Ch 85: Reborn to Raise My Husband

On the third day of the fourth month, Qi Beinan sent Qin Jiang back to Ling County to fetch Xiao Yuanbao.

Six days later, before dawn, Qi Beinan and Zhao Guangzong entered the examination compound together.

The gates shut, and the spring examinations officially began.

That same morning in Ling County, Xiao Yuanbao also rose early. He had arranged with Bai Qiaogui to go to the temple and offer incense.

The weather was bright and clear. Along the main road, trees had sprouted fresh green buds, and peach and plum blossoms bloomed side by side.

The breeze carried the tender scent of spring. Sitting at the back of the ox cart with Bai Qiaogui, Xiao Yuanbao found the cool wind wonderfully pleasant.

With the fine weather, many wealthy townsfolk were out enjoying spring outings. In the fields, villagers were busy sowing seeds and planting beans, their laughter and chatter filling the air.

“After we finish at the temple, shall we stop by my family’s estate for a bit before heading back?” Xiao Yuanbao asked.

“Gladly! I’ve never been to your village before,” Bai Qiaogui said with a grin. She truly looked forward to it.

Xiao Yuanbao was pleased. The estate had been renovated late last year, expanding the pens for livestock and poultry, and even adding a new mushroom shed. It was larger and livelier now—better managed than most farms.

They chatted idly as they arrived at the temple, which was even more bustling than the road outside.

The courtyard was filled with people; incense smoke curled thickly into the air, and the offering burners were packed full.

Together, they lit their sticks of incense, bowed before the Bodhisattva, and donated some coins for temple upkeep.

A young monk, seeing that Xiao Yuanbao’s offering was generous, urged him to draw a fortune slip.

Xiao Yuanbao thought to himself that a good fortune would be well enough, but a bad one might unsettle his mind, so he politely declined.

When they stepped out of the hall, it was still early. The wild cherry trees in the temple yard were in full bloom, so the two wandered beneath them.

White petals lay scattered across the blue stone path, like unmelted snow—a sight too beautiful to look away from.

They walked and walked until, without realizing it, they had reached a quieter part of the grounds.

Xiao Yuanbao glanced around. Though the scenery was fine, the place was deserted. Remembering the stories Qi Beinan had told him about thieves lurking in such spots, he felt uneasy.

He was about to suggest heading back when voices drifted from behind a cluster of rocks.

“You came here to meet me—does he know?”

“How could I let him know? With that temperament of his—so blunt, so stiff—and that figure of his, so far from yours…”

The voices were oddly familiar, but Xiao Yuanbao couldn’t place them.

And the words—ambiguous, suggestive—piqued his curiosity despite himself.

Though eavesdropping wasn’t right, such a conversation was impossible not to overhear.

He crept closer on silent feet and peered around the rock. Beneath a wild cherry tree stood a man and a woman meeting in secret.

They made a handsome pair, so striking together that Xiao Yuanbao froze in shock.

If not for his composure, he might have cried out loud.

“The way you speak of him—how shameless!”

The woman in pink scolded, though her tone was sweet with delight, as though she enjoyed hearing it.

“He’s been fasting for days because of you,” said the young man with a wry smile. “He’s much thinner now. If you saw what he used to look like, you’d probably have nightmares.”

“No matter how much he fasts,” she teased, “it won’t change his face. I just wonder how, under one roof, some people are blessed with such beauty while others are so coarse.”

“You’re good at flattering me,” she added, her smile playful. “But you’re still engaged to him, aren’t you?”

The young man sighed dramatically. “That engagement was my elders’ doing. I’d never loved anyone before, so I let them arrange it. How was I to know that, just as the match was being settled, I’d meet the person who truly moved me? Heaven must be mocking me.”

The girl laughed softly. “And between me and him—whom would you choose?”

“That’s hardly a question,” the young man said at once. “Anyone with eyes would choose you. But I’ll say it again, so you know my heart—I only have you in it.”

“You don’t mind that I’m born of a concubine?”

“Legitimate or not—those distinctions belong to official families who love to rank their own kin. We’re merchants. We don’t live by such rules. I don’t care about anyone else’s opinions; I care about you.”

