In her line of sight, a pair of Yunwen Soft Boots stopped a foot away from her—one more step forward and they would have touched her toes. Jiang Ningsui's breath caught. Before she could react, Pei Duo called out to her.
"Sister-in-law."
Jiang Ningsui instinctively looked up, somewhat dazed. "Hm?"
She didn't understand.
Why had Young Master Pei suddenly approached her, standing less than three feet away?
The young man was tall and imposing, standing before her like an unyielding mountain. The narrow alley let wind through from both ends, and the rustling cold breeze made the hem of his robe flutter slightly.
The corner of his Azure Yunwen Robe brushed against the back of Jiang Ningsui's hand, stirring a faint ticklish sensation.
She heard Pei Duo ask, "Sister-in-law, is there anything you need my help with?"
Jiang Ningsui hadn't expected Pei Duo to ask such a question.
She gently shook her head. "No."
The young man's deep, dark pupils fixed on Jiang Ningsui's almond-shaped eyes, which rippled with confusion.
After a moment, he stepped back, maintaining the distance proper for their respective positions. "In that case, let's head back."
Jiang Ningsui still didn't understand Pei Duo's meaning.
She felt that scholars always spoke in such roundabout ways.
Back at the small courtyard, Pei Duo handed the fishing line and net bag to Jiang Ningsui. "If you would, sister-in-law, please add some more coal to my room. The warmer, the better."
Jiang Ningsui reached out to take them and looked up to ask, "Is Young Master Pei not going inside?"
Pei Duo withdrew his hand. "I should return to the academy."
Jiang Ningsui was even more confused.
If Pei Duo was going back to the academy, why had he insisted on accompanying her on this trip for no apparent reason?
After Pei Duo left, Jiang Ningsui first carried the fish and shrimp into the kitchen, placing them in water. She then went out to check Sister-in-law Mu's courtyard—the gate was padlocked, meaning she hadn't returned yet—and then went to Pei Duo's room.
Having been out in the cold wind for over half an hour, she was numb from head to toe. The moment she stepped into the warmth-filled room, Jiang Ningsui let out a comfortable sigh.
She warmed herself by the charcoal brazier for a while, until the heat had completely driven away the chill from her body, before adding fresh coal to the fire.
"Little miss, little miss, are you home? Little miss?"
From beyond the wall, Mu Hua's urgent voice came through.
Jiang Ningsui lifted the curtain and went out, opening the courtyard gate to see Sister-in-law Mu holding her child's hand.
Seeing Jiang Ningsui return safe and sound, Mu Hua finally breathed a sigh of relief. "You scared me to death. I looked for you at the ferry for ages and couldn't find you. I was terrified something had happened to you. Thank goodness you're fine—otherwise, I'd never forgive myself."
Jiang Ningsui smiled. "I looked for you for a while too and couldn't find you. I just got back and saw the padlock on your gate. I figured you'd come to my courtyard when you returned. As long as Sister-in-law Mu is fine, that's what matters."
Mu Hua said, "I've lived here for over a decade—what could possibly happen to me?"
She asked again, "Did you manage to buy fish and shrimp? If not, I'll share some of mine."
Jiang Ningsui invited her in and sat her down in the kitchen. "I got some."
Mu Hua glanced at the fish and shrimp in the basin—not a lot, but enough for two or three meals to satisfy a craving.
Sister-in-law Mu sat for a while and then left, and Jiang Ningsui began preparing the fish and shrimp.
She heated some water and cleaned them with it to avoid freezing her hands. By the time dusk was falling, she had lit the charcoal brazier in her and her husband's room and added a few pieces of coal to the brazier in Pei Duo's room.
The two rooms, separated by a single wall, were nonetheless worlds apart in temperature.
Tonight, as usual, Pei Duo returned first.
Jiang Ningsui waited outside the courtyard holding a kerosene lamp, watching Pei Duo pace toward her from the depths of the alley. Not seeing her husband, she knew he would be another two quarters of an hour late again.
The young man walked to the front of the courtyard, his gaze lingering on Jiang Ningsui's slightly reddened nose and frost-chapped fingertips.
Ever since she had arrived, every night when he returned, he would see her standing outside the courtyard with a kerosene lamp in hand, craning her neck in eager anticipation, waiting for her husband to come home.
Unfortunately, her husband never saw it.
He saw it all instead.
Jiang Ningsui stepped aside to let Pei Duo enter: "Young Master Pei, go inside and see how warm it is. I added coal four times today, so the room should be quite toasty."
Pei Duo nodded: "Thank you for your trouble, Sister-in-law."
Jiang Ningsui shook her head: "It's no trouble."
Pei Duo lifted the curtain and stepped inside. A wave of heat rushed at his face. He glanced at the charcoal brazier—the fire was burning vigorously.
To most people, this temperature would be pleasantly warm, but to Pei Duo, it was no different from the scorching summer sun—stifling and roasting.
