Are you breaking up with me again?

Zhang Chunfeng's hand, which was tying her belt, suddenly paused. The smile in her eyes slowly faded away, like a leaf blown down by a strong wind.

"My sister-in-law has become mischievous too, teasing me like this?" Zhang Chunfeng slowly turned around.

Lee Soo-man's jet-black hair was loose behind him. He wrapped himself tightly in the quilt, but was still trembling slightly.

“I’m not joking, Chunfeng. Actually, my mother has written to me sometimes during these three years. Whether it’s Zhou Zhengdu or General Duan, there are so many handsome young men among the high-ranking officials in the capital. Let’s separate. You can find another one, and I will welcome him as your sister-in-law.”

These words were spoken with such sincerity and from the bottom of their hearts.

Should we separate? Should you find someone else? And welcome him as his sister-in-law?

In a daze, Zhang Chunfeng felt that even after three years in officialdom, he had never become as vicious, ruthless, and merciless as Li Xiuman.

“Sister-in-law, you are the only one I love. No matter who is in between us, I will do everything I can to overcome the obstacles. Even if it means separation by life and death, I am not afraid. Only…” Zhang Chunfeng paused and moved closer to Li Xiuman.

"I've gone to great lengths to reunite with my sister-in-law, yet she's the one who keeps me at arm's length!" Zhang Chunfeng said fiercely, tearing the quilt off abruptly.

Lee Soo-man huddled up in a panic, desperately trying to block something with his hands, but to no avail.

"What does my sister-in-law think we are? And what does she think I am? Someone you can just cut ties with and throw away as you please?"

Zhang Chunfeng's face turned fierce, his brows furrowed slightly, a deep chill emanating from his eyes, and an imposing aura emanating from his brows. Li Xiuman, tears streaming down his face, gazed at Zhang Chunfeng's features, and suddenly realized that Zhang Chunfeng was indeed different from before.

It should be different.

She was once Zhang Chunfeng, and now she is Zhang Chunfeng, and also the Grand Secretary Zhang, who is second only to the emperor in this entire dynasty.

She was the Grand Secretary, while he and Zhang Chuntian were both commoners. The lives of commoners are as worthless as grass, so how could Li Xiuman refuse Zhang Chunfeng?

As Lee Soo-man was thinking, he suddenly heard a sharp crying sound again.

"Xiao Sui!" Li Xiuman remembered that her child was still in Zhang Chunfeng's hands!

"Spring Breeze, you, you took that child..."

"Distracted?" Zhang Chunfeng's displeasure deepened.

Li Xiuman had no choice but to soften her posture and move closer to Zhang Chunfeng.

With this small movement, the fierce look on Zhang Chunfeng's face vanished instantly, and she raised her eyebrows slightly.

The child outside was crying so loudly it was giving Li Xiuman a headache, and she was very anxious.

Zhang Chunfeng deliberately slowed down with a wicked grin.

The little boy was still crying when a soft knock came at the door.

"Sir, the child insists on seeing her father," the maid reported helplessly.

Lee Soo-man's heart clenched even more, and he almost pleaded, "Chun-feng, it breaks my heart to see the child crying."

Zhang Chunfeng suddenly bent down and placed his hot lips on Lee Soo-man's heart.

The kiss was so gentle, right on his pounding heart. In that instant, countless emotions surged within Lee Soo-man.

"Spring Breeze." He called her name again, just two simple words.

Zhang Chunfeng, however, heard tenderness and affection, melancholy and hesitation, and a touch of helplessness in his voice.

A thought stirred within her: why did Lee Soo-man feel so melancholy every time she wanted to bring happiness to her sister-in-law?

“Sister-in-law,” Zhang Chunfeng replied, leaving another kiss on her heart.

The ordeal finally ended when Lee Soo-man clutched the quilt in his hands and tears welled up in his eyes again. He was utterly exhausted, yet he struggled to get up and find his clothes.

Zhang Chunfeng fastened his clothes, took a set of sky-blue brocade clothes from a box on the ground, and tossed them to Li Xiuman. Li Xiuman was stunned when she saw the clothes, not knowing when Zhang Chunfeng had taken care of these chores.

"Come in."

Before Li Xiuman could ask anything, Zhang Chunfeng had a maid come in, so he had no choice but to hurriedly put on his clothes.

The maid brought Xiao Sui in, and the child cried even harder when he saw Li Xiuman, stretching out his arms to be held by Li Xiuman.

"Little Sui, Daddy's here, don't cry, don't cry." Li Xiuman quickly moved to the bedside, held the child in his arms and rocked him back and forth.

The child was already three years old. Usually, three-year-olds aren't held and coaxed by their parents like babies. Zhang Chunfeng glanced at the child with a hint of disdain.

"It's not like you gave birth to it, why are you so concerned?"

Li Xiuman suddenly recalled that last night, when Zhang Chunfeng had pinned him down in front of the mourning hall, she had repeatedly questioned him about how the child had been born. Since she already knew it wasn't her child, why did she humiliate him like that?

Lee Soo-man felt a surge of anger. "How do you know you weren't born to me?"

