Transmigrated into the Villain's Cannon Fodder Ex-Wife (Transmigrated into a Book) - Chapter 11

“Sister-in-law, your cooking skills are impressive. I imagine that after all these years outside the city, Yan Gege’s tastes have changed quite a bit. What I know may not align with what he likes now.” Jiang Wanxue spoke with a hint of wistfulness, yet ultimately her words were a concession.

Lin Chu suddenly found it hard to understand this woman’s feelings. If Jiang Wanxue harbored feelings for Yan Mingge, constantly finding fault with her, how could she explain the medicine bottle in her bag?

Lin Chu merely glanced at Jiang Wanxue without responding.

However, since she now knew that Yan Mingge disliked minced garlic, Lin Chu decided to remove the garlic after marinating the meat.

Jiang Wanxue offered to help her, but she mostly just watched the fire.

Lin Chu didn’t mind; she worried that if Jiang Wanxue were in charge, she might take the opportunity to poison something while she wasn’t paying attention.

Yet, Lin Chu noticed that Jiang Wanxue seemed distracted.

Perhaps because Lin Chu had stared at Jiang Wanxue a few times, Jiang Wanxue finally looked up at her. Her gaze wasn’t exactly sharp but was full of scrutiny.
“Sister-in-law and Yan Gege have a deep bond; Yan Gege must have told you about his identity in the capital, right?”

This question was like a needle hidden in silk. Given Yan Mingge’s character, he wouldn’t have revealed such things to her, so what was Jiang Wanxue’s intention in asking?

Lin Chu paused in her cooking, narrowed her eyes as she examined Jiang Wanxue, then picked up the salt container next to the stove and sprinkled a spoonful into the pot.
“Whether he was once the noble heir of the Yong’an Marquisate or is now a poor soldier who can barely get out of bed, to me, he’s just my husband.”

The original text provided plenty of background about the antagonist’s family, and Lin Chu was aware of Yan Mingge’s true identity.

The Yong’an Marquis was aligned with the Crown Prince and was related to the Empress. However, the Emperor had long been dissatisfied with the Crown Prince. The princes secretly plotted against him, yet the Crown Prince was moderate and easily swayed. Eventually, misled by slanders, he even considered poisoning the Emperor and forcing him to abdicate.

In the end, the plot was uncovered, the Emperor was furious, the Crown Prince was deposed and confined for life, and all his supporters were imprisoned, awaiting execution after the autumn.

The Empress kneeled in the imperial study for an entire day and night, ultimately managing to save the life of the Yong’an Marquis’ heir, but he still faced harsh consequences.

Yan Mingge was exiled three thousand miles to serve in the military and was never allowed to return to the capital.

Recalling this, Lin Chu felt a sudden heaviness in her heart. Yan Mingge’s unpredictable temperament was likely due to his hatred…

Upon hearing Lin Chu’s words, Jiang Wanxue’s expression changed. Her pupils contracted as she murmured,

“He actually told you all this… I thought…”

Did Yan Mingge’s identity need to be kept a secret?

If others pried into her words, Lin Chu wouldn’t let herself be at a disadvantage. So she casually remarked,

“My husband mentioned before that if he were well, he would never allow you to suffer any grievances at the Han family’s place.”

Perhaps this remark struck a chord with Jiang Wanxue; Lin Chu noticed her eyes redden, and she hastily lowered her head. Unlike her usual feigned pitiful demeanor, Lin Chu sensed that Jiang Wanxue was genuinely crying this time.

What Lin Chu had intended to extract from Jiang Wanxue faded away. The relationship between Jiang Wanxue and Yan Mingge was more complicated than she had imagined.

During mealtime, Jiang Wanxue remained distracted. Little Baozi Han Junye, freed from his mother’s constraints, devoured a considerable amount of meat, later secretly throwing leftover rice in the yard and happily watching the chicks and hen peck at the grains.

The little gray dog, following the scent, tried to snatch food but was pushed away by Han Junye, who pressed its head down.

After a few attempts, Han Junye seemed to pity the little gray dog and offered it two meatballs he couldn’t finish.

