Chapter 11 Burning Incense at Night (Part 2)

Pei Yuanshao’s body slightly stiffened. He blinked his eyes and lowered his head slowly. The end of the fiery red whip in his hand was now being gripped by someone else.

His gaze moved up along her slender wrist until it reached her cold and indifferent face.

His forehead throbbed, and the anger in his heart mixed with an indescribable sense of losing control, causing him to react half a beat slower. The merciless reprimands from the person opposite him echoed in his ears.

Pei Yuanshao tightened his grip on the whip and narrowed his eyes.

His left hand was hidden in his sleeve, fingers clenched into a fist, nails digging into his palm. The pain allowed him to regain a shred of reason from his shock and anger.

He stood in place, his dark eyes obscure and difficult to read. In his extreme anger, he laughed instead. The sword-like aura that had just been unsheathed slowly dissipated.

The crimson lips slightly curved, the coldness in her body vanishing, instantly changing her expression.

Releasing the whip from his hand, Pei Yuanshao looked at the person in front of him with an ambiguous smile.

Taking two steps forward, his outer robe loosely draped over his body. Whether intentional or unintentional, the movement was too wide, causing the robe to slip down a few inches, revealing his fair and smooth neck.

As the distance between them grew closer, the scent of cedar wood from his body directly assaulted Liu Changning’s nostrils.

She crossed her arms, her eyes filled with annoyance. This man couldn’t fight, and now he was trying to seduce her!

Pei Yuanshao was currently burning with anger, though it didn’t show on his face. The smile at the corner of his mouth grew wider.

This village woman was not good in that aspect, and based on his observations over the past few days, she seemed to be afraid of men!

Hmph!

His venomous eyes flashed with a seductive light as he hooked his lips at her. Under the setting sun, he was truly breathtakingly beautiful.

He raised his hand, his fair and slender fingertips entangled with his falling black hair.

Every movement and gesture was alluring.

Lowering his head, he leaned in, his lips hovering near her earlobe. His hot and humid breath sprayed out, his voice deliberately processed into a low and hoarse tone: “No, this concubine listens to the wife-master.”

The hoarse male voice was forcibly transformed into an affected and exaggerated tone. Goosebumps rose on Liu Changning’s exposed skin.

She took two steps back, skillfully avoiding his increasingly close body.

However, the person opposite her seemed to have lost all his bones and made a move to pounce on her again.

If hardness doesn’t work, he resorts to seduction? Shameless!

In her three lifetimes, Liu Changning had never encountered a man who effeminately tried to get close to her like this. Her body shivered with waves of disgust.

Left with no choice, she lowered her body and swiftly entered the firewood shed, quickly closing the door with a “bang,” shutting the demon-possessed person outside.

Damn it! This man did it on purpose! Flirtatious, lewd!

From outside the door came his low and deep laughter, growing louder and louder, clearly deliberate.

Liu Changning leaned against the door, unable to endure it any longer. Her usually cold and indifferent expression completely cracked as she spoke in a cold and businesslike tone: “Get lost! Cook the meal and remove the manure. If you don’t do your duties properly, even if we go to court, I don’t want to keep a husband like you.”

With that, she ignored the person outside the room. The dignified and heartless Tao Ancestor, for the first time, was rendered helpless and at a loss by someone’s provocation.

—

Liu Changning stayed in the firewood shed for half an hour until the sky had completely darkened. She walked towards the kitchen.

Although there was no food in the pot, there were three white and plump meat buns being kept warm.

Liu Changning narrowed her eyes and picked up a meat bun, bringing it to her mouth.

She had always enjoyed dealing with intelligent people. Although her cheap husband’s behavior was flirtatious, he was very smart and understood her bottom line of tolerance.

Even though they had clashed today, it was mostly just testing each other out. Neither of them had truly gained the upper hand. If he was willing to take a step back, they could coexist peacefully.

The meat buns tasted much better than the meals he had made before. The skin was thin, and the filling was abundant. Taking a bite, rich soup even oozed out.

Liu Changning bit through the skin and fiercely sucked in a mouthful of soup, narrowing her eyes in satisfaction. The pent-up anger from earlier dissipated like smoke.

After finishing three meat buns, she raised her head and glanced at the nearby outhouse. The sky outside had turned gray, and several wooden barrels could be vaguely seen near the outhouse. From a distance, the stench in her nostrils had lessened a bit.

Assuming that he had obediently gone to remove the manure, Liu Changning’s eyes curved into a smile.

Scooping manure was something she truly didn’t want to do.

If disgusting her cheap husband a bit could get him to scoop the manure, then this trade was worth it.

Thinking of this, Liu Changning’s mood improved even more, and the curve of her lips deepened.

—

In Xiqiao Village, as the sun set in the west, the women of the village picked up their hoes and headed home one after another.

The rural path was still quite lively at this time. The women walked one in front of the other, chatting and laughing.

While they were casually talking about household matters, they suddenly saw a man in red clothes carrying a pole with two manure buckets hanging from each end, the stench assaulting their nostrils.

Upon closer inspection, as he approached, it was clearly the flirtatious husband from the Liu family in the west of the village.

Almost everyone who saw him had a look of surprise on their faces.

“Liu family’s husband, you’re scooping manure!”

“Yuanshao, in the past, wasn’t this task of scooping manure done by your wife-master… Why is it you today?”

“This task of carrying manure buckets, it still needs to be done by a woman. How can you, a young lad, do such a thing?”

…

The crowd asked questions one after another.

The man in red clothes lowered his head, his voice carrying a hint of grievance: “The wife-master nearly fainted in the field a few days ago, and her strength is now much weaker than before. Since she is unable to do it, someone has to do the household chores, so…”

He hesitated, half-concealing his words.

Others could roughly guess what he meant from his expression.

The villagers of Xiqiao Village were simple and honest by nature. Although they felt that his behavior in the past had been a bit outrageous, seeing him today, a young lad, actually carrying manure buckets, they couldn’t help but feel a bit of pity for him.

So they gave him more or less some sympathy.

Pei Yuanshao deliberately took the path with the most people, carrying the manure buckets and intentionally walking around the entire village.

By the time he pinched his nose and disgustedly poured the manure into the field, almost every household in Xiqiao Village was spreading the news that Liu Changning’s health had deteriorated, and her husband had been forced to take up the manure buckets for the sake of their livelihood. How pitiful.

The hidden scout in the reed bush followed him all the way. Seeing the sky darkening, he flashed away and disappeared without a trace.

Pei Yuanshao, carrying the empty wooden buckets on his back, didn’t return home. After taking many turns, he arrived at an empty spot in the back mountain.

Circulating his internal energy and confirming that there was no one around, he put down the pole on his back and called out to the person in the shadows: “Come out!”