Chapter 10

The woman in front of him looked to be only nineteen or twenty years old in modern times. Her wet, deer-like appearance gave her a pitiful look, which made Qingyun feel a little sorry for her.

Seemingly noticing that Qingyun was hesitant because of her dirt, the woman first glanced at the window out of the corner of her eye, and then said in a soft voice with a thick nasal tone, "Miss, please sit in. I don't mind that you are dirty."

Hearing this, Qingyun scratched her head somewhat embarrassedly before taking off her straw sandals. She glanced at the brocade quilt on the bed, took out a cloth from her bosom, and vigorously wiped the dust off her feet before getting into bed. "Is it because your husband treats you badly?"

Hearing this, the woman was about to cry again, but fearing that the maid would complain, she tugged at Qingyun's sleeve and whispered, "When are you leaving? Take me with you, I really can't stand staying in this deep mansion any longer."

From the woman's fragmented words, Qingyun learned the whole story. She had been the original owner's personal maid, and the original owner, out of kindness, had given her her household registration and money to go home. However, upon returning home, she was sold back into this family as a concubine. But the woman's heart wasn't in this family; she wanted to run away, but she wasn't a properly betrothed concubine.

Because of this pretext, I was unexpectedly locked up and couldn't even leave the house.

"So your leg was injured like this?" Qingyun asked in surprise.

“Master insists that I had an affair with a servant…” She lowered her head and picked up her handkerchief to wipe her tears. “If I’m determined to file a complaint, and he insists that I have an affair, do you think the government will help me?” She looked at Qingyun. “Besides, the household registration documents are with the mistress. A charge of being a runaway slave could ruin me forever.”

As a modern person, upon hearing about such oppression, Qingyun felt his blood boil and immediately declared that he wished he could kill that old man.

Seeing that she was serious, the system intervened in time to stop her impulse and analyzed the pros and cons for her.

System: [Host, you can't help with this for now. You're of lowly status, at the very bottom of society. Besides, she's considered a servant in this household. Although you can't kill her, if that person uses her affair as leverage, the government won't help her.]

Hearing the system's words, Qingyun was furious. [Am I just supposed to let that old bastard treat me like this?!]

System: [Even if you wanted to take her out now, it's impossible. This is the inner courtyard, and there are countless guards outside. Besides, I didn't say you couldn't rescue her. You need to develop your strength and plan carefully before rescuing her. Acting impulsively now will only make her situation more difficult.]

What stands in Qingyun's way is the rigid class system of the ancient dynasty. Anyone with power and influence can kill people like Qingyun a thousand or ten thousand times over, and be despised by all the common people, let alone save another woman in dire straits.

For the first time, Qingyun deeply felt her powerlessness in this era. Without power, she would be crushed by the upper class like countless ants. After a moment of thought, she made a choice, and her eyes became more determined as she looked at the woman. Just as she was about to speak, she heard the voice of a maid outside, "Master, the young lady is receiving guests."

Upon hearing this, Qingyun abruptly got off the bed. She comforted the woman for a few moments, wiped away her tears, and said softly, "Don't worry, I will get you out of here, but not now, okay?"

"You should trust me."

The woman was taken aback. She saw the determination in Qingyun's eyes, and as if by some strange impulse, she calmed down and nodded in agreement, willing to trust Qingyun, just as she had protected her back then.

Taking advantage of the moment before the man entered, Qingyun quickly explained two things: first, that she should stop resisting so she would suffer less; and second, that she should wait for her, as she would definitely come back to find her.

As soon as she finished speaking, Qingyun saw a man approaching with his hands behind his back. However, unlike the greasy old man she had imagined, the man in front of her could be described as handsome, with a refined and scholarly air. His whole demeanor told others that he was a promising scholar from a wealthy family.

Faced with this contrast, Qingyun subconsciously looked at the woman on the bed who kept shrinking back in fear, and overturned the little bit of goodwill he had in his heart. So what if she is good-looking? If her character is bad, everything is meaningless, let alone torturing a woman like this.

"And who is this young lady?" the man asked softly, fanning himself with a paper fan. His gentle voice reached Qingyun's ears.

Qingyun bowed and said, "I am a former lover of yours."

"Since you're an old friend, why don't you say more heartfelt words before leaving?"

Qingyun smiled, but inwardly cursed, "It's getting late. I've met an old friend and eased my longing, but I still have to get back to work." With that, she cupped her hands to take her leave, but the man then invited Qingyun to stay at his residence. He also said that if she needed to find a job, he could find her one there.

Looking back again and seeing the woman's eyes full of resistance, Qingyun smiled and said it wasn't necessary.

As soon as I stepped outside, I heard voices coming from inside, "You're crying again?"

Qingyun suppressed her agitation and quickened her pace. She was genuinely afraid that she might impulsively go in and do something terrible. When she came out, she found Mu Helian waiting on the porch in the backyard. Mu Helian followed her out of the courtyard gate after seeing her come out. She asked in a mysterious low voice, "Did you get the seeds successfully?"

The item was already in her possession; she had only intended to go through the motions, but unexpectedly, she encountered something like this. Qingyun nodded absentmindedly and asked, "When are you going back?"

Mu Helian took out a biscuit from the food bag and started eating it. "If nothing unexpected happens, we can set off today." She glanced at Qingyun sideways without making a sound, chewing mechanically. "I thought you would want to look around a bit more before going back."

