Chapter 57 – With this broken body of his, he truly shouldn’t drag him down any further.

In the modern world, Jiang Wan had visited swimming pools several times and didn’t sense anything wrong now. She even rolled up her pant leg to warm herself by the fire.

As she lifted her pants, a section of her fair, glowing leg was exposed. Song Jiuyuan, feeling uneasy, lowered his eyes.

“Jiang Wan, are you always this casual in front of others too?”

His tone carried a hint of frustration without him realizing it. Jiang Wan didn’t understand and seriously continued drying her clothes. She raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing. Forget it.”

Song Jiuyuan felt defeated. He could only pretend not to see, fixing his eyes on his nose and heart, but his heart still skipped a beat involuntarily.

Of course, Jiang Wan was unaware of this. She focused on drying her clothes, then left him to warm his own and stepped out of the cave into the valley outside.

Apart from the medicinal field, the valley still had plenty of wild animals. Jiang Wan, feeling a bit itchy to act, pulled out a bow and arrows from her space—she wasn’t even sure where she’d gotten them.

Whoosh!

Wild chickens, rabbits, and roe deer were hit by Jiang Wan. With a wave of her small hand, she collected all of them into her space.

To avoid arousing Song Jiuyuan’s suspicion, she knocked one of the wild chickens out with a stone. She also casually gathered some herbs, then cautiously glanced beyond the valley before returning to the cave.

Not seeing any signs of those people, she finally felt at ease. Inside, Song Jiuyuan had also finished drying his clothes. When he saw her return, his eyes lit up slightly.

“They haven’t found this place yet. Let’s eat something first.”

Jiang Wan handed him the wild chicken and the water pouch. Fortunately, the pouch had been hanging on her the entire time; otherwise, it would’ve been hard to get water.

The water in her pouch was mixed with space water. After a few sips, Song Jiuyuan felt warm currents flow down his throat and spread through his body.

Just moments ago, he’d been shivering slightly, but now he felt much warmer. He murmured:

“They could find this place at any time. We still have to be cautious.”

“Don’t worry. I already erased our traces by the riverside—they won’t find us so quickly.”

What she didn’t say was that she’d also asked the little spirit to cover the valley entrance with straw. Unless someone with her level of medical knowledge came by, no one would think to enter the valley.

“That’s good.”

Song Jiuyuan didn’t ask where Jiang Wan had gotten the dagger. He carefully cleaned the wild chicken, and Jiang Wan took charge of roasting it.

Under the firelight, a reddish hue spread across her fair face—clearly from earlier excitement. She looked completely different from before. Song Jiuyuan murmured:

“Jiang Wan, how does a woman of the inner chambers like you know all this?”

He had many questions in his heart. This was just a probing one.

Jiang Wan glanced at him and flipped the chicken in her hand. After a while, she said:

“I’ve explained it before, haven’t I? When you were in the capital, you saw me every day.

But my mother died early, and my father always kept me locked in the courtyard. There’s a mountain not far behind the Ministry of Official Personnel’s residence. Once, I sneaked out and got lost in the mountains for days.

To survive, what can’t you learn?”

This memory was indeed part of the original host’s life, though not as casually stated as she made it sound. The original host had nearly died in the mountains.

“Were they… really that bad to you?”

Song Jiuyuan asked hesitantly, suddenly realizing how shallow his past impression of Jiang Wan had been.

He only knew that whenever he returned to the capital, she’d cling to him like plaster, shamelessly confessing her love in public.

“When there’s a stepmother, the stepfather follows suit. Of course, they treated me badly.”

Jiang Wan glanced at him blandly and tore the roasted chicken in half, handing some to him. “If I had something my little sister liked, it meant I didn’t love her. If I liked something of hers, I was selfish and petty. Throwing a tantrum meant hunger or a beating.”

She lowered her eyes. Though it was the original host’s memory, Jiang Wan still felt a heavy pressure in her chest when mentioning it.

Song Jiuyuan raised his hand, wanting to rub her head, but realizing it was greasy, awkwardly lowered it again and found himself at a loss for words.

“Actually… I didn’t mean to cling to you at the start.”

Jiang Wan swallowed a mouthful of chicken and said sadly, “But my father was always dissatisfied with me, thinking I was talentless and useless.

One day, he praised you as the most outstanding man in the world. I thought, if I could marry you, maybe he’d finally see me in a new light.”

This more or less explained why the original host had been so obsessive before. What Jiang Wan said wasn’t wrong—the original host had genuinely thought that way.

But all of it was due to the father and stepmother’s manipulation. The original host was just naïve and clueless. That was the truly tragic part.

“So all the things you said before were lies?”

Song Jiuyuan focused on a strange detail. Thinking about how she’d once said she admired only him and that it was love at first sight—he unexpectedly felt a bit disappointed.

“I’m truly sorry for causing you so much trouble before. But now I’ve figured it out—one shouldn’t live for others. I’m going to live for myself!”

Jiang Wan took a sip of water. “So once we reach the exile destination, let’s divorce. I want to live a free life.”

Hearing her repeatedly talk about divorcing, Song Jiuyuan felt a heaviness in his chest but still agreed.

“All right.”

With this broken body of his, he really shouldn’t drag her down any longer.

Their heart-to-heart talk was a success. Song Jiuyuan’s view of Jiang Wan completely changed, and Jiang Wan was overjoyed in her heart. She crushed the herbs she had collected and said with concern:

“Let me apply some medicine for you.”

“No need. It’s fine if I skip a day.”

Song Jiuyuan’s ears turned red, but since the cave was dim, Jiang Wan didn’t notice.

She rolled her eyes, annoyed. “I’m a girl, and I don’t fuss about this stuff. You’re the one acting like a shy maiden.”

Song Jiuyuan: …

He realized—he could never win an argument with her.

“I’m just afraid… of scaring you.”

Song Jiuyuan sighed and resigned himself, closing his eyes and lying face down on a rock. Jiang Wan roughly lifted his clothes.

Oh god!

She’d never seen it in person before, but now she wanted to curse that damned emperor for being so brutal.

His body was covered in mottled scars. Some wounds had already started healing, but others were still fresh and red.

All that movement earlier had reopened the wounds, and his calf, which had once been fractured, seemed to be dislocated again.

“Don’t move. I’ll set the bone.”

Jiang Wan sighed, her pale fingers grasping his leg. “Song Jiuyuan, has anyone ever told you that you’re really good-looking?”

“Huh?”

Song Jiuyuan didn’t understand why she asked that. In his confusion, she suddenly exerted force on his leg, the pain bringing tears to his eyes.

So she’d asked that to distract him.

“You need to take care of this wound properly.”

Jiang Wan didn’t show any hesitation. In her eyes, Song Jiuyuan was just a patient now—no different than a corpse.

But for Song Jiuyuan, it was very uncomfortable. His ears turned even redder, and he said self-deprecatingly:

“You saw it. Those men in black were targeting me. If they don’t kill me, they won’t rest.”

As he spoke, his fingers clenched into fists and his eyes turned bloodshot. Luckily, he had his back to Jiang Wan, so she didn’t see it. She only said:

“Relax. The wicked live long—you won’t die.”

Though her words were blunt, she wasn’t gentle in her treatment either. Yet Song Jiuyuan was incredibly resilient. Despite the pain, he didn’t make a single sound.

Jiang Wan couldn’t help but admire that.

No wonder he’s the big villain in the book!