The villagers discovered Xu Qiang the following afternoon. By the time they chanced upon him, he had already slipped into unconsciousness. Several men hurriedly carried him back to the village for treatment, and perhaps because his wretched life was not yet fated to end, he actually survived.
Upon hearing the news, Yan Ji couldn’t help but sigh. “As they say, the wicked live long lives.”
052 felt a ripple of curiosity. Why hadn’t Yan Ji simply finished him off?
Sensing its confusion, Yan Ji smiled. Her luminous eyes shimmered with a faintly enchanting charm as she replied casually, “Who says death is the best punishment? For a man like Xu Qiang, being stripped of his manhood is a fate far more excruciating than dying.”
And indeed, it was. After learning that he was permanently incapacitated, Xu Qiang had initially been driven to such a frenzy that he nearly grabbed a meat cleaver to hack Yan Ji to pieces. However, the moment the memory of her terrifying methods flashed through his mind, the violent impulse was instantly paralyzed by fear.
Another half-month passed, and unexpected news arrived from the Wang family— Wang Xuefeng was pregnant. Calculating the timeline, it was glaringly obvious who the biological father was.
The Wang family had originally intended to force her to abort the child. Unexpectedly, Xu Qiang paid them a visit, and whatever he said to them worked. In the end, the Wang family relented and agreed to marry Wang Xuefeng off to him.
When the announcement reached her, Yan Ji merely smiled and murmured, “Those two truly are a match made in heaven.”
……
As Yan Ji accumulated an ever-growing mountain of silver, she gradually developed a habit of hoarding supplies. Before long, the household storage room was packed to the brim with firewood, rice, oil, salt, and every conceivable necessity.
Yan Liu Shi had initially tried to persuade her against such excess, but reflecting on just how wealthy her daughter had become, she ultimately decided it wasn’t worth fretting over.
At Yan Ji’s firm insistence, Yan Liu Shi stopped working in the fields altogether. The farmland was divided equally among her three sons, freeing her to spend her days leisurely strolling through the village and gossiping with the neighbors.
The villagers envied her endlessly, universally agreeing that Yan Liu Shi was a woman blessed by fortune. Matchmakers practically wore down the Yan family’s doorstep trying to secure a proposal.
However, Yan Liu Shi’s standards had skyrocketed. She firmly believed that ordinary village men were entirely unworthy of her ethereal, fairy-like daughter.
By early summer, the sunlight remained soft and forgiving, and the village breathed in a peaceful, unhurried rhythm.
Then, a sudden piece of news shattered the tranquility.
“Did you hear? Scholar Lin’s son passed the imperial examinations and became an official!”
“I know! I was standing right there when people delivered the news. I heard he’s been appointed as a county magistrate!”
“The Lin family has truly stepped into good fortune!”
“Hey, do you think our village’s luck has been exceptionally strong lately? First, the Yan family’s daughter strikes it rich, and now the Lin family’s son returns as an official.”
“Hahaha, you’re right!”
The news of Lin Zhiyan returning home in glory quickly spread like wildfire through the region.
Coincidentally, that very day was when Yan Ji was scheduled to deliver her goods to town. Oblivious to the commotion, she leisurely drove her horse carriage along the winding mountain road.
The vegetation lining both sides of the road was lush and vibrant, dotted with delicate, blooming wildflowers. The breeze swept past, carrying with it waves of a refreshing, sweet floral fragrance.
As she traveled along, a small entourage approached from the opposite direction.
Riding at the very front was a young man clad in a luxurious, dark brown robe. He possessed strikingly handsome features, his brows and eyes carrying the refined elegance of a classical ink-wash landscape painting. A gentle, familiar smile rested upon his face.
Yan Ji narrowed her eyes slightly and pulled the carriage to a smooth halt.
The young man rode directly up to her and reined in his horse. The moment his gaze locked onto Yan Ji’s, the smile on his face deepened.
“Miss,” he asked softly, “would you be willing to give me a ride?”
“Where to?” Yan Ji asked casually, a ripple of quiet amusement dancing in her captivating eyes.
Lin Zhiyan looked at her with utmost seriousness. “To your home, so I may propose marriage.”
Having spoken his piece, Lin Zhiyan watched her nervously, awaiting her reaction.
After their long separation, Yan Ji had grown even more breathtaking. Her moon-white dress lent her an ethereal, immortal-like beauty, and as the breeze swept past, it gently stirred the loose strands of hair framing her face.
To Lin Zhiyan, it felt as though an entire lifetime had passed before he finally caught her reply.
She smiled and said, “Alright.”
〖Main Mission: Change Ji Niang’s fate — Completed.〗
〖Side Mission: Prevent Yan Liu Shi from dying of grief — Completed.〗
〖Host, please prepare yourself. Extraction from this world is imminent!〗
〖Three, two, one—〗
……
The very first thing Lin Zhiyan did upon returning home was commission a matchmaker to visit the Yan family with a formal proposal. The sudden grandeur of it initially gave Yan Liu Shi quite a fright, but after careful questioning, she discovered that the two had long since harbored feelings for one another.
