A farmer has a shrewish wife; he's busy making money every day.

Ye Qingxue was startled and immediately covered Qian Ruofeng's mouth.

"Don't get excited!"

Ye Qingxue silenced the scream. Qian Ruofeng's lower face was covered, leaving only one big eye blinking as he looked at Ye Qingxue.

"Are you calm now?" Ye Qingxue looked at her.

"Mmm!" Qian Ruofeng nodded hurriedly, like a chick pecking at rice.

Ye Qingxue slowly removed her hand.

"Lord Ye... Ye... what's going on?" Qian Ruofeng stared at her with wide eyes.

Ye Qingxue forced a dry laugh: "Exactly, just as you felt."

She gasped, then asked, "Why?"

Ye Qingxue sighed, "I offended some people when I came here before..."

Before she could finish explaining, Qian Ruofeng understood. She gave a soft "oh" and then stared intently at Ye Qingxue.

……

The atmosphere was somewhat silent for a moment.

Ye Qingxue was a little nervous, afraid that Qian Ruofeng would be angry or sad.

She actually quite liked this lively little girl, and if possible, she still didn't want to hurt her.

"Um, how are you feeling right now?" Ye Qingxue carefully looked up at her.

Qian Ruofeng suddenly reached out his hand to her.

Oh no, is he going to hit her?

She needs to control herself and not fight back!

Ye Qingxue was a little nervous and involuntarily closed her eyes.

Instead of the expected slap, he was suddenly hugged tightly by her.

They're quite strong.

"This feels wonderful! Miss Ye, you're actually a girl, so we can be sisters!"

When Ye Qingxue heard Qian Ruofeng excitedly shout in her ear, she was momentarily stunned.

"You...aren't angry?"

"Don't be angry. You didn't hide it from me on purpose, and you even told me such an important secret. How could I be angry?"

"Then...aren't you...hurt?" Ye Qingxue asked again.

When asked this question, Qian Ruofeng remained silent for a while.

Then he answered, "To be honest, I was a little hurt when I first found out, since I was thinking of bringing you in as my son-in-law."

Qian Ruofeng released Ye Qingxue, his eyes showing some disappointment, but then they brightened again.

"But it's okay. Even if we can't get married, we can still be sisters. Anyway, I like you as a person, not your gender."

what?

Ye Qingxue was somewhat stunned.

"Is it still possible to do this..."

This was the first time Ye Qingxue had met a girl with this kind of personality.

Seeing her stunned expression, Qian Ruofeng suddenly laughed: "Miss Ye, don't be frightened. Our Qian family's young ladies are all like this. When they like someone, they express it very directly."

"My second sister is the same way. She can tell that Young Master Wen doesn't seem to have any romantic feelings for her, so she asked him out today to have a clear talk."

"If it works out, great; if not, so be it. There's nothing to be sad about. Even if we can't be husband and wife, we can still be friends. If we're lucky, we can even be sisters like us!"

...So, in her mind, this could be considered a lucky thing.

Ye Qingxue blinked, somewhat surprised, as Qian Ruofeng continued talking.

"But don't think we're casual people just because of that."

"It's not easy for our Miss Qian to fall in love with someone, but once we do, there's a high probability we'll love him for a lifetime!"

"But this kind of liking can be from friends, lovers, or family."

Ye Qingxue's mouth gaped slightly as she murmured, "Your Miss Qian is truly... special!"

Now she understood why the Qian family head, a woman, was able to support an entire clan.

Just from Qian Ruofeng's description, you can tell that this family is no ordinary person.

Qian Ruofeng nodded proudly, but then, as if remembering something, his expression softened and he was no longer as excited as before.

"Oh right, but there are downsides too. It's terrible if you fall for a jerk, like my older sister, who got tricked right away, and we couldn't even persuade her otherwise."

Ye Qingxue recalled the day she first met Qian Ruoling; the shopkeeper Meng Ergou's older brother was one of the Qian family's eldest daughter's men.

"Ah..." That's really quite tragic.

Seeing that Ye Qingxue remained silent, Qian Ruofeng affectionately took her arm: "Miss Ye, let's get to know each other again. My name is Qian Ruofeng, Feng is the Feng of maple leaf. What's your name?"

Ye Qingxue raised an eyebrow; it seemed she hadn't introduced herself by name before.

"My name is Ye Qingxue."

After hearing this, Qian Ruofeng murmured to himself, "Ye Qingxue, what a beautiful name."

Ye Qingxue smiled, her eyes crinkling: "Thank you."

"Oh right, your stomach hurt just now because... you got your period?"

"Yes, please excuse my poor attempt."

"No, that's not true. I'll make you some brown sugar ginger tea when we get back. Girls should drink more of this during this time."

Ye Qingxue did not refuse her kindness and smiled gently: "Okay."

"Brother Ye! What happened to you?" Wen Yanyu's anxious voice came from afar.

Ye Qingxue turned her head and saw Wen Yanyu and Qian Ruoling rushing over from the lakeside.

Qian Ruofeng whispered to Ye Qingxue, "Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret for you."

Wen Yanyu stepped forward and looked at Ye Qingxue with concern: "Brother Ye, I saw you leave looking pale just now. Did something happen?"

Qian Ruofeng smiled and said, "Young Master Ye must have eaten something bad. His stomach hurt just now, but he should be feeling much better now, right?"

As she spoke, she looked towards Ye Qingxue.

Ye Qingxue met her gaze and gave her a knowing smile: "Yes, I feel much better now."

Qian Ruoling frowned slightly: "Young Master Ye is not feeling well, so let's head back today. I'm tired of playing too."

"It's alright, you don't need to worry about me..."

Qian Ruofeng nudged Ye Qingxue: "Oh, I'm tired too. I want to go home and rest."

"Okay." Ye Qingxue felt a warmth seeing them like this.

"Go home!"

"Third Sister, slow down! Why is this girl suddenly so happy?"

Ye Qingxue just smiled silently from the side.

……

"Young master, we only captured one."

At the edge of the cliff, Pei Shao was bowing his head and reporting something to someone.

"Who are they?"

Upon closer listening, the voice belonged to Lu Chuci.

Pei Shao lowered his head even further: "Judging from the tattoo, he is a confidant of the governor of Jiangnan Prefecture. One of the escaped ones should also be one."

The man waved his hand, put it behind his back, turned around, and stared at the dark bottom of the cliff.

When the person's face was revealed, it turned out to be Zhao Ciyan's face.

His voice was somewhat grave: "They must be investigating Ye Qingxue's identity. Although she tried her best to keep a low profile at the birthday banquet, those people are all shrewd; how could they not investigate her?"

"Now that her true identity as a woman has been revealed, people will inevitably associate her with the man who injured Wolf Rich that day."

"Given their tendency to rather kill the innocent than let the guilty go free, who knows what they might do."

Pei Shao cautiously raised his head: "Then, isn't Miss Ye in danger?"

Lu Chuci frowned: "There's been some movement in the capital, isn't there?"

"Yeah, those people are getting a little restless lately."

“Wait another half month, and they should be able to hold back. I’ll go back to the capital then, and you… stay here and keep an eye on her.”

"Yes!" Pei Shao hurriedly bowed and replied.

He then looked up and asked, "So, what are your plans regarding the Lu family, young master?"

Lu Chuci remained silent for a long time, then looked up and sighed, "Let's go take a look at Xiaoci's grave first..."

“…Yes,” Pei Shao replied in a low voice.