Chapter 19

Four days later, at dawn, the people in the mountain village were once again awakened by a commotion of chickens and dogs running around.

"Tell me! Will you marry me or not?!"

"........"No.

Didn't you hear me say something?

"......."No.

Lin Qiang lay on the bed with his eyes closed, pretending to be dead, while the second-in-command was so angry that he blew his beard and glared at his enemies.

As soon as the whisk in his hand touched him, Lin Qiang cried out in pain, "Ouch, ouch, ouch! Second Uncle, my wound has reopened!"

Second-in-command Zhao Ji had no choice but to put away his whisk and glared at him again: "Will we get married or not?"

"........"

He quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be dead again.

Yuan Qiong, who was separated from Lin Qiang by a wall, had been listening to this conversation for four days, and her initial panic and unease had turned into unbridled joy. After the second-in-command left in a huff, she tiptoed into Lin Qiang's room, lifted her skirt, and tiptoed to his bedside.

"Ah!" she exclaimed suddenly, and Lin Qiang also pretended to be startled, letting out a startled "Ah!"

"Hahahaha..." Yuan Qiong laughed, her eyes crinkling, her fair and delicate face quite delightful.

She leaned over his bedside, laughing disdainfully, "You didn't act well this time, you didn't put in any effort at all!"

Lin Qiang turned to face her, reached out and pinched her slightly chubby cheek, his eyes full of doting smile: "I know, I'll definitely try harder tomorrow, how about shouting three times?"

"It's better not to. If we attract the second-in-command again, you'll get scolded again."

Yuan Qiong brushed the large hand off her face, curled the corners of her mouth into a smile, and looked straight at him, resting her chin on her hand: "Big black beard, you really don't want to marry me?"

"you?"

Lin Qiang tilted his head and looked her up and down, immediately earning him a furious glare from Yuan Qiong, who covered her chest with her hands.

"You lecher! What are you looking at!"

"I'm just curious, what misunderstanding do they have about me that makes them think I like a blonde girl like you?"

Why would I marry a little girl who's all covered in dirt? To pamper her? Let me emphasize again, he has no pedophilic tendencies!

"You..." Yuan Qiong was furious: "You, you treated me like that, and you still don't want to marry me? Are you even a man?!"

"There's no doubt I'm a man, it's just that you're a little girl, you're still quite far from being a woman..."

Lin Qiang glanced at her again and pretended to whistle while looking up at the sky.

Shameless! Vulgar!

Yuan Qiong stepped forward and plucked a small tuft of his beard, causing Lin Qiang to howl in pain.

"You stay here by yourself!"

This man actually said she wasn't a woman! That's outrageous!

She angrily lifted her skirt and walked out, while Lin Qiang behind her rubbed his beard, both amused and exasperated.

"Such a temper for a little girl." He tilted his head. "I'm not wrong, she's just a young girl."

Yuan Qiong, who had just arrived at the door, heard everything clearly. She picked up a straw sandal from behind the door and threw it at him, yelling, "Bastard!" Then she slammed the door shut with a loud "Bang!"

Lin Qiang, who was inside the house, reached out and caught the straw sandal, looking completely bewildered.

How was he a jerk?

Not far away, the fourth and second brothers, who were intently eavesdropping with their internal energy, squatted in the courtyard, shaking their heads and sighing at the same time: "Big brother really has no sense of romance!"

The two looked at each other and tacitly left the courtyard, only finding a place to squat down again when they reached the martial arts training ground.

The fourth brother, always full of mischievous ideas, rolled his eyes and had an idea: "When our eldest brother snatched Yuan Liu Niang up the mountain, he was so enthusiastic, not at all like this now. I think he's probably just pretending! He's still really after Yuan Liu Niang!"

"Then... let Yuan Liu Niang marry my elder brother?"

"No, no, Yuan Liu Niang is too wild. She's nowhere near as good as Wang Yao."

The fourth brother didn't have a very good impression of Yuan Liuniang; he always felt that the woman was not simple. Although he hadn't had much contact with Wang Yao, he could tell that she was sincere towards his eldest brother.

"They're getting married, they're getting married. My elder brother has been kind to Wang Yao, and Wang Yao has feelings for my elder brother. These two are together, and as time goes on... hehe... naturally..."

Gui Jianchou thought for a moment and felt that what the fourth brother said made sense, so he asked, "Then tell me, what should we do now?"

"If you ask me, we should get this done while our eldest brother is still recovering! Otherwise, once he's healed, who will be able to keep him in check?"

The second-in-command appeared behind the two men at some point, stroking his beard and smiling: "That makes sense! That makes sense!"

"Second Uncle?!"

You scared us to death!

Gui Jianchou and Lao Si jumped up in surprise. The second leader smiled broadly, his worries completely gone.

"Go down the mountain quickly and fetch the matchmaker, and prepare all the necessary items for the wedding! Get the brothers to get moving and clean the village, the chief's wedding is the day after tomorrow!"

"Okay!"

Before long, the entire Black Cloud Village knew that the chieftain was getting married. Only the two people involved remained in the dark.

**

Yandu, the royal palace.

The Crown Prince's residence, the East Palace, is located southeast of the royal palace. Outside the palace gate is a plum grove, planted by Crown Prince Yuwen Jing himself.

It was summer, and the bare plum trees weren't very attractive. He continued to come every day as usual, watching the palace maids water and turn the soil.

"Your Highness, it's past Chen Shi (7-9 AM), and the sun will become increasingly scorching. This servant will escort you back to the palace." The personal eunuch beside him, knowing his master's intentions, respectfully advised, "If Miss Yuan knew that Your Highness had injured himself because of this tree, she would surely be angry and scold us servants again."

