Chapter 54

The first thing Yun Pianpian did upon returning to Jiangjia Village was to deliver the plum blossom pastries from Xuzhou to Jiang Cuicui's house.
“Cuicui, come quickly and see what delicious treats I've brought you!”
The courtyard gate was open, so Yun Pianpian carried the pastries into the yard, only to see Chen Fashan walking out of the main room.
Chen Fashan's face was as pale and sickly as ever, gentle and polite.
But this time, there was a trace of worry between his brows.
When Chen Fashan saw Yun Pianpian, he paused, seemingly a bit surprised.
“Miss Pianpian.”
Yun Pianpian nodded to him.
After exchanging greetings, Chen Fashan left Jiang Cuicui's house.
Jiang Cuicui came out of the room, her eyes lighting up at the sight of Yun Pianpian.
“Pianpian, you're back!”
Yun Pianpian grinned and held up the plum blossom pastries in her hand.
“I even brought you some local specialties from Xuzhou.”
When two young beauties get together, they always have endless topics to chat about. Yun Pianpian told Jiang Cuicui all about what she had seen and heard during this time. Jiang Cuicui listened with a face full of envy: “You've traveled so far! The farthest I've ever been in my life is just to the county town.”
Yun Pianpian originally wanted to say that she would take Jiang Cuicui along on their next outing, but then she remembered Xiao Changyuan's terrifying possessiveness over her. A shiver ran down her spine, and the words that had reached her lips were swallowed back, replaced by something else.
“You could ask A’Shan to take you out for outings.”
She had just seen Chen Fashan at Jiang Cuicui's house and assumed that the two of them were about to tie the knot.
At the mention of her beloved's name, Jiang Cuicui's face suddenly flushed red.
“Don't talk nonsense, nothing's settled yet.”
Yun Pianpian smiled mischievously. “I just saw A’Shan at your house. How can you say nothing's settled?”
Jiang Cuicui lowered her head, her voice tinged with disappointment. “But my parents don't like A’Shan.”
Yun Pianpian was taken aback. “Why wouldn't they like A’Shan ”
Jiang Cuicui's tone sounded sorrowful. “They say he's a sickly person, always with medicine in hand, panting even when he walks. He looks so frail that they're sure he won't live long. They don't want me to marry him because they're afraid I'll end up a widow.”
Yun Pianpian thought Jiang Cuicui's parents had a point.
Chen Fashan's sickly appearance was indeed worrying.
Yun Pianpian asked curiously, “How did your parents find out about you two?”
Jiang Cuicui whispered, “Since the end of last year, I've been secretly meeting A’Shan in the grove. His health isn't good, and he caught a chill from the wind in the woods, which made him fall ill. Even when he was sick, all he could think about was me. He secretly wrote me love letters, and we started corresponding. I kept all the letters he wrote me in a wooden box.”
Yun Pianpian had a vague sense of foreboding.
All secrets eventually come to light.
Jiang Cuicui paused. “But then my mother discovered those letters. She was furious and forbade me from seeing A’Shan She even burned all the letters he wrote me. I begged her through tears, but she wouldn't listen. She locked me in my room and wouldn't let me go to him. When A’Shan found out, he came straight to my house. He said he would take responsibility and even proposed to my mother.”
Hearing this, Yun Pianpian immediately viewed Chen Fashan in a new light.
Despite his frail appearance, he had such a strong sense of responsibility.
Jiang Cuicui continued, “But my mother forbade me from marrying him. She said many harsh things and drove A’Shan away. She won't allow me to interact with A’Shan, my father won't let me see him, and even my grandfather doesn't want me to marry A’Shan.”
Yun Pianpian asked, “Cuicui, what do you think about all this?”
Hearing this, Jiang Cuicui raised her eyes, her beautiful and clear gaze filled with determination.
“I love A’Shan and I want to marry him. Even if I end up living as a widow for the rest of my life, I'm not afraid.”
Seeing Jiang Cuicui's resolute expression, Yun Pianpian was momentarily taken aback.
Jiang Cuicui frowned slightly and said, “Pianpian, are you like my parents, trying to make me give up on A’Shan?”
“Of course not!”
Yun Pianpian took Jiang Cuicui's hand. “I will always stand by your side.”
Hearing Yun Pianpian's words, Jiang Cuicui suddenly felt a surge of courage.
She had heard too many discouraging words lately, and even a small gesture of support felt incredibly precious.
“Thank you, Pianpian!”
