Ruan Jiaojiao didn't expect this, and she simply threw her head back and burst into loud sobs. "You tell me to stop crying, so I should just stop? It hurts like hell!"
Her tears were half-genuine and half-feigned. Ruan Jiaojiao switched them on and off with ease, occasionally sneaking glances to gauge Pei Huaiyu's reaction. Two years ago, she had manipulated Pei Huaiyu with this exact tactic. Two years later, Pei Huaiyu still fell for it. He was visibly flustered, his head throbbing with frustration. "Ruan Jiaojiao!"
Ruan Jiaojiao’s tears were fake, but the blood seeping from her back was real. In her bid to stir up trouble and force Pei Huaiyu to let Daniu go, she hadn't even stopped to consider whether her reopening wounds would leave scars.
Pei Huaiyu sighed helplessly, lifted her into his arms, and settled her onto his bed. "You’ve never cared for your own body. Lie still and be quiet while I apply the medicine."
His thoughts drifted back to long ago. Before Pei Huaiyu was anyone of consequence, Ruan Jiaojiao had married him when he had nothing. In the year they were wed, he was sabotaged by villains who stripped him of his chance to attend the grand academy and beat him so severely he was bedridden for days. Ruan Jiaojiao had always been like this—fearless and reckless—running off to raise a ruckus on his behalf, though it never yielded results. Later, to secure him a spot as a pupil under a reclusive master, she not only visited repeatedly but knelt in the rain for a day and a night. Finally, her sincerity moved the master to look at his work, revealing his talent and earning him a place as a student. But because she had knelt in the rain all night, she developed a dangerously high fever, nearly losing her life.
Whenever he recalled that moment, Pei Huaiyu felt that he wasn't worthy of such a fine girl doing that for him. Furthermore, he could not understand how they had ended up in this state.
Prince Li... was it the temptation of imperial power? Ruan Jiaojiao was clearly not that kind of person.
"Back then..."
Ruan Jiaojiao lay comfortably on the bed, enjoying the meticulous way the powerful official Pei Huaiyu applied her medicine. Pei Huaiyu was muttering something behind her back; she couldn't catch the words and wanted to lean closer to listen, when a crisp, childish voice drifted in from outside.
"Father, your son seeks an audience!"
A-Jiu knocked on the door, his voice sounding slightly panicked. "Master, the young master says he has an urgent matter to discuss with you."
Ruan Jiaojiao’s clothes were half-off to facilitate the dressing of her wounds. Hearing her son’s voice, the fleeting flicker of joy was quickly overtaken by the panic of being caught in the act.
"These damn clothes are so hard to put on!"
Ruan Jiaojiao tugged at her garments. Finding it difficult to dress with the medicinal ointment still wet, she grabbed her shoes in one hand and her clothes in the other, hopping on one foot toward the screen, not forgetting to glare at Pei Huaiyu. "I—I... I’m going to hide behind the screen first!"
Pei Huaiyu felt a surge of displeasure at her panicked attempt to hide. "Are you really that averse to seeing your own son? Ruan Jiaojiao, you truly have no heart. You’ve been here for so long, and you haven't even asked a single thing about your child."
"Pei Huaiyu, you're the one who is half-naked! Do you want your son to see that later?"
Ruan Jiaojiao scrambled to gather her clothes, struggling even more as she grew anxious, and rolled her eyes at him. She couldn't understand what Pei Huaiyu was so angry about now.
Pei Huaiyu lowered his eyes. He could not comprehend how Ruan Jiaojiao could be so cold-blooded, and he felt even more remorse for his own inadequacy. He spoke in a low voice: "Do you know that when Pei Qi'an was two, because of your betrayal, his father was thrown into prison with his life hanging in the balance, and his mother simply walked away, abandoning husband and child? Everyone treated Pei Qi'an like a burden, leaving him on the streets to fend for himself."
"He was only two years old then, unable to even speak a complete sentence. It was the coldest winter in years, and he lived as a beggar for nearly a month. To survive, he had to fight wild dogs for scraps of food."
"By the time I found him, his health had already withered. He was left with a permanent illness—whenever winter arrived, he would suffer from high fevers for days on end. Even now, he relies on medicine to stay alive."
"No matter how cruel you are to me, Pei Qi'an is the child you carried for ten months. He is innocent."
Upon hearing this, Ruan Jiaojiao froze as she put on her clothes. She was a human being, a mother; how could she be indifferent after carrying a child for ten months? But she didn't know how to explain it. She hadn't wanted to abandon An'an; she just didn't want to drag him down with her!
She was a transmigrator who had entered the world of a book. Unfortunately, she didn't have the fate of a heroine. She hadn't been born into a prominent family, nor had she been granted the "golden finger" of a farming-genre protagonist. When she first arrived, she had even thought about introducing modern technology to this ancient era, or going into the mountains to see if she could rescue some royal relative. Everything failed. Only later did she realize her own mediocrity.
Fortunately, while the "extra" farm girl she inhabited had a poor family and a failing clinic, they were happy and complete, with no wretched relatives and parents who were truly wonderful people. Having been an orphan her entire life in the modern world, she finally had a home, and she held no resentment for that.
It was a pity that fate wouldn't let her live out her life in peace—Prince Li had arrived uninvited. It was only by eavesdropping behind a door that she learned her ordinary father was actually a retired imperial physician with a unique technique for treating infertility. Prince Li had come specifically for this. During that eavesdropping, she heard many familiar names—besides Prince Li, there were the Crown Prince and Princess Changle. Only then did she realize she had transmigrated into a novel documenting the spectacular life of the powerful official Pei Huaiyu.
Later, fearful that his infertility would be exposed and threaten his succession, Prince Li ruthlessly massacred the village. She had only escaped the fate because she was out late, playing. That was a dark night; she didn't even have time to grieve before she was caught by Prince Li after a frantic run.
She eventually learned her parents were still alive. She had no choice but to use the clues she had from reading the book to offer a deal: she would help Prince Li take down the Crown Prince by serving as his spy at the Crown Prince’s side, if only Prince Li would spare her parents. At the time, the Emperor already knew the Crown Prince was recovering from his wounds at Pei Huaiyu’s place. Prince Li didn't dare move against him, so he agreed to keep her parents safe during that period.
She had no other way. She wanted to get close to the Crown Prince to infiltrate the enemy, but she needed an identity to stay there. They were too poor to even afford a servant. Since the Crown Prince already had a Crown Princess, she had no choice but to pose as Pei Huaiyu’s betrothed to remain.
She never expected that she would end up muddled and married to the male lead. Later, as the value Pei Huaiyu displayed to the world grew, Prince Li became more willing to accept the fact that Ruan Jiaojiao was acting as a mole.
Later, Pei Huaiyu went to prison because of her... and later, he was stabbed by her.
How could she tell him that she had done it to save him? That the only reason the wounded Pei Huaiyu could escape the prison so smoothly was because she had drugged the jailers' wine? She hadn't expected the first thing Pei Huaiyu would do after getting out was to come looking for her. She had no choice but to stab him—just enough to knock him unconscious—and drag him to the outskirts of the city overnight to hide him and save his life.
As long as he was alive, with Pei Huaiyu’s capability, he would be able to make a comeback!