Zhang Mei slowly stepped forward, knelt down in front of the magistrate, and said, "Magistrate, this is my indenture. I have no relation to the Zhang family. I hope you will understand."
Yan Shuping gestured for his subordinate to bring it up, and after he and his advisor checked it to confirm, he said in a deep voice:
“Zhang Mei did sell herself to the Lin family, but there is no evidence of disrespect or filial impiety towards her parents.”
Yan Shuping hadn't expected this to be the case in their family. If a lawsuit were filed, it would be difficult to resolve; even an upright official has always found it hard to settle family disputes. However, this daughter-in-law of the Lin family was willing to go all out; it wasn't easy for her to reveal in front of everyone that she had been sold into slavery.
Song Anxin felt sorry for Meizi, but also admired her courage.
Zhang's parents and elder brother and sister-in-law were furious that Zhang Mei had revealed this herself, their faces contorted with rage, and they immediately began to hurl insults:
"You shameless woman, you'd rather ruin yourself than let my son go. I think it's good that I sold you. I should have sold you to a brothel sooner..."
Song Anxin narrowed her eyes. Now that the last veil of pretense had been torn away, who would still tolerate them? Her gaze was icy as she cupped her hands to Yan Shuping and said:
"Your Honor, I want to sue the Zhang family for abusing my daughter-in-law and disturbing the peace of my family."
Yan Shuping nodded: "The evidence is true, constituting the crime of verbal abuse. People come and take the Zhang family into custody."
Actually, people usually insult each other but no one would report it to the county government. It's just that the Zhang family deserves to be punished, and no one thinks there's anything wrong with it.
Zhang's parents were immediately gagged and taken away along with Lin Daniu, while Zhao was also dragged away. Now they had no chance to struggle.
Song Anxin felt that the world without insults was truly peaceful.
Everything has been settled, but the fact that Zhang Mei was sold into servitude to Lin's second aunt really shocked the villagers.
"So Zhang Mei was bought by Aunt Lin's family, then isn't she Aunt Lin's servant!"
"Ah!? She's a slave who was bought. How can she be the wife in a prosperous year? I've heard that in wealthy families in the county, she's usually a concubine."
The village head scolded, "What nonsense are you all spouting? Didn't you see how Zhang Mei's family treated her? If you ask me, it's a good thing her family bought her during a good year, otherwise she would have been dragged down by her in-laws."
The workshop workers were also outside, and Sister-in-law Lin, who knew about it, immediately shouted:
"Auntie is right. None of the Zhang family's parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law are any good. Would my sister-in-law dare to have such in-laws?"
"So what if Meizi was bought by my sister-in-law's family! Servant? Look at how Meizi is being treated like a servant! My sister-in-law's family genuinely treats Zhang Mei as their daughter-in-law. What are you all meddling in? And you look down on her? You're all living better than Meizi."
The workers in the workshop all agreed; how could they not know Zhang Mei's status after working there?
Most of the villagers are still very simple and honest, and they are genuinely grateful for what Song Anxin did before. Many people have also benefited from Song Anxin's family's kindness, and some of their family members work for her.
For a moment, everyone felt that it was nothing and they all spoke up for Zhang Mei, making it difficult for a few women who were jealous of Song Anxin's family to say anything.
Song Anxin and Zhang Mei naturally heard it too, and she addressed the villagers:
"Thank you everyone for speaking up for my Meizi. From the moment I bought Meizi, I never thought of her as a servant in our family. I only treated her as my daughter-in-law, and so did my family."
“Yes, Meizi is my wife, my wife!” Lin Fengnian said firmly beside Zhang Mei.
Lin Fengshou and Feng He also said, "Sister-in-law Meizi is our eldest sister-in-law. There's no such thing as slave status in our family."
Zhang Mei looked at her family members who were speaking up for her, and her eyes flickered with emotion.
At this moment, Song Anxin walked up to Zhang Mei, took the indenture from Zhang Mei's hand, and tore it into pieces.
The villagers who were watching were all stunned, as was Zhang Mei.
Song Anxin said softly to Zhang Mei, "I forgot before, but I didn't expect you to find it in the corner of the cabinet. Tomorrow we will go to the county to cancel your slave status. You will be no different from the people in my Fengnian Linjia Village."
Song Anxin's actions were a way of telling the villagers that Zhang Mei was no longer a slave, and that anyone who wanted to talk about her should shut up from now on.
Some of the young women, who had previously been jealous of Zhang Mei's comfortable life despite being an abandoned woman, felt a little better upon hearing that she was actually a slave from Linjia Village. They were now extremely envious that Aunt Lin would tear up the indenture and even try to remove her from the slave register. They desperately wanted to become servants in Aunt Lin's household.
Zhang Mei was stunned and didn't know how to react. She only felt sorry for her mother-in-law and her husband. If she hadn't trusted Zhang Daniu and Zhao Shi, this wouldn't have happened in the family. She didn't even deserve to be her mother-in-law's servant.
She tried to speak several times, but couldn't utter a word. She felt something stuck in her throat. After several attempts, she finally managed a choked sob: "Mother... I'm... I'm sorry... Thank you..."
Song Anxin held her in her arms and gently patted her back, saying:
"Silly Plum, your mother didn't blame you even though it was a bumper harvest. We're family, so there's no need for thanks. If you want to cry, just cry. Don't hold it in, or you'll hurt yourself."
Zhang Mei seemed to have been struck in the heart, and burst into tears: "Mother!...Mother, they have never loved me, sob sob sob...Mother, what did I do wrong...Mother, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."
Zhang Mei burst into tears, crying incoherently, and occasionally twitching as she cried, which was quite pitiful.
Song Anxin let her lean against her and vent her emotions freely. She didn't say anything and just silently stayed with her.
Yan Shuping originally wanted to talk to Song Anxin about the waterwheel issue, but seeing this scene, he couldn't bear to go and disturb her. He just watched quietly, a shadow falling over his eyes, and no one knew what he was thinking.
After Zhang Mei had finished venting her emotions and stopped crying, Song Anxin looked at her gently and said:
"It's okay. It's okay that you don't receive love from your biological parents. It's not your fault. You just chose the wrong parents by some twist of fate. Heaven will always give you another chance. Look, your mother is here."
She said gently, "Life is very long. Even without a mother, you can still love yourself well!"
Zhang Mei looked into her mother-in-law's gentle eyes, saw Feng Nian's concerned gaze, noticed the worried expressions on Feng Shou and Feng He's faces, and realized that most of the people in Linjia Village also looked concerned for her.
At this moment, she felt lucky. For the first ten years or so, her life was as worthless as grass. After she turned eighteen, she met her mother, Feng Nian, and his family.
She should stop hoping for charity from people who don't care about her at all; she has her precious family right in front of her!
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