“There's no need to thank me. We're friends, after all.”
Recalling Chen Fashan's appearance earlier, Yun Pianpian couldn't help but ask, “So, what was A’Shan doing at your house just now?”
Jiang Cuicui's cheeks flushed slightly. “A’Shan loves me too much to give up on me. Even though my parents have made it clear they won't let me marry him, he still insists on taking me as his wife. These past few days, he's been coming every day to plead with my parents.”
This was the version of the story in Jiang Cuicui's heart.
But in Chen Fashan's heart, the story was entirely different.
Chen Fashan returned home, his face pale and sickly. His dark, gloomy eyes instantly turned sinister.
“These country bumpkins are utterly ungrateful. For me to be willing to marry their daughter is a blessing they've earned over countless lifetimes. How dare these foolish, ignorant peasants refuse me? Do they even know who they're rejecting?!”
The more Chen Fashan spoke, the angrier he became. His pale, handsome face flushed with rage, and his throat itched as he choked out a violent cough.
He coughed harder and harder, clutching his weak chest as if trying to cough up his internal organs.
Seeing him in this state, Zhou Qiren hurriedly poured the warm medicinal broth from the stove into a small bowl and handed it to Chen Fashan with trepidation.
“Your Majesty, please don't be angry. There's no need to trouble yourself with these country folk. Please drink this medicine quickly.”
While clutching his chest and coughing violently, Chen Fashan reached out to take the medicine from Zhou Qiren. He tilted his head back unsteadily and gulped it down. Already enraged, he didn't even care that half of the precious medicinal broth spilled onto his hand.
After finishing the medicine, Chen Fashan slammed the bowl heavily onto the table. His eyes were bloodshot as he gritted his teeth and said, “They look down on me? Well, I will marry Jiang Cuicui no matter what. Not only will I marry her, but I will also toy with her and make them regret ever saying those words.”
That day, when the matter came to light, Jiang Cuicui's letter was discovered by her mother, who locked her in her room and forbade her from seeing him. Fearing that Jiang Cuicui might reveal the confession in the mountains to her parents and arouse suspicion, Chen Fashan rushed to Jiang Cuicui's house to control the situation. He expressed his feelings to her parents, intending to marry Jiang Cuicui and eliminate the problem once and for all.
But he never expected to hear such words from them.
Jiang Cuicui's mother flew into a rage and declared, “I advise you to abandon this foolish hope! Don't you have any awareness of your own physical condition?! How dare you come to ruin my daughter! My Cuicui would sooner marry a pig or a dog than a sickly weakling like you!”
Since ascending the throne, Chen Fashan had never been scolded so directly to his face.
This humiliation was unbearable, and he was determined to make this family pay.
With a dark expression, Chen Fashan said viciously, “I will marry Jiang Cuicui and then divorce her. I will make her family beg me on their knees!”
Hearing Chen Fashan's cruel and ruthless words, Zhou Qiren's heart tightened.
He grew increasingly worried about Jiang Cuicui's future.
That lively and adorable young girl, he didn't want to see her perish at Chen Fashan's hands.
Zhou Qiren came from three generations of physicians. Having studied medicine since childhood, he possessed a healer's compassion and couldn't bear to witness Chen Fashan's malicious actions.
But Chen Fashan was the son of Xia Shi, the woman of his dreams, who had entrusted Chen Fashan to him on her deathbed.
Zhou Qiren had no choice but to obey Chen Fashan's every command; he couldn't bring himself to defy him.
Now, all he could do was hope that Jiang Cuicui would find her own way to safety.
Yun Pianpian comforted Jiang Cuicui with a few words.
Seeing that it was getting late, she bid Jiang Cuicui farewell and returned home.
Xiao Changyuan was somewhat displeased. “Why are you back so late?”
Yun Pianpian walked over to him, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed his cheek.
She blinked her dewy almond, shaped eyes and began to play pitiful.
“Husband, I was wrong.”
No matter how angry Xiao Changyuan was, as long as Yun Pianpian took the initiative to kiss his cheek, his ears would turn red, and he would forgive her.
He was truly very easy to appease.
That night, Xiao Changyuan fetched water to fill the bathtub and waited outside the room for Yun Pianpian to bathe and change.
After Yun Pianpian finished washing, Xiao Changyuan fetched fresh water, refilled the tub, and washed away the dust of the day.
The two changed into clean clothes and lay down on their familiar wooden bed.
Xiao Changyuan held Yun Pianpian affectionately, unable to resist kissing her cheek and nibbling her ear.