The girl was overjoyed, her lips curved in a radiant smile. Her body swayed softly as she leaned into the young man’s embrace.

Just then, a gust of wind swept by Xiao Yuanbao, and he realized Bai Qiaogui had quietly followed him.

Her expression darkened as she watched the scene. When the two lovers wrapped themselves in each other’s arms, she could stand it no longer and moved to rush out from behind the rock.

Startled, Xiao Yuanbao grabbed her just in time.

His years of wielding heavy pots and ladles had made his grip strong—strong enough to pull her back before she exposed them both.

The couple under the tree, still lost in affection, hadn’t noticed a thing.

The young man sighed, voice full of feeling. “Though I love you with all my heart and wish I could marry you this instant, my family would beat me half to death and make me kneel at the ancestral hall for three days and nights. I don’t fear punishment—but I’d hate to see you suffer for it.”

The young woman saw the sorrow clouding the young man’s face and felt her heart ache.

“What do you mean by that?” she asked softly.

“I hold you dear,” he said, his voice low. “So I won’t hide the truth from you. The Ming family’s moon-silk business has done too well—it’s nearly cut off the Mu family’s trade route. This marriage they’re arranging between me and Ming Guanxin is to join the two houses, to secure access to the moon-silk supply so both families can profit.”

His tone grew bitter. “But if I go against Uncle Ming’s original wishes—if I refuse the match—even if he’s still willing to marry you to me, how could he ever share his silk routes with the Mu family again?”

The girl’s heart filled with pity and love. She couldn’t bear to see her beloved troubled.

She said earnestly, “Don’t worry. I’ll find a way. I’ll get the Ming family’s silk supply for you myself—and give it to you as part of my dowry.”

“Yutang, you treat me too well,” he said, his eyes full of false tenderness. “I don’t even know how to thank you. I can only repay you by being good to you for the rest of my life.”

…

“What did you stop me for?” Bai Qiaogui burst out once they had left the secluded grove. “I should’ve gone up there and clawed those two shameless faces!”

She was fuming, and though Xiao Yuanbao had dragged her back to the busier part of the temple grounds, her anger only grew hotter, like a string of firecrackers ready to burst.

She had gone to the Ming household with Xiao Yuanbao before and knew about the engagement between the Ming and Mu families. Translated on Hololo novels. Back then, she had been happy—she’d drunk wine with Ming Guanxin, talking and laughing about his future marriage.

And now, in just a few short days, this.

Her stomach churned like she’d swallowed a fly.

Xiao Yuanbao said, “Even if you’d rushed out, could you really have fought them? Storming in like that and alarming them might not have been wise.”

He himself felt unsettled. He had met Ming Yutang before—he knew her temperament. So in truth, her actions didn’t surprise him much. What he hadn’t expected was that the Mu family’s young master was just as base.

That pretty face of his, all charming smiles like peach blossoms in April—it had fooled everyone, hiding the filth beneath.

And poor Guanxin, who had truly liked him, fasting and dieting just to please him—his sincere heart given to someone utterly unworthy.

No wonder his brother always said never to judge by appearances. He’d never really listened before, thinking Qi Beinan was being pedantic. But today, he’d learned the lesson the hard way.

They simply hadn’t met enough people to understand how tangled and ugly hearts could be.

“We have to tell Guanxin,” Bai Qiaogui said, her voice shaking with fury. “He can’t be left in the dark while they make a fool of him.”

Xiao Yuanbao sighed. “We’ll tell him, yes. But how he chooses to handle it—it’s his family’s affair, not ours. We can’t interfere too much.”

He was right. They only knew of the Ming–Mu match because they were close to Guanxin. This matter couldn’t be spread around.

Bai Qiaogui nodded quickly in agreement.

Neither of them was in the mood to visit the estate anymore. They went straight back to the county town and, that very afternoon, met with Ming Guanxin.

When he heard what they had seen, he froze for a long while before his expression hardened.

Of course he believed them—neither would ever make up such a lie. And as for Ming Yutang… that little vixen had always loved to steal his things and compete with him.

In the past it had been trivial—clothes, trinkets—but now that a handsome young man wanted to marry him instead of her, how could she not grow spiteful?

