"But, but if we do this, many people might object, and even Mu Wuniang herself might not agree," Luo Qingci expressed her concern.
"Do you think anyone in Gefeng would dare to oppose me? Do I need to care about their objections?" Jiang Jin smiled, her expression cool and aloof.
Luo Qingci was stunned. It seemed that, indeed, she didn't need to.
Jiang Jin looked at Luo Qingci, "Do you think you are inferior to men?"
"Of course not," Luo Qingci answered without hesitation.
Jiang Jin asked again, "If there were no war, if your country hadn't fallen and your family hadn't been destroyed, what would your life be like?"
Luo Qingci sighed wistfully, "I would marry, and then, assist my husband and raise my children."
"And then be trapped in the inner courtyard." Jiang Jin finished her sentence for her. "At that time, did you ever think you would become a magistrate? That you would embark on the path of becoming an official?"
Luo Qingci shook her head and smiled bitterly, "I never thought of it."
Jiang Jin continued, "Because of the fall of your country and the destruction of your family, you survived a near-death experience, and calmly accepted the idea of women becoming officials, soldiers, and leaders."
Luo Qingci pursed her lips. Her transformation was actually mostly due to Jiang Jin.
She made her realize that women were not in any way inferior to men, and could even be stronger. Just like the dazzling woman before her, she had accomplished many things that most men could not.
Jiang Jin looked at Luo Qingci with a serious expression, "I'm telling you this to let you know that human cognition can change."
"Although it is a long and arduous journey, this is what I want to do. To let women learn to resist, to let them know that they are themselves, not someone else's property, starting right here in our Gefeng."
Jiang Jin patted her shoulder, "Go ahead and do it boldly. In Gefeng, I am your support!"
Luo Qingci's nose tingled slightly, but the corners of her mouth curled up. She nodded heavily, "Alright."
The morning sunlight, like fine threads, pierced through the curtains and shone on the woman's face.
Her eyelids twitched, and she slowly opened her eyes. The sunlight was blinding, but it was warm and made her feel very comfortable.
"You're awake?" A female voice brought her back to her senses. She moved her eyes and saw a young, tender-looking girl looking at her with joy.
She opened her mouth to speak, but an overwhelming pain suddenly swept over her entire body. Her vision went dark, and she almost fainted.
Hearing the shout, Liu Mi walked in. "Xiao Xi, is Lady Mu awake?"
Luo Xiaoxi nodded happily, "Yes, she's awake."
She was among the first batch of students to receive Jiang Jin's teaching, and her academic performance was quite good. Now, apart from attending Jiang Jin's classes, she spent the rest of her time working as a medicine apprentice at the clinic or going up the mountain with her grandfather to gather herbs.
"Pour her some warm water," Liu Mi instructed.
After a flurry of activity, Lady Mu finally recovered her senses and realized that she was currently lying in the medical clinic.
"My, my mother-in-law, and my husband, they, they..." She spoke intermittently, incredibly weak.
Liu Mi didn't answer her question, but instead said, "I've already sent someone to inform the magistrate. She will come over and talk to you in a while. You should eat some porridge first."
Luo Xiaoxi brought in a bowl of porridge.
Lady Mu felt both grateful and ashamed, restrained and nervous, but she still opened her mouth and ate the porridge that Luo Xiaoxi fed her.
It was rice porridge, boiled until the rice oil came out. Even though nothing was added, it was incredibly delicious. A tear slid down the corner of her eye.
Luo Qingci arrived very quickly. She planned to hold a public trial for this wife-beating case. If everything went smoothly, Lady Mu would be the plaintiff.
Seeing her, Mu Wuniang felt a bit nervous and struggled to get up to bow.
Luo Qingci quickly stopped her, "There's no need for formalities. How do you feel now?"
Seeing her gentle attitude, Mu Wuniang relaxed a bit in her heart. "I, I feel much better. Thank you for saving me."
