Ch 27: The Regent’s Farmer Husband

Jiang Ji woke up instantly, eyes wide open.

It was his first time encountering a thief—strangely enough, he even felt a bit… excited?

He quickly thought about what in his home could be worth stealing.

They had earned quite a bit of money today selling seed crops—was the thief after their silver? Or maybe the cow? In these times, cattle were a valuable asset.

Aside from money and the cow, the only other thing of value might be Jiang Yan’s jade pendant.

Oh, no—there were also the rare sweet potatoes and potatoes of this world.

Could they be after the sweet potatoes?

There were indeed still a few sacks of sweet potatoes and potatoes in the main hall—extras he had exchanged just in case, which hadn’t been used. He had planned to save them for tomorrow’s seedling preparation.

Whatever the reason, first they had to catch the thief.

Jiang Ji patted Jiang Yan’s hand, signaling that he heard it too.

Jiang Yan removed his hand from Jiang Ji’s mouth and held up two fingers.

“Two people?” Jiang Ji whispered.

Jiang Yan nodded and slowly got out of bed.

Jiang Ji quietly followed, not daring to make a sound. He didn’t even put on shoes or a coat, afraid any noise might alert the intruders and scare them off.

The noise was coming from the main hall. The two crept through the darkness toward it, Jiang Ji grabbing a carrying pole leaning against the wall as they passed.

When they reached the hall, the sound was clearer now—the distinct scraping of a knife against the wooden latch.

In this era, doors were locked with wooden bars set across the back—two of them, one above and one below, crossing in opposite directions.

It was easy enough to open from the outside: just slide a thin blade through the crack and lift the latch bit by bit. Not secure at all.

They moved silently to the back of the door. Their eyes had adjusted to the dark; they could vaguely see shadows outside.

Jiang Yan pushed Jiang Ji to the left—Jiang Ji immediately understood. They split up, each taking one side of the door, ready to trap the thieves once they came in.

Jiang Yan also picked up an iron rod from behind the door.

They waited a moment. Finally, the thieves pried both latches loose.

The hall door creaked softly as it slowly opened, and one man slipped inside.

Jiang Ji gripped the pole tightly, eyes fixed on the shadow.

The man paused, then turned toward the right—the room where Zhao Ru and Xia’er slept, and where the money was kept.

The other man hadn’t entered; he was likely standing guard outside.

Jiang Ji didn’t wait any longer. He swung the pole with full force, striking the man hard and knocking him back two steps.

“Ah—!” The thief clearly hadn’t expected anyone to be waiting and let out a startled cry of pain.

Jiang Ji didn’t stop swinging and kept hitting him.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yan darted out the front door—the second thief was still outside.

That lookout, hearing his companion’s cries and the sound of blows landing, realized they’d been discovered. He turned and ran for his life, abandoning his partner.

But Jiang Yan was faster. Within a few strides, he caught up and swept the man’s legs out with the iron rod. The thief fell to the ground with a thud.

“Ah!”

He yelped, tried to scramble up, but Jiang Yan stepped on his back and pushed him flat again, then twisted his arms behind him and pinned him easily.

Inside, Jiang Ji had already beaten the other thief to the ground. When the man tried to flee, Jiang Ji blocked his way, forcing him down again until the thief curled up on the floor, covering his head. Only then did Jiang Ji kick him flat and hold him down.

The commotion woke Zhao Ru and Jiang Xia. From the sound of it, they knew for sure there were thieves.

Zhao Ru didn’t let Jiang Xia come out. She threw on a padded coat, grabbed the oil lamp, and stepped outside. Seeing Jiang Ji pinning someone, she called out, “Xiao Ji, are you all right?”

“Mother, I’m fine. This man came to steal. Go get some rope!”

“All right, all right.” Relieved he was unharmed, Zhao Ru hurried off to find rope. Jiang Xia, hearing things were under control, came running to help.

Jiang Yan dragged his captured thief back inside as well.

They tied up both men—hands and feet—and fastened each to opposite ends of a long bench.

