Chapter 156: 156. Chapter 156: This One Is Willing to Be a Concubine for Life

156. Chapter 156: This One Is Willing to Be a Concubine for Life

Jiang Xiaoxiao walked out of the house, saw that the Li Zheng was still there, and asked, "Li Zheng Grandpa, did someone else come from the Li Family's side?"

"How did you know?" The Li Zheng gave her a strange look. "Li Shoude really didn't come back alone—he brought a woman back with him."

After a pause, he glanced at Jiang Wei beside her and lowered his voice: "Now that one person in the Li Family has risen to power, the whole clan has flown up with him. You mother-and-daughter pair don't get along with the Li Family, so you'll have to be careful from now on."

Scholars, Farmers, Artisans, Merchants—in this era the feudal hierarchy was strict. Li Shoude had already become a budding talent, which counted as half an official, so naturally his status was no longer what it once was.

"Don't worry, Uncle Liu. As long as he doesn't come provoke us, we definitely won't go looking for trouble on our own." Jiang Wei stepped forward and said softly.

After the Li Zheng left, Jiang Wei turned to look at Jiang Xiaoxiao, who had her head lowered as if lost in thought, and asked, "How did you know Li Shoude brought someone back?"

"I saw it in town." Jiang Xiaoxiao raised her little face and then told of having seen Li Shoude and that woman enter Cui Hua Ge in town earlier.

She hadn't said so outright at first because she wasn't certain whether Li Shoude would actually bring that woman back to Yuhe Village.

After all, in the original work's plot, Li Shoude had not passed the entry-level imperial examination.

Her original body's identity, Li Er Ya, had died long ago and had not married into the Huang Family, so naturally the Huang Family had not secretly assisted Li Shoude either.

After failing the exam, Li Shoude was disheartened and stayed away from home for a long time in Xuzhou, going to Yanliu Alley night after night with his classmates and fellow villagers to drink and carouse away his sorrows—until he met a "considerate" woman named Yun Ying.

Yun Ying claimed to be a qing-guan in Yanliu Alley who sold her art but not her body. She admired Li Shoude's talent and his status as a reading man, and would appear from time to time to pour him wine and tea. With just a few words she had the failed, dejected Li Shoude over the moon, and he became convinced she was his soulmate.

Although Yun Ying wasn't the top courtesan of Yanliu Alley, among ordinary people her looks were considered top-tier. Li Shoude, a mud-legged fellow born of a peasant household—even if he'd read a few years of books—couldn't withstand the assault of this gentle land of tenderness. Before long he redeemed Yun Ying and brought her all the way from Xuzhou back to Yong'an Town.

Still, Li Shoude kept a shred of reason. Knowing Yun Ying came from that place of wind and romance, he didn't dare bring her home, and secretly kept her in town instead—until later when Sun Shi found out…

But now, Li Shoude had passed the entry-level imperial exam and his back was straight, so naturally he had the courage to stand up against his family.

Thinking of this, Jiang Xiaoxiao couldn't help narrowing her eyes. Because of her transmigration, the original work's plot had changed somewhat: the Li Shoude who hadn't passed the entry-level imperial exam had now passed it, and some characters who were supposed to appear had shown up early… Did this mean the original work's plot wasn't set in stone, and that the invisible hand that steered the plot back on course also had moments of helplessness?

Then could Jiang Yu and the Shen Family's ending also be…

While she was pondering, Jiang Wei gave a light scoff: "I never noticed before, but this Li Shoude is quite the romantic."

She didn't have a good impression of that bunch of villains from the Li Family, but all in all, Li Shoude's wife Sun Shi had stuck by him through thick and thin, never leaving him, and for his sake had even been willing to endure the torment of the Li Family elders at home.

Now that Li Shoude had passed the entry-level imperial exam, he was ready to cast aside his wife of hard years and throw himself into soft, fragrant arms—the baser nature of men laid bare without a doubt.

