Chapter 2: Xie Yi

Early the next morning, Su Mu went to Yan Jiyue’s Hantan courtyard with the divorce papers she had already written.

The Yan family was indeed a wealthy household in Juen City. The Hantan courtyard was filled with clear water, and pure white lotus flowers bloomed gracefully. In the early morning, crystal dew condensed on the petals, and the fragrant aroma was pleasing to the senses.

Unfortunately, it was all a façade. The Yan family had few direct descendants but many collateral branches. All the family members lived in one compound, and neither Yan Zhujun nor Yan Ting were good at management.

Those collateral branches had secretly sold off most of the Yan family’s good fields and estates. Only because the accounts were well-kept did Yan Zhujun not realize it himself.

It wasn’t until later that Su Mu discovered the problem, and then was forced by Yan Zhujun to engage in business to save the faltering Yan family.

Lost in memories, Su Mu had already arrived at the entrance of Hantan courtyard. She knocked on the door.

The doorkeeper Hua Lu opened the door while yawning: “Who is it?”

Seeing it was Su Mu, he directly rolled his eyes and said sarcastically: “Oh, isn’t this Su Mu? You were just driven away by the young master last night, and now you’re here to curry favor again early in the morning.”

Even though she was a married-in spouse, she was still a master of the Yan family. For a servant to dare speak to her like this, it was clear Yan Jiyue had instructed him to do so.

Back then, she had been eager to reconcile with Yan Jiyue, so she endured the servants’ provocations.

But after her rebirth, Su Mu’s temper was not so good anymore. Having lived the privileged life of the wealthiest, how could she still tolerate such humiliation?

She was about to deliver a resounding slap when she saw a group slowly approaching in the distance.

Su Mu’s eyes rolled, and she smiled humbly: “No matter what, I am still the young master’s wife-master…”

Su Mu’s retreat imperceptibly further encouraged Hua Lu’s arrogance. He impatiently interrupted her: “You really think that marrying into the Yan family makes you the young master’s wife-master?”

“If Su Mu is not Jiyue’s wife-master, then who is?” An elderly male voice came from behind.

The newcomer was Yan Jiyue’s father, the instigator of Su Mu and Yan Jiyue’s marriage.

“Greetings, Zhujun.” Hua Lu immediately knelt respectfully upon seeing Yan Zhujun.

At this moment, Su Mu felt no inner turmoil, but appearances still had to be maintained.

She turned around and curtsied slightly to Yan Zhujun: “Greetings, Zhujun.”

“What happened just now? You, a servant, dare to talk back to your master, how impertinent.” Yan Zhujun frowned as he spoke.

“Please forgive me, Zhujun. This slave knows his mistake.” Hua Lu knelt on the ground, repeatedly kowtowing.

When Su Mu had first married Yan Jiyue, the servants in the household all looked down on her, and Yan Jiyue had instructed the servants to humiliate her to her face. At such times, Yan Zhujun would always step in to speak up for her.

She had been so moved at the time, but later she realized that this father and son were just playing good cop, bad cop.

“You shouldn’t beg me for forgiveness, you should beg Su Mu. She is the young mistress of our Yan family, yet you dare to disrespect your superiors. Ling Hua, slap him ten times.” Yan Zhujun said sternly.

Sure enough, the act had begun again.

In the past, Su Mu didn’t want her life-saving benefactor to bear the name of a cruel master for her sake, so she would always plead for leniency for the servants. But this time, Su Mu decided to try something different.

“Zhujun, forget about the slapping. A man’s face is as precious as his life. How about twenty strokes with the cane instead?” Su Mu smiled gently.

“……”

Both Yan Zhujun and Hua Lu were stunned. They hadn’t expected Su Mu to pull this move. Hadn’t she always pleaded for mercy for the servants before?

“What’s wrong, is the punishment too light?” Su Mu raised her long, delicate eyebrows slightly.

“Ling Hua, didn’t you hear what the young mistress said? Twenty strokes with the cane.” Yan Zhujun spoke coldly.

“Yes.” Ling Hua dragged Hua Lu away, ignoring his pleas for mercy. Soon, Hua Lu’s screams could be heard.

“I didn’t expect the servants in Jiyue’s courtyard to be so unruly and disrespectful. You’ve been wronged.” Yan Zhujun said guiltily.

“There’s no question of being wronged or not. I’m just a married-in spouse after all.” Su Mu’s smile didn’t reach her eyes.

Yan Zhujun’s eyes narrowed slightly, keenly sensing that today’s Su Mu was different from usual.

