To Be the Male Lead's Deceased First Wife in a Historical Chinese Exam-focused Novel - Chapter 43

Chapter 43: A Stripped-Down Examination

After Yan An said, “You’re greater than the county magistrate,” Wen Ying’s father’s face turned as black as a pot.

Yan An didn’t want to say anything more and pulled Wen Ying to walk back to their house.

However, the Wen family must have had a purpose for coming this time. Since their purpose hadn’t been achieved, there was no way they would give up so easily.

Wen Ying’s two younger brothers came up to them. They looked at Yan An’s face and then said to Wen Ying, “Sister, isn’t it a little too much for you to treat Mom and Dad like this?”

Wen Ying looked at them coldly. She wasn’t holding Yan An’s hand, and the hand on her other side slowly clenched into a fist.

She didn’t like the way her two younger brothers were looking at Yan An.

Wen Ying’s two younger brothers would occasionally glance at Yan An’s face. They got closer to Wen Ying and whispered, “Mom and Dad want us to learn how to cook from sister-in-law. When we go back, my younger brother and I can also go out and find a job to do by ourselves. This can also reduce the burden on the family, right?”

“Also, sister-in-law is really pretty.”

When he said the last sentence, his tone was filled with a suggestive atmosphere that said, “You know what I mean.”

“Ah!”

A cry of pain instantly pierced the sky. No one reacted to the sudden change in front of them. They only saw Wen Ying breaking free from the hand that Yan An was holding. She had a cold and stern expression as she punched her younger brother, who was taller and stronger than her. Every punch was aimed at his weak points!

Wen Ying’s fourth younger brother wiped the bl00d from the corner of his mouth. He widened his eyes in disbelief. “Are you crazy?!”

Wen Ying didn’t say a word. She just put all her strength into every punch she threw at him. Even though her younger brother looked taller and stronger than her, he was no match for Wen Ying, who did physical labor all year round. He was beaten until his body was hunched over, and he kept cursing angrily.

When her fifth younger brother saw that the situation wasn’t right, he rushed over to try to stop her. But he was hit directly in the eye by a punch from Wen Ying.

When Wen Ying’s mother saw that both of her precious sons were being beaten, she let out a loud wail. She rushed forward and tried to grab Wen Ying, cursing that she deserved to die.

Yan An recovered from her initial shock. Seeing that the situation wasn’t right, she brazenly yelled out to Auntie Li for help.

The commotion from the fight had already been a little loud. The people at Auntie Li’s house had already heard some noise. They were still hesitant about whether to come out and take a look, but after hearing Yan An’s voice this time, the whole family immediately grabbed all the tools they could and rushed out of the door.

They ran toward the Yan family’s house and saw Yan An being pushed to the ground by a woman. Wen Ying was surrounded by people. Even though she could still fight them, she was no match for four hands and was at a disadvantage.

When Auntie Li saw this, her eyes were filled with anger. She grabbed a carrying pole and directly hit the woman who was grabbing Wen Ying’s hair. Then, the carrying pole seemed to have eyes and went to hit the two young, strong men, separating them from Wen Ying.

“Quick! They’re human traffickers!” Zhou Xiaolu suddenly shouted.

Mr. Li and his son also had a tacit understanding and hit the four people with their sticks. In an instant, the Wen family was crying and wailing. They kept trying to explain that they weren’t human traffickers, but as soon as they opened their mouths, they were hit with a stick again and cried out in pain. In the end, they could only run away.

Even Wen Ying’s father, who had been putting on airs, couldn’t anymore. He was limping as he ran into the distance. After he had run a little farther, he didn’t forget to shout angrily, “Wen Ying, be careful. You’ll get your retribution for doing this!”

“You talk too much!” Zhou Xiaolu directly threw the fire poker in her hand at Wen Ying’s father!

However, at this moment, Wen Ying didn’t care about them. She quickly went to help Yan An, who was on the ground. When she saw the pained expression on Yan An’s face, her eyes instantly turned red.

“Yan An, are you okay…” Wen Ying wanted to help her, but when she saw the pained expression on her face, she hesitated and didn’t dare to move. Her eyes were so red that she was about to cry.

