Chapter 5 The Unfortunate King
Wang Xiaozhi was overjoyed when her brother called her "sister" so sweetly. She secretly resolved that no matter whether her brother had any designs on the girl or not, as long as the girl was not married, she would fight for her brother's life.
That night, Xie Wanniang developed a fever as Dr. Chen had predicted. Because Wang Xiaozhi was alert enough, she wiped Xie Wanniang's body with alcohol and covered her forehead with a wet cloth to cool her down as soon as she developed a fever. Xie Wanniang's fever subsided quickly, and she fell back into a deep sleep.
She slept soundly that night, but Wang Xiaozhi got up every now and then to touch her forehead and cool her down, resulting in two dark circles under her eyes the next morning.
Jiang Yuan, who couldn't take care of Xie Wanniang personally, also didn't sleep well. His sister kept coming and going, and he was afraid that he would need to call a doctor, so he stayed in Hao Yu's room across the street, half-asleep, waiting for Wang Xiaozhi to order him to go out and fetch someone.
They stayed up until the third watch of the night. Wang Xiaozhi, relieved that Xie Wanniang's fever had subsided, stopped bothering herself, and Jiang Yuan finally fell into a deep sleep.
He goes to bed late but gets up early; this habit, formed over many years, makes him wake up automatically at the crack of dawn.
Thinking about how much work he still had to do today, Jiang Yuan yawned and got up.
He ran to the kitchen to wash up quickly, then took out a medicine packet, rice, and eggs, and used an earthenware pot to brew the medicine for Xie Wanniang. He then cooked thick porridge and steamed egg custard in an iron pot.
Last night, Xie Wanniang ate all the dinner he prepared. Although Jiang Yuan hadn't confirmed with her whether she liked it, he felt that she at least wouldn't dislike it.
Since his family didn't have any other good food and his cooking skills were just average, Jiang Yuan thought for a moment and prepared the same breakfast for Xie Wanniang.
Slightly different from last night, everyone received the congee and steamed egg custard today; it wasn't Xie Wanniang's special patient meal.
He moved very quietly, but his sister was still awakened by the slight noises coming from the yard.
Carefully dressing and getting off the kang (heated brick bed), Wang Xiaozhi slipped on her shoes and went to the kitchen. "Making breakfast?"
Jiang Yuan, who was putting cornbread into the pot, looked up and said, "Sister."
Wang Xiaozhi yawned, "I'll do it."
Jiang Yuan shook his head, "No need."
Wang Xiaozhi looked around and found that there was really nothing she could do, so she fetched some water and went outside to wash up.
Xie Wanniang woke up as soon as she heard Wang Xiaozhi open the door. She moved her still sore and weak limbs to get dressed, and then folded up the bedding she and Wang Xiaozhi had used the night before, piling it up with the pillows at the end of the kang (a heated brick bed).
She hadn't recovered yet, and was still feeling dizzy and uncomfortable. But as a penniless guest who was eating for free, Xie Wanniang felt that since no one was competing with her, she should at least do what she could.
After tidying up and leaving the house, Xie Wanniang greeted Jiang Yuan and Wang Xiaozhi respectively, then took the salt and willow twigs given to her by Wang Xiaozhi to clean her teeth.
After she finished rinsing her mouth and washing her face, Jiang Yuan put her and Wang Xiaozhi's breakfast on the table, while he ate in the kitchen.
Wang Xiaozhi glared at her brother, who seemed oblivious to the opportunity, with a look of exasperation. Xie Wanniang, on the other hand, was secretly surprised by Jiang Yuan's conscious effort to avoid suspicion.
Jiang Yuan didn't have dinner with her last night, and she thought he had already eaten. But she didn't expect that he was deliberately avoiding suspicion because there was a strange female guest at his home.
While drinking her porridge, she secretly glanced at the tall figure squatting by the kitchen door eating heartily, wondering where he had learned all these elaborate rituals.
If it weren't for the fact that what she saw was no longer the neat and exquisite blue brick and tile houses, bluestone floors, and flower-lined corridors of the Xie family, but rather the mud-brick houses, mud-brick walls, and vegetable gardens of the Jiang family with a strong pastoral flavor, she would have thought that she was still one of the young ladies of the Xie family.
Unaware that Xie Wanniang was having some doubts, Wang Xiaozhi inadvertently caught Xie Wanniang secretly sizing up her younger brother, and the smile on Wang Xiaozhi's face immediately became even brighter.
After having breakfast with Xie Wanniang, Wang Xiaozhi held Xie Wanniang's hand reluctantly, saying, "Sister, take good care of yourself. I'll come back to visit you tonight."
Xie Wanniang was a little embarrassed. "Sister, please go ahead and do what you need to do. I'm much better now, so you shouldn't have to look after me tonight."
Wang Xiaozhi's hands were very rough, probably because she was busy making a living every day. Xie Wanniang already felt bad about taking up one night of her time, so how could she ask her to come and take care of her a second night?
"Don't mention trouble or not." Wang Xiaozhi patted her hand with a smile. "Now that A Yuan has brought you home, we have to take good care of you."
Xie Wannian went to wash up, intending to tidy up her room, but unexpectedly, Xie Wannian quietly did all the work, which made Wang Xiaozhi feel much more favorably toward Xie Wannian.
Beautiful, hardworking, and with a good temperament—who wouldn't want a girl like that?
With a secret expectation in her heart, she hurried back to her husband's house. Jiang Yuan, after washing the dishes, took the chicken that his sister had bought to the backyard to prepare.
He planned to make chicken noodle soup for Xie Wanniang at noon. The chicken soup was simmered slowly, the chicken was tender and fell off the bone, the noodles were chewy and handmade, and it was served with fresh bok choy picked from the garden. Whether Xie Wanniang liked it or not, Jiang Yuan didn't know, but Jiang Yuan himself liked it quite a bit.
As for Xie Wanniang, she first strolled around the yard slowly for a long time, and then took the clothes that her fifth aunt had taken to the river to wash for her yesterday, which had already dried, back into the house and folded them up.
Only then did Xie Wanniang finally have the energy to think about the murder she had previously encountered.
In her previous life, Xie Wanniang was an orphan. She finally finished university and found a decent job. Just when she thought her hard times were about to end, she suddenly transmigrated.
Do you think that's all there is to her misfortune? No, that's not it.
In fact, she not only time-traveled, but she also time-traveled to a time of war. Not only did she time-travel to a time of war, but she also time-traveled to become a baby still in her mother's womb. Moreover, her mother broke off with her husband's family and was separated from her own family, so she could only temporarily live in a Taoist temple.
With the world collapsing at the start, Xie Wanniang's fate was entirely in the hands of God and others, and all she could do was lie down and give up.
After much difficulty, her mother's brother finally found them and brought them back to the clan. However, her mother abandoned her again and went to the Taoist temple.
She was registered under her uncle and aunt's names and became the sixth daughter of the Xie family, Wan Niang.
The happy life of not having to suffer from hunger and cold, and no longer being at the mercy of others and powerless to fight back, was hard-won. Xie Wanniang was both grateful and cherished it. For this reason, she even hid her sharp edges and became a good girl in the Xie family for more than ten years.
However, not long ago, her peaceful but stable daily life, which she had worked so hard to maintain, was shattered.
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