Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 425: That Won’t Do

As soon as Qin Yao got up, Liu Ji happily presented the poem like a treasure.

"Wife, look, this is the new poem the teacher was inspired to write during yesterday’s bath. Every word is a gem, and the message is excellent!"

Qin Yao was just waking up, her mind not yet fully alert, and after a long yawn, she drank half a cup of the cool tea Ah Wang served to clear her head. Only then did she lift her eyelids to glance at the poem Liu Ji handed over.

The poem was good, except it detailed the events of the teacher and student bathing, drinking, and making merry last night.

Liu Ji, that fool, probably really got drunk last night and wasn’t thinking clearly, revealing the hard-kept secret just like that.

Qin Yao returned the poem to him, looked at Liu Ji again, and seeing his bright eyes watching her with complete trust, couldn’t help but raise her hand to her forehead, saying wondrously, "I find you much more pleasing to the eye lately."

Isn’t this an obvious compliment?

Liu Ji scratched his head with some embarrassment, "It’s all thanks to your good teaching, wife."

Qin Yao motioned with her chin, "Go paste it on the village notice board, let those scholars circling your teacher soak in his talent a bit."

And give Liu Family Village a bit of fame, promoting her grand tourism development plans!

That was exactly Liu Ji’s intention. Seeing Qin Yao smiling, he knew he had flattered correctly this time, readily agreed, skipped breakfast, and happily headed to the village entrance with the freshly completed poem.

As soon as Liu Ji appeared, the scholars waiting at the village entrance warmly gathered around.

Upon hearing Liu Ji say he would share the great scholar’s new work with everyone, the scholars were so excited they gestured enthusiastically.

A few more flamboyant ones almost wanted to pick Liu Ji up and kiss him.

Liu Ji quickly waved his hands and stepped back, "Oh no! This will not do!"

Finally, Liu Ji vividly reenacted the inspiration behind last night’s poem, making the scholars even more grateful, exclaiming that seeing this masterpiece today left them with no regrets!

Liu Ji’s mouth twitched slightly, thinking, don’t you dare die in Liu Family Village.

With a polite yet distant smile, he completed the promotional task perfectly and happily went home seeking his wife’s praise.

Qin Yao wasn’t stingy. If you want a horse to run, you must let it eat grass. She personally served Liu Ji a bowl of rice, telling him to make do with some leftovers.

Who told him to run off without breakfast? She was in a good mood and appetite today, ate heartily, and only when she looked down did she realize there were few dishes left.

However, the disdainful and aggrieved expression she expected didn’t appear on Liu Ji’s handsome face.

Sitting at the dining table, holding the rice scraped from the bottom of the pot with a bit of crust, his eyes looked at the last few vegetables on the table, with a moving gleam.

His lips, not too thick and with a natural luster, quivered slightly as he spoke, "Wife, you actually remembered to save me some food."

In the past, how fortunate was he to eat her leftovers?

He always licked the plate clean!

"These are the meals you specially saved for me, wife..." Liu Ji looked up at Qin Yao, genuinely reluctant, "Wife, I can’t bear to eat them."

Qin Yao weirdly glanced at him, wondering if he was suffering from brain damage.

But those peach blossom eyes, wider and purer than a dog’s.

"Ahem!" Qin Yao fought the urge to curl her toes in awkwardness, coughed twice to mask her embarrassment, and gently patted his head, "Eat up, there will be leftovers tonight too."

"Mm! Mm!" Liu Ji nodded with determination before picking up his chopsticks, gulping down his food hungrily.

He hadn’t eaten all morning and was starving!

Just as he was eating, a voice full of excitement came from outside, "Third Sister-in-law!"

It was Liu Fei’s voice.

With his mouth full of rice, Liu Ji mumbled, "Is the academy closed today? What’s he doing here?"

And the warm way he kept calling "Third Sister-in-law" was sycophantic!

As he spoke, a grain of rice fell from his mouth onto the table, and Liu Ji swiftly picked it up and popped it back into his mouth, chewing thoroughly. After all, it was specially served by his wife~

Qin Yao’s mouth twitched sharply, and she pondered whether to invite a witch to assess if Liu Ji was under a spell for being so obsessed.

"Third Sister-in-law!"

Liu Fei hurried in, carrying a luggage bag on his shoulder for changing and washing back home.

Liu Fei was no longer working at the stationery factory. After the new year, he left his factory job, enrolled in the academy in the county with Liu Ji’s guidance, and successfully got admitted.

The young man now had a clear future plan: first attend the academy to learn some skills and literacy, then find a job as a shopkeeper, continually improving his abilities.

Also encouraged by Qin Yao, Liu Fei also had a thought in mind: if his third sister-in-law ever needed him in the future, he would come back immediately to help as soon as she asked.

A few days ago, Liu Fei received a message in the county from his second brother Liu Zhong, saying that his third sister-in-law wanted him to pay attention to any movements of the government, gambling houses, and brothels in the city, and come back to inform her if anything happened.

And indeed, after the gambling house suddenly closed two days ago, another major event happened last night.

The brothel was raided by the government!

This event stirred up the city all night long, only calming down by this morning.

Unfortunately, by the time the city gates closed last night, Liu Fei couldn’t leave the city. He could only leave after the gates opened this morning, making him late.

"Third Sister-in-law, this time the officials finally did something right. You wouldn’t believe it, but they found over a dozen kidnapped women in the brothel’s cellar, the youngest only seven or eight years old. They didn’t even spare widows, they say it was set up by handsome men tricking them in, absolutely inhuman!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Ji, considering himself handsome, slowly lifted his head from the bowl, "Were they as handsome as your third brother?"

Liu Fei snorted at him, "Just eat your food!"

"Do you know what happened to the men who set it up? Fifty lashes with a cane, their buttocks were bleeding, and they’ll be shaved bald and tattooed before being exiled three thousand miles!"

Liu Ji gasped, "County Magistrate Song is serious?"

"Of course it’s serious, how could such a thing be fake?" Liu Fei countered, confused.

Liu Ji lightly nodded, knowing there could still be fakes. During his carefree days wandering the city, he had witnessed numerous staged shows.

Previously, Song Zhang had chatted with Qin Yao for a long time at home, seemingly reaching some kind of agreement.

Thinking of this, Liu Ji surreptitiously glanced at Qin Yao.

Qin Yao poured tea for Liu Fei, seemingly having anticipated everything, showing no strange reaction as she calmly asked,

"Under what pretense did the government seal the brothel? Where is the madam Beauty Pan now?"

After drinking a cup of tea to soothe his throat, Liu Fei replied uncertainly,

"I heard the madam ran away. The excuse for sealing it seems to be someone reporting the brothel for kidnapping women and forcing them into prostitution."

In Sheng Country, the charge of forcing someone into prostitution holds heavy penalties. For less serious cases, it’s exile; for more severe ones, it’s execution.

As long as there’s solid evidence and witnesses, the case can be settled quickly.

However, this charge might not stick to Beauty Pan. Now that she’s on the run, it creates room for manipulation, leaving Song Zhang with a complex situation to handle.