Chapter 29 – Explaining the Backstory

“I believe you!” Xia Tian said seriously.

Shen Nian looked into her eyes and calmly recounted his background and everything he had been through.

It turned out that Shen Nian’s family lived in the capital. He was the legitimate eldest son of the Marquis of Wu’an. His birth mother passed away from illness when he was two, and when he was three, his father married a second wife.

The stepmother later gave birth to two sons and a daughter, with the eldest son being only four years younger than Shen Nian.

When the stepmother married in, she treated him quite well—often fussing over him, showing care and concern. He never expected it was all an act just to lower his guard.

It wasn’t until he suddenly fell ill with poisoning at seventeen that he realized the truth. His stepmother had been scheming for his heirship all along. Ever since she gave birth to her first child, she had been secretly poisoning his food and drink.

By the time he figured it out, it was too late. Medicine couldn’t cure him.

In order to detoxify himself, he tried countless methods and never stopped searching. The last time, he was on his way to seek the famed physician Xue—said to have the ability to bring people back from the brink of death—when he was ambushed. Most of his guards were killed.

To divert their pursuers, Mu Feng took part of the guard detail and separated from them. Mu Yang led the remaining people to protect him, but they were attacked again. All of the guards were killed. Mu Yang was seriously injured trying to save him, and in the end, the two of them ended up in Liu Family Village.

When Mu Yang realized he didn’t have much time left, he married Xia Tian both to ensure Shen Nian would be cared for in the future and to throw off suspicion.

After Shen Nian finished speaking, Xia Tian was dumbfounded.

This guy’s life was tragic!

“There’s actually a stepmother that vicious? What about your dad? Did he just do nothing?” Xia Tian asked angrily, her fists clenched.

“He did act. He beat and killed a few unrelated servants,” Shen Nian said with a sarcastic snort.

“That’s it? What about your stepmother?”

“She knelt in the ancestral hall for two days. Then came out and continued living glamorously as the Marchioness.”

His stepmother, Lady Liu, was the second daughter of the Earl of Lingxiu, a powerful family that held considerable influence in the capital.

“What did your grandmother say? Didn’t she try to seek justice for you?”

Shen Nian had a grandmother who had always doted on him.

“She said, ‘Family scandals should not be made public.’”

Even though he had been her most beloved grandson, she was still willing to sacrifice him for the family’s reputation.

“What kind of people are these? Their own son and grandson nearly got killed, and they’re still saying ‘family scandals shouldn’t be aired in public’—ugh, I’m furious!”

Xia Tian slammed her hand down on the table. With a loud crack, the table collapsed and the teapot shattered on the ground.

She jumped in surprise. “Wait, what the…?”

What just happened? Since when was she this strong?

Shen Nian stared, stunned. This girl… that strength…

He hadn’t expected that!

Just then, Mu Feng came in with two buckets of water.

When he saw the collapsed table and the shattered teapot, he paused in confusion. “What happened here?” Had his cousin gotten into a fight with his sister-in-law?

Xia Tian grinned sheepishly. “Oops… didn’t control my strength.”

“You did that?” Mu Feng was stunned. “You know martial arts?”

“No, no, I just… have a bit of strength,” she waved her hands quickly.

Mu Feng gave her a thumbs-up. “Sister-in-law, you’re amazing!”

Xia Tian smiled shyly and quickly grabbed a broom to clean up the mess.

Then she brought over another table from the shed.

There were a few of these tables—Shen Nian had made them from woven bamboo.

But now they’d need to buy a new set of teapots.

Back to business!

Xia Tian sat down again and asked, “Brother Shen, don’t you want to get revenge?”

Shen Nian was silent. Of course he wanted revenge. It was just that before, he thought he didn’t have much time left and had resigned himself to waiting for death.

“Revenge isn’t that easy.”

“As long as you want revenge, that’s enough. I’ll help you!”

Mu Feng was curious. “How are you going to help?”

“Do you know what the best form of revenge is?” Xia Tian grinned proudly.

“What?” both of them asked at once.

“It’s for Brother Shen to get healthy and live his best life! Live gloriously and happily,” Xia Tian said with a mysterious smile. “Once you’re fully recovered, go back in grand fashion—just to let your stepmother see you alive and kicking. She’ll probably die of rage.”

