The morning mist had yet to fully disperse when Qin Xiao led Qinghe to the large banyan tree at the village entrance to wait for the ox cart.
Qin Xiao held her hand tightly and refused to let go, even when other people arrived.
Old Ge, who was taking beans into town to sell, blushed and quickly looked away.
Though village customs were less restrictive than those in the city, even newlyweds were expected to show some restraint in public.
Qinghe had already tried to pull her hand free.
She simply couldn’t.
Qin Xiao had even threatened her, saying that if she kept struggling, he wouldn’t hold back tonight.
She knew he was only teasing her with words.
So she obediently allowed him to keep holding her hand.
She had entered the Prince’s Manor at the age of eight.
What kind of place was that?
It was the residence of royalty and nobility, where even the dogs dared not bark without reason.
Naturally, she had been trained in proper etiquette.
Those rules had taken root deep within her bones and were not easily discarded.
As more and more people gathered to wait for the cart, her hand remained trapped in the large hand beside her.
The morning sunlight seemed to settle entirely on her face, making her blush stand out all the more.
Qin Xiao, meanwhile, had only one thought.
She’s my wife. What’s wrong with holding her hand?
Not only did he want to hold her hand, he wanted to steal a few kisses too.
He had endured enough frustration in his life.
Now that he finally had something precious, he wanted to indulge himself a little and make up for all the unhappiness of the past.
It wasn’t until two young girls arrived that Qin Xiao finally released Qinghe’s hand and straightened up with his arms folded.
“Qin Xiao! I’m here!”
Aunt Qiao called out from afar, smiling warmly.
Qin Xiao immediately stepped forward to help her.
Aunt Qiao suffered from poor legs. Both knees bent outward, making every step difficult.
“Aunt Qiao, sorry to trouble you and make you come all this way with me.”
She waved her hand dismissively.
“Why are you being so polite with me? I’m happy to help.”
Aunt Qiao had been widowed for many years.
She survived by sewing clothes and making shoes for villagers.
Once, while passing her home after a hunt, Qin Xiao had seen the elderly woman sitting alone beneath the eaves.
Her eyes were narrowed into slits as she did needlework.
The courtyard was covered with drying wild vegetables.
Without thinking much about it, he had tossed her a pheasant to improve her meals.
The very next day, Aunt Qiao dragged her aching legs all the way to the mountain to deliver a pair of handmade shoes.
From then on, the two developed a friendship despite their age difference.
Whenever Qin Xiao needed clothes made, he brought the work to her.
Whenever he caught small game, he shared some with her as well.
This time, he was completely lost when it came to purchasing wedding supplies.
As a man, he knew nothing about such matters.
Qinghe was also from another region and unfamiliar with local customs.
His own mother was out of the question.
So he had asked Aunt Qiao to help choose everything.
Especially since Qinghe possessed almost nothing.
She only had two sets of clothes, both from when she had been much heavier and no longer fitting properly.
There were also several cloth bands she kept, though he had never seen her wear them and had no idea what they were for.
He wanted to buy her more necessities, but he knew nothing about women’s belongings.
Aunt Qiao looked Qinghe over.
Her cloudy eyes immediately brightened.
“So this is your new wife.”
“What a lovely girl.”
“Good, good.”
Qinghe curtsied politely.
“Hello, Aunt Qiao. My name is Qinghe.”
Aunt Qiao took her hand and patted it gently.
The more she looked, the more she liked her.
“Meeting Qin Xiao is a blessing.”
“He’s a good man.”
“The two of you should live happily together.”
“And in the future, give him several children.”
“That way your family will be complete and blessed.”
Qinghe’s face reddened slightly.
She smiled and agreed.
She also believed Qin Xiao was a good man.
Though he could sometimes be overly bold, he had principles and a kind heart.
And after today, once their marriage papers were registered, she would become his wife.
A proper wife in an ordinary family.
Something she had never even dared dream about before.
Back in the Prince’s Manor, she had deliberately eaten until she became extremely overweight.
That ensured she wouldn’t attract the attention of the masters or be gifted away to someone else.
Unfortunately, she still couldn’t avoid the head maid’s plan to marry her off to her own son.
The head maid was a hereditary servant.
If Qinghe married into that family, her children and grandchildren would all remain slaves.
She had never wanted that marriage.
Now, at long last, she was about to escape servitude completely.
And all of it was because of Qin Xiao.
Whether he had bought her because of her beauty or because of his sense of justice didn’t matter.
The outcome was good.
Soon the old yellow ox arrived, pulling a simple flatbed cart without a canopy.
Qin Xiao wasn’t interested in squeezing in with everyone else.
After all the passengers climbed aboard, he first helped Aunt Qiao settle comfortably.
Then he led Qinghe to sit at the rear of the cart.
