Chapter 49: Strong-Armed Love
Su Muyao felt a twinge of sorrow in her heart. “I’m sorry for everything that happened before.”
“In the future, when you regain your freedom, you can still return to the Xiao family.”
“When that time comes, I will give you a release letter (fangfu shu), so whatever you do won’t be affected.”
A release letter and a letter of divorce (xiushu) were two completely different levels of separation. While a letter of divorce dissolved the relationship between a female and her beastman husband, it invariably left a stain on his reputation. A release letter, however, carried no such stigma; it was the greatest kindness a Wife Master could show when freeing her beastman husband, completely restoring his liberty.
Hearing these words, Xiao Jihan’s heart stirred. He had assumed that when she spoke of freeing them, she meant giving them letters of divorce. He never expected it to be a release letter.
In Su Muyao’s view, Xiao Jihan was a talent carefully cultivated by his family, and the Xiao family valued him highly. He could return to the Xiao family. His situation was different from Hua Linye’s. Even if Hua Linye regained his freedom, he wouldn’t return to the Hua family. If he did go back, it would likely be to avenge his father.
So, her predecessor forcing them into marriage was truly excessive; each of them had their own difficulties.
“Will Wife Master truly treat us this way?”
Su Muyao nodded. “Mm, rest assured, I keep my word. You must believe me.”
“Besides, if I need beastmen husbands, I can always find others.”
“I understand well enough that a forcibly picked melon isn’t sweet.”
“Moreover, there are plenty of other fish in the sea!”
At this moment, Su Muyao appeared carefree and unrestrained. She said these words to earn Xiao Jihan’s trust. At the same time, she sympathized with him and hoped he could return to the Xiao family to continue as its heir, living his life as he pleased without being tied to herโthe melon that was forcibly picked but refused to ripen. Anyway, they had no real relationship.
Xiao Jihan felt that hearing these words should have made him happy. But for some reason, his heart wasn’t as thrilled as he imagined.
And she, once known as a good-for-nothing, could actually say such things. Plenty of other fish in the sea?
After chatting for a while and tidying up, they began their journey back. This time, they returned fully laden.
Upon arriving home, Su Muyao didn’t rest; she immediately got busy. She took the sugar beets and sunflowers out of her dimension and placed them in the courtyard.
Su Muyao looked at the size of the courtyard. If they accumulated more supplies in the future, this courtyard wouldn’t be big enough. There wasn’t even a dedicated storage room for miscellaneous items. Currently, there were only five rooms. But in over two months, after they left, there would be plenty of rooms in this house.
Xiao Jihan helped wash the sugar beets and peel them. Su Muyao planned to use these beets to make brown sugar. Since brown sugar solidified into blocks, it was easy to store. Selling brown sugar at the market should bring in a good profit.
Brown sugar was truly scarce, comparable to salt. It was said that even the crude malt sugar on the market cost two or three copper crystal coins for a single piece. During festivals, the price was even more exorbitant.
Xiao Jihan peeled the washed beets and quickly cut them into small pieces, placing them in a basin nearby. Using his ability, he manipulated ice blades to work simultaneously, moving with incredible speed. Soon, the nearby basins and buckets were filled with chopped sugar beets.
Xiao Jihan hadn’t expected that in exile here, his ability would mostly be used for such tasks.
He looked at Su Muyao. He found her with her head bowed, peeling a sugar beet bit by bit. Even though her movements were slow, she was doing it earnestly.
Xiao Jihan’s expression shifted. He realized that whenever she did something, she was very focused, as if immersed in her own world.
While peeling, Su Muyao’s mind wandered, and suddenly, the sharp knife slipped, slicing straight across her finger.
The pain nearly brought tears to her eyes, yet she didn’t make a sound. She hurried to get up and wash it.
Xiao Jihan’s expression changed. He rushed forward, using his ability to apply pressure to her finger to stop the bleeding. Then, he washed it with clean water and carefully bandaged her finger.
“If it hurts, why didn’t you make a sound?”
The old her would have screamed and shouted even if it didn’t hurt. But now, she had bled so much, and the cut was quite large.
Su Muyao discovered that this body was extremely sensitive to pain; even a small wound hurt intensely. Uncontrollable tears welled up, and her voice was soft and็ณฏ (nuo) – soft/sticky/sweet as she said, “It’s… it’s okay!”
“I was careless.”
Crying out in pain was useful with people who cared about you. For them right now, acting like that would only garner disgust. Her predecessor had been exactly like that, giving people a “boy who cried wolf” feeling. So she didn’t want to make a fuss, but Xiao Jihan had noticed.
Xiao Jihan pursed his lips, his expression darkening slightly as he seriously bandaged her wound.
Just then, a sneer came from the doorway.
“Another new trick!”
“Su Muyao, you’ve changed your methods now.”
“It seems quite effective; even Xiao Jihan is personally bandaging your wound.”
“Truly full of schemes.”
Hearing this voice as cold as frost, Su Muyao knew it was Mei Qingchen. She looked up toward the door and sure enough, saw Mei Qingchen had returned.
He hadn’t been back since leaving that morning a few days ago; she hadn’t expected him to return today. Actually, she wished Mei Qingchen would disappear forever.
Mei Qingchen stood at the door, arms crossed over his chest, his cold, magnificent phoenix eyes seemingly coated with a layer of frost. His tone was critical and contemptuous.
Xiao Jihan’s cool brows furrowed as he explained, “Mei Qingchen, it’s not what you think.”
“Wife Master didn’t use any schemes.”
He had seen her earnest efforts and changes over these past few days with his own eyes.
Su Muyao didn’t bother explaining or paying attention to Mei Qingchen. She just wanted to cut ties with him as soon as possible.
She spoke up, “Bring your sword here.”
Mei Qingchen looked at her warily. “What are you going to do?”
Su Muyao said coolly and indifferently, “If you want your sword to get better, bring it over.”
Her ability had upgraded to level one, which was perfect for further repairing his sword.
Mei Qingchen was silent for a moment, then handed the sword to Su Muyao. But he passed it from a distance, afraid Su Muyao might take advantage of him.
Su Muyao was exasperated to the point of laughter by his behavior.
“Mei Qingchen, you’d better not provoke me.”
“I will help you completely repair the sword, otherwise, if I’m in a bad mood, I might forget how to repair it.”
Hearing these words, Mei Qingchen’s brows froze for an instant. “You…”
At this moment, Mei Qingchen’s phoenix eyes hooked with a hint of cold irritation, yet he felt a sense of helplessness against Su Muyao. He still relied on her to repair his natal sword. He could only endure.
Su Muyao wouldn’t indulge him; who told him to speak so nastily? Besides, once she repaired his sword, they wouldn’t owe each other anything.
“Mei Qingchen, to completely repair your sword and restore its spirituality, you probably need Xuanling Iron (Mystic Spirit Iron), right?”
Mei Qingchen’s phoenix eyes shifted, the corners tilting up, his gaze pitch-black and deep like unmelting ink. He said in a low voice, “You actually know of Xuanling Iron?”
He was also searching for Xuanling Iron, but such a thing was extremely precious. Even with the deep resources of a great noble family, it was incredibly difficult to find even a small piece.
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when clicking to go to the next chapter it goes to chapter 50 instead of chapter 49
Hi, I will check it.