Chapter 9 I Became the Goddess's Son-in-Law?! (Nine)

The next morning, Zhi Gui and Zhi Li noticed that their son-in-law seemed rather listless, which was unusual for them. However, when asked, he said it was nothing, so no one pressed him for details. ...

The next day, Jiang Yiqing didn't get up until noon. Zhi Gui and Zhi Li noticed that her son-in-law was acting strangely, which was unusual for her.

However, when asked, she said it was nothing, so no one pressed her for details.

Jiang Yiqing looked at herself in the mirror, her body covered in red marks. Memories of last night flooded back, and her face immediately turned bright red.

She dawdled as she dressed, and the more she looked in the mirror, the stranger the person in the mirror seemed to look. But perhaps she was just overthinking it.

Jiang Yiqing shook her head, sighed, "To die beneath the peony is to die a romantic death," and went to take care of the golden cicada she had brought home yesterday.

That's really fitting for the occasion.

After being sprinkled with dew, the cicadas looked even more energetic, proudly blooming in the morning breeze.

Jiang Yiqing looked around the courtyard but couldn't find Si Xuansu. She figured she had gone to the military camp again.

However, even without the goddess, she still has things to do, namely, the Silver Silk Spirit Tooth she acquired yesterday.

Jiang Yiqing asked the system, "I don't know how to use this Silver Silk Spirit Fang?"

Ginseng is fine for making medicine, but what about the "teeth"? The Silver Silk Spirit Teeth don't look like they're edible, so Jiang Yiqing was a little confused.

"This is actually a seed," the system said.

"Seeds?" Jiang Yiqing asked, "Will they grow into fruit if planted?"

"The Spirit Tooth Fruit only bears fruit once every hundred years, and each tree can produce a maximum of ten fruits. You are just a fragment and cannot grow into a large tree, but you can still grow one fruit."

"But it will take a hundred years, isn't that too slow?" Jiang Yiqing thought to herself that it was still a question whether she could live to be a hundred years old. If she died before the fruit grew, wouldn't all her efforts be in vain?

"You can raise it in your space, and then use more jade dew and nectar from the store to irrigate it," the system said.

Jiang Yiqing nodded, indicating that she understood.

Jiang Yiqing thought to herself, "The mall has things like nectar and jade dew that only immortals can access, and they're not expensive." She thought the mall was really a good place.

After burying the Silver Thread Spirit Tooth in the soil of the space, she watered it with nectar and jade dew, and then asked the system, "I wonder what the fruit that grows will be used for?"

The system said that the fruit only ripens once every hundred years, so the fruit must be very useful. I hope it won't disappoint her.

"The Spirit Tooth Fruit is even more effective than the Nine-Star Ginseng. The Nine-Star Ginseng can cure diseases instantly, while the Spirit Tooth Fruit can enhance spiritual power, cleanse tendons and marrow, and also has the effect of avoiding poison."

"I see." Jiang Yiqing was delighted to hear this, thinking that it suited her needs quite well.

She wanted to enhance her spiritual power so that it would be easier to find the fragments.

However, it would be a bit troublesome if only one fruit could grow, so she wanted to give one to Si Xuansu as well.

Good things should be shared with your goddess.

If there were any more, she would want to give them to her parents-in-law, and even to improve the health of Zhi Gui and Zhi Li. Human desires are indeed a bottomless pit...

"Is there a way to make one fragment bear two fruits?" Jiang Yiqing asked.

The system immediately understood her thoughts and said, "You'd better be careful. Some people are born unable to withstand strong spiritual energy. If you feed them things with strong spiritual energy, it will cause their meridians to break and they will die. Apart from you, only Si Xuansu can try taking the Spirit Tooth Fruit."

"Then I'll eat with the goddess. It's fine if the two of us share one, but is there a way to get an extra one?"

"That depends on your luck. Nine fragments can produce ten fruits, but in principle, one fragment can produce at most two fruits. I can only say it's possible, but I can't help you."

That was enough for Jiang Yiqing. She resolved to take good care of the Silver Silk Spirit Tooth and help it bear two fruits.

She bought a large amount of nourishing products from her spatial storage and piled them all on top of the seeds.

So, just one day later, the seed sprouted, emerging from the soil with two tender green leaves.

Jiang Yiqing was very happy to see this. She had been worried that spoiling it like this might kill it, but it seems she was overthinking it.

These precious animals can never be over-nourished, as they have a very strong digestive system.

The next day, silvery-white down appeared on the seedlings. A few days later, the seedlings grew taller and sprouted bright green leaves.

Jiang Yiqing was overjoyed to see this, thinking that at this rate of growth, it was only a matter of time before the fruit appeared.

That night, while she was sleeping, she suddenly heard the sound of swords clashing. Jiang Yiqing woke up with a start and looked down from the bed with sleepy eyes. She saw Si Xuansu fighting a masked man with a sword.

What...what happened?!

Jiang Yiqing knew that Si Xuansu was very powerful, but she had only heard about it. Now that she saw it for herself, she understood.

