Chapter 13: In This Lifetime, Revenge Must Be Taken, and the Show Must Go On

Chen Xueying was lost in memories of her past life when Jiang Yanqing’s voice abruptly snapped her back to reality. After a moment of dazing silence, she responded with a hint of guilt:

“Sorry, I’ll clean up right away!” She was already accustomed to manual labor.

From the very first day she married into the Jiang family in her past life, she had constantly sought out tasks to do on her own initiative to prove her worth and to make Jiang Jiali see her virtues. Taking the initiative to work had become almost instinctual. Thus, as soon as Jiang Yanqing finished speaking, she swiftly and deftly began tidying up.

Her shoulder length black hair fell forward, obscuring her vision, so she quickly tucked the strands behind her small, delicate ears.

Jiang Yanqing flustered averted his gaze. “I’m going out to fetch something!” He figured that with him there, she might feel compelled to hold back even if she was uncomfortable. It was better to leave her alone for a while.

Chen Xueying didn’t overthink it. She felt she was taking advantage of Jiang Yanqing’s kindness, so doing a bit more work was only fair. This room would be hers alone from now on.

In her past life, Jiang Yanqing had only returned on their wedding day and never came back before his sacrifice a year later. She was cleaning up for her own future comfort and didn’t feel any grievance or exhaustion.

The commotion outside had died down, but Liu Guixiang had no intention of letting Lu Niannian off the hook. Wielding a stick, she ordered Lu Niannian to boil water and scrub every inch of the house inside and out.

She even made Lu Niannian deliver water to the room. Faced with Lu Niannian’s venomous glare, Chen Xueying flinched in fear, her hand trembling. The water spilled onto the ground, and the wooden basin crashed into Lu Niannian’s foot.

The pain was so intense that Lu Niannian couldn’t even cry anymore; her tears had long since dried up.

In the end, Liu Guixiang beat Lu Niannian again, accusing her of defiance and pretentiousness, and nearly breaking the basin in the process. By the second time Lu Niannian delivered water, she had become much more subdued, keeping her head down and not daring to look at Chen Xueying.

Jiang Yanqing, who had just returned with new bed sheets, pillows, and a quilt, witnessed this scene and looked at Chen Xueying with disapproval.

Chen Xueying pressed her lips together without a word, turned around, and went back into the room, showing no intention of explaining to herself.

The floor was made of packed earth, and the spilled water would dry overnight without needing much attention.

Inside the room, the two strangers found themselves confined together, and an awkward silence hung in the air, especially for Jiang Yanqing. At thirty years old, he was a full decade older than the twenty-year-old Chen Xueying.

The last time Jiang Yanqing had seen Chen Xueying, she was still a little girl skipping around with a backpack. Now, in the blink of an eye, she was his nominal wife. It felt undeniably strange.

He placed the bed sheets on the kang. “There aren’t any new ones at home for now. Will these do?”

Only then did Chen Xueying remember that she had stored her dowry in her Dimension, and it wouldn’t be appropriate to retrieve it now.

So, he had gone to fetch bed sheets after all. But the sheets were patched all over, with threads fraying at the edges.

She knew Jiang Yanqing was not well treated in the family, but she hadn’t realized it was to this extent.

She understood this room hadn’t been prepared for Jiang Yanqing. It originally belonged to Liu Guixiang, but with two weddings happening at once, it had been tidied up for appearances.

In her past life, the moment Jiang Yanqing left, Liu Guixiang had tried to move back in. It was only after Lu Niannian threw a fit that Jiang Jiali eagerly persuaded his mother to let Lu Niannian have the room instead.

In her previous life, many details had revealed Jiang Jiali’s special treatment of Lu Niannian, yet she had been blind and foolish, only realizing it after being driven out.

In this life, she would take revenge and watch the drama unfold, and she would not give up this room.

The cursing outside had unknowingly stopped. Jiang Yanqing helped tidy up before taking the soiled bed sheets out. With his hand on the doorframe, he said to the room:

“I’m going outside to wash up. Remember to lock the door when you clean yourself later.” Although he knew Chen Xueying liked Jiang Jiali, he still didn’t want this foolish woman to keep making stupid mistakes by easily forgiving those two.

Chen Xueying thanked him and bolted the door shut.

Through the door, Chen Xueying seemed to hear faint whispering again, soon followed by Liu Guixiang’s voice: “What are you still doing up? Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“Boss, aren’t you leaving tomorrow? With so many women in the house, why don’t you go wash up in the river outside before coming back!”

Then came what sounded like Jiang Yanqing’s voice, though it was unclear what he replied. Soon came the sound of the courtyard gate closing, followed by complete silence settling over the Jiang household.

Chen Xueying quickly retrieved her clothes from her Dimension, cleaned herself, changed clothes, then took out her own towel from the Dimension to hang up.

After finishing her wash, she finally opened the door to take the water out for disposal.

No movement came from Liu Guixiang and Lu Niannian’s rooms. Moving with familiar ease, Chen Xueying finished disposing of the water and put the basin away when the sound of the courtyard gate opening made her jump in fright.

By the moonlight, Jiang Yanqing clearly saw the figure of Chen Xueying fleeing back to her room in panic. He let out a contemptuous snort: With courage like this, she still tries to frame people?

Shaking his head in amusement, he picked up a towel to wipe the water droplets from his forehead, casually closing the door behind him.

When he entered the room, Chen Xueying was already lying on the kang, covered with a blanket of unknown origin, blinking her deer like bright eyes as she gazed at him helplessly.

While running back to the room, Chen Xueying had already realized it must have been Jiang Yanqing opening the gate. But since she’d already run inside, she couldn’t very well go back out now.

The kang in the room was spacious enough to sleep four or five people. As Jiang Yanqing hung up his towel, he noticed a brand-new towel placed on the rack.

He guessed it probably belonged to Chen Xueying, though he hadn’t seen it before and wondered where it had come from.

“Do you need to get up for anything else?”

Chen Xueying’s heart tightened. Buried completely under the blanket with only her deer like, glistening eyes visible, she slowly shook her head.

Jiang Yanqing clicked his tongue, then blew out the kerosene lamp.

The moonlight outside was bright, streaming through the wooden window lattice to illuminate the space before the kang. Jiang Yanqing’s vision was sharp enough to vaguely see the figure on the kang tremble.

Jiang Yanqing flexed his fingers, then lightly climbed onto the kang, leaving about two people’s distance between them.

Chen Xueying nervously gripped the blanket, barely daring to breathe. Hearing her erratic breathing, Jiang Yanqing frowned slightly beside her. His sharp eyes suddenly opened, staring at the pitch-black ceiling as he said:

“Go to sleep. I know you probably can’t accept me yet after going through such major changes. Rest assured, I won’t touch you!”
Chen Xueying breathed a sigh of relief but couldn’t help letting out a bitter laugh in her heart. It seemed that neither in her past life nor this one had she experienced a perfect wedding night.

But perhaps this was for the best. In the darkness, she let out a soft “mm” before slowly closing her eyes.

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Zephyr Yizelle

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