Madam Ye, in a frantic rush, yanked Ye Jia away. The Zhang family was known for their tall, sturdy frames, and standing next to Ye Jia, Madam Ye seemed a full size larger. She gripped the girl’s arm so tightly that Ye Jia couldn’t break free.
Before Ye Jia could utter a word, she was dragged out of the village.
Madam Yu dropped Rui’er’s hand and gave chase, but Madam Ye was moving too fast. She couldn’t keep up.
In truth, Madam Yu harbored a deep-seated fear of the Ye family. The Zhou and Ye families were bound by marriage, yet when her son had his accident and her daughter-in-law had fallen into the water, not a single member of the Ye clan had come to check on them. What kind of parents would be so callous to their own daughter?
Madam Yu had initially assumed they simply didn’t want anything to do with them. But the Ye family had certainly remembered their third daughter’s troubles. In fact, they’d been more eager to intervene than anyone else.
Ye Jia’s eldest sister-in-law had visited several times, not to apologize or offer gifts, nor even to show concern. Instead, she came each time to beg Ye Jia to plead her sister’s case.
After these encounters, Madam Yu’s opinion of the Ye family had soured completely.
“Hey! What’s all this for?” she shouted. “How can you just drag her away without saying a word? Who does that?”
Madam Yu lagged behind, panting heavily as she clutched her chest at the village entrance. The two women had already vanished into the distance.
“Mother, go back,” Zhou Jingchen said, having caught up without Ye Jia noticing. His gaze was fixed steadily on the two receding figures. “I’ll go see what’s happening.”
Madam Yu nodded hastily and urged him to hurry.
Ye Jia had been dragged to the town’s tile market by Madam Ye. The Zhang family’s dedication was truly impressive; while other breakfast vendors packed up after a few hours, the Zhangs set up for the entire day. It was as if they were terrified of not getting their money’s worth from the ten-wen stall fee, determined to squeeze every last copper out of it.
Their food was bland, but its low price made up for it. After a full day of selling, they were all smiles—until now.
A crowd had gathered in front of their stall. As Madam Ye pulled Ye Jia into the throng, she saw Zhang Chunfen collapsed on the ground, her clothes torn and disheveled, weeping bitterly. The onlookers pointed and whispered, while the Zhang brothers and their wives stood by in stony silence, refusing to say a word.
As Ye Jia pushed forward, she came face-to-face with a handsome young man.
He had sharp, defined brows and bright, piercing eyes. Tall and imposing, he wore a clean-cut short robe and a short sword at his waist. His clothing was of a much finer quality than the drab, dusty attire worn by the crowd. A group of young men dressed similarly to him surrounded him, their fierce glares enough to intimidate anyone.
But the moment the young man looked up and saw Ye Jia, his eyes lit up.
He tried to step forward, but stopped short when he saw the circle of people surrounding her. He watched Ye Jia from a distance, his gaze fixed on her past Zhang Chunfen and her sister.
“What’s all this about?” Ye Jia asked.
She wasn’t blind. The young man’s appearance left no doubt—it was Cheng Feng.
A bystander, eager to share the gossip, quickly explained. As it turned out, Zhang Chunfen had brought this on herself.
Lately, Zhang Chunfen had been parading around town, dressed in her finest, trying to look dainty and charming. A young woman’s desire to look her best was nothing unusual, but her rivals had taken notice. Zhang Chunfen’s unpleasant personality was common knowledge; many girls in Yejia Village already held a grudge against her.
One of them, driven by jealousy, decided to strike back. She knew Zhang Chunfen had a habit of stealing Ye Jia’s clothes and jewelry, so she reported the matter to Second Young Master Cheng.
The “Second Young Master” was none other than Cheng Feng. He had always been proud and aloof, refusing to associate with the girls in the village or the town. The only one who had ever caught his eye was Ye San. He was smitten with her and took great pains to find fine gifts and treasures during his escort missions to win her favor.
But the gifts he had so carefully chosen were being kept by an ugly woman, while the true recipient wore rags every day. Anyone would have been furious.
Second Young Master Cheng was known for his explosive temper and brutal methods. No one knew what the man had whispered in his ear to provoke him, but he had stormed into the house and immediately resorted to violence, completely disregarding Zhang Chunfen’s status as a young woman.
As the commotion unfolded, the onlookers began to jeer. One woman sneered, “Who would ever want a shameless girl like that? I wouldn’t marry her even if her family paid me.”
Zhang Chunfen’s square face flushed a deep, mottled purple. She wept until her eyes swelled like walnuts.