Yan An gasped in pain, but she didn’t forget to comfort her. “I’m fine. I just twisted it.”

Actually, the main reason was that her back happened to fall on a slightly sharp stone when she fell. That moment was so painful that it went straight to her heart.

Auntie Li’s family quickly gathered around. They were also a little confused when they saw the situation. “Why did they start fighting?”

Even without those people saying their identities, they could vaguely guess who they were. It was hard to imagine that those people would dare to fight when they were still at their front door.

Wen Ying carefully tried to pick up Yan An. “It’s nothing. I just don’t want to see them.”

Yan An was carried horizontally by her. Fortunately, Wen Ying was holding her waist and not her back. Otherwise, Yan An felt that she would have jumped up on the spot.

“Auntie Li, Uncle Wu, thank you. We’ve troubled you this time,” Wen Ying thanked Auntie Li’s family in a low voice.

“There’s no need to thank us. If you encounter something like this again in the future, call for help earlier, okay?” Auntie Li looked at their embarrassed state with a little heartache. Fortunately, nothing serious happened to them, but even this was enough to be frightening.

“Mmm, I understand,” Wen Ying nodded. All she wanted to do now was to quickly take Yan An home to check on her condition, and she didn’t want to say anything more.

Auntie Li also clearly understood what she was thinking, so she told her to hurry home and call them if anything happened.

Wen Ying nodded and quickly carried Yan An home.

…

When she was about to put Yan An on the bed, Yan An quickly called out.

“It’s dirty, dirty, dirty!”

When she fell earlier, she must have gotten some dirt on her. If she put her directly on the bed now, wouldn’t it get on the bed?

Wen Ying’s movements stopped when she heard this. She couldn’t help but look at her helplessly, feeling that she could still be concerned about this at a time like this.

Seeing that she was really resisting getting on the bed, Wen Ying carefully put her on a nearby chair and let her sit. She quickly took off her outer clothes. After making sure that there was no dirt on her body, she put her on the bed.

“Wait, help me turn over,” Yan An groaned in pain as soon as she was put down. Her current lying position was pressing on her injured back, and it hurt so much.

Wen Ying’s expression instantly froze. She immediately understood what was going on and reached out to help her turn over, letting Yan An lie on her stomach on the bed.

“Is your back injured too?”

“Mmm,” Yan An responded with a muffled sound.

She was still holding back her anger, angry at herself and the Wen family. She already disliked the Wen family so much, but she still couldn’t win a fight against them. When she was pushed by Wen Ying’s mother, she had the illusion that she was being pushed and was about to fly away. In front of her mother, her little bit of fighting ability was not enough at all!

She thought that her physical fitness had improved a lot during this time, but now it seemed that compared to those people who did farm work all year round, her strength was really like a flower on an embroidered pillow.

Wen Ying’s chest was filled with frustration. As soon as she thought that Yan An’s injuries were all caused by the Wen family, Wen Ying’s self-loathing became even stronger.

“I’ll help you take a look, and then put some medicine on, okay?” Wen Ying tried her best to make her voice a little softer. She didn’t want to reveal her emotions, which were almost on the verge of collapsing.

When she heard her words, Yan An pursed her lips and felt the pain on her back. The injury was on her back, and she couldn’t deal with it herself, so only Wen Ying could do it. But this way, she would have to take off her clothes…

“You can look,” Yan An dejectedly buried her face in the pillow, and her voice came out muffled.

After she gets better, she must increase her workout intensity! She must never let a situation like this happen again! Even if it does, she must at least rip a layer of skin off the other person!

Wen Ying didn’t care about Yan An’s secret thoughts at this moment. She took a deep breath, lifted Yan An’s upper body slightly, and unbuttoned her clothes. As Yan An’s top was taken off, a large bruise on her left shoulder blade was revealed. The center of it had even turned a purplish-red color.

In such a short time, the injury had become like this. It was imaginable how painful it was.

Wen Ying bit her lip. She raised her hand and wanted to touch it, but she stopped just before her fingertip touched it, afraid that she would hurt Yan An.