Zhang Chunfeng sneered, "So ugly? Did you have such an ugly ancestor?"

"You!" Just as Lee Soo-man was about to retort, Xiao Sui, who hadn't been crying before, burst into tears upon hearing this.

Lee Soo-man shook her head back and forth again, "Don't say this in front of the child, she can understand."

Zhang Chunfeng rolled his eyes at the child.

Perhaps because the child had been abandoned at a young age, or perhaps because Lee Soo-man was also poor, the three-year-old child looked like a one-year-old. His face was still developing, dark with an unsightly red tinge, his eyes were swollen, and his hair was sparse, making him look like a moldy winter melon.

Zhang Chunfeng herself didn't dislike children. Sometimes, when she saw a fair-skinned and adorable child who looked like a dumpling, she would feel like teasing him.

This child is truly ugly, and that's not all. At three years old, she's already quite short; judging by her size, she'll likely remain short. Furthermore, while she could recite hundreds of poems at three, Xiaoxiao, at three, can only utter simple words and can't even form a complete sentence.

Ugly, short, and stupid.

The thought of this thing sharing Lee Soo-man's love with him made Zhang Chunfeng feel resentful.

Where did you find it?

"On the way back," Lee Soo-man said, looking at the little boy with bright eyes. The child grinned, showing off his messy teeth, because of Lee Soo-man.

"Look how clever our little Sui is, he stopped crying so quickly." Lee Soo-man said, affectionately touching the child's face, and the adult and child happily snuggled together.

Zhang Chunfeng's face darkened. "Three years old and can't even speak a complete sentence. What's so smart about that?"

She beckoned to the maid, "Take the child away and find a doctor to check if he's a fool who can't speak."

"Spring Breeze, you..." Li Xiuman's face turned red with anger.

The two maids, however, obeyed orders and snatched the child directly from Lee Soo-man's arms!

Li Xiuman was afraid of hurting the child. When the maid came to take the child away, he unconsciously let go. The maid nodded to him, then took the child and went out.

Suddenly finding his arms empty, and hearing the child crying outside, Li Xiuman hurriedly got off the bed to chase after Xiao Sui, but was caught in a hug by Zhang Chunfeng.

"The child's height is problematic. I'll have a doctor examine her. Why are you so worried?"

"But she's crying."

“Kids will stop crying after a while.” As soon as Zhang Chunfeng finished speaking, the child’s crying indeed stopped.

Although Li Xiuman was comforted by Zhang Chunfeng's words, he still felt uncomfortable. He wasn't stupid; he could tell that Zhang Chunfeng didn't like the child. But he had raised Xiaosui for a year and a half and had truly developed deep feelings for him.

“Xiao Sui was abandoned by the roadside. She kept crying, but she stopped crying when she saw me,” Li Xiuman said to Zhang Chunfeng, as if explaining his feelings for Xiao Sui.

"Oh? That makes sense, you're not stupid after all, you even know you like good-looking people." Zhang Chunfeng smiled and planted a kiss on Li Xiu's cheek.

The two went out of the house.

Last night it was dark, and Zhang Chunfeng didn't have time to take a closer look at the house. Now that he looks at it again, it seems even more dilapidated.

"Did Zhou Zhengdu arrange for you to stay here? Or did you choose it yourself, sister-in-law?" Zhang Chunfeng asked. The maids and guards around him all paused. Although their faces were expressionless, they couldn't help but glance at Li Xiuman's face. This man was actually Lord Zhang's sister-in-law.

Although there are men who marry other men nowadays, there is a difference between a man being a man's wife and a woman being a wife. Being a man's wife inevitably leads people to think of child molestation.

"I chose it myself," Lee Soo-man said, feeling uneasy looking at the armed guards standing in the courtyard, even becoming cautious while washing up.

Zhang Chunfeng nodded, "Sister-in-law is wise; she chose a good place."

Li Family Village is only a few villages away from Zhang Chunfeng's ancestral village, Zhang Family Village. Although Li Family Village is within Ancheng's territory, it's not as close to the city center as Zhang Family Village; instead, it's located on the outermost edge of Ancheng, right at the border between Ancheng and Nancheng. Nancheng is more prosperous than Ancheng, and Li Family Village is closer to Nancheng, so many of its villagers go there to make a living. Now, the village is mostly populated by the elderly and infirm, or villagers who go to work in the city early in the morning and only return to rest at night.

Li Xiuman lived here, so he wouldn't run into anyone he knew. He could also make a living near the south of the city. If he could find another day to secretly return to his ancestral home to sweep Shen's grave, that would be perfect. Because of his promise to Li Shi, Li Xiuman didn't go home, but he missed his family. This place was perfect because although he had returned to Ancheng, no one knew he was in Ancheng.

Although the place was nice, Zhang Chunfeng was unwilling to stay there any longer.

The weather isn't too hot in March yet, but the fear is that it will rain a lot in Jiangnan. Zhang Chuntian's body was only wrapped in a straw mat. If they don't hurry home to bury him soon, he might smell bad if it rains.

