." Mother Yang cried, "That's our daughter, you can't be so cruel."

Yang Tiezhu slapped his mother in the face, shaking with anger: "If you hadn't wasted three taels of silver, would I have harmed my own daughter?"

Mother Yang looked down at the less than five taels of silver on the kang and sobbed, "I'll go get it back tomorrow."

The voice was very small and lacked any confidence.

"If you want to cry, go outside and don't disturb my son." Yang Tiezhu lay down in the quilt and went to sleep in annoyance.

The crying sound came into the west room. The two sisters sitting on the bed looked at each other and hugged each other tightly.

As expected, Yang's mother went out with a basket early in the morning and came back in the evening. She hugged her second daughter who was cooking in the kitchen and started howling like a ghost.

"Son, I'm sorry."

Yang Nian'er opened the basket and said sarcastically, "Well, I didn't get my money back, and I even got a basket of pancakes as compensation."

"You naughty girl." Yang's mother had no place to vent her anger, so she grabbed Yang Nian'er and started beating her.

Yang Nian'er ran away with a grimace on her face.

Yang Xier looked towards the red sky in the west, tears streaming down her face.

Fortunately, fortunately, Brother Qing didn’t come.

But usually, Brother Qing would come to see me every day. But today, he didn't come.

"Don't worry, Second Sister." Before falling asleep that night, Yang Nian'er assured her second sister, who had been panicking all day, "It's just three years of military service. Tian Qing likes you so much, he won't ask for a betrothal gift."

These words had only been spoken for one night when the voice of Tian Qing's mother was heard from the yard.

"Tiezhu family, your daughter is too expensive. We can't afford to marry her off."

Yang Tiezhu refused to return the money, and the conversation in the small square courtyard gradually turned into a fierce quarrel.

Yang Xier looked through the dilapidated window at Tian Qing, who was standing behind her mother with his head down and silent. The color on her face gradually faded.

"Second sister, please go out and persuade Tian Qing!" Yang Nian'er said anxiously.

"What can I persuade him?" Yang Xier shook her head.

It was good enough that he came two days later. The battlefield was dangerous, and she couldn't expect him to disregard his life and his mother for her.