Chapter 133: Heaven envies the beautiful

Wang Bujiu was stunned. He looked her up and down, a bit afraid to recognize her. "You..."

"Never mind who I am." Du Ruo waved her plump claws eagerly. "Hurry and tell me, is Du Mingzhu really going to die?"

Wang Bujiu nodded. "It's true, she's almost done for. For the past two days, she's been howling so much that all the prisoners in the jail couldn't sleep and were crawling up in the middle of the night to count cockroaches. Today she's finally stopped howling. I went over to take a peek, and oh my, that face is swollen like a human blood bun. She only has one last breath left."

Du Mingzhu's appearance was truly miserable; it was ten times uglier than the sister-in-law had been back then!

Of course, he wouldn't dare say this when he was sober. Jiang Li was standing right next to him, and he didn't want to be beaten into a pig's head.

After hearing Wang Bujiu's words, Du Ruo felt wild joy, but she still desperately suppressed the corners of her mouth.

"Sigh, Heaven envies the beautiful..." She sighed pretentiously.

A smile flashed in Jiang Li's eyes. He thought for a moment and said to Du Ruo: "Wife, there's a lot to do at the office, I'm afraid I can't take you home."

Du Ruo was very understanding. "It's fine, you go do your work, the second brother and I know the way."

Her eyes rolled, and she reached out to grab her man's lapel, pulling him over. She leaned into his ear and whispered: "Husband, you go back and keep a close watch. If Du Mingzhu really dies, have someone report the good news to me."

She didn't have much, but she was still willing to take out a few dozen wen for the gift money.

"Alright, I'll remember." Jiang Li stood up straight. Whether it was intentional or not, his lips brushed against Du Ruo's earlobe when he pulled back.

Du Ruo felt like she had been electrocuted, and her face turned red instantly.

She cleared her throat guiltily and didn't wait for Jiang Li to carry her; she jumped off the carriage herself and almost sprained her ankle.

"Be careful." Jiang Li hurriedly steadied her.

Du Ruo didn't quite dare to look at him, so she turned back and called to Jiang Zhan in the carriage. Jiang Zhan handed out the three large bundles he was carrying and jumped off the carriage himself.

They weren't far from the city gate now, and Du Ruo insisted on walking over herself, so as not to keep Wang Bujiu and the others waiting and waste time.

Jiang Li could only follow her wishes.

Wang Bujiu looked at the backs of the uncle and sister-in-law as they left, then looked at Jiang Li, and raised his hand to wave it in front of the man's eyes. "Hey boss, come back to your senses."

Jiang Li withdrew his gaze, gave him a faint look, and stepped directly onto the carriage. "Let's go, to the office."

Several constables all jumped on.

Wang Bujiu edged up to Jiang Li, bumped into him, and raised an eyebrow. "Tell me? How did the sister-in-law become so beautiful? Is there any secret?"

Jiang Li looked straight ahead, as if he hadn't heard.

"No wonder you've been so happy these past few days; it turns out it's because of a beautiful woman." Wang Bujiu didn't know what he was thinking of, but he giggled a few times. "Speaking of which, don't you suspect that the sister-in-law has been possessed by a mountain spirit or monster, specifically here to suck your yang energy..."

Before he could finish, Jiang Li poked him in the stomach with his elbow.

Wang Bujiu clutched his stomach, his pain twisted. The tough guy expressed that he was very aggrieved. "You didn't have to be so ruthless, boss? I didn't say the sister-in-law was ugly; wasn't I just praising her for being beautiful..."

The brothers in the carriage laughed out loud when they saw this.

"Old Wang, with that broken mouth of yours, you deserve to be beaten."

"Boss, don't go soft, give him another 'monkey steals the peach'!"

"Is the sister-in-law someone you can tease? Watch out, the sister-in-law won't make you anything delicious next time..."

Jiang Li's side was quite lively, but Du Ruo's side was a bit overwhelmed.

If she had known, she wouldn't have shown off. Before, she thought there was a carriage going straight home anyway, so she hadn't held back when buying things. While Jiang Zhan was taking the exam inside, she and Jiang Li had gone to the streets of the county town several times.

And then, without realizing it, she had bought a whole pile.

She was so excited when buying, but now, carrying such a large bundle, Du Ruo only wanted to say—so tired.

"Sister-in-law, give it to me." Seeing Du Ruo's pitiful appearance, covered in sweat, Jiang Zhan couldn't bear it.

Du Ruo put the bundle on the ground, held her waist, and panted, then waved her hand. "It's okay, I can do it."

Jiang Zhan's hands were full; was she supposed to put it on his back? She couldn't do that.

Sigh, it seems that while she was beautiful, her physical fitness still couldn't keep up. She had to exercise more.

Du Ruo looked at the city gate less than a hundred meters ahead, gritted her teeth, and was just about to walk over in one go when she suddenly saw an old acquaintance.

"Third Uncle!" Du Ruo hurriedly called out in that direction.

Master Jiang turned his head, said something to the man beside him, and then walked over.

"Are you planning to go back to the village?"

Du Ruo smiled. "Yes, Third Uncle, are you too?"

Master Jiang didn't answer but directly picked up the bundle on the ground. "Let's go, I've already rented a carriage."

They were all family, so Du Ruo didn't stand on ceremony with him and climbed up happily.

The carriage soon left the city gate and drove toward Xiushan Zhen.

"Third Uncle is going back today, not taking the last three exams? It seems the first two are already in the bag, right?" Du Ruo leaned against the carriage wall and asked with a smile.

Master Jiang was humble but with a hint of pride. "It's alright, just a few places behind Erlang."

There was nothing wrong with admitting this, and he didn't feel embarrassed.

