True to her nature, Old Madam Wang wasted no time. Once she had made up her mind, she headed toward the western part of the village the very next day.
When she arrived, An Jin was sitting in the courtyard sewing clothes for her daughter.
The morning sunlight was gentle and warm, neither harsh nor dazzling. Bathed in the soft golden glow, An Jin seemed almost wrapped in a layer of light. Her delicate, beautiful features carried an ethereal grace, making her look almost divine.
For a moment, Old Madam Wang thought she had seen a fairy descended from heaven.
But then she snorted inwardly.
So what if she was pretty? She still couldn’t bear a son.
Her youngest daughter wasn’t much to look at, but she was fertile. Before her unfortunate husband died young, she’d already given birth to three sons.
Noticing the visitor, An Jin saw the old woman staring at her without saying a word.
Confused, she called out gently.
“Aunt Wang?”
Old Madam Wang came back to her senses. Seeing the embroidery in An Jin’s hands, she immediately smiled.
“Xiao Wei, you’re really clever and skillful. The patterns you embroider are so varied, and none of the designs on little Xue’s clothes have ever been repeated. My granddaughter is green with envy, so I thought I’d come and learn a few things from you.”
She didn’t reveal her true purpose right away. Instead, she chatted casually while sneaking glances into the house, trying to see whether An Jin’s husband was home.
To her surprise, although the blue-tiled house looked ordinary from the outside, the furnishings inside were filled with rare and valuable items.
Old Madam Wang clicked her tongue.
Her determination only grew stronger.
An Jin noticed the woman’s wandering eyes and felt somewhat displeased. Still, one couldn’t slap a smiling face, so she handed over the embroidery pattern.
“There’s nothing particularly special about them. I just came up with these designs whenever I had free time.”
Old Madam Wang secretly curled her lips.
Which woman in the village wasn’t busy from dawn till dusk? Only An Jin could live such a leisurely life.
The jealousy in her heart inevitably seeped into her words.
“You really are blessed. You married such a capable husband and get to enjoy life. Just look at your hands, they’re soft and fair. Unlike us women who spend our days digging in the dirt.”
An Jin’s smile faded slightly, impatience beginning to surface.
Yet Old Madam Wang pretended not to notice.
“I’ve noticed that after all these years together, you and your husband still haven’t had a son. Aren’t you worried?”
An Jin frowned slightly.
“Having Xue’er is enough for us.”
Old Madam Wang didn’t believe that for a second.
Not wanting a son?
More like she couldn’t have one, so she had no choice but to treasure that worthless daughter.
“You may not want one, but doesn’t your husband?”
Feeling that she was speaking with both reason and compassion, Old Madam Wang lowered her voice and leaned closer.
“I know your body was damaged and that you can’t have children anymore. You and your husband have a good relationship, I know that. But surely you can’t let his family line end, can you? I happen to have a solution.”
An Jin looked at her.
“What solution?”
Thinking her words had finally gotten through, Old Madam Wang brightened.
“My youngest daughter is very fertile. She gave her husband three sons. Unfortunately, fate wasn’t kind to her, and she’s recently become a widow.”
An Jin blinked in confusion.
“So?”
Whether she was pretending or genuinely clueless, Old Madam Wang finally spoke plainly.
“My poor daughter deserves a better future. Your husband doesn’t have a son, and my daughter is good at bearing children. Our village doesn’t care much about formal concubines and such. If she enters your household, she’ll give you sons…”
She quickly added several assurances.
“She definitely won’t ruin the relationship between you and your husband. She just needs someone to rely on. Besides, your family can easily afford to feed one more person. This way, your family gets a son to carry on the bloodline, and my poor daughter will have someone to depend on for the rest of her life. You’re such a kind-hearted person, I’m sure you’ll understand.”
Though she sounded considerate, Old Madam Wang was already calculating in her heart.
If her daughter gave birth to a son, she would definitely drive this mother and daughter pair out. Why should they continue wasting her future grandson’s money?
An Jin was so angry she almost laughed.
Setting down her needlework, she prepared to send the woman away.
Before she could speak, however, a childish voice exploded with fury.
“You old hag, you’re ugly and yet you dream so beautifully! If your daughter is so good at having babies, then go breed her with a pig! Why are you clinging to our family?”