When Lin Chu came out to clear the dishes and saw this scene, her heart softened. At this moment, Han Junye was still just a carefree child.

But once Han Zicheng and Jiang Wanxue were gone, all he would have left would be a sea of blood and deep-seated hatred…

And then… he would grow up to be someone just like Yan Mingge.
This thought startled Lin Chu as well. In the original story, Yan Mingge had spared Han Junye several times. Did he perhaps see Han Junye as another version of himself?

When Han Junye saw Lin Chu standing under the eaves, his face turned flustered as he hid the bowl behind him, eyeing Lin Chu with a mix of vigilance and fear.

Lin Chu simply smiled gently at him before walking into the kitchen.

It wasn’t a scolding or a look of disgust; it was the kind of gentle smile that only a mother would show him. As Han Junye watched Lin Chu’s back as she entered the kitchen, a look of sadness appeared on his round face.

After a moment, Jiang Wanxue came out from the main house, her eyes slightly red. She firmly took Han Junye’s hand and said just one sentence,

“Let’s go back.”

She hadn’t controlled her grip well, and it turned Han Junye’s chubby little hand red. Han Junye didn’t cry out in pain and even hid the sadness on his face, cheerfully calling out,

“Mother…”

Jiang Wanxue’s brow furrowed with impatience.

“What are you so happy about all day long? When we were in the capital and I told you to study, you acted as if you were facing a death sentence. Now that we’re here, you’re good at teasing the chickens and dogs! No wonder your father doesn’t care about you!”

With such harsh words, Han Junye could only follow Jiang Wanxue’s pace in a daze, losing all traces of his previous smile.

Back in the room, Jiang Wanxue’s anger had dissipated a bit. Looking at her obedient son sitting beside her, she remembered her earlier words and couldn’t help but start crying.

Han Junye looked at his mother, who was crying, a look of panic on his face. He wrapped his small arms around Jiang Wanxue and asked,

“Mother, who bullied you? Tell me, Yue’er…”

Hearing her son’s words made Jiang Wanxue feel even more heartbroken. She hugged Han Junye tightly, choking out,

“Yue’er, I’m sorry for you, but everything will soon come to an end…”

It will soon come to an end…

Her gaze fixated on a certain spot, vacant yet resolute.

In the evening, after Lin Chu had helped Yan Mingge wash with hot water, she tidied herself up. Just before going to sleep, she remembered the medicine bottle hidden in her sleeve. She placed her clothes at the head of the bed, worried that Yan Mingge might accidentally touch it. After a moment’s thought, she put the medicine bottle into the wardrobe.

Jiang Wanxue’s attitude today had been somewhat strange. Lin Chu pondered that she would take the opportunity to ask at a distant pharmacy about the powder in the bottle when she went to sell vegetables tomorrow.

Turning back to the bed, she found Yan Mingge with his eyes tightly shut, but his breathing was shallow, indicating he wasn’t asleep.

Lin Chu felt puzzled. It seemed that after lunch, Yan Mingge’s mood had not been good. Although… he was never in a good mood, she still sensed that something was off.

She certainly wouldn’t be foolish enough to walk straight into danger. Since Yan Mingge wasn’t saying anything, she would just act like an invisible person.

Lin Chu turned off the light, skillfully made her way to the bed, and cautiously pulled a bit of the blanket over herself. Noticing that Yan Mingge didn’t make any displeased sounds, she finally closed her eyes in peace.

The next day, Lin Chu unusually overslept. When she groggily opened her eyes, she saw sunlight streaming in through the door’s crack.

She rolled out of bed, relieved to see that Yan Mingge was still asleep.

As long as the villain hadn’t gone hungry.

Lin Chu crept out of bed like a thief, quietly getting dressed. She struggled a bit with her shoes, squatting down to wrestle with them. In the process, she inadvertently noticed the shoes Yan Mingge had placed in front of the bed, which had a few spots of mud on them.

These shoes were what Yan Mingge usually wore at home. However, since his injury, he hadn’t gotten out of bed. How could his shoes possibly have mud on them for no reason?

