Chapter 149: Filming a Wedding

Just by looking at the woman's appearance, I can basically guess about 80% of the situation.

Pei Jian turned his head to Nian Xi and said, "He ran away from home secretly."

Nian Xi naturally noticed the abnormal behavior of the woman, but she had no idea what she had done wrong or why she ran away from home.

Lanzhi brought a cotton coat for the woman to wear.

During the New Year, she was alone. Nianxi couldn't bear it, so she asked Xingyue to bring her some copper coins, "If you are hungry, you can buy some food."

The woman silently reached out and took it.

As Nian Xi was getting ready to get into the car, Pei Jian naturally reached out to help her. Nian Xi glanced at him and he put his hand down again.

Who knew that at this moment, the woman suddenly rushed over.

If Pei Jian had not been quick enough to kick the person away, she might have thrown Nian Xi off the car.

He didn't cry out in pain even after being kicked. He crawled a few steps and knelt beside Nianxi's car, kowtowing desperately, "Miss, please save me! They will beat me to death, please have mercy on me and save me..."

Pei Jian hated it most when people or things that had nothing to do with him caused him trouble.

What’s more, this woman almost hurt Nian Xi just now.

If it were him, letting him go would be a mercy.

But Nianxi is not like that, she has a very soft heart.

Seeing that the woman's forehead was red and swollen from the knock, he knew that Nian Xi felt compassion for her.

Sure enough, the next moment, she asked, "Who wants to beat you to death?"

"The man from the village!"

"They will beat me to death. I didn't give birth to a son during the wedding last year. They will definitely beat me to death this year..."

She spoke incoherently, almost in a state of confusion, repeating over and over again, "They will beat me to death."

Nian Xi didn't understand what was going on, so she slowed down her voice and asked, "Don't be afraid, tell me slowly. Why did they want to beat you to death?"

"Because I can't give birth to a son!" The woman roared, covered her face with her hands, and cried.

"There is a custom in the town to celebrate weddings. Every year on the 15th day of the first lunar month, when the rooster crows, the men in the village will come to the houses and beat the women who have not given birth that year with bamboo sticks, brooms, and wooden sticks. I was almost beaten to death by them last year."

"I was in so much pain that I hid in the temple. The men caught up with me and took the opportunity to tear off my clothes and pants... Sister Qin jumped into the river out of shame because those men saw her naked!"

Nian Xi was almost stunned after hearing what she heard, and the two maids behind her also looked reluctant.

Pei Jian had never heard of such a bad habit before, so he asked in a deep voice, "Where is your husband?"

The woman cried for a while, then gradually calmed down. "Those men dragged me out of the door, beat me around the dung pile, and kept asking, 'Are you going to give birth? Are you going to give birth?'"

"My husband was watching me from the side until I was about to be beaten to death. Then I took a dustpan and scattered peanuts and dates, thanking the men who beat me and telling them that I was pregnant."

"But I still didn't get pregnant this year. I secretly heard my mother-in-law tell my husband that I was a chicken that couldn't lay eggs, and that she wanted those people to beat me to death this year so that she could marry someone who could give birth. I was so scared that I ran away during the Chinese New Year."

She knelt down again and kowtowed to Nianxi, "Miss, you are a good person, please help me, I don't want to go back anymore."

Nianxi had never known that there were such unscrupulous things in the world. If a woman could not give birth to a child, she would be humiliated and beaten by all the men in the village.

Worse still, some people may even lose their lives.

She personally stepped forward, helped the woman up from the ground, and asked softly, "What's your name?"

The woman said timidly, "Cui Lian."

Cui Lian had just cried bitterly, and her tears washed away the deliberately blackened areas on her face, leaving lines and revealing her originally fair skin.

"Cui Lian, you are very brave."

By the time she could run out, she had already used up all her courage.

Nianxi knew that there were still many women being persecuted under such bad habits. She had no ability to save those women, so she could only do her best to give Cuilian a chance to survive.

"Go inside and take a shower. I have something to ask you."

The group went to the Liuji Hall again.

Pei Jian followed behind and asked Nianxi, "How do you want to help her?"

Nian Xi shook her head; she hadn’t made up her mind yet.

He asked back, "What about you? If it were you, how would you help her?"

If it were him, Pei Jian would never have heard of the so-called "wedding customs" in his life, and he would never listen to what the woman said.

He is not a good person and is very selfish at heart. All he wants to do is protect himself and the people around him.

"Divorce." Pei Jian thought for a moment and said.

This is the simplest and clearest method.

Nian Xi suddenly gave him a strange look.

Pei Jian couldn't guess what she was thinking, but words like "childless" and "divorce" would always evoke some bad associations.

He is now willing to accompany her to do whatever she wants to do, and he has already understood the meaning of "accompany".

He didn't want to give up, and he cherished this rare opportunity even more. "I am an official appointed by the court after all, so of course I have to make decisions for the people!"

Pei Jian spoke some high-sounding empty words in a serious manner, which was actually a bit laughable.

Nian Xi knew what he was thinking and that he was trying to change the subject, so she spoke in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Thank you so much for not killing me."

As soon as he said this, he remembered that she had died in vain, so there was no point in saying that he would not kill her.

Then he fell silent.

Pei Jian knew how much hatred he had incurred in his past life. It would be useless to say more now, so he remained silent. It would be better to remain silent than to say a thousand words.

Cui Lian quickly washed her face and came back.

She was pretty with a fair face, and her most striking feature was her eyes, which were long and narrow with the corners slightly upturned, giving her a charming look.

Cui Lian knelt down as soon as she entered the room and kowtowed solemnly, "Please save my life, young lady. I am willing to work like a slave to repay you for saving my life."

Nian Xi asked her to get up, "Where are your parents?"

Cui Lian shook her head sadly. "My parents are poor. They used me to exchange for five taels of silver from my husband's family so that they could marry their brothers. They don't care about my affairs."

The hemp rope picks out the smallest details, and misfortune finds only the unfortunate.

Nianxi had expected that Cuilian's family would not intervene, so she asked, "Do you still want to live with your husband?"

"No! My husband is a bastard. Even if I get beaten every year, I can never have a child! He humiliates and bullies me day and night. I've long wanted to kill him!"

…

The whole room was silent.

Nian Xi coughed lightly and then asked, "How do you want me to help you?"

Cui Lian asked tentatively, "I have already escaped and I don't want to go back. Miss, can you take me in? I am willing to do anything as a slave!"

Nian Xi: "I don't keep people with unknown origins around me."

Cui Lian panicked, her knees weakened, and she wanted to kneel down and kowtow, but she heard Nianxi continue, "I will send you back, and you can divorce your husband."

Cui Lian only heard that she was going to be sent back, and she trembled with fear all over. She knew that the lady in front of her was kind-hearted, so she dared not disobey her. She could only kneel down and beg:

"My husband's family is a wealthy family in the village. If I go back, I will definitely die. If they don't beat me to death, they will also drown me in a pond or put me in a pig cage! Miss, I want to listen to you, but I am afraid."

Cui Lian didn't understand what Nian Xi meant, but Pei Jian knew it very well.

No matter how much of a country bully Cuilian's husband was, as long as Cuilian could divorce him, it would give hope and encouragement to the persecuted women in the village.

As long as they don't want to be persecuted, they can stand up. Cui Lian is a role model.