Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Jiang Chun shrank his neck.

She had always been straightforward, even in modern times, she often told her frequently unlucky-in-love girlfriends, "There are countless men in the world. If it doesn't work out with one, we'll just switch." Just moments ago, she had been angered by Song Shian's feigned death act and, in a moment of impulsiveness, blurted it out.

As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them.

This notion was too modern and clashed with the patriarchal society of ancient times. Even if she thought this way in her heart, she shouldn't have said it out loud.

However, Song Shian's reaction was a bit strange.

In the past, she had teased him plenty, saying that if he didn't behave, she would sell him off, and he had never gotten angry.

Why was he so furious this time?

She reached out and took his hand, pulling him towards the bed.

But he shook her hand off.

Jiang Chun glanced at his dark, stormy expression, like the sky before a tempest, and thought, looks like he's really angry.

She sat up, grabbed the quilt that was on top, wrapped it around his shoulders, and said, "Your body is weak. Even if you're mad at me, you can't neglect your health."

She grabbed another quilt, wrapped it around herself, and then sat cross-legged opposite him, saying, "Alright, you can start scolding me now."

If she said something wrong, she deserved to be scolded. Being scolded a few times was no big deal; as long as he could vent his anger, she could just let it go in one ear and out the other.

Song Shian was so angry he felt like his lungs would explode.

Although he had developed a chronic illness in his previous life, which would flare up with any change in the weather, his ability to father children was still intact.

However, in that life, Jiang Chun had despised him and refused to consummate their marriage. He had let her have her way.

After all, his second brother had many children. When he died, he would enter the Song family ancestral hall. As long as the Song family line continued, he wouldn't lack for descendants to offer incense and sacrifices.

But she had cheated on him with a butcher and even became pregnant with the butcher's child.

That day, when she was taken to the Duke of An's estate by her mother, she suddenly fainted during the banquet. The people at the Duke of An's estate were startled and hurriedly sent for the imperial doctor.

The doctor diagnosed her and announced that she was two months pregnant.

Coincidentally, Empress Dowager Jiang was unwell that day and summoned the doctor who had just returned from the Duke of An's estate.

The doctor, wanting to curry favor with Song Shian, who had just come out of the Jinluan Hall, loudly proclaimed in front of the gathering civil and military officials, "Congratulations, Lord Song, your wife is with child."

His wife was pregnant, but the father was not him.

In all his years, even when his family was stripped of rank, imprisoned, tortured, paraded out like livestock for sale, and taken as a son-in-law by a rural butcher, Song Shian had never been so humiliated.

Even so, he hadn't planned to take Jiang Chun's life.

He would just abort her child, lock her up in a villa, and announce that she had died of a sudden illness.

This way, he could save face, and Jiang Chun could survive.

But before the doctor had even left, Jiang Chun announced in front of all the guests that she was divorcing him and openly admitted that the father of her child was someone else.

To justify her infidelity, she even pinned a false accusation of impotence on him.

From that moment on, Song Shian's reputation was ruined, and he became a laughingstock in the entire Imperial City.

In this life, Jiang Chun had changed, and he thought he wouldn't have to experience those humiliating events again. But she had the audacity to say in front of him that she would have children with someone else...

Was she trying to force him to carry out his original plan and just kill her?

But that was clearly impossible.

Seeing how she was worried about him catching a cold and first wrapped a quilt around him before taking care of herself showed that she genuinely cared for him.

Her earlier words were just a slip of the tongue and not something she truly meant.

Seeing Song Shian's chest heaving and his rough breathing, Jiang Chun, afraid he would harm his body, hurriedly coaxed, "Don't just be angry by yourself; scold me if you have to. I'll humbly accept and correct my mistakes."

Song Shian clenched his back teeth. Seeing her nonchalant attitude, which further confirmed that her words were just a joke, he felt even angrier.

Was something like this supposed to be joked about?

Jiang Chun, seeing his dark face and silence, moved closer, wrapped her arms around him and the quilt, gently rocking his body, and coaxed in a lowly manner, "Alright, alright, it's my fault. I said the wrong thing. Husband, don't be angry. If you get angry and harm your body, I'll be heartbroken."

Song Shian said coldly, "Wouldn't it be just what you want if I died of anger? Then no one would interfere with you finding someone else to have children with."

Jiang Chun wanted to say that even if he didn't die of anger, it wouldn't stop her from finding someone else to have children with, but she didn't dare, as it would definitely stir up trouble.

She leaned in and kissed him on the lips, smiling, "I'm very picky. I only want to have children with someone as beautiful as you. I wouldn't even glance at other inferior ones."

Having been kissed on the lips and hearing Jiang Chun's honeyed words of praise, Song Shian's anger unconsciously eased a little.

In the past, whether young or old, male or female, whoever dared to praise him with words like "beautiful" would immediately make him blackface, and he would hold a grudge.

But hearing it from Jiang Chun, he wasn't angry; instead, he felt a little happy.

Because she genuinely thought he was handsome, and it was sincere, without any ulterior motives or intentions like others.

But he certainly couldn't let her off so easily; otherwise, she would dare to do it again.

He pulled his hand out, used the back of his hand to wipe his lips, and said coldly, "Don't try to sweet-talk me. In the past, you've given me plenty of sweet talk, saying we would never be apart, that we would die together. And what happened?

Just because I was too shy to respond to your question about having children, you developed a change of heart and went to find someone else to have children with...

Your words are so unreliable; I'll never believe your nonsense again!"

Jiang Chun had intended to continue coaxing him, but when he brought up old accounts and escalated it to a personal attack, her rebellious streak kicked in.

She couldn't help but retort sarcastically, "Yes, yes, it's all my fault. I never tell the truth, and you're completely without fault.

Is being shy such a big deal? Not answering my question about having children is such a big deal? So, it's okay to leave me out in the cold?

I think my mistake wasn't just saying I would find someone else to have children with out of anger. My real mistake was even discussing such intimate topics with you.

From now on, let's be frugal with words, treating each other with respect like guests, and then we won't argue or have misunderstandings. Everyone will be happy!"

As she spoke, she let go of his hand, lay down on the kang, and pulled the quilt over her head.

Leaving Song Shian, who hadn't adapted to her quick change in attitude, staring blankly at the dark blue quilt surface.

Was she really not going to care about him anymore?

Memories of her past care and attention flooded his mind, and an unprecedented panic rose in his heart.

This kind of warmth was something he had felt for the first time in both his lives. If he were to lose it suddenly and never find it again for the rest of his life, he didn't think he could bear it.

As these thoughts swirled in his mind, his eyes couldn't help but turn red.

Like a child who had been abandoned, he sniffled and cried, big tears rolling down the corners of his eyes.

Jiang Chun, though lying in the quilt, was secretly listening. As she listened, she began to sense something was off.

She lifted the quilt a little and peeked through the gap.

Just in time, she saw a tear drop fall from Song Shian's face onto the red quilt in front of him, immediately spreading into a dark wet patch.

Jiang Chun thought, that quilt was the wedding quilt made by Liu Pozi, an elder, when Jiang He asked her to help with Jiang Chun's wedding. The red looked nice but wasn't very washable; it would fade with water, including tears.

She shook her head, trying to dismiss these random thoughts.

It's just a quilt; what's so important about it?

What's important is Song Shian. He, he was crying...

The future Prime Minister, brother-in-law of the new emperor, future Duke of the Nation, hadn't cried when his family was stripped of rank, hadn't cried when he was imprisoned and tortured for half a year, hadn't cried when he was demoted to an official slave and sold, but now he was crying because of an argument with her.

Was this reasonable?

Was this still the beautiful, strong, and tragic male supporting character, Song Shian?

What's beautiful, strong, and tragic? He was indeed beautiful and tragic, but he was also strong! Not just strong, but her strong!

Her strong man was crying.

Jiang Chun almost suspected that Song Shian, like her, had been possessed by a soul from another world.

This was too out of character!

If she had dared to write such a plot, her readers would have angrily spewed her with at least a dozen comments.

She quickly pulled the quilt off and sat up, rummaging through her outer garment to find a cloth. She gently wiped his tears while coaxing softly, "Why are you crying now? You said I was full of nonsense, not telling the truth, so why did you take my lies seriously and get upset? Aren't you a bit silly?"

Song Shian took the cloth from her, wiped his tears, and said coldly, "Yes, I'm a big fool."

Of course, he was a big fool for taking her harsh words seriously.

She was still thinking about benefiting from him, the future Prime Minister. How could she possibly not care about him?

He had been blinded, actually crying over this.

Jiang Chun's lips twitched and hurriedly rebutted, "No, no, husband is the smartest person in the world. I'm the big fool."

Song Shian snorted lightly, "Didn't you say you'd be frugal with words from now on?"

Jiang Chun chuckled, "How could that be possible? If I did, I'd suffocate from being unable to talk. I love talking to my husband the most."

She reached out to wrap her arms around him.

Song Shian threw the cloth at her, laughed coldly, "Didn't you say you'd treat each other with respect like guests?"

Jiang Chun threw the cloth away, her hand slipping under his quilt, hugging him tightly, and said with a smile, "Of course not; I love my husband's body the most."

Song Shian struggled a little in her arms and said indifferently, "Let go of me and go sleep at the end of your kang."

Jiang Chun hugged him tighter and then lay down, pulling the quilt over them. She gently coaxed, "Alright, alright, it's my fault for saying the wrong thing. Husband, don't be angry, okay?"

Song Shian didn't make a sound.

