Ch 70: Guide to Feeding a Villainous Husband

Yu Jiuque followed Qin Xia into the room, looking slightly confused.

The door closed behind them. The night had grown deep, and even the cats in the courtyard were fast asleep.

Under his watchful gaze, Qin Xia mysteriously pulled a piece of paper from his collar.

Yu Jiuque couldn’t help but recall the paper he had once hidden in his clothes chest, feeling inexplicably guilty.

“What is this?”

Seeing Qin Xia hand him the paper, he took it without hesitation.

“Open it and see.”

Qin Xia truly didn’t know how to explain this, so after much hesitation, he decided to write it down and let Yu Jiuque read for himself.

After being together for so long, Yu Jiuque was already accustomed to Qin Xia’s handwriting and remained calm as he unfolded the paper.

As he read the tightly packed ink strokes, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper. By the time he finished, he slapped the paper face down on the small table, his mind filled with doubt and confusion.

“Husband, how did you come to know what’s written on this paper?”

It even contained secrets from the inner palace.

Not just anyone, even in the palace, would have access to such information.

Qin Xia could only see his little husband as a startled young tiger—if he had a tail, it would probably have fluffed up like a feather duster by now.

“I can explain, as long as you believe me.”

Yu Jiuque’s throat tightened slightly, his fingers clenched the paper, leaving creases in it.

“Speak. I’m listening.”

If there was anyone in this world he could place his complete trust in, it was undoubtedly Qin Xia.

However, the words written on that paper—if even a hint of it were to spread—would certainly cause people to lose their heads.

The paper contained the crucial plot points Qin Xia had painstakingly recalled from the original book.

Yu Jiuque, with his extensive knowledge and sharp memory, would destroy it after reading, without leaving any loose ends.

“I once confessed to you that I am not the Qin Xia from Qinan County, and this fact, you are aware of.”

As Qin Xia finished speaking, some color finally returned to Yu Jiuque’s face.

Yes.

His husband was not an ordinary person to begin with. Being able to come from another world, it wouldn’t be surprising if he had some supernatural abilities.

Since Qin Xia had concealed the existence of the “book” from the start, he chose to explain it away as prophetic dreams.

After laying the groundwork with a few sentences, his tone turned sincere.

“Ever since you regained your memory, I’ve also started having scattered dreams. The content of these dreams is all related to Shengjing, so I suspect it might be some kind of omen.”

“Omen?”

Yu Jiuque muttered, lowering his head to look again at the paper in his hands, slowly coming to a realization.

“Indeed, there are things on here that have already happened, as well as things that have yet to happen.”

Naturally.

The events that had already occurred were intentionally written by Qin Xia to lend credibility to the clues. The things yet to occur were pivotal to the victory or defeat of the Eastern Palace faction, and could help the Crown Prince avoid his fate of “dying from illness.”

Yu Jiuque fell into deep thought.

The notion of prophetic dreams sounded bizarre, but first, he himself had recovered his memory gradually through dreams, and second, Qin Xia’s very existence defied common logic.

Thus, he actually found it believable.

“You’re giving me this to help me return to the capital and take action.”

This time, he no longer spoke in a questioning tone.

Qin Xia nodded gently.

What he said next also mixed in some of his genuine feelings.

“I’ve always felt that heaven brought me here to meet you for a reason, though I’m not sure what fate lies behind it.”

He pretended to be confused.

“I don’t know if any of this will be useful, but I wrote it all down in the hopes that it might help you.”

Yu Jiuque memorized the contents of the paper and then used the flame from the lamp to ignite it. Before it burned completely, he tossed it into a half-empty copper basin under the bed.

The ashes dissolved into the shallow water, turning into a murky mess.

He spoke earnestly to Qin Xia, “Whether it’s useful or not, I’ll verify it when I return to the capital. Beyond that, do not tell anyone about this.”

Qin Xia smiled, “I do understand that much.”

Seeing his smile, Yu Jiuque felt his heart lighten as well.

