Xi'er's unfocused eyes hadn't yet regained their senses. She subconsciously took the swaddling - baby and hugged it in her arms, rubbing her face against it again and again. "Qiangzi is the most obedient. Whenever I have time to come back, he would hug me and call me mother, telling me not to leave him..."
She buried her head and cried bitterly. Then she suddenly raised her head, with a clear look on her face. Her big eyes glared angrily at the man. "It's all his fault! He killed my son! It's him!"
The man was so startled by her outburst that he took a step back. Then he quickly regained his composure and cursed, "You crazy woman, talking nonsense! How could I harm my own son? He was being naughty and fell into the pond while playing by the edge. I almost lost my life trying to save him. I was sick for a long time before I got better!"
Xi'er didn't know where she got the strength. She threw away the swaddling - baby, picked up a dry branch and started hitting the man. "Give me back Qiangzi, give back my Qiangzi! He was only two years old! He wasn't even two yet..."
The man was caught off - guard and could only dodge backward while cursing, "You crazy bitch. You really are crazy! How dare you hit me! I'll..."
"Xi'er!" Shen Yuning raised her voice and called out. "Xi'er, do you want to come with me?"
Xi'er stopped and looked back at her. There was a glimmer of hope on her face. "Come with you? Are you taking me to find my Qiangzi?"
Shen Yuning shook her head. "I'm taking you to a place where no one will beat you or bully Qiangzi."
Xi'er looked confused again. She tilted her head and looked at Shen Yuning. "You won't beat me or Qiangzi, right?"
Shen Yuning took a step towards her and gently reached out her hand. "Xi'er, come with me."
Xi'er's face showed longing, but she didn't come over. Instead, she started to untie her tattered clothes. "As long as you're good to Qiangzi, it's okay. I know what you want. I'll take them off now."
Shen Fugui was shocked and quickly turned around, not daring to look.
Shen Yuning stepped forward to hold her hand, gently stroked her face, and whispered, "Xi'er, remember that the things you want should be earned with your hands, not your body."
Xi'er looked even more confused. She stared at her hands for a long time, then looked up again in puzzlement. "But they said that as long as I take off my clothes, Qiangzi will have a good life."
At this moment, how could Shen Fugui and Xuan Zhi not understand what she meant? It was so pitiful that a crazy woman had been deceived by those despicable men.
Shen Yuning smiled slightly. "Xi'er, they are trash. How can you listen to trash?"
Shen Fugui had already taken off his outer garment and handed it to Shen Yuning. Shen Yuning carefully put the outer garment on Xi'er and held her hand.
Xi'er's clothes were originally thin and already in tatters, barely covering her body. Now with the new clothes on, she felt extremely warm. She immediately smiled at Shen Yuning flatteringly, then turned back to pick up the swaddling - baby and put it inside her clothes.
"Qiangzi is good. We'll have a better life from now on."
However, the man and woman beside them saw that Shen Yuning and the others were about to take Xi'er away, and they quickly stepped forward to stop them.
"You haven't paid yet!"
Shen Yuning supported Xi'er and asked softly, "Xi'er, was Qiangzi killed by your husband?"
Xi'er immediately widened her eyes, shook her head and screamed, "No, he's not my husband. He killed Qiangzi, and he divorced me... Wuwuwu, they don't want me, and my brother doesn't want me either. I have nowhere to go... nowhere to go..."
Shen Yuning took a deep breath. When she looked at the man again, her eyes were full of sharpness. "Since you've divorced her, you're no longer her husband. Her going or staying has nothing to do with you."
The charming woman quickly said, "What do you mean it has nothing to do with him? Once she was his wife, she'll always be his person. How can you say..."
Shen Yuning burst out laughing. "Do you even have the right to talk about keeping chastity for a man?"
The woman blushed with anger. She was so furious that she didn't know what to say.
Shen Yuning frowned and snorted at the woman. "According to the laws of the Great Zhou, a husband cannot sell his wife. It doesn't matter if you don't know the law. I'm sure you've heard of the name of the new county magistrate in Yun County. Since he is in charge of the whole county, how could he allow such illegal things to happen in his territory?"
The woman stammered, "You... don't scare us with others... The county magistrate has so many things to do. How could he care about us..."
Shen Yuning sized up the woman from head to toe, then smiled again. "You're right. But there's another rule in the laws of the Great Zhou. A prostitute who wants to turn over a new leaf needs to be accepted by her husband's family. It's true that you're a woman who has turned over a new leaf, but you didn't come from the official brothel, right?"
The woman's face changed greatly. The official brothel was very strict in recruitment, and ordinary girls couldn't get in. She used to work in a black brothel. This kind of black brothel couldn't be put on the right track, but for ordinary people, who could go to the official brothel or the green - house? They all went to various private brothels.
The man beside her was already impatient. "Look at you, a young girl. Aren't you ashamed to say such things? Don't your family teach you that women shouldn't say such things?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a tree beside them fell down with a thud. It was Xuan Zhi who had sent out a palm wind.
The man was so scared that he stammered. He tried to hold on bravely, but didn't dare to say another word.
Shen Yuning said seriously, "You guys are really strange. It's you who are doing these dirty things, not me. How can you do it, but I can't talk about it? Now the county magistrate has issued an order to clean up all the brothels and green - houses in Yun County. It's hard to say whether you're on the list of those to be cleaned up or not."