She wielded her sword without hesitation, her movements fluid and graceful, her figure swift and breathtaking, beautiful as a dance, captivating all who beheld her. Her sword strikes were incredibly fast, forcing the masked man to change his movements with each strike, leaping around the room, seemingly cornered.

Just as Si Xuansu was about to capture the man alive, he suddenly pulled off his face mask and said to Jiang Yiqing, "Little sister! I'm sorry I'm only coming to see you now."

Jiang Yiqing was taken aback by his shout, and Si Xuansu's sword also paused. He asked Jiang Yiqing, "Is he your brother?"

Jiang Yiqing didn't recognize this person, but the system said, "He is indeed the original owner's older brother, Jiang Yifan."

"Alright then," Jiang Yiqing reluctantly acknowledged, saying to Si Xuansu, "Yes."

"You are Yi Qing's brother, so why did you break into the General's Mansion in the night while masked?" Si Xuan Su frowned as she looked at Jiang Yi Fan. Her gaze was not stern, but her aura was quite intimidating, revealing a hint of the imposing presence she usually displayed as a general.

"I..." Jiang Yifan stammered, "I came to take Yiqing away."

Jiang Yiqing thought to herself, "This cheap brother of mine appeared out of nowhere. I should just go back to where I came from."

So he decisively replied, "I'm doing very well at the General's Mansion, and I won't go back with you."

"Yi Qing, you...?" Jiang Yifan seemed surprised by her resolute refusal and asked, "Why won't you come with me? It was my fault for making you marry in my place. I have to take responsibility and rescue you from the General's Mansion."

Jiang Yiqing thought it couldn't be that serious. The way they described "rescuing" made it sound like she had been wronged here.

Si Xuansu's gaze suddenly turned cold as she looked at Jiang Yifan. Jiang Yifan trembled and took two steps back to Jiang Yiqing's side.

"You said you wanted to rescue her from here?" Si Xuansu asked Jiang Yifan in a cold voice.

Jiang Yifan took another step closer to Jiang Yiqing, hesitating whether to nod or shake his head. This woman's martial arts skills were too high. He didn't expect that he couldn't beat her. It was probably impossible to take Yiqing out. Now he just had to see if he could get away unscathed. He hoped that she wouldn't cause trouble for Yiqing.

“You are Yi Qing’s brother, so I will beat you without hesitation. You made her marry in her place, so what are you doing here now?” Si Xuansu said, raising her sword and moving towards Jiang Yifan. Jiang Yifan felt a chill run down his spine.

As Jiang Yiqing watched the goddess wield her sword, she felt an overwhelming surge of heroic spirit, just like watching a movie, a true female knight-errant.

Jiang Yifan had long heard of Si Xuansu's formidable martial arts skills, but he didn't believe it. He never expected to run into trouble today.

"I...I'm sorry!" he said loudly. "My parents forced me to get married, but Xiaoqing and I had made a secret vow to marry each other. So I ran away from home to find her. It was wrong of me to have my younger sister marry in my place!"

After hearing his explanation, Si Xuansu stopped in her tracks.

Jiang Yiqing urged Jiang Yifan, "I don't want you to meddle in my business. I'm doing just fine here. You made me marry in your place back then, so don't worry about me now! Go run away with your Xiaoqing and never show your face in front of me again!"

Jiang Yifan stared blankly at her, unsure whether she was telling the truth or lying.

Jiang Yiqing was a little impatient when she saw that he didn't believe her, but she still tried to persuade him gently: "I'm serious, I'm doing very well in the General's Mansion."

She took out the luminous pearl from her pocket and said, "This was a gift from Madam Si. Do you think they would treat me badly?"

“But you’re a woman, and one day you’ll be found out. That would be a matter of losing your head,” Jiang Yifan said.

"If we leave with you, how will we explain ourselves to the others? Won't the Jiang family be dragged down by us?"

Si Xuansu frowned, listening to the back-and-forth conversation, her eyes filled with uncertain emotions.

She had never imagined that Jiang Yiqing might actually leave. Come to think of it, some of her ways of speaking were quite different from the people here. Besides, although Yiqing had said she liked her, Si Xuansu didn't know if she was sincere. She had been somewhat impulsive that day, and was constantly worried that Yiqing might actually dislike her.

Jiang Yifan hadn't thought of that yet. He asked Jiang Yiqing, "Then what do you suggest we do?"

Jiang Yiqing thought to herself, "What a fool!" and said, "What else can we do? We'll just have to take it one step at a time. I'm fine as I am now. You can go now."

"In that case, shall I... leave?"

"Let's go." If they don't leave soon, Jiang Yiqing might kick someone.

Jiang Yifan felt like it had been a long time since they last met, and it seemed like his sister disliked him.

However, since both she and Si Xuansu are women, they probably won't be bullied, so he can rest assured. The most important thing now is to think of a way for her to escape.

"Then I'm leaving. When you return to your hometown, remember to tell your parents about me. Don't let them worry or get angry. I may be unfilial, but it wouldn't be good if I upset them." After saying this, Jiang Yifan covered his face, darted out the door, and quickly disappeared into the night.