Luo Qingci shook her head, "We weren't the only ones who saved you, but also your neighbors. To save you, they fought with Yuan Dalang and your mother-in-law."
Yuan Dalang was exactly the man who beat her, his full name being Yuan Jian.
Mu Wuniang was stunned, "Them? Was it Ah Hua?"
Luo Qingci nodded and mentioned a few more names to her. Seeing that she looked so moved she was about to cry again, she said, "They all care about you very much."
"They are all good people," Mu Wuniang choked out.
Luo Qingci lowered her eyes and looked at her, "What do you plan to do now?"
Mu Wuniang's eyes darted away, "I, I don't know either."
"Let me ask you, do you still want to return to that home?"
At the mention of home, Mu Wuniang's body shrank back, "Can, can I not return?"
"Of course you can. It only takes two steps. First, divorce, and second, sue him," Luo Qingci said concisely.
Mu Wuniang was astonished, opening her mouth but not knowing what to say for a moment.
That home terrified her, and she had thought about fleeing, but she didn't dare to, nor could she. Wasn't this how women lived?
Her mother was like this, and her two older sisters were like this too. It was perfectly justified for men to beat women, especially since she hadn't been able to give birth to a son or a daughter for Yuan Jian.
If it were in the past, she would have just died if she was beaten to death. There was nothing in this world for her to be nostalgic about anyway.
But after arriving in Gefeng, a useless woman like her actually got a job, earning 200 copper coins every month.
200 copper coins. She had never seen so much money in her life, even though every time she got her wages and took them home, her mother-in-law would take them away.
But she was still very happy. She earned that with her own hands. Perhaps she wasn't as useless as her mother-in-law said.
When sewing and mending at home, her mother-in-law would scold her for being clumsy, saying she sewed worse than a dog, and her husband would scold her for knowing nothing but this little bit of craftsmanship.
But at the garment workshop, everyone said she had clever hands and fine stitches. Even Lady Feng praised her for being meticulous.
She had lived this long, and no one had ever praised her. For the first time, she felt that maybe she wasn't so useless, that she was doing something valuable.
This feeling was very warm.
When she was beaten half to death this time, she realized that she was afraid of dying. She wanted to live, to live in Gefeng, this Gefeng where women could also have jobs.
"Divorce? How can a woman like me live after a divorce?" Mu Wuniang murmured.
Luo Qingci's voice was gentle, "You earn a wage of 200 copper coins a month. How much does it cost to rent a single room? How much are your daily expenses every month?"
"You can completely support yourself. Why do you still need to depend on others? Isn't it good to be the master of your own house?"
"Be the master of my own house?" Mu Wuniang's eyes brightened.
She wouldn't have dared to think about it in the past, but it was different now.
There were quite a few single women in Gefeng. Some rented together, and some rented alone.
If she could really be her own master, without a man and without a mother-in-law, there would be no beatings and no starvation...
"However, I suggest you sue him!" Luo Qingci's clear and cold voice rang out.
Mu Wuniang's eyes suddenly widened as she looked at the beautiful magistrate, "Wh-why?"
Luo Qingci leaned forward slightly, "For more women like you."
Mu Wuniang's eyes were filled with confusion, not quite understanding Luo Qingci's words.
Luo Qingci looked at her, "If our laws are strict, regardless of whether it's a man or a woman, as long as they dare to hit the other person, we will severely punish them. If they kill, they will pay with their lives. Do you think the other party would still dare to raise a hand?"
"But, but when a woman gets married, doesn't she belong to him?" Mu Wuniang felt that what she heard today had somewhat exceeded her cognition.
Luo Qingci shook her head, "No, this is Gefeng. In Gefeng, women and men are the same, both exist independently. Haven't you seen that we have female heads of households in Gefeng?"
"Mu Wuniang, I want you to bring a case against Yuan Jian with one demand: that he be put to death!" Luo Qingci's expression was solemn as she looked straight into Mu Wuniang's eyes.