Although Old Madam Wang had deliberately lowered her voice, martial artists naturally possessed keen senses. The conversation had been heard clearly by the father and daughter who had just returned.
A little girl with a face as lovely as carved jade and fresh snow had just uttered such shockingly crude words.
Old Madam Wang nearly exploded.
Even An Jin was stunned.
Where had her daughter learned to say something so wild?
Trembling with rage, Old Madam Wang pointed at Gong Xue, about to unleash a torrent of curses.
But the man behind the girl cast her a dark and chilling gaze.
The sword on his back gleamed coldly.
It was a silent warning.
Old Madam Wang instantly swallowed her curses and forced out a smile.
“Xiao Yue, Auntie only means well. You’re not young anymore. How can you not have a son to continue the family line?”
Her eyes landed on the pearl hairpin adorning the annoying little girl’s head and the pastries she was carrying, and her heart ached.
“Girls are destined to marry eventually. Spending so much money on her is just a waste.”
Unlike his wife and daughter, Gong Yue had no patience.
He drew his sword.
“Get lost.”
Old Madam Wang shivered violently.
She hurried away in disgrace, but bitterness filled her heart.
“No wonder you can’t have a son. Raising such a spoiled, troublesome girl, she’ll never find a husband in the future.”
Gong Yue’s expression darkened.
The sword in his hand flew and embedded itself directly before Old Madam Wang’s feet.
Her face turned deathly pale.
She hadn’t expected him to actually act.
Covering her head, she crouched down in terror.
“Don’t kill me! Please don’t kill me!”
“Forget it, Brother Yue.”
Seeing her ridiculous appearance, An Jin couldn’t help laughing.
As long as they lived happily, a few malicious words from others couldn’t truly hurt them.
Old Madam Wang was foolish and greedy, treating everyone else like idiots, but her crimes didn’t warrant death.
More importantly, they had chosen to live in seclusion. An Jin didn’t want Gong Yue’s hands stained with blood again, disturbing their peaceful life.
“Mm.”
Gong Yue sheathed his sword.
Seeing this, Old Madam Wang scrambled away on all fours.
Never in her life had she run so quickly.
Watching the old woman’s pitiful retreating figure, Gong Xue still looked indignant.
But in the next moment, her puffed-up cheeks were pinched.
Looking up, she met her mother’s beautiful smiling eyes.
“Little Xue’er, tell Mother, where did you learn such vulgar language?”
Gong Xue’s eyes darted around guiltily.
“I already knew it.”
“Winning with words is useless. It only makes people think you’re crude.”
Though she was admonishing her daughter, An Jin’s voice remained gentle and there wasn’t a trace of blame in her eyes.
After thinking seriously for a while, Gong Xue suddenly brightened.
“I understand!”
“I’ll work hard and become strong like Father. When he draws his sword, everyone gets scared and runs away. Then I won’t have to talk to them at all!”
The corner of An Jin’s lips twitched.
She shot the man beside her a reproachful glare.
Meanwhile, Gong Yue looked at her with a smile, seemingly oblivious to the seriousness of the problem.
An Jin’s cheeks reddened slightly, and she quickly looked away.
Squatting down to meet her daughter eye to eye, she said earnestly,
“If you become a powerful person, you should be even more broad-minded. Otherwise, if someone upsets you and you hurt them whenever you’re unhappy, wouldn’t you become a terrifying villain feared by everyone?”
“Even your father doesn’t casually draw his sword and kill people. The first time Mother met Father, he saved my life.”
An Jin wanted her daughter to become strong, but she also hoped she would always retain compassion for the weak.
Someone with power but no morals was a terrifying existence.
She never wanted her daughter to become that kind of person.
Gong Xue’s eyes sparkled brighter.
“I understand, Mother!”
“I’ll practice hard right now and become a righteous hero like Father, punishing evil and helping the good!”
Gong Yue was just about to say something when he saw his wife happily hugging their daughter.
“That’s exactly right.”
He silently swallowed his words.
After Gong Xue excitedly ran off to practice swordsmanship, Gong Yue quietly approached his wife.
Looking utterly serious, he said,
“I only saved you.”
An Jin turned to look at him.
Seeing how serious he was, she couldn’t resist teasing him.
Her eyes shimmered like autumn waters as she stared directly at him. A slender finger pressed lightly against his chest.
