CMWKSD -Chapter 17 Someone from the Wang Family Arrives

Ji Yiqing was hiding an oilcloth-wrapped bundle in his arms.

He had specially asked someone to bring it back from town early that morning. Jiu Yue hadn’t eaten much the night before.

They said it was rice, but she barely touched it. The dishes didn’t seem to suit her taste either—she only took two bites of the steamed egg custard.

There were only a few seasonings at home; it was impossible to make anything truly delicious.

As soon as they entered the room, Jiu Yue rubbed her eyes and sat up. Her hair had completely exploded from sleep.

Ji Yiqing pressed his lips together and secretly laughed. Other than sleeping with his father and elder brother, he had never shared a bed with anyone else.

He had no idea a person’s sleeping posture could be this bizarre.

Over the course of one night, Jiu Yue had switched through who knew how many sleeping positions on that huge kang.

She rolled from the head of the kang to the foot, slept curled up, slept stretched out, slept on her stomach, and even slept in a full split…

Ji Yiqing had taken at least five punches over the night.

In the end, he had no choice but to awkwardly retreat to the very end of the kang.

Despite being tall, he took up less than half the space Jiu Yue did.

But he didn’t say a word.

Jiu Yue sat on the edge of the bed. Ji Yiqing took the oilpaper package out from his chest.
“Third Aunt cooked today. I don’t know if you’ll like it, so I asked someone to bring back some pastries from town. Try some.”

Jiu Yue gave an “oh” and lowered her head to look for her shoes, only to remember they seemed to have been thrown into the dirty laundry basket last night.

She had no shoes to wear.

Suddenly, Jiu Yue looked down at her clothes.

These were given to her by Shen Mei. Su Ruo’s clothes—even the undergarments—were all torn and tattered.

Tsk. This undergarment fabric was uncomfortable to wear too.

And she couldn’t possibly keep wearing her combat uniform forever.

Holding the clothes Shen Mei had given her last night, her head started to hurt. How was this thing even supposed to be worn?

A tie here, a hole there?

Watching Jiu Yue wrestle with the clothes, Ji Yiqing was first surprised, then couldn’t help laughing.

It was actually just the most basic short outfit.

But that era didn’t have zippers or anything—of course you had to thread ties through holes.

Jiu Yue felt it was absolutely necessary to have new clothes made. These looked way too ugly on her!

But when she thought of the nine taels of silver Ji Yiqing had given her…

She fell into an oddly heavy silence.

If she wanted to eat well, drink well, and live well, she was still very far from it.

Last night, she had gone to the latrine once—and it had seriously traumatized her.

Was that really a latrine?

She could no longer look at white rice the same way.

Ugh—

Ji Yiqing stepped forward to help her straighten her clothes.

His face turned red, and whenever he accidentally touched her neck or arm, he would recoil as if shocked.

By contrast, Jiu Yue was still half-asleep, with not the slightest hint of ambiguity or romance.

Ji Yiqing blinked, withdrawing the fingers that had brushed her arm. Soft… tender…

So this was what a little girl’s flesh felt like—this soft.

“All right.”

As he spoke, someone suddenly started pounding loudly on the courtyard gate.

Ji Yiqing had just finished arranging Jiu Yue’s hair when he froze at the sound and hurried outside.

He saw Ji Dahu rolling and scrambling toward their room. Ji Yiqing reached out to steady him.
“Second Uncle, what’s wrong?”

Ji Dahu was full of regret—deep, bone-deep regret.

If he hadn’t been tempted by those fifty taels back then, he wouldn’t have provoked Jiu Yue, and he definitely wouldn’t have offended the Wang family.

Now he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

“Th-the Wang… the Wang family has come.”

Jiu Yue vaguely acknowledged it. “So what are they here for?”

Ji Dahu glanced guiltily at her, on the verge of tears. “To… to form a ghost marriage.”

Ji Yiqing’s face turned icy. “Since Second Uncle caused this, Second Uncle can figure out a solution himself.”

With that, Ji Yiqing shoved Ji Dahu straight out.

Ji Dahu let out a wail. Back then, he had taken twenty taels and sworn that within a couple of days, it would be done.

Wasn’t that because Jiu Yue looked like she was barely breathing at the time?

He thought she’d croak any moment.

Who would’ve thought that not only would Jiu Yue not die, she’d also subdue them one by one until they were all obedient?

The courtyard gate continued to be beaten on. It was mealtime, and neighbors from all around had come to watch the commotion.

Knowing he couldn’t avoid it, Ji Dahu hurriedly prepared the silver and handed it to the Wang family’s guard.

But the guard directly threw the twenty taels onto the ground. “Ji Dahu, I remember you said yesterday that we could come take the person at any time. Didn’t you say she was dead? Hand her over.”

Ji Dahu wanted nothing more than to slap himself. “Guard Wang, it’s really not that I don’t want to. Even if a ghost marriage is voluntary, both sides have to be dead, right? Our side here is still alive and well. You can’t possibly—”

Guard Wang sneered. “You’re telling me this? You said it yourself. You insisted on selling the person yourself. It’s all written down in black and white—can that be fake?”

Hearing this, Jiu Yue wasn’t surprised at all.

After all, when Ji Dahu and Hu Chunhua were plotting yesterday, they were clearly talking about wanting her dead. They had repeatedly tried to kill her since then.

All for the Wang family’s silver.

Jiu Yue had no intention of helping. She wasn’t the one who caused this mess, and whatever happened had nothing to do with her.

Retribution—pure retribution.

With that thought, Jiu Yue turned around and went back inside to eat the pastries Ji Yiqing had brought.

Wails echoed from outside the courtyard from time to time.

The Wang family was determined to take someone away. Ji Dahu wouldn’t dare let Jiu Yue show herself—he’d be lucky if she didn’t kill him on the spot.

Ji Dahai was helping Ji Dahu argue his case.

In the end, it was the Ji family who was in the wrong. And it was his younger brother’s greed that caused this. Outside the courtyard gate, everything dissolved into tears.

The Wang family was the wealthiest household in town.

Perhaps knowing the Ji family wouldn’t hand the person over easily, they had come with more than ten guards and thugs.

They even brought a coffin.

It truly looked like they were prepared to conduct a ghost marriage.

Ji Chaomian listened to the uproar outside.

After hearing Ji Youqin explain what had happened, he also felt Hu Chunhua had gone too far.

The idea of having Jiu Yue “bring good fortune” was Hu Chunhua’s decision.

Then, thinking Jiu Yue was about to die, she turned around and sold her again.

She didn’t even hire a doctor for Jiu Yue, letting her fend for herself. Completely undeserving of sympathy.

He had just been carried out into the courtyard by Ji Yiqing to bask in the sun.

At a glance, he saw the young girl walking out of Ji Yiqing’s room.

Bright eyes and lively charm, brows curved when she smiled, red lips and white teeth, peach-blossom eyes shimmering with starlight.

Every gesture was open and confident, graceful and composed. No wonder his younger brother had been certain at first sight.

Ji Chaomian looked at Ji Yiqing’s face, still dusted with medicinal powder. If not for the injury to his face, how well-matched the two of them would look.

Ji Chaomian then wanted to smash his own leg.

If not for his injured leg, he would have earned more silver no matter what, bought his brother the best medicine.

He wouldn’t have let his brother be scarred—then he could have taken the imperial examinations.

Seeing that reasoning with Ji Dahu and Ji Dahai was futile, the Wang family members grew angry as well. At this critical moment, they had no way to find another substitute.

Ji Yiqing pulled Jiu Yue behind him, making her look completely baffled. She was a walking ceiling of combat power—did she really need protection?

Ji Chaomian was also shielded behind his younger brother.

He looked at the Wang family members who rushed in, puzzled. “When we came back last night, we didn’t hear that the Wang family’s young master had died, did we?”