Extra: Changing Fate 2
Yuan Meiniang refused to leave no matter what, and cried "Help!" whenever she was moved, while the two children kept crying.
The neighbors were all watching and gossiping, their words full of accusations against the mother and son. Sun's mother didn't dare to confront Yuan Meiniang directly.
Sun Baogen was a bully at home, beating Yuan Meiniang and her two daughters, but he was a coward in public.
After this incident, he simply stayed at home and dared not go out, leaving his mother to argue with people outside all by herself.
Two kind-hearted old women, unable to bear the indifference of the Sun family mother and son, ran into the Sun family's house and grabbed two quilts, a mattress and a cover-up, so that Yuan Meiniang wouldn't have to lie directly on the ground.
She had just suffered a miscarriage, and the ground was cold and hard, not to mention she had no coverings or privacy, making her a laughingstock.
The establishment of the Women's Federation was framed and designed by Zhao Ruxi herself. She also personally held a fundraising auction, at which she promoted the purpose of the Women's Federation and asked each of the noble ladies in Beijing to put up an item for auction. The proceeds from the auction were used to establish the Women's Federation Foundation for the protection of women's and children's rights.
The establishment of the Women's Women's Federation was similar to that of the Women's Technical College. First, it gathered people like Cui Wen who were literate, enthusiastic about women's rights, and willing to treat it as a career. Zhao Ruxi personally trained them, then assigned them to Beijing to accumulate experience, and then promoted it to various places.
In the capital city, which is divided into four sections—east, south, west, and north— the Women's Federation's Federation headquarters was located in the east section, and there was one branch in the south section. Because the west and north sections had a large number of ordinary people, the main focus of protection was on poor women, so there were three branches in the west section and four branches in the north section.
One of these locations was not far from the Sun family's house.
Auntie Wang had gotten the medicine with Yuan Meiniang that time, and they had gone to the Women's Federation together to inquire about related matters. She knew the place well, so when she went there and explained the situation, the people from the Women's Federation immediately followed her to the alley in front of the Sun family's house.
"They're here! They're here!" the crowd shouted excitedly.
The Sun family's situation wasn't unusual. These days, it's common for mothers-in-law to mistreat their daughters-in-law and husbands to abuse their wives. No matter how much Yuan Meiniang made a scene, her family wasn't supportive, and in the end, she still had to go back to the Sun family to make ends meet.
She had to endure until her mother-in-law passed away and she could finally take charge of her own household, only then would her suffering be over. Otherwise, why would there be the saying, "A daughter-in-law who has endured many years of hardship finally becomes a mother-in-law"?
But when people heard that Yuan Meiniang had asked the Women's Federation to handle the matter, everyone became unusually interested.
When the Women's Federation was established, people were hired to go door-to-door to promote it. However, everyone adhered to the principle of "not washing dirty linen in public" and wanted to continue living their lives, so they resolved internal conflicts internally, at most asking their own family members to come in, but not asking outsiders to interfere. Therefore, no one witnessed the true role of the "Women's Federation".
Now that they heard the Women's Federation was coming, everyone stayed and waited patiently, and the crowd kept growing.
When they saw people arriving, everyone craned their necks to look outside.
Three women arrived, followed by six strong female servants. The nine of them, along with Auntie Wang, exuded an air of authority. Without the servants clearing a path, everyone parted to make way for them.
The woman at the head of the group walked up to Yuan Meiniang, squatted down, and said gently, "You must be Yuan Meiniang. I am Lady Ma, the wife of Commander Chen, the North City Five Cities Military Command."
She then pointed to the two people behind her and said, "This is Lady Wen, wife of Deputy Commander Zhou, and this is Lady Wei, wife of Registrar Ruan."
Upon hearing this explanation, everyone gasped.
There are many officials in the capital, especially high-ranking ones. The Five Cities Military Command is only Principal Sixth Rank official, not considered a very important position.
But "the local official is more powerful than the county official," and these ordinary people in the northern city were usually assigned corvée labor, paid taxes, and had any disputes or conflicts handled by the Five Cities Military Command.
To put it simply, if you offend a nobleman, and he doesn't hold it against you or cares about your reputation, it's not a big deal. But if you offend the Five Cities Military Command, there will be plenty of opportunities to make things difficult for your family, and you can forget about living a normal life.
They only knew that a "Women's Federation" had been established, but they never expected that the head of the Women's Federation was actually the wife of several leaders of the Five Cities Military Command.
With this matter reaching the ears of the ladies, it seems the Sun family is doomed.
Yuan Meiniang had long wanted a divorce. She had learned about the identities of the ladies when she inquired about the situation last time, which was why she dared to take this step today. Otherwise, if someone came and said a few perfunctory words, it wouldn't be enough to intimidate the Sun family and get them to agree to the divorce, which would have made her situation even more difficult.
Upon seeing that all three ladies had arrived, her eyes had already lit up with hope.
Lady Ma continued, "... If you have any difficulties or grievances, just tell me. Our Women's Federation will definitely uphold justice for you."
Yuan Meiniang wasn't actually a weak person. It's just that she didn't take proper care of herself after giving birth to her eldest daughter, and her health was always poor. Not to mention Sun Baogen, she couldn't even beat Sun's mother.
Her family wasn't supportive, and she didn't know where to go after the divorce. She also couldn't bear to leave her two daughters, so she stayed with the Sun family. To avoid being beaten herself and to prevent her two daughters from suffering abuse from Sun's mother, she endured it all.
Now that she had made up her mind to divorce, she naturally wouldn't hide it.
"Ever since I married into the Sun family, I've been constantly beaten; once I almost lost my life."
As she spoke, she lifted the hair from her forehead, revealing a long scar.
Upon seeing this, the onlookers began to whisper among themselves again.
The wound was long, and it was just above the forehead. If the wound had been any deeper, he really wouldn't have survived.
The Sun mother and son were far too ruthless!
"Besides this, I have countless injuries, big and small, all over my body. Old wounds haven't healed before new ones appear. My two daughters also have bruises all over their bodies from my mother-in-law pinching them."
Yuan Meiniang rolled up the sleeve of her eldest daughter, who was squatting in front of her.
Her eldest daughter was only five years old. Although she was thin, her skin was very fair and delicate, making the bluish-purple marks on her skin particularly noticeable.
"Good heavens, even tigers don't eat their cubs. This Daya is Widow Sun's own granddaughter, isn't she? How could she do such a thing?"
"You don't know. Because Daya was a girl, Widow Sun didn't like her from the moment she was born; later, when Erya was born, she wanted to drown Erya on the spot. It was only because the midwife couldn't bear it and said that if she did that, her grandson would think she was cruel and wouldn't dare to be reincarnated in her family, that she let Erya live."
"Hmph, people like that should be childless."
Hearing the discussions, Sun's mother wished she could strangle Yuan Meiniang and shut everyone up.
That Yuan Meiniang wants a divorce? No way!
"So I want to ask the Women's Federation to help me get a divorce from Sun Baogen. I also want to take my two daughters with me," Yuan Meiniang said.
Lady Ma glanced at Sun's mother, then turned to the wife of Deputy Commander Zhou and said, "Lady Wen, please read aloud Article 5 of Chapter 17 of the Great Jin Code to them."
The Women's Rights Protection Regulations were added to the Great Jin Code code after the Crown Princess argued vehemently with the court officials, engaging in a fierce debate.
Article 5 of Chapter 17 addresses the punishments for the abuse of women and children.