Chapter 30: A bug has been fixed.
Jiang Liangxu waved his hand, dismissing the servants, and stirred the medicine in his bowl with a spoon: "Since returning home this time, my wife and I have become much more distant."
"But what did I do wrong that made the lady avoid me like the plague?"
Zhao Xian touched her nose. The metaphor was exaggerated, but Zhao Xian didn't know how to answer. The most important point was that she was not the original owner of this body, nor was she his wife.
She, a single woman without even a boyfriend, suddenly transmigrated to another world and found herself with a son, daughter-in-law, daughter, and granddaughter. But that's nothing; she'll just treat it as an experience and raise them normally.
But she couldn't accept that even her husband had taken the easy route.
Although she was using the original body, she was unwilling and unable to engage in marital obligations with a stranger.
To her, Jiang Liangxu was just a stranger she had only met a few times. If he were a friend or family member, she could quickly get into character without any physical contact, and she wouldn't feel any psychological burden.
Unfortunately, they were a married couple, and an old married couple whose son was already married.
But Zhao Xian hesitated to say directly that she was not the original owner of the body, as her understanding of Jiang Liangxu came from the original owner's memories.
Jiang Liangxu's current good behavior is all based on the fact that she is now his wife. If he knew that the soul in this body belonged to someone else, what would he think?
Will people arrest her as an evil spirit?
She didn't dare to gamble.
"No, it's just..." Zhao Xian wanted to say that he had been away from home for too long and felt unfamiliar with it, so she used this as an excuse to see if she could delay it a bit.
However, Zhao Xian had not yet spoken.
Then Jiang Liangxu said, "Has Madam already begun to forget me?"
The smile on his face had vanished at some point, and although his voice was still gentle, it inexplicably made people feel heavy-hearted.
“I remember the first time my wife learned to draw Qiu Niang eyebrows, I messed them up. She asked me to pay for them, so I drew her eyebrows for her for the first time. She was very unhappy because they were drawn too thick. She said they looked like two worms on her face. Later, I became more skilled and drew Qiu Niang eyebrows the best. But whenever I drew Qiu Niang eyebrows, my wife would not go out. I would be the only one to look at them. Over time, drawing Qiu Niang eyebrows... became a tacit understanding between us.”
Zhao Xian listened with great interest. "Is your daily life as a couple really this sweet? Honestly, this is a bit too much for us single people, really."
However, the way Jiang Liangxu looked at her changed from the longing of memories to the sadness of gradually losing tenderness.
Seeing this, Zhao Xian felt inexplicably saddened. She suddenly realized that she had no recollection of the tacit understanding he mentioned about drawing Qiu Niang's eyebrows together with the original owner.
For some reason, Zhao Xian couldn't bring herself to lie to him: "I'm sorry, I... I don't remember."
It's true that I have no recollection of this, and the original owner of this body also had no memory of it.
Whether Jiang Liangxu was talking nonsense or the original owner had forgotten due to the passage of time, she had no way of verifying it.
Whether it was her imagination or not, she felt that Jiang Liangxu seemed even more sorrowful after she said those words.
Her expression was clearly gentle, yet for some reason, she sensed an indescribable sorrow within it.
Jiang Liangxu looked up at Zhao Xian's eyes, which were clean and clear, filled with curiosity and longing.
It was nothing like the gloomy, oppressive atmosphere and the lingering pain and sorrow that had been there before.
Jiang Liangxu felt very nervous and flustered. He remembered something Ah Xian had once said: 'Jiang Liangxu, if I forget you, you should forget me too.'
"How much does Madam still remember about our past?"
Suddenly having her hand grasped, Zhao Xian paused, her lips parted but no sound came out for a long time.
How was she supposed to answer that? That was such a strange question. Didn't the original owner remember him?
However, she keenly sensed that this was an opportunity, a chance to avoid getting too close to him.
Zhao Xian shook her head, not explaining further, since she didn't know what he meant by 'the things between them'.
"I wonder what you mean, my husband? To be honest, I had a headache for a while after you left home."
"At first I didn't notice anything wrong, but when my husband returned home this time, he seemed like a stranger to me. I don't know why. I don't remember anything about what my husband just said about drawing Qiu Niang's eyebrows..."
"I'm not afraid of being laughed at by my husband, but I actually wanted to argue with you today, so... so I could take this opportunity to send you to the study."
As Zhao Xian spoke, she touched her nose with embarrassment. Having already laid the groundwork, she could only bite the bullet and continue, "To be honest, my husband, you have been like a stranger to me since you came back. I didn't know how to get along with you, so I lied and said I had my period. I hope you're not angry."
"Feel sorry."
Zhao Xian was even more surprised to hear Jiang Liangxu apologize. Why was he the one apologizing first?
