Hu Erping kicked her hard, venting the dissatisfaction in his heart. "Move!"
Dragged along for a short distance, Zhang felt a sharp pain in her wrists, but she realized this wasn't the road back to Hu Erping's house. "Where are we going?"
Panic gripped her heart now, and she wanted to explain, but the man was in a rage and simply wouldn't listen to her.
"Five taels of silver—I have to find a way to earn it back somehow, or I won't be able to survive either. If I die, you'll just be a widow anyway."
"Where... where are we going? How is a woman like me supposed to make money?" Terrified by his ferocious appearance, Zhang spoke with a trembling voice.
"Keep a few of my friends company."
Zhang instantly understood what he meant. "I... I'm your wife!"
"Wife? Still nothing more than a cheap bitch. Aren't you short on men? Today I've found five men for you, and you're going to serve every single one of them properly. You'd better earn that five taels of silver back for me right now, or I'll skin you alive."
Zhang could already picture that terrifying scene. She wanted to run, but how could she possibly outrun a man? Besides, her whole body was already aching from the beating she had just taken, and before she could take two steps, she was caught, earning herself an even more brutal thrashing.
The wonderful life she had just been daydreaming about instantly vanished into thin air. The moment she left the village, she regretted it.
However, it was already too late for regrets.
She could no longer return to the Xia family.
Old Lady Xia led Xia Zhiliao back home in high spirits, having not only won a stellar reputation for herself but also having effortlessly acquired a daughter-in-law into the bargain.
That woman, Wang Bai, felt that Old Lady Xia was reasonable and treated her daughters-in-law kindly, deciding that marrying her daughter into such a family couldn't possibly be wrong, completely ignoring her sister's frantic winking.
Old Lady Xia had always worried about her sons' marriages because the family was truly impoverished, and her stubborn insistence on funding her second son's studies made a bad situation even worse, causing every matchmaking attempt for her other sons to be rejected.
Now that the jinx was gone, her son's marriage was practically settled. Furthermore, upon chatting, she learned that the Bai family's circumstances were actually quite decent, with only that single daughter, though she was a bit frail in health.
"Mother, do... do I deserve someone like her?" Xia Jinyu's heart failed him first.
Old Lady Xia glared at him in exasperation. "Why wouldn't you deserve her? You're neither lame, nor deaf, nor blind, and you have a fine, upright appearance."
[That's right, Third Uncle! In the future, you'll be a great general, slaughtering countless enemies with magnificent martial might.]
Hearing this, Xia Jinyu swallowed hard, and Old Lady Xia cleared her throat as well.
She hadn't expected her gloomy, listless third son to have such good fortune ahead of him.
After the previous two incidents, she trusted her little granddaughter's words implicitly.
If she said the third son would become a general, then a general he would certainly become.
However, Xia Zhiliao remembered that in the novel, Madam Bai did marry into the Xia family, but due to her frail constitution, she fell pregnant less than two years into the marriage and died in childbirth from a breech presentation. It was only out of overwhelming grief that the Third Uncle went off to join the army, and later, after becoming a general, he never remarried.
Madam Bai must have been a truly wonderful person; otherwise, she wouldn't have remained so deeply etched in the Third Uncle's memory.
Yet since she had transmigrated into this world, things could be changed. That meant Madam Bai shouldn't have to die—after all, a breech presentation was hardly a major issue in her hands.
"It's settled then. I'll have your second brother go over with the betrothal gifts later. We just happen to have enough money on hand. What a coincidence; it was simply meant to be that the Bai family girl becomes a daughter-in-law of our old Xia family."
"Mother—"
Old Lady Xia glared at him. "What are you dawdling and hesitating for? If I tell you to marry her, you marry her. Stop chattering nonsense and cut the nagging."
The Xia sons were all terrified of Old Lady Xia, and seeing her angry, Xia Jinyu didn't dare utter another sound.
At that moment, Xia Jiang and the others came running back, shouting loudly for Old Lady Xia the moment they crossed the threshold. "Grandma! Grandma!"
Old Lady Xia frowned. "I'm not deaf! What major catastrophe has happened now?"