He buried his upper body into Qin Xia’s embrace, inhaling the fresh scent from his bath.

“You’re right. Heaven must have brought us together for a reason.”

If the words on that paper were true, and the Eastern Palace rose again, with the Crown Prince ascending the throne…

His position in the new dynasty would not be low, and the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs would certainly have a place for him.

Yu Jiuque asked himself, power was a good thing, something that could protect both him and those he wished to protect.

Therefore, if anyone handed it to him, he would gladly accept it.

In the past, he had only known how to climb higher, like a blade without a sheath. Now, Qin Xia was precisely the sheath that he had been missing.

“Stay here in Qinan County and wait for me.”

Yu Jiuque tilted his head upward, his gaze deep as he leaned in for an intense kiss.

“One day, I will make sure you hear good news from Shengjing.”

Qin Xia reached out to cradle the back of Yu Jiuque’s head, gradually deepening the kiss.

When they parted, their lips made a faint sound.

“I know you will,” he said with quiet certainty.

In the book, Yu Jiuque lived a life of infamy, his reputation tarnished, remembered in history with more blame than praise.

But the Yu Jiuque in his arms had yet to become that pale, cold, and scarred figure. He still carried a pure heart, with hopes of improving Dayong.

This time, his Ah Jiu would surely retain a virtuous name and be remembered through the ages.

April 20th.

That day.

Ge Xiuhong was always the first to rise in her household. As she got older, she needed less sleep.

Though they had a daughter-in-law now, she didn’t set strict rules for the young couple. It wasn’t unusual for them to sleep in, and there was no need to make a fuss.

After rinsing her mouth and washing her face, she occasionally glanced toward the front gate, thinking about the noises she had heard from the Qin household the night before. It left her feeling uneasy.

With that thought in mind, she grabbed a few coins and decided to head out to buy some fried dough sticks for breakfast.

As soon as she stepped outside, she saw her neighbor, the wife of the Zhuo family, eyeing the Qin house with a thoughtful expression.

“Madam Zhuo, what are you looking at so early in the morning?”

Though the Qin and Zhuo families were neighbors, they didn’t interact much.

But as a fellow villager, Ge Xiuhong knew that Madam Zhuo, though not particularly warm, was not ill-intentioned.

Madam Zhuo turned around and, after some thought, asked, “I heard the Qin couple arguing last night. You know, with no elders in the house to mediate, things can get difficult. That Qin boy… Don’t take it the wrong way, but he’s been known to act up in the past.”

She stopped short of saying more, but Ge Xiuhong understood. Madam Zhuo, despite her reserved nature, was clearly worried that Ah Jiu might be at a disadvantage.

“Qin Xia may have been a rascal in the past, but after they got married, he’s been good to Ah Jiu. We’ve all seen it. I doubt it’s anything serious.”

As they talked, they saw Qin Xia appear from the alleyway, walking toward them.

At a glance, it was clear the boy hadn’t slept all night—his face was unshaven, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Ge Xiuhong’s heart skipped a beat. Could they have really had a fight?

“Qin Xia, last night I heard some noise from your courtyard. Did you and Ah Jiu have a disagreement?”

Qin Xia lowered his eyes, silently confirming her suspicion, and Ge Xiuhong immediately had plenty to say.

As an elder and someone who had been through it, she launched into a string of advice.

“Couples will argue—it’s just life. There’s an old saying, ‘quarrel at the head of the bed, make up at the foot.’ Ah Jiu is younger than you, and his health isn’t strong. Don’t bully him. If he gets sick from being upset, the one who suffers most will still be you!”

As she spoke, she snuck another glance at the Qin household, certain that Yu Jiuque was still inside.

But Qin Xia didn’t respond with his usual cheerful greeting, nor did he offer polite words. Instead, he wiped his face in a defeated manner.

“Thank you for your concern, aunt. Ah Jiu… he left before dawn.”

“Left… left?!”

Ge Xiuhong nearly jumped on the spot, and the Zhuo family wife beside her was so shocked she couldn’t catch her breath.