“What married-in spouse? In my heart, I treat you like my own daughter. This Jiyue is really too inconsiderate. Come, let’s go in. I’ll definitely give him a good lesson today.”

“There’s no need. I have some matters to attend to soon.” Su Mu had come to Hantan courtyard to discuss divorce with Yan Jiyue, and she couldn’t let Yan Zhujun know about it. He would definitely not allow the two to divorce.

So Su Mu could only make excuses to slip away.

“Alright then, you go attend to your matters first. Tonight, I’ll definitely make Jiyue come apologize to you in person.” Yan Zhujun said.

Su Mu nodded. Fine, you keep acting. She had urgent matters to attend to.

“Zhujun, I feel the young mistress was a bit off today.” Ling Jing whispered in Yan Zhujun’s ear.

Yan Zhujun no longer disguised the false kindness in his eyes: “Perhaps it’s because that Hua Lu offended her. After all, even someone with a good temper is still a woman.”

Ling Jing nodded and advised: “We can’t push her too hard. We should ease up a bit during this time.”

The disrespectful attitude of the Yan family servants towards Su Mu was actually instructed and permitted by Yan Zhujun.

The servants’ attitude was like slaps to Su Mu’s face, crushing her self-esteem to the bottom. And Yan Zhujun was the one giving her dignity, helping her rebuild her confidence like a sweet date.

Only in this way would Su Mu be more grateful to the Zhujun.

Yan Zhujun nodded: “When you go back, tell those people to restrain themselves a bit during this period.”

“Yes.” Ling Jing paused for a moment, then asked: “Shall we still go to the young master’s place?”

Yan Zhujun looked at the blooming lotus flowers in Hantan courtyard and nodded: “Since we’re here, let’s go take a look.”

Although Yan Zhujun deliberately suppressed Su Mu, it was to prevent the married-in spouse’s ambitions from inflating and eventually turning against her master.

But he also sincerely wanted Yan Jiyue and Su Mu to be a loving couple.

After all, when he initially chose Su Mu, he had seriously examined her character. Not just any woman could marry into the Yan family.

Apart from being an orphan, Su Mu was young, and her looks were first-rate, no worse than that second young lady of the Shen family.

Moreover, Su Mu was reliable in character and faithful in temperament. In the half year she had been in the Yan family, there had never been any incidents of her flirting with the servants in the household. This was extremely rare in women, after all, there were no women who weren’t fickle.

Of course, the most important thing was for Yan Jiyue to quickly give birth to a daughter. With a granddaughter, the Yan family’s property could be completely in his hands.

By then, Su Mu’s existence would no longer be important.

When Yan Zhujun walked into Yan Jiyue’s room, Yan Jiyue was copying poetry at his desk. The fragrance of lotus mixed with the scent of ink was indescribably elegant.

Yan Zhujun’s eyes darkened: “Just know how to copy these useless things.”

Yan Jiyue finally stopped writing and looked up: “This is not useless at all. This ‘Water Melody’ is a poem written by the second young lady of the Shen family. Do you know that this poem shocked the entire city?”

Yan Zhujun couldn’t be bothered with him and questioned: “I ask you, why haven’t you shared a room with Su Mu after all this time?”

Yan Jiyue’s eyes were arrogant: “Did she complain to you? Becoming a master, she only knows how to play the game of tattling on servants.”

Yan Zhujun shook his head helplessly: “Don’t be prejudiced against Su Mu. You’ve been married to her for half a month already. You can’t continue to be willful like this. You should share a room with her as soon as possible.”

Upon hearing the words “share a room”, Yan Jiyue threw his brush on the table with a bang and stood up abruptly. His slender eyes were filled with unwillingness and resentment: “Why should I share a room with Su Mu? Letting her marry into our family to keep the Yan family property is already my biggest compromise. Sharing a room is absolutely impossible.”

“If you don’t share a room with Su Mu, who do you want to share a room with? Shen Yuxue? Shameless.” Yan Zhujun said angrily.

Yan Jiyue clenched his fists tightly, his eyes suppressing hatred. He only admired Shen Yuxue’s talent, but hearing his father humiliate him like this, he said defiantly: “Yes, I just like Shen Yuxue. She has good literary talent and a good personality, unlike Su Mu, who’s just a block of wood.”

“You—” Yan Zhujun was so angry that smoke seemed to come out of his head. He sat down in a chair, supported by Ling Jing, and it took a long time for him to calm down.

“You think Su Mu is a block of wood?” Yan Zhujun asked angrily.

Yan Jiyue frowned: “What else?”