“Then why did Brother Yue choose to save me back then? Was it because you pitied me?”
“Or was it love at first sight?”
The final words rolled off her tongue with endless sweetness.
The man’s eyes darkened.
Grasping her teasing hand, he answered honestly.
“Both.”
An Jin feigned anger and turned away.
“Oh? So Brother Yue is such a shallow man. And here I was praising you in front of our daughter.”
Laughing softly, he pulled her back into his embrace.
The love in his eyes was impossible to hide.
“I’m only grateful for that moment of softness, and for falling for your beauty.”
“Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had you and Xue’er.”
Those words reminded An Jin of what Old Madam Wang had said earlier.
She raised her eyes.
“Brother Yue, do you regret having only Xue’er as our daughter?”
Everyone’s values were shaped by the era they lived in.
An Jin would never force modern beliefs upon him.
Although Gong Yue had once said he only wanted daughters, perhaps that had simply been a way to comfort her.
After all, in an age where “among the three greatest acts of unfilial conduct, leaving no descendants is the worst,” even the poorest families wished to have heirs.
She had never cared much before.
But after hearing the villagers talk so often, she suddenly wanted to know his true thoughts.
Gong Yue cupped her face.
His burning gaze never left her.
“If I had never met you, I would probably still be wandering the martial world alone.”
“I might not even know when I would die.”
“But now I have you.”
“And I have Xue’er.”
“I have a happy family.”
“How could I possibly feel regret?”
“I only feel blessed by Heaven.”
Human desires were endless.
The hungry wished only to eat their fill, but once fed, they craved power and beauty.
Yet he happened to be someone who knew contentment.
Hearing the usually taciturn man reveal his feelings so openly, An Jin grew shy.
Wrapping her arms around his waist, she buried her burning face in his chest.
“Brother Yue…”
Nearby, Gong Xue was diligently practicing her sword.
When she accidentally turned around and saw her parents being all lovey-dovey again, she silently turned her head back and continued practicing.
Ten years later, a female hero suddenly emerged in the martial world.
At first, no one paid much attention to her.
Until someone recognized her swordsmanship.
It was the Gong Family Sword Art, the technique that once made the entire martial world tremble in fear.
Everyone seemed to return to the nightmare of the legendary number one swordsman whose name had once cast a shadow over the jianghu.
Yet gradually, people discovered that although the young woman had a peculiar personality, she hated evil with a passion.
She helped countless people in distress.
During a famine, she even raided government granaries to distribute food to starving refugees.
As her fame spread, more and more people sought her protection.
The once chaotic and fragmented martial world slowly transformed under her leadership into an organized and orderly force.
From the moment she was born, Gong Xue had received all the love her parents could give.
But that love never became chains binding her.
Instead, it became the courage that allowed her to keep moving forward.
She roamed the martial world.
Yet she was never alone.
Because behind her stood her father and mother.
[The Villain’s Happiness Value has reached 100%. The villain has completely departed from the original storyline. Host, you’ve completed your mission exceptionally well.]
[Would you like to leave this world, or remain here until the end of your natural lifespan?]
The system’s voice sounded again after a very long absence.
An Jin was momentarily dazed.
[If I choose to leave, what will happen to this body?]
[It will die naturally.]
An Jin froze.
Subconsciously, she looked toward the man sitting in the courtyard.
Gong Yue sat on a small stool, using his sword to carve a wooden hairpin.
Wood shavings littered the ground around his feet.
He had lost his parents at a young age.
If he lost his wife in middle age, he would once again be left alone.
And there was little Xue’er.
She was still traveling the martial world.
If she returned home one day only to find her mother gone, she would probably blame herself for the rest of her life.
As if sensing her gaze, Gong Yue suddenly looked up.
An Jin slowly walked toward him.
Her eyes shone brightly as she spoke with a hint of coquettish complaint.
“Brother Yue, you’ve made me so many hairpins that I can’t possibly wear them all.”
Neither of them were young anymore.
Yet the way they loved each other had remained exactly as it had when they first fell in love.
[System, I’ve decided to stay.]
For some reason, the unease in Gong Yue’s heart gradually faded.
Looking at his wife, his eyes overflowed with tenderness.
“Then wear them slowly.”
They still had many years ahead of them.