Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Once inside, Wang Ying recounted the entire incident from start to finish, leaving his third aunt utterly astonished.

"Qing Yan and I had never encountered anything like this before. We were terrified. Our first thought was to report it to the authorities, but without concrete evidence, the magistrate wouldn't have believed us. Mother is gentle and didn't know how to handle it, and there were no trustworthy elders in the family to rely on. After much deliberation, we had no choice but to write to you, Fourth Uncle, hoping you could help us secure justice."

Chen Jing stroked his beard and nodded, his gaze scrutinizing Wang Ying. This young man was truly remarkable—to devise such an elaborate plan in such a short time, bold yet meticulous, trapping Second Uncle’s family in the process. His cunning was extraordinary.

Chen Rong, a mix of laughter and tears, playfully slapped her nephew. "You little rascal, you scared me half to death!"

Chen Qingyan rubbed his nose sheepishly. "Things happened so quickly, I didn’t get a chance to explain to you, Auntie. I hope you won’t hold it against me."

"How could I blame you?" Chen Rong said, her eyes reddening as she straightened his collar. "Your safety is all that matters to me."

Li Shi brought tea to the table, her face clouded with worry. "What should we do about Second Uncle’s family now?"

This was indeed a difficult question. According to the laws of the Wu Dynasty, Chen Biao’s attempted harm, though unsuccessful, was a serious crime. While he might escape the death penalty, he would face severe punishment—eighty strokes of the cane and exile a thousand miles away. At his age, surviving eighty strokes would be unlikely.

Even though Chen Jing was furious with his brother, he couldn’t bring himself to impose such a harsh sentence.

Wang Ying shot a glance at Chen Qingyan, who quickly spoke up, "Although Second Uncle was wrong, we are still family. Blood runs thicker than water. I hope Fourth Uncle will show leniency."

Seeing his nephew’s maturity, Chen Jing was even more disgusted with Second Uncle’s family.

"Don’t worry about this matter. Fourth Uncle will definitely ensure justice is served!"

With those words, Wang Ying felt reassured. Now that the two families had completely fallen out, if they didn’t deal with the matter decisively, they’d surely cause more trouble in the future.

While Chen Biao’s family was temporarily set aside, no one pleaded for Tian Xiaoliu’s family.

Tian Xiaoliu had procured the poison, and Old Lady Tian had administered it. Such treacherous servants could no longer be kept. They were handed over to the authorities to be dealt with according to the law.

When the officials came to arrest them, Tian Xiaoliu fainted from fear, while Old Lady Tian knelt on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy.

Her heart-wrenching cries could be heard even through several courtyards. "Please spare me, Madam! Have pity on this old servant who has served you for seventeen years!"

Li Shi turned away, wiping her tears. How could she not feel heartache? After seventeen years of living together, even a cat or a dog would grow attached, let alone a person.

Yet, the deeper the bond, the harder it was to forgive. Li Shi couldn’t understand why Tian Mama, whom she had treated so well, would conspire with Chen Biao’s family to harm her son.

As the cries faded into the distance, the farce finally came to an end.

Uncle Chen directed the servants to dismantle the mourning tent and remove the yellow papers pasted on the main gate. After the guests departed, the courtyard returned to its usual state.

Only the chanting monks remained, waiting to be paid.

"Amitabha, benefactor, please settle the payment for these days of chanting."

Uncle Chen feigned confusion. "Payment? Why come to me? Whoever hired you should pay you."

"But... Master Chen Biao has been arrested by the authorities. How can we collect payment from him?"

"He has a son. Go ask his son for the money."

"But we chanted for your young master!"

"What nonsense! Our young master is perfectly fine. Why would we need you to chant for him?"

Just then, Wang Ying emerged from the house, and the monks hurried over to him.

"Benefactor, chanting scriptures isn’t done for free. You must give us something..."

Wang Ying coldly interrupted, "Enough. Over the years, you’ve taken plenty of advantage of my mother-in-law. A few days of chanting is hardly excessive. If you insist on pressing the matter, we can settle it at the magistrate’s office!"

The monks exchanged uneasy glances and had no choice but to swallow their losses.

*

After dinner, Wang Ying pushed Chen Qingyan back to the rear courtyard.

"Do you think Fourth Uncle might secretly release Chen Biao? After all, he is his own brother."

"Probably not. Fourth Uncle is a man of integrity. He said he would ensure justice is served, so he won’t go easy on him."

"That’s for the best. I’m just worried that if he’s released, we’ll have to live in constant fear."

"Thank you," Chen Qingyan said, turning to look at Wang Ying behind him.

"Hey, no need for thanks." Wang Ying wasn’t entirely doing it for him. After all, he now relied on the Chen family for his livelihood—their fortunes were intertwined.

"I should thank you. Without you, I might have died long ago, and Mother, Qing Yun, and Qing Song would be suffering even more."

"If you really want to thank me, could you give me a few acres of land?"

"What land?"

"Farmland from the estate. Just three to five acres would be enough."

Chen Qingyan looked puzzled. "All the land on the estate belongs to our family. You can use it anytime."