“It’s a little serious. It’s already bruised and red. Should I call a doctor to come and take a look?” Wen Ying’s voice trembled. She didn’t dare to think about how much pain Yan An must be in right now. This person was clearly so afraid of pain.

Yan An hissed and quickly refused. “No need. It’s not serious enough to call a doctor. And I don’t feel like there’s any bleeding. You can just apply an ice pack first, and then use some medicated oil to rub it.”

Even though it hurt, Yan An could still tell that there wasn’t a big problem and that she hadn’t broken any bones. She could just use some medicated oil to rub away the bruise. Anyway, the doctor would also give her the same solution.

Wen Ying was a little worried and still wanted the doctor to come and see if there were any hidden injuries.

Seeing how stubborn she was, Yan An got angry.

“I said it’s nothing serious! Do you want me to strip naked and let you check my whole body before you feel at ease!”

Hearing her exasperated voice, Wen Ying pursed her lips. She really wanted to say that even if she stripped naked for her to check, she would only be able to see if she had any external injuries and wouldn’t be able to tell if she had any internal injuries.

She sighed in her heart and asked, “Do you have any other external injuries?”

“No,” Yan An said dejectedly.

Just this was already frustrating enough for her. If she had multiple injuries, she would have no face to show anyone!

Wen Ying pulled the blanket over Yan An. She herself went out to get some cold water to apply a cold compress on Yan An.

“It’s going to be very cold. Tell me if you can’t stand it,” Wen Ying said in a low voice as she bit her lip.

“Mmm, I know,” Yan An tried her best to sound nonchalant.

Wen Ying took a deep breath, put her hand into the ice water, and then placed it on Yan An’s back.

The moment her hand was placed on her back, she clearly felt the skin under her palm tremble violently. Then, she heard Yan An’s clear gasp.

“Are you okay?” Feeling her body stiffen, Wen Ying stopped her movements and asked uncertainly.

“I’m… fine. Con… tinue!” Yan An said through gritted teeth.

However, her two hands were already tightly gripping the bed sheet, and her face had turned pale from enduring the pain.

It really hurt. It wasn’t because Yan An was being delicate.

Even just a light touch was enough to kill her.

As Wen Ying applied the cold water to her back again and again, Yan An felt a little numb, and the pain also slightly subsided. Only then did she have the mind to think about other things.

“You… you can just find something to sprinkle the water on me. You don’t have to touch such cold water with your hands,” Yan An bit her lip, and her eyes were a little red.

“You’ll catch a cold that way,” Wen Ying said softly, and continued to put her hand into the ice water before placing it on her back.

Yan An’s eyes turned even redder. She buried her face in the blanket and said in a muffled voice, “You’re usually so smart. Why are you being so silly today? It’s the same if you get a towel wet and put it on me.”

Wen Ying’s hand, which was applying the cold compress, stopped for a moment. She lowered her head and looked at her red hands that were frozen. Her anxious heart only then realized that she could indeed do what Yan An had said.

She got up and found a towel, got it wet, and put it on her.

Seeing that she was being obedient, Yan An felt relieved in her heart. But now, without anyone talking, she felt a little uncomfortable. So she looked for other things to distract herself.

“How… how are you?”

“I’m fine,” Wen Ying immediately replied.

She had caught her brother off guard when she made a move. Even after the others reacted, she didn’t suffer much.

Yan An gritted her teeth, but she was a little unconvinced in her heart. After Wen Ying’s mother pushed her away, she had punched Wen Ying’s back several times when she went to break up the fight. With the force of Wen Ying’s mother’s punches, and in that situation, she definitely didn’t hold back. It was probably very painful.

“When you take off your clothes later, I’ll check.”

Wen Ying’s movements stopped for a moment. She immediately continued, trying her best to shorten the time that Yan An was in pain.

“Okay, I understand,” Wen Ying quietly took a deep breath. She didn’t want any inappropriate thoughts to pop up at this moment.

As Wen Ying applied the cold compress, the pain relief effect indeed showed. Yan An felt a cool sensation on her injured back, and the pain also lessened a little.

When Wen Ying completely removed the towel from her back, a thought that it was finally over popped up in Yan An’s mind.

