Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Jiang He returned with the medicine, and Jiang Chun took the package, handing it over to his aunt, Jiang Xi, instructing her to be responsible for boiling the medicine for Wang Yiner every day.

It wasn't out of fear that someone might sabotage; before spending sixteen taels of silver, there might have been such a possibility.

But now that the money has been spent, if someone were to cause harm to Wang Yiner, not only would the sixteen taels of silver be wasted, but they would also have to pay for a coffin, which wouldn't be worth it.

But no one could be as devoted as Jiang Xi, her own mother.

Thinking of what Doctor Cao said about Wang Yiner possibly having a high fever at night, Jiang Chun added, "Auntie, if Yiner's fever rises at night, remember to soak a cloth in cool water and place it on her forehead. Change the water when the cloth gets warm."

The medicine prescribed by Doctor Cao definitely included herbs to reduce fever, but traditional Chinese medicine takes time to work, and its effectiveness varies from person to person. It's best to use physical cooling methods as well.

Jiang Xi nodded eagerly, "I understand. I used to do this when my children had wind-cold and high fevers."

Seeing that everything had been explained, staying any longer at the Wangs' seemed pointless, so Jiang Chun said to Jiang He, "Father, shall we go home?"

Jiang Xi hurriedly tried to retain them, "Stay for dinner? Thanks to both of you for all your help today, otherwise I wouldn't know what to do."

As she spoke, tears began to flow.

Sighing, Jiang He waved his hand, "We're family, don't trouble yourself. Taking care of Yiner is the most important thing. We'll eat at home."

Hearing this, Jiang Xi didn't press further.

When Jiang Chun and his daughter drove back to Daliushu Village, the sun was setting, and smoke was rising from many chimneys in the village.

Stopping the cart at their home, Jiang Chun jumped off and hurried inside to prepare dinner, while Jiang He went to return the cart to village head Zou.

Opening the gate, Jiang Chun saw Song Shian slowly pacing in the courtyard.

He wore an indigo robe, still very thin but exceptionally tall, standing straight like a cypress or bamboo.

Most striking was his face, with sharp features, long eyebrows extending into his hairline, slightly upturned phoenix eyes, a straight nose, and thin lips pressed together, perfect as if he were not of this world.

The sunset cast a soft glow on him, making his fair skin appear dusted with a light powder. This layer of powder gave the ethereal figure a touch of earthly charm.

At that moment, she suddenly understood what it meant to be a "dragon trapped in shallow waters."

Such a person could not be confined by a simple rural courtyard. One day, he would rise from the depths and become a powerful minister at the pinnacle of power.

If she were another woman, she might worry about her lowly birth not matching him, fearing he would forget his vows and abandon his wife.

Or, if she were more ruthless, she might break his legs to make him a cripple, avoiding the regret of "regretting teaching her husband to seek glory."

But Jiang Chun had no such concerns.

She felt she and Song Shian were a perfect match, the most suitable couple.

After all, if she hadn't come through, he would have remained a bachelor all his life, never experiencing the pleasures of marriage.

As for being abandoned, he had sworn to take responsibility for her, and she was completely at ease.

So, she skipped over to Song Shian, tilted her head, and asked with a smile, "My lord, have you missed me this afternoon?"

Song Shian: "..."

He glared at her and said coldly, "Speak properly."

Jiang Chun stood up straight, cleared her throat, and then asked seriously, "My lord, have you missed your wife after half a day apart?"

Song Shian: "???"

Was this what he meant by speaking properly?

He was almost amused to anger.

Jiang Chun knew he wouldn't answer, so she answered herself, "I know you must have missed me, otherwise you wouldn't have waited for me in the courtyard.

I've missed you too, so much that I wish I had wings to fly home and see you."

Song Shian was at a loss for words; the walls of the Imperial City weren't as thick as her skin.

He paused for a moment, then changed the subject, "How is Wang Yiner?"

Actually, he could guess the answer without asking; if Wang Yiner had died, she wouldn't have the leisure to tease him.