"It’s not the same... Never mind, we’ll talk about it later." For now, Chen Qingyan’s health was still fragile, Wang Ying’s shop hadn’t opened yet, and he still needed to help set up a private school. When the time came for Chen Qingyan to remarry, Wang Ying would ask for a few acres of land and leave.

That evening, Wang Ying finally had time to check on the experimental field. With all the family matters keeping him busy, he hadn’t been able to see how the crops were doing.

As usual, he carried his bedding, planning to sleep on the floor.

Chen Qingyan cleared his throat softly. "It’s too cold to sleep on the floor..."

"You’re right. The west chamber has been cleaned up. I’ll move there tonight." Wang Ying hurried out, clutching his bedding.

Chen Qingyan hesitated, sighing in disappointment as the door closed.

It seemed Wang Ying didn’t like him...

This marriage had never been his choice. Wang Ying had even tried to drown himself in the river to avoid marrying him. If he truly didn’t want to stay, perhaps it was better to set him free sooner rather than later.

Chen Qingyan turned over, gazing at the empty spot on the floor in the moonlight. His heart felt hollow.

Though they had only been together for two months, he had grown accustomed to Wang Ying’s presence. Now, with him gone, the room felt silent except for his own breathing, a quiet that was strangely unsettling.

"Ugh!" Chen Qingyan threw off the covers, propped himself up, and decided to light the oil lamp and read a few pages.

Just then, a knock came at the door.

"Knock, knock, knock. Chen Qingyan, are you asleep?"

"No, not yet."

"Then I’m coming in." Wang Ying tiptoed in, carrying his bedding.

"I thought you were moving to the west chamber?" In the darkness, Chen Qingyan didn’t notice the lightness and smile in his own voice.

"That's strange. I couldn't get into the experimental field at all in that room. I suspect the condition for accessing the field is not leaving this room."

Chen Qingyan's eyes lit up, his gloom instantly lifting. "Then you should come back and sleep here."

Wang Ying glanced at the floor, then at the bed. Sleeping on the floor every day wasn't practical—it was getting colder, and he'd surely end up with rheumatism.

"Let's work something out—can we sleep together?"

Happiness came so suddenly that Chen Qingyan was so flustered he stumbled over his words. "S-sure... We’re husbands, after all. Sleeping in the same bed is only natural."

"Thanks!" Wang Ying ignored the latter part of his words, took off his shoes, and climbed directly onto the bed.

"I'll sleep on the inside so it's easier for you to get up if you need to pee at night."

"Okay..."

Wang Ying spread out on the bed. "This bed is pretty big. I'm a restless sleeper—if I snore, just nudge me awake."

"No problem."

Wang Ying started taking off his clothes. After removing his outer robe, he was about to take off his inner clothes.

Chen Qingyan was startled and quickly stopped him. "No, don’t take it off! Just sleep like this!"

"What’s wrong? Are you shy? What’s the difference between a male and another male? We’re both built the same."

Blushing, Chen Qingyan said, "I’ll get you a book tomorrow. After reading it, you’ll understand."

Wang Ying moved closer to him. "Just tell me directly."

"No."

"Too shy?"

"No..."

Wang Ying reached out and touched his face. "It’s burning up. And you say you’re not shy."

"Wang Ying! If you’re not going to sleep, get out!"

"Heh heh, I’m going to the experimental field first. Remember to find me that book tomorrow." As soon as he finished speaking, he was gone.

Chen Qingyan turned to look at the empty bed, placed his hand on his pounding chest, and couldn’t help but smile. That little devil.

*

Meanwhile, Wang Ying, standing in the experimental field, let out an astonished "Holy shit!"

This... this was his experimental field?!

Above the once ordinary field, a giant digital touchscreen had appeared at some point.

It displayed the name of the experimental field, a detailed backstory of its origin, and the method to activate it.

[Experimental Field No. 003]

Bound to: Wang Ying, Chen Qingyan

Experimental Field Level: 1

Usage Time Limit: 60 minutes/day

Activation Method: Bound and activated after marriage (Users must not be too far apart during use, otherwise the experimental field may not load completely.)

PS: This experimental field is compensation for a space-time admin error. Please use it responsibly.

He had no idea the experimental field would be bound to both of them. No wonder he couldn’t access it after moving out. Did this mean he could never leave Chen Qingyan from now on?

Wang Ying grabbed his hair, looking annoyed, but quickly brushed it off. Because he discovered something even more amazing—the experimental field could adjust the weather, temperature, wind strength, and even the growth speed of plants!

Holy crap, how was this any different from playing God?

The temperature could be adjusted up to 42°C or as low as -30°C, with sun, rain, snow—whatever—all controllable manually.

As for plant growth speed, it could currently only be adjusted to 1.5 times, but that was already nuts! A tomato with a normal 120-day growing season would be ready to harvest in just 80 days in the experimental field!

Wow, this was a total game hack!

However, using the accelerated speed would quickly deplete the experimental field’s EXP. If planted at normal speed, the experience bar would gradually increase.

The experimental field was only at Level 1 now. Who knows what new features Level 2 would bring?

Wang Ying was so excited he was practically dancing. No way—even if it was just for the experimental field, he had to lock Chen Qingyan down!

So what if it was gay stuff? No big deal, right? I’m in!

Author's Note: