After Master Wan left, he never showed up again. Maybe he had taken Shen Yuning's words to heart, or perhaps he thought it wasn't cost - effective to spend a fortune on such an unruly woman. In any case, he disappeared from Xitian Town.
After recuperating for a few days, Shen Yuning visited Yong's Cloth Store. She hoped that Shopkeeper Yong could help her find out the whereabouts of Xuanzhi and Yuanbao.
However, as soon as she got back, she saw Xuanzhi, looking travel - worn, drawing water in the yard and hastily washing his face.
Xuanzhi's journey had been extremely arduous. Taking advantage of the water for washing his face, he took off his outer garment, revealing his wheat - colored chest. The muscles on his chest and abdomen were prominent, with some scratches on them, probably caused by bushes during the journey.
Shen Yuning felt that the setting sun at this moment seemed more scorching than usual. Otherwise, why was her face burning hot like a fire? And her eyes seemed to have a mind of their own, involuntarily glancing at Xuanzhi's chest and abdomen.
On ordinary days, Xuanzhi looked quite thin. She had thought he was rather scrawny, but now seeing him, although his muscles were not overly well - built, he was definitely not as skinny as he appeared in his clothes.
Hearing the noise, Xuanzhi pulled the handkerchief off his face and looked up.
On this midsummer afternoon, even the chirping of the cicadas seemed listless. Shen Yuning stood at the courtyard gate. Since she had just recovered from a serious illness, the sickly yellow on her face had not completely faded. Her eye sockets were sunken, and due to the scorching sun, her cheeks were unnaturally flushed, looking completely different from her usual high - spirited and career - oriented self.
At this time, the adults were all busy with their own things. Huzi was being held by Old Man Zhang and resting on the mat in the main hall. In the entire courtyard, apart from the annoying cicadas, there was not a single other sound. When their eyes met, for a moment, neither he nor she was willing to look away for a long time.
Xuanzhi was the first to come to his senses. He put on his clothes, stepped forward to take the things from Shen Yuning's hands, and frowned, asking, "Did you go shopping, sister? Why do you look unwell? Are you sick?"
Shen Yuning lowered her head and replied vaguely, "Yes, I just recovered from illness... I went to Yong's and bought some snacks on the way back."
Xuanzhi strode into the main hall and put the snacks down. When Huzi saw him, he scrambled up and wanted Xuanzhi to carry him. Afraid of waking up Old Man Zhang who was taking a nap, Xuanzhi picked Huzi up and walked out of the room.
Shen Yuning craned her neck and looked around. "Where's Yuanbao?"
"Yuanbao was really tired after our long journey back. I told her to take a nap first and wash up later in the evening."
Only then did Shen Yuning feel relieved. She looked Xuanzhi up and down and saw that he also looked haggard. She quickly reached out to take Huzi and said, "You've had a hard journey. Go and rest. Give Huzi to me."
However, Huzi didn't understand the adults' hardships. He hadn't seen his uncle for many days and was eager to act coquettishly. He refused to comply and hugged Xuanzhi tightly, crying and shouting.
This commotion woke up Old Man Zhang and Yuanbao, who was sleeping in the room.
Yuanbao rushed out in a hurry, her eyes wide and round, and a stick in her hand, looking very nervous. When she saw Aunt and Brother Xuanzhi in the yard, she relaxed, threw the stick away, and came forward to coax her younger brother.
Unfortunately, the younger brother couldn't appreciate his sister's love. Instead, he disliked the sour smell on his sister, obviously because she hadn't washed for many days and the smell had fermented.
Seeing this, Old Man Zhang carried hot and cold water from the kitchen to Yuanbao and Yuning's room and told Yuanbao to take a bath first. Only then did Xuanzhi tell them what had happened.
It turned out that he had first gone to look for Shen Jingui, but found that Shen Jingui was alone. So he thought it was Master Wan who had abducted Yuanbao. At that time, he was extremely anxious and didn't think it through. He assumed that Master Wan was using Yuanbao to force Shen Yuning to submit, so he racked his brains to find Master Wan's caravan.
But this Master Wan was a shrewd man. He led the caravan around in circles, and indeed, their daily provisions seemed to include those for a child. Xuanzhi spent three or four days but didn't see Yuanbao. Only then did he realize that he had fallen for the trick of luring the tiger away from its mountain.
When he went back to find Shen Jingui, he discovered that Yuanbao had already been sold by Shen Jingui to a family in Yun County. The family was of ordinary means, but their son had broken his leg when he was a child. The woman in the family thought that her son might not be able to get married in the future. Seeing that Yuanbao was a smart girl, they spent twenty taels of silver to buy her as a child bride - in - law.
Xuanzhi had left in a hurry and didn't bring much money. He had a long and difficult negotiation with Shen Jingui before forcing him to go back and change his story, redeeming Yuanbao. Then he rushed back all the way.
When Shen Yuning heard that Yuanbao had almost been sold for twenty taels of silver, she couldn't help but feel sad. Nowadays, Yun County was a well - known county in the Great Zhou Dynasty. The public security was good, and the laws and regulations were well - promoted. Most people abided by the law. Even in such a model county, there were still cases of human trafficking.
It was obvious that there was still a long way to go if the Great Zhou Dynasty wanted to work together to ensure that women were no longer treated like livestock.
Old Man Zhang quickly asked, "So Shen Jingui just agreed to let you take Yuanbao back like that?"
Xuanzhi looked embarrassed and shook his head after a long while. "How could he be willing? But Yuanbao said that before Shen Jingui separated from Master Wan, he had told Master Wan to come and marry... Yuning himself. I was worried about the family, so I locked Shen Jingui in the funeral parlor and rushed back with Yuanbao."
Shen Yuning was slightly stunned and understood a bit. Xuanzhi was afraid that something might happen to her. He probably not only locked Shen Jingui up but also threatened and intimidated him.
When she saw Xuanzhi's evasive eyes and the way he dared not look at her, Shen Yuning smiled. "You don't have to worry about the family. We're all fine."
Xuanzhi's ears turned slightly red. He tried hard to calm himself down and nodded.
Old Man Zhang gritted his teeth. "Humph, I hope there are ghosts in the funeral parlor at night and scare him to death, so that he won't come and be a nuisance anymore."
Hearing this, Xuanzhi sighed helplessly. "I don't think Shen Jingui is the kind of person who will give up easily."
Shen Yuning nodded. "He sees that our lives are getting better and better, and he'll only be jealous. Now that he has no backer to deal with us, he can only target Yuanbao. But look, when he took Yuanbao away, he didn't care about the father - daughter relationship at all and sold her right away. I'll never let him take Yuanbao away again."
Old Man Zhang also sighed, not knowing what to do.
After thinking for a long time, Shen Yuning said to Xuanzhi, "I'll find a village. You take Yuanbao and hide there for a while. At least make Shen Jingui come back empty - handed a few times. Maybe he'll give up if he can't find her."
Although Xuanzhi thought this wasn't a long - term solution, there was no better way at the moment, so he nodded and they made this decision.
He was right. Shen Jingui came back the next day and rolled on the ground in front of Shen's Embroidery Workshop, crying and wailing. He said how lonely and pitiful he was, that his younger brother and sister had tricked his daughter here to work like a slave, and that he missed his young daughter but they wouldn't let them meet.
Although some neighbors knew about the Shen family's affairs, Xitian Town was now a well - known small town with a constant stream of merchants coming and going. Outsiders mostly sympathized with the weak. Shen Jingui, who was sprawled on the ground, was disheveled and emaciated. Wasn't he the picture of a weakling? In contrast, the people in Shen's Embroidery Workshop were all well - dressed. The contrast was really striking.
So, many common people started pointing fingers and saying that although Shen's Embroidery Workshop was a big business, they never expected the owner to treat her own elder brother like this.
Shen Fugui was so angry that he wanted to go out and argue, but fortunately, Zhang Rong was strong enough. She kicked him hard twice to make him calm down.
If the matter got too big, it would only be bad for the Shen family. Shen Yuning had no choice but to go out and tried to persuade Shen Jingui to come in nicely.
These days, Shen Jingui regretted his actions deeply. If he had just stayed with his younger brother and sister obediently, he would have had no worries about food and clothing. It was hateful that Xier didn't seem to know that he was the eldest master of the Shen family. If she had just obediently followed him, would he have let her suffer? She didn't even think about how many men she had slept with and still pretended to be a chaste and virtuous woman in front of him.
But now he was in a difficult situation. The twenty taels of silver he had gotten from selling Yuanbao had been snatched back by Xuanzhi.
These days, he had been living in extreme poverty, having trouble sleeping and eating. He was really pitiful.
Thinking like this, Shen Jingui burst into tears, crying so bitterly that it made those who heard him sad and those who saw him cry. However, no matter how Shen Yuning tried to persuade him, he just kept shouting that he wanted to see his daughter and refused to go in with Shen Yuning.
A passer - by then said, "The owner is usually too ruthless. Now your elder brother doesn't even dare to go into the house! You'd better hand over his daughter quickly and give them some silver to let them go."
Shen Yuning said helplessly, "Shen Jingui, if you don't want to go in, that's fine. I just want to ask you. You keep saying that I abducted your daughter and made her work like a slave for me. But Yuanbao is only seven years old. With the big signboard of Shen's Embroidery Workshop, what kind of maids can't I hire? Why would I torture my own niece?"
The people around thought this made sense. So some kind - hearted people advised Shen Jingui, who was still lying on the ground and refusing to get up, "It must be a misunderstanding. Children without parents always seem extra pitiful. You should talk it out nicely. After all, you're a family."
This was exactly what Shen Jingui was waiting for. He propped himself up and looked at Shen Yuning with tear - filled eyes.
However, before Shen Yuning could shake her head, Xier stepped forward first. She was good - looking, bold, and straightforward. There was undisguised contempt in her eyes as she looked at Shen Jingui, who was lying on the ground like a beggar.
"A family? How can we be a family with such a lecherous scoundrel? The owner should think carefully. You run an embroidery workshop full of embroidery girls. If you agree to let him come back today, most of the embroidery girls in the shop might not dare to stay. As for me, I'm not afraid of anything. I've already lost my reputation anyway. I'll put it here today. From now on, I'll carry a pair of scissors with me. If this scoundrel dares to have any bad ideas about me again, I'll cut off his thing right away!"
The social atmosphere in Yun County was much better than in other places. Although some people secretly looked down on women who had been defiled, no one dared to mention it openly. Especially Xier, who was so straightforward and didn't care about false reputations. Since she had so boldly talked about her past, no one dared to say that she was unclean.
Among the passers - by, the men who had originally felt a bit of sympathy for Shen Jingui felt a pain in their nether regions as if they were about to be cut with scissors. Immediately, they all dared not say a word.
On the contrary, the women in the embroidery workshop all stood up one after another. They spat at Shen Jingui and complained to the owner, saying that they were decent women and didn't dare to associate with such a person, for fear of being thought of as immoral.
After all this, Shen Jingui finally understood that Shen Yuning was trying to ruin his reputation so that he couldn't stay in Xitian Town anymore.
He was so angry that he roared, "Shen Yuning, I'm your elder brother, and you're siding with outsiders! If you don't want me to have a good life, I won't let your workshop stay in business either!"