Mentioning Wang Yiner, Jiang Chun's smile faded slightly. She reached out to support his arm and said, "The sun is setting. Let's go inside and talk, so you don't catch a chill."

Back in the kitchen, she fetched a stool for him to sit on.

Tying an apron, she picked up the half-cut radish from lunch, slicing it as she recounted Wang Yiner's story.

In the end, she said with a cold laugh, "Mother envies Wang Yiner for working as a maid in a wealthy household, wearing gold and silver and enjoying a life of luxury. But who knows that maids are not treated as human beings, and can be taken away by anyone who fancies them, even beaten to disability to save the young mistress's face."

Though the Liu family did compensate with a hundred taels of silver, exchanging a lifetime of disability for a hundred taels of silver, Jiang Chun thought it was a bad deal.

But what could be done?

The Liu family was an official family, and they, mere commoners, couldn't even dare to shout outside the Liu residence, let alone seek justice.

Song Shian was right; common people shouldn't fight against officials, as it would be like an egg hitting a stone.

Of course, Jiang Chun was just expressing her feelings, speaking about the matter itself. Given her relationship with Wang Yiner, it wasn't worth her getting involved.

Song Shian, born into a noble family, had seen such things countless times.

He neither defended the Liu family nor echoed Jiang Chun's indignation, only saying calmly, "If she is disabled, so be it. As long as she lives, there is hope."

Jiang Chun wholeheartedly agreed and rarely praised Wang Yiner, saying, "You know what? After staying with the Liu family for two years, Wang Yiner has indeed improved a lot. She’s much more capable than other young ladies."

If it were two years ago, upon hearing that she might be left with a lifelong disability, she would have collapsed in tears long before listening to Doctor Cao’s advice.

As they were talking, Jiang He returned and sat down beside Song Shian on a stool.

He then asked Jiang Chun, "Chun, where did you get the ginseng slices you put in Yiner's mouth?"

Jiang Chun thought it was unusual for the rough Jiang He to be so observant. In the chaotic situation, he had even noticed her giving Wang Yiner ginseng slices.

She smiled calmly and said, "I thought Yiner was in grave danger. If she passed away before Doctor Cao arrived, how could Auntie survive? So I took a few slices of ginseng from my husband’s medicine bag to keep her alive."

Jiang He, with a look of relief, praised her, "You’re always so thoughtful. I didn’t even think of that!"

He then added, "But we can’t run out of ginseng for my son-in-law. Why don’t I go to the county town tomorrow and buy some more?"

Jiang Chun quickly declined, "No need, Father. The ginseng slices are still enough. I got him enough for a whole month last time."

Jiang He sighed with relief and smiled, "That’s good. We can’t let my son-in-law run out of his medicine."

Song Shian lowered his eyes, a mocking smile curling at the corner of his lips.

The medicine bag was in the west room, and he had been there all day without leaving. He was certain she hadn’t touched the ginseng slices in the bag.

She must have used her supernatural ability to conjure them out of thin air!

Including the bird’s nest that appeared out of nowhere earlier, it must have been the same.

Otherwise, how could such precious and rare items like blood bird’s nest be available for him to eat for half a month, and just when they ran out for two days, they were replenished again?

Even the Song family before the incident couldn’t manage that.

Only someone as careless as Jiang He could be fooled so easily. Whatever she said, he believed without suspicion.

However, Song Shian could only keep this knowledge to himself; revealing it would be like cutting off his nose to spite his face.

If Jiang Chun knew he had spied on her secret, even if she didn’t kill him, she would certainly make unreasonable demands.

*

After dinner, while washing dishes, Jiang Chun suddenly noticed the bird’s nest she had soaked at noon. She quickly cleaned it and started stewing it.

This thing was too precious. If it weren’t for the sign-in reward, she wouldn’t have spent money on it for Song Shian; her wallet couldn’t afford it.

After stewing the bird’s nest, she began to heat water.

Today, she had made several trips to the county town and the town, and the dusty roads had inevitably left dirt in her hair despite her headscarf.

After heating the water, she washed her hair with soap nut water.

