A peasant girl travels through time with a hospital, rising to become an empress.

In the county jail of Fulin County, the two Wang brothers were a far cry from their former appearance; their hair was filthy and disheveled, and their eyes were filled with despair.

Wang Anji sat quietly in a corner of the cell with vacant eyes. When he saw the figure appear outside the cell, he suddenly stood up and rushed forward, crying, "Third Uncle, you've finally come! Please save me! I really don't want to go to jail!"

Uncle Wang stood outside the jail, his face ashen, pointing at the two men, "You two are truly audacious! How dare you repeatedly hire thugs to injure people?"

Uncle Wang returned to Fulin County ahead of time and immediately reviewed the case files of the two men. Zhang Biao confessed that this was the fourth time the two men had hired him to harm the vendors in the West Market.

Wang Anji cried, reaching through the prison bars to grab his third uncle's sleeve. "Third Uncle, we really know we were wrong, we'll never do it again! You can't abandon us, please help us, please help us!"

Uncle Wang remained unmoved by the two brothers' pleas and, with a flick of his sleeve, declared, "What can I do to help now that things have come to this?"

Wang Anji panicked and said somewhat incoherently, "Third Uncle, Liu Yan and Liu Xiong are just country folk, powerless and without much wealth. We can pay them money, yes, pay them money to settle the matter. Give them whatever they want. Third Uncle, you can threaten them again. You are an official, and they are commoners, just small fry. If they take the money to settle the matter, they can go to the yamen to withdraw the lawsuit. The aggrieved party will be gone, and the case will not stand."

Upon hearing Wang Anji's words, Uncle Wang flew into a rage, "You idiot! You deserve to be locked up in jail! You didn't even bother to investigate properly before you did anything! If the Liu family were really just ordinary country folk as you say, how could they have such powerful protectors, causing Zhang Biao to surrender himself? How could the county magistrate take it so seriously!"

Having worked in the yamen for many years, he had a few close colleagues. As soon as he returned, someone secretly tipped him off. The daughter of Liu Yan, one of the people involved in the case, was the young woman who would come to the county yamen every few days to deliver food to the magistrate through Afu. The magistrate personally comforted Liu Yan in court, telling her to focus on her business.

"The magistrate favors this family. Liu Yan's daughter once helped the magistrate. The reason they were able to get the documents processed so quickly and open this Liu Family Restaurant in a prime location at the West Market is because of the magistrate's patronage. You're all blind to have provoked such a family!"

Wang Anjie was filled with shock and disbelief.

A master protector?

Mr. County Magistrate?

His head was about to explode; he couldn't understand how a family like the Liu's could be associated with a martial arts master and a county magistrate.

Wang Anjie: "Impossible, impossible!"

The eldest brother, Wang Anji, originally wanted to wait for his third uncle to return to the county and ask him questions before taking action. It was his eagerness to deal with the people and regain the business that led to the downfall of the two brothers!

Wang Anjie could barely stand. She collapsed to her knees, covered her face with her hands, and wailed, filled with deep regret.

Wang Anji seemed to have been ripped from his soul, muttering to himself, "We shouldn't have provoked them, we shouldn't have provoked them..."

He was always cautious in his actions, but this time, the Liu family restaurant was doing so well that he lost his composure and acted rashly under An Jie's encouragement.

Uncle Wang had feelings for his two nephews. Their small restaurant was profitable, and they had given him a lot of money over the years. He had also taken good care of them in the past. But now that this had happened, he had to sever ties with them.

The two brothers were arrested and taken to the county government for investigation. His relationship with the two brothers could not be kept secret. Now the government was full of gossip about it, saying that the two brothers were bullying others by taking advantage of his power, and they suspected that he was involved.

That's really unfair to him. He would never get involved in such dirty business; that would be ruining his future.

He was genuinely unaware of the situation, but even if he was unaware, if his nephews or nieces committed acts that violated the law, he would still be implicated and would never be able to get promoted in his lifetime.

