Meeting his dark, unfathomable yet deeply affectionate phoenix eyes, Jiang Yu fell into a brief daze.
Did he truly love her that much?
If he did—
Why hide his identity from her?
Why keep his fiancée a secret and still marry her?
Complex emotions surged in her heart as she looked at him, yet she realized she couldn’t see through him at all.
Gentle… ruthless…
Ever since learning his true identity, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the man before her was like a black-sesame dumpling—
White and harmless on the outside, but who knew how dark it was on the inside.
Pushing those thoughts aside, she wrapped her arms around his lean waist and rested her head on his shoulder.
“That’s more like it.”
To avoid arousing suspicion, she declared her “territory” possessively,
“Xiao Lingzhou, you belong to me alone. You’re not allowed to like anyone else. If you do—or if some other woman seduces you—I’ll—”
Xiao Lingzhou smiled faintly, lowering his gaze to her.
“You’ll what?”
She lifted her chin, cheeks puffed in anger.
“I’ll marry someone else! I’ll marry a man better-looking than you, with an even better body, and live sweetly with him and have children!”
The moment she finished speaking, Xiao Lingzhou’s refined, elegant face changed abruptly. He gripped her shoulders tightly.
“Don’t spout nonsense again. You are my wife—now and for the rest of your life.”
“Forget marrying someone else. As for having children—if children are to be born, they can only be born with me.”
Jiang Yu sneered inwardly. ‘For the rest of your life’?
What a liar.
He was clearly going back to the capital to marry some delicate beauty, yet here he was acting as if his love ran deeper than the sea.
She didn’t want to continue this topic. Nestling against him, she said sweetly,
“Xiao Lingzhou, I’m sleepy.”
His expression softened, his warm palm resting on her slender shoulder.
“Be good. Bathe first, then sleep.”
“I don’t want to. I want to wash by myself. Will you indulge me?” She shook his arm coquettishly.
Xiao Lingzhou’s throat bobbed. The hand on her shoulder tightened slightly as his cool voice grew hoarse.
“Alright. I’ll indulge you.”
Delighted, Jiang Yu pecked his lips lightly and pushed him away.
“Hurry and go out. I’ll be done soon.”
Xiao Lingzhou nodded helplessly.
When she heard his footsteps fade, Jiang Yu finally let out a breath of relief.
After dawdling through her bath, she changed into a comfortable dress and slowly returned to the bedroom.
“Why did it take so long?” Seeing how many layers she was wearing, Xiao Lingzhou frowned slightly. “Aren’t you hot?”
She hadn’t expected him to still be awake and shook her head, lying smoothly,
“I accidentally fell asleep while bathing.”
“Come here.” He extended his long, well-shaped hand toward her.
Her heart resisted, but her body moved on its own.
Xiao Lingzhou pulled her onto his lap and took a dry towel to wipe her damp hair.
“Falling asleep while bathing—you’re really one of a kind.”
“It’s fine in summer, but if it were winter, the water would’ve gone cold long ago. You’d definitely catch a chill.”
He nagged like an old woman. Jiang Yu let it go in one ear and out the other, nodding obediently.
“Mhm, mhm, mhm. Won’t happen again.”
“There won’t be a next time.”
“Mhm, mhm—no next time,” she replied sweetly.
Seeing how compliant she was, Xiao Lingzhou didn’t say more. He put the towel away.
“Go to sleep.”
She sprang up and dove onto the bed, kicked off her embroidered shoes, and burrowed into the thin quilt at lightning speed, turning toward the inside.
“I’m sleeping.”
Xiao Lingzhou hummed in response, extinguished the lamp, and lowered the gauze curtains before getting into bed.
Just as he was about to pull her into his arms, he heard her even breathing and paused.
After a moment’s thought, he withdrew his hand.
She’d had a tiring day—it was better not to disturb her.
A peaceful night passed.
The next morning, Jiang Yu woke up feeling refreshed and energized.
Having finally enjoyed a good night’s sleep, she got up in high spirits and washed up.
The thought that she might earn dozens of taels of silver from digging ginseng today made her so excited that even her steps felt light and buoyant.
After breakfast as usual—
Once Xiao Lingzhou left for the academy, Jiang Yu quietly took two meat buns from the kitchen and went to Jiang Mo’s doghouse, squatting down to feed him one.
After finishing it, Jiang Mo stared at the other bun in her hand with glowing eyes.
She took a step back, raising the bun out of his reach, and patted his head with her free hand.
“Good dog. Take me to where you found that thing you brought back last night, and I’ll give you this bun too, okay?”
Jiang Mo: “Woof woof!” Deal.
And so, one person and one dog silently headed into the mountains.
With a bamboo basket on her back and a shovel in hand, Jiang Yu followed Jiang Mo through the forest for ages before finally reaching the spot where the ginseng grew.
“One, two, three, four, five.” She lay on the slope and counted, stunned.
There were five plants in total!
And—
Two of them had thick stalks, broad and fleshy leaves, clear veins, and plump clusters of berries.
At a glance, it was obvious their roots had been growing underground for many years—they were big!
Mom—she was going to get rich!
The thought of gleaming silver beckoning to her made her itch with excitement. She eagerly climbed up the slope where the ginseng grew.
The slope was extremely steep. She could only climb by grabbing onto trees along the way.
After a great deal of effort, she finally made it up.
Looking down at Jiang Mo running excitedly back and forth below, she wondered how on earth he’d managed to find a place like this.
Shaking off the thought, she happily took out her shovel.
Following the ritual she’d seen in videos back in her old world, she solemnly tied a red string around the ginseng stalks.
That way, the ginseng wouldn’t “run away” during digging.
Once everything was ready, she began digging in earnest.
Afraid of damaging the roots and ruining their value, she worked with extreme care.
Panting heavily, she spent two full hours digging up three plants.
Just as she’d guessed—
Two of the ginseng roots were at least sixty years old, each weighing around sixty grams.
According to the prices offered by herbal shops,
Wild ginseng sold for two hundred and fifty copper coins per gram.
Sixty grams was roughly thirteen taels of silver.
Two roots meant twenty-six taels.
The remaining three, though smaller, were still worth eight or nine taels altogether.
Add it all up—
Today, she was going to net over thirty taels!
She’d struck gold!
The more she dug, the more excited she became, completely oblivious to the darkening sky.
Jiang Mo barked incessantly below. She soothed him verbally while her hands never stopped.
“Wait a bit, wait a bit—just one more. I’ll give you the bun as soon as I’m done.”
Jiang Mo: “Woof! Woof woof woof woof! Woof woof woof!”
Master, it’s going to rain—stop digging!
Unfortunately, Jiang Yu didn’t understand him at all, her mind focused solely on the ginseng.
When she finally dug out the last plant, she panted heavily and lifted her sleeve to wipe the sweat from her face.
Suddenly, a blinding flash of light tore across the sky, followed by a thunderclap that shook the heavens.
With a loud clang, Jiang Yu was so startled that the shovel slipped from her hands and tumbled down the slope…