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Lu Xinghe’s eyes darted away for a moment. He cleared his throat and scratched his nose.
“No.”
Chu Yue hummed. “I don’t believe you.”
Lu Xinghe’s brow raised. “Why?”
Chu Yue smiled. “If you weren’t jealous, why would you ask me to keep my distance from him?”
Lu Xinghe couldn’t help but reach out and rub the top of the girl’s head. “You are my wife. If I don’t ask you to keep your distance from him, would I want you to be close to another man?”
Chu Yue thought about it. It made sense.
But precisely because it made sense, she felt a little embarrassed.
She had thought he might be jealous of her. Now she wondered if he thought she was being presumptuous.
Thinking about it, she couldn’t help but quicken her pace.
Lu Xinghe didn’t know why Chu Yue suddenly wanted to walk so fast. He just kept up with her, reminding her to slow down from time to time and not twist her ankle.
As they walked, Chu Yue stepped on something with her foot and stumbled, almost twisting her ankle.
Lu Xinghe quickly stepped forward and grabbed Chu Yue’s arm.
“Are you alright?”
Chu Yue shook her head and looked down at her feet. She thought it was a pebble and was about to kick it away, but when she saw the silver ingot that was sparkling in the sunlight, she looked at Lu Xinghe in surprise.
They exchanged glances. Chu Yue hurriedly bent down and picked up the silver ingot, turning it over and over in her hands. The silver ingot weighed about ten taels. Some dirt had accumulated in the cracks of the ingot. She didn’t know how long it had been there. It was clearly ownerless. There was nothing special about it except for the four large characters “Nan Yuan Treasury Silver” engraved on the bottom, which made her slightly furrow her brow.
Chu Yue didn’t quite understand what those four characters meant, but she knew that this kind of silver, marked with its origin, couldn’t be used indiscriminately. Otherwise, it might bring trouble.
She placed the silver ingot in Lu Xinghe’s hand.
“Husband, take a look.”
Lu Xinghe examined the silver ingot, his brow furrowed.
“This silver ingot seems to be from the national treasury.”
She could find a silver ingot on a mountain path. This girl’s luck was truly extraordinary.
Chu Yue looked confused.
“From the national treasury?”
Lu Xinghe nodded. “Only silver ingots from the national treasury would be engraved with the four characters ‘Nan Yuan Treasury Silver.’ This kind of silver is mainly used for military pay, official salaries, imperial palace expenses, local construction, disaster relief, and so on. It rarely falls into the hands of ordinary people.”
Chu Yue looked disappointed.
“So, according to you, we can’t use this silver ingot?”
“Of course, we can’t use government silver. Whether it’s ordinary people or officials, using government silver for personal gain will be punished by beheading. However, if you melt it into silver pieces, it won’t be a problem.” Lu Xinghe placed the silver ingot back in Chu Yue’s hand. “Since it’s ownerless, you should keep it safe for now. When it gets colder, we’ll melt it together when we go to the kiln. Don’t let Mother know, so she won’t worry. And don’t tell anyone else, so people won’t have their eyes on it.”
Chu Yue nodded and carefully hid the ten-tael silver ingot in the band of her sleeve.
Ten taels!
It wasn’t a small amount.
Although honesty was a virtue, if they turned it in, the silver ingot probably wouldn’t end up in the hands of the owner anyway. Their family was so poor, they might as well keep it for themselves.
They continued on their journey after a short delay.
Chu Yue looked around as they walked, collecting any medicinal herbs she saw.
About halfway through their journey, the foot Chu Yue had stepped on the silver ingot with started to ache slightly. It even became a bit difficult for her to walk.
Seeing her limping, Lu Xinghe handed her the basket he was carrying.
“Take this.”
Chu Yue took the basket, confused. Then she saw Lu Xinghe crouching in front of her.
“Get on. I’ll carry you.”
Chu Yue quickly waved her hand. “No need. I can walk.”
Lu Xinghe turned his head and looked at her. “Your foot isn’t suitable for walking a long distance. Let me carry you okay?”
Chu Yue hesitated for a moment, then obediently climbed onto his back.
“Okay then.”
At least she wouldn’t have to face him, which would be less awkward.
Lu Xinghe’s lips curved into a smile. He carried Chu Yue through the mountains with ease, seemingly unaffected. He even walked faster than when he was walking with her before.
Chu Yue lay on his broad back, feeling the clear, taut muscles of his back through his clothes. She felt completely safe.
He was handsome and considerate. It was hard for any woman not to like him. Although their family was poor, they were a happy and peaceful family, and that was actually pretty good.
She suddenly felt that being able to marry into such a family, in a society where women had a low status, was already very good. There was no need to dwell on the matter of love. It would make her seem too sentimental.
Thinking this, Chu Yue wrapped her arms around Lu Xinghe’s neck and rested her head on his broad shoulder, a faint smile on her face.
Sensing the girl’s relaxed body, Lu Xinghe raised the corners of his lips slightly and slowed his pace. He moved quickly and steadily through the mountains.
Finally, after some delays on the road, they arrived back in Banpo Village before sunset.
Fearing that they would be surrounded by the villagers, Chu Yue whispered, “Husband, put me down, will you? It’s not good for people to see us like this.”
But Lu Xinghe didn’t seem to have any intention of putting her down. “It’s natural for a husband to carry his wife. Why should we care what others have to say?”
Hearing Lu Xinghe’s response, Chu Yue’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
Just then, a voice came from ahead.
“Oh! What’s going on?”
Lu Xinghe had already carried Chu Yue to the entrance of the village. The one speaking was Wang Xuelan, who was carrying vegetables from the kitchen to wash them outside her house near the village entrance.
Chu Yue called out to Wang Xuelan, following Lu Xinghe’s lead, “Grandma.”
Lu Xinghe continued, “Today we came back from Yueyue’s visit home. On our way back, she twisted her ankle, so I carried her for a while.”
Wang Xuelan hurriedly put down the basin in her hands. “Is it serious? If it’s serious, you must go see a doctor tomorrow.”
Chu Yue quickly shook her head. “It’s not serious. I just twisted it a little, and I walked too far, so it hurts. It’ll be fine after a day or two of rest.”
Just then, the rest of the family heard the commotion outside and came out of the house.
There was Lu Xinghe’s grandfather, his elder and younger uncles, his fourth uncle, his elder and younger aunts, his younger aunt, and a bunch of children, grandchildren, and daughters-in-law from his uncles.
More than twenty pairs of eyes were all fixed on Chu Yue, who was on Lu Xinghe’s back.
Chu Yue wasn’t a person who loved crowds, and being watched by so many people made her feel a little embarrassed. She leaned into Lu Xinghe’s ear and whispered, “Husband, put me down, will you?”
They were still at the village entrance. They had a long way to go. Wouldn’t she be like a monkey on display, being watched all the way?