Regardless of who had seduced whom, the two were equally shameless.

Rage and humiliation surged up all at once.

“Fine! Wonderful!” Ming Guanxin spat, his chest heaving violently. He looked ready to smash everything in the room.

“What a fine pair of filthy wretches!”

Bai Qiaogui had never seen him so angry. When she noticed his gaze fall on a porcelain moon vase on the table, she hurried over to grab it. “Don’t you dare break anything!”

“I won’t!” he said coldly. “Not worth ruining my own things over two disgusting worms.”

He poured himself a full cup of cold tea and drank it down in one gulp. “If I make a scene, it’ll spread to my parents. Without proof, Ming Yutang will just deny everything—and then I’ll be the one scolded. I’m not giving her that satisfaction.”

He had grown up in a merchant household, well-schooled in how to survive under one roof full of rivals. He’d learned young that losing his temper only handed the enemy a victory. To do so now would mean he’d learned nothing—and that, he couldn’t bear.

Bai Qiaogui exhaled in relief. “You’re the sensible one. That Mu boy never deserved you anyway.”

“Thank you both for telling me,” Ming Guanxin said, voice steadier now. “Otherwise, I’d still be letting those two deceive and humiliate me.”

Xiao Yuanbao had worried the news might wound his pride, but silence would have been worse. So he spoke gently: “The marriage isn’t settled yet. It’s better to see the Mu family’s true nature now than after everything’s official. Don’t be too angry—they aren’t worth it.”

“I know,” Ming Guanxin said, though his tone was tight. “And I won’t let them get what they want.”

Xiao Yuanbao and Bai Qiaogui stayed with him for a while, offering comfort until he seemed calmer, then finally left.

Ming Guanxin saw them out with a composed face, calm as still water. But once he returned to his garden and the door closed behind him, all that self-control shattered in an instant.

Before the door even shut behind him, Ming Guanxin could no longer hold back. He covered his face and broke down, sobbing bitterly.

He wept for the first love that had ended before it ever truly began, and he wept for the humiliation of being betrayed so cruelly behind his back.

For three days, he shut himself inside his courtyard, refusing to go out or eat. He felt dazed and hollow, his body weak and his spirit dull.

One day, Ma Junyi came to the house, stopping by his garden hoping for something good to eat.

“What’s going on? You’ve lost so much weight! Are you ill?”

Ming Guanxin looked at him wearily. “There’s nothing good here today for cousin to eat.”

“Look at you, pale as a ghost. You think I’m so heartless I’d still care about food right now?”

Ma Junyi studied him, stunned by how thin he’d become—he almost thought he’d entered the wrong courtyard. “What happened to you? You look completely worn out.”

“Just some trivial family matters,” Ming Guanxin said, unwilling to explain further. Then, changing the subject, he asked, “But how is it you’re out and about today? You’ve been locked away studying ever since you failed the exam. Now that the spring session’s begun, you’ve decided to let it go?”

“That wasn’t such a big deal,” Ma Junyi replied easily. “I’ll just take the exam again in a few years. My grandfather says the family can afford it—even if I spend my life taking the exams, it won’t be a problem. My father already thinks I’m a hopeless case, so why rush to please him? I used to torment myself over it, but once I stopped, I realized it’s not worth the misery.”

He looked at Ming Guanxin. “I’m being honest with you—so tell me what’s really going on.”

Ming Guanxin’s own family didn’t even know the truth. How could he bring himself to tell Ma Junyi?

When he stayed silent, Ma Junyi frowned. “You’ve always been so straightforward. Seeing you like this… don’t tell me it’s your engagement that’s gone wrong?”

The words hit home. Ming Guanxin’s chest tightened. After a pause, he said quietly, “There’s no harm in telling you.”

“I heard from Grandfather it was with that handsome young man from the Mu family,” said Ma Junyi. “What—did he mistreat you? Tell me and I’ll go straighten him out.”

“Don’t mention him.” Ming Guanxin’s tone grew bitter. “The whole matter is ugly, and I’ve no wish to talk about it.”

