Divorced woman with child travels through time

"Big Brother!" Wang Erniu's eyes reddened as he looked at the group of people in front of him. Brother Nie had brought his whole family, Lulu was holding her little sister Shuang'er's hand, and Sister-in-law Nie was tilting her head and looking around at something.

"Second Brother!" Brother Nie was also a little excited, looking him over carefully. "I heard you won a great victory in the Battle of Huian. You've really made us proud! Haha!"

"Not at all. The Japanese are just all show and no substance, they only bully the common people. They're useless in a real fight. They don't even have any weapons to attack a city," Wang Erniu said with a modest smile.

"You!" Brother Nie affectionately punched his shoulder. Sister-in-law Nie craned her neck, about to ask.

"Where's your sister-in-law? I haven't seen her." Brother Nie looked behind him.

"Here I am! Greetings, Brother Nie and Sister-in-law!" Chen Wenfang rushed over in a flash, her hair casually tied up.

"Hey, good!" Brother Nie's face was full of smiles.

"Fang'er! I miss you so much!" Sister-in-law Nie affectionately took her hand. "Oh, your hair isn't done yet. I'll fix it for you later."

"Great! I've been eager to see you all." Chen Wenfang smiled and placed her hand in her arm.

Wang Erniu really enjoyed seeing her so lively.

A group of people entered the camp in a lively atmosphere.

When Chen Xuanyu saw Lulu, he sweetly went over and handed her a whole bunch of toys, saying, "Sister, look at my horse, it can run by itself..."

Wang Erniu pulled Brother Nie along, while Chen Wenfang stayed with Sister-in-law Nie, and the children played together happily.

Even after dinner that evening, Wang Erniu hesitated for a long time before nervously rubbing his hands and finally speaking to Brother Nie.

“Brother, I am short of men right now. Going north to fight against the Liao is extremely dangerous. I don’t trust anyone to help me. You have a family to support, so I shouldn’t ask you to come with me to the capital, but I’m thinking of asking anyway. Would you be willing to come with me to the capital?”

Looking at the children laughing and playing, Brother Nie pretended to be hesitant and said, "You're only speaking now? I've been waiting for you for so long."

"Don't worry, of course I'll say yes!" Brother Nie patted his shoulder. "You only have me as your brother, if I don't say yes, who will protect you?"

"Big Brother~" Wang Erniu turned his head away with red eyes, secretly wiping away his tears. Now Brother Nie is really living a good life. The trade route is open. Goods from the north have to pass through his side to go south. All the goods from Jiangnan are circulated here. Every year, he gives Chen Wenfang thirty or forty thousand taels of silver. He has told him many times that he doesn't need to pay, but he still asks someone to send it to him.

Chen Wenfang often laughed at him, saying that Brother Nie was like his father, always worried that he wasn't doing well outside.

Thinking of this, Wang Erniu felt a little ashamed. He felt that he hadn't given them anything, yet he had such good brothers.

Brother Nie pretended not to see, but simply reached out his hand, which Wang Erniu grasped tightly. The two brothers clasped hands, drank wine, and reminisced about the past, as if they had returned to the time when they had risked their lives together on the battlefield.

That evening, Brother Nie pulled his wife aside and had a heart-to-heart talk.

Sister-in-law Nie readily agreed, "If you're going, I'm going too. It'll be more interesting to live with Sister Chen."

"If you go too, what will happen to the children?" Brother Nie was a bit of a headache. Going to the battlefield, fighting and killing, she was a woman, and she had to take the children with her.

"What are you saying? What's wrong with women? I'm in the back, and your sister-in-law is here too. I just wanted to be closer to you." Sister-in-law Nie rarely spoke so softly, and as soon as she said this, Brother Nie's heart softened, and he hugged her.

“It was my fault. Then let’s go to the capital together.”

"Well, but what about your brothers? You're just leaving like this?" Sister-in-law Nie lay in his arms, holding the small mirror in her hand, looking at it with great affection. "How come Fang'er is so amazing? Where did she get such a thing?"

"I'll talk to them later." Having made up his mind to leave, Brother Nie naturally wanted to make things clear. He looked down and saw the silver-plated and jade-inlaid mirror, and couldn't help but say, "Be careful, don't drop it. Fang'er is really generous. This is a moonlight mirror that is worth a thousand pieces of gold, and she just gave it to you so casually."

"Huh?? So valuable??" Sister-in-law Nie's eyes widened, and she immediately sat up, her hands trembling so much she almost dropped it. "She even gave one to Lu'er. I'll have her return it later."

"No need, they meant well, just be careful."

"That won't do!" Sister-in-law Nie carefully put it away. She wanted to return it, but as expected, Chen Wenfang refused.

The next day, the army marched north as usual. Brother Nie set off first, wanting to talk to his brothers. Yes, he had that ability; he could make friends with a group of people in one place.

Wang Erniu was completely unaware that three days later, when he arrived in Panyang, Jiangxi, he was informed that Brother Nie had brought more than two hundred exceptionally strong and burly men to seek refuge with him.

Wang Erniu was both amused and exasperated, but he accepted the offer with a smile. He trusted Brother Nie, and after talking to him in detail, he learned that this group of people were originally镖师 (bodyguards/escorts) who made escorts for the imperial corps. The leader, Zhang Biao, was a retired soldier who had been falsely accused of merit in the army. In a fit of anger, he led his men to leave the army, took the money, and opened a镖局 (escort agency). However, the Song Dynasty was a corrupt place, and people were constantly extorting money from the government. They traveled from Hunan to Jiangxi, and after each escort trip, they not only failed to make money but also owed the government several taels of silver. In a fit of anger, they became outlaws and started robbing and plundering. However, they were very loyal and only robbed the government's caravans, which led to many attempts to capture them.

With Wang Erniu's army by his side, Brother Nie was not robbed. Zhang Biao was not discouraged and inquired around before learning about Wang Erniu's reputation. Alas, he actually had a good official. How rare!

He had many friends all over the country. When he heard that Wang Erniu had been transferred to Quanzhou, he wrote a letter to inquire about it. When he learned that the man was indeed there, he felt that his opportunity had come. He took the initiative to apologize to Brother Nie and befriend him.

Brother Nie loved making friends, and after investigating them further, he took them all into his escort agency, which was a way out for them.

When he mentioned the plan to march north to fight against the Liao, Zhang Biao immediately and firmly stated that he also wanted to join. He said that a true man's ambition lies in the frontier and he had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time.

Brother Nie couldn't persuade them, and this group of people were indeed quite good—capable of fighting, worldly-wise, and with upright intentions—so he came to show them to Wang Erniu.

Wang Erniu trusted Brother Nie's judgment, and with Chu Yi being the shrewd and knowledgeable one, he took them all under his command as his personal guards. Once they arrived in the capital, if they were interested in leading troops, they could win the military martial arts tournament. Becoming an official wasn't so easy. Wang Erniu then discovered that apart from the brothers Zhang Biao and Zhang Hu, who were the leaders, the others were illiterate. This group of big shots was quite rough.

After accepting the man and getting to know him after a few days with the group, Brother Nie realized his misfortune. He, who was only good at writing letters, was now forced to become a teacher and start teaching people to read every day.