Madam Ye, her heart aching for her sister, collapsed to the ground and wailed, “All she did was wear a few of his clothes and ask for some jewelry! Second Young Master Cheng is so utterly stingy—how could he send men to strip my poor little sister in the middle of the street?”
Her voice rose to a piercing shriek that made everyone’s head throb. “Look at her! She’s only seventeen, a young maiden who hasn’t even been married! Is this how a decent person behaves? Stripping a young woman bare in public? Now that everyone has seen her body, how can she ever face the world again?”
Cheng Feng’s brow furrowed in rage. “I’ll do more than strip her clothes today,” he roared. “I’m going to take her life!”
With that, Cheng Feng had his men hoist Zhang Chunfen up and carry her toward the river at the town entrance.
Zhang Chunfen, usually so fierce, was now wailing like a slaughtered pig.
…
Watching this, Ye Jia finally understood. Cheng Feng stripping Zhang Chunfen’s clothes and threatening to drown her meant someone must have told him about her pushing Ye Jia into the water. Was this young man doing all this to avenge her?
Ye Jia shrank back into the crowd, but before she could move, Madam Ye yanked her out.
“Jia-niang! Jia-niang, go talk to Cheng Feng!” she pleaded. “You’ve always gotten along well with him. He’ll listen to you… The water in April is so cold! A girl who can’t swim will drown instantly. You grew up with Chunfen—you’ve been sisters all these years. Please, save her!”
Save her? My foot! Ye Jia thought. If Zhang Chunfen was willing to do it, she should be prepared to face the consequences.
She had no intention of cleaning up someone else’s mess when she’d reaped no benefit from it.
“I’m sorry, sister-in-law,” Ye Jia said, “but your brothers are still standing right there. Why don’t you ask them to stop him? The Zhang brothers are so big and strong—they can carry four hundred pounds of radishes for ten miles without breaking a sweat. If they can’t protect her, a frail thing like me certainly can’t.”
At the mention of the Zhang brothers, everyone’s eyes turned toward the stall. The two men were held back firmly by their wives.
Madam Ye’s face flushed with embarrassment. She wanted to scream, but doing so in the middle of the street would bring shame upon her brothers. A ball of fury swelled in her chest—fury at her useless brothers, and desperation over Zhang Chunfen being thrown into the water.
Her face turned a mottled purple as she dropped her pretense.
“Don’t you dare lecture me!” she shrieked. “My brothers have always been henpecked. My sisters-in-law are black-hearted hags! If it weren’t for them, would I have run all the way to the Zhou family to find you? I had no choice! I dragged myself here to ask for your help, and now that things have come to this, you’re just making excuses? How can you be so heartless?!”
Ye Jia was baffled. Her own brothers wouldn’t help, yet if an outsider refused, she was “heartless”?
What a joke. Ye Jia blinked, her mind made up. Fine, I’ll be heartless. I’m not going.
But Madam Ye wasn’t about to let her off easily. Seeing that her words had no effect, she flew into a rage. If you won’t make my life easier, I’ll make yours a living hell.
She launched a vicious accusation. “Everyone knows you and Cheng Feng are sleeping together! He’s only doing this to avenge you!”
“Who in Wangjia Village doesn’t know you’re sleeping with Cheng Feng?” Madam Ye spat, her voice venomous.
“Who do you think you’re fooling, Ye Jia? Don’t you dare deny it! You were running to town every single day while your husband was still doing his corvée labor at the western grounds. You’d stay there all day—who doesn’t know you were visiting Cheng Feng? Now you’re playing the innocent, letting your lover launder your dirty laundry by having him attack my sister. I tried to save you some face for the sake of family, but you just won’t take it!”
Madam Ye spat on the ground and lunged, grabbing Ye Jia’s arm to drag her away. “You’ll come when I tell you to, you slut! How dare you put on airs!”
Her grip was so fierce it nearly wrenched Ye Jia’s arm from its socket.
Cheng Feng, who had been watching from the side, started forward to help. But before he could reach them, a hand clamped over Madam Ye’s mouth, and another, pale and slender, pried her fingers off Ye Jia’s arm.
Madam Ye let out a muffled shriek of pain.
From the crowd emerged a tall, fair young man.
“Jia-niang,” he said, his voice calm and clear.
The crowd fell silent as he stepped forward.
Ye Jia wasn’t surprised to see him. Madam Ye had been screaming so loudly that anyone without hearing loss would have heard. Seeing that he wasn’t using his cane, Ye Jia shook out her arm and asked, “Can you walk without the cane now?”
“Mhm.”
He stood there in silence, the bright spring sunlight bathing his figure until he seemed to glow like polished jade.