The original owner’s hair was incredibly beautiful—black, thick, and lustrous, almost like the hair in shampoo commercials from her previous life.

Among the yellow-haired village girls, she stood out like a crane among chickens.

Jiang He said it was all thanks to their good diet, never lacking in oil and meat, which made her tall, strong, and with black hair.

Jiang Chun carefully considered this and found it quite reasonable.

By the time she dried and combed her hair, the bird’s nest was ready.

With her waist-length hair flowing loose, she carried the stewed bird’s nest into the west room.

The oil lamp provided insufficient light, so for the sake of his eyes, Song Shian wasn’t copying books but was instead binding the pages he had copied earlier with needle and thread.

In the past, such tasks were done by a book boy, but now he had to do it himself.

He managed to do it quite well.

Although he didn’t know how to sew, he had a brain and figured it out after some thought. Practice made perfect.

Fortunately, the bookstore owner didn’t have high standards for this task. Since they would cover the books with a binding, even if the binding was a bit rough, it didn’t matter as long as it didn’t fall apart.

Jiang Chun placed the bowl on the kang table and smiled, "I saw that the bird’s nest was cheap today, so I bought some more for my husband."

Song Shian closed his eyes, feeling utterly powerless to comment.

Firstly, bird’s nest couldn’t be cheap.

Secondly, the bird’s nest in the bowl was blood bird’s nest, which was far more expensive than ordinary bird’s nest.

Thankfully, there was no one else around who understood these things; otherwise, he would be embarrassed for her. If there were a crack in the ground, he would be the first to crawl into it.

But what could he say?

He could only nod and thank her, "Thank you."

Jiang Chun jumped onto the kang and sat opposite him, resting her elbows on the table and propping her chin in her hands, watching him with a grin, "I’ll watch you eat, husband."

Song Shian put down the book he was binding halfway and shooed her away, "You should go heat water for our foot baths."

Her eyes gleamed with excitement, like an eager audience waiting for a performance. How could he eat the bird’s nest under such scrutiny?

Jiang Chun didn’t move, still grinning, "I heated a large pot of water and washed my hair. The leftover water is enough for all three of us to soak our feet."

She then propped her head on one hand and reached behind her with the other, bringing a large strand of hair to his face, "Husband, do you want to check if my hair is clean?"

The black, shiny strands of hair came into view, and the fresh scent of soap nuts filled his nostrils. Song Shian shifted uncomfortably backward.

In the Song family, servants used soap nuts, while the masters preferred scented soap because they found soap nuts irritating. But today, Song Shian realized that soap nuts were not only not irritating but also had a unique herbal fragrance.

Seeing no response from him, Jiang Chun let out a light hum and threatened, "Are you going to check or not? If not, I'll start causing a scene."

Recalling how she had kissed him and forced him to kiss her earlier, Song Shian's ears couldn't help but turn red.

Afraid she would take advantage of the situation again, he hurriedly reached out to gather her hair, giving it a cursory glance.

Then, with a serious face, he nodded and said, "I've checked; it's very clean."

Jiang Chun chuckled, "You could be even more perfunctory."

Song Shian was truly afraid of her and said helplessly, "Then how do you want me to check?"

Jiang Chun immediately pulled out a hair tie from his sleeve and handed it to him, grinning, "My lord, help me tie my hair. Once it's tied, the inspection will be complete."

Song Shian: "..."

So this is what you were up to all along.

But given the precedent of being kissed and forced to kiss her, tying her hair didn't seem so unbearable?

He said coolly, "Come over here."

Jiang Chun instantly kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the bed, circling around the table to Song Shian's side. He plopped down and leaned back, lying entirely in Song Shian's arms.

Suddenly, Song Shian found a warm, soft body in his arms, the scent of soap from her hair filling his nostrils, leaving him somewhat dazed.

After a while, he finally reacted, leaning back to avoid touching her, and said irritably, "Why are you so close!"

Jiang Chun, having finished pressing against him, slowly moved forward a bit and said innocently, "Oops, I didn't control the distance well and ended up sitting in my lord's lap."

