"You!" Green Snake finished speaking, mustered her courage, gripped the dagger, and stabbed forward. If Li Xiaoxiao could see it, she would realize that Green Snake was clearly much more powerful than she had been at the time.
The green snake flashed and pierced the man's chest. Sensing something was wrong, he hurriedly tried to defend himself, but before he could retract his hand, he was slashed off by a sword, his arm severed.
Green Snake held the dagger in one hand, his face contorted with pain, but he still looked around. With just a gust of wind, the man picked up the severed arm.
"Hmm, as expected, the toxicity hasn't decreased, but your physical abilities have actually improved. That's really good, little snake. I'll take your arm; now I can train quite a few more assassins. Just don't die."
The man's eyes turned blood red, making him look extremely alluring and evil. He also exuded black energy. The green snake clutched her arm, letting her hand be covered in blood and smelling of blood. In front of her was a small green snake that had been trampled to death.
Green Snake crouched on the ground, tears streaming uncontrollably from her eyes. This man would destroy everything she had; all her struggles were futile.
She trembled as she clenched her fist behind her back, pointing it toward her heart. She closed her eyes, ready to end it all, but the dagger in her hand just wouldn't come down. She had to fulfill her duty, otherwise Li Xiaoxiao would be killed, and she would die a very unjust death.
Green Snake took out a pill from her bosom, swallowed it, and the blood began to scab over the cut. She tore open her skirt with a dagger, bandaged the wound, and dug a small pit for the little snake, burying its body inside.
He then collapsed to the ground, surrounded by hundreds of snakes hissing and flicking their tongues. The green snake slept among the snakes, submerged, and did not emerge again that night.
......
In her dream, Li Xiaoxiao saw a strange scene. Standing in front of her was a gentle, smiling woman dressed in emerald green gauze and a skirt with daffodil flowers and green leaves. She had a transparent pearl hairpin in her hair and every move she made was like that of a fairy. The woman had tears in her eyes and her peach lips were gently fluttering as if she wanted to tell something, but the scene became more and more blurry.
When she woke up, the room was full of women. The room, which was originally quite spacious, seemed a bit crowded. The women all looked at her with worried eyes. Li Xiaoxiao thought she was seeing things. "Um, everyone's here. What's wrong?" Her eyes widened like a squirrel's, which was quite cute.
"Xiaoxiao, you're awake! Your aunt was so worried. Come and have some chicken soup. You must be starving after sleeping for so long."
Aunt brought over chicken soup, which Li Xiaoxiao drank half a sip at a time. A moment later, a man appeared outside the door. Qi Yu rushed over and said, "Aunt, my wife is awake. I'll feed her."
The aunt handed the bowl to Qi Yu, who took it and the man walked onto the bed to start feeding him.
After finishing her drink, Li Xiaoxiao lay back on the bed, looked around, and asked, "Green Snake, where did she go? I can't see her." Chunying said angrily, "Who knows her? She's just a vicious woman. Don't worry about her. Anyway, no one can do anything to her."
Gui Sujuan gently nudged her, signaling her to say less. Chunying then fell silent. Yunfang, holding Bai Han, replied with a grin, "They went to the back mountain. I heard that Sister Green Snake's little pet, a little green snake, has gone missing. Nobody knows where the little green snake has gone off to. Sister is very worried."
"Oh, I see." After drinking the chicken soup and eating a few pieces of meat, Li Xiaoxiao still felt very weak. "Husband, help me up." Li Xiaoxiao struggled to sit up from the bed. It was embarrassing to admit that she had overdone it the day before yesterday, causing her body to be unable to handle the aftereffects of that martial arts technique. It seemed that she needed to exercise more to improve her physical condition.
Qi Yu helped her up, and when he felt her getting up, he said, "Wife, you're not feeling well, why are you getting up? You should rest." But Li Xiaoxiao insisted on getting up.
"By the way, my wife, about that matter you mentioned to the headmaster last time, he said he has already agreed. He said that once the method is presented, the reward will follow." Li Xiaoxiao immediately beamed with joy. Although she had read the novel in the modern world and could hardly remember the specific plot, she could still remember some of the characters. With the right to manufacture, the next business segment could begin to take off.
"It's in that book, 'Basic Chinese Materia Medica,' go and look through it; there are five lists in total."
"Okay," Qi Yu agreed.
The man had no choice but to pick up the woman, carry her off the bed, and help her walk step by step. Chen Xueqing was also a little anxious. "Master Qi, you need to go check your exam location and study today. It would be better to go quickly."
Chen Xueqing supported Li Xiaoxiao from the side, and the sisters followed behind. The aunt also spoke up, "Qi Yu, go quickly. We'll keep an eye on your wife. She won't get lost."
Li Xiaoxiao got off the ground and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Husband, go and take the imperial examination to become a scholar. From now on, I will be a scholar's wife." Qi Yu then smiled slightly, let go of her, and got up to head to town.
After the man left, Chen Xueqing joked, "Look, Master Qi is just like a delicate young lady. If Master Li were a man, I guarantee I would fall in love with him at first sight. Maybe with my skills in vying for favor, I could even become a concubine."
The sisters started laughing along.
Just then, hurried footsteps came from outside. It was Madam Dong, who had come to find her with Cuihua. The moment they entered the house, Madam Dong pulled Cuihua to kneel on the ground, saying, "Thank you for saving us again, benefactor."
The two kowtowed three times. When Cuihua stood up, her eyes were full of tears. "Thank you, Madam Li. If it weren't for you, Cuihua would probably be ruined and wouldn't be able to get married in the future."
Upon hearing this, the women in the room grew even more somber.
Cuihua realized she had said the wrong thing and stopped talking. Li Xiaoxiao took the initiative to break the tension, saying, "You can get up now. Since you're alright, go back and take good care of yourselves."
Now she can start calculating the expenses of starting the papermaking project. Once the documents are issued, she can sell the paper openly and legitimately. However, today it wasn't just the Dong family who came; several more carloads of people arrived as well.
These people, each accompanied by their daughter, came to visit. Several carriages arrived at Li Xiaoxiao's house one after another. Li Xiaoxiao was being helped to walk by Chen Xueqing. As the group approached, they greeted her, "Madam Li, thank you for saving my daughter. We are willing to offer you two taels of silver..."
"I am willing to offer ten taels of silver..."
A dozen or so middle-aged men and women crowded around to give her money, which Li Xiaoxiao couldn't understand. If these people cared about her daughter, why didn't they save her in the first place?
"No need. You can use this money to buy them some nutritional supplements to help them recover. I will be setting up a workshop soon, and you can send your daughters over then. They will be paid one tael of silver a month. If the products sell well, their salaries can be increased appropriately. There is no need for your daughters to rush into marriage."
These people were stunned. They had thought that Li Xiaoxiao would accept the money, but they didn't expect that she had even thought of where they were going.
Indeed, a woman whose body is not clean will not be able to marry into a good family, and she will be looked down upon. The older women and men were silent for a moment, and then they finally agreed one by one, "Okay, we'll take it back first, but you have to accept these fresh vegetables."
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