With the thieves caught, Zhao Ru looked at the two young men, both still in their undershirts and barefoot, and quickly said, “Go put on your coats and shoes before you catch cold!”

It was indeed chilly. The two went to dress, returning moments later in padded jackets and shoes.

Jiang Ji pulled down the cloths covering the thieves’ faces. Both kept their heads lowered, refusing to look up.

Jiang Ji grabbed their chins and forced them to lift their heads. Two unfamiliar faces—young, maybe around twenty. The one he caught was short and broad-faced; the one Jiang Yan caught was thinner, with a sharp, monkey-like face.

“Mother, do you recognize them?”

Zhao Ru studied them closely, eyes narrowing at the thinner one—the lookout from outside. “This one looks familiar somehow…”

Jiang Ji glared at the man. “Hey, who are you? What’s your name? Which village are you from?”

The man’s lips stayed tightly shut, eyes darting nervously.

“Not talking, huh?” Jiang Ji pinched his jaw harder, but the man still didn’t speak.

“Got a tough mouth, huh.” Jiang Ji let him go and turned to the other one.

The broad-faced thief, still aching from the beating, clenched his teeth and said nothing either.

Jiang Ji frowned, but Jiang Yan patted his shoulder. “Let me.”

Jiang Ji stepped aside.

Jiang Yan crouched down, one hand on his knee, the other gripping the thief’s shoulder joint. Whatever technique he used, the thief suddenly screamed like a slaughtered pig.

“Aah! It hurts, it hurts!”

Jiang Yan looked him straight in the eye, his voice calm and cold. “If you want to keep that arm, you answer when I ask. Understand?”

Sweat poured down the man’s face. He couldn’t understand how this gentle-looking scholar could be so ruthless.

When the man hesitated, Jiang Yan twisted again, and the thief screamed in agony before nodding frantically. “I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

The thin, sharp-faced one beside him glared furiously. “Shut up!”

Jiang Yan ignored him and asked the broad-faced one, “Your name. Which village?”

“W-Wang Daqiang, from Xiaokeng Village.”

Jiang Yan jerked his chin toward the other. “And him?”

“He—he’s Wang Xingye. We’re from the same village.”

“Who told you to steal from this house?”

Suddenly, Zhao Ru gasped and stared at the sharp-faced one. “Xiaokeng Village? Aren’t you the nephew of Li Lao’er’s wife’s family?”

The one called Wang Xingye pressed his lips together and said nothing.

Wang Daqiang, whose shoulder Jiang Yan was still gripping, yelped, “Yes, yes, that’s right! He’s Li Lao’er’s wife’s nephew from her mother’s side! His aunt split off from the family, and he came with his father today to visit her. When he heard your family made a lot of money selling sweet potatoes, he told me to come with him to steal it! He even wanted to take some sweet potatoes and those bean-things too! Stop pinching, brother, my bones are gonna snap!”

With that confession, Jiang Yan released him.

Watching the scene, Jiang Ji raised his eyebrows slightly.

The way Jiang Yan handled the man—expression calm, voice cold, hand twisting joints with ease—was just… incredibly impressive!

And somehow, it looked like he was experienced at interrogation?

Could twisting a shoulder joint really hurt that much? Was there some trick to it?

Jiang Ji’s thoughts began to drift.

“Why is it tied to that family again?!” Zhao Ru frowned in disgust. “Truly unlucky.”

Jiang Ji said, “Mother, Xia’er, go back to sleep. It’s still a while before dawn. Once the sun’s up, I’ll go find the village chief. We have to go to town anyway—I’ll hand them over to the authorities on the way.”

“All right. You two should rest a bit too.” Zhao Ru and Xia’er went back to their room.

When Wang Xingye heard Jiang Ji mention handing them over to the authorities, he panicked. “Wait! Don’t hand us over! I—I’ll compensate you with silver! Five taels! I’ll pay five taels!”

But Jiang Ji, a young master raised in a lawful society, was used to calling the police when trouble arose. There were no police here, but there were officials. He believed the county magistrate handled cases fairly.

