Divorced woman with child travels through time

None of the female workers spoke, and no one stood up.

After waiting for half an incense stick's time, Lou Guo sat down, picked up a pile of contracts next to him, flipped through them, and leisurely pulled one out.

"Jiang Meiyi! Come out!"

A pretty girl, about eighteen or nineteen years old, with a small face the size of a palm, slender eyes, and hands that could be placed on her hips, stood out tremblingly. Even among the crowd of women dressed in blue work clothes, she stood out.

Chen Wenfang took a closer look and recognized the female worker. She had asked her questions a few times before, so she had a deep impression of her, but there was no conflict between them.

"Aren't you going to tell the truth?" Lou Guo leaned down and threatened.

The girl straightened her back, tilted her head, and stubbornly stuck out her neck, saying, "Manager Lou, I don't know what you're talking about! I didn't do anything."

"Yesterday, the day before yesterday, and the day before that, for three consecutive days, you sneaked off to see Granny Yu every morning when she came to collect the swill. Moreover, someone saw you go to her house the night before last. How do you explain this?" Lou Tai pressed.

"I! I! I just need to talk to her about something," Jiang Meiyi explained hastily and flusteredly.

"what's up?"

“I want her to help me find a partner. I’m getting old and can’t find a good match,” Jiang Meiyi said, trying to appear calm.

"I've already confessed. They caught me red-handed, so don't try to explain anymore," Granny Yu said, kneeling on the ground, her voice pale as she pleaded.

Jiang Meiyi turned pale instantly and collapsed to the ground.

The female workers nearby were all quietly cursing her, and Jiang Meiyun's face was extremely ugly.

Several people entered from outside the door, and Lou Min led the officials forward to drag two people away.

"Why should I!" Jiang Meiyi glared at Chen Wenfang, who was also looking at her in confusion. She didn't understand what she had done to make this woman hate her so much.

“Tell me, why do we work ourselves to the bone every day while she sleeps until noon? We only earn one or two taels of silver a month, while she sits around doing nothing and earns several thousand taels of silver a month!”

Two officers dragged her away, and Jiang Meiyi struggled, shouting hysterically, "You've all been deceived by her! She's just a greedy and despicable woman! You still treat her like a great philanthropist every day! Hypocritical!"

"Shut up!" *Slap!* Caiyun walked over and slapped her across the face. "Who do you think you are? How dare you speak to our Madam like that!"

"Wait a minute!" Chen Wenfang called out, stopping the two officers who were dragging her away.

Chen Wenfang squatted down to look Jiang Meiyi on the ground at eye level. "I consider myself a good person and I have lived up to your expectations. From the time I started selling herbs on my own to now, I have received help from countless people, and I have tried my best to repay them."

Chen Wenfang stood up, looked around, met everyone's gaze, and said loudly, "I've always believed in meritocracy, and the same applies to you. Those who do well will be paid more, and we'll have bonuses at the end of the year when we have profits. Those with strong abilities will also be promoted to team leaders. I'll take all of that into consideration. If there's anything I haven't thought of, you can tell me. If you don't want to work, you can leave. But you must know that you absolutely shouldn't risk my life for this. I will fight back, and I'm not so easily bullied!"

It was rare for Chen Wenfang to show a smile; she was usually all smiles. As soon as she said this, the room fell silent.

Lou Guo pointed at her with a pained expression and said, “You’re being ridiculous. You live in town yourself. You know how much those dockworkers earn on a regular basis. Not to mention the workshops that pay one tael of silver a month, including meals, the clothes you’re wearing are all free. How much silver can that be worth? Besides, there will be winter clothes and shoes next quarter.”

"Besides, a servant harming his master is considered discord, one of the ten evils. Look at yourself! You really don't know what's good for you. Madam Chen's money was earned through hard work, so why are you eyeing it?" Lou Guo explained the law to her.

"Because I'm prettier than her! How can a widow like her marry so well, and I can't? It's all because she's good at seducing people. She's shameless!" Jiang Meiyi was completely incoherent, driven to madness by her own jealousy.

"This is insane!"

How could you say such a thing!

The way the female workers around her looked at her changed.

"Gag her!" Aunt Hu couldn't hold back any longer and slapped her twice across the face, grabbed her hands, and two constables stepped forward, stuffed a cloth into her mouth, and took her and Granny Yu away.

Ah Yue watched the whole thing unfold, her eyes filled with pity as she looked at Chen Wenfang. See? No matter how good you are to someone, there will always be someone who is never satisfied.

"It's alright, everyone get back to work!" Lou Guo looked back at Chen Wenfang, then led the female workers back to their tasks.

Only after everyone had left did Chen Wenfang finally drop her pretense.

"Madam, are you alright?" Caiyun asked worriedly as she watched Chen Wenfang slump into the chair.

"It's okay, you go ahead and do your work! I didn't sleep well last night! I'm going to go back to sleep!" Chen Wenfang picked up the homemade cushion from the stool and slowly went back to her room.

"Okay!" Caiyun watched her leave before going about her business.

Ah Yue chuckled to herself, wondering why she was worrying so much.

A few days later, inside the county government office, Huang Zhong, accompanied by several men, brought a thin man in his forties to see Wang Erniu.

"Commander Wang, I've brought the man over. He's the real culprit!" Huang Zhong smiled ingratiatingly at Wang Erniu, trying his best to say nice things.

"Actually, we were supposed to capture him alive, but this thing was too ruthless and accidentally killed the child. So, Commander Wang, hand him over to me."

"The person is naturally yours," Wang Erniu said with a faint smile as he walked away. "But are you sure you don't want the others? You only want this one?"

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Lou looked at Wang Erniu curiously. What? Did he want to sell him for a better price?

As they spoke, they arrived at the prison, where a foul odor, a mixture of feces, urine, mold, and other unpleasant smells, assaulted their senses.

"Hehe, well, if Commander Wang is willing to give me the person, I'd be happy to." This implies that if money is required to redeem him, then he's out of the running.

“Look, the person is over there!” Wang Erniu gestured with his chin.

Huang Zhong then went over to take a look. Inside the dark cell, there was a grayish-brown thing that he couldn't see clearly.

"Song Er? Song Er? I've come to take you out!" Huang Zhong covered his nose and waved his hand dismissively to remove the smell.

"You old codger, you've finally arrived! Hurry up and take me out." The grayish thing moved and slowly crawled over, revealing a fairly clean face.

"You've seen the person, now pay me," Wang Erniu said indifferently.

"Wang Tuanlian, keep this safe!" Huang Zhong reluctantly pulled out a stack of silver notes from his sleeve and handed them to Wang Erniu. Wang Erniu didn't even count them. He told the jailer to open the door, and several of Huang's thugs stepped forward and carried Song Er out.

On the other side of the cell, the remaining thugs, seeing that the jailer showed no intention of opening their door, hurriedly shouted, "Lord Huang, we want to get out too!"

"Lord Huang, please take us out of here."

"Boss, take me with you."