“You’re right, it’s me… I’m also very sorry. I know you’re my husband, but… but we feel like strangers. I don’t know how to explain this to you. Um, before I get to know my husband better, could we sleep in separate beds for now?”
Zhao Xian felt that if she could even fool herself after saying those words, how could she possibly fool Jiang Liangxu?
The idea of someone being resurrected through another's body was too far-fetched for her to dare to speak up.
Jiang Liangxu did not answer her question. Instead, he scooped up some medicine and held it to her lips: "The medicine is no longer hot. Drink it first."
Two spoonfuls of the herbal medicine entered her mouth, and the smell made Zhao Xian feel uncomfortable. She pointed to the heater warming her abdomen and said, "Can I not drink it? It's so bitter. With this heater, the pain has subsided. Medicine is three parts poison, so I should drink less and rest more."
Jiang Liangxu did not back down: "I reminded my wife not to eat ice these days. Since you are feeling unwell, you should take medicine. You can only recuperate after you have recovered."
Zhao Xian, realizing she was in the wrong, argued softly, "I didn't eat any ice cream today, did I?"
Jiang Liangxu put down the medicine bowl. Just when Zhao Xian thought he had agreed, she saw him go and fetch some candied fruit. "That way it won't be bitter."
Zhao Xian's sense of guilt dissipated, and a surge of anger suddenly arose in her heart: "Let's discuss where my husband will sleep starting tonight."
Jiang Liangxu slightly raised his eyes, his gaze quite hurt. "Half a year has passed, and I miss you dearly, but you seem to find me unfamiliar, avoiding me and disliking me. Fine, I respect you, but I don't know where you intend to send me."
She used to accompany celebrities in studying various eye expressions. Before the celebrities could learn how to do it, she had observed many different types and learned how to distinguish them.
Jiang Liangxu's glance was... well, it was a mixture of sadness and grievance, a single look that pierced the heart. Zhao Xian instinctively raised her hand to cover her chest and blurted out, "Jiang Liangxu, you're such a tea connoisseur."
As soon as he spoke, Zhao Xian doubted whether he could understand her, but then she saw Jiang Liangxu suddenly laugh heartily, his previous gloom vanishing completely.
Holding up the bowl of medicine, he said, "If I sleep in bed tonight, I don't need to finish this half bowl of medicine. What do you think, Madam?"
"Quick, take it away." Zhao Xian pointed to the medicine bowl.
She's not afraid of sleeping in a bed; her period is real this time.
As Jiang Liangxu stood up, he suddenly leaned in and kissed Zhao Xian's forehead. "It doesn't matter if we're strangers. Let's get to know each other again. My name is Jiang Liangxu, courtesy name Cangming. I am Xian's husband."
Zhao Xian: "??"
Wait a minute, something's not right. All that she just said was just nonsense.
Yingchun's voice came from outside: "Master, Qin Da is outside the door. He says he has an urgent message for you."
"I'll go check on her. Madam, please go to sleep first."
After saying that, the man strode away.
Zhao Xian: "..."
The arrival of her period made Zhao Xian feel a little dizzy. She felt strange, inexplicably so.
Jiang Liangxu's question, "Has my wife already begun to forget me?"
At first, she didn't pay attention, only thinking about how to end the awkward situation.
But now that there was no one around, it seemed strange upon reflection.
Did the original owner of this body suffer from some kind of illness? Amnesia?
Judging from the original owner's memories, she remembered everyone very clearly. Seeing their faces would trigger even clearer memories, so there was no question of her forgetting anyone.
What exactly did Jiang Liangxu mean by that sentence?
And then there was the painting of Qiu Niang's eyebrows. Zhao Xian suddenly realized that all this talk of marital romance was just torture for her, a single person.
He was testing her.
Upon closer reflection, he did draw Qiu Niang's eyebrows for her on the second day after he returned home.
Zhao Xian suddenly felt a chill run down her spine; she had no idea when she had aroused his suspicion.
It was also a test; if he hadn't told her today, she wouldn't have known at all.
Peony was ordered to enter the room to serve: "Madam, the master has gone to the study on business and asked you to rest first. Would you like to go to bed now or wait a while?"
Zhao Xian raised her eyes slightly: "Put out all the lanterns."
One by one, the candlelight in the room went out, and the light from outside was too dim to illuminate the room.
Zhao Xian's face was hidden in the shadows.
Recalling when she first transmigrated, Jiang Wei had also shown her a suspicious look, but because she was an elder, he did not dare to act rashly.
She had been living a very comfortable life for the past six months since she transmigrated.
He thought his acting skills were so good that no one suspected him.
However, when facing Jiang Liangxu, because he was the original owner's husband and their status was different, she became very reserved.
