"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!" The powerful voice echoed over Lujia Village.
Coming to her senses, Jiang Ling quickly kowtowed to express her gratitude and had her two children accept the gifts bestowed by the Emperor.
"I only intended to read out the imperial edict today, but I never expected to witness such a disgraceful scene. Your Shen family has really stretched your reach far! How dare you come to Pingxi County to cause trouble!" After reading out the imperial edict, Magistrate Duan's face immediately fell. He glared fiercely at the trembling servants of the Shen family and reprimanded them.
"My lord... my lord, I'm innocent! Our young lady has gone missing. We've made many inquiries and found out that she was... was kidnapped..." Old Mrs. Zhou wanted to say "kidnapped" but stopped there.
But then he suddenly realized that the peasant woman he had looked down on before had now become a lady of high birth. Although she was only a low-ranking ninth-grade noblewoman, she was still an official and someone he absolutely could not afford to offend.
Thinking of this, Old Lady Zhou immediately changed her tune and said, "Our young lady is here, and we want to take her away!"
Jiang Ling glanced disdainfully at Old Lady Zhou. This woman was really good at changing her tune with the wind. She didn't say anything, but just glanced at Shen Congxin.
Shen Congxin nodded and walked up to Magistrate Duan. She first kowtowed to Magistrate Duan and then said, "Your Excellency, I am the Shen Congxin they are looking for!"
Magistrate Duan gestured for Shen Congxin to stand up and speak. Shen Congxin glanced at Jiang Ling, then glared at Granny Zhou, and said, "My lord, I was not kidnapped. I came to Lu Family Village voluntarily with my aunt... Madam An!"
"Lujia Village is a wonderful place; please, Your Excellency, recognize its merits!"
"Oh? Miss Shen, are you telling the truth?" Magistrate Duan asked with a serious expression.
"My lord! What I just said was my own will, and no one forced me to say it!" Shen Congxin said firmly.
“Hmm…” Magistrate Duan nodded, then suddenly his gaze turned cold as he glared angrily at the Shen family servants.
“Injuring a young woman and bullying villagers, Qianyu, how should this be punished?” Magistrate Duan said slowly.
Zhao Qianyu, who had been eager to get started, straightened his back and raised his head after hearing what Magistrate Duan said, and said meaningfully, "According to the current law, injuring a woman is punishable by eighty strokes of the cane and three years in prison! Deceiving villagers is punishable by thirty strokes of the cane and six months in prison! However, I wonder if what I said is correct, Magistrate Duan!"
Magistrate Duan looked at Zhao Qianyu with satisfaction and said, "Qianyu is well-versed in the law and is a promising young man!"
"Men, tie these people up and take them to the Guangping County government office!" Magistrate Duan shouted to his men.
"Miss! Young Miss! Save me! Save me! Save me..." Seeing that Magistrate Duan was serious, Old Lady Zhou scrambled toward Chen Congxin.
Unexpectedly, Shen Congxin turned his head away and didn't even glance at Old Lady Zhou.
Seeing that his task was complete, Magistrate Duan now wanted to "avenge" Jiang Ling. He glanced at Zhao Qianyu and said, "Qianyu, would you like to come with me to see your father?"
Zhao Qianyu also felt that the matter was settled. He nodded and said to Jiang Ling, "Auntie, oh no, I mean Madam An, I'll come to see you again when I'm done with this!"
Jiang Ling quickly grabbed a handful of loose silver from her bosom and placed it in Magistrate Duan's hand, saying, "Is this silver for the brothers' travel expenses? Magistrate Duan, please don't think it's too little!"
Magistrate Duan, knowing Jiang Ling's intentions, did not refuse. He nodded to her meaningfully and said, "I'll come to see you again when everything is alright."
He then left Lujia Village with Zhao Qianyu and several yamen runners.
"Village chief! We...we've struck it rich!" As soon as Magistrate Duan left, the people around him swarmed around him, chattering all at once.
The village chief's ears ached from the noise, so he quickly shouted, "This money is for building a school and hiring teachers for our Lu Family Village! Stop waving around in front of me!"
Jiang Ling's situation wasn't much better. As soon as Magistrate Duan left, all the nosy village women crowded around, their eyes wide with surprise as they stared at the reward tokens held by Jiang Yaojie and Jiang Suihe.
"Jiang... Madam An, please put on this lady's dress and let us see!"
"Yes, yes, I've lived in Lujia Village for so long, and we've never even produced a scholar, let alone a xiucai (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations). And now we've produced a lady!"
"Wow, the jade on this hairpin is so translucent, it must be very expensive..."
The crowd surrounded Jiang Ling, chattering amongst themselves. Most of the village women looked on with envy, but Old Lady Lu and Widow Wang stood in the corner, glaring fiercely at Jiang Ling.
Especially Old Lady Lu was quite surprised. This good-for-nothing who couldn't bear a son had suddenly transformed into a woman. This was going to be difficult to deal with!
The situation on Widow Wang's side isn't good either. After all, she was the one who had the biggest grudge against Jiang Ling before, and she was very worried that Jiang Ling would come back to take revenge, since her status is different now.
Thinking of this, Widow Wang frowned and whispered to Old Woman Lu, "Mother, I... I'm not feeling well!"
"Not feeling well? Why are you making a fuss! Have you had a single good day since you married into this family? It's always this or that you're not feeling well! You're just pregnant! I was working in the fields the day before I gave birth to my husband Youren! I think you're just lazy! You don't want to work!" Old Mrs. Lu was already angry about Jiang Ling being granted a title, and when she heard what Widow Wang said, she became even angrier.
She glared at Widow Wang fiercely, then reached out her withered hand, pinched Widow Wang's ear, and walked towards her home.
Widow Wang was being pinched so hard by Old Woman Lu that tears were almost streaming down her face. As she walked away, she begged for mercy, "Mother, I...I know I was wrong! Please stop pinching me, it hurts..."
"Pah! You little rascal, do you even know what pain is with your thick skin? I think your skin is too loose! It's fine if you give me a grandson, but if you give birth to a worthless child, see if I don't beat you!" Old Mrs. Lu let go of Widow Wang's hand but continued to curse at Widow Wang.
Widow Wang was filled with intense hatred and regret. She had truly been blinded by greed; why had she trusted that glib-tongued Lu Youren? If she hadn't insisted on marrying into the family, her life wouldn't be like this.
She glared at Old Lady Lu, who had returned to the house. Just then, Old Lady Lu, with a fierce expression, suddenly jumped out and scolded Widow Wang: "Lazybones! What are you still standing there for? Wash all of Youren and the others' clothes right now, or you won't be eating tonight. Don't think that just because you have sons you can live a life of luxury. Don't you know what your status was before!"
Widow Wang was furious when she heard this. She angrily walked towards the backyard, but she didn't pay attention to her footing and fell heavily to the ground. Her stomach immediately felt a heart-wrenching pain.
"Mother...I...I...it hurts so much...Mother...save me..." Widow Wang's screams reached Old Lady Lu's ears.
Old Mrs. Lu impatiently came out of the house, about to continue her cursing, but stopped herself when she saw Widow Wang lying on the ground.
"Second son's wife, third son's wife, come out quickly!" Old Mrs. Lu shouted at the top of her lungs towards the distance.
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