Yan Zhujun laughed in extreme anger: “Right, you don’t like Su Mu because she’s dull. You just like women like Shen Yuxue who are all talk.”

“Father, what do you mean?” Yan Jiyue’s beautiful brows furrowed tightly.

“You really think Su Mu has a dull personality? You just haven’t seen her talking eloquently and confidently with others outside. She respects you, she knows you don’t like her, so she treats you courteously and doesn’t want to force you, let alone take liberties with you. And you?” Yan Zhujun’s heart ached from Yan Jiyue’s words.

“You instead like Shen Yuxue, who is famous in the city for being frivolous. She praises you a couple of times, and your heart follows her. Don’t you think that those flirtatious words she can say to you today, she can say to other men tomorrow? Where have all your years of male virtue and male education gone?”

Yan Jiyue gritted his teeth: “So what? If I don’t like someone, even if she’s a heavenly fairy, I still won’t like her.”

Yan Zhujun was silent for two seconds: “It doesn’t matter whether you like her or not. Hua Lu offended Su Mu. You will go to Luofeng courtyard tonight to apologize to Su Mu.”

Su Mu’s behavior today clearly showed that she was already dissatisfied with everyone in the Yan family. At this time, it was necessary to appease her well.

Initially, he had chosen Su Mu because she was capable but had no family background. With proper cultivation, she would definitely be able to help the Yan family rise to a higher level.

A chill suddenly appeared in Yan Jiyue’s eyes, and he almost spat out a few words from his throat: “Fine, I’ll go apologize to Su Mu in person tonight.”

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Su Mu walked on the street, ignoring the criticizing and contemptuous gazes of people around her.

She came out with only one purpose: to find someone.

In her previous life, she had met Xie Yi, who was being sold by slave traders, a month after marrying Yan Jiyue.

Later, she learned that Xie Yi had a difficult life.

He was of mixed Central Plains and Western Regions descent, born on the frontier. Later, during the wars, his parents and siblings all died tragically, and only he survived by chance, only to be kidnapped by slave traders and brought to Juen City.

Before meeting Su Mu, Xie Yi had first been sold to a scholar’s household as a slave.

Because he was too beautiful, he was envied by the wife-master, who believed he was a seductive fox spirit trying to tempt the scholar. She tortured him in various ways, even using a branding iron to brand the character for ‘lust’ on his body as humiliation.

This incident was a lifelong trauma for Xie Yi.

Now that Su Mu had been reborn, she was determined to change the course of this event and spare Xie Yi from the suffering he had endured in the past.

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Juen City was not actually very large; it was a small county town. But because it was far from the imperial court, it maintained relative isolation and independence.

There were only three scholar households in the entire city, and only one successful candidate in the imperial examinations, who was the current county magistrate.

Among these three scholar households, the one famous for having a fierce husband was the Li scholar’s family.

Su Mu dared to go to the Li scholar’s house. She hadn’t even reached the front gate of the Li family when she saw a large crowd of people outside the back door, and most of them were men.

These men formed a small circle, and from the center of the circle, dirty curses occasionally reached Su Mu’s ears.

She had a bad premonition in her heart. Pushing through the crowd of onlookers, she saw a middle-aged man in brocade clothes pulling on the collar of a frail young man.

“Let me show you all how this slut tried to seduce my wife-master. No wonder my wife-master couldn’t concentrate on her studies these past few days, and even wanted to take you as a concubine. It’s all because you, you little tramp, seduced her. Ptui! You filthy whore.” The middle-aged man’s expression was fierce as he tried to rip open the frail young man’s thin collar.

The thin young man held onto his clothes tightly. In the struggle, his disheveled profile was revealed, covered in bright red handprints. It seemed he had already endured a beating earlier.

“Would any scholarly family want such a little slut? Would any of you dare to take him?” The middle-aged man asked the onlookers.

“So young and already seducing the master of the house. Who would want him? Our Zhou family certainly wouldn’t dare,” came a mocking voice from the crowd.

“Hehe, that’s right. Who would dare bring a fox spirit home and disturb the peace of the household?” A husband nearby chuckled behind his silk handkerchief.

“Oh, he’s from the Western Regions too. Men from there are best at singing, dancing, and all sorts of improper activities. Many of the top courtesans in brothels are from the Western Regions.”

“Our family really had bad luck, buying such a little slut back home. Ptui!” The middle-aged man spat on his face with hatred. “First thing tomorrow, I’ll find a slave trader to sell you off.”

“No… not… didn’t… seduce…” The young man pinned beneath him struggled to speak. His halting speech sounded strange and unfamiliar, as if he had just learned to talk. He was pressed to the ground by the middle-aged man, blood flowing from his forehead into his eyes.