Xia Hai chuckled, looking rather gloating. "Grandma, we just saw Eldest Aunt as she was leaving our village—she got a terrible beating, and that man even said he was going to make her go pouring drinks for people and all sorts of things."
Although the three boys were young, they knew right from wrong. Madam Xia Chen had frequently been bullied by Madam Zhang at home, not to mention beaten by her, and they were more than happy to see someone put Madam Zhang in her place.
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Xia let out a sigh. "Well, she refused to live a peaceful life here with the Xia family and insisted on going out to look for other men herself. I granted her wish, so she can't blame me."
She let out a dry laugh. Without dirtying her own hands, she had avoided harming her sons' future while managing to secure a sterling reputation for herself.
When it came to cunning, very few could match her little granddaughter.
The crucial part was that she was still so terribly young.
"Zhiliao, come, follow Grandma inside."
Xia Zhiliao trotted over eagerly. Grandma must be in a good mood; calling her into the room meant she was going to give her something, right?
At any rate, she knew by now that Grandma adored her dearly and would never hit or scold her.
[Could Grandma be about to give me some sort of family heirloom?]
Hearing this, Old Lady Xia cleared her throat. Would it be too bad to let her little granddaughter down?
Yet she had originally only intended to give the child a few dried apricots.
[What kind of treasure is it?]
Old Lady Xia pulled her hand back slightly, then hardened her resolve and slid the silver bracelet off her wrist. "Here, take this."
Chapter 15: Who is that woman?
[A silver bracelet? But this is Grandma's prized possession! Grandma actually gave me her family heirloom—I'm so touched! Grandma is just too good to me!]
The corners of Old Lady Xia's mouth twitched. Originally, she hadn't wanted to part with it, but seeing how overjoyed the little girl looked, she decided it was just a trinket after all—she couldn't take it with her when she died anyway, so she might as well let the child be happy!
"Go on and play. This is our family's most precious treasure, so make sure you don't lose it," Old Lady Xia admonished anxiously.
[Grandma gave me her most important possession; in the future, I must definitely buy Grandma ten gold bracelets.]
Hearing this, the very last trace of reluctance regarding the bracelet vanished from Old Lady Xia's heart. Just look at that—what a remarkably filial child.
Madam Xia Chen had raised her quite well. To be fair, all the children were quite filial to her, especially this little girl...
If it were Huiru... If it were Huiru, she probably wouldn't have been able to raise such a sensible child.
At the thought of that woman, a hint of ruthlessness flashed in Old Lady Xia's eyes.
Xia Zhiliao happily went over to show off her silver bracelet to Madam Xia Chen. Her thought was that if she could win Grandma's favor, Grandma would treat her mother a bit better as well.
"My goodness, this is... isn't this your grandmother's bracelet? Why is it with you?" Madam Xia Chen asked, somewhat flustered. She knew her daughter wouldn't steal, but she worried that a little child might be fond of play and fail to appreciate the item's true value.
"What are you shouting for? You'll frighten the child. I gave it to her," Old Lady Xia's cold voice drifted over.
Madam Xia Chen swallowed hard. The old lady had stubbornly refused no matter how hard her younger sister had begged for it in the past, saying it would be saved for when she got married. And now she had just handed it over to the little girl like this?
Xia Zhiliao nodded vigorously, then looked at Madam Xia Chen with a beaming smile.
[Mother, Grandma isn't really as scary as she seems. She just looks fierce, but she actually cares about me a lot, and she'll care about you too. We've all been fooled.]
Outside the door, Old Lady Xia curled the corners of her lips. No wonder she could hear her little granddaughter's inner voice; although the girl couldn't speak yet, she was the one who understood her best in the entire family.
If she hadn't put on a fierce front all these years, she and her orphan children would have been chewed up and swallowed whole by now. That whole brood of shameless relatives—she might have preferred a gentle-as-water personality, but that kind of softness couldn't protect her children.
"Look at you. I'm not a man-eating tiger. When our days get better in the future, I'll have Jinjuan buy you one too."