The Zhuo wife couldn’t help but ask, “What do you mean by ‘left’? Where did he go? Did he go to the Liu family?”

In her mind, where could Yu Jiuque possibly go?

He was a purchased Ge’er, without even a natal family to return to!

If he had anyone to turn to, it would be his godmother, Fang Rong.

Qin Xia took a breath, as if realizing the ambiguity in his words, and licked his cracked lips before explaining, “By ‘left,’ I mean… he went back home. He actually remembered where his family was a while ago and wanted to go find them. But I always stopped him, saying that a family who could sell him wouldn’t be any good. He, however, believes there’s some misunderstanding. Last night, he brought it up again, and we argued. In a fit of anger, I slept in a separate room. This morning, when I opened the door, I found a note from him. He took his bundle and left.”

“This…”

Ge Xiuhong and the Zhuo wife exchanged glances, both taken aback. They had never imagined that Ah Jiu, who had lost his memory and was sold by the broker, would one day remember his family.

After a moment of silence, Ge Xiuhong cautiously asked, “You were outside just now—were you out looking for him?”

Qin Xia didn’t deny it.

And since he had come back alone, it was clear he hadn’t found him.

Ge Xiuhong didn’t know how to comfort him.

“That Ah Jiu… who knows what his family is like now. It’s certainly better being here where he runs the household.”

The Zhuo wife shook her head, surprised that two people who always seemed so harmonious had such stubborn tempers when they argued.

The worst thing in a relationship is to get into a fight and let pride take over, with neither side willing to back down.

Not being close to the Qin family, and knowing now that Yu Jiuque wasn’t home, the Zhuo wife decided it was best not to meddle further and quietly returned to her house.

Time quickly moved on, and within days, everyone who knew Qin Xia and Yu Jiuque had heard that Ah Jiu had “gone home to visit his family.”

Putting it nicely, it was a “family visit,” but rumors began to swirl, and people had all kinds of speculations.

Rumors, after all, have a way of spreading, growing wilder with each retelling. What started out white could soon be painted black, losing all resemblance to the truth.

Some said that a purchased husband could never be trusted, that Ah Jiu saw Qin Xia making money and took off with the household’s savings.

Others claimed that appearances can be deceiving—Qin Xia might seem good now, but he used to be a street hooligan. Who’s to say he wasn’t secretly abusing Ah Jiu at home? Otherwise, with Ah Jiu’s gentle nature, why would he run away?

Some went even further, suggesting that Qin Xia had secretly sold Ah Jiu off again and was planning to marry the daughter of a wealthy merchant.

If you asked which merchant’s daughter? Oh, there were many. Just look at how many prominent merchants visited the Qin family shop daily. Even an illegitimate daughter would be better than a Ge’er of unknown origin, and on top of that, they’d get a father-in-law loaded with gold.

Of course, that last rumor was so outlandish that hardly anyone believed it.

Nevertheless, no matter the theory, each version sounded convincing enough when repeated, and it even began to slightly affect the Qin family business.

Fang Rong, worried sick about the situation, couldn’t eat or sleep well. She decided to visit the Qin shop again.

When she arrived, she didn’t see Qin Xia. She asked one of the young workers, who told her that the master was ill and resting at home.

With no choice, Fang Rong turned back to Furong Alley.

“Is he really sick?”

Fang Rong took one look at the disheveled Qin Xia, who answered the door with his clothes loosely draped on his body. His beard was still unshaven, his hair a mess, and his face flushed—not with a healthy red, but with fever.

She immediately reached out to touch his forehead, exclaiming, “This is bad.”

“You’re burning up! Have you taken any medicine?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Fang Rong realized how unnecessary her question was. With Ah Jiu gone, there was no one at home to even fetch water, let alone prepare medicine.

She quickly pushed Qin Xia back inside, paying no mind to the goose squawking loudly behind them.

Qin Xia’s illness wasn’t a pretense. Ever since Yu Jiuque left, he had been listless for days.