The two men exchanged a look.

That’s it?

Xia Tian imagined the look on Shen Nian’s stepmother’s face if she saw him safe and sound—it made her want to laugh. “Brother Shen, have you ever heard this saying?”

“What saying?”

“I just love that look on your face when you hate me but can’t do a damn thing about it!”

It was a phrase often used in her old world to tease people.

And she thought it was perfect for Shen Nian and his stepmother.

“I just love that look on your face when you hate me but can’t do a damn thing about it,” Shen Nian softly repeated, mulling over the words. It actually made a lot of sense.

Suddenly, he felt like a weight had been lifted. He turned to Xia Tian and solemnly cupped his hands. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Brother Shen!” Xia Tian said with a big grin.

Seeing the gloom on Shen Nian’s face completely disappear, she knew he had found the will to live again.

Mu Feng had been listening from the side. Seeing the light return to his cousin’s eyes, just like before the poisoning, he felt genuinely happy. He admired Xia Tian even more. “Sister-in-law, you really are something else.”

“If you ever need anything, just say the word. I’ll give it my all!”

“No need for that. What would I even ask for?”

“Then I’ll go fetch more water.” Mu Feng said as he lifted the buckets and headed out again.

“Brother Shen, so what are your plans for the future?” Xia Tian asked.

“I’ll focus on recovering first.”

“Exactly! That’s what you should do. Don’t think about anything else. Just get better first, and everything else will follow.”

“Mm.” Shen Nian nodded.

When Xia Tian heard that Shen Nian didn’t plan on returning to the capital just yet, she breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t saved enough money yet, and she wasn’t ready to make any other moves.

Looked like she needed to make more money—just in case Shen Nian left someday, she would still need to take care of herself.

As for going to the capital with him… she had thought about it. But she was just a peasant girl. He was the heir of a noble house. He might not take her with him.

And even if he did, while people here said she was Shen Nian’s wife, no one in the capital would likely acknowledge that.

What if…? Right?

She couldn’t put all her hopes on someone else. Relying on herself was more reliable.

Xia Tian pushed down her thoughts and went to prep the pig head.

No point thinking too much right now. Making money was the top priority. With money, she’d have confidence.

Mu Feng came back after filling the water tank and joined in to help clean up.

Xia Tian gave him the pig head to wash while she went to deal with the pig intestines.

Mu Feng cleaned the pig head thoroughly, then helped her remove the fat from the intestines. He didn’t mind the mess at all. Using a bamboo scraper, he cleaned them quickly and well.

Xia Tian noticed that he did the job better than she did, so she went to the kitchen to boil water and start braising the pig head and tofu.

Although yesterday’s pig head meat sold out, the high price put some people off.

She figured the price couldn’t go down, so she’d have to improve the quality. So earlier, while braising, she added a few drops of spring water to the pot.

Tomorrow she’d see how the customers reacted.

Even if there wasn’t a big difference, it definitely wouldn’t hurt.

With Mu Feng helping out today, they managed to clean six sets of intestines in about an hour.

Xia Tian took them to the kitchen to braise.

Shen Nian continued sitting in the courtyard, slicing bamboo strips.

Mu Feng helped organize the strips beside him. He couldn’t help but feel amazed—his cousin had changed so much!

That evening, Xia Tian served cold pig head slices, dry pot intestines, and poured each person a bowl of the wine she had bought. Mu Feng couldn’t stop eating—even used the last of the sauce to mix with rice and wiped his bowl clean.

After dinner, Mu Feng insisted on doing the dishes, but Xia Tian didn’t let him.

So he grabbed the buckets and went out to fetch more water again—half the tank had been used when cleaning the intestines earlier.

That night, Mu Feng and Shen Nian shared a room.

There was nothing awkward about it. Back when they trained with the army, he often ate and slept alongside Shen Nian and Mu Yang.

They were closer than brothers.

Before bed, Mu Feng finally shared what he had discovered from tracking their enemies.

Both groups had been sent from the capital!

“She sent them?” Shen Nian asked, frowning.

“Not all of them.”

“Then who else?”