Every afternoon, upon finishing her own chores, Yan Lin Shi would head over to help Yan Ji with the housework. By chance, Yan Li Shi also finished early that day, so the two sisters-in-law walked over to Yan Ji’s house together.
Chatting amiably with her third sister-in-law, Yan Lin Shi pushed open the door to Yan Ji’s bedroom, intending to gather the dirty laundry and take it down to the river.
She never could have anticipated the sight that met her eyes. There, entangled on the bed, were a man and a woman.
The sudden intrusion caused the man’s movements to freeze mid-action. The woman beneath him, however, remained completely oblivious, her eyes tightly shut.
At that exact moment, Wang Xuefeng’s face fell directly into Yan Lin Shi’s line of sight. Yan Lin Shi’s face drained of all color, and she couldn’t stop a piercing shriek from tearing out of her throat.
How could Wang Xuefeng do something so utterly disgraceful?! And inside their young sister-in-law’s room, of all places! If their mother-in-law found out, if Wang Xuefeng’s husband found out, the only fate awaiting her would be a swift and absolute divorce!
“W-what’s wrong? What happened?” Yan Li Shi hurried over. The moment she peeked inside, her eyes nearly popped out of her head, and she let out an equally shrill scream.
The sharp cries, combined with the heavy weight pressing down on her, finally jolted Wang Xuefeng awake. The throbbing ache at the back of her neck and the jarring reality of her lower body forced her eyes open— only to reveal Xu Qiang’s bare chest directly above her.
Wang Xuefeng sobered up instantly, a suffocating wave of dread engulfing her heart.
She looked up, and the world spun violently. It took a long, agonizing moment before she finally found her voice, screaming frantically, “You…… you…… get off me! Get away! Get lost!”
How had this happened? Why was she there? Where was Yan Ji?
The person lying on this bed, the one who was supposed to be ruined, was meant to be Yan Ji!
With witnesses now present, even a rogue as shameless as Xu Qiang couldn’t brazenly continue. He sluggishly climbed out of the bed, leaving Wang Xuefeng trembling uncontrollably from the raw humiliation of being exposed to her sisters-in-law.
What should she do? What was she supposed to do now?
In a blind panic, Wang Xuefeng yanked the blanket tightly around her body. Her mind had dissolved into absolute mush, utterly incapable of coherent thought. The crushing weight of despair settled over her so heavily that she could barely breathe. She sat frozen for a long, hollow moment before finally breaking into loud, hysterical sobs.
Xu Qiang merely snorted. Giving Wang Xuefeng a dismissive glance, he casually threw his clothes back on and strolled outside. When he passed Yan Lin Shi and Yan Li Shi standing frozen in the doorway, he even tossed them a rogueish, mocking whistle.
Just then, Yan Ji returned, driving her horse carriage right into the courtyard and coming face-to-face with Xu Qiang.
Xu Qiang’s lewd gaze raked over Yan Ji’s body. Yan Ji narrowed her eyes slightly, a dangerous, icy gleam flashing deep within them.
Stepping down from the carriage, she walked into the courtyard to find Yan Lin Shi and Yan Li Shi standing there, their expressions ghastly.
Approaching them, she asked with practiced innocence, “What’s wrong? Why do you both look so pale?”
Such scandalous matters were far too embarrassing to speak of openly. Yan Lin Shi hesitated, parting her lips before finally managing, “Ji Niang…… go bring Mother back. A young, unmarried girl like you shouldn’t be privy to this sort of thing, lest it dirty your ears.”
Yan Ji feigned a look of mild surprise, but she didn’t press for details. She obediently turned on her heel to go fetch Yan Liu Shi.
Once Yan Liu Shi arrived, she followed her two daughters-in-law back into the house. Moments later, Wang Xuefeng’s hysterical screams began echoing harshly from inside the room.
Standing out in the courtyard, Yan Ji lifted her head to gaze at the azure sky above. Her eyes narrowed into a soft, satisfied smile as an extraordinarily pleasant mood washed over her.
Ah…… the spring flowers truly are blooming beautifully. She could probably harvest some soon to craft a new line of scented balms for Wanli Xiang.
……
Earlier, when Yan Liu Shi had first stepped into the courtyard after being summoned, she had found her eldest and third daughters-in-law standing outside her daughter’s room. Both heavily pregnant women looked utterly miserable and deeply uncomfortable.
Yan Liu Shi’s eyelid twitched with an ominous premonition.
Walking over, she asked, “What’s wrong? Are you two feeling unwell?”