The woman's eyes were wandering. She didn't care about Xi'er anymore. She quickly pulled her husband and ran away.
After Shen Yuning and Xi'er got on the ox - cart, Shen Fugui stammered. Probably he was saying that Shen Yuning shouldn't have spoken out those dirty things in public. He also said that she was a young girl, and if her reputation was damaged, it would be difficult for her to get married in the future.
Maybe because Shen Yuning had encountered several such things in a row, she felt extremely disheartened. How could she think about getting married or not? She sighed at the moment. "In the past, I just thought that men and women had their own duties. Although I knew that there were many people who favored sons over daughters among ordinary people, only now that I'm deeply involved do I realize that the inequality between men and women is much more serious than I used to know. Especially the people in the countryside don't even know the laws and regulations. They don't even know when they're breaking the law."
Shen Fugui was honest and couldn't think of any words of comfort. After a long time, he finally managed to say, "That's just the way the world is, and not everyone is such a bad person."
"Without rules, nothing can be accomplished. The laws are used to restrain bad people. If everyone just acts according to their own perception and their own moral standards, without any rules, people's hearts will be scattered. Now the Great Zhou is in a troubled time, with internal and external troubles and natural disasters..."
Shen Fugui was stunned. He carefully glanced at his sister and thought that maybe his sister still thought of herself as a noble lady from a high - ranking family. How could they worry about these state - related matters?
It was Xuan Zhi beside him who raised his head and asked, "Sister, the thing you said about cleaning up the brothels and green - houses in Yun County, wasn't it just a lie to scare that disgusting couple?"
Shen Yuning shook her head. "No. In the past, when I was in the Xue family, in front of my grandfather, I heard my grandfather and my cousin talking about the files in the Supreme Court. They said that there were secret prostitutes in the files of many places. Although some of them were forced to do it because of their difficult lives, more and more of them had formed a commercial chain. So the incidents of abducting women and children happened frequently. At that time, my cousin said that if the underground brothels could be banned, the number of abduction incidents would be greatly reduced.
When I returned to Shenjiapo, I found that in fact, most families didn't understand the law. There was no need to secretly abduct people for buying and selling. Now in Yun County, because the whole county has become rich, there's no need to sell sons and daughters. So I guess that the abduction incidents by the thieves will increase. The next step of the county magistrate must be to control this kind of situation."
Xuan Zhi frowned and thought deeply. He slowly let out a long breath. "It's so hateful that we're weak and have no power. The people in high positions only form cliques for personal gain, and there are fewer and fewer officials who do things for the people."
Shen Yuning smiled. Since she was sitting in the cart and Xuan Zhi was walking on the side, although they were originally about the same height, Xuan Zhi seemed a little shorter. Shen Yuning reached out and patted Xuan Zhi's head.
"I don't agree with this. There are good and bad people among ordinary people, and the same is true for officials. Our emperor is wise. He rules the country with benevolence and has a broad mind. He recruits talented people regardless of their background. Look at the history books. How many tyrannical monarchs there were, who favored sycophants and kept loyal advisors away, making the country in a mess and the people suffering. You and I have only managed a small embroidery workshop, and we can already find that it's not easy in Qiankunpo. How much more difficult is it to govern a country? Those who choose people shouldn't focus on their weaknesses. Otherwise, it's short - sighted of the people in high positions."
Xuan Zhi was in a daze for a long time before he came back to his senses. He stood at attention and bowed to Shen Yuning. "Sister's words have benefited me a lot."
Shen Fugui beside them was a little helpless. "Yuning, Xuan Zhi, I know that you used to come from a noble family, but now we're just ordinary people. Those things are for the high - ranking officials to consider."
"You're wrong, brother."
This was what Shen Yuning and Xuan Zhi said in unison. Then they looked at each other and smiled.
Xuan Zhi said, "Since we're the people of the Great Zhou, we should have the aspiration to make our country stronger. Those with abilities should do more. We're not those with great abilities, and we can't do much. We just hope to be upright and strive to move forward."
Shen Fugui asked, "How can we move forward?"
Shen Yuning answered, "The thing we can do now is, of course, to open my embroidery workshop. The embroidery workshop will recruit female workers, which can also be a small help to those women. Moreover, in the past, I didn't think that money was a good thing. Now I know the truth that even a hero can be stumped by a single coin."
So in the golden autumn season, on the opening day of Shen's Embroidery Workshop, when the skills of the three new embroiderers were displayed, it really amazed people. Even the shopkeeper of Yong's Cloth Store sighed again and again. He pulled Shen Yuning and asked her where she got the ability to find such skillful embroiderers in just a few months.
Shen Yuning didn't hide anything. She just said that Yong's had set the bar too high. They always waited for someone to make a stunning appearance before looking for them. And when they found someone, they were too strict and didn't let them play to their strengths. In the long run, even talented people would find it difficult to embroider excellent works.
Hearing her words, the shopkeeper of Yong's couldn't help laughing. He said that the owner Shen was not only excellent in embroidery skills but also outstanding in the ability to judge and train people.
As they were talking, a young man in his twenties, with a rather mature face, walked in slowly with two attendants.
Xuan Zhi thought that this might be a noble young master from Yun County or Lingcheng who had come here out of admiration. He quickly stepped forward to greet him and asked him which kind of embroidery products he liked and whether he was going to wear them himself or give them as gifts.
The young man waved his hand. "I'm not here to look at the embroidery products. I'm here to search for an old acquaintance."