Divorced woman with child travels through time

“This decree is good. It would be great if we could just stop paying this tax. I didn’t see any forced collection at the market. But it seems like the head of the Street Office over there has changed, right, my wife?” Liu Laoqi asked his wife.

Granny Liu nodded. "They've changed. The old one was so fierce, always looking menacing. This time it's a young man, always smiling, a nice guy. The day before yesterday he even helped Granny Wang next door move her table."

"Do you think there's any hope in living like this?" Liu Guangji asked again.

"Is that even a question? Of course there is." Madam Liu poured a bowl of soup for her husband and said, "You don't know how many people are praising General Wang now. They all say that as soon as he came, all the officials became honest. Before he came, although Lord Ouyang was good, many things were not implemented. But it's different now that he's here. Look at those evil spirits, he took care of them as soon as he said he would. It's so gratifying."

"Yes, Lord Ouyang is such a good official, and General Wang is good too. With them around, our Quanzhou city is getting better and better." Granny Liu smiled so much that her eyes could hardly open. "We never had such good days before. If we go to Chen's shop, we can buy coarse noodles for only ten coins a pound. It's all thanks to General Wang. Our son is on duty in the army, so he gets a 20% discount."

Liu Guangji inexplicably straightened his chest with a sense of pride.

“Speaking of which, my wife, this is my monthly allowance, one tael and three fen, and this three hundred wen is my reward for passing the archery and horsemanship test.” Liu Guangji took out the silver and gave it to Liu’s wife.

Madam Liu reached out and took it, went into the room, and came out again after a while. She took out a bag of loose silver and put it on the table, gently pushing it to Granny Liu, saying, "Mother, this is what we've saved up. There are more than ten taels of silver in total. Please take it and rebuild our east kitchen. Make it bright and spacious, and it will be more convenient for us to cook in the future."

Granny Liu's eyes were full of smiles. She opened the bag, took out a few coins, weighed them in her hand, and pushed the bag of silver back. "Five taels is enough. We old folks still have some money. Besides, it's not like we're building a huge house. This amount of money is enough for just one east kitchen. Have your father oversee the construction. The house will be finished in a few days. Thank you for your hard work, going to work every day."

Madam Liu smiled and readily put away the silver pouch. "Alright, I'll listen to you, Mother."

Looking at the loving and filial family, Liu Guangji felt increasingly hopeful for the future.

At the Pacification Commissioner's residence, Wang Erniu was discussing with Zhang Jing, Liu Ce, and others the information reported by Magistrate Gao.

"General, I checked the restaurant that Magistrate Gao mentioned Huang Zhong went to. It does have a secret room, but the owner has changed, and there's no evidence or trace inside." Chu Yi took a sip of tea to moisten his throat; he'd been very busy lately.

"I see..." Wang Erniu pondered.

“But at least it proves that what Governor Gao said is true. This restaurant is related to Huang Zhong, and the Huang family is related to the He family through marriage. The Huang family sells official positions and has always had unclear dealings with the Japanese. It’s probably impossible to say that there are no problems,” Liu Ce said.

“That’s certainly possible,” Zhang Jing said, stroking his chin.

"It's been very quiet over there lately. I wonder why? Could something have happened?" Wang Erniu raised an eyebrow. He suddenly mobilized so many soldiers. Normally, even if Prince Gong intended to groom Wang Erniu, this man surnamed He might not be willing to let Wang Erniu have such a smooth life. This is very suspicious.

"Is something wrong at home? His father died!" Chu Yi speculated maliciously with schadenfreude.

“He’s long since lost his father, so don’t say that. If he doesn’t provoke me, I don’t want to fight him. We can just do our own thing. Now that the government and the people are united, the economy is improving, and the population is growing. It’s a good thing!” Wang Erniu tapped the table. “Ouyang also said that many people below have reported that life is better. So our hard work hasn’t been in vain. Everyone still needs to work hard in investigating corruption and powerful figures. We take from the people and use it for the people. If we can win the hearts of the people, we will surely be remembered in history.”

"Your vision is truly remarkable, sir." Zhang Jing bowed. "However, in the long run, I'm afraid we can't afford to support 50,000 soldiers. We'll still need to allocate funds from the national treasury."

"That might be a bit difficult!" Liu Ce mocked. "As everyone here knows, our current court is rotten to the core. I heard that a certain nobleman spent a fortune just to buy a mirror! I wonder what kind of mirror could sell for such a price. Could it be a demon-revealing mirror?"

Wang Erniu and Chu Yi exchanged a glance, their eyes meeting in a knowing smile. The Jiang family was truly formidable; Chen Wenfang had only handed over ten mirrors, but the Jiang family had only sold one.

“Whether it’s difficult or not, we still need money. Even a little bit is still money. We’ll take what we can get, and we can learn from the rest later!” Zhang Jing was quite pragmatic, stroking his beard as he spoke.

Wang Erniu waved his hand, "Let's not talk about those things for now. We're not short of money right now. Let's not talk about that. Have the Japanese made any moves lately? They've recruited so many soldiers. They need to go out and train them. Keeping them at home isn't a good idea."

"Japan recently lost its emperor, and its sons are fighting amongst themselves. They don't have time to come here and cause trouble," Chu Yi said coolly, blowing on a tea leaf.

"Where did you get this information, Lord Chen? You know about such a cryptic matter. You're truly impressive." Liu Ce clasped his hands in a fist salute, a rare smile appearing in his narrow eyes.

"It was given to me by the Jiang family. When their merchant ships went to sea, I discussed it with their patriarch and developed a few undercover agents to go with them." Chu Yi spoke frankly and openly about what he had done.

Liu Ce nodded, "That's how it should be." With soldiers outside and spies inside, they can live in peace.

"Well, let's start with the surrounding area, checking each county one by one, and organizing the suppression of bandits!" Wang Erniu rubbed his nose, as if he was suppressing bandits wherever he went. You can't blame him; the people need peace.

"Yes!" Zhang Jing and Liu Ce took their leave after receiving the order.

Wang Erniu was very satisfied. Zhang Jing had Liu Ce, one in charge of internal affairs and the other in charge of external affairs. For private matters, there was also Chu Yi. He could be considered to have some helpers.

I went back to rest on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Wang Erniu returned to the room. "Wife, what are you doing?"

Chen Wenfang's face was covered in a mess of something, which was inexplicably frightening.

"Oh, my face has been feeling a bit dry lately! The cosmetics you sell here aren't very good either!"

"What are cosmetics? I've never even heard of them." Wang Erniu hugged her from behind, peeked at her, and found her rather cute.

"It's just face cream and stuff like that. I'll make some myself later!" Chen Wenfang scraped her face with a small scraper, then put the scraped-off paste in a bowl, saying seriously. "I can cook this and feed it to the chickens, so it won't go to waste."

"Hehe, my wife is so kind. By the way, I have some good news for you. Your mirror should have been sold. You should receive the money from the Jiang family in a couple of days."

"Huh? How much does it cost? So fast, it's only been a few days!" Chen Wenfang stopped in surprise after shaving half of her face.

"