Since that was the case, there was naturally no reason to oppose the match.
Very quickly, Lin Zhiyan married Yan Ji in a spectacular ceremony, complete with a grand procession of eight sedan bearers.
On their wedding night, Lin Zhiyan was cornered by Yan Ji’s three older brothers, who forced him to drink in turns. By the time they finally let him off, his face was flushed bright red, and he was thoroughly intoxicated.
In a man’s life, there were two pinnacle moments of joy— passing the imperial examinations and the wedding night within the bridal chamber.
Lin Zhiyan felt that his entire life had already been profoundly worthwhile.
Stepping into the room, he lifted the red bridal veil, and Yan Ji’s stunning face was revealed to him. The flickering candlelight cast a soft, warm glow across her features, heightening her already breathtaking beauty. Yan Ji raised her eyes to meet his, her luminous gaze seeming to whisper endless, unspoken affection.
“Why did you drink so much?” She chided softly, rising from the bed to pour him a cup of sobering tea.
But Lin Zhiyan suddenly caught her by the wrist. His eyes shone with a brilliant warmth as he offered her a foolish, hopelessly happy grin. “Ji Niang, I am truly, truly happy.”
“Fool.” She murmured. She couldn’t help but smile back, her eyes brimming with a profound and lasting tenderness.
……
Following their wedding, Lin Zhiyan took Yan Ji with him to his official post, returning to the village only for occasional visits. Anyone who saw them could see how deeply devoted they were to one another, sparking endless envy among the locals.
In time, Yan Lao Er remarried. His new wife was a refugee from another region. Yan Liu Shi had vetted her beforehand and found her to be both industrious and clever, so she raised no objections.
A year after their union, they welcomed a son together.
The new wife treated Yan Lao Er’s firstborn with the same love she gave her own, keeping the entire household in immaculate order. Yan Liu Shi grew incredibly fond of her, noting she was a thousand times better than Wang Xuefeng could ever hope to be.
Meanwhile, Wang Xuefeng’s life after marrying Xu Qiang devolved into a living nightmare.
Xu Qiang had always been an idle scoundrel whose days revolved around drinking, gambling, and frequenting brothels. After Wang Xuefeng gave birth to their son, his treatment of her grew exponentially worse. The moment he felt even a bit slighted, he would rain blows and curses down upon her.
Having lost his manhood, Xu Qiang had mutated into a deeply bitter, sinister man, to the point where the mere sight of him made people uncomfortable.
On one occasion, when Lin Zhiyan and Yan Ji returned to the village to visit family, Wang Xuefeng caught sight of them from afar.
Suddenly, she buried her face in her hands, collapsed onto the dirt road, and began sobbing hysterically.
Between her wails, she muttered incoherently, “It’s all fate…… all fate…… I shouldn’t have tried to change it. I was wrong, I was so wrong……”
Her unsettling shifts between wild laughter and bitter tears made her look completely mad. Not long after that incident, the village lost track of Xu Qiang and Wang Xuefeng entirely. No one knew where they had gone, and no one cared to ask.
……
Even as the magistrate’s wife, Yan Ji could never quite break her habit of hoarding supplies. The storage rooms and spare chambers of their estate were perpetually piled high with grain and provisions, leaving Lin Zhiyan entirely amused yet helpless.
After several failed attempts to persuade her out of the habit, he simply smiled and let her do as she pleased.
Half a year into his appointment, a catastrophic earthquake violently struck the region under Lin Zhiyan’s jurisdiction. The disaster left countless dead or injured, and reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble, leaving thousands homeless.
At that critical juncture, Yan Ji immediately established relief stations, freely distributing hot porridge and vital rations to the displaced victims.
Moved by her foresight, Lin Zhiyan once asked her privately, “Ji Niang, did you somehow know this disaster was coming?”
Yan Ji shook her head. “No. I simply felt compelled to store things. I never imagined it would actually save lives.”
In truth, even Yan Ji couldn’t explain her obsession with hoarding supplies. It was as if a faint, echoing whisper deep within her mind had constantly reminded her that these things would be useful someday— vital, even.
Perhaps a merciful Bodhisattva in the heavens had foreseen the people’s suffering and guided her hands?
Within a year of the earthquake, under Lin Zhiyan’s brilliant leadership and organized relief efforts, the citizens successfully rebuilt their homes and recovered their livelihoods.
The people never forgot the woman who had fed them in their darkest hour. For a time, the legendary reputation of the ‘Living Bodhisattva Couple’ spread far and wide across the empire. When the emperor caught wind of their exceptional deeds, he was deeply pleased and officially promoted Lin Zhiyan to a higher rank.
That very same year, Yan Ji discovered she was with child.
In the third year of their marriage, she gave birth to a beautiful pair of twins— a boy and a girl.