She lay on the bed as if she had no strength left and didn’t want to move at all.

However, as Wen Ying helped her put on her clothes and covered her with the blanket, Yan An noticed that Wen Ying was walking toward the end of the bed. Then, the blanket on her feet was lifted, and her cold feet fell into a pair of warm hands.

Yan An: “…”

“There’s also some redness on your ankle,” Wen Ying said in a low voice. Fortunately, it wasn’t twisted too badly and didn’t swell up, but this kind of injury on Yan An still made Wen Ying feel an ache.

She got a towel wet again and put it on her.

Yan An groaned. A look of unbearable pain flashed across her face. In the end, she closed her eyes, turned her head away, and bit her lip to endure.

After Wen Ying finished applying the compress to her feet, she started to move Yan An’s body, wanting to check the scratches on her neck.

“No, there’s nothing wrong here. It’ll get better in a few days,” Yan An said quickly. She was almost being held in Wen Ying’s arms.

Wen Ying paused when she heard her words, but in the end, she still checked to make sure. The skin was a little broken, and there was a slight redness and swelling. But fortunately, it wasn’t too serious. It would probably scab over and get better in a couple of days.

Looking at the injury on Yan An’s neck, Wen Ying’s eyes were filled with darkness. If she hadn’t been concerned about the injury on Yan An’s back, she would have only wanted to hug her tightly.

She hated everyone who hurt Yan An, but the person who hurt Yan An was her own family.

“Yan An…”

Wen Ying called Yan An’s name in a low voice. Her eyes were sore and swollen, which made her feel uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong?” Yan An also got a little anxious when she heard her crying tone.

“Don’t cry! I don’t know how to coax people!”

“I’m sorry,” Wen Ying’s nose felt sour. If it wasn’t for her, Yan An wouldn’t have been injured today.

When she heard her say “I’m sorry,” Yan An didn’t care about how much her back hurt anymore. She turned around and glared at her. She forced herself to sound tough and said, “It’s not your fault, so why are you saying sorry? I find you very strange. You always take on responsibilities that don’t belong to you.”

Wen Ying was scolded by her and looked at her with red eyes and a dazed expression.

Seeing that she still had such a clueless reaction, Yan An couldn’t help but glare at her again. “This time, it was clearly your parents’ fault. Why are you rushing to say sorry? You didn’t tell them to come, and you didn’t tell your mother to push me.”

“Doesn’t it get tiring for this person to always take on so much responsibility?” Yan An felt tired just by watching her.

Wen Ying pursed her lips, her eyelids slightly closed, and she said in a very soft voice, “Without me, they wouldn’t have appeared in front of you.”

Yan An: “???”

She looked at Wen Ying with a shocked expression. She was almost made to laugh in anger by her logic. If she said it like that, it seemed to be the case, but if you were to really analyze it, what did it have to do with her? She wasn’t the one with bad intentions!

“Shut up. Don’t say all this nonsense. Hurry up and take off your clothes,” Yan An didn’t have the patience to talk to her about this anymore. In the future, if Wen Ying had any of these inappropriate thoughts again, she would just scold her directly. Trying to reason with her would just make her angry.

After being scolded, Wen Ying pursed her lips, and her eyebrows drooped slightly. Under Yan An’s urging gaze, she still had to raise her hands and take off her clothes.

As her clothes were taken off one by one, Yan An saw that Wen Ying was about to take off her inner garments in front of her and quickly spoke up to stop her.

“Turn around and face away from me,” The main reason she wanted to see was the situation on Wen Ying’s back after her mother hit her. She didn’t want to look at her chest.

When she heard her words, Wen Ying looked at her. In the end, she silently and obediently turned around and faced away from Yan An, revealing her back.

Yan An looked at it carefully. Fortunately, it seemed that there was nothing wrong with it for now. She thought that it hurt to be hit, but it wasn’t enough to cause bruising. However, it was also possible that the bruising would show up later.

“Does it hurt? When your mother hit you,” Yan An couldn’t help but ask. From the skilled way Wen Ying’s mother hit and cursed at her, it was hard not to suspect that Wen Ying not only had to do a lot of work when she was at home, but she was also very likely to be beaten and scolded.