Could it be that she was already suspected from the moment she faked her period to reject him?
Was his statement, "I'm starting to forget him," said intentionally, or was there another purpose behind it?
Zhao Xian became increasingly alarmed as she thought about it.
'No, no, no, no…'
This person is different from the others in the household; Jiang Wei and the others are young and easy to fool.
Jiang Liangxu is someone who has been entrenched in officialdom; his experience is different, and he's terrifying.
Zhao Xian made up her mind.
After Tingyue's family reunion banquet, she will find an opportunity to visit Huguo Temple. If the monks at Guluo Temple are not suitable, then she will seek out more powerful ones.
If they can travel here, they must also have a way to travel back.
I'd rather go back to being a corporate slave.
After thinking it through, Zhao Xian felt much more relaxed.
As for Jiang Liangxu's probing, because of those emotions, Zhao Xian was certain that the original owner was still alive, so once she left, the original owner should be able to take over the body, and Jiang Liangxu's probing would no longer be relevant to her.
--
At the entrance of Haitang Residence, Qin Da handed over a letter. "Master, it's a letter from Old Master Zhou, who is very knowledgeable about weather and water surveying. The messenger said that the old master is in a hurry, so I didn't dare to delay."
Jiang Liangxu reached out and took the letter, opened it, and after reading it, his expression turned slightly serious. He strode towards the study, instructing Qin Dadao as he went: "Prepare the horses and go to the palace."
The palace was majestic and mysterious at dusk.
"What important matter brings Minister Jiang to the palace so late?"
"Your Majesty, I have several examples that I wish to present for your review."
The eunuch stepped forward with a tray, and Jiang Liangxu placed two stacks of books of different colors and textures on it.
The emperor casually picked up a book from the table and opened it, finding it contained annual records concerning the rainy season and floods.
Looking at the other stack, it was the same, but there was a difference. He often saw one of the stacks, and the memorials were recorded in this way. But if an official had written the other stack, he would have scolded him severely. If he couldn't even write a memorial, what kind of official was he?
The Emperor casually flipped through the pages: "These are all records of the rainy season and floods from previous years. Is this all that Minister Jiang showed me when she entered the palace?"
Jiang Liangxu held up the letter with both hands: "Your Majesty, I have just received a letter. Please take a look."
After reading the letter, the Emperor's expression turned serious. "Is it true?"
"That stack of messy booklets recording the rainy season and floods was written by this old man and copied by my steward. After I returned, I reviewed the records from previous years. The old man's records were complete in terms of major events. Even minor rains and floods that were not reported by the local authorities were recorded in the old man's records, and they were more detailed."
"That old man has been watching the rain all his life. If it weren't for the urgency of the situation, he probably wouldn't have sent me a letter."
"The Zhanlin River flows through several cities, and the land upstream is flat and open. However, the Yuanqing Mountain mentioned in the letter is closest to the middle reaches of the Zhanlin River. According to records, it rained for half a month sixty years ago, and most of the Yuanqing Mountain collapsed. The rainwater mixed with mud and sand rolled into the Zhanlin River, causing a major mudslide. The old man was a survivor of that disaster."
"Postscript: To prevent such natural disasters from happening again, the Zhanlin River was divided into two, with its streams flowing downstream through Fuyang City and Chuhuai City respectively."
"Your Majesty, the autumn imperial examinations are approaching this year, and both of these major cities have set up examination venues for them."
As Jiang Liangxu finished speaking, the Emperor's expression grew increasingly solemn.
With the autumn imperial examinations approaching, students are leaving home to travel to various towns and cities for the exams. If what the letter says is true, the consequences will be immeasurable.
"Send someone to check immediately. The Empress Dowager's birthday is also in July. We must not make any mistakes."
Jiang Liangxu went straight to the Office of Transmission after leaving the palace.
The next morning, Zhao Xian learned from the servants that Jiang Liangxu had gone to the palace overnight and had not returned.
Zhao Xian felt she should be happy, but for some reason, a sense of worry arose in her heart.
He reached up and touched his chest: 'If you're so worried, why don't you come out yourself?'
"Can't you two just talk about your little secrets yourselves? It's really awkward for her, an outsider, to be stuck in the middle."
Despite her complaints, the original owner of the body was like a cowardly turtle, her emotions dictating her actions, yet she refused to take over the body herself.
Jiang Liangxu's sudden return and disappearance made Zhao Xian unable to act as casually as before, always worried that he might suddenly return at any time.
Two days later, she discovered that Jiang Liangxu wasn't never home; he just came back very late and stayed in the study in the outer courtyard.
Zhao Xian was furious when she heard this. If she had known he would have slept in the study with just one urgent letter, why did she go through all that trouble? She deliberately caused trouble by using the name of Princess Rongyang, then tried to cover up the whole thing herself to avoid making a scene, and even used the excuse of faking her period to avoid sex.
