"Actually, you're not so bad after all. Thank you for taking care of me these past few days."
Shen Jiazhen felt very embarrassed when he said this. He was sincere towards Xie Yihuan, but it felt awkward to say it out loud.
"You're welcome. After all, you're my husband and the future father of my child."
Shen Jiazhen paused in his chopsticks. He had finally managed to express his sincere gratitude, and the atmosphere had been built up to this point, but Yi Huan's words had ruined it all.
"I'm stuffed!"
Once I put down my bowl and chopsticks, I instantly lost all appetite for dinner.
Yi Huan glanced at his rice bowl and commanded in a cold tone, "Finish your meal!"
"Young Miss, I'm telling you calmly now, your ultimate goal in kidnapping me is nothing more than to get the Shen family's money."
After several days of careful consideration, we'd like to make a deal that benefits both of us.
Yi Huan looked up at him, raised her chin, and asked him to explain.
Shen Jiazhen excitedly grabbed a low stool and sat down next to Yi Huan, his innocent foolishness revealing his true nature.
“Here’s what I’m thinking: Didn’t you want three thousand taels of gold from the Shen family last time? The Shen family can give you double that after you return to the capital.”
Seeing that Yi Huan was unmoved by the number, Shen Jiazhen anxiously held up three fingers.
"three times……"
"Is five times the amount acceptable?"
Yi Huan lowered her head and continued to fan the charcoal fire in the stove with the fan in her hand, as if she was thinking.
Seeing Yi Huan's reaction, Shen Jiazhen felt he had a chance and continued to embellish the story.
“Miss, you don’t understand my father. In his letter, he asked you to send me back to the capital, but it was just a scheme.”
The Shen family is in the capital. Although they are not officials, their influence is not to be underestimated. My father is just waiting for you to come to the capital so that he can wipe you all out.
I'm only telling you this because you've taken care of me these past few days.
Instead of using me to have children, it's more cost-effective to just ask the Shen family for gold.
The way of the wise is to retreat when things are going well. Having a child means there are many uncertainties in the future, and it is possible that your plans will come to nothing.
Why not send me back to the Shen family, and you can take the gold back to Dawanzhai? This gold is enough for you two lifetimes.
Stop making futile struggles. Besides, I have someone I love in my heart, and it's impossible for me to obediently have a child with you.
So, young lady, you need to carefully consider whether you want a large sum of stable gold or an uncertain future.
Yi Huan nodded. Shen Jiazhen had clearly put in a lot of effort to say those words.
It seems he has made a lot of progress these past few days.
"You're right. As for how much gold you want, everything will be fine once we get to the capital. But what I'm more interested in right now is who you like."
"We in Dawangzhai have a good understanding of the situations of the wealthy merchants and officials in Nanning."
The medicine in the pot had boiled, and the bubbling bubbles kept bobbing against the lid, making an elegant sound.
"It doesn't hurt to tell you this, since you can't hurt her anyway."
When talking about the people she admires, Shen Jiazhen couldn't help but smile.
"She is the most powerful woman in the world. She possesses wisdom, talent, strategy, and skill. She is a divine being."
She possesses a light I can never have; she is my one and only idol in this life, and also the noble daughter of Prince Yu of Nanning, Princess Leyang…”
Yi Huan reached out to open the lid of the medicine jar, but when she heard those words, she paused, burned her fingers, and quickly pulled her hand back.
"Be careful, it's hot..." Shen Jiazhen said.
Yi Huan looked at Shen Jiazhen in disbelief and asked her jokingly.
"You say you like Princess Leyang, but after all this talk, you've only mentioned her talent. You've never even met her, have you? You don't even know her, do you?"
Kids really are kids. Yi Huan herself was right in front of him, and he kept saying he liked her, but he didn't even recognize her.
“Who says I haven’t seen her? I saw her when I was a child,” Shen Jiazhen retorted stubbornly.
Yi Huan has been doing business for many years and usually stays in Changping Village or travels around, spending very little time in the capital.
“Brother Chen, you don’t even know Princess Leyang, yet you’ve imagined liking her. This is called being mentally deranged. You must correct your ways from now on.”
Shen Jiazhen wouldn't listen; he simply loved Princess Leyang and everything about her.
"Stop, stop, stop... Don't talk about me anymore. Answer me now, will you agree to my proposal? I want gold, and I want the people released, how about it?"
Yi Huan poured the medicine from the medicine pot into a bowl for Shen Jiazhen and nodded in agreement with his suggestion.
"Fine... I want the gold, but let's not see each other again."
Now that Yi Huan knows Shen Jiazhen's true feelings for her, she can no longer do things that might cause him to misunderstand her later.
She had no desire to have anything to do with this younger brother, especially since she had a business relationship with the Shen family and might see him frequently in the future.
The thought of being constantly bothered by this younger brother is terrifying.
"You agreed, that's great!"
Shen Jiazhen instantly became overjoyed. After being captured for so long, he finally had something that pleased him.
"Now that we've reached an agreement, how could I not know your name?"
Yi Huan packed up the medicine jar, stood up and said, "My name is Chen Yi Huan. You can call me Miss, just like they do, or... Sister is fine too..."
What?
Shen Jiazhen thought he had misheard, and his heart tightened for a moment.
But thinking about the person in front of me, it couldn't possibly be the person I knew when I was a child.
"You said your name is Chen Yihuan, how could you have such a name?"
Yi Huan rolled her eyes at him: "Why can't I have this name? Who says I can't have this name? Isn't this name nice? Why are you getting so worked up?"
There are many people in this world with the same name, and Shen Jiazhen felt that she was being overly sensitive.
"No... I'm not excited..."
Yi Huan watched him drink the medicine and then performed acupuncture on him. Although he felt fine, the residual poison had not been completely cleared.
A gentle breeze blows across the river, and with just a slight tilt of the head, one can see a river full of stars.
Yi Huan stretched and thought she could finally get a good night's sleep, but then she suddenly heard the sound of metal clashing.
Then Shi Shuang's voice came: "Everyone on guard, there are river bandits..."
Then, many men in black climbed onto the boat from the river, and chaos ensued on board.
Yi Huan turned around, drew her long sword, and went to the door where Shen Jiazhen was.
Shen Jiazhen also heard the noise and ran out to see what was happening, which gave him quite a fright.
"It's you?"
A fight had broken out on the boat. Yi Huan looked at the burly man in front of him, who was none other than the second-in-command of Da Wan Village who had run away that day.
"It's me! You killed my elder brother and niece. I've been waiting here for days. Today I'm going to kill you and avenge the brothers of Dawang Village."
Without saying a word, Yi Huan immediately started fighting with the bandit.
She didn't bring her hidden arrows tonight, so she could only rely on her martial arts skills to fight the bandits, but no matter what, she couldn't let Shen Jiazhen behind her get hurt.
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