Sipping tea, tears welled in her eyes, and she quickly grabbed Fang Qing's hand.
"Thank you, Miss Fang Qing. I had asked outsiders in our village for help before, but they all ignored me. Only you, only you helped me. I was thinking that if you hadn't helped me, I would have killed myself and would never have gone back."
Fang Qing patted her hand reassuringly.
“Now that I’ve brought you out, I won’t just abandon you. Aren’t there many other similar cases in the village besides you?”
He sipped his tea and nodded.
“They are a bunch of beasts. Because the village is poor and they can’t find wives, they buy and sell girls from other places. If these girls have a son as their first child, it’s okay, and their lives will gradually get better.”
"But if you're like me, having given birth to three daughters in a row, your life would be worse than that of a pig or a dog."
As he sipped his tea, he rolled up his trousers, revealing two scabbed marks on his ankles, marks left from years of being locked up.
“I tried to escape before, but when they caught me, they beat me to death. Later, they tied me to the head of the bed and beat and scolded me whenever they were unhappy. I could only have a few good months when I was pregnant. Once I gave birth to a girl, I had no food to eat and was beaten and scolded by the whole family.”
“Any girl born in the village would be sold off. My three children were sold off by that beast.”
As she spoke, she began to sob.
Fang Qing handed her another handkerchief.
Pinming is a good name, and Fang Qing could tell that even though she had been tortured in that kind of place for several years, she still had the upbringing of a wealthy family in her words and deeds.
It seems this girl's family is doing quite well.
Fang Qing felt disgusted at the thought that she had even given them grain seeds; she had truly helped a pack of wolves.
Before long, Fang Qing's carriage arrived at the county government office.
This is the county government office within the jurisdiction of Xichang Prefecture, which is also considered a poor county in Xichang Prefecture.
Fang Qing observed that the county government office showed no signs of dilapidation.
Then, looking at the gatekeepers at the county government office, three or five of them were sitting together playing cards; each of them was plump and strong.
Fang Qing lifted the carriage curtain and looked around the yamen for a moment, and the yamen runners finally noticed Fang Qing.
"What are you doing here? This is the county government office. If you want to do business here, you have to pay a tael of silver as an opening fee before you can enter."
Fang Qing couldn't help but sneer.
"Isn't the government office supposed to serve the people? Why do we have to pay money?"
"Why are you interfering so much? These are the rules of our government office. If you're not going in, then don't block our way."
"The women in Liujiazhai are being forcibly sold; are you going to do anything about it?"
The constables didn't even look up, continuing to play cards.
"Oh, so it's Liu Family Village. Did a woman in your family run away, or did someone come to your village looking for her? Five taels of silver will help you deal with the troublemakers, and I'll also help with the paperwork. If you..."
Before the man could finish speaking, he suddenly noticed the two guards pinning Er Mazi down behind the carriage, and his expression changed drastically.
"Oh dear, I was blind and didn't recognize you as an important person. I almost made a mistake. Please forgive me."
"Please come in, please come in. I will inform the magistrate right away."
Fang Qing snorted coldly.
"There's no need to trouble you, sir. I can't afford the opening fee of one or two taels of silver. I'll just go to the prefectural government office instead."
As she spoke, Fang Qing flung down the carriage curtain.
Upon hearing this, the man broke out in a cold sweat.
"Please don't do this. The government office is no different from here. You should..."
The man tried to stop the carriage, but the guards Fang Qing brought pushed him away.
Fang Qing and the others continued their journey towards the prefectural city, while the constable from earlier informed the county magistrate of the incident.
The magistrate didn't take it seriously.
In their Yan County, a place so remote and neglected, nobody cares.
Moreover, he has some connection with the Qin family, so who in the prefecture dares to interfere with him?
*
Fang Qing led her people back to the prefectural city.
Zhao Fen was assigning tasks to several officials who had just been sent from the capital when they heard that Fang Qing was looking for him. After giving them some instructions, he went to find Fang Qing.
What's going on?
When Zhao Fen came in, Fang Qing was whispering something to Pinming.
Zhao Fen had clearly never seen Pinming before, and Pinming looked like he had been wronged.
"Lord Zhao."
Fang Qing introduced Lord Zhao to Pinming, and Pinming immediately knelt down in front of Lord Zhao.
“Lord Zhao, Miss Fang says you are a good official, please do justice for me.”
As he was enjoying his tea, he kowtowed to Zhao Fen.
Zhao Fen looked at Fang Qing.
Fang Qing first helped the person up, and then explained the whole story to Lord Zhao in the most concise way.
Zhao Fen was also angry when he heard this, but he didn't show any surprise.
"Such things are less common in poorer places. I have encountered such things before, and it is impossible to eradicate them completely."
Fang Qing felt heavy-hearted.
This idea seems to have been deeply ingrained in the minds of that group of people, and even if they were fed and given a good life, they probably wouldn't change anything.
"Isn't there any relevant law to resolve this matter?"
Zhao Fen shook his head helplessly.
"We can't even get enough to eat."
Fang Qing felt as if a huge rock was pressing on her chest, making it hard to breathe.
Yes, when people can't even get enough to eat, who cares about human rights?
Buying and selling people is a perfectly normal thing.
"This is wrong, Lord Zhao. It must be resolved. Otherwise, the people's safety and stability cannot be guaranteed, so how can we talk about leading them to a better life?"
"And then there's the Yan County government office. The entrance faces south, and you have to pay a fee to get in. It's only after seeing people like that that we can truly appreciate Lord Zhao's noble character."
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