“You little tramp, you dare talk back!” The middle-aged man was furious and delivered a resounding slap.

The frail young man’s head was knocked to the side, his hidden face now turned towards Su Mu’s direction.

It was him, Xie Yi.

Xie Yi also saw her. His eyes were lifeless, a sea of gray. A tear mixed with blood fell from the corner of his eye.

The scene of Xie Yi hugging her corpse and taking poison to end his life flashed through her mind again. “Elder Sister Mu, I couldn’t wait until I was a hundred years old.”

“It seems I’ve been too kind. In other households, trash like you would have been beaten long ago.” The middle-aged man picked up a stick nearby.

“Stop!” Su Mu shouted almost instinctively.

“Who are you?” It was normal for these sheltered men to not recognize Su Mu, as they rarely saw women from outside.

Su Mu didn’t answer him, but said instead, “Didn’t you want to sell him? I’ll buy him.”

A ripple stirred in Xie Yi’s dead eyes, but that ripple wasn’t the light of salvation, but the sight of another abyss.

“You want to buy him?” The middle-aged man looked her up and down, then advised, “Young lady, I see you’re young and pretty. Why not find a well-educated man to marry instead of buying this little slut?”

Su Mu ignored his words: “I just want to buy him.”

“Fine.” Seeing her insistence, the middle-aged man said, “Twenty taels of silver.”

This little tramp might be a slut, but he was extremely beautiful, even more handsome than Yan Jiyue, the most beautiful man in Juen City.

He should have sold for a higher price, but unfortunately, last night in a fit of jealousy, he had used a branding iron to mark the character for ‘lust’ on his chest. Apart from male prostitutes in brothels, no woman would accept a man with such an insulting mark on his body.

His scholar wife-master, who had previously been so fond of this little slut Xie Yi, now despised him just as much after learning about the ‘lust’ character on his body, wanting to stay as far away as possible.

But because of this, the top-tier beauty Xie Yi could only be sold off cheaply.

“Alright.” Su Mu had worked as a servant in the Yan family for half a year and had saved quite a bit of money. Fearing the man might change his mind, she immediately took out 20 taels of silver and gave it to him.

The man contentedly took the money and handed the deed of sale to Su Mu: “Young miss, this little slu— this person is yours from now on.”

As the onlookers began to disperse, Su Mu crouched down and helped Xie Yi up, her heart aching.

She could clearly feel that the moment she touched Xie Yi, his body trembled.

“Are you alright?” Su Mu withdrew her hand and asked softly.

Xie Yi’s face was now disheveled and swollen, his hands tightly guarding his collar, his eyes filled with fear and unease.

She suddenly remembered that at this moment, Xie Yi still couldn’t understand much of the Central Plains language.

Su Mu pulled down her rolled-up sleeves, just enough to cover her palms.

Through the fabric, she gently gripped his wrist and spoke softly: “I’ll take you away.”

Xie Yi followed in a daze. He didn’t quite understand what had happened, but seeing the man who had been bullying him give that piece of paper to the woman in front of him, he knew he had been sold again.

The last time he was sold, his life was worse than death. What about this time?

Xie Yi dared not think further.

But he also dared not run away. This was a strange world. Not running meant death, but running also meant death.

So he allowed his wrist to be held by the woman in front of him through the fabric. The fabric was very fine, and the woman’s movements were gentle, rubbing against his hand without causing any pain.

Xie Yi silently watched the woman’s back, her slender figure and long hair falling behind her like a waterfall of flowing sand.

She looked very beautiful, and the way she looked at him wasn’t leering like his previous owner’s, full of lust. If possible, he truly hoped she would be a good owner.

At least she wouldn’t beat or scold him. Even if she did beat or scold him, it would be fine. He just hoped she wouldn’t be like his previous owner’s husband, using a branding iron with strange patterns to burn him. It was too painful. He would please her, using every method possible.

He followed Su Mu through winding alleys until they came to a small courtyard.

“This is where I used to live. The rent is paid for another half month. You can stay here for now.” Su Mu brought him inside. Having been uninhabited for half a month, the room was covered in a thin layer of dust.

Su Mu coughed once from the dust.

The next moment, a folded handkerchief appeared before Su Mu’s eyes.

Xie Yi held out the handkerchief, his dark green eyes with a Western Region flair looking at her. His bloodied lips forced a smile, a pleasing gesture masking the fear ingrained in his bones.

Su Mu sighed and tore the deed of sale to shreds in front of him: “Xie Yi, you don’t need to try to please me.”