Qingyun used her arms for leverage and jumped onto the donkey cart. "What are you going to do? I don't have any money..." As she spoke, she suddenly remembered that she wasn't short of money. She hadn't even used the string of cash that Song Chaoyun had given her last time. She only had two sets of clothes to change into, and they had been washed until they were almost white.

When Mu Helian heard that she was going to buy several sets of clothes to take back, her face showed disbelief and confusion. "Buying ready-made clothes costs three times the price of fabric. Why not just buy fabric directly?"

Qingyun fell silent. Was it that she didn't want to save money? Or was it that she simply didn't know how to make it? Everyone here was a skilled craftswoman who could sew their own things. She, a modern person, had always bought ready-made items since she was a child. "But I really don't know how to make it," she said with a helpless smile.

Mu Helian had an expression that said, "As expected of a young lady," and said, "Didn't your family teach you needlework?" She then thought for a moment, picked out a few nice pieces of fabric for Qingyun, and generously declared that she would teach Qingyun.

Qingyun was naturally more than happy to have someone teach him. In his excitement, he used the remaining money to buy each of them a meat-filled sesame seed cake. Mu Helian didn't stand on ceremony either. The group happily ate their sesame seed cakes as they walked back. As soon as they reached the main road, they heard people on the street discussing something.

As they got closer, they learned that the locals were spreading rumors that the county magistrate was going to be suspended and investigated. Qingyun wasn't interested in these things, but when he turned around, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure riding a black horse at the head of the procession.

Qingyun recognized him; it was Song Junwu. He figured the man was indeed alright, but why was he here? Watching the man's figure gradually disappear into the distance, he knew that the thoughts of important people were unfathomable, so he simply stopped thinking about it.

After enduring wind and rain and sleeping in the open along the way, we finally made it home. It was truly an arduous journey. First, we encountered famine refugees fleeing the disaster, and it took a lot of effort to protect the last of our dry rations. We heard that there was also a drought in the south. This country is truly in a state of constant flux and uncertainty.

Qingyun lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, still thinking about women, until there was a knock on the door. She slowly sat up and opened the door, only to find Lin Wanjun standing outside. Lin Wanjun looked at Qingyun with a smile and shyness, "Miss Qingyun, I brought you some food."

Upon hearing this, she turned to the small vegetable basket the other woman was carrying, which contained some sweet potatoes. Lin Wanjun said it was to repay her for taking care of her these past few days. She invited the woman into the house and jokingly said that it was nothing.

Just looking at the other person, her mind drifted back to what had happened between her and Song Chaohua. Lin Wanjun entered and glanced around the room, her sharp eyes spotting the fabric placed by the bed. She asked, "Are you making new clothes?"

Qingyun, with a sweet potato in her mouth, nodded in agreement, but felt a little embarrassed because of her clumsy hands. Lin Wanjun picked it up and saw that the stitches were indeed messy and crooked. Thus, Qingyun gained another master.

Under the blazing sun, the fireball emitted intense heat, and the entire world was in a state of extreme heat. Just a few minutes under the sun and your clothes would start to stick to your skin and be dripping with sweat. But Qingyun couldn't stop, because she still hadn't accumulated enough points and was missing a few water purifiers.

Wearing a straw hat, she planted all the grass seeds in the grass squares. After finishing, she looked up at Lin Wanjun standing to the side and said, "Okay, let's go back." But when she got to the sand dune, she found it crowded with people, more than a dozen of them chattering and discussing something intensely.

"How could this thing have insect infestation?" An old man touched the leaves of the sapling and examined it carefully before concluding that it was indeed bitten by insects.

"Could it be that the news that came from the command post the other day was true?"

"What if that's really the case?" In such a hot place, there should be few mosquitoes, so how could there be pests?

Upon hearing this, Qingyun was startled and immediately ran forward, pushing through the crowd to carefully examine the leaves on the sapling. He questioned the system in his mind, "Didn't you say that planting it would empower it? Why is this happening?"

The system's electronic voice sounded, "[Host, the empowerment period has passed. They've already passed the most difficult survival period. You can't blame me for this.]"

Qingyun's face was as black as coal. Touching the leaves that had seeped through her hand like a sieve, she calmed down and asked, "Then what's wrong with this illness?"

System: [It's normal to have pest problems. There are examples in modern desertification control, such as the outbreak of longhorn beetle larvae boring into the trunks after planting *Calvatia serratifolia* on the edge of the Badain Jaran Desert in Inner Mongolia. Host, you have the system; this kind of problem can be solved quickly!]

Upon hearing this, she immediately had a bad feeling. Sure enough, the next second she heard the system say, "[Ding! The ditch-digging open-source task is now open. Host, you need to complete this task to unlock the permission to purchase pesticides~ Good luck, host!]"

Qingyun mentally gave him a giant middle finger, thinking, "I knew it! Your company loves playing dirty tricks!"

Suddenly, an electronic smiley face appeared on the screen, sticking out its tongue and blushing.

Qingyun: "..." What are you being shy about?!

She hadn't even planted a few saplings yet, and hadn't accumulated enough points, when another task came along. And she had to come up with a reason to persuade Song Junwu to start digging the canal! This wasn't how you were supposed to be treated!