Chapter 14 - Revealing her cards

Xiao Hanzheng understood what happened.

Shi Qingluo had already saved his younger brother and sister, and had even reduced his fever. Waking him up earlier was equivalent to saving his mother.

To his entire family, it was indeed a life-saving grace that was hard to repay.

When he had just woken up, he had been worried that his mother and younger siblings would die just like they did in his previous life.

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He had actually missed the timing when he woke up.

If it weren’t for Shi Qingluo, his brother and sister would have already gone down the same path as in his previous life.

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He couldn’t help but feel extremely fortunate.

Because of this, he was more helpless than repelled and disgusted by the sudden appearance of such a wife.

Xiao Hanzheng looked at Mother Xiao and asked, “Mother, Shi Qingluo isn’t from our village, right?

“Furthermore, why would the people from her family let her come to chongxi?”

Before he woke up, marrying into their family was very likely just jumping into a fire pit.

In his previous life, he had also heard the chief muttering that his mother, brother, and sister had all died, which was why he had forcefully struggled to wake himself up.

Otherwise, he would have to fulfil those people’s wishes that Shi Qingluo became a widow when she married in.

A normal family would probably not agree.

Mother Xiao replied, “Qingluo is a girl from the Shi family of Shangxi village.”

“She is also pitiful. When she was a few years old, her family sent her to work in a Taoist temple. Not long ago, she returned home after that old immortal passed away.

“A few days ago, she was almost sent by the Shi family to marry the young master of the Wu family.

“Not sure if the Shi family was suddenly guilty conscience and voluntarily went to the Wu family to break off the engagement.

“I don’t know why the Shi family agreed to it either. They told us that if Qingluo wants to marry you, they can’t object.”

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Then, she recounted the conversation between Shi Qingluo and her, as well as the situation they encountered when they went to the Shi family.

Xiao Hanzheng slowly recalled after listening to her.

In his previous life, when he was investigating the Wu family, he found out that before his sister was dragged to the Wu family for marriage, they had originally chosen the Shi family’s daughter from Shangxi village.

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However, that girl accidentally died on the day the Wu family came to pick her up.

According to some accurate sources, that girl was killed by her own mother when she was forcefully captured.

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That was why the Wu family raised the betrothal gift money again. When his vicious eldest aunt and third aunt heard about it, they immediately sent her sister over and received 150 taels of silver.

So, Shi Qingluo was that dead girl?

He was very familiar with the Shi family.

Shi Qingluo’s fourth uncle was his classmate in school, and he was a hypocrite.

He had also heard others gossip about the Shi family.

How could their family be guilty conscience and take the initiative to break off the engagement?

It was even more impossible for them to give up the betrothal gifts and send food as a dowry instead so that she could come and chongxi.

He asked again, “Shi Qingluo said that she didn’t want the betrothal gifts. Did she settle it herself?”

Mother Xiao nodded. “That’s right. I was worried that the Shi family would be difficult to deal with. Who knew that the marriage would go on so smoothly? Qingluo must have settled it.”

She could still tell that the Shi family was unhappy.

Xiao Hanzheng nodded. “I see.”

When he had first heard that Shi Qingluo had saved his younger siblings, he had actually suspected that Shi Qingluo was the same as another girl.

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Because she knew that he had a high position in his previous life, she deliberately saved them and took the ask for the marriage.

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But after hearing that, he doubted. According to the timeline of his previous life, when he woke up, Shi Qingluo was already dead.

“That old immortal is Qingluo’s master, so she’s also very powerful and a blessed person.

“Qingluo is your lucky star who made you wake up.”

Mother Xiao emphasised, “Don’t look down on her as a peasant girl. In the future, even if you become a high scholar, you can’t let her down.”

She had always known that her son was a person with great aspirations, especially after what had happened before, he would be more hardworking.

But to her, Shi Qingluo was her benefactor, her daughter-in-law, and her lucky star.

She couldn’t let her down.

Xiao Hanzheng’s eyes were filled with helplessness. “I know, mother. I won’t let her down.”

In his previous life, he had focused all his energy to take revenge. He had never married a girl, and he had never even touched a woman. He really did not expect to have a wife the moment he returned.

As for the official marriage rules, he was homeless at the beginning and no one took the initiative to interfere. In the later stages, he was in a high position and no one dared to force him to marry, so he had never had a wife.

Moreover, such rules were mainly targeted at the commoners.

If the nobles did not marry, the government would not really force them.

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However, his mother was right. No matter what, Shi Qingluo was his family’s saviour.

Based on this, as long as Shi Qingluo did not betray or harm her family in the future, he would treat her well.

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When Mother Xiao heard her son’s promise, she was relieved.

She wiped the tears off her face with a handkerchief, stood up and said happily, “You just woke up. I’ll get Baili to prepare some porridge for you. I let Erlang continue to entertain the guests.”

Xiao Hanzheng nodded. “Alright, thank you for your hard work.”

After Mother Xiao and the other two left, Xiao Hanzheng leaned against the pillow and closed his eyes.

After an unknown period of time, he heard the door being pushed open and opened his eyes.

Shi Qingluo walked in with a bowl in her hand.

She walked in front of Xiao Hanzheng. “Come, drink this.”

This was the glucose that she had taken out from her space earlier to replenish his energy.

Xiao Hanzheng took it and saw that there was water in the bowl.

Since Shi Qingluo had taken the medicine to lower his fever previously, she wouldn’t poison him now.

Furthermore, as long as it entered his mouth, he would be able to tell if it was poison.

Hence, without hesitation, he picked it up and drank it. Who knew that it was not water but something sweet.

It did not taste like white sugar either.

He asked, “What is this?”

Shi Qingluo replied, “Sugar water. It’s to replenish your body.”

“Thank you!” Xiao Hanzheng did not ask where she got them from.

For some reason, he felt that this Shi Qingluo was not like the girl from his previous life who had died from drinking too much.

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Everyone had their own secrets, and so did he. It wasn’t necessary to dig them up on purpose.

Shi Qingluo smiled. “We are temporarily a family. You don’t need to be so polite.”

Xiao Hanzheng raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean by a temporary family?”

Shi Qingluo smiled and replied, “Your mother should have told you the reason why I married here.

“I want to get rid of the troublemakers in the Shi family, but I don’t want to marry into a big family with powerful grandparents or in-laws.

“I have a strong personality. If others respect me, I will give them the same respect. But if they want to suppress me and do whatever they want, it is absolutely impossible.”

She could see that Xiao Hanzheng wasn’t easy to deal with.

There was a stark comparison between him and the chief and other elders.

They were all very brilliant, so there was no need to hide it.

“To be honest, I told the public that I voluntarily married you to chongxi because I was fond of you.”

She clenched her fist, put it to her lips, and coughed lightly. “But in fact, I’m here for your family. I think they suit me very well.

“After all, I didn’t know you and have never seen you before I married.

“What I mean is, if the two of us don’t get along in the future, if you like someone else, we will divorce.

“This means that we are temporarily a family.”

If she revealed her cards now, Xiao Hanzheng could be rest assured that she would not cling to his family.

If they did not get along, she would divorce. It wasn’t a big deal.

Xiao Hanzheng thought, this wife was already thinking about divorce in the future.