After the meal, Li Tiezhu rushed to clear the dishes and put water in the pot to boil, then took a pheasant and went out.

Shi Lan leaned against the courtyard gate, watching his figure gradually disappear into the night, and pursed her lips. This time, he should be able to meet Li Chunni, right?

She was also curious to know what Li Chunni would do.

You see, she had been subtly influencing Li Tiezhu since she woke up in the morning. Although it had been a short time, she believed that Li Tiezhu would not be moved by Li Chunni, at least not this time.

As the moon gradually climbed to the treetops, Shi Lan lit a candle and sat under the lamp mending the clothes that Li Tiezhu had torn earlier that day.

When Li Tiezhu returned, he saw her gentle and graceful shadow reflected in the window. At that moment, his heart was at peace, as if a child who had been away from home had found the warmth of home.

Li Tiezhu stood there quietly for a while before pushing open the door and going inside.

"Put these things aside for now. Doing needlework at night is too hard on your eyes," Li Tiezhu said, moving the sewing basket aside from her.

Shi Lan looked up at him, rubbed her sore neck, and laughed, "It's alright, there are a few small holes here, I can fix them in no time, and after washing them tomorrow, they won't be very noticeable."

Looking at Shi Lan's still somewhat pale face, Li Tiezhu recalled what had just happened and suddenly said, "Aunt Cuihua's daughter is also sick. She said she fell into the river and caught a chill."

Shi Lan finished sewing the last stitch under the lamplight, gently biting off the thread with her pearly teeth, and said, "What a coincidence, I also fell into the river and got a fever."

A fleeting, uncertain look crossed Li Tiezhu's face, before his expression hardened and became resolute. "It's not a coincidence, wife. She was the one who pushed you into the river yesterday."

"Who?" Shi Lan looked at him, puzzled. "You mean Aunt Cuihua's daughter? I don't know her. Why would she want to harm me?"

Li Tiezhu's tall body stiffened, and a fleeting blush crossed his dark face. "Because..."

He hesitated for a moment, unable to come up with a coherent explanation, and finally simply closed his eyes and shouted, "Because she regrets becoming Young Master Liu's concubine, she wants to come back and live with me."

Shi Lan's eyes widened suddenly, and she raised her voice in disbelief, "Just for this, she's going to kill me, to kill our child?"

"Yes," Li Tiezhu replied softly, his voice full of helplessness.

"Then what do you mean?" Shi Lan put down the clothes in her hand, sat up straight, and looked up at him with a serious expression.

Li Tiezhu avoided looking Shi Lan in the eye, and after a long while he said, "I...I hit her, told her I wouldn't be with her anymore, and told her not to bother you again."

Shi Lan stared at him without saying a word, feeling a surge of suffocation in her heart.

Perhaps it was because her gaze was too oppressive, Li Tiezhu lowered his head further and further, and Shi Lan could only see the top of his thick black hair and his tightly clenched chin.

"Wife, when I was little, I was hunting in the forest and was bitten by a poisonous snake. Chunni saved my life, I..."

After a long silence, Li Tiezhu stammered out the reason, "I know you must feel bad about doing this, I've let you and our child down," he said, glancing at her and calling out pitifully, "Wife..."

He wanted to tell her that she was the one he had chosen in his heart, and that he felt he was even with Chunni now. He would never let anyone bully her again, but this time he was afraid she would have to suffer.

These words swirled in his mind, but looking into Shi Lan's dark, bright eyes, Li Tiezhu simply couldn't bring himself to speak.

Seeing his pitiful look, Shi Lan knew she couldn't push him too far, but she was also unwilling to let him off so easily.

“It’s not impossible to let this matter go. She saved your life, and I’m more than capable of giving her two lives in return,” Shi Lan paused, her gaze becoming uneasy. “But since Chunni dared to try to kill me once, she’ll do it again. What if she does something to hurt me and the child again in the future?”

Li Tiezhu looked at the undisguised fear in Shi Lan's clear black and white eyes, then glanced at her slender waist, gritted his teeth, and a fierce glint flashed in his eyes. "Don't worry, wife. If she dares to lay a finger on you in the future, I will risk my life to make sure you don't suffer any more grievances."

Shi Lan smiled slightly, turned around and went to make the bedding. Although she didn't say anything, her attitude clearly showed that she trusted him.

Seeing that she let him off so easily, Li Tiezhu was somewhat incredulous, but also felt a sense of assurance that someone close to him trusted him. He had mixed feelings all at once.

After turning off the lights, Li Tiezhu turned his head to look at Shi Lan lying flat beside him for a while, then suddenly leaned over, put his head close to Shi Lan's ear, and whispered, "Wife, thank you."

Shi Lan remained motionless with her eyes closed and silent. Seeing that she didn't move, Li Tiezhu suddenly looked up and kissed her cheek. Then, before Shi Lan could react, he 'whooshed' into the blanket and refused to show his head again.

Shi Lan glanced up at Li Tiezhu, who was bundled up like a ball, and chuckled inwardly. No matter how mature he looked, he was still just a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy. Oh well, some things should be taken slowly.

Time flew by, and before long, Shi Lan's belly had begun to show a slight curve. Li Tiezhu became even more attentive to her, only allowing her to walk around in the yard. If she stayed in there for too long, he would quickly help her to rest, afraid that she would get tired. Not to mention chores like washing clothes, fetching water, and cooking, he absolutely refused to let her do any of them. In his words, his wife was weak and needed to be well-nourished so that she could give birth to a big, healthy son.

Shi Lan was quite helpless about his actions. She couldn't reason with him, so she had no choice but to find something to do while he was out hunting. But every time she found that Li Tiezhu had already done what she wanted to do in advance. Even her lunch was prepared by Li Tiezhu before he left, so she could just heat it up when she got hungry.

Shi Lan was happily troubled, but she was also happy to enjoy the feeling of being cherished and pampered.

Meanwhile, Li Chunni, far away in town, was already embroiled in a struggle, both openly and secretly, with Liu Gongzi's wives and concubines. Having been given a second chance at life, she was no longer as naive as before. After her deliberate attempts to please him, she fully satisfied Liu Gongzi's love of novelty. Not to mention, she also spoke softly and coquettishly in bed, flattering and fawning over him.

Young Master Liu was fond of women, and Li Chunni's reaction intrigued him. As they continued to interact, she aroused his interest, and he still hasn't given her up. Li Chunni is now the best-off of all the concubines in the Liu family.

In Lijia Village, Shi Lan had been waiting for Li Chunni's next move, but after waiting for more than a month, apart from hearing that she had returned to the county, she had not heard any news about her. Over time, Shi Lan gave up on the matter. In any case, Li Tiezhu now showed coldness and disgust when he mentioned Li Chunni, so she didn't need to worry about this woman before giving birth.