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Yuwen Jing smiled faintly on her elegant face: "Qiong'er's personality is just a bit too domineering."

He took a few steps forward, and the palace maid beside him immediately laid a blanket on the muddy ground of the plum blossom grove to prevent the mud from soiling the soles of Yuwen Jing's boots.

"When she left, she only said that her return date was uncertain. But she never told me that it would be so long." Yuwen Jing's pale face showed an indescribable loneliness: "If I had known that we would be separated for so long, I would never have let her leave the capital even a step."

“Miss Yuan is also thinking of His Highness. Otherwise, why would a young lady like her run to such a remote place as Zhao County?”

"I know it all by myself."

The longing in his phoenix eyes was tender and lingering, just like his personality—pure and without any ulterior motives.

"I just miss her..."

Head bowed, the soft whisper dissipated in the wind, like a dream that could never be retrieved.

**

In the quiet room, Lin Qiang threw back the covers and frowned as he stared at the wounds on his body.

In four days, the sword wound that had nearly killed him had healed to just two shallow marks. His extremely severe internal injuries had also almost completely healed. This illogical self-healing ability alarmed him; what was going on?

"That shouldn't be the case..."

He sat cross-legged and let his internal energy circulate through his body. The lingering feeling he had before the injury was completely gone. He clenched his fist, feeling a strange, indescribable sensation.

If before he could clearly sense that he had transmigrated, that he was occupying someone else's body, and that many things didn't quite fit, even his martial arts techniques were unfamiliar, then now he could say that this body was his own. The feeling of being out of control was gone; it was completely his!

Suddenly, he remembered the dreamlike voice he had heard when he was unconscious a few days ago.

"I'm leaving... Please... the treasure is... make Sixth Sister happy... for me... I'm sorry... love her... live well..."

Are you leaving?

Is it the regret of the original black-bearded body?

Treasure?

Yuan Liu Niang?

Lin Qiang, who only remembered these few words, roughly guessed the original owner's meaning. But what about that treasure? It wasn't mentioned in the book, was it?

And this amazing self-healing ability... something's definitely not normal! We can't let anyone know.

He silently lay back down on the bed and carefully bandaged his wounds, layer by layer. To prevent anyone from noticing, he deliberately wrapped them several more times.

Two days later, before dawn, he was awakened by the crackling sound of firecrackers in the yard.

With a shout of "Good luck!", the laughter of a strange woman came from next door.

"What happened?"

Before he could react, the second-in-command led a group of men and rushed in.

"Boss, congratulations!"

"Congratulations on what?" Lin Qiang asked, completely bewildered.

"Boss, hurry up and change your clothes, everyone's waiting for you!"

"?"

What happened next door?

Lin Qiang got up, intending to see what had happened and why there were other people in Yao's room. However, he was immediately pressed down by the second-in-command.

"Change your clothes first."

What kind of clothes are these?

Giving someone a piece of clothing in the dark and expecting them to wear it? Do you think they have night vision?!

"Turn on the light."

As soon as the lights came on, Lin Qiang saw the bright red long robe...

“.......

What's the meaning?

Wedding attire?

If you still don't understand Lin Qiang, you're a fool!

"Get out of my way!"

"Change your clothes first."

Trade? I'll trade your grandma's legs!

Lin Qiang, enraged, instantly sharpened his gaze: "Get out of the way!"

This was the first time he had been angry since he transmigrated. Everyone around him was intimidated by his aura and involuntarily quieted down, making way for him.

"Hei Zi..." The second-in-command wanted to say something, but Lin Qiang ignored him and strode out. "Bang!" He forcefully pushed open the door to the next room, startling the women inside.

"Big brother..."

Wild Wolf wanted to laugh, but seeing Lin Qiang's dark face, he couldn't manage it and could only stand hesitantly to the side. The other matchmakers on the other side didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

Yuan Qiong, whose pressure points had been sealed, sat in front of the mirror dressed in a bright red wedding gown, her hair disheveled, like a puppet being controlled, unable to control her own body, her eyes burning with raging anger.

"Girl, are you alright?"

Lin Qiang nervously stepped forward to release her pressure points and checked her over to see if she was injured.

Yuan Qiong raised her hand and slapped him across the face. Everyone in the room, including Lin Qiang himself, was stunned.

"Big black beard, is this what you meant by protecting me?" The trembling voice revealed just how angry the owner was.

Does he know how panicked she was just now?

A group of people suddenly barged into her room, subdued her without explanation, and began to manipulate her...

Tears welled up in her eyes, glistening and clear.

Lin Qiang, who was being slapped for the first time in both his lives, was defeated by her tears before he could even get angry.

"I'm sorry, I was wrong. It won't happen again."

The eldest daughter of the Yuan family, who is known for her coldness and ruthlessness, was acting like a spoiled little girl, crying and kicking the man next to her to vent her emotions.

"Are you just going to let me be bullied like this? Waaah..."

"Get out! I'll never believe you again!"

Whenever I see him, I feel wronged and can't control my emotions at all.

"Sweetie, don't cry."

Lin Qiang felt extremely tender as he pulled the fierce little girl into his arms.

"I swear, there will never be a next time."

It was his fault. He was too lax and failed to properly discipline these bandits, which gave them the audacity to do such a thing behind his back!

Lin Qiang comforted the little girl in his arms, a fierce glint in his eyes.

Once is enough for this kind of thing!

The bandits, both men and women, inside and outside the gate all shuddered.

Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants!

Thank you to the little angel who watered the [nutrient solution]:

Even the top bunkmate who's terrible at naming things gets a name from one bottle;

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!