Flustered and overwhelmed by the unexpected favor, Madam Xia Chen hurriedly shook her head. "Mother... I wasn't... I didn't mean that... If we were to sell anything for gold, naturally it should be to buy one for you."
"I'll grant you're filial, but I'm waiting for little Zhiliao here to buy me one." Thinking of the little girl's words just moments ago, Old Lady Xia grinned from ear to ear.
"Where is Jinjuan?"
"He... he went out."
"Where did he go?" Old Lady Xia raised her voice a notch. "Instead of studying properly at home, what is he running around blindly for? And what kind of wife are you, not even knowing where your own husband went? So spineless! Sooner or later, there will come a day when you're crying your eyes out. With an attitude like that, how can you ever compare to that woman!"
[That woman? Which woman?]
Confused by what she was hearing, Xia Zhiliao looked blankly at the woman who was currently being scolded.
[Mother, don't rush to be scared yet! Grandma is dropping a hint for you—does Daddy have another woman outside?]
Xia Zhiliao was baffled. In the novel, Daddy only caught the eye of the prime minister's daughter after passing the imperial examinations, and they hadn't reached that point in the timeline yet.
Could this be a hidden plotline? Or was it because she had jumped straight to the ending and missed something crucial?
Old Lady Xia was equally full of bitter exasperation. She looked down on Madam Xia Chen, but she hated even more the kind of woman who valued wealth over character and failed her son.
"Even though Jinjuan walks the straight path and sits upright, he can't stop that woman from coming on to him."
[Who is it? Who on earth is it? I really don't know this one—Grandma, hurry up and tell me!]
Xia Zhiliao spun around in anxiety. If she had known she would transmigrate into a book, she would have memorized the plot inside and out, studying it with far more diligence and care than her college entrance exam reading comprehension!
"Mother... I... I trust Jinjuan."
Old Lady Xia felt like she was about to be angered to death by Madam Xia Chen. A woman like this simply wouldn't do; once her son passed the exams and became an official in the future, she would undoubtedly drag him down.
"Trusting him is worth a pile of horse manure. Keep a tight leash on your man," Old Lady Xia retorted crossly.
[So, who on earth is it? Mother, who on earth is that woman? Do you know?]
Xia Zhiliao looked with pleading eyes at the somewhat displeased Madam Xia Chen. Based on her deductions, this woman ought to be of great importance to Daddy.
Yet... yet she didn't know!
[Mother, don't be afraid. With me here, I'll definitely protect you! If Daddy dares to do something behind your back with another woman, we'll just dump him and stop living with him!]
Madam Xia Chen pulled her youngest daughter into her arms. She knew who that woman was, but she truly believed that Jinjuan wouldn't have anything to do with her.
She genuinely trusted Jinjuan!
By evening, Xia Jinjuan finally returned, looking flushed with a faint fragrance lingering on his clothes.
Seeing Xia Zhiliao at the doorway, he said, "Are you waiting for Daddy, Zhiliao? It's so cold out—you'll catch a chill!"
Xia Zhiliao turned her head away and curled her lips in a pout.
[Hmph, even if you're nice to me, it's no use! If you betray Mother and mess around with women outside, I won't acknowledge you as my daddy anymore either.]
Xia Jinjuan's face flushed red, and with a slightly guilty conscience, he cleared his throat. "Zhiliao, Daddy went to see a friend today, so... I came back late."
[I bet it was a woman! You even smell rather fragrant. Daddy, I've decided I don't love you anymore. Tomorrow—no, right this minute, I'm taking Mother away from here so we never have to see you again. I'm not going to care about you ever again.]
Panicking, Xia Jinjuan realized his little daughter was his absolute lifeline—how could she possibly leave?
"Zhiliao, Daddy—"
[Don't explain! To explain is to cover up. You've wronged my mother; she hasn't enjoyed a single day of blessing since marrying you, working hard to earn money so you could study, and yet you go behind her back and betray her! I don't want a bad daddy like you.]
Truly panicked now, Xia Jinjuan scooped up his little daughter into his arms. "Daddy was wrong. From now on, Daddy will stay right at home and keep Zhiliao company, alright?"