He gave the man a cold look. “No.”

Wang Daqiang’s earlier screams had already woken some of the neighbors, and even set their dogs barking until they were hushed.

A few uncles, thinking something serious had happened, came running over.

“What’s going on? What happened?”

“Uncle, it’s fine—we caught two thieves,” Jiang Ji explained, stepping aside so they could see the bound men behind him.

“You’re all right? Nothing stolen?” Uncle Tu Gen and Aunt Xiufang came over as well, worried.

“No, they’d only just gotten inside when we heard them.”

Aunt Xiufang leaned closer. “Wait— isn’t that Li Lao’er’s wife’s relative? I saw him in the village just yesterday.”

Everyone gasped. “What? Li Lao’er’s wife’s family?”

“Yes, it’s him—I saw him yesterday afternoon too.”

“He actually came to our village to steal?”

“Someone go get the village chief!”

Jiang Ji quickly stopped one of the men. “Uncle, it’s the middle of the night—let’s wait until morning. Just be our witnesses for now.”

“Sure, sure, we’ll vouch for you.”

“Thank you, everyone. It’s still early—go get some more sleep. We’ll deal with this in the morning.”

“All right. Keep an eye on them, don’t let them escape.”

“Of course. No chance of that.”

The neighbors returned to their homes.

Jiang Ji bolted the door, stuffed rags into the thieves’ mouths, and motioned to Jiang Yan. “Come on, let’s get some more sleep.”

Jiang Yan tied another rope around the thieves’ ankles to make sure they couldn’t run, and only then did they wash their feet and head back to bed.

It was too late to heat water, so they used cold water instead. Jiang Ji shivered violently, his teeth chattering even under the quilt.

“You cold?” he asked through clenched teeth.

Jiang Yan lay there perfectly still. “Not really.”

“…You’re seriously not cold?” Jiang Ji reached out and touched his hand—it was actually warmer than his own. So he turned over, hugged Jiang Yan’s arm, and tucked his icy feet against Jiang Yan’s leg. “Freezing. Let me warm up a bit.”

Jiang Yan’s leg twitched from the shock of cold but he didn’t pull away.

“You looked really skilled when you were interrogating just now,” Jiang Ji said, still trembling. “Did it feel familiar to you?”

Jiang Yan thought for a moment. “No.”

“Then how did you know exactly where to pinch? That guy looked like he was dying.”

Jiang Yan looked puzzled too. “It was… just instinct. I felt that pressing there could dislocate the shoulder.”

Jiang Ji: …

He muttered, “Maybe you used to be some kind of torturer, the kind that dislocates arms for a living.”

Then he laughed at his own absurd thought.

Jiang Yan: …

Jiang Ji yawned. “You lost so much blood from that injury, but your body temperature’s still higher than mine. Makes no sense.”

He mumbled sleepily, still holding Jiang Yan’s arm, and soon drifted off.

In the darkness, Jiang Yan quietly clenched his fist. He could feel a current of energy inside him—he hadn’t noticed it while injured, but as he recovered, his body felt stronger and lighter.

Maybe it was that energy that kept him from feeling cold.

He thought, perhaps he used to know some martial arts.

The next morning, Jiang Ji went straight to the village chief’s house.

When the chief heard that Jiang Ji’s home had been broken into, he immediately asked, “Did you lose anything? Did you catch them?”

“Caught them. They’d just come in when we heard them—there were two.”

“Do you know them? Which village?”

“Xiaokeng Village,” Jiang Ji said. “They said one’s Li Lao’er’s wife’s nephew, the other’s from the same place. He came to our village with his father yesterday, saw we’d made a lot of silver selling seed crops, and decided to steal it—along with some sweet potatoes.”

“So it was him. I saw him and his father visiting Li Lao’er’s house just yesterday around noon. Didn’t think the brat would turn out to be such a petty thief, sneaking into our village like that.” The chief frowned and asked, “I’ll go talk to Li Lao’er’s wife later. What do you plan to do?”

