Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Jiang Chun reached out to lift the lantern his father had made, examining the characters on it from left to right.

Then he asked Song Shian, "Husband, how do you read these two lines?"

A golden opportunity presented itself, and he needed to patch up his "diligent learner" persona to ease Song Shian's suspicions.

After all, a village girl who couldn't recognize a single character suddenly reciting lines from the *Analects* was too incongruous.

Song Shian opened his half-closed eyes, glanced at him sideways, and chuckled, "So, you can read lines from the *Analects*, but not these two? How is that possible?"

Jiang Chun pressed his lips together; this guy indeed had his doubts.

He said with conviction, "I've never heard Village Head Zou teach his youngest son these lines, so how could I possibly know them?"

Song Shian raised his long, arched eyebrows and responded with a noncommittal "Oh."

Jiang Chun, being impatient, urged him, "What do you mean by 'oh'? Teach me how to read them quickly."

Song Shian glanced at him again before slowly saying, "The moon rises over the sea, shared by those far apart."

Jiang Chun didn't pretend to be stupid and repeated the lines accurately.

Afterward, he looked at Song Shian with a proud expression, "Husband, am I smart? I remembered it all after just one reading."

Song Shian: "..."

Did he look like an easy fool to deceive?

He snorted coldly but didn't expose Jiang Chun's act.

After all, he hadn't figured out who Jiang Chun really was, or even if he was the real Jiang Chun. For now, he had to play the part of an easily deceived fool.

Jiang Chun didn't continue to feign ignorance but instead asked about the meaning of the poem.

This line came from "Gazing at the Moon and Thinking of Distant Ones," expressing deep longing for loved ones.

Considering Song Shian's family, except for the protagonist Song Shirui who escaped, were all reduced to slaves and scattered across the land.

If she asked, it would be like rubbing salt in the wound.

So, Jiang Chun stood up, picked up the earthen jar by the door, opened the lid, and showed it to Song Shian proudly.

"Look, we got more than forty pounds of bean oil. If you eat alone, it will last until next year."

To Song Shian, bean oil was the most common thing; he had eaten it all his life.

But thinking about the Jiang family having only three acres of land, and all the soybeans from those three acres finally yielding just this jar of oil...

He pressed his lips together, and his voice softened slightly, "Thank you for your hard work."

Jiang Chun felt a warm glow in her heart, feeling that the trips to the county town were worth it.

"It's my duty to take care of my husband," she said with a bright smile, closing the lid of the jar and walking lightly to the kitchen.

In the evening, Jiang Chun used the newly pressed bean oil to steam an egg for Song Shian and stir-fried some pickled mustard root.

She placed the dishes in front of him, munching on a meat bun she brought back from the county town, and said apologetically, "I don't know how to cook much vegetarian food, so just make do with this."

The steamed egg was smooth and tender, and the pickled mustard root was salty and fragrant. This meal was already quite sumptuous for Song Shian, who had fallen on hard times.

If not for the fear of indigestion at night, he would have eaten an entire white flour bun.

Feeling his slightly protruding belly, Song Shian cursed himself for being shallow. In the past, he had never tasted such good things, yet today, a bowl of steamed egg and a plate of stir-fried pickles almost made him lose his composure.

He was becoming more and more like a villager!

*

Jiang He didn't return until midnight.

Jiang Chun, a light sleeper, jumped up as soon as the door creaked open, threw on his clothes, and rushed to open the door to the west room.

At the same time, Song Shian, lying on the kang (a traditional heated bed), also opened his eyes but remained silent.

"Father." In the dark, Jiang Chun called out to his father first to avoid startling him, then found a flint on the stove and lit the oil lamp.

"Ah." Jiang He responded, entering the kitchen and saying, "Did I wake you up?"

"No, I wasn't sleeping well anyway," Jiang Chun shook his head nonchalantly.

She carried the oil lamp to the east room, fetched the wooden basin for washing feet, and poured several ladles of still warm water into it.

Then she said to Jiang He, "Father, soak your feet while you tell me what happened."

Jiang He dragged a stool over, sat down, took off his shoes and socks, and put his feet in the basin. He then said succinctly, "Matchmaker Wang didn't die."

"That's good." Jiang Chun sighed in relief and urged him, "Tell me more, Father."

Knowing his daughter's impatience, Jiang He didn't keep her in suspense, "Matchmaker Wang miscarried, bleeding profusely. When she was taken to the Qi Family Clinic, she was barely breathing. Fortunately, Doctor Xiao Qi was there and gave her acupuncture, saving her life."

Doctor Xiao Qi was the grandson of the senior doctor at the Qi Family Clinic, known as a medical prodigy. He had studied under the famous physician Xue Ting in Daming Prefecture and usually stayed there. This time, he must have returned for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Jiang Chun remarked, "Matchmaker Wang sure had good luck."

Thinking for a moment, she asked curiously, "Miscarriage? Could the child in Matchmaker Wang's womb be Uncle Two's?"

Jiang He's face turned strange, unsure how to respond to his daughter's question.

Before he could think of a reply, his daughter continued boldly, "It's hard to say. After all, Matchmaker Wang has so many lovers. Who knows whose child it is? She might not even know herself."

Jiang He: "…"

He shot her a glare, glancing toward the west room and lowering his voice to scold, "You child, how can you speak so recklessly? Your husband-to-be is a scholar, and scholars value propriety and dignity. You must be more careful with your words from now on."

Jiang Chun didn't argue, agreeing readily, "I know, I know. I'll be more careful in the future."

After reprimanding his daughter, Jiang He sighed deeply, "Your Sixth Grandfather sent Uncle Jiang Wan to town to inquire. Uncle Jiang Wan said that after the matchmaker Wang woke up and realized she had miscarried, she demanded fifty taels of silver from your second aunt as compensation, or else she would report your second aunt to the county magistrate for plotting to harm her late husband's only offspring."

Clan leader Jiang Zhaonian was Jiang He's father Jiang Zhaofeng's younger brother, ranking sixth in the clan, so Jiang Chun had to call him Sixth Grandfather.

"Ah?" Jiang Chun's almond-shaped eyes widened in surprise, "Didn't the matchmaker Wang's husband die five years ago?"

For a man who had been dead for five years to impregnate her, what kind of terrifying ghost story was this?

Jiang He was speechless, "She says it's from a new husband, a merchant from another place who came to Hongye County to do business. He fell ill suddenly on his way back home last month and died."

Jiang Chun: "…"

A new husband out of nowhere?

But the matchmaker Wang was clever; if she didn't come up with such an explanation, she might be charged with lewdness if the matter reached the county magistrate.

Jiang Chun asked her father, "What did my second uncle say?"

Jiang He replied with a sigh, "Your second uncle cried like he had lost his mother, insisting that the child in the matchmaker Wang's belly was his. He wanted to beat your second aunt to death for killing his offspring. Your grandmother protected your second aunt, saying she would beat your second uncle to death...

When Uncle Jiang Wan returned, the three of them were still causing a scene outside Qi Family Medical Hall."

Jiang Chun: "…"

She burst out laughing.

For Jiang Hu to eagerly claim paternity, what a ridiculous situation!

And he already had children at home, so why was he making such a fuss?

Could it be that he had genuine feelings for the matchmaker Wang?

The matchmaker Wang, being such a shrewd person, wouldn't possibly have feelings for a man like Jiang Hu, who was both foolish and unreliable, with no money to his name!

This was going to be quite a spectacle, and the old house would likely be very "lively" for a long time to come.