Zhou Jingchen’s gaze fell upon Madam Ye, whose jaw had dropped open in a silent, gaping stare. The onlookers—all vendors from the Tile Market—recognized him instantly. They had also figured out that the two women were the owners of the Xi Shi Stall. Their eyes darted warily between the group, and beside them, Cheng Feng lowered his raised arm. He straightened up and moved to the other side, squinting as he sized up Zhou Jingchen.
It went without saying: anyone with eyes could see exactly who this man was.
Madam Ye took a moment to process the scene, her eyes darting around as she stared at Zhou Jingchen. In her haste to get to the Zhou family home, she hadn’t noticed her brother-in-law. Now that she saw him, it seemed he had heard everything she’d just said. Yet even after hearing her accuse his own wife of an affair with a man from town, his expression remained utterly impassive, betraying no hint of emotion.
Madam Ye’s arm hung limp at her side, throbbing with pain. She looked up and saw her sister nearby. Cheng Feng’s threat to throw her into the river had clearly been a bluff; otherwise, he never would have let her run back and forth like that.
The two young men who had pinned Zhang Chunfen were still there, their eyes wide as they watched the scene unfold.
Madam Ye was truly a piece of work. How could she be so utterly fearless? Even with her own sister being held captive, she cared nothing for the situation. Instead, she was furious that Ye Jia had dared to disregard her authority and was determined to humiliate her in public.
She paused, then tugged on Zhou Jingchen’s arm and said in a mocking tone, “Third Brother-in-law, right? I’m Ye Jia’s eldest sister-in-law. You can just call me Eldest Sister-in-law. You’ve arrived late, so you probably don’t know what’s happened. Let me explain it all to you. Your wife has been unfaithful! While you were away, she started an affair with a man from town. Now, her lover is trying to avenge her by bullying an innocent girl!”
Ye Jia was speechless. Even now, she’s still trying to cause trouble for me?
She stepped forward and struck Madam Ye’s arm away. Before she could say a word, Zhou Jingchen glanced at her actions and then turned his gaze to Madam Ye.
“Eldest Sister-in-law,” he said, his voice as cold and crisp as a winter breeze, “perhaps you should focus on controlling your own sister first.”
The sneer froze on Madam Ye’s face, and she choked on her words.
Zhou Jingchen said nothing more, his gaze sweeping calmly over the crowd. It lingered on Cheng Feng’s face for a moment before returning to Ye Jia.
When their eyes met, the “wife” who had just been caught cheating showed no hint of shame. She met his gaze openly, her expression devoid of guilt, even betraying a hint of schadenfreude.
Zhou Jingchen’s silence stretched.
Finally, he lowered his eyes and reached out to grasp her wrist. “Wife, let’s go. Didn’t you say you had things to do this afternoon?”
Ye Jia glanced down at her captured wrist, then back up at him.
Zhou Jingchen’s expression remained impassive, his posture perfectly straight. He acted as if this were the most natural gesture in the world. With a slender hand, he gently tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
Ye Jia stared back, speechless.
She didn’t pull away, though. Instead, she nodded without averting her eyes.
The couple walked away, leaving the commotion behind. Only after they had gone some distance did Zhou Jingchen glance back at the tall, sturdy youth in the crowd.
The boy’s eyes shone with an extraordinary brightness, like a fierce bird of prey circling in the sand.
Interesting, he thought.
When they returned to the Zhou family estate, Madam Yu was already waiting at the gate, her face etched with anxiety. She ushered them inside, immediately peppering Ye Jia with questions.
Ye Jia gave a vague explanation. “Zhang Chunfen caused trouble again, and they asked me to mediate.”
At the mention of Zhang Chunfen, Madam Yu’s frustration boiled over. She remembered the last time this girl had pushed her daughter-in-law into the water, nearly killing her. She couldn’t help but curse.
“That little scoundrel!” she muttered, her insults limited to such refined scoldings.
Rui’er, trailing behind, stomped her small foot and echoed the word in her sweet, milky voice. “Scoundrel!”
Ye Jia couldn’t help but laugh. “Mother, don’t mind her. Zhang Chunfen has nothing to do with our family. This afternoon, let’s visit a few villages to see if anyone has any spare ewes. If it’s convenient, we should buy a few to raise ourselves.”
Buying goat’s milk from the market was a hassle; it would be better to raise their own.
After speaking, Ye Jia turned and walked away.
Zhou Jingchen watched her go, his brow furrowed. After a long moment, a smile finally broke across his face.
This Lady Ye… she’s certainly got nerve, he thought. She dares to deceive me like this? Not a single word of explanation?