“……Mother, you should just go inside and see for yourself.” Yan Lin Shi muttered, biting her lip, completely at a loss for how to put the scandal into words.
Yan Liu Shi’s brow furrowed. The moment she pushed open the door to her daughter’s bedroom, she found Wang Xuefeng cowering on Yan Ji’s bed, clutching the blankets tightly around herself. A heavy, unmistakable scent lingered in the air.
As an experienced woman, Yan Liu Shi instantly understood what had taken place.
She opened her mouth to scold, but a sudden realization made her freeze. Her second son was still out working the fields. How could he possibly have had time to sneak back for this?
The moment the truth clicked, Yan Liu Shi’s expression darkened into one of pure fury. Grabbing the heavy broom resting by the doorway, she charged into the room. “I’ll beat you to death, you shameless slut! You actually dared to bring another man into this house?! I’ll beat you to death, you disgraceful wench!”
The stinging blows jolted Wang Xuefeng back to reality. Staring at the feral, terrifying expression on her mother-in-law’s face, she felt her soul nearly leave her body.
Screaming hysterically through her tears, she wailed, “I didn’t! It wasn’t me! It really wasn’t me! It was Ji Niang! Ji Niang was the one— Ahhh!”
“You wicked snake! You were caught red-handed in the act, and you still dare to frame Ji Niang?! Utterly shameless! Get out! Get the hell out of my Yan family! I’ll tell Lao Er to divorce you this instant, you worthless trash!” Hearing Wang Xuefeng attempt to shift the blame to her daughter only made Yan Liu Shi strike harder, raining blows down until Wang Xuefeng shrieked continuously in agony.
Watching from the doorway, Yan Lin Shi and Yan Li Shi looked at Wang Xuefeng with absolute disdain.
She had committed adultery, gotten caught in the act, and her immediate instinct was to throw dirty water onto Yan Ji?
This woman truly possessed no bottom line. No wonder she had deliberately chosen Yan Ji’s room to commit such a disgusting act. She had intended to ruin the girl all along!
“Third Daughter-in-law, you’re quick on your feet.” Yan Liu Shi barked, finally tossing the broom aside as she caught her breath, her voice cutting like ice, “Go fetch Lao Er from the fields. Let him see the wretched, shameless truth of what his precious wife has done!”
Yan Li Shi nodded eagerly and hurried off toward the fields.
The moment Wang Xuefeng heard that, absolute panic set in. With snot and tears staining her face, she began begging desperately, completely broken.
“Mother! Mother, I was wrong! I didn’t mean to! Please, don’t tell my husband! Mother, I’m begging you! Mother……” Her pathetic cries filled the room as she knelt helplessly on the mattress, kowtowing over and over again.
She had never imagined that the disaster originally orchestrated for Yan Ji would instead catastrophically backfire onto herself.
Yan Liu Shi didn’t even deign to look at Wang Xuefeng.
Before long, Yan Lao Er arrived, hurried along by Yan Li Shi. He had been utterly confused the entire way back, wondering why his mother had suddenly summoned him home while he was working diligently in the fields.
Seeing Yan Liu Shi standing with an icy expression outside Yan Ji’s room, Yan Lao Er walked over with an easy smile. “Mother, did you call me back because you needed help with something?”
“Of course I did.” Yan Liu Shi looked at her foolish son. Knowing that he had just been cuckolded, her tone softened slightly out of pity, “Lao Er, I want you to divorce that shameless Wang Xuefeng immediately!”
“Mother, why would you suddenly say such a thing?” Yan Lao Er replied bitterly, looking profoundly troubled. “Xuefeng just gave you a healthy grandson……”
Yan Liu Shi merely snorted, offering no further explanation. Instead, she stepped aside from the threshold and said calmly, “Go inside and see for yourself. No matter what you find, control your temper.”
Utterly bewildered, Yan Lao Er stepped into the room. Although some time had passed, that distinct, heavy scent still lingered thick in the air.
Then, his gaze landed on the bed.
Wang Xuefeng was trembling violently, clutching the blanket around her form. She wore nothing but a red undergarment, her exposed skin covered with ambiguous marks. Her eyes were swollen and bloodshot from crying.
The moment the reality of the scene registered, blood rushed violently to Yan Lao Er’s head, nearly causing him to black out. It took a long, excruciating moment before he finally recovered his senses.
No wonder his mother had said those things. No wonder his mother wanted him to divorce her.
A murderous rage flared in Yan Lao Er’s chest. Taking a deep, shuddering breath to suppress the urge to kill, he demanded, forcing out each syllable word by word, “Who was the man?”