In less than half an incense stick's time, a thin sheen of sweat had already formed on the young man's forehead.
Zhao Zhixue braved the cold wind through the door, warming himself by the fire in the main room before heading to the kitchen. He saw that tonight's dinner was bountiful—fish and shrimp, three dishes and a soup, all fragrant and appetizing.
Zhao Zhixue picked a piece of fish for Jiang Ningsui and asked with a smile: "Wife, did you go to the shop to buy fish today?"
A warmth spread through Jiang Ningsui's heart. Chewing the fish her husband had given her, she smiled: "I didn't go to the shop. Sister-in-law Mu and I went to the ferry dock to buy the fish and shrimp—it's cheaper there."
Zhao Zhixue: "The dock is far and cold. Don't go there next time. The fish and shrimp at the shop are a bit pricier, but you won't have to travel so far. It doesn't matter if we run out of money—we can just ask Mother for more."
Jiang Ningsui pressed her lips together: "Alright."
Her husband said that, but she didn't dare actually do it.
Her mother-in-law gave her a fixed monthly allowance for food, and she had to budget carefully. If she overspent, not only would her mother-in-law scold her, but her father-in-law would too. And then her father-in-law would probably bring up that five taels of silver again, making things even harder for her.
Pei Duo set down his chopsticks. As he rose, he glanced at Jiang Ningsui, who had fallen silent with her head bowed.
Zhao Zhixue handed Jiang Ningsui a peeled shrimp and noticed Pei Duo standing: "Brother Pei, you're not eating anymore?"
Pei Duo: "Mm, I'm done."
Once Pei Duo left, Zhao Zhixue picked out another piece of fish for Jiang Ningsui: "Wife, this part of the fish is the tenderest. Eat more—you look so thin."
Jiang Ningsui's eyes brimmed with deep happiness: "My husband treats me so well."
Zhao Zhixue smiled: "My wife is virtuous and kind, attentive to my every need, knowing when I'm warm or cold. How could I not hold you dear to my heart? When I pass the imperial examinations and achieve Gaozhong Jidi, I will surely give you a good life. I'll make sure your hands never touch dishwater again, and I'll pamper you like a treasure in my palms."
Zhao Zhixue's sweet words made Jiang Ningsui's heart bloom with joy.
She didn't ask that her husband one day give her a life where her hands never touched dishwater—she only prayed that he would keep passing his examinations and see her safely through this tribulation.
The weather grew colder and colder, but this year, snow was slow to come.
It wasn't until the end of the eleventh month that the year's first sleet finally arrived.
Within a short while, the roads had already become slick and slippery.
With sleet falling, not only were the roads hard to traverse, but if one's clothes got soaked, there was a real risk of catching a chill.
Seeing that it was nearly noon, Jiang Ningsui took a paper umbrella and also retrieved the one Pei Duo kept leaning against the wardrobe in his room, then headed to the academy. There were few people on the road today, making the wide street seem quiet and desolate.
At a quarter past noon, the vermilion gate of the academy swung open.
The students filed out in a stream.
Liang Wentao patted the rain and snow off his clothes, then raised a hand to shield his brow, trying to block the ice pellets stinging his face. As he looked up and caught sight of the young woman standing outside the vermilion-painted gate, a flash of unmistakable admiration crossed his face.
It was the same young woman he had seen beside Sister Hu two months ago.
She wore coarse cloth garments, loose and thick, yet they could not conceal her graceful figure. The fingers gripping the umbrella handle were pale and clean, and beneath the umbrella's edge, her delicate face was as fair and bright as porcelain against the snow. Her limpid, watery eyes gazed toward this direction, and below the crossed collar of her robe stretched a slender, fair neck.
This picture of a beauty in the snow stirred an itching restlessness in Liang Wentao's heart.
These past two months, he had been tangled up in vexing trifles—especially in dealing with Pei Duo, which had cost him no small amount of money, manpower, and effort.
He had secretly spent money to send five waves of men after Pei Duo, and not once had they managed to finish him off. Instead, every time, Pei Duo beat them half to death, and then they dragged their broken bodies back to demand the remaining payment from him.
They hadn't gotten the job done, and he didn't want to pay, but those five groups threatened to make a scene at his family's restaurant.
If his father found out about this, he'd skin him alive.
So he had stolen quite a bit of money from home to send those men off. During that time, he'd been so focused on dealing with Pei Duo that he'd even forgotten about finding the young woman.
Now she was right before his eyes. Liang Wentao patted the ice pellets off his shoulders and sleeves, then walked toward Jiang Ningsui.
Today, he was determined to pry the words out of her mouth and find out which family she belonged to.
Jiang Ningsui stood on her toes, scanning the crowd of students for her husband and Young Master Pei. But into her uncertain gaze stepped a strange figure, advancing toward her step by step. Only when he drew close did Jiang Ningsui recognize him—the lecher who had harassed her at the academy gates two months ago.