Wen Ying was silent for a moment. She put her clothes back on and said softly, “It doesn’t hurt.”

Hearing her say this, Yan An pursed her lips, and a look of unbearable pain appeared on her face.

“Fortunately, only Auntie Li’s family saw what happened today,” Yan An said in a low voice, and there was a hint of unwillingness in her tone.

In a world like this, disobeying one’s elders was an extremely rebellious and unfilial thing in the eyes of the world. It didn’t matter what kind of person the elder was or if they were worthy of respect. As long as they gave birth to them, it was as if they could always be one step above them.

If what happened today were to be spread, and Wen Ying was going to take the imperial examination, it would definitely affect her reputation and be disadvantageous to her situation.

Hearing her say this, Wen Ying’s expression didn’t change. She reached out and helped Yan An lie back down on her stomach.

“It’s nothing. They won’t spread it,”

From what Wen Ying knew about them, they had suffered such a loss from their daughter and daughter-in-law. They wouldn’t be able to put their pride down and publicize it.

“Oh,” Yan An responded softly. But when she thought about the Wen family, she still felt a little unhappy.

Wen Ying looked at her unhappy expression and sighed softly. “They probably came to see us because they saw that you were doing so well as a village chef.”

In the past, when she and Yan An were about to starve to death, they never came to show any concern. Now that they saw that their situation had changed, they immediately changed their attitude and tried to get close to them.

The words her fourth younger brother said weren’t because he was interested in Yan An’s cooking skills and wanted to come and have Yan An teach them her cooking skills?

It was simply… shameless.

Wen Ying knew their ugly faces, but she still felt ashamed and embarrassed by the way they acted so worldly.

Yan An’s expression was a little difficult to describe when she heard her words. “They really have the nerve.”

They wanted to send people over to be apprentices, but they acted like that. Especially when they had just arrived at the door, they bullied her “wife.” Were they really taking her seriously?

“But they left today, and I have a feeling that they won’t give up so easily,” Yan An frowned. They didn’t get any benefits and were even beaten up. Those few people didn’t look like they were magnanimous people. How could they not have a backup plan?

Wen Ying’s face darkened. She naturally knew this as well. Although her parents were prideful and wouldn’t easily talk about what happened today, if their lives became better in the future and they didn’t get any benefits, they might try to ruin them.

The more prideful a person was, the more shameless they could be.

She gently caressed Yan An’s shoulder and said in a very soft voice, “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”

When she said this, her lowered eyelids hid a surging undercurrent.

She didn’t want Yan An to have the possibility of being bullied by those people again.

Yan An’s voice sounded a little strange. She didn’t understand why she was so sure that it would be fine, but then she didn’t think about it anymore. Since something like this had just happened, even if the Wen family wanted to do something, they probably wouldn’t be in such a hurry.

“You should rest on the bed. Can I make dinner tonight?” Wen Ying’s voice was very gentle when she spoke to Yan An. Especially when she saw Yan An’s pitiful state, the guilt and heartache she felt for her made her softer than ever before.

Yan An felt her body, which was still not very comfortable. In her current situation, it was naturally not good for her to worry too much, so she had to agree with Wen Ying and tell her how to make steamed perch.

After she finished speaking, she felt a little regretful in her heart. In the past, she hadn’t made this dish for Wen Ying because she hadn’t come across any perch. Now that she finally had a chance to make it, something like this happened, and she couldn’t make it anymore.

“Okay. You can also take a break today and try my cooking,” Wen Ying tried her best to put a little smile in her tone.

Yan An gave a soft hum and watched Wen Ying leave the room.

After Wen Ying was gone, Yan An finally couldn’t control herself and grimaced. She didn’t dare to make any movements easily now. Otherwise, a slight movement would easily affect the area of her left shoulder blade, and as long as it was affected, it would make her feel tormented.

Now that Wen Ying wasn’t here, she could finally let go of her image and not control her facial expressions.

However, she wasn’t relaxed for too long. As Wen Ying carried the dining table into the room, she even wanted to personally feed Yan An!

Yan An: “…”