Chapter 2: Release from Prison

June 15th, the 19th year of the Jianzhang era of the Great Yan Dynasty.

The renowned Midwife Feng, having exhausted her strength by performing the "Shangyin Divine Needle" twice within four days, passed away suddenly in her sleep at the age of forty-three.

A single session of the Shangyin Divine Needle cost eighty taels of silver, yet both families were destitute, paying a total of only four strings of cash.

Midwife Feng lived by the principle of "righteousness."

A month later, people inside and outside the capital were still talking about her.

Midwife Feng was known as the premier midwife of the Great Yan Dynasty. Not only was she skilled in midwifery, pediatrics, and gynecology, and capable of performing the Shangyin Divine Needle, but she was also of noble character. Thus, people respectfully addressed her as "Midwife" (Yipo) rather than "Birth Attendant" (Wenpo).

Over twenty-six years, Midwife Feng safely delivered over four thousand infants and saved more than a thousand mothers and babies on the brink of death, including over two hundred infants saved by the Shangyin Divine Needle.

She had even delivered children for two imperial concubines, one grand princess, and one princess who had suffered from difficult labors.

The number of times she provided free deliveries, medicine, and money was countless...

With her death, she had also paid off the karmic debts of her grandmother, the woman surnamed Fan.

Only after Midwife Feng died did people see more of her virtues. They also realized that without Midwife Feng and the Shangyin Divine Needle, their own mothers, daughters, sisters, and children would face far greater dangers...

The magistrate of Changping County, where Midwife Feng resided, had reported her deeds to the Jingzhao Prefecture, which in turn reported them to the Ministry of Rites, hoping to receive an imperial commendation.

While praising Midwife Feng, people also dug up the history of her grandmother, the woman surnamed Fan—the "Turtle-Crawling Woman" from thirty years ago—to curse her.

Because of Fan’s evil deeds, her descendants seemed truly cursed by heaven. Among her dozen or so children and grandchildren, none—save for Midwife Feng and Feng Buji—met a good end.

Some died of foul diseases, some drowned, some hanged themselves, some fell to their deaths...

The ancestors commit crimes, and the descendants pay the price; this is karma.

It was said that Midwife Feng left behind only a six-year-old nephew and a fourteen-year-old niece.

Just days after she passed, members of the Feng clan came to seize their property, claiming the family line was extinguished. A month later, her nephew, Feng Buji, and niece, Feng Chuchen, were pushed off a cliff, only surviving because a large tree broke their fall.

Feng Chuchen, having narrowly escaped death, went to the county office to beat the drum of injustice, accusing her clansman Feng Qi of attempted murder and her grand-uncle, Elder Feng, of inciting his grandson to commit violence to seize the orphans' inheritance.

Some said that she was truly Midwife Feng’s descendant, willing to go to jail at such a young age just to protect her little brother.

Others said the girl was fierce and unfilial, dragging her elders to court over money, and deserved to be jailed...

—

July 21st, the sky was high and the clouds were thin; the autumn sun was bright.

Having been locked up for three days and three nights, Feng Chuchen walked out of the prison cell.

Stepping onto the dry earth, smelling the free and fresh breeze, and bathing in the warm sunlight, Feng Chuchen let out a long, heavy breath.

Finally, she had left that dark, damp, and foul-smelling place.

Freedom was so precious!

To be jailed just three days after transmigrating, having to eat, sleep, and relieve oneself in the same room—just thinking about it was unbearable...

The ancients were perverse; if a junior accused a senior, a wife accused a husband, or a servant accused a master, they had to go to jail or be beaten, even if they were in the right.

Magistrate Li, who knew and admired Midwife Feng, still had to sentence Feng Chuchen to a month in jail according to the law.

This was the lightest possible punishment.

Later, after many people pleaded on her behalf, Feng Chuchen was released after only three days.

Feng Chuchen scratched her bird's-nest hair, smoothed out her wrinkled skirt, and curtsied to thank the jailer, Niu, who had brought her out.

"Many thanks for your care, Uncle Niu."

In jail, she had been able to eat her fill, the straw inside was dry and plentiful, the waste buckets were changed daily, and the jailers and matrons had treated her with great courtesy...