He glanced at Ma Junyi, who looked refreshed and lively, his face bright and full of color—a far cry from the gloomy scholar he’d been during the New Year. Then he thought of himself now, listless and sunken, looking exactly like what he had once mocked in others.

“I shouldn’t have said those things to you before,” Ming Guanxin murmured. “When a man’s down, nothing gets through to him anyway.”

Ma Junyi was surprised to see him admit fault, a rare thing. “What on earth happened to make you reflect like this?”

But Ming Guanxin’s face shifted again. Tilting his chin upward, he said, “I show you some sympathy, and you start mocking me for it.”

“I’m not mocking you,” Ma Junyi said quickly. “I’m worried about you.”

Ming Guanxin stared at him a moment, then said quietly, “What if I told you it was Ming Yutang who deceived me—what would you do for justice then?”

Ma Junyi frowned. “You two have always been at odds. Seeing you like this, she must’ve done something truly out of line. Of course I’d take your side.”

Hearing that, Ming Guanxin’s heart eased a little.

“Seeing you in good spirits again today,” he said, “I’ve no reason to keep wallowing.”

“That’s the spirit!” Ma Junyi laughed. “Now that’s the same boy who once dared to fight me when we were children.”

Ming Guanxin couldn’t help but smile too. When they were small, Ma Junyi had always put on the airs of a nobleman’s son, prancing about with his fine manners—so easy to dislike.

Once, during a holiday, a bunch of children were flying kites in the garden, and the two of them had fought over one. Ma Junyi, though older, had been scrawny and frail; Ming Guanxin, sturdier, had pinned him down easily.

The story had been retold every New Year for laughter.

What once had been an embarrassment for Ma Junyi was now just a funny childhood tale—something to make even a wounded heart lighter.

Feeling steadier, Ming Guanxin said, “Just wait and see. I’ll make sure those who wronged me don’t have an easy time of it.”

Ma Junyi grinned. “That’s more like it. Now get dressed properly. The two of us will go out, have a good meal, and lift our spirits together.”

That was the first time Ming Guanxin had stepped out of his courtyard since the incident.

…

When Xiao Yuanbao next heard news of Ming Guanxin, it was already late April.

Qin Jiang had returned swiftly from the capital, rested a couple of days, and was preparing to depart again for the north.

Xiao Yuanbao was packing his trunk when Qin Jiang arrived, walking in upright and confident.

Seeing that, Xiao Yuanbao’s heart eased, and he immediately set aside his work to ask, “How did things go?”

“I managed to get Ming Yutang talking,” Qin Jiang said. “That little vixen was full of pride—she exposed herself without realizing it. Once I confirmed what you’d told me, I went straight to her mother.”

Madam Ming was furious. From the way things looked, the Mu family had used the marriage as a cover to gain access to the Ming family’s moon-silk trade routes.

Realizing the matter wasn’t simple, she discussed it with Ming Da.

Though Ming Da favored his concubine, he wouldn’t risk the family’s fortune. A seasoned man of business, he immediately saw through the Mu family’s scheming once his wife explained the situation.

Ming Guanxin proposed setting a trap. Ming Yutang, that foolish, lovestruck girl, was so enchanted by the Mu family’s young man that she never suspected her family had laid a snare for her. She actually went and stole the Ming family’s supplier address for the moon-silk and secretly delivered it to the Mu family.

Just as the two were whispering sweetly together, Ming Da caught them red-handed.

“My third sister really gave Father a fright this time,” Ming Guanxin said. “For the sake of a man, she forgot her parents entirely. Father was furious, called her an ungrateful wretch, and gave her several lashes. No matter how her mother wept and pleaded, he wouldn’t relent. She’s now confined in the ancestral hall and forbidden to leave the garden.”

“As for the Mu family—disgusting. To send their son out to seduce someone and steal trade secrets! Have you ever heard of such a thing? I’d only ever heard of using pretty daughters or delicate boys to lure people, never a man. Shows how far the Mu family will stoop for profit.”

“The two families have completely broken ties now. From here on, bridges are bridges and roads are roads. My father won’t let the Mu family live easily in this county.”

Ming Guanxin exhaled at last, the weight in his chest lifted.