"Not to mention, the Li Family has another good show to watch…" Jiang Xiaoxiao shifted her gaze toward the dirt avenue in the village, where countless villagers were hurrying toward the Li Family.

To tell the truth, she even felt a little like going to watch this show.

Sun Shi, who had been longing day and night for Li Shoude's return—how would she feel now, seeing her husband bring home a woman younger and more beautiful than herself? Would she break down?

……

The Li Family's courtyard was already packed inside and out, not a drop of water could squeeze through.

The villagers had hurried over one after another—not only to congratulate Li Shoude on passing the entry-level imperial exam and returning home, but even more to see the woman Li Shoude had brought back.

They had heard from people who'd caught a glimpse on the road that the woman had a face like a hibiscus and a body like a willow, as beautiful as a heavenly fairy!

However, inside the Li Family's Shang Fang at this moment, an unusual silence hung in the air.

The Li Family elders sat on the heated brick bed, their faces showing none of the joy a son passing the entry-level imperial exam should bring. Instead they stared with heavy expressions at the woman kneeling in the center of the room.

The woman looked to be just past twenty, dressed in a water-red peony-patterned high-waisted ruqun, with a purple tassel slanted into her hair. Every gesture of hers was like wind brushing a willow, yet she couldn't quite hide the dust-of-the-world air about her.

"Shou De, we're just an ordinary peasant household—how could you go copying those rich merchants and gentry, taking a…"

The words "little wife" were forcibly swallowed back by Old Master Li. He took two puffs of his long-stemmed pipe with a clatter and let out a long sigh.

"Father!" Li Shoude dropped to his knees with a thud beside the woman, his face full of resolve. "Whether you agree to Yun Ying staying or not, Yun Ying is the person I've chosen. I've already promised her for a lifetime…"

At these words, Sun Shi, who had been standing to the side with an ugly expression, instantly went deathly pale.

"Li Shoude, what do you think you're doing!"

As if she could hold back no longer, she rushed at Li Shoude like a madwoman, clawing and hitting him. "I married you for all these years, bore you children, served your parents, never had a single good day—and this is how you treat me?!"

"I—I…" Seeing Sun Shi rush out, Li Shoude seemed to feel he was in the wrong and didn't fight back. In an instant his face was scratched with several red welts by Sun Shi.

Old Matriarch Li couldn't bear to see her eldest son being bullied and instantly flew into a rage, cursing: "Sun, you wretched skin, stop it at once! My son is a scholar now—how dare you lay a hand on him-"

Before she could finish, the woman who had been kneeling on the ground suddenly positioned herself in front of Li Shoude and said in a frail, willowy voice: "Elder Sister, if you must blame someone, blame this one. It's this one's fault—don't hit Shou De… This one has only one wish: please don't drive this one away. This one truly loves Shou De. This one is willing to be a concubine for life and serve Shou De and Elder Sister…"

Hearing her call out "Shou De" so intimately again and again, Sun Shi grew even more inflamed. She shoved Yun Ying aside violently: "Who do you think you are, you wretched little tramp! I don't need your service!"

"Sun Shi, you will stop this at once!"

Seeing his beloved pushed to the ground, Li Shoude flew into a rage. The guilt he'd still felt toward Sun Shi vanished like smoke, and he turned on her with a harsh, scolding voice.

After finishing his scolding of Sun Shi, Li Shoude seemed utterly disappointed and didn't look at her again. He hurriedly rose to help Yun Ying up, asking in a gentle, tender voice whether she had hurt herself.

Sun Shi froze, staring at Li Shoude in disbelief, as if seeing this man for the first time.

"Wuwuwu… Shou De, I'm sorry, it's my fault, I'm the one who wronged you…"

Yun Ying covered her little mouth and began to weep prettily. Her willow-leaf brows knit lightly, and her lightly powdered cheeks were streaked with tears. Compared with the fierce, demon-like Sun Shi, she looked all the more pitiable and touching.