"I'd like to say something, how should I say it? When you were in Qingzhou, those unreasonable troublemakers came to Lujia Village to cause trouble because you weren't there! Congxin was so frightened by this that she almost lost both her baby and her life!" Jiang Ling said to Magistrate Duan with a tense face, her temper flaring up.

Seeing Jiang Ling's gloomy expression, Magistrate Duan knew that Jiang Ling was angry.

His gaze suddenly stopped on Jiang Ling's forehead, where the scab stood out starkly against her fair face.

"What happened?" Magistrate Duan asked seriously, pointing at Jiang Ling's forehead.

Jiang Ling rolled her eyes and sighed helplessly, "What else could it be? They beat me up by those guys!"

"Why didn't you tell me if you believed something so important!" Magistrate Duan's face was even more frighteningly dark than Jiang Ling's. He was so angry that he even had murderous intent.

The atmosphere between the two gradually became awkward and tense.

"An... Anren! I... I was wrong!" A somewhat frightened voice broke the awkward silence between the two.

Magistrate Duan and Jiang Ling looked over, and Wang Daniu tremblingly hid behind Magistrate Duan's carriage.

The moment Jiang Ling saw Wang Daniu, her anger flared up instantly.

She pointed at Wang Daniu and questioned, "What? This guy came with you?"

Seeing Jiang Ling's sudden change in expression, Magistrate Duan thought to himself that something was wrong and turned to look at Zhao Liu.

Zhao Liu also sensed that something was wrong.

This morning, as soon as Magistrate Duan returned home, he saw the letter that Jiang Ling had written to him.

He pulled Zhao Liu along and drove the carriage at breakneck speed toward Lujia Village. On the way, Magistrate Duan met Wang Daniu, who was carrying two baskets of eggs. Upon asking, he learned that Wang Daniu was also going to Lujia Village.

Zhao Liu meant well, hoping to further enhance Magistrate Duan's reputation for "loving the people like his own children." So, after discussing it with Magistrate Duan, he picked up Wang Daniu and brought him over. Little did he expect that he would make such a huge mess.

"What's wrong? We met him on the way. Since we're both coming to Lujia Village, I thought I'd give him a ride!" Magistrate Duan made his last desperate attempt, barely managing to utter a single word before stealing a glance at Jiang Ling's face.

But Jiang Ling's face turned completely dark after Magistrate Duan finished speaking.

"You'll know what happened to my forehead if you ask him!" Jiang Ling leaned against the door, completely acting like a hands-off manager.

"My lady! My lady, I deserve to die! Please accept this as an apology!" Wang Daniu carefully placed the basket aside, knelt before Jiang Ling, and kowtowed.

Jiang Ling glanced at the contents of the basket and said coldly, "Take your things away. Our family has gone through such a terrible ordeal. Do you think you can just dismiss it with a casual 'you deserve to die'? Get out of here. I don't want to see you!"

When Wang Daniu heard Jiang Ling's words, his heart sank. When he left Wangjia Village early that morning, the village chief had told him that he must get Jiang Ling's forgiveness.

He had only said one sentence, and the other party's tough attitude was already making him feel overwhelmed.

He gritted his teeth and looked at Magistrate Duan beside him, saying, "Your Honor! Please help this humble subject! I acted without intention! I truly hope to gain Lady An's forgiveness!"

Seeing the scene before her, Jiang Ling sneered and said sarcastically, "Wang Daniu, save your energy! Magistrate Duan is just a seventh-rank magistrate, while I am a fifth-rank Anren! Even if you bring the Prefect of Qingzhou here, he can't do anything to me!"

Jiang Ling has never liked to use her official authority to intimidate people, but everything Wang Daniu did before was truly despicable. Jiang Ling is neither a saint nor a kind person, and she doesn't want to give those who have offended her a pleasant look.

Upon hearing this, Wang Daniu turned to look at Magistrate Duan again, but what Magistrate Duan said next left Wang Daniu feeling utterly hopeless.

"Wang Daniu, right? Anren wasn't exaggerating; her rank is indeed above mine! I think you should go back!"

Wang Daniu looked at Jiang Ling with a look of despair, hesitated for a long time, bit his lip, stood up from the ground, and prepared to leave.

"Come back!" Hearing Jiang Ling call him, Wang Daniu felt a glimmer of hope and quickly turned to look at Jiang Ling with a smile.

“Take this away, we don’t need this! If others think I’m abusing my power to exploit the people, I’ll never be able to clear my name!” Jiang Ling said, pointing to the eggs on the ground.

Jiang Ling's words were rather sharp, so much so that Wang Daniu's smile immediately froze on his face, and his dark cheeks quickly turned red.

"I...I understand!" Wang Daniu dejectedly picked up the basket from the ground and slunk away from Jiang Ling's house.

Jiang Ling glared at Wang Daniu with annoyance, then turned to Magistrate Duan and said, "I went to Wangjia Village before and already said that I will not provide fertilizer to Wangjia Village anymore, and all the money I received before will be returned!"

Magistrate Duan knew that Jiang Ling was angry, so he didn't say anything. He walked to Jiang Ling's side, took out a handkerchief and gently wiped Jiang Ling's forehead, asking, "Does it hurt a lot?"

These words were like a glass of ice water, cooling down Jiang Ling's burning anger.

Jiang Ling stubbornly turned her head, rolled her eyes, and teased, "You only ask now that it's all scabbed over? Is this some kind of perfunctory response?"

As Jiang Ling's tone gradually softened, Magistrate Duan turned to look at Zhao Liu. Zhao Liu, understanding the situation, boarded the carriage and took out an exquisite box, which he then placed in Magistrate Duan's hand.

"Here you go. I saw this in Qingzhou, and I think it would suit you perfectly!" Magistrate Duan placed the box in Jiang Ling's hands.

Jiang Ling glared at Magistrate Duan with annoyance and said, "Alright, come in! Aren't you tired of standing outside for so long?"

With that, Jiang Ling turned and walked towards her own yard.

Upon hearing Jiang Ling's words, Magistrate Duan's previously tense face immediately broke into a smile, and he quickly followed behind Jiang Ling, lifting the hem of his robe.

"You haven't eaten yet, have you?" Jiang Ling asked after gesturing for Magistrate Duan and Zhao Liu to sit down.

“We adults definitely haven’t eaten, sister-in-law, you don’t know, after reading your letter, you dragged me along too…” Zhao Liu said boldly, seeing that Jiang Ling was no longer angry.

Magistrate Duan glared at Zhao Liu and said, "So you think you're all talk, huh!"

"Alright, I know. You must not have had time to eat since you came so early! Wait a minute!" Jiang Ling was too lazy to continue arguing with Zhao Liu and got up to walk towards the kitchen by herself.

Golden egg pancakes, served with steaming hot white porridge and Grandma Zhu's homemade pickled vegetables.

The smell alone was enough to make Magistrate Duan and Zhao Liu's stomachs rumble in protest.

Jiang Ling didn't expose them, and said calmly, "Let's eat first! We can talk about it after dinner!"

After a whirlwind meal, both Magistrate Duan and Zhao Liu rubbed their slightly protruding bellies, with Zhao Liu even shamelessly letting out a burp.

Magistrate Duan looked at Jiang Ling somewhat embarrassed and said, "I'm sorry, your cooking is just too delicious!"

Jiang Ling didn't say anything, just smiled faintly.

Magistrate Duan glanced at Jiang Ling and said, "You can't do this with the fertilizer in Wangjia Village!"

Jiang Ling looked at Magistrate Duan with some dissatisfaction and asked, "Why should I?"