After being reborn, I stole the female lead's cheat ability and raised the empress.

Chapter 244 Exploring the Situation

Upon hearing this, Xia Li smiled slightly, "If it's a bad habit, then it can be changed."

The women stared at her, stunned.

She paused, her gaze softening and filled with encouragement. "From now on, you can work together to run a small business, helping each other out. You can cultivate the village land together, and the harvest will belong to you. You can take care of the children together. Without the unreasonable demands, oppression, and fraud of men, you will discover that life can be so wonderful."

As the women listened to Xia Li's words, their eyes gradually brightened, and their crying slowly subsided.

They began to discuss quietly, their confusion and helplessness gradually replaced by contemplation and anticipation.

Behind them, the men, listening to the conversation outside, grew increasingly grim, probably regretting their past actions. Or perhaps they thought Xia Li's behavior was outrageous.

But nobody cares anymore.

……

After the matter was resolved.

Xia Li, Zhao Jihua, and Tao Yao stood on the city wall, their hearts unable to find peace for a long time.

They knew that although they had successfully dismantled a criminal surrogacy operation, there were still many women in the world, like those in that village, living in misery.

They secretly vowed to fight for the rights of women everywhere, so that more people could be spared this pain and humiliation.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone on them, highlighting their resolute yet beautiful silhouettes.

Their story has only just begun, and their courage and faith will shine like the brightest stars in the night sky, illuminating those dark corners and bringing a glimmer of light and hope to the world.

……

The night was as dark as ink, thickly spilled across the courtyard. Only the candlelight on the stone table flickered gently in the breeze, illuminating the solemn faces of Zhao Jihua, Xia Li, and Tao Yao.

Zhao Jihua frowned, tapping his folding fan against his palm with a light, intermittent sound that broke the silence of the night.

"Think about it, this human trafficking is so rampant, yet the officials behind it turn a blind eye. There must be a much larger force behind this collusion between officials and businessmen, and it's definitely not as simple as what we see."

Xia Li sat to the side, resting his chin on his hand, his eyes thoughtful: "Ji Hua is right. Those small fry don't have that kind of ability. There must be someone more powerful backing them up."

She shook her head slightly as she spoke, her face full of worry.

Tao Yao's voice was filled with anger: "These people are too hateful. Innocent people are suffering greatly because of them. We absolutely cannot sit idly by!"

The three exchanged a glance, their eyes flashing with determination.

Zhao Jihua: "Then let's go and meet the big fish behind this! Let's disguise ourselves as merchants and go to the prefectural capital to find out what's going on."

Tao Yao's eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands and exclaimed, "That's a great idea! Disguising ourselves as merchants will not only keep us in the dark, but also make it easier for us to gather information from all over the place."

As she spoke, she stood up and gestured as if she were a merchant traveling the world, which made everyone's lips curl into a slight smile.

Xia Li nodded quickly, "I agree, let's do it this way! But how should we dress so that no one recognizes us?"

Zhao Jihua smiled confidently and gently stroked his chin: "Don't worry about that, I've already made preparations. Tomorrow, I'll go and prepare some costumes. We need to make sure our words and actions are realistic."

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, the three of them began to busy themselves in the room.

Zhao Jihua took out the prepared clothes and handed them to Xia Li and Tao Yao: "Change into these, and don't be as delicate as usual."

Before long, the three beautiful women in the room disappeared, and in their place were three men who looked like they would be obsessed with women.

With everything prepared, the three of them strode confidently toward the prefectural capital.

……

Before long, they entered the city and rested in a teahouse.

Zhao Jihua took a sip of tea, his gaze sweeping through the crowd: "Don't rush, this kind of thing certainly won't be exposed easily. We need to observe more and start from the details."

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out not far away.

The three looked in the direction of the sound and saw a group of soldiers escorting a ragged man past, who kept shouting that he was innocent.

"What's going on?" Tao Yao asked curiously.

Zhao Jihua frowned: "Let's go take a look."

The three of them stood up, squeezed through the crowd, and came to the front row.

Xia Li asked the person next to her, "Hey, auntie, what's going on?"

"Sigh, everyone knows about this. The one being held captive is Zhang Er, who sells groceries on the street corner. He's an honest little businessman who makes a living off his meager earnings." The old woman shook her head and sighed heavily.

A young woman standing nearby chimed in, "Yes, who would have thought that refusing to pay Liu Mazi's protection money would lead to this disaster!"

"That Liu Mazi is too much! He's a complete bully!" A burly man, his face full of anger, clenched his fists as if he wanted to rush up and beat the bully up immediately. "Zhang Er refused to pay, so he instructed his men to frame Zhang Er for theft. Isn't this blatant bullying?"

"The government doesn't do anything about it, they just let these thugs run rampant!" someone complained quietly.

Zhao Jihua listened quietly to the crowd's discussion, his eyes growing colder: "It seems that Liu Mazi is notorious in this area. He must have the government backing him up to dare to act so recklessly."

Tao Yao was so angry that her face turned red. She put her hands on her hips and couldn't help but shout, "Is there no law left? In broad daylight, they can turn black into white and frame an innocent person like this! Just because he refused to pay the money, he was wronged. This bully and the government must be in cahoots!"

Her voice was clear and loud, attracting the attention of those around her, but they could only shake their heads helplessly, daring not to speak out.

Xia Li whispered a reminder: "Let's not make a sound for now, or we might alert them."

"Heh! Too late!"

Liu Mazi chuckled maliciously and walked towards "them." "So it was you few brats who spoke so arrogantly, expressing your dissatisfaction with the government?"

Xia Li: ...

Peach Blossom, Peach Blossom, when will you stop causing so much trouble?

His malice was obvious. "Men, take this disrespectful man away and lock him in jail!"

"Wait!" Zhao Jihua stepped forward and said, "Arresting ordinary citizens in the street for no reason, do you have no respect for the law?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Mazi burst into laughter: "Hahahaha..."

The surrounding officials also laughed.

After laughing enough, Liu Mazi's expression changed, and he said, "The law? In this prefectural city, I am the law! Men, seize them!"

"No, run away!"

Xia Li threw a handful of powder at the official, then grabbed the two men and ran out.