Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Of course he had wronged me.

I had been married to him for four years, and all he ever cared about was studying for the imperial examinations.

Yet year after year, he sat for them. Year after year, he failed.

This entire household had been kept alive by me, braving wind and sun out on the road as an armed escort.

Had I really thought he was at home devoting himself to his books?

As it turned out, he had been doing his studying in bed.

I rubbed my temple and pointed at the woman hiding behind him. “We can settle our business later. Hand her over first.”

“Qiniang! Rou Rou is delicate. She can’t withstand a slap from you!”

An Chao panicked. “She’s just a helpless orphan with no one to rely on. She’s pitiful enough as it is. Why can’t you be a little more magnanimous?”

“Besides… when you sent her back, wasn’t it because you wanted me to take her in as a concubine?”

I could not bear it another second. I stepped forward and slapped him across the face. “Are you a pig?!”

“Did you even read the letter I gave you? How dare you touch her?”

“Anlang!” The woman clung to An Chao in distress.

“My son!” My mother-in-law rushed in as well and shoved me aside.

Her heart ached for him terribly. Pointing at me, she cursed, “You shrew! How dare you raise a hand against your own husband?”

“If your father-in-law hadn’t gone up the mountain to gather firewood and saved you back then, you would have been eaten by wolves long ago! We allowed you to marry my son. You ought to be on your knees thanking us. My son is going to place first in the imperial examinations one day!”

“But look at you. Not only have you failed to bear a child all these years, you go out showing your face in public every day, acting coarse and vulgar, calling those men your brothers like you are one of them. You are neither fish nor fowl! What proper wife behaves like you?”

She snorted. “In my eyes, Miss Ah Rou is far better than you.”

While she was tearing into me without mercy, the Miss Ah Rou she spoke of was watching from the side as if enjoying a show.

When I looked over, she gave me an utterly smug smile.

Outside, the rain fell even harder.

Raindrops struck the windowsill, splashing into a hazy mist.

Back then, on Mihun Ridge, the first time I saw her, the weather had been just like this…

It was a rare rain after a long stretch of clear skies.

Unlike ordinary thunderstorms that came and went in an instant, that rain lingered for nearly two days, stopping and starting by turns.

Our caravan was blocked by fallen rocks on Mihun Ridge, unable to advance or retreat.

“Chief, there’s an injured woman up ahead…”

When I went over, she was already surrounded by several escorts. Someone was holding an umbrella over her; someone else was draping clothes around her shoulders.

“Miss Ah Rou, have some hot water.”

Even Xiaohu had sidled over, his face flushed.

I drew the longsword from my back and swept it through the air. The clear ring of steel snapped everyone back to their senses.

“Chief.”

“Get back to what you should be doing!”

They looked somewhat dazed. “Strange. How did I end up coming over here on my own?”

But they did not dwell on it and soon scattered.

The woman leaned against a tree trunk and lifted her eyes to look at me. Her tilted brows and eyes were especially seductive. “I didn’t expect the chief escort to be a woman.”

I stared at her expressionlessly. Then I crouched down and, under her puzzled gaze, reached out and struck her sharply at her dantian.

The woman’s body jolted, and her eyes flew wide.

I lowered my gaze and withdrew my attention from her dantian.

“There are many things you wouldn’t expect.”

“Where did a fox woman like you escape from? How dare you set your sights on my escort team?”

I rubbed the fabric of her clothes between my fingers.

“Fine material from Yunsha Fabric Shop in Capital City, and stained with human blood. Did you hurt someone in Capital City?”

The woman immediately tried to run, but I had just sealed her demonic power. She could not move at all.

She stared at me, shocked and wary. “You are… a demon subduer?”

“I quit ages ago.”

I clapped the dirt from my hands and stood. “Since you’ve harmed people before, I can’t just let you leave.”

I bound her arms and legs and tossed her onto a horse.

Then I called over Xiaohu, the man I trusted most. “Take her back to the An Residence in Cloud City. I’ll write you another letter. Give it to An Chao.”

“On the road, don’t speak to her. Don’t pay her any attention.”

Xiaohu scratched his head. “What about meals?”

“She doesn’t need to eat. She won’t starve.”

…

An Chao snapped back to himself. “A letter?”

He covered his face, and when he glared at me, his eyes were full of hatred.

“Every letter you send home only tells me to study hard. What else could it possibly say?”

I asked him, “So you didn’t read it?”

“I did!”

An Chao grabbed the hand of the woman beside him. “I skimmed it. You told me to send her to the Seven Mirrors Bureau, but that place was deserted two months ago. Besides, it’s a strange place. Even if you picked up an orphan girl, you should have sent her to the yamen.”

I caught the key words in what he’d said.

“Deserted? How could that be?”

“How would I know?” An Chao said impatiently. “I heard they left one night. That place was always odd. A bunch of people claimed they were on the government payroll, but I never saw them handle anything.”

At that, I frowned slightly.

The Seven Mirrors Bureau was a demon-hunting organization established by the imperial court.

Its members were either demon subduers or people with extraordinary skills.

Not a single one of them was ordinary.

The common people barely knew demons existed in this world, so naturally, they would never guess their true identities.

If they lived in peace with nothing to do, it meant the world was at peace.

But once they made a move…

“Ning Qiniang, are you even listening to me?”

Seeing that I had remained silent, An Chao finally lost his temper.

He rushed forward, pointed at my nose, and cursed, “I’ve had enough of you for a long time. Since the day you married into my An Family, have you ever acted the least bit like a proper daughter-in-law?”

“Ning Qiniang, let’s separate… No, I’m going to divorce you!”

“I’m going to marry Rou Rou as my wife.”

I lifted my eyes and looked at him.

“Have you thought this through?”

“Of course-”

My mother-in-law grabbed An Chao by the clothes and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Don’t be stupid. We haven’t even paid this year’s rent on the residence yet!”

An Chao paused, then changed his tune. “You… if you sincerely apologize to me, it’s not as if I can’t forgive you.”

“But you have to let Rou Rou enter the household and make her a co-wife.”

I almost laughed. “Do you really think being the An Family’s daughter-in-law is such a wonderful position that everyone would fight over it?”

With a backhand motion, I drew the longsword from behind my back.

All three people in the room took a step back.

“Wh-what… what are you going to do?”

I swept my sword across the air, and An Chao’s sleeve was sliced clean off and drifted to the floor.

“I’ve looked after the An Family for so many years. I’ve long since repaid the life-saving debt I owed them.”

“From this day forward, our paths split. We have nothing to do with each other anymore.”

An Chao stared at me in disbelief. “You really want to separate from me?”

“No.”

I turned and strode out of that filthy bedroom. “I’m divorcing you.”

“Ning Qiniang!”

Outside, the rain had eased.

But not a single one of them chased after me.

I laughed and cursed, “An Chao, oh, An Chao, I wish you and that fox spirit a long and happy life together!”

“You shrew! How can you curse people like that?”

“Son, she’s just jealous of Ah Rou.”