[Who knows if we can believe that? The moment some woman crooks her finger, do you even remember what you just said to me? Liar!]
"Zhiliao, trust Daddy. Daddy really won't go out anymore. Let's stop being angry, okay?"
[Me not being angry is useless—Mother's heart has already been wounded! How many times can a person's heart be broken? If you really break my mother's heart, you'll never find anyone who treats you as well as she does!]
Xia Jinjuan drew a sharp breath. He had never imagined a day might come when Madam Xia Chen would leave him, but listening to his daughter's words, he inevitably fell into deep contemplation.
Carrying his daughter into the room, he saw his wife sitting there doing embroidery, and an indescribable sense of oppression weighed on his heart. "Wife, today I... I went to see Huiru. But... don't overthink it, we really didn't do anything! If you don't like it, then from now on... I simply won't go see her anymore!"
Chapter 16: Daddy's white moonlight
Upon hearing this name, Madam Xia Chen paused slightly, showing that she was indeed familiar with this woman.
[Mother, don't be sad. I will always stand on your side. Let Daddy go cozy up with that woman outside—we don't want him anymore!]
At that moment, Xia Jinjuan couldn't tell whether he was more afraid of his daughter leaving or reluctant to part with his wife. "Wife, you must believe me. I truly haven't done anything to wrong you. I just heard that her husband passed away, so I went to take a look, that's all. Really."
[Her husband died? Isn't that even more convenient for you two to hook up? Daddy, you're a scholar after all—tsk tsk tsk, this is simply too disappointing.]
Seeing the intense anger on his daughter's face, Xia Jinjuan completely lost his composure, terrified that Madam Xia Chen might hold the exact same view. "Wife, you mustn't leave! Ever since we got married, this was the first time I've seen her. If you're unhappy, I promise I won't ever go see her again. I..."
Anxious, Xia Jinjuan grabbed Madam Xia Chen's hand, terrified she might pack her bags and storm out of the house right then and there.
Never having seen Xia Jinjuan so completely rattled, Madam Xia Chen felt a pang of sympathy. Having been married to him for more than a decade, she naturally knew a bit about their past; thus, though she had felt a slight sense of disorientation upon first hearing the name, seeing how nervous her husband was over her made all her anger instantly vanish.
"Jinjuan, of course I believe you," Madam Xia Chen said softly. Knowing her daughter had only acted out of good intentions, she gently stroked the little girl's cheek.
[Hmph, Mother is just too easy to fool! If it were anyone else, they'd throw a fit and raise hell with you. Daddy, you'd better appreciate what you've got!]
Xia Jinjuan cleared his throat, casting another glance at his daughter, who still wore a lingering trace of anger. He didn't want to upset his little girl—she was his precious darling, after all.
"Back then, Huiru abandoned me without a backward glance; how could I possibly still have anything to do with her? It was merely an acquaintance from the past. Today, hearing that she had returned, I originally didn't want to go, but... we simply happened to run into each other. You must believe me, it really was like that."
Xia Zhiliao raised an eyebrow. Put that way, this woman named Huiru must be her father's white moonlight!
"She... didn't she marry someone in the Capital?"
"That's right. She married into a wealthy, prominent family and gave birth to a daughter who is a bit older than our Zhiliao. That girl, Seyan..."
Seyan?
Lu Seyan?
The female lead of the novel?
Good heavens! Xia Zhiliao gasped in astonishment. So the female lead's mother in the novel was actually her dad's white moonlight!
No wonder the moment Daddy entered the Capital, he seemed to turn into a completely different person, later even willingly acting as a stepping stone for the female lead, letting himself be manipulated by Li Yong, and finally stumbling blindly into the female lead's trap. It must have all been voluntary on Daddy's part, right?
Was the female lead even her dad's biological daughter?
It was genuinely hard to say.
"Wife, you believe me, don't you?"
Madam Xia Chen nodded.
Xia Jinjuan let out a sigh of relief, then turned his gaze back to his little daughter, who seemed lost in thought. He reached out to pick up the little girl and set her on his knee. "Zhiliao believes Daddy too, right? Daddy loves you the most, after all."
Xia Zhiliao snapped back to her senses, still reeling from the shock of her massive discovery.
[Who knows? Calling her "Seyan, Seyan" so intimately—before long, she might just become your precious darling! Do you even remember me? Though you probably don't know that she's the one who will cause your ruin and death!]
Xia Jinjuan shuddered all over. That girl would cause his death?
Madam Xia Chen was frightened as well, and hurriedly pulled on her husband's hand. "Jinjuan, since you and her already have nothing to do with each other, it's better not to get too close. I'm afraid... what other people might say, which wouldn't be good for your reputation."
Xia Jinjuan certainly had no desire to die. No matter how clever Huiru's daughter might be, compared to his own life, she was utterly insignificant—and besides, she wasn't even his own daughter.
Moreover, compared to his own daughter Zhiliao, that girl didn't even measure up.
"Alright, as you say, I won't see her again anyway. It was merely a chance encounter to begin with."
[A chance encounter? I'm afraid someone did it on purpose! How could there be so many coincidences? First she hooks you in, and later when you pass the exams and go to the Capital, won't things be terribly convenient for her then?]
Xia Jinjuan narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling that his little daughter's reasoning made complete sense.
Viewed in that light, this mother-and-daughter pair harbored deep schemes indeed.
As for Huiru—she was no longer the same Huiru she used to be.
He glanced back at Madam Xia Chen, who remained just as she had always been.
[Only my mother could be this foolish. Any other woman would have thrown a massive scene with you. Daddy, you should be content with what you have!]
How could Xia Jinjuan not be content now? "Wife, it was my fault this time, I..."
Having never seen Xia Jinjuan act so submissive before, Madam Xia Chen felt a wave of tenderness. "Alright, it's nothing."
To prevent her husband from bringing up the subject again, she proactively changed the topic. "Over the past couple of days, I've hurried and finished embroidering two handkerchiefs and a pair of pillowcases. Tomorrow, I'll take them over to Jinyi Workshop."
"I'll go with you," Xia Jinjuan said without a moment's hesitation.
"Don't you still need to study?" Madam Xia Chen naturally wanted to go with her husband; she rarely went out alone and still felt rather nervous, yet she worried about interrupting his studies.
"Half a day's time won't make a difference." Xia Jinjuan cast a ingratiating look at Xia Zhiliao. "Zhiliao can come too; since Grandma gave us the silver, we can take you to the medical center to get looked at."
[Mother, you're simply too soft-hearted! Letting yourself be placated so easily means you'll just end up getting bullied in the future.]
Madam Xia Chen smiled gently at her daughter, knowing the child was only worrying about her. Yet as an orphan girl who had managed to secure a marriage to such a man, she truly felt content.
Besides, with him treating her so well, she genuinely didn't believe he would ever betray her.
Even though her daughter had accurately predicted many things, there were bound to be times when she was mistaken, right?
If Xia Zhiliao knew her mother was such an incurable romantic, she would probably be angered to the point of fainting.
"Zhiliao, Daddy will carry you on his back tomorrow."
Looking at Xia Jinjuan, Xia Zhiliao poked out her little lower lip, still clearly displeased.
[Fawning over me won't do any good! If you can't tell what's good for you, treat that mother-and-daughter pair well, and wrong my mother, you won't just ruin yourself—you'll ruin your brothers too. I will never, ever forgive you, hmph!]
Xia Jinjuan trusted his daughter's words implicitly. Whatever lingering reluctance he might have still held toward Bai Huiru, what did it matter when weighed against his future, his life, and his children?
"Zhiliao is the best girl. Daddy loves you the most—you don't like those people either, do you?"
Xia Zhiliao nodded vigorously. As if she could possibly like them!
The reason the entire family ended up dead—viewed in this light, it was all tied to the female lead. How could she possibly like her?
"Then Daddy won't pay any attention to them from now on. Will Zhiliao stop being angry with Daddy then?"
Xia Zhiliao shot him a single look.