From inside the magistrate's residence, voices pleading for mercy could be heard.

"Madam, spare me! Concubine, save me!"

The person begging for mercy was tied to a pillar in the courtyard with hemp rope, crying with tears streaming down their face.

A woman dressed in a fine green robe pointed at the woman on the pillar and said fiercely, "You despicable hussy who deceives her superiors, beat her hard!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the servant standing behind the woman, holding a riding whip, walked up behind her and forcefully lashed her back.

"ah!"

The woman's eyes widened, and she let out a heart-wrenching scream.

Aunt Zhang was so frightened that she knelt on the ground. It was only with each lash of the whip that she was awakened.

So she crawled and knelt at the feet of the First Madam, crying and begging for mercy, "Madam, please spare my life! Please, Madam, have mercy! If you keep hitting me, I'll die!"

The maidservant beside the First Madam kicked Zhang Yiniang away, saying, "Zhang Yiniang, you'd better watch yourself. You were brought back to the manor in such disheveled clothes. You should think carefully about how to answer the Master!"

Aunt Zhang was frail and was kicked to the ground by a maid. Her eyes were like ice as she stared at the maid for a moment.

Back when she was making money for the Zhu family, everyone in the county magistrate's mansion respected her, and even the first wife didn't dare to act arrogantly in front of her.

Now she's been tricked; these snobbish bastards dare to treat her like this.

Once she gets her revenge, she'll teach these servants a lesson!

The maid's back, which was on the pillar, was covered in blood and gore from being whipped. The clothes she wore at this time of year were thin and had long been torn to shreds by the whip.

As the servant's whip fell with a gust of wind, the maid fainted.

Seeing this, the servant stopped whipping her and bowed, saying, "Madam, she has fainted."

"Hmm," the First Madam nodded slightly, "Lock this master and servant pair in the woodshed and wait for the master to return to the manor to deal with them."

After saying that, the First Madam glanced at Aunt Zhang kneeling on the ground, a hint of smugness flashing in her eyes.

For so many years, she had been suppressed by Aunt Zhang. Now that she had finally gotten her revenge, she refused to believe that Aunt Zhang would have any way to clear her name of the crime of having an affair!

After the First Madam left, only two servants remained, who escorted Aunt Zhang and her maid to the woodshed.

Seeing the maid who had been untied, Aunt Zhang quickly said to the servant, "Take off your clothes and put them on her! Then go to my room and get some wound medicine!"

The servant stood frozen in place, too stunned to move. He didn't know what had happened; he had only received the order from the First Madam to whip the maid.

Aunt Zhang threatened, "I'm only in a temporary predicament right now. The problem will naturally be solved when the master returns. If you offend me, you'll definitely suffer the consequences."

After listening to Aunt Zhang's words and seeing the First Madam walk out of the courtyard, the servant thought it over and over again and felt that what Aunt Zhang said made sense.

In ordinary households, if a concubine makes a mistake, the first wife has the right to sell her off.

They've only locked him in the woodshed; there might still be a chance for things to turn around.

The servant said, "Binzi, I'll go get the medicine. You take Aunt Zhang and the others to the woodshed."

After saying this, the servant took off his clothes and draped them over the maid, then helped the maid onto Binzi's back so that he could carry her over.

Seeing that the servant boy was getting the hang of things, Aunt Zhang didn't say anything more and quickly followed Binzi to the woodshed.

The woodshed was dark and messy, with firewood and straw piled up haphazardly, and even three or five chamber pots stacked together.

As soon as Aunt Zhang entered the woodshed, she covered her nose.

The servant quickly delivered the wound medicine, then locked the woodshed door and left without lingering.

Aunt Zhang secretly gave the maid medicine for her wounds. This maid had been with her for many years and was extremely loyal. She had done many things for her. If the maid were gone, she would lose a capable helper in the future.

Another point is that she sent the servant to the courtyard to get medicine in order to tell Zhang Shiqiang to escape, just in case, so that the two siblings could not both perish in this courtyard.

Just as Aunt Zhang was applying medicine to the maid, a noise was heard outside the woodshed.

With a bang, the door to the woodshed opened, wobbling and rattling.

A beam of bright light shone into the room, and Aunt Zhang squinted uncomfortably. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw two women standing in front of her.

It was Consort Lu and her maid!

"Lu Baomei, what are you doing here?" Aunt Zhang questioned.

She had repeatedly beaten and scolded Lu Baomei, and she simply didn't believe that Lu Baomei would kindly rescue her.

Aunt Lu smirked and said mockingly, "I owe my current success to Aunt Zhang's kindness, so of course I have to return the favor."

Aunt Zhang simply did not believe that Aunt Lu would forgive and forget.

Sure enough, Aunt Lu said, "I just passed by your courtyard and saw your brother, so I brought him here so you can reunite."

"Bring him in," Aunt Lu ordered, and Zhang Shiqiang, whose hands were tied behind his back, was pushed into the woodshed and made to lie face down on the ground.

The way Aunt Zhang looked at Aunt Lu was like a venomous snake; if looks could kill, Aunt Lu would have been dead long ago.

"Your indenture is still in my hands. If it weren't for me, you would have been sold to a brothel long ago!"

When Aunt Zhang saw Zhang Shiqiang, she could no longer remain calm and roared.

Aunt Lu said, "I really should thank you properly. Look, that's why I've come to express my gratitude."

She deliberately drew out her voice, like the tiny teeth of bamboo leaves scratching against the skin, "I don't need a contract of indenture. All the people who fled back then are dead. As long as I don't acknowledge it, with the adults protecting me, who would dare to cause trouble?"

Lu Baomei died long ago on the journey of fleeing famine; the one alive now is Aunt Lu of the Zhu family!

Aunt Zhang didn't expect that even the indenture couldn't do anything to her, but she was unwilling to give up. She could only wait for the adults to come back and then deal with her properly!

What she didn't know was that there would be no future for it!

"Don't you love slapping people the most?" Lu Baomei said. "Xiao Liu, we'll get our revenge today for all the slaps Aunt Zhang gave us!"

Xiao Liu was Zhang Yiniang's maidservant. After Lu Yiniang was presented to Magistrate Zhu, she followed and served by Lu Yiniang's side.

When Zhang Shiqiang heard that his sister was about to be slapped, he lay on the ground unable to move his limbs, and with strips of cloth stuffed in his mouth, he could only make muffled noises.

Xiao Liu also hated Aunt Zhang to the core. In the past, when she worked under her, she would be beaten or scolded for the slightest dissatisfaction.

Unfortunately, her monthly allowance was already pitifully small, and most of it was spent on medicine for injuries, leaving her with no savings at all.

As a result, when her sister fell ill, she couldn't afford the money and died from her illness!

She once knelt down and begged Aunt Zhang, but what she got in return was a brutal beating, leaving her with several scars on her body that she can't get rid of.

Xiao Liu, who had done a lot of hard work, was naturally strong. He grabbed Aunt Zhang by the collar and slapped her face repeatedly.

Moments later, Aunt Zhang's face was beaten until it resembled a pig's head, swollen and purple, with a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth.

"Alright," Aunt Lu called out, and Xiao Liu released Aunt Zhang. The two, having avenged themselves, left without looking back.