Just when Jiang Chun thought he had fallen asleep, he suddenly said, "Tonight, about me crying, don't tell father, and you have to forget about it too. Otherwise..."

Jiang Chun asked with a smile, "Otherwise what?"

Song Shian said coldly, "Otherwise, I'll gag you."

The word "gag" was something he had learned from her.

Jiang Chun lowered her eyes and looked at the face resting on the softness before her, smiling as she said, "My husband, can you really bear to let me go?"

Song Shian inhaled her orchid fragrance, closed his eyes contentedly, and hummed, "You can always try."

Jiang Chun wasn't really afraid of trying and losing; after all, this man had shed tears over an argument with her, which showed how much he cared.

But for the sake of her husband’s dignity, she certainly wouldn’t tell Jiang He about such private matters.

Her ancient father, Jiang He, had a bit of a macho complex. If he knew about this, although he wouldn’t look down on Song Shian, he might think less of him for being too delicate.

She leaned over, gave his cheek a loud smack, and reassured him, "Don’t worry, this secret is known only to the heavens, the earth, you, and me. I won’t tell a third person."

Satisfied, Song Shian curled his lip and shifted, pressing his cold feet against her legs to warm them.

Hmph, his warmth wasn’t so easy to share. If she wanted to bask in it, she could be his human hot water bottle!

Jiang Chun shivered at his icy feet and hooked her legs around his, sandwiching his feet between her calves.

Grumbling, she said, "Your feet are like blocks of ice. Without me, how would you survive?"

Song Shian pursed his lips.

Of course, he could survive. If there was no human hot water bottle, there were always actual hot water bottles.

The "hot water bottle" was Jiang Chun’s term; in the capital, they called it a "soup lady," a tin filled with hot water and placed in the bed to keep warm.

At first, it was too hot and could burn your feet; by midnight, it would turn cold and wouldn’t last until dawn.

How could that compare to this consistently warm, non-scalding human hot water bottle?

In any case, he had to keep this human hot water bottle by his side.

Since she couldn’t bear to see him cry, wouldn’t that mean he could use this trick again during future disputes?

But like all precious things, tears would lose their value if shed too often, so this method couldn’t be overused. It had to be saved for critical moments.

But that was fine; he had several other ways to make her heartache, and he could rotate them as needed.

*

Unaware that she was being schemed against, Jiang Chun went about her usual routine the next day, slaughtering pigs and selling meat as always. After returning from the town, she brought out the stone mortar and began pounding rice for Song Shian.

As she was pounding, an old lady with the surname Chang came knocking. After some pleasantries, she immediately asked Jiang Chun to lend her six taels of silver to buy ten stones of grain to stock up.

What a nerve!

Jiang Chun immediately began to cry poverty, "Granny Chang, please, don’t joke. How could our family possibly spare such a large sum as six taels?

The whole village knows we earn only about three taels a month from slaughtering pigs, while my husband’s medicine alone costs over three taels. It’s like a toad trying to catch flies—just enough to survive. I should be the one asking to borrow money from you."

Although Granny Chang knew Jiang Chun was telling the truth, she didn’t believe that after so many years of running a pig-slaughtering business, the Jiang family hadn’t saved any money.

Taking out a cloth from her sleeve and wiping her tears, she lamented, "I know everyone is struggling, but your family, aside from farming, also runs a business. Your financial foundation is stronger than ours, who only scrape by from the land.

We have quite a bit of land, but many descendants—two or three dozen people in total. Like you said, it’s just enough to survive, and we haven’t saved a single tael.

Now that the village head has told everyone to stock up on a year’s worth of grain, my family is in a bind.

Please, Chun, lend me a few taels. I’ll be forever grateful, and my whole family will remember your kindness."

Jiang Chun sighed and patiently explained, "Granny Chang, to be honest, although our family has earned quite a bit of money over the years, we’ve also spent a lot on buying land, building a large tiled house, paying for medical treatments for my mother, and bringing in a husband for me, not to mention my husband’s medical expenses. We haven’t saved a single tael and still owe my uncle a lot of money.

The other day, I went to borrow money from my uncle to buy grain and was scolded before I managed to borrow a few taels and a half bag of rice.

Tell me, what use is this precious rice that doesn’t even fill the stomach? I’d rather have a few more taels to use."

Seeing that Jiang Chun had a plausible story and the rice she was pounding as evidence, Granny Chang had no choice but to leave in disappointment.

In Granny Chang’s eyes, the Jiang family had always been frugal with their food. Before Jiang Chun had brought in a husband, father and daughter ate black bread every day. It was clear they wouldn’t spend money on expensive rice, which must have been given by her well-off uncle, Zheng Yi.

And at this critical time of buying grain, the only reason for her to visit her uncle’s house was to borrow money.