"After you've packed up, we'll go home," Zhang Chunfeng said.

Lee Soo-man didn't actually have much to pack. He gazed at Zhang Chuntian's memorial tablet in the courtyard, filled with melancholy. As his wife, she owed him her life, yet she had been so unfaithful to him, committing an act that disregarded all human ethics.

If he had any conscience left, he should have paid with his life to save Zhang Chuntian. He felt guilty, but then he thought, what would happen to Xiaosui if he died too? What if he didn't listen to Zhang Chunfeng and didn't go back to the Zhang family with her? But Zhang Chunfeng was Zhang Chuntian's sister, and she was entitled to make her own decision about burying her brother.

As Li Xiuman pondered this, he suddenly realized that the deaths of Li Shi and Zhang Chuntian weren't simply a matter of no obstacles between them. Rather, it meant that in this world, Li Xiuman only had Zhang Chunfeng as family! And Zhang Chunfeng felt the same way!

"What's wrong? Don't be upset." Zhang Chunfeng gently hooked Li Xiuman's finger, completely disregarding the expressions of the maids and guards around them as she did so.

Lee Soo-man hurriedly pulled his hand away and glanced at the people around him with his head down.

"Don't worry, these are my personal guards, no one will tell anyone."

Lee Soo-man remained silent, but the sight of the curved swords and long blades at the waists of the guards still sent chills down his spine.

“I just don’t want you to be so close to me in the face of spring,” Lee Soo-man said.

“My brother was foolish and left us too soon. He has gone to be reincarnated. I will ask a high monk to chant sutras. My brother will surely be wise and wealthy in his next life,” Zhang Chunfeng comforted him softly.

Li Xiuman had nothing to say, nodded, and followed Zhang Chunfeng into the sedan chair.

"Where's Xiaosui?" Lee Soo-man wanted to take the child back with him.

“Someone is looking after me,” Zhang Chunfeng replied coldly.

Lee Soo-man was slightly displeased, "After all, he's my child, and no one else can take a better look at him than I can."

But Zhang Chunfeng sneered, "Sister-in-law, you're a man who's never had children. The only thing you can do is coax her. The nannies I've assigned have raised several children. They know what she should and shouldn't eat, and what a three-year-old needs. Right now, she's so weak, she needs to be properly cared for."

Li Xiuman remained silent. Zhang Chunfeng's words made sense. After all, he had never raised a child before, and Xiaosui was growing slowly, so he needed to be properly cared for.

But he was used to taking Xiaosui with him every day, and now that the child wasn't around, he felt empty inside.

Seeing Li Xiuman's worried expression towards the child, Zhang Chunfeng felt a surge of jealousy and suddenly grabbed Li Xiuman's waist, pressing the two tightly together. Zhang Chunfeng kissed him.

Li Xiu's face flushed red. "There are so many people outside!"

“We’ve kissed in sedan chairs before, what’s there to be afraid of?” Zhang Chunfeng said nonchalantly, and as they kissed, his hands began to wander.

"No, Spring Breeze."

"Don't refuse me!" Zhang Chunfeng suddenly said sharply, "Sister-in-law, since I met you, you've never asked how I've been these past three years, never said you missed me, always talking about how I'm not doing, and you even care more about that child than about me! You even said you wanted to break up with me. You haven't said a single thing I wanted to hear!"

Zhang Chunfeng's eyes were red as she looked at Li Xiuman's bitten lip. She sighed softly and gently rubbed the wound with her fingers.

“Sister-in-law, I love you, so how could I hurt you? It’s because you’re so resistant to me that I was a little harsh.”

A cloud of emotion welled up inside Lee Soo-man. Thinking it over carefully, he realized he was right. But... Lee Soo-man also felt wronged.

"That's why I told you not to because it hurt a little." He was still in pain. From last night to tonight, Zhang Chunfeng hadn't held back at all. Even if they had been very intimate before, it was still painful because he hadn't done this in three years.

“If it hurts, tell me, and I will be gentle. It’s all my fault. You can blame me, but please don’t push me away.” Zhang Chun’s eyes seemed to glisten with tears. When she heard Li Xiuman’s explanation, she suddenly realized that she had really used the wrong approach when she first met Li Xiuman.

What she shouldn't have done was force herself on him at her brother's funeral. Even if she had gone there full of enthusiasm, she should have restrained herself given Lee Soo-man's indifferent attitude.

When Zhang Chunfeng woke up this morning, she actually saw a slight bloodstain under Li Xiuman's body. But then Li Xiuman said he was going to cut it off, so she couldn't help herself.

His honest and simple widowed sister-in-law never responded to gentle persuasion but to force. Why should he confront her head-on, only to make things difficult for himself and hurt Li Xiuman in that area?

Zhang Chunfeng apologized and then released Li Xiuman.

Lee Soo-man was indeed fooled by this move. Seeing Zhang Chunfeng's tearful expression, he couldn't help but reflect on whether he had said too many heartless things.

Before he could figure it out, he saw Zhang Chunfeng suddenly frown, his expression one of great pain.