The night before, he had gone to bed feeling aches in his bones and a sore throat. By morning, it was clear he had a fever.

He had called a boy from the alley to run to the restaurant and inform the employees, but he couldn’t be bothered to take any medicine, thinking he could just sleep it off and sweat out the fever.

Fang Rong placed a bowl of water by his bedside and took a look around the room.

It was strange—the objects in the room hadn’t changed, yet with just one person missing, the place felt entirely different.

“You lie down properly. I’ll go fetch a doctor.”

Fang Rong called a nearby doctor, who arrived, took Qin Xia’s pulse, and examined his tongue. The diagnosis: emotional stress causing internal disturbance.

“You young folks should try to take things easy. When you reach my age, you’ll realize there’s no hurdle you can’t get over.”

The elderly doctor was even older than Dr. Xu, making it hard to argue with his words of wisdom.

He wrote a prescription and said the clinic’s apprentice would deliver the medicine after it was prepared.

After seeing the doctor off, Fang Rong returned to find Qin Xia leaning against the headboard in silence.

She sat at the edge of the bed and looked up, asking, “Do you regret it? If you hadn’t said those few angry words that day, Ah Jiu would still be here.”

Qin Xia turned his head away, clearly determined to avoid the conversation.

Seeing that he was still unwell, Fang Rong didn’t press further. She left the room, intending to help tend to the vegetable garden and chicken coop in the backyard.

About half an hour later, the clinic’s apprentice arrived with the medicine. Fang Rong paid for it herself, then carried it to the kitchen to start boiling it.

The smell of the herbs drifted through the window into the room. Qin Xia couldn’t help but think of the time when Yu Jiuque was still recovering from his injuries, and he had spent days brewing medicine for him.

He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling beams, wondering how far Yu Jiuque and his group had traveled by now.

Qinan County was a thousand miles from Shengjing, even with fast horses, it would take several days to reach.

Moreover, Yu Jiuque had mentioned they planned to stop along the way—likely for other business.

Their plan to leave in the dead of night had been a joint decision. Without staging a fight, there would be no way to explain Ah Jiu’s absence for the coming months.

This had been Yu Jiuque’s personal desire. He wanted to keep the identity of “Ah Jiu.”

He was Qin Xia’s husband and the little boss of the Qin family restaurants.

One day, he would return.

Qin Xia was sick for two days, during which Fang Rong and Liu Douzi took turns caring for him, day and night.

Once he recovered and returned to the restaurant, Fang Rong gave Liu Douzi a stern lecture at home.

“You see, one day when you’re married and you upset your husband so much that he goes back to his family, just like your brother Qin Xia, there won’t be anyone left at home to take care of you, and you’ll regret it deeply!”

Liu Douzi wanted to say that he didn’t think either Qin Xia or Ah Jiu were the type of people to do that, but the fact remained that it had happened.

He also felt a pang of disappointment, wondering whether his brother and Ah Jiu would be back in time for his and Meng Ge’er’s wedding banquet in the winter.

When Qin Xia returned to the restaurant, he had shaved his beard, and on the surface, everything seemed the same as before. After the rumors died down, business gradually returned to normal.

As soon as he arrived, the regular customers who only ate his dishes came flocking back. A whole day of work left him with little time to dwell on his thoughts.

But after the restaurant closed for the day, when he was alone behind the counter, packing up the silver coins and slipping them into his pocket, he couldn’t help but glance beside him as he walked down the night streets.

There should have been someone walking with him, talking about the amusing events at the restaurant or discussing what to have for a late-night snack at home.

As Fang Rong had said, the house had indeed become much colder.

Cold stove, cold bed, and even Da Fu had drooped its head, wandering around the house each day looking for someone. When it couldn’t find him, it would call out, then lie by the front door, as if waiting for a familiar person to open it and crouch down to scratch its head.

Qin Xia, who had lived for over twenty years, finally understood what it meant to miss someone so deeply it gnawed at your bones.

Just as he was forcing himself to focus on the restaurant business, a special guest arrived in one of the private rooms.