Divorced woman with child travels through time

Li Baozhu had planned that Liang Qingmei would visit the Wofo Temple to offer incense and pray for her deceased mother on the first and fifteenth of each month. Li Baozhu also timed her return to the Li family a day early. Since Zhao Qi was going to take a concubine in half a month, and in any case, Li Baozhu couldn't escape her fate, Zhao Qi readily agreed.

Li Baozhu scouted the location a day in advance. On the first day of the lunar month, there were many people offering incense. She disguised herself, dressed very plainly, wore a cap, and carefully changed her makeup to look like an ordinary woman before going to the temple.

Li Baozhu concealed the dagger at her waist and, utterly bored, waited at the Reclining Buddha Temple for over an hour beforehand. She bought some snacks and squatted down at the temple entrance, eating like a woman waiting for her husband. The crowd had already grown.

After waiting for another half hour, Li Baozhu finally saw the Zhao family's carriage.

The Reclining Buddha Temple was located halfway up the mountain, and the crowd gradually ascended the steps. Li Baozhu casually glanced around, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Feng Qingmei and her group. After they finished getting ready and went up the steps together, she followed the crowd down the steps. When she got close to Liang Qingmei and the others, she pretended to miss a step, turned around with the crowd to Liang Qingmei's side, and took out the dagger that she had been holding in her hand and hiding in her sleeve.

"Ah!" With a cry of surprise, Li Baozhu's dagger pierced her waist and shoulder with unerring accuracy. Liu Mama, who was standing next to her, noticed it immediately and reached out to pull Li Baozhu back. Li Baozhu, her face full of hatred, pushed the dagger forward without hesitation, then quickly pulled it out after twisting it around, and then took the opportunity to slip into the crowd.

"Ah...!" Liang Qingmei let out an extremely shrill scream. "Sister Mei... come quick! Get Miss to a doctor!" Liu Mama cried out in pain, her voice filled with agony. Li Baozhu, who had reached out her hand, saw Liang Qingmei's scream and turned back to support her. She immediately shouted, "Grab that woman!" Several maids and servants rushed towards Li Baozhu in a chaotic frenzy.

"Murder!" Someone in the crowd with sharp eyes spotted Liang Qingmei's hand on her waist, where blood gushed out like a fountain. With a scream, the crowd scattered like headless flies.

Li Baozhu moved swiftly and nimbly through the crowd, constantly dropping her disguise. She cleverly made several turns to shake off her pursuers, then mounted her horse, which was already parked in the small harbor, and rode away.

"Hahahaha..." From a distance, Li Baozhu galloped on horseback, laughing heartily. "So what if you framed me? You think you're so great just because you have power and influence? You're still just mortals, one stab and you're dead." The nausea she had been holding in for so long finally subsided today.

After a hearty laugh, Li Baozhu headed south without stopping. She had already left a letter for her brother and asked him to pass a message to Zhao Qi. She couldn't swallow this insult; revenge was inevitable. Now that she had, she knew she couldn't possibly defeat the Liang family and could only flee for her life. Perhaps she could also check on Wang Erniu while she was at it? That man seemed very reassuring; following him would surely protect her. Lost in thought, Li Baozhu turned a corner and headed towards Qingcheng…

Upon learning of Li Baozhu's crime, Li Qingshan immediately notified Zhao Qi. Zhao Qi stumbled; after Liang Qingmei's death, he had come to find Li Baozhu, fearing she was responsible. Sure enough, it was over. He knew she wouldn't let it go; he was too late. It had still happened...

Zhao Qi quickly opened the letter left by Li Baozhu. What the hell? What did she mean by telling her to go see an old friend and then wander the world? Who was this old friend? What did she mean by that? Did she know what she would face after doing this? Zhao Qi was speechless and secretly hurt. Didn't she care about herself at all? Despite his sadness, Zhao Qi didn't forget to clean up her mess. He immediately told everyone that her old injury had relapsed, that she was unwell and needed to rest, and that the date for taking a concubine would be postponed. At the same time, he arranged for people to search for her, mainly because he was worried that Liang Qingmei's family would find her first.

After reading the letter, Li Qingshan finally understood why his younger sister had gone to seek revenge and kill. His eyes were bloodshot as he looked at Zhao Qi and said, "Is this how you protect her? She's already like this before she's even married into the family. Does she even care about her life?"

Zhao Qi said apologetically, "This was my oversight. I won't look down on her, and I will protect her. Don't worry."

Li Qingshan said with a grim expression, "You'd better be able to do this. I'll leave tomorrow, and you should try your best to stall the Liang family."

Zhao Qi nodded. He knew he couldn't hold them off any longer. As he turned to leave, he thought for a moment and turned back to ask, "Who is this old friend she's talking about?"

Li Qingshan said dismissively, "She has taken a liking to someone else's husband, namely Chen Niangzi's husband, Wang Erniu from Wangjiazhuang, just a brute."

“Wang Family Village! Wang Erniu… Chen Niangzi! Hahaha…” Zhao Qi suddenly realized something, and, as if going mad, exclaimed happily, “So that’s how it is! I know, hahaha, Zhao Lue, the woman you like is actually Chen Wenfang, you’ve been hiding it well…”

Li Qingshan looked at him with surprise. What had he said? ...

In Wangjiazhuang, at Chen's workshop, the kitchen was brightly lit, with about twenty large pots running simultaneously. A hundred or so people were busy at their respective tasks. Chen Wenfang and Wang Erniu were also busy. Wang Erniu was in charge of managing the replenishment and distribution of ingredients, while Chen Wenfang was in charge of production. The couple complemented each other. With the New Year approaching, orders were plentiful. The orders for fried rice alone totaled eight thousand jin this month. The entire Chen's workshop was bustling with activity every day. Inside and outside the village, vehicles and merchants came and went, constantly delivering rice, flour, cooking oil, and taking away snacks and food.

Li Baozhu went to Chen's Teahouse but didn't even see the hem of Wang Erniu's clothes. She then followed the convoy to Wangjiazhuang, stood outside the courtyard for a while, and left in the end, fearing she would be beaten.

Chen Wenfang was unaware of all this; she was already incredibly busy. This year's orders were several times more than last year's, and everyone on the estate was swamped with work. There was no time to care about gossip. It was already mid-November, and she had at most half a month left to finish the orders she had on hand.

The snow came a bit early this year. It was November 20th, not even the winter solstice yet, and dark clouds were looming overhead. Aunt Liu told everyone to light the lamps early. Tomorrow, they had to deliver three orders of 200-pound Sachima (a type of Chinese pastry). Luckily, the syrup had already been made. They just needed to stir-fry it, mix it with fried dough, add sesame seeds and winter melon shreds, press it into molds, let it cool, and then cut it into pieces. About ten people were busy inside. Chen Wenfang looked at the sky and estimated it was only a little past four o'clock. She arranged for a few aunties to go and cook first, in case it snowed heavily. They wanted to finish eating quickly so they could finish work.

Just as the meal was finished, the aunties rushed to cut and wrap all the Sachima (a type of Chinese pastry), and Wang Erniu returned in his horse-drawn cart.

"Husband, why are you up so early today?" Chen Wenfang stepped forward and took the paper bag from his hand.

Wang Erniu laughed and said, "I saw someone selling fruit on the way, so I brought you some to try. It looks like it's going to snow heavily, so I came back first."

Chen Wenfang opened the bag and looked inside. It contained hawthorn berries, bright red and very tempting. Chen Wenfang smiled sweetly.