Jiang Ji explained his purpose clearly. “Village Chief, I’d like to ask you to come with me later to escort the thieves to the authorities.”

The village chief was surprised. “You’re going to hand them over?”

“Yes,” Jiang Ji said firmly.

Whether to report such incidents or not usually depended on the victim’s decision. Since the thieves weren’t from their own village and Jiang Ji was determined, the village chief nodded. “All right. I’ll find two more men. After breakfast, we’ll go.”

After settling things with the chief, Jiang Ji went home.

The village chief washed his face, then headed to Li Lao’er’s house to inform his wife of what had happened.

Li Lao’er’s wife was stunned, completely refusing to believe it. “Impossible! My nephew’s always been well-behaved. He’d never do something so shameful!”

“Jiang Ji caught them red-handed,” the village chief said sharply. “You think it’s impossible? You’d better come identify him yourself. Then go tell his family—they’ll need to meet us at the county yamen later.”

“What, Jiang Ji’s really taking them to the authorities?” she cried, panicking. “Village Chief, he can’t! My nephew’s not married yet—if he’s sent to jail, no girl will ever want him!”

The village chief snorted. “With his character, what girl would marry him anyway? I’ve told you—handle it how you like.”

With that, the chief left.

They all lived within one courtyard, so when the chief spoke to Li Lao’er’s wife at the west room door, Jin Hua and Li Laoda’s family could hear everything.

Jin Hua spat on the ground. “I always said that brat wasn’t any good. Now look—turns out he’s a thief.”

“Shut your mouth!” Li Baoshan barked, striking his cane on the ground.

Jin Hua spat again in his direction and went into the kitchen.

Li Lao’er’s wife froze for a moment, then grabbed her husband and hurried toward Jiang Ji’s house.

Watching her run off, Li Laoda’s wife muttered, “It’s over. Completely over.”

Li Laoda frowned. “What’s over? It’s got nothing to do with us.”

“You pig-brained fool!” his wife snapped. “Jiang Ji already refused to sell us seed potatoes, and now your brother’s wife’s nephew went and robbed him! You think he’ll ever sell to us now?”

Li Laoda blinked, stunned, then said, “He wasn’t going to sell anyway. Even without this, he still wouldn’t. What’s the difference?”

Li Laoda’s wife: …

How had she ended up married to such an idiot?

Meanwhile, Li Lao’er’s wife and her husband rushed into Jiang Ji’s courtyard, where they saw the two tied-up thieves in the main hall—one of them unmistakably her nephew.

“Ye’er, you…”

She ran forward, yanked the rag from Wang Xingye’s mouth, and asked, “You really came here to steal?”

Wang Xingye tried to defend himself. “Aunt, I—I didn’t steal anything, I just—”

“Just what?” Jiang Ji, who had just walked in, said coldly. “Don’t tell me you broke into my house in the middle of the night and pried open my door just to have a chat?”

Seeing him, Wang Xingye immediately shut his mouth tight.

Li Lao’er’s wife realized from her nephew’s reaction that Jiang Ji was telling the truth. But since it was her own nephew, she couldn’t just stand by.

She turned to Jiang Ji. “Jiang Ji, he didn’t actually steal anything yet. Let him go. I’ll have my brother pay you compensation, all right?”

“No,” Jiang Ji refused flatly. “He committed a crime and will be sent to the authorities.”

He was very clear-minded about this. His family would only grow wealthier in the future—he couldn’t afford to show leniency.

If he settled privately now, people would think his family could be bullied. Others would keep trying, figuring that if they succeeded, they’d profit, and if caught, they could just pay their way out.

Jiang Ji wasn’t about to allow that. He had to make an example the very first time—to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys—so others would learn to fear the consequences.

“You can’t send him to the magistrate,” Li Lao’er’s wife pleaded, swallowing her pride. “Jiang Ji, he’s always been obedient. He just… made a mistake this time. It must have been that Wang Daqiang who led him astray. Please, forgive him—he’s still young…”

Wang Daqiang let out muffled protests through the rag in his mouth, clearly trying to object, though no one could understand him.