Even though the armies of cockroaches and mice had given her goosebumps layer after layer, Feng Chuchen was still immensely grateful.

This was not only due to Magistrate Li’s instructions and Jailer Niu’s care, but also the friendship Midwife Feng had built with the jailers and matrons while she was alive.

The matrons were the women who guarded the female prisoners.

When Midwife Feng was alive, she had come to the prison many times to examine the female inmates and even performed deliveries there.

Jailer Niu smiled. "If you want to thank someone, thank Big Sister Feng. When my mother couldn't give birth for three days and three nights, it was Big Sister who safely delivered my fifth brother. Back then, my family was poor and could only give her ten eggs, but she returned five of them so my mother could nourish herself...

"Big Sister was a kind soul. If nothing goes wrong, the imperial court will surely grant her a commendation. Those blind fools won't dare to bully you and your brother again."

Kindness given is kindness returned; blessings sent are blessings received.

The ancestors plant the trees, and the descendants enjoy the shade.

The woman Feng Chuchen had never met had not only saved countless lives and spent her whole life atoning for the sins of the Fan family, but she had also accumulated countless merits, allowing her to live a second life.

Feng Chuchen firmly believed that if not for Midwife Feng’s good deeds, this body would have died, and there was no way she, a soul from another world, could have replaced her to continue living.

Now that she was here, she would definitely find a way to ensure that Feng Buji, the only remaining sprout of that family, would live on and be raised to become a person of talent.

The Feng family line would not end; it would only get better and better.

Her younger brother, Feng Buji, was the only child born to her foster parents when they were thirty-five. When he was one, his foster father died of illness, and a few days later, his foster mother drowned.

People said this was because of the great evil of the woman surnamed Fan, which was why her descendants met such tragic ends...

As Feng Chuchen walked out of the Changping County prison gate, Feng Buji and the maid Banxia were waiting outside.

They had hired a donkey cart before dawn to come to the city and wait there.

Feng Buji rushed forward, hugged Feng Chuchen’s waist, and began to wail at the top of his lungs, "Sister, you're finally out. It's my fault for being useless, letting you be bullied by bad people and even go to jail.

"Sister is a young lady; I should have been the one to file the complaint, I should have been the one to go to jail. Ah~~ ah~~ ah~~ I'm not a man..."

The little guy wailed as he repented, looking truly heartbroken. The several large scars on his face twisted, making him look even more ferocious.

The scars were from when he had rolled down the cliff earlier.

Feng Chuchen comforted him, "It's not your fault, little brother. You're small, you couldn't have handled that suffering. Alright, alright, if anything happens to the family in the future, I'll make sure you're the one standing in front of me..."

Only then did Feng Buji stop crying.

The siblings walked hand-in-hand toward the street corner, with Banxia following behind.

Feng Buji talked about family matters, "The day before yesterday, Brother Guo took his brothers to Hekou Village, smashed up Feng Qi’s house, and beat the men in his family. Not a single person in Hekou Village helped them, and those clansmen didn't dare to help either."

A hint of a smile appeared on his serious little face.

Banxia added, "Yesterday, Auntie Wang was picked up by the Qi manor. The eldest mistress of the Qi family is due between the end of this month and the beginning of next. Auntie Wang gave me a hundred coins for the cart and noodles, and she also told me that when you get home, you must step over a brazier."

Auntie Wang was Midwife Feng’s assistant and also a servant of the Feng family; her midwifery skills were excellent.

As they walked along, the main street was wide, lined with shops, mostly blue-brick tiled houses, with some two-story and even four-story storefronts.

Pedestrians bustled about, and the cries of hawkers rose one after another.

Public order was also quite good; every so often, groups of two or three patrolling bailiffs would appear.

Feng Chuchen felt fortunate; at least she hadn't transmigrated into an era of war and chaos.

The group arrived at an open-air noodle stall in the East Market.

Banxia said to the stall owner, "Three bowls of plain noodles, two with a poached egg each, and one bowl with the noodles boiled softer."

The two poached eggs were for Feng Chuchen and her brother. Feng Buji had a weak stomach, so his noodles needed to be softer.