After suffering one brutal shock after another, Wang Xuefeng’s mental stability had fractured. Tilting her head, she looked up at Yan Lao Er and let out a vacant, foolish smile. “Husband, you’re back? Let me tell you, Ji Niang finally married that rogue Xu Qiang! Our good days are finally here! Hehehe……”
The veins on Yan Lao Er’s forehead bulged violently.
Without another word, he turned and stormed out of the room. Facing Yan Liu Shi in the courtyard, he suddenly dropped to his knees with a heavy thud.
“Mother…… I’ll divorce her right now!”
His voice was raw and hoarse, his bloodshot eyes striking fear into anyone who looked at him.
No matter what had happened, he was still her son. Yan Liu Shi let out a heavy sigh and offered what comfort she could.
“I never should have agreed to let you marry Wang Xuefeng in the first place. Back then, I could already tell she wasn’t a proper match, but you insisted you loved her…… Go on. You’re still young. You can remarry in the future.”
Yan Lao Er said nothing. He simply dragged himself up and walked back to his own quarters to write the divorce papers.
……
The news of Wang Xuefeng’s sudden divorce spread through the village like wildfire. Everyone speculated endlessly about the scandalous details behind the abrupt split.
The Wang family even paid a visit to demand answers. However, after learning the ugly truth, they didn’t dare utter a single word of complaint. Defeated, they simply took the now mentally unstable Wang Xuefeng and brought her back home with them.
Paper could never fully wrap a fire. Inevitably, the truth would burn through. In the end, the scandalous news of Wang Xuefeng’s affair leaked and spread throughout the village.
No one could believe that a woman who usually appeared so honest, proper, and unassuming would actually commit such a disgraceful act.
Following the incident, Yan Lao Er became a shadow of his former self. He grew silent and withdrawn, spending his days in a grim routine of breaking his back in the fields and returning home to care for his infant son.
Feeling deeply sorry for him, Yan Lin Shi always prepared an extra portion of food whenever she cooked, ensuring he was looked after. Yan Ji also frequently bought children’s toys from the town marketplace and had Yan Liu Shi deliver them over to the baby.
……
One evening, a week after Wang Xuefeng’s downfall, Yan Ji was resting on her bed with her eyes closed when she caught the faint, distinct sound of shifting footsteps outside the courtyard.
Opening her eyes, she quietly retrieved a packet of medicinal powder hidden within her robes. She held it securely, then closed her eyes once more, waiting calmly.
Not long after, the bedroom door was stealthily pried open. A tall figure slipped through the gap, creeping slowly toward the bed.
Aided by the silver moonlight streaming through the window, Xu Qiang stared greedily down at the sleeping Yan Ji. But just as he extended a filthy hand toward her, Yan Ji’s eyes snapped open. With a swift flick of her wrist, a cloud of fine powder flew directly into his face.
Xu Qiang’s legs buckled instantly. Every ounce of strength vanished from his limbs, and he collapsed heavily onto the floor, completely paralyzed. While his consciousness remained terrifyingly sharp, he could distinctly feel that his body no longer obeyed him. Pure panic flooded his eyes.
Yan Ji sat up and looked down at him expressionlessly. After slipping into her shoes, she dragged Xu Qiang’s limp body outside, hauled him onto a handcart, and began wheeling him toward the back mountain.
Thick clouds soon drifted over the moon, swallowing what little light remained on the ground. Xu Qiang’s terror mounted with every passing yard. He lacked even the strength to form words, capable of emitting only weak, muffled whimpers.
Deep within the dense forest of the back mountain, Yan Ji dumped him out of the cart. She produced a single black pill, forced it past his lips, and sharply struck his jaw upward, compelling him to swallow.
“Mph…… mmph!” What did you just feed me?!
As if reading his thoughts, Yan Ji looked down at him and smiled with extraordinary gentleness. “Nothing much. It will simply ensure you are incapable of functioning as a man for the rest of your miserable life.”
“Mmph—!” A broken, guttural groan tore from deep within Xu Qiang’s throat, his gaze completely consumed by despair.
Leaving him abandoned to the elements, Yan Ji turned and pushed the handcart back down the mountain.
Wang Xuefeng was a malicious woman, but Xu Qiang was a monster. In the altered timeline, under Wang Xuefeng’s instigation, the man had violated the original owner, driven Yan Liu Shi to her grave with grief, and then spent years beating and abusing the original owner until she finally died in misery and despair.
As the clouds parted once more, the cold moonlight washed over Yan Ji’s face. The faint smile lingering on her lips was chillingly indifferent.