Song Shian: "..."

I believe your mischief!

However, he didn't dare to argue, realizing that this guy was like a stubborn donkey, needing to be handled gently.

He straightened up, placed his hands on either side of her face, gathered her hair, and then held the braid with one hand while using the other as a comb to smooth out the strands.

This guy indeed had a head of beautiful hair, black, shiny, and soft, comparable to the finest silk.

Hmm, as he combed, he became somewhat addicted and couldn't help but comb for a while longer...

When he came to his senses, Song Shian's face turned red, and he quickly picked up the hair tie, wrapping it around her braid a few times before tying it into a bow.

"Done." Releasing the braid, he hurriedly stepped back a few paces, fearing she might cause trouble again.

Jiang Chun touched the earthenware bowl and, finding the temperature just right, stopped teasing him and smiled, "My lord, eat the bird's nest, or it will get cold later."

Song Shian breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he felt a bit regretful.

If she wanted to see a "monkey show," why not let her? It wouldn't hurt him, and mentioning foot washing water only gave her an excuse to play.

He moved back to the table, picked up the bowl, and gently stirred it with a spoon.

Then he stirred up a few black goji berries hidden at the bottom.

Song Shian glanced at her, unable to hold back, and said sarcastically, "These are goji berries? Why are they black? Could it be that your eyesight is poor, and you bought some rotten ones?"

Jiang Chun laughed in spite of herself and scolded, "What are you talking about, my lord? These are black goji berries, which can only grow on the high mountains of Tubo."

Then she realized something was off.

Song Shian came from a noble family; how could he not recognize black goji berries?

Back when she was a writer who stayed up late writing, she used to steep black goji berries in her thermos and had specifically looked up information, discovering that black goji berries from the Tibetan region had a history of a thousand years.

So in this Great Zhou Dynasty, which had taken a turn from the late Tang Dynasty, black goji berries must have existed.

She glared at him angrily, gritting her teeth, "Are you deliberately teasing me?"

Song Shian firmly denied, "I don't eat goji berries much."

It wasn't surprising that someone who didn't eat goji berries much wouldn't know about black goji berries.

But Jiang Chun clearly didn't believe him, looking at him suspiciously.

After a moment, she suddenly grinned slyly and pointed at Song Shian, shouting, "What a clever move, like Jiang Taigong fishing—those who wish to be caught will be. So you're trying to provoke me, hoping I'll get angry and force you to kiss me?"

She shook her head, looking helpless, "My lord, you're just too reserved. If you want to kiss me, just say it; I won't refuse you. Why go through so many twists and turns?"

Finally, she sighed, summarizing, "You scholars are just too thin-skinned and boring!"

Feeling wronged, Song Shian quickly denied it three times, "I'm not, I didn't, don't slander me."

Ignoring him, Jiang Chun reached out, pinched his chin, and leaned in, planting a loud kiss on his left cheek.

A pale pink lip mark was left on Song Shian's fair, tender skin.

Jiang Chun was quite satisfied with her stamp.

But her OCD kicked in, and she leaned in again, planting another kiss on his right cheek.

Song Shian was shocked, angry, and embarrassed. Opening his mouth to scold her, he suddenly coughed, unable to catch his breath.

The coughing wouldn't stop, tearing at his lungs.

His body went limp, and he fell backward.

Jiang Chun was startled and quickly reached out to lift him up, pinching his philtrum while confessing to himself, "I have sinned, I actually kissed my husband unconscious..."

Song Shian, gradually regaining consciousness upon hearing this, nearly fainted again.

Don’t say it, don’t you dare say it. With the torture he’s been through with this man, he feared he wouldn’t survive long enough to fully recover, let alone endure her antics.

He struggled to raise his hand toward the door and managed to say, "You, get out..."

Jiang Chun didn't move, still holding him, and sobbed, "Husband, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have kissed you. You've said before that such matters should be initiated by the man, but I disregarded your wishes and forced a kiss on you. I promise I won't do it again, please don't be angry, okay?"

At first, Song Shian thought she was admitting defeat, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt something was off.