Jiang Ji pulled the rag out.

Wang Daqiang blurted out, “You’re lying! He’s the one who dragged me into this! Said this family was loaded!”

Li Lao’er’s wife snapped, “Shut your mouth! My Ye’er’s so timid he can’t even watch a chicken being slaughtered—how could he steal money? It was you who dragged him into this!”

“Bullshit!” Wang Daqiang shouted. “You don’t even know your own nephew’s true colors! Stop lying to yourself!”

“All right, enough,” Jiang Ji said, stuffing the rag back into Wang Daqiang’s mouth to silence him.

Li Lao’er’s wife kept pleading. “Jiang Ji, Ye’er’s still young—don’t report him…”

“Young? He’s older than me,” Jiang Ji said, half-laughing. “Stop begging. You’d better go find his father and tell him to come to the county office to collect him. Goodbye.”

He directly saw her out.

Left with no choice, Li Lao’er’s wife turned to her nephew. “Just wait, I’ll go get your father.”

Wang Xingye shouted after her, “Yes, yes, Aunt! Go get my dad! Tell him to bring plenty of silver to bail me out—mmph!”

Jiang Ji stuffed the rag back into his mouth. “Quiet. You’re too noisy.”

Li Lao’er’s wife left Jiang Ji’s home and said to her husband, “I have to go back to my mother’s house. You go on home.”

Then she hurried away.

Meanwhile, little Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei slept like pigs. They didn’t learn about the midnight burglary until morning.

When they passed through the main hall, they hugged the wall and scurried by, keeping as far away as possible.

Thieves. Bad people. Mother said—stay far away from them.

But curiosity got the better of them. The two little ones stood by the doorway, secretly peeking inside.

“If you want to look, then look openly. What’s with all this sneaking around?” Jiang Ji knocked each of them lightly on the head. “This is your own home. Nothing to be afraid of.”

Only then did the two step forward to stand beside him, clinging to his sleeve as they looked at the two bound thieves.

“Big brother, are you really taking them to the officials?” Jiang Nan asked, having overheard Jiang Ji’s talk with Li Lao’er’s wife. “Can I come too?”

“No. You’re going to school,” Jiang Ji said, giving his head another tap. “Don’t even think about skipping class.”

Jiang Nan rubbed his forehead and sighed. Ah… another boring day sitting in school, no excitement to watch.

After breakfast, Jiang Ji asked Aunt Xiufang to escort Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei to the school, while he, the village chief, and several uncles who had witnessed the event the night before took the two thieves to the county office.

Zhao Ru stayed home to look after the house, and Jiang Yan went with them—he was also bringing the silver they’d earned yesterday to exchange for silver notes.

On the way, Jiang Ji opened the livestream to check it—chat was buzzing.

【Holy crap, Jiang Ji! I didn’t expect to wake up and find this kind of drama at your place!】
【I opened the playback this morning—pitch dark! It looked like a horror movie!】
【Catching thieves is that intense? Are we gonna see the court trial live this time?】
【We’re going inside the county yamen, right?!】

Reading that, Jiang Ji suddenly had a flash of inspiration—and quickly changed the stream title:

— “Hurry! Live broadcast: Ancient County Trial! 10 Million Viewers Goal—Let’s Go!”

【Streamer, that title change was fast】
【Hahaha, let’s go! I’m sharing it everywhere!】
【Forwarded it—never seen an ancient magistrate trial before】
【Shared too! Gotta see this】
【Even my streamer friends are restreaming your live right now】

Jiang Ji glanced at the viewer count, fell a few steps behind the group, and whispered into the stream, “Listen up, folks—once we hit 10 million live viewers, the system unlocks the raffle function. Want ancient-world antiques? It’s up to you. Let’s go!”