His legs were so long that as the wheels rolled forward, his boots occasionally scraped against the dirt road.
He didn’t seem to mind.
The people seated behind them couldn’t see his face clearly.
All they noticed was how often he turned toward Qinghe, smiling at her.
Even from the corner of his eye, the tenderness was enough to drown a person.
“Qin Xiao, did you hear?”
The speaker was Aunt Pang.
Before she even finished speaking, she covered her mouth and laughed.
“The very day you carried that beautiful girl home, Ma San rushed off to the county town.”
Qin Xiao glanced over.
“What about him?”
Aunt Pang chuckled.
“He bought himself a woman too.”
“That very night, the Ma family started arguing.”
“Ma San stood outside in his trousers, cursing for half the night. He kept shouting that he’d been cheated and had spent six taels on a used woman.”
“He even threatened to resell her.”
“Who would’ve thought the woman he bought was even fiercer than he was?”
“She grabbed a chopping blade and completely subdued all three members of the Ma family.”
“She forced Ma San to hand over her contract.”
“Even the village chief got involved.”
“In the end, Ma San promised that once they had a child, he’d officially register the marriage.”
Before long, everyone on the cart joined the discussion.
Each person added another detail until the whole story was laid out.
Qinghe frowned slightly.
Only three young servant women from the Prince’s Manor had been sold to this county.
She likely knew whichever woman Ma San had bought.
Based on the description, a fiery, proud woman…
Could it be Huazhi?
Behind Qin Xiao sat Feng Gui, the village’s most famous bachelor.
In his thirties and still unmarried.
He couldn’t afford six taels to buy a wife.
Listening to the story made him sour with jealousy.
Grinning mischievously, he nudged Qin Xiao.
“Hey, what about yours?”
“She’s not used goods too, is she?”
“Don’t look down on used women. They’re experienced.”
“You’ve been enjoying yourself lately, haven’t you?”
The moment those words left his mouth, Qin Xiao reacted before even thinking.
His foot shot out and kicked Feng Gui straight off the cart.
“Watch your damn mouth!”
Feng Gui rolled several times before landing in a patch of roadside grass.
Even then, Qin Xiao felt it wasn’t enough.
One kick was letting him off too easily.
He ought to knock every tooth out of his mouth so he’d never dare speak nonsense again.
Jumping off the cart, Qin Xiao grabbed him by the collar as effortlessly as lifting a chicken.
Pointing a finger at his nose, he growled,
“Do you know what you did wrong?”
Though phrased as a question, it sounded like a command.
There was only one acceptable answer.
“I know! I know!”
“I won’t say anything like that again!”
Feng Gui’s legs kicked helplessly in the air as he begged for mercy.
What choice did he have?
Qin Xiao’s fist was practically twice the size of his own.
He couldn’t possibly win a fight.
The man had survived eight years on the battlefield.
Who knew how many people he had killed?
Whenever Qin Xiao got angry, murderous intent practically poured from his eyes.
Feng Gui had no doubt that if he continued acting tough, he might disappear into some ditch before nightfall.
Qin Xiao tossed him aside.
“You can walk.”
“You’re not riding this cart.”
As he turned away, he delivered one final kick for good measure.
Just imagining Qinghe sharing a cart with a man like that disgusted him.
After dealing with Feng Gui, Qin Xiao strode after the cart and leapt back aboard.
Feng Gui didn’t dare climb on again.
Only after the cart disappeared into the distance did he dare spit on the ground and mutter a few curses.
Qinghe looked troubled.
“Why did you have to do that?”
“What if you seriously hurt him and end up facing legal trouble?”
She had genuinely been startled.
His temper had flared so suddenly.
The moment he moved, he acted.
Feng Gui had looked like a helpless chick in front of him.
Qin Xiao secretly squeezed her hand where no one could see.
His voice softened.
“Now that you’re with me, I won’t let anyone wrong you.”
“Remember this.”
“If you swallow your anger, the only person who suffers is yourself.”
“It’ll shorten your life.”
“Besides, I know my own strength. Don’t worry.”
Earlier, he had already noticed Qinghe’s expression darken when everyone started discussing Ma San’s wife.
He wanted to prove through his actions that he didn’t care about her past.
A servant’s life was never their own.
With beauty like hers, if she had truly been willing to climb the social ladder, someone far wealthier than him would have taken her long ago.
Even if she had once been forced into another man’s hands, it would never have been by choice.
A warm current flowed through Qinghe’s heart.
He cared about her this much.
He wouldn’t even tolerate a few careless words spoken about her.
In all these years, when had anyone ever valued her so deeply?
Her eyes reddened.
Looking at Qin Xiao, she smiled softly.
There was a strange sincerity in her gaze, one he couldn’t quite understand.
Yet it made his heart feel unexpectedly bright.