With a glint of pride, he added, “Father said I handled myself calmly, even knew how to plan ahead—that I’ve got what it takes to manage the family business. So he’s handed me the moon-silk trade to oversee.”

He tried to speak lightly, but his delight showed through. “And mark my words, this isn’t over. That Mu brat dared to toy with me—he won’t find the business world so easy from now on.”

Xiao Yuanbao listened quietly the whole time, his eyes curved with amusement, lips gently upturned.

“What are you smiling at like that for? Have you gone soft in the head?” Ming Guanxin asked, feeling oddly embarrassed, and nudged him lightly.

“Xin-ge’er,” Xiao Yuanbao said softly, “you’re like morning dew under sunlight—you shine.”

Ming Guanxin pressed his lips together, smiling. “Listen to you spout nonsense. Seems Qi Langjun’s learning rubbed off on you.”

Xiao Yuanbao straightened his expression, inhaled deeply, then let it out slowly. Taking Ming Guanxin’s hand, he said, “I’m leaving for the capital soon. I’ve been worried about you—afraid you’d stay upset or take things too hard. Seeing how well you handled it, I can travel with an easy heart.”

“I’m not so easily broken,” Ming Guanxin said. “Really, I owe it to you and Gui-jie. If not for you two, my family wouldn’t have seen the Mu family’s true face so quickly. That man—he fooled us all with his manners and smooth talk. My father liked him, and I followed along blindly.”

He sighed. “People’s hearts are complicated. To meet someone truly kind and upright is rare. When you reach the capital, even with Qi Langjun looking after you, be careful. The city’s grand and bustling—every sort of person’s there.”

Xiao Yuanbao nodded. “I’ll remember.”

“As for your marriage,” Ming Guanxin said with a wry smile, “it’ll have to wait again.”

“Fate decides such things,” Xiao Yuanbao replied. “If there’s no one I truly like, what’s the rush? Better to live freely and happily. I’m not like you and Gui-jie.”

They talked for quite some time before parting.

On the eighteenth day of the fourth month, Xiao Yuanbao boarded a carriage, said goodbye to Xiao Hu, and set out for the capital.

By coincidence, it was the very day Qi Beinan emerged from the examination compound.

Xiao Yuanbao rolled the carriage curtain high, letting the spring wind pour in, tugging at his robe hems.

His appearance was plain and modest—he wore a dark blue, steady-looking outfit, neatly arranged like a proper married man.

His fair cheeks were darkened with a yellowish tint, and he’d dotted on a few fake freckles to mar his looks.

When Qin Jiang saw his disguise, he couldn’t help but laugh.

Travelers on the official road would glance into the carriage, then quickly avert their eyes, as if offended by the sight. That, oddly enough, reassured Xiao Yuanbao—it meant the disguise worked.

Qin Jiang said it had taken them fourteen days to reach the capital before, and twelve to return by horse. The distance was long; Xiao Yuanbao had never traveled so far. Even with Qin Jiang beside him, unease lingered in his chest.

But after several days of quiet, uneventful travel, he grew used to the road, letting his nerves ease. All he thought of now was reaching the capital soon.

In the capital, Qi Beinan left the examination hall and returned to their lodging, where he and Zhao Guangzong collapsed into sleep and didn’t stir for an entire day.

By the next morning, their strength had returned.

After nine days locked inside the exam hall, it felt suffocating—stepping out, they felt alive again.

No one was even thinking about the results yet. Everyone just wanted to breathe freely, to celebrate surviving it.

“That exam really strips a man’s skin off,” Zhao Guangzong groaned, sprawled on a rocking chair beneath the apricot tree in the courtyard. “Nine days of it, and my brain still feels like mush.”

Qi Beinan laughed. “Even the scholars from the Imperial College come out of those exams half-crazed. Feeling muddled is normal.”

“What’s done is done. Worrying won’t change a thing. Since we’ve come all this way, we might as well enjoy the capital while we wait for the results.”

So they did. During the waiting days, they wandered through every corner of the inner and outer city.

Along the way, they met up with Luo Tingfeng and Jiang Tangyuan for tea and wine.

Others fretted about their rankings, but Qi Beinan just counted the days, wondering whether Xiao Yuanbao would arrive before the results were posted.

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