Uncle Wang, filled with resentment, sighed, "You've really ruined me!"

The two brothers had no time to think about their third uncle being implicated, and the third uncle of the Wang family could not sympathize with their plight. Inside and outside the prison, an iron fence separated the family and also alienated them from each other.

After watching the two leave, Wang Anji watched his uncle's departing figure, lost his last glimmer of hope, and finally couldn't hold back his tears.

-

After the case was investigated and the man in black surrendered, the two Wang brothers were arrested and imprisoned. Liu Xiong quickly recovered his spirits, and Liu Yan felt at ease because of the magistrate's words. The two of them then resumed their business.

In the West Market, at Liu's Restaurant, besides Liu Yan and her siblings, and Da Ma and Xiao Ma, Nie Qianqian was also present.

After noon, the peak lunch hour has passed, and the small restaurant is not as packed as it was at lunchtime, with a few empty seats.

Taking advantage of a quieter time when there were fewer customers, Liu Yan prepared to have lunch. She had barely sat down when she suddenly stood up again, her mouth slightly agape as she looked towards the entrance of the small restaurant.

"Tang University..."

Before Liu Yan could finish speaking, Tang Jincheng waved his hand slightly, indicating that she should not call him Lord Tang.

Liu Yan slapped her forehead. She was really slow to react. Lord Tang wasn't wearing his official robes, but his everyday clothes. He definitely didn't want others to know that he was the county magistrate.

Liu Yan was unsure how to address him, so Nie Qianqian stepped forward to greet him, "Master Tang has arrived, please have a seat."

Liu Yan led Lord Tang to a corner of the restaurant and poured him some tea.

Liu Yan was visibly nervous. The two times she had met the county magistrate before were both in the courtroom. She had been looking at Magistrate Tang from below the hall. Now that such a great figure, whom she had been looking at from afar, had suddenly appeared beside her, she felt quite uncomfortable and had an urge to kneel down.

Tang Jincheng smiled and said, "Please sit down. I came here today for no other reason than to have a bowl of hot sauerkraut and pork soup."

Liu Yan didn't sit down. She was very respectful, bowing slightly, and quickly replied, "I'll go serve you right away."

Liu Yan ladled out a bowl of sauerkraut and pork soup from the pot, filled it to the brim, and then picked out the large, tender pork slices from the pot and spread them all over the bowl before placing it in front of Lord Tang.

Tang Jincheng stared at the sauerkraut and pork soup covered with slices of meat, paused for a moment, and then glanced at Liu Yan.

Liu Yan's heart was pounding, and she lowered her eyes, completely unaware that Tang Jincheng was looking at her.

Tang Jincheng recalled the first time he saw Liu Yan. She was very thin and dark-skinned, with a worried look on her face. Just now, he watched her from afar as she busied herself at the stove, like a bee diligently collecting nectar from a flower, occasionally revealing a smile. She was completely different from when he first met her.

Tang Jincheng naturally noticed the changes in his appearance, but he valued the changes in his inner self even more.

As the local official of Qinghe County, he felt a sense of satisfaction when he witnessed a woman regain a new life and vitality after his divorce case was resolved.

Tang Jincheng said gently, "I just noticed you were also going to eat, why don't you sit down and join me?"

Liu Yan raised her eyes, her eyes filled with nervousness. How could she dare to dine at the same table as the county magistrate?

She quickly waved her hand, "Mr. Tang, how can I dine at the same table as you?"

Nie Qianqian smiled and pulled Liu Yan to sit down together. "I haven't eaten either. Since Master Tang said so, let's eat together."

If this were in the workplace, how could you refuse if your boss asked you to have dinner with them?

In the workplace, there are often two types of people: those who greet their superiors warmly and communicate actively, and those who avoid their superiors from afar, fearing they might run into them.

Clearly, Nie Qianqian belongs to the first category, while Liu Yan belongs to the second.