After the arranged marriage, she farms and survives under the tutelage of the villainous boss.

She cleared her throat and said, "I raise my cup to invite the bright moon, and with my shadow, we become three!"

"The moon is so fitting; it's the fullest it's been in months! Come over often, sir, and I'll cook you delicious food."

Mr. Zhuang smiled but remained silent.

Then he picked up the wine glass.

The four clinked glasses and drank it all in one gulp.

Jiang Zhiyun got drunk. She originally intended to drink tea instead of wine, but perhaps because she was too excited, she ended up drinking Xie Shuheng's wine glass instead.

In a daze, all I could see was Xie Shuheng's furrowed brows and reproachful eyes.

All she remembered was reaching out to smooth his brow: "Why are you always frowning like that? It doesn't look good."

Xie Shuheng seemed stunned.

Jiang Zhiyun, though not fully conscious, was bold: "Xie Shuheng, I married you because you're good-looking. You don't look good when you frown, I don't like it."

Xie Shuheng was somewhat helpless. Then Jiang Zhiyun felt her legs lighten as he picked her up.

As she entered the room, she kept asking, "Mr. Zhuang, what's wrong? What's wrong with you?"

"Xie Shuheng, can you carry me?"

"..."

A good night's sleep.

When Jiang Zhiyun woke up the next day, it was already afternoon.

I don't know what's wrong with this wine; after drinking it, I had a headache. But at the time, I felt great.

She couldn't even remember how many outrageous things she'd said. It seemed she was impolite to everyone.

People say that when you're drunk, you black out and don't remember what you said.

Jiang Zhiyun's tragedy is that she remembers every single word and is incredibly audacious with every single one of them.

Given Xie Shuheng's behavior in her previous life, she estimated she would have been killed a million times over.

Hearing the noise, Zhang came over: "Yunniang, you're up!"

"I don't know what happened, but Mr. Zhuang gave you all his books today. I saw them all in the yard. Old Xu brought them over."

Jiang Zhiyun found it strange; even if they really wanted to give it to him, it shouldn't be so soon!

She went outside to take a look, and although she only glanced at it casually, she noticed that it contained:

"Illustrations of the Regent's Reign", "Spring Festival Notes", "Spring River Moonlit Night"...

She looked at these books; she had seen them in her previous life, but they belonged to another teacher named Lu Sheng, who later became a great literary scholar.

Why are we all here now...?

Jiang Zhiyun saw that it was a handwritten journal, entirely written by himself. Although she had already guessed the outcome, she still asked, "Mother, did Mr. Zhuang write all of this himself?"

"Yes!"

“I know he wrote all these books along the way,” Zhang nodded. “But do you like reading them?”

"..."

Now it's not a matter of whether you like it or not. I'd venture to guess that after he was wronged, those people couldn't bear to part with his talent, so they gave his work to another disciple who became a great Confucian scholar.

And he will be infamous for eternity.

Thinking back to Mr. Zhuang last night, it's no wonder Ms. Zhang said things were unusual.

Now he's giving all his belongings to Jiang Zhiyun... It doesn't seem like he's being kind to a younger person. It's more like he's entrusting her with the care of his estate...

Does that mean he won't live to see today?

Why drag these things to her? Yunniang remembers that Xie Shuheng didn't have these things in her previous life.

Logically, he would have given it to Xie Shuheng for safekeeping.

So, does that mean Xie Shuheng also had an accident on the same day in his past life?!

I dare not think about it...

Jiang Zhiyun quickly put on her shoes. She was about to grab a kitchen knife and rush out of the house when she thought better of it and asked, "Mother, is there a dagger at home?"

"Ah, what do you need this for? I remember Shuheng has one in his room." She rambled on, "That dagger was left to him by his father, it's a family heirloom, very sharp. Are you going to use it to butcher a chicken?"

"..." Jiang Zhiyun looked into her innocent big eyes, afraid that there wouldn't be enough time to explain further, "It will have its use."

He ran towards Shikanchang without thinking, not caring about anything else now; he couldn't just stand by and watch everyone get hurt.

-

Shikanchang.

The air was thick with smoke, and the surrounding area was filled with a jumble of lime and debris.

Some people were chiseling stones, others were moving stones, and many others had been kicked to the ground and were now lying there barely alive.

Then he was beaten up again by the braided rope soaked in salt water, and continued to work half-dead.

Everyone here is an exile; anyone can bully them at will.

Any random soldier could become a king here. Not to mention Lord Wang Yan, the one in charge.

Kneeling and begging for mercy is the most common thing to do.

Xie Shuheng was still injured, so he went to find Wang Yan as soon as he entered Shikanchang.

Wang Yan was short and fat, which showed just how much money he had made. Seeing Xie Shuheng arrive, he smiled and said, "Oh, so this is the former heir. No, no, he should be called the coward of the Xie family."

"The injuries I gave you earlier are healing so quickly? You're really lucky. Why didn't I kill you?" Wang Yan looked at him sinisterly.

It's pointless to beat up other people; he likes those who once stood on high places the most, and he knows how to torture them.

"Where is Mr. Zhuang?" Xie Shuheng didn't mention what had happened before, but only asked about Mr. Zhuang.

"I have no Mr. Zhuang here. Anyone from Bianjing who comes here must understand that I am your servant, not your former status!"

"Xie Shuheng, why don't you ever learn your lesson? You can't go back to Bianjing; this is your eternal hell. I'll make sure you suffer in this hell."

"After all, it's perfectly normal for an exiled person to be unable to survive in such a harsh and cold place, isn't it?"

"..." Xie Shuheng remained silent, but his eyes were sharp, and he was already struggling on the verge of killing someone.

"Want to kill me? Xie Shuheng, don't forget your mother, your family, and Zhuang Yusheng. Zhuang Yusheng is old, do you want to see him die right now?"

"And your mother, who raised you to adulthood, is going to kill me. They will die in the future too."

Wang Yan shrugged: "So, you don't dare kill me, you still have to support me. Because you still need to know about Zhuang Yusheng, you need to know whether Zhuang Yusheng is dead or alive."

At this point, the malice in his eyes was obvious.

"What do you want?" Since he said that, then the teacher should still be alive for the time being. Xie Shuheng felt that it was not that simple.

"Guards!" Wang Yan shouted to Xie Shuheng's back, "Give him ten lashes! The kind of lashes that have been soaked in salt water for a month. Our young master is formidable; this is the only way to do it."

They seemed afraid Xie Shuheng would struggle; this time, about twenty soldiers arrived, and their clothing was different. These soldiers were from Bianjing…

No wonder the teacher went to say goodbye last night. No wonder the teacher told him not to come to Shikanchang these next few days, to live well, and to live on even if he suffers humiliation.

The teacher's death was also related to him...

Xie Shuheng knew it was an ambush, or even an ambush that had been prepared long ago.

He tried to get up to resist, but his limbs were bound with ropes.

These soldiers held him by his limbs with great force; they were all specially trained.

"Interesting." Xie Shuheng stopped struggling and chuckled, "The people in the capital actually came up with such a huge force to deal with a sickly person like me."