The woman felt wronged and was also anxious about the drought affecting the crops. She retorted sharply, "When I was carrying firewood, didn't you tell me to carry more? Now you're taking it out on me after the fact!"
"You damned woman, who gave you the guts to yell at me like that!" The man groped his way towards his wife in the dark.
Originally, he wanted to slap her, but then he realized that his wife's hometown was in a similar area to the Li family's ancestral home, and it was covered in snow and ice for most of the year.
This woman has been fighting against heaven, earth, wind, and snow since she was a child. If she goes out and has bad luck and encounters a black bear or a wolf, she will fight it out to the death.
Women who grow up like this are all incredibly capable, not much less so than men.
So, the man who wanted to beat his wife ended up in a terrible situation.
Before his slap could land on his wife's face, she scratched his face with her claws. He had just let out a howl of pain when she kicked him in the crotch. He immediately curled up like a shrimp and rolled around on the ground.
"Useless coward! You can't beat God, so you treat me like dough to be molded, is that it? If you dare to touch me again, I'll divorce you and make you a bachelor who'll starve!" The woman cursed smugly, spat, and went back to her room to sleep.
The man was left behind, his face flushed with shame after being watched by the entire village.
Thankfully it was dark, otherwise I would have been too ashamed to show my face...
Regardless of how noisy it was inside and outside the city, as dawn broke, a new day began.
As a result, another exciting event quickly spread to everyone's ears.
It turns out that Commander Chang, who was on duty at the city gate of Xindu last night, was so overjoyed to see the rain that he accidentally fell off the city wall while looking out...
He fell to his death!
This is so sudden and unbelievable!
Although he was a commander guarding the city gate, and his sword may not have been stained with blood many times, he was always strong and skilled in martial arts.
How could he have accidentally fallen off the city wall and died?!
Some people couldn't help but speculate about conspiracy theories, but last night, Commander Chang was surrounded by his trusted soldiers, and there were no outsiders. There was absolutely no way anyone would have harmed Commander Chang.
Moreover, there has been no news of any bandits or thieves coming to Xindu recently, and the barbarians have been driven to the border by the Northern Expeditionary Army, almost retreating back to the grasslands...
Ultimately, it can only be said that Commander Chang was unlucky.
The Chang family members wept loudly, especially the concubines and their several illegitimate children.
Commander Chang's wife, however, held her legitimate son, her face cold and indifferent.
In the mourning tent set up by the Chang family, all their relatives and friends came to pay their respects.
The Emperor even dispatched Eunuch Feng, the deputy chief steward, to the Chang family to deliver the imperial decree.
Commander Chang's official rank was promoted by one level, and he was rewarded with two hundred taels of silver to buy incense, candles, and paper money.
Madam Chang led the entire household to kneel down and express their gratitude.
The onlookers were all moved, and some were even envious.
"The Chang family is enjoying great favor with the emperor. It's such a pity that Commander Chang died so suddenly."
"Yes, the Emperor personally bestowed the marriage upon Commander Chang. If nothing unexpected happens, it will be easy for him to be promoted to the rank of a third-grade general in the future."
"What a pity, Commander Chang is so unlucky. What will become of all the women and children in this household!"
The old master and mistress of the Chang family died early, and most of their relatives stayed in their ancestral home and did not move to Xindu.
Therefore, the Chang family did not have any relatives to visit or rely on on a regular basis.
Perhaps this is why the emperor trusted Commander Chang more...
A few days later, because the weather was too hot and the body could not be kept, Commander Chang was burned to ashes and put into a jar.
Outside the jar was a fine nanmu coffin, which was carried and parked at the mortuary outside the city, awaiting the family's decision.
Madam Chang quickly gave all the people of Xindu an answer.
She decided to take the entire household with her to send the coffin back to her ancestral home for burial, and then settle down there, farming and teaching her children to read.
Some people felt sorry for her, some agreed with her, and some even said that Madam Chang's chastity for her husband was admirable.
People who had previously interacted with the Chang family came to their door to deliver gifts, help sell their houses, and contact caravans, doing their part and leaving a good impression.
Who knows if the Chang family's child will pass the imperial examination and come to Xindu in the future? If the Emperor remembers Commander Chang even slightly, the child's future will be bright.
During this time, another incident occurred in the Chang family. Commander Chang's most beloved concubine, who was already frail and sickly, also passed away due to her longing for the deceased Commander Chang.
Madam Chang had her concubine burned as well, and her ashes were placed in Commander Chang's coffin before they quickly set off.
This caused quite a stir among the people of Xindu for several days, providing them with plenty of topics to discuss during their leisure time.
Only the buyer of the Chang family mansion felt it was somewhat unlucky and hired a Taoist priest to perform a ritual, which offered some consolation...
When these things reached the palace, the Third Princess was cutting a jade melon with her sleeves rolled up when she casually remarked, "This Madam Chang is really timid. Does she not dare to live in the new capital after losing her husband? If she wants to support her child's education, isn't Luo'an Academy better than the academy in her hometown?"
With nothing else to do, Jiayin prepared some herbs and planned to make a few sachets and fragrant pouches to hang outside her bed curtains to repel mosquitoes.
If it works, then share some with the eunuchs and maids of Zhilan Palace.
After all, she and the third princess had been bitten, and there was ointment they could apply.
But the eunuchs and palace maids, once bitten, could only endure it, and when they couldn't help it, they scratched their skin until it bled.
Of course, Jiayin also had ointment to share with them, but this inevitably aroused the jealousy of the eunuchs and maids in other places, who would try to trip up the people in Zhilan Palace from time to time.
Human nature is complex and unpredictable, so we still need to find ways to prevent it from the source.
Just then, she was stuffing herbs into her purse when she heard the Third Princess say this, and she smiled and said, "Madam Chang is a clever woman."
"Smart? Where's the smartness?" The Third Princess was unconvinced and wanted to argue a few more times, but Shui Ling had already handed her a silver spoon with a smile and persuaded her, "Princess, why don't you try scooping it out to eat? In previous years, when my young masters were at home, they liked to eat it this way the most, saying it was more thirst-quenching."
Sure enough, the third princess took the spoon with interest, scooped out a bite of the melon, and then happily squinted her eyes, mumbling, "Mmm, it's so sweet, so refreshing!"
After saying that, she didn't forget to stuff a bite into Jiayin's mouth.
Jiayin didn't stand on ceremony with her and asked Shuiling to get another spoon. The two of them then started scrambling to eat.
The remaining half of the jade melon was naturally given to Shui Ling, Shui Yun, and Cai Yun.
Before long, only the rind of the jade melon remained, and the five servants and their wives were all round and full.
The third princess leaned back in her chair and sighed, "In my next life, I want to be reborn as a melon farmer, squatting in the melon patch every day, cutting whichever melon I want to eat!"
Jiayin listened, but just smiled and didn't say anything.
She didn't mention that the villagers of Suijintan, young and old, planted hundreds of acres of jade melons, yet couldn't bear to eat a single one...
"This woman from the Chang family is quite wise, and she left swiftly!" In the imperial study, the emperor was also eating a jade melon and "praising" Madam Chang.
Steward Yi couldn't fathom the Emperor's thoughts—whether he intended to spare the Chang family's elderly, women, and children, or to exterminate them all.
So he stepped forward with a smile and handed over a damp cloth, advising, "Your Majesty, you shouldn't eat too much jade melon, or you might upset your stomach. Shall this old servant get you a cup of warm tea?"
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