Unfortunately, she failed at all of them, making a complete fool of herself, but hey, she still succeeded in the end.
But why was she so angry?
As the family reunion banquet approached, the servants in the mansion all became serious.
The scheduling of tasks is also very orderly and systematic.
Even Zhao Xian wasn't very free. After discussing the details of tomorrow with Li Lianniang, she returned to the room and immediately sensed something was wrong, because she saw the belt that had been thrown on the soft couch.
The jade pendant and purse hanging from his belt were instantly recognizable as belonging to Jiang Liangxu.
He's back?
Yingchun hadn't told her anything, and she was about to call someone in to ask.
Jiang Liangxu emerged from behind the screen where she was changing clothes. Her inner garment was only buttoned up with a few buttons, and there were still water droplets on her body that she hadn't wiped off. The thin silk fabric clung to her skin, and her inner garment was faintly visible, revealing the shapely indentation of her abdomen. "Madam is back."
Zhao Xian swallowed hard. She had only thought he was tall and quite thin when he was dressed, but this…
I regret not having a phone, otherwise I would have posted it online immediately, which would have caused a huge uproar.
Zhao Xian tried to look away but failed. She calmly asked, "Is my husband finished with his business?"
Jiang Liangxu walked to the table, poured two cups of tea, handed one to Zhao Xian, pulled her to sit down, and said, "Not yet. After the family reunion banquet, I'm afraid I'll have to go out again."
Zhao Xian took the teacup. Hearing this, she felt she should be happy. If he went out, she wouldn't need to find any excuse to avoid him.
But for some reason, my mood seemed to be shrouded in a thick fog of oppression, and I couldn't feel happy.
Chi Bei bit her lower lip, using the pain to dispel the discomfort, and asked, "Where are we going? How long will it take?"
No wonder the book describes him so little; someone who's rarely home can't really be described in much detail.
"Go to Changzhou first, then go to Fuyang City."
With a clatter, the teacup in Zhao Xian's hand slipped and fell onto the table, spilling tea.
Before she could even grab a handkerchief to wipe the water, she was already being pulled up by the waist and placed on his lap.
The water in the glass flowed down the table and onto the carpet.
Jiang Liangxu opened her palm; her fingers were unharmed. He said, "Luckily, the tea isn't too hot."
But when he saw Zhao Xian's pale face, his smile froze. "What's wrong?"
"Fuyang City, Fuyang City..."
Zhao Xian kept repeating it.
She remembered that the text didn't describe Jiang Liangxu in many words, but the main point was that he had disappeared, though not in a definitively confirmed way.
I remember the villain mentioning it once.
The original quote seems to be:
"Everyone knows that his position as Vice Minister of State Affairs is due to his deceased father's influence."
"Wasn't he missing? Your Highness, be careful what you say."
"Missing? That's just an excuse to avoid mourning. It's been so many years, if he were alive he would have come back long ago. Everyone knows he's dead. If his father had gone to Chu Huai City instead of Fu Yang City, would His Majesty have treated the Jiang family kindly out of remorse? You don't really think he could have become a Vice Minister of State Affairs on his own, do you?"
I remember the villain in the book was of high status; he was a married woman who fell for the female protagonist of a tragic novel.
The two therefore became enemies.
When Jiang Wei confronted the villains outside, others tried to stop him and pulled the villains away, advising him that the villains were not to be trifled with because of their status as Vice Minister of State Affairs.
Afterwards, the villain, unwilling to accept defeat, uttered those words.
At the time, she was only focused on the intense and tragic love story between the male and female leads, and she didn't dwell on those two sentences after reading them.
After all, whether the male protagonist's father is alive or dead in a tragic novel doesn't affect the plot development, and he never appears again later in the story.
She wouldn't care whether the male protagonist in the angst-filled novel became a high-ranking official because of his father, and the book didn't describe the male protagonist's affairs in the officialdom in detail.
When she first transmigrated, she felt that apart from his expressionless face, Jiang Wei was not as sinister as described in the book, and did not arbitrarily control the life and death of others.
Moreover, he also respected his mother very much. Even when he was unhappy, he was extremely polite and courteous, unlike the relationship between mother and son that was described in the book as being at a freezing point.
He doesn't seem like the kind of unfilial son who would send the original owner to the countryside and ignore her, letting his mother be bullied by wicked servants.
Could it be that all the changes are due to Jiang Liangxu?
Zhao Xian grabbed Jiang Liangxu tightly: "You're not allowed to go, you can't go."
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Author's note: It's so laggy, I'll make up for the missed updates later, it's just too laggy.
Sorry for saying that.
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