Xiao Yanzhi was awakened by the crying of Jin, Mu, Shui, and Huo.
Although the town physician had treated his legs after the disaster, the hardships and constant displacement during their journey as refugees had worsened his wounds. He had burned with fever for two days before miraculously surviving after finally breaking out into a cold sweat.
Before Xiao Yanzhi could even feel fortunate to still be alive, he opened his eyes only to hear the tearful accusations of the four children.
When he learned that Song Jin had not only stolen the household registration papers he kept hidden on his body, but had even tricked the children away and tried to sell them as human sacrifices to traffickers, he was so furious that he cursed her as a vicious woman three times in a row.
The village chief and clan elders, who had rushed over after hearing the commotion, sighed heavily after listening to the children’s account.
They all knew very well what kind of person Xiao Erlang’s wife was.
Before marrying into the Xiao family, she had been captivated by Xiao Erlang’s handsome appearance and the fact that he had passed the county-level scholar examination. She had schemed every possible way to sleep with him. During the two years she acted as the children’s foster mother, she had also treated Jin, Mu, Shui, and Huo with great care and affection.
But ever since learning that Xiao Erlang would be crippled for life and become a burden, she had completely changed—as the saying went, “when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.”
Along the refugee journey, she constantly complained while caring for Xiao Erlang, verbally abused him at every turn, and had even secretly cursed him to burn to death from his fever. Toward the children, she no longer bothered keeping up her fake kindness and revealed her true nature completely.
Not only had she tried to starve the children to death, she would not even give them water to drink. If the others had not kept watch, Xiao Erlang and the children might have either starved or died of thirst long ago.
At dusk today, the village chief and clan elders had organized two able-bodied people from every family to search for food and water. Taking advantage of her husband being unconscious, Xiao Erlang’s wife had brought the four children along with her.
None of them had expected her to abandon both husband and children, steal the household registration papers, and flee alone.
The village chief shook his head and sighed.
“Erlang, calm your anger. Don’t let rage worsen your injuries.”
A clan elder comforted him.
“Fortunately, the four children weren’t sold, and the household registration papers were recovered. At least you won’t become wandering vagrants. That’s already a blessing in misfortune.”
The village chief nodded in agreement.
“That’s right. As long as the people and the household registration remain, you and the children are still lawful citizens. Unless the imperial court has completely rotted through with corruption, someday they will surely resettle us. As for your wife, if she wants to run, let her run. A woman without household registration becomes a vagrant—just wait and see how miserable her fate will be!”
Xiao Yanzhi was just about to nod when Mu suddenly cried out loudly:
“Father!”
Instantly, several pairs of eyes followed the direction Mu was pointing and landed on Song Jin, who stood more than ten meters away.
Song Jin froze.
She had heard every word the village chief and clan elders said. Now, feeling everyone’s gaze slice toward her like knives, the corners of her mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Damn.
Without household registration papers, she really would become a vagrant.
The imperial court would resettle disaster victims and register them as citizens.
But vagrants? They could be captured and sold off at will.
And this was precisely why Xiao Yanzhi hated her so much as well. Without household registration, Xiao Yanzhi would be barred from taking the imperial examinations.
The original owner of this body had clearly cut off someone else’s future and livelihood. These outrageous actions truly weren’t something any decent human could do.
Just as Song Jin was lamenting how vicious the original owner had been, an angry shout came from ahead.
“What are you doing back here?!”
Song Jin instinctively looked toward the crowd. The moment she saw him, she nearly lost herself in a daze.
She had not expected her bargain-bin husband to be this handsome.
Leaning sideways against a flat cart was a man dressed in dark blue coarse cloth. His skin was pale like cold jade, and his exquisitely sculpted features looked as though Heaven itself had lavished favor upon him. Elegant and breathtakingly handsome, his sharply defined face carried an icy beauty that demanded attention.
Even though both his legs were crippled and he was now fleeing famine as a refugee, there was not the slightest trace of misery on his face.
At that moment, his deep black phoenix eyes radiated cold, piercing hostility filled with killing intent as they locked onto Song Jin.
If looks could kill, Song Jin had no doubt this man’s gaze alone could slice her into pieces.
Seeing Song Jin staring at him in apparent fascination, Xiao Yanzhi frowned deeply and said coldly with unconcealed disgust:
“What? Did you come back to steal the household registration papers again? Or sell the children another time?”
“I…” Song Jin instinctively opened her mouth to explain.
But before she could speak, the village chief demanded sharply:
“Song! Have you really returned to do evil again?”
If they had not been refugees right now, whenever such a poisonous woman who abandoned husband and children appeared in the village, the village chief would never bother wasting words—he would simply open the ancestral hall and have her drowned.
Song Jin naturally had no idea the village chief was already considering drowning her. As she walked closer to the group, in the short distance of barely ten meters, several countermeasures had already flashed through her mind.
When she stopped about seven or eight steps away, she spoke calmly and steadily, neither humble nor overbearing.
“Village Chief, Clan Elders, since the deed has already been done, I won’t bother making excuses. But this matter cannot entirely be blamed on me. Xiao Yanzhi must bear half the responsibility. He married me two years ago, yet made me live like a widow for those entire two years! Tell me—what family’s wife enters marriage for two years and still remains untouched? He ruined my life and treated me poorly, and now he’s become a burden that expects me to serve him for the rest of my life. Tell me then—why should I accept that?”
Truthfully, Song Jin did not want to say such self-damning words at all. But in order to stay in character, she had no choice.
Still, what she said was true. The original owner and Xiao Yanzhi had indeed been husband and wife in name only, never in reality.
Both the village chief and the clan elders were utterly stunned that Song Jin could abandon her husband and children and still speak with such confidence.
It completely shattered their worldview.
Xiao Yanzhi also did not suspect that the soul inside Song Jin had changed. Hearing her turn the blame onto him, his eyes reddened with fury.
“Before you married me, didn’t I already warn you? A forcibly twisted melon would leave you a widow your entire life! What right do you have to regret it now?”
Song Jin did not quite dare meet the gaze of this unfortunate scapegoat. She forced herself to continue:
“You did say that. So I’m not here to argue about right or wrong. I’m only here to discuss how to separate my household registration from yours.”
Household registration was proof of identity. Song Jin had no intention of becoming a vagrant and being sold off someday.
After hearing her words, Xiao Yanzhi let out a cold laugh.
“So after all that circling around, you’ve finally revealed your true intentions. Go on then. What else do you want to say?”
He had already guessed this selfish and vicious woman would never suddenly grow a conscience and return. Sure enough, just as he expected, she had come back to fight for the household registration papers.
Ignoring him, Song Jin instead turned to the village chief and clan elders and dropped a shocking statement.
“Village Chief, Clan Elders, things between Xiao Yanzhi and me have deteriorated to the point where we can no longer remain husband and wife. So I’ve decided to separate from him. But since we’re refugees on the road, there’s no way to go to the authorities and officially process a divorce and household separation. However, I’ve thought of a compromise. I will continue traveling with all of you during this refugee journey. Along the way, I promise that if I have food to eat, then this one crippled man and these four children will not go hungry. Once we’ve fully settled down, I’ll formally separate from Xiao Yanzhi and divide the household registration. At that point, we’ll part ways cleanly and owe each other nothing.”