Jiang Yiqing felt that he wasn't too bad; he knew to care about his parents. However, it was truly heartless of Jiang Yiqing's parents to let their daughter marry in place of him.

The system said, "It was the original owner who chose to marry in place of her."

Okay then, let's just pretend she didn't say anything.

Jiang Yiqing walked to Si Xuansu's side, looked up at her, and Si Xuansu smiled suddenly with a calm expression.

Jiang Yiqing was afraid that she would be angry, but she didn't expect her to smile. This smile was like a night-blooming cereus in the night. Indeed, the goddess is beautiful during the day and beautiful at night. These are two completely different kinds of beauty.

"What are you laughing at?" Jiang Yiqing asked.

"You're laughing at me for being a bit delusional, actually believing that Yiqing will really stay in my house from now on," Si Xuansu said thoughtfully, looking at her.

"..."

"Aren't you going to object?" Si Xuansu gripped Jiang Yiqing's wrist, a little forcefully.

Jiang Yiqing suppressed the flutter in her heart and said, "Don't overthink it."

“Speaking of which, your elder brother’s martial arts skills are quite good,” Si Xuansu said.

"Is that so?" Jiang Yiqing didn't realize that he had been beaten so badly by the goddess that he was completely powerless. How could he be any good at all?

"Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to barge in here in the first place."

A casual remark sent a chill down Jiang Yiqing's spine—or rather, it gave her a profound sense of security. She thought, "The General's Mansion is indeed not a place to trespass."

"But he was still allowed in, which means there was a loophole in the defenses. I will fix it immediately."

Jiang Yiqing knew that she was a serious person, so she nodded: "This is very important, but let's do it tomorrow."

Jiang Yiqing's habit was to take a nap before doing anything. If it weren't for her brother's arrival, she might never have considered the rationale behind her marrying into the family.

Si Xuansu said, "Okay."

She placed the sword on the shelf and turned to see that Jiang Yiqing had already covered her face with the blanket.

"What kind of habit is this?" Si Xuansu asked. "Yi Qing, don't you find it boring?"

Jiang Yiqing felt a sense of unease as soon as she realized that Si Xuansu was by her side.

Her face flushed, and she said, "It's okay."

Si Xuansu gently kissed her cheek and said, "Good girl, goodnight."

...

The next morning, Jiang Yiqing entered the space to check on the condition of the Spirit Tooth Seedling.

It grew to the size of a flatwood tree and then stopped growing. In just one day, it even produced a flower bud the size of a grain of rice.

Although the flower buds were small, Jiang Yiqing did not underestimate them. If there are flowers, there will be fruit! Jiang Yiqing was very excited, feeling that the day of harvesting the fruit was not far away.

However... given the size of this plant, it's unlikely to produce fruit the size of an apple. If it's as small as a cherry, that would be a bit worrying.

In order to make the fruit as big as possible, Jiang Yiqing began to supply the Silver Thread Spirit Tooth plant with nutrients many times over.

However, the value of low-grade medicinal herbs is limited, and Jiang Yiqing doesn't know if they will be useful.

"Why don't you pick two leaves from the Golden Dew Cicada and feed them to it? I think it will grow faster," the system suggested.

"It can eat leaves?" Jiang Yiqing found it hard to believe.

"Of course, many advanced plants have predatory characteristics, and Silver Thread Spirit Fang is one of them."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yiqing squatted down in front of the Golden Dew Cicada. She was actually quite reluctant to pluck two of its leaves, but in order to produce large and abundant fruit, she had no other choice.

“Golden Dew Cicada, I will definitely raise you back in the future. Now let me borrow two of your leaves.”

Jiang Yiqing clasped her hands together and bowed in front of the flowerpot. She was just seeking some psychological comfort. Unexpectedly, the flower seemed to hear her voice, and the cicada-shaped green heart in the center moved as if it were nodding.

Jiang Yiqing wondered if she was overthinking it, that a potted plant could understand human speech?

Just then, a gentle breeze blew by, and two bright green leaves fell off the golden cicada.

Jiang Yiqing caught the swirling leaf in the air, utterly astonished. It seemed that the sacred peony was indeed incomparable to ordinary flowers.

She took two leaves and entered the space. Not knowing how to feed the Silver Thread Spirit Tooth, she simply placed them on its leaves.

The two leaves merged together at a speed visible to the naked eye, gradually becoming one. The leaf, covered in silvery down, suddenly became more emerald green and looked vibrant.

Jiang Yiqing thought to herself, if Jin Xianrui Luchan could understand her speech, she wondered if Yin Si Lingya could.

She clasped her hands together again, bowed to Silver Thread Spirit Fang, and said, "Silver Thread Spirit Fang, if you can understand what I'm saying, please help me grow two large fruits. Thank you."

Jiang Yiqing saw the leaves of the Silver Thread Spirit Tooth tremble, and she didn't know what it meant. Was it a yes or a no, or was the leaf just trembling in the wind?

However, Jiang Yiqing couldn't care less about that now. She had already prayed, and whether it would work or not was up to fate.