—Liang Wentao.
Jiang Ningsui's body tensed. Her fingers tightened around the umbrella handle as she watched the approaching man with wary eyes.
She took a few steps toward where the crowd was thicker.
She refused to believe he would dare lay a hand on her in front of so many people.
"Young miss, who are you waiting for here?"
Liang Wentao closed in, forcing Jiang Ningsui to retreat three hurried steps. His gaze swept over her figure, then landed on her neck with a look so revolting it seemed to strip the clothes from her body, making her hair stand on end.
"Don't come any closer! Take another step and I'll scream!"
Jiang Ningsui stepped back again, but behind her was a wall—there was nowhere left to go.
Liang Wentao stared at her neck. With each rise and fall of her breath, the porcelain-white skin stretched taut over the bones of her throat, revealing an utterly alluring hollow at the collarbone. It made his mouth go dry.
"What are you afraid of, young miss? I only wish to make your acquaintance. Why are you standing here?"
Suddenly, a thought struck him, and a realization dawned: "Don't tell me your husband is a student at the academy?"
Jiang Ningsui said coldly, "That's none of your business."
Liang Wentao laughed. "How could it be none of my business? If he's an academy student, then he's my fellow classmate. That being the case, I ought to call you—" The word "sister-in-law" had barely left his lips when a cold, hard Langhao Brush suddenly pierced through the driving snow and rain, striking squarely into Liang Wentao's Faguan.
The tip of the brush scraped across his scalp, and a sharp pain exploded instantly from the top of his head.
Liang Wentao's face changed. He yanked the Langhao Brush from his Faguan and recognized it at once—it was Pei Duo's!
Him again!
Why did this man insist on making trouble for him at every turn!
Liang Wentao clutched the Langhao brush tightly, turning to glare with hatred at Pei Duo inside the red-painted gate.
The young man stood tall with straight shoulders, his usually cold and indifferent features now shadowed with darkness.
The fury and resentment burning in Liang Wentao's chest met Pei Duo's nearly sinister, icy gaze, and a chill like a venomous snake slithered up his spine—cold and horrifying.
"Milord!"
Taking advantage of the opening, Jiang Ningsui slipped out from the side and raised her umbrella toward Zhao Zhixue, who was running over quickly.
"Suisui!"
Zhao Zhixue ran out with an anxious expression, grabbing Jiang Ningsui's shoulders and looking her over from head to toe. "Are you alright? Did you get hurt anywhere?"
Jiang Ningsui shook her head. "I'm fine."
Her face still bore the pallor left by fright, and her almond-shaped eyes, dampened by the rain and snow, swept past Zhao Zhixue's shoulder to land on Pei Duo a few steps away, colliding with the young man's deep, pool-like dark eyes.
Pei Duo's long lashes lowered, sweeping over the hands gripping Jiang Ningsui's shoulders.
They were her husband's hands.
————————!!————————
Let me recommend a friend's book to you all—it's already fully completed~
A Woman of the Marketplace by Wanglai Xixi
Yu Jiangwan took a fall and lost her life, becoming the youngest daughter of a pair of refugees fleeing famine in ancient times.
Fortunately, the fleeing had already ended. Unfortunately, she was married off to a soldier guarding the city walls.
The man was tall and imposing, with a face that looked extremely formidable. He was displeased at being forced to marry her, never looking her straight in the eye and never speaking a single extra word to her. He spent all day in the courtyard practicing with his weapons, and whenever she stole a glance at him, he would turn his face cold.
The colder his face grew, the more she wanted to look. Not only did she look, she even reached out to touch—only to unexpectedly discover that the man wasn't just skilled with the weapons in his hands, but also in other aspects…
Yu Jiangwan was quite satisfied with this, but she never expected the man to have astonishing stamina, working day and night without rest. Frightened, she turned and ran into the city to set up a food stall, ordering the man around in circles to burn off his abundant energy. The man said nothing, but at night, he worked even harder than before. Yu Jiangwan had no way to voice her grievances.
Day after day passed, busy and fulfilling. But good times didn't last long—the Xiongnu invaded. The man left a letter of divorce and followed the army to the battlefield.
Day after day, Yu Jiangwan's belly gradually grew, yet she never saw the man's figure return. She reached up and wiped her tears dry.
If he dared to abandon her, leaving her alone, then she wouldn't want him either.
#######
Zhou Zizheng followed the army in pursuit of the Xiongnu. He thought of the night before their departure, when the woman in his arms had cried and begged him to come back alive, and how he had narrowly escaped death several times.
The army defeated the Xiongnu, and he traveled day and night to return. At the courtyard gate, he saw the person he had longed for day and night.
There she was, holding a child in her arms, tilting her little face up to smile tenderly at the man beside her.