Lin Chu felt something was off in her heart. She checked around the room, finding nothing missing, or rather… it didn’t seem like anything had been disturbed.

She took out the medicine bottle she had put in the wardrobe last night, glanced at the still-sleeping Yan Mingge, and pushed aside all her doubts to go cook.

After breakfast, Lin Chu took a basket to the market to buy vegetables.

Having learned from her previous experience, Lin Chu was more familiar this time. After buying the vegetables, she asked nearby where the pharmacy was, and the kind woman selling vegetables eagerly pointed the way for her.

At the pharmacy, Lin Chu grabbed a prescription for treating external injuries. When she went to pay, the price was thirty wen.

Lin Chu immediately felt a pinch in her pocket. She originally just wanted to buy some medicine and conveniently ask what the powder in that bottle was. What if it was just a medicine bottle similar to the one Lan Zhi had?

So she casually asked, “Doctor, why is this medicine so expensive?”

The doctor with the long beard held a medical book in his hands. When he saw Lin Chu, a stunning beauty, he half-closed his eyelids and said,

“In these chaotic times, even if you have money, you can’t buy medicine. And yet, this young lady still thinks it’s expensive…”

Lin Chu could sense the disdain in the doctor’s eyes. In times of war, these doctors were in high demand.

She pulled out the medicine bottle from her sleeve and handed it over.

“I met a gentleman at the market who said this is high-quality gold sore medicine and charged me only five wen…”

The doctor sneered, “Five wen for gold sore medicine? They say women are long-haired and short-sighted. This young lady shouldn’t embarrass herself!”

His arrogant tone, with veiled sarcasm, made Lin Chu grit her teeth in anger. However, thinking about her purpose for coming, she pretended to be an ignorant woman who had been deceived and pleaded,

“Doctor, I’ve already paid for it. Could you please take a look and see if this medicine can treat wounds? My husband was injured in battle, and we’re counting on this medicine to save his life!”

I’m so sorry, villain husband, for cursing you like this…

The doctor glanced at Lin Chu again, perhaps feeling that she was also in a difficult position. He took the medicine bottle, opened it, and sniffed. First, he frowned, then he let out a cold laugh and even poured a little into his mouth to taste it.

Lin Chu watched in horror, fearing that the doctor would poison himself.

But the doctor contemptuously said, “It’s just filled with some flour to fool people!”

What? Flour?

Did I misunderstand Jiang Wanxue?

Lin Chu was momentarily stunned.

The doctor thought she was overly distressed and said, “If you want to buy medicine, come to the pharmacy. Don’t let those unscrupulous ones deceive you!”

This remark snapped Lin Chu back to reality. Thinking about the thirty wen she was about to spend, she pinched her arm hard, her eyes turning red as she grabbed her basket and ran outside.

“That scoundrel tricked me and sold me fake medicine!”

The doctor thought she was furious and ready to confront the person who sold her fake medicine. Watching her leave, he could only ask the young servant to return the various herbs to their places.

Lin Chu didn’t stop until she was far away from the pharmacy. She thought that acting was truly a matter of talent. She could manage small lies, but pretending to be a naive girl and weaving tales with the pharmacy doctor was genuinely exhausting.

She really didn’t know how Jiang Wanxue managed to do it.

Just as she was thinking of Jiang Wanxue, she was about to head home when she saw a familiar face.

At the street corner, Lan Zhi stood beside a small sedan, eagerly waiting for someone. Lin Chu initially didn’t have much interest, but when she turned her head and saw Jiang Wanxue hurriedly approaching that way, she became anxious.

Hiding behind a stall while holding her vegetable basket, she pretended to be shopping but kept her eyes on that side out of the corner of her eye.

Lan Zhi greeted Jiang Wanxue with great respect, and then Jiang Wanxue entered the sedan. Lan Zhi got into another sedan, and the bearers lifted the sedans away.

“Hey, miss, are you still going to buy these vegetables?” The vegetable vendor, noticing Lin Chu had been loitering at the stall for a long time, said displeased.

“Uh, sorry.” