"Husband, how did you knock Zhang Da unconscious and bring him over?"
A bright moon hung over the rolling mountain ridges, its frosty light spreading across the treetops.
The herbs for detoxification and the herbs to calm Wang Yulan were both running low and needed to be gathered again.
Jiang Weiyao carried a bamboo basket, identifying herbs by moonlight, and asked as if casually, "I heard from young Mrs. Wang that Zhang Da knows martial arts, and as a butcher he's used to skinning and chopping meat, so his strikes are extremely vicious…"
She paused briefly, then added, "When you fought him, were you injured?"
She was probing.
Perhaps unskilled in such things, her probing words were too obvious—anyone could see through them without much thought.
Pei Yunheng turned his head and looked at her.
Meeting Pei Yunheng's gaze, Jiang Weiyao seemed guilty and immediately lowered her head, saying sheepishly, "I didn't mean anything else, I was just worried… worried about you, that's all."
Her voice grew softer and softer, her guilt plainly visible.
Pei Yunheng raised an eyebrow slightly, not knowing what trick Jiang Weiyao was trying to play.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Jiang Weiyao couldn't help but call out softly again, "Husband?"
Pei Yunheng asked indifferently, "Isn't it a bit late to worry now?"
"Late?" Jiang Weiyao blinked. "Why late?"
"Two hours ago when you woke up, I was by your side the whole time. Couldn't you tell whether I was injured?" Pei Yunheng countered.
Digging out an herb, Jiang Weiyao argued, "You're wearing clothes—how would I know if you're hurt?"
"?" Pei Yunheng suspected he had misheard. "…What did you say?"
Jiang Weiyao said with perfect justification, "That's exactly right. If you wanted to hide it from me, you could cover your wounds with your clothes."
Pei Yunheng: "…Why would I hide it from you?"
"Naturally because you're afraid I'd worry." Jiang Weiyao's cheeks flushed slightly, looking shy. "When you were sick before, you'd carefully hide it from me for fear I'd worry."
Opening his mouth, Pei Yunheng was speechless.
Jiang Weiyao pouted. "You're not talking again."
Pressing his fingers to his brow, Pei Yunheng was silent for a few breaths before asking, "What do you want me to say?"
Jiang Weiyao was annoyed and grabbed a few blades of grass to throw at him. "I asked you so many questions and you still haven't answered any of them!"
The green weeds drifted lightly down before his eyes. Pei Yunheng closed his eyes briefly. "I hid behind the door and knocked him unconscious with a porcelain bottle."
He concealed the part about disarming Zhang Da and breaking his wrist.
To fit the image of a scholar.
"Husband, you used to get sick at the drop of a hat—I never expected you to be so strong." Jiang Weiyao feigned surprise.
Pei Yunheng's hand paused mid-motion. "I used to get sick at the drop of a hat?"
"That's right."
Jiang Weiyao spared no effort in smearing him. "You used to get winded after two steps. In spring you'd break out in rashes, in summer you'd get prickly heat, in autumn you'd cough, in winter you'd run a high fever. All year round you had one illness after another. I often gave you silver to see a doctor and buy medicine."
Pei Yunheng: "…"
Jiang Weiyao felt vexed just thinking about it. "The farm kept pigs. The breed wasn't good and they got sick often—couldn't stand cold or heat. I thought they were already hard enough to raise, but after meeting you I found out you're even harder to raise than pigs."
Pei Yunheng: "…"
His gaze toward Jiang Weiyao turned chilly.
"I never expected that after injuring your head in a fall, your health actually improved. You even managed to knock out such a fat butcher."
Jiang Weiyao said with a smile, "My husband is truly amazing!"
Pei Yunheng suspected Jiang Weiyao was mocking him.
But when his gaze swept over, she was smiling gently and softly, her pair of black, round apricot eyes filled with admiration and reverence. Looking further down, her hands were already itching to applaud for him.
His eyelids drooped heavily, and the veins at Pei Yunheng's temples throbbed.
Being around Jiang Weiyao always made doubts rise in his heart—not only doubts about her, but sometimes doubts about himself.
Whenever he judged that Jiang Weiyao was deeply calculating with ulterior motives, she would always reveal a trick or two that refreshed his understanding.
Over time, it was hard for him not to waver—
Was she truly full of schemes, or was it simply that the actions of a fool were this unpredictable?
He could not figure it out.
Jiang Weiyao did not let him off. She crept closer furtively, her tone unable to hide her smugness: "Husband, do you feel uncomfortable?"
"What?" Pei Yunheng paused, his brows knitting slightly.
"I suspected you—do you feel uncomfortable?" Jiang Weiyao gave a light humph. "There is no true empathy in this world; only personal experience lets you know the flavor of it. Now you know how sad I was when you suspected me."
No, I only thought you had become smarter.
Pei Yunheng rose to his feet with a cold expression.
Jiang Weiyao hurried to follow and nearly tripped over her skirt.
She came up to Pei Yunheng and asked cautiously, "Are you angry?"
"No." Pei Yunheng's tone was indifferent.
Jiang Weiyao stole a glance at his expression: "Then are you sad?"
"No."
"Why?" Jiang Weiyao was dissatisfied. "That's not fair!"
Pei Yunheng ignored her.
After walking a few more steps, Jiang Weiyao could not hold back and asked, "Why won't you answer me?"
Lifting his eyelids, Pei Yunheng said coolly, "I answered."
"Answered what? How come I didn't hear it?" Jiang Weiyao was puzzled.
"I answered with silence."
"……"
Jiang Weiyao was so angry her face turned red. She slung the bamboo basket over her arm and strode forward, each step landing heavily.
Pei Yunheng gained a rare moment of peace.
But before his knitted brows could relax, Jiang Weiyao, who had been walking ahead with her head down, stopped again.
When Pei Yunheng drew near, she looked him up and down and could not resist asking, "Are you really not injured?"
Taking a deep breath, Pei Yunheng's patience finally ran out. He looked over with a cold, thin gaze, his tone calm to the point of chilling: "Do you want me to take off my clothes for you to inspect?"
Jiang Weiyao's eyes went wide.
Just when Pei Yunheng thought she was finally afraid, she blushed, stuffed the bamboo basket into his arms, and shyly pounded a fist against his chest.
Pei Yunheng's breathing trembled.
The punch was not heavy, but he wanted to vomit blood.
Jiang Weiyao ran forward bashfully, turning her head to look at Pei Yunheng as she ran, as if wanting him to chase her.
Looking away, Pei Yunheng slowed his steps.
The night wind brushed past, and the grass and trees rustled.
Mixed in were a few faint, indistinct footsteps.
Someone was approaching this way.
Coming up the mountain in the dead of night—whoever it was did not come with good intentions.
His dark eyes swept the depths of the forest without a sound, then fell on Jiang Weiyao. Pei Yunheng's gaze flickered slightly, and he did not speak a warning.
He wanted to know whether Jiang Weiyao had also sensed the danger as keenly as he had.
Jiang Weiyao was still running forward, only stopping when she realized Pei Yunheng had no intention of playing "she runs, he chases" with her. She even stomped her foot in dissatisfaction.
She walked back angrily. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of something, and suddenly fell to the ground, a scream bursting from her mouth: "Ah—!"
It was too late to stop it. Pei Yunheng stepped forward, and Jiang Weiyao frantically grabbed his hand, her body trembling: "Snake, snake! There's a snake!"
Pei Yunheng looked in the direction she was pointing. It was a grass snake hanging from a branch, already frightened away by the scream.
Seeing that Jiang Weiyao was about to scream again, Pei Yunheng immediately covered her mouth and snapped: "Shut up!"
Jiang Weiyao looked at him with a wronged expression.
Footsteps rapidly approached, clearly having heard Jiang Weiyao's scream.
Pei Yunheng wanted to pull Jiang Weiyao up and hide behind a tree, but though he exerted force on his wrist, she wouldn't stand.
He frowned and looked at her.
Jiang Weiyao was on the verge of tears: "My legs have gone weak…"
Hearing the footsteps getting closer, Pei Yunheng's brow furrowed even tighter. He placed one hand on Jiang Weiyao's waist and lifted her up.
The two hid behind an old tree.
Pei Yunheng said calmly: "Don't make a sound. Someone's coming."
Jiang Weiyao was so frightened she covered her mouth with both hands, twisting her waist to peek out with one eye. After a moment, she couldn't help but whisper: "Where?"
She paid no mind at all to Pei Yunheng's hand on her waist.
As she twisted, his cold palm, through the thin fabric, could clearly feel the soft warmth of the woman's waist.
Pei Yunheng quickly withdrew his hand.
After putting distance between himself and Jiang Weiyao, he ordered: "While they haven't gotten close yet, hurry back to the cave."
"Why? I want to stay with you!" Jiang Weiyao said anxiously. "I'm not poisoned now, I can still help you."
Pei Yunheng said coldly: "You'll only be a burden to me."
Jiang Weiyao's expression dimmed: "…Then, then let's leave together."
"I'm staying to observe."
Seeing that Jiang Weiyao was about to speak again, his voice was impatient: "If you don't leave now, you won't be able to. Don't waste time."
As if hurt by Pei Yunheng's words, Jiang Weiyao lowered her head, her voice pitifully small: "Then you must be careful."
With that, she finally left, looking back at every step.
After the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, three figures slowly approached under the cover of night, one of them leading a black dog.
"The sound just now came from here. Search! They can't have gotten far!"
With that, the man held a dress under the dog's nose and waved it around.
Pei Yunheng recognized it—
It was Jiang Weiyao's favorite goose-yellow dress. She had washed it yesterday and wanted to wear it today, but it hadn't dried yet.
The man put the dress away, and the black dog immediately lowered itself to the ground and began sniffing.
Soon, the black dog found where Pei Yunheng was hiding and began barking wildly under the tree.
His sword-like brows lifted slightly. Pei Yunheng just remembered—this dress had been washed by his own hands, so naturally it would carry his scent as well.
He sighed slowly and deliberately.
The villagers who had come up the mountain to catch people had already surrounded the tree, holding knives in both hands, watching the leafy tall tree with strict vigilance.
Hearing this sigh, for some reason, they felt their hair stand on end.
But before they could react, a figure had already appeared silently behind them like a ghost.
"Woof! Woof woof!"
The black dog suddenly began barking wildly again.
Having successfully drawn the villagers over, Jiang Weiyao returned by the same route, but she did not hurry back to the cave.
Shrouded by the layers of night, she found a towering tree outside the cave and leaped up onto it, lying down with her head pillowed on her arms, like a hunter waiting for prey to appear, quietly observing the scene within the cave.
Inside the cave, the orange-red firelight flickered gently across the uneven stone surfaces, dispelling some of the chill.
Erya was still decocting the medicine, Zhang Da remained unconscious, and Daya and Wang Yulan were huddled closely together.
The cave was silent and calm.
But Jiang Weiyao knew that this calm was about to end.
Change was coming.