【No way!】
【Wait—so the system can actually send the prizes to our world?!】
【Is that real?!】
【Brothers and sisters, push it! We’ll find out once it hits 10 million!】
【Go go go! I’ve shared this on every social app I have!】
【I want to see if it really sends antiques across worlds! LET’S GO!】

Seeing how excited everyone was about the raffle, Jiang Ji laughed and updated the title again:

— “Live! Ancient County Court Trial! 10 Million Concurrent Viewers = Raffle Unlock! GO!”

【Go!】
【GO GO GO!】

Ahead of him, Jiang Yan’s ear twitched slightly. He turned his head and looked back at Jiang Ji.

When their eyes met, Jiang Ji froze a little, then slowly walked up to him.

Jiang Yan looked down and said quietly, “Watch your step. Don’t trip.”

Jiang Ji had half-expected a question—but that was all Jiang Yan said. He studied Jiang Yan’s expression—it was calm, natural, unbothered.

Too natural, in fact—that was what made it strange.

Jiang Ji knew Jiang Yan’s hearing was sharper than most; he had definitely heard something. But he hadn’t asked.

Just like he hadn’t asked about the sudden appearance of all those sacks of sweet potatoes and potatoes.

Jiang Ji’s lips curved into a faint smile. “All right. Got it.”

He glanced at the stream chat:

【Jiang Yan’s so perceptive】
【He definitely suspects something, but he’s not saying it】
【That’s emotional intelligence】
【Smart, composed—he knows when to speak and when not to】
【God, he’s amazing. The way he interrogated Wang Daqiang last night—so calm but ruthless. Gave me chills. He’s definitely a capable man.】
【Bet he knows martial arts or something. No one’s that strong otherwise.】
【Tall, handsome, clever, and rich—perfect husband material.】

Jiang Ji couldn’t help the amused curve of his mouth. I agree with all of you, he thought.

【Girls, he’s got amnesia—what if he’s already married?】
【Jiang Ji said he looks about twenty-five or twenty-six. In ancient times, that’s rarely single.】
【Ugh, I was just gonna say, the streamer could totally go for him.】

Jiang Ji blinked in surprise.

【Why did the frame just turn rounder?】
【Looks like it widened and shrank back again】
【Hahaha, it’s just the streamer’s eyes going wide for a second—don’t mind it】
【Oh? Did he see something shocking?】
【Did he just get flustered because we called Jiang Yan tall, handsome, and hot?】
【Haha, stop teasing him! Pretty sure in that era, men with men wasn’t allowed, right?】

Jiang Ji rubbed his nose, thinking, Actually, it was.

There were poor men who couldn’t afford brides and would form “sworn partnerships”—two men living as a household for life.

It wasn’t common, but it existed.

And in history, there had been plenty of famous “cut sleeve” figures—some dynasties were even open about it.

Lost in thought while reading the comments, Jiang Ji didn’t watch his step and stumbled.

He was about to fall when an arm reached out, catching him and pulling him smoothly into a firm embrace.

“Careful.”

Startled, Jiang Ji gasped, and when he looked up, he found himself face-to-face with Jiang Yan’s handsome features.

A face like carved jade, eyes bright as stars, high-bridged nose and deep-set gaze—sharp, refined lines that caught the morning light.

He really was handsome.

“Watch where you’re walking. What are you thinking about?” Jiang Yan frowned slightly as he asked.

Jiang Ji stared at his face, blinked slowly, then looked away and stood upright. “Oh, nothing. Just thinking about what to say when we get to court. Let’s go.”

He took one step—and hissed in pain. He had just stubbed his big toe on a rock.

Jiang Yan looked down at his foot. “What happened? Did you twist your ankle?”

“Just hit my toe. Hurts a bit, but it’s fine. I’ll be okay in a moment. Let’s keep going.” Jiang Ji flexed his toe a little and continued walking forward.

Jiang Yan watched his back for a moment, then sighed softly and followed after him.

【Oho~】
【yo……】
【Jiang Yan really is handsome—handsomer than our male celebrities】
【I bet the streamer’s blushing; he couldn’t even look at him】
【With skin that dark, how can you tell if he’s blushing?】

Jiang Ji: …

You people are too much!

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