After sending Granny Chang away, Jiang Chun was about to sigh in relief when her grandmother-in-law, Li, walked in.

Frowning, she wondered if this old woman had also come to borrow money.

Li went to their grain storage, squinted to try to see how much grain was inside.

But of course, she couldn’t tell.

To prevent rain or snow from seeping in and to guard against prying eyes, Jiang Chun had deliberately hung hemp curtains inside the storage doors, made from old window curtains from the west room.

Li muttered, "Like guarding against thieves!" before heading towards the main room.

Seeing Jiang Chun pounding rice, her eyes lit up, and she was about to speak.

Knowing her intentions all too well, Jiang Chun cut her off, "Grandmother, are you here to give us money or grain?"

Pointing to the rice in the mortar, she said, "Look, my uncle gave me half a bag of leftover rice from last year. Shouldn’t you, as my elder, show some generosity?"

Li jumped, "What should I give? As your elder, shouldn’t you be offering me some grain instead of trying to get something from me? You unfilial girl!"

In ancient times, filial piety was highly valued. For a native of those times, being scolded as unfilial was a grave matter.

But Jiang Chun, a modern person, didn’t care much about that. Only if the parent was kind should the child be filial. If the parent wasn’t kind, why should she care who they were?

Not to mention Jiang He; if he weren’t a simple, loving father who cared for his daughter and Song Shian, she might not be so filial either.

After all, this was the original owner’s father, not her real father.

And she wasn’t afraid of the reputation of being unfilial reaching the Imperial City. By then, she would be the respected wife of the Prime Minister and the legitimate spouse of the nation’s brother-in-law. Who would dare to use this against her?

If anyone dared, she’d leave it to Song Shian to handle.

Wasn’t the whole point of supporting him with money and effort so that he could protect her in the future?

With a fearless smile, Jiang Chun said, "Grandmother, you’re talking nonsense again. When you made my father leave with nothing, the family division document clearly stated that he wasn’t required to provide for you in your old age. Have you already forgotten?

Should I find the document written by Village Head Zou and have my husband read it to you?"

"Of course, I haven’t forgotten," Li said with a glare, annoyed, "You dead girl, don’t change the subject. I almost forgot to mention the main thing. I asked, have you stocked enough grain for a year as Village Head Zou instructed?"

Jiang Chun looked at her warily, "What if we have? What if we haven’t? It’s our business, none of yours."

Li spat, "I don’t care if you have or not. If you have, good for you. If you haven’t, go stock up. If you don’t have the money, borrow from your uncle.

Don’t come to my house begging for food if you run out. I’m telling you this upfront—I won’t give you a single grain."

Jiang Chun sneered, "Don’t worry, even if we starve, we won’t beg for a single grain from your household."

Li scoffed, "Starve? When famine hits and no one has enough grain to feed their pigs, your pig-slaughtering business will fall apart. Without that income, how will you afford medicine for this sickly husband?

I suggest that while the times are still stable, you should sell him off. The money you get could at least buy more grain."

Jiang Chun picked up the pestle and waved it in Li’s direction, her voice cold, "Even if we starve, we won’t sell my husband. If you say such things again, don’t blame me for being rude."

Li stepped back, startled, but still unwilling to back down, "Being rude? What can you do? Hit me, your elder?"

Jiang Chun pounded the rice with a few forceful strikes, her tone icy, "Who knows? If you don’t believe me, feel free to test me."

Li didn’t dare provoke this granddaughter, known for her fierceness, but muttered as she left, "I came to remind you out of goodwill, and yet I’m treated like this!"

As Li left, Jiang Chun said coolly from behind, "Grandmother, you’d better watch your grain closely. As far as I know, my uncle hasn’t broken things off with Widow Wang. When famine hits, if Widow Wang runs out of food, do you think my uncle might steal grain from you to help her?

And Widow Wang has many lovers, some of them troublemaking ruffians. If they hear about your large grain stockpile from her, they might conspire to steal your grain..."

Li shuddered in fear. If her son took the grain to help Widow Wang, or if Wang’s lovers stole it, how would her family survive?

No, she had to secretly move the grain to the cellar with her daughter-in-law, Ma, and lock it up with heavy iron locks.

With that thought, she hurried out without another word to Jiang Chun.

Jiang Chun smirked.

It was true that she had stirred up trouble, but everything she said was also fact.

If the grain at the old house was taken by Widow Wang and her lovers, and since the old house had already compensated her fifty taels recently, even if Li used her savings to buy more grain, it might not be enough to last until the next autumn harvest.

Without food, they would definitely come to her household for help.

That would put Jiang He in a difficult position.

Not giving would mean watching his mother and brother’s family starve, which would be hard to bear.

Giving would mean an endless pit, and their stored grain certainly wouldn’t be enough to support five people for a year.

It was better to cut off the possibility of being drained from the source.