Yun Pianpian felt her thoughts wandering from his nibbling, but her menstrual period was due in the next few days. Since her cycle was irregular, it could arrive early, and she worried it would spoil Xiao Changyuan's mood. So, she suppressed her desires, biting her red lips and enduring it.
Before long, Xiao Changyuan released Yun Pianpian, his breathing ragged.
Yun Pianpian's heart was filled with guilt.
She closed her eyes, intending to feign sleep, but unexpectedly, the pillow was so comfortable that she genuinely drifted off.
The next day, Yun Pianpian woke up and secretly glanced at Xiao Changyuan.
Seeing that his expression was normal, she breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Once her period was over, she would make it up to Xiao Changyuan properly.
After finishing her meal, Yun Pianpian went to Jiang Cuicui’s house to buy land from the village chief.
Five acres of land cost her fifty taels of silver.
After purchasing the land, Yun Pianpian directed Xiao Changyuan to harness the plow to the old ox and lead it to the newly bought fields to till the soil, turning over all the frozen earth from winter. She followed behind, doing some weeding.
It took the old ox two days to finish plowing the five acres.
On the third day, Yun Pianpian had originally planned to go to the county town to buy fruit saplings, but her period arrived.
She had no choice but to lie listlessly in bed. Xiao Changyuan held her in his arms, his pale, slender hand resting on her cramping abdomen. Warm, rich inner strength flowed continuously from his palm into her cold lower belly.
Yun Pianpian, like a lazy little kitten, slept in his embrace. Thanks to his inner strength, she felt no pain at all, but since she was still bleeding, she didn’t feel like getting out of bed or going to the fields to work.
The tyrant had become increasingly clingy toward her. If she didn’t want to get out of bed, he refused to leave as well, wanting to hold her all day long.
It was already the end of April, and if they didn’t plant the fruit saplings soon, it might be too late.
So, on the fifth day, even though her period hadn’t completely ended, Yun Pianpian took Xiao Changyuan with her to the county town to buy fruit saplings. After visiting several markets, she bought five types of saplings: hawthorn, pear, apple, peach, and citrus trees.
In total, over three hundred saplings.
These saplings had thick, intact roots with soil still attached, giving them a high survival rate.
Yun Pianpian directed Xiao Changyuan to hoe and dig holes in the fields, planting all the saplings, with one type of fruit tree per acre.
Xiao Changyuan rolled up his sleeves, revealing his strong, pale arms, and swung the shovel diligently as he worked in the fields.
Yun Pianpian stood nearby, occasionally fanning him, offering him water, and wiping his sweat.
In the distance, many villagers were working in their fields.
Yun Pianpian also spotted Chen Fashan and Jiang Cuicui.
It turned out that Chen Fashan, to prove he wasn’t a useless invalid, had bought three acres of land from the village chief and had been working in the fields these past few days. Strangely enough, Chen Fashan, who used to pant even while walking and often suffered from insomnia at night, hadn’t experienced any insomnia since he started working the land.
Jiang Cuicui secretly came to bring him water.
As she was leaving, Jiang Cuicui stumbled, lost her balance, and fell toward a dry ditch. Chen Fashan instinctively reached out to pull her up, but being weak, he not only failed to save her but also ended up falling into the ditch with her.
Chen Fashan landed on top of Jiang Cuicui, feeling the warmth and softness of her body beneath him.
His dark, intense eyes deepened slightly.
He was a normal man, and naturally, he had a normal reaction.
Although he looked down on Jiang Cuicui’s background and considered her affection as cheap as the clothes she wore, that didn’t stop him from developing an interest in this “cheap” woman.
He wanted to take advantage of Jiang Cuicui.
Chen Fashan had once possessed a harem of three palaces and six courtyards, he knew exactly what to do.
He lowered his head and kissed Jiang Cuicui’s lips.
Just as Jiang Cuicui was about to rise, Chen Fashan pressed his lips against hers, startling her so much that her mind went blank, and she even forgot to breathe.
As the two were locked in an inseparable kiss, a cold, deep voice came from above their heads.
“You cannot do this.”
Chen Fashan froze, lifted his head, and looked in the direction of the voice.
Xiao Changyuan stood at the edge of the gully, silhouetted against the sunlight, looking down at them from above.
The sunlight fell behind Xiao Changyuan, obscuring the expression on his face.
But his indifferent voice was like that of a deity descending to the mortal world, compassionate yet merciless.
“This is demonic.”