Although he was Jiang Zhan's elder, Jiang Zhan was Jiang Mo Nian's son. Everyone knew how brilliant Jiang Mo Nian was back then, so how could his son be any worse?

So, losing to Jiang Zhan, he was convinced and sincerely happy.

The Jiang clan was finally going to be revitalized.

After finishing the talk about the imperial examinations, Master Jiang chatted with Du Ruo about Jiang Wan.

"Wan'er is a clever girl; I'm afraid she's no less than Erlang. If she were a boy, she would definitely have great prospects in the future. It's a pity..."

"I can't agree with Third Uncle on this. Who says women are inferior to men?"

Du Ruo was very unconvinced. "Since ancient times, there have been countless women with achievements. Far back, there was Nüwa patching the sky and Leizu raising silkworms; recently, there was Empress Wu ascending the throne and Mulan joining the army. Each one was famous. Why can't women achieve something?"

Master Jiang opened his mouth and was speechless for a moment.

That was how it was said, but how many such outstanding women could there be in this world?

"Even regardless of gender, Wan'er's health hasn't been strong since she was a child, so I'm afraid it's not optimistic."

This was even less of a problem. Du Ruo smiled. "Third Uncle, don't worry. Wan'er's illness is no longer a big deal. I've already invited a famous doctor to treat her, and she's almost better. In the future, she'll be no different from ordinary people."

Master Jiang's brows relaxed.

"Since that's the case, then I won't hold back in teaching Wan'er in the future."

Before, considering that Jiang Wan was a girl and her health wasn't good, he had hidden many principles of self-cultivation and governing the country, fearing he would lead the child astray.

Now that Dalang's wife had said this, he wouldn't be blamed for letting go.

Jiang Zhan hadn't interrupted, but the look he gave Du Ruo carried a strange brilliance.

When was Wan'er's illness cured? Why didn't he know?

Sister-in-law hadn't read many books; before, she even had him write the recipes. Why did she speak so reasonably, and even know the legends of Nüwa and Leizu?

It was obvious that the secrets on the sister-in-law were far more than those few pills.

Jiang Zhan lowered his head and stared at his toes. Don't ask what shouldn't be asked, don't say what shouldn't be said.

After a dusty journey, they finally entered Xiushan Zhen at dusk.

With Master Jiang helping to carry the bundles, Du Ruo was much more relaxed.

At the entrance of the town, Old Tietou's ox cart hadn't left yet, but there was already a woman from Longquan Cun sitting on it.

Among them was Fu.

"Oh, isn't this Jiang's Erlang." Fu saw the beautiful youth Jiang Zhan at a glance and greeted him with a smile. "I heard you went to the county to take the imperial exam. Did you finish? How did you do?"

Jiang Zhan had thin skin and blushed instantly. "It's alright."

Although the Prefectural Top Scholar was already a done deal, the good news hadn't come down yet, so it was too early to say these things.

Fu hurriedly squeezed in. "Come, come, come, there's still a seat here. Seeing that the things in your hands are quite heavy, hurry up and put them on."

Jiang Zhan hesitated for a moment and really put them on.

Then he turned back to Du Ruo and said: "Sister-in-law, you go up and sit, Third Uncle and I will walk back."

Du Ruo glanced at Master Jiang, who only had his back left, and nodded. "Then walk faster, don't get separated from Third Uncle."

"Don't worry, sister-in-law." Jiang Zhan quickened his pace and soon caught up.

Only then did Du Ruo climb onto the ox cart with peace of mind.

The women on the ox cart stared at Du Ruo, all petrified.

Even Old Tietou, who was driving the cart, and the water buffalo turned their heads to stare at her, looking dumbfounded.

"What's wrong, do I have flowers on my face?" Du Ruo raised her hand to touch her face.

Fu was the first to come back to her senses. She couldn't help but swallow her saliva and asked tentatively: "Are you really Jiang Li's wife?"

Du Ruo smiled. "Genuine and authentic."

Several women didn't quite believe it and leaned in to examine her one after another. She had indeed changed, but one could still see a bit of the original mold.

After confirming this, the ox cart suddenly boiled over.

"Jiang Li's wife, how did you suddenly become so beautiful?"

"Didn't your face rot before? What medicine did you use? Where did you buy it? Is it expensive?"

"How is it like changing a head? If Jiang Zhan hadn't called you, I wouldn't have recognized you..."

Du Ruo laughed and had to repeat the previous explanation: "Actually, I originally looked like this. Before, it was because I was sick, so I had so many pus-filled blisters on my face. Now that I'm better, I've naturally recovered."

The women all suddenly realized.

So that was it. No wonder Du Shi was so ugly, yet Jiang Li was still willing to dote on her and protect her, even bringing his mother-in-law over to support her personally.

I'm afraid he knew Du Shi's true appearance long ago, right?

Several of them were quick-witted. Du Shi sold medicinal herbs and made a lot of money, and she also recovered her beauty; Jiang Li was a constable in the County Office, and everyone gave him some face when he went out; Jiang Zhan also took the imperial exam, and who knows when he would come back as a scholar.

The Jiang family's second branch was clearly going to have good luck!

As for thighs, of course, one had to hug them early.

So, nice words were thrown out as if they didn't cost money. They vied to praise Du Ruo, saying she was virtuous, saying she was prosperous for her husband, saying she was beautiful, almost calling her a fairy descending to earth.

Du Ruo laughed awkwardly and hurriedly changed the subject.

"By the way, is there any strange news in the village these past few days?"

Several women looked at each other, and Fu laughed. "Oh my, speaking of strange news, there is one, and it's related to you." ===== CHAPTER 134 =====