Divorced woman with child travels through time

The two brothers immediately stopped laughing and looked at him with serious expressions.

Wang Erniu paused for a moment, then said mysteriously, "I'll give you two five hundred taels of silver each. You two help me prepare two sets of dowry. I've taken a fancy to a pair of sisters and want to secretly take them in. You absolutely mustn't let your sister-in-law know about this."

Wang Xiaoming's expression changed instantly, and Xiaoguang blurted out, "Second brother, you can't do this! Is there something wrong with our sister-in-law?"

Wang Xiaoming tentatively added seriously, "That's right, Second Brother, we can't do such a thing. Madam Chen is an exceptionally good woman, and if she finds out, I... I'm afraid you won't live past tomorrow night."

Wang Erniu couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter. "Alright, I was just teasing you. Did your sister-in-law ask me to give you money? After you get married, we'll pay for it. Five hundred taels each, and each of you will get a house. I'll give you the deed after the wedding, and you can hand it over to your respective wives."

"Second brother, you really scared me to death..."

Both of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Wang Xiaoguang said, "Isn't this a bit too hasty? Where are we going to find someone to marry so suddenly?"

Wang Erniu said solemnly, "Magistrate Ouyang's wife sent a message: the south is in great turmoil, with many wars. If officials like Zhou Bapi can act with impunity, it's very likely that chaos is imminent..."

"As for settling down, your second sister-in-law is right. You are not young anymore, and Chenjiazhuang is quite famous now. As long as you open the door and spread the word, there will be countless matchmakers coming up. Given your current situation, it will be easy to find a match for you. You don't need to worry about this. As long as you agree, your second sister-in-law will arrange it."

The two brothers exchanged a glance, each soaking their feet, and bowed to Wang Erniu, saying, "Then we'll have to trouble you, Second Brother."

Wang Erniu nodded, "Okay, it's settled then. I'm leaving, you guys can soak for a while..."

After Wang Erniu had disappeared from sight, Wang Xiaoguang slowly approached Wang Xiaoming and said, "Brother! What do you think we should do if Second Brother really wants to take a concubine?"

Wang Xiao glanced at him, picked up a handkerchief to wipe her feet, and said, "How could he dare? He wouldn't do such a thing. If he really dared to do it, I'd never forgive him. Our sister-in-law is so good, how can we let him do whatever he wants?"

Wang Xiaoguang laughed happily, "Hehe, I knew you thought the same thing as me, brother!"

"Stop thinking about it, go to sleep. We'll prepare the dowry tomorrow." The two brothers excitedly discussed.

As soon as Wang Erniu returned to his room, Chen Wenfang pestered him. "Tell me quickly, how did it go? Did they agree?"

“Of course they agreed. As the eldest brother, they are like fathers to their parents. How could they not listen to what I say?” Wang Erniu replied with a smile.

"Okay, then I'll find a matchmaker tomorrow. What about the tax issue? How did you two agree on it?"

Wang Erniu swept her up in his arms and said, "Come on, my wife, it's late. Let's go back to bed and I'll tell you everything slowly..." The two had a deep and friendly conversation about the tax issue in bed.

The next day, Ali, who had been slacking off for half a month, led his people to work. They had agreed with Magistrate Zhou that his people would work odd-numbered days and Ali's people would work even-numbered days. After all, if they couldn't collect the miscellaneous taxes, he would earn less, but if they couldn't collect the regular taxes, they would lose their heads.

These days, Zhou Bapi's private army has hit a lot of walls. The villagers and gentry of Lijia Town are unusually united, and small households are nowhere to be found. The thirty or so men from the wealthy families, divided into several groups, seem insufficient. They simply say they have no money and politely ask people to leave. It seems that a real fight wouldn't bring any good. In all this time, not a single miscellaneous tax has been collected, and business in the town has declined, with hardly any merchants left.

The key point is that Magistrate Zhou seemed to have been reprimanded by his superiors. It was said that a merchant in Yingtian Prefecture had filed a complaint against him, accusing him of skimming off the top of every passerby and preventing him from even buying goods in Dali Town. Only then did Zhou the Skinflint become honest and sit down to negotiate with Ah Li. They compromised, at least ensuring that ordinary people could do business and pay their proper taxes.

Magistrate Zhou was holding back, waiting for business to pick up before settling accounts later. Meanwhile, Ah Li had already spread the word that his men would be in charge of the two-day entry into the city. The constables on the city walls would pretend to collect taxes, but in reality, they would only collect normal fees and not collect any other miscellaneous taxes.

The news reached everyone in the village, and everyone came to the market again. Dali Town returned to its usual bustling state. Moreover, because they hadn't been able to go to the market to spend money for more than half a month, that day was incredibly busy, with people coming and going in an endless stream. Everyone was making the most of the time to buy and sell, and business was booming.

Magistrate Zhou watched enviously from the teahouse, thinking to himself, "So many people, how much money can they possibly pay? Tomorrow, when their people come to manage things, they'll definitely squeeze a hefty sum out of them." But the next day, when his private soldiers arrived at the city gate early to collect taxes, they found not a single merchant had come to shop.

When the matter was reported, Magistrate Zhou was so angry he nearly fainted. The next day, when Ah Li's men came to check the city gate, the crowd was once again overwhelming. Magistrate Zhou was furious. He realized that Ah Li was behind it all. In a fit of rage, he disregarded everything and, taking advantage of the large crowd, ordered his private soldiers to forcibly collect taxes.

"Hey, you, it's you, the man in white, come and pay the horse tax..." Zhou Changqing led three subordinates and rushed into the crowd at the signal of Magistrate Zhou, picking the one who looked the richest.

Song He is the manager of Xiangheji Restaurant in Dongjing City. Today, he came specifically to order chili sauce from Madam Chen. Before the New Year, his subordinates bought a batch of 500 catties of chili sauce and sent it to Dongjing City. In less than a month, it was sold out. Even though they were selling the chili sauce as if it were gold, the demand still couldn't meet the supply.

In this rural area, something that sells for a dozen or so coins a jar could easily fetch several taels of silver a jar for him—it's practically free money! That's why he made a special trip to buy all the remaining chili sauce from Chen's shop, so that no one would steal his business. People in Tokyo City had already started selling chili sauce, and he had to act first.

As the shouts grew louder, Song He looked around, wondering who they were calling for.

Zhou Changqing finally squeezed into the crowd, rushed over, approached Song He, and tried to grab his collar.

Song He's men finally reacted and quickly separated Zhou Changqing and the others who were rushing over.

"What are you doing?" "Get away!"

Song He also realized that they were calling for him. Looking at the men in front of him, all dressed in black, he realized they were private soldiers. Regular policemen were dressed in red.

"What brings you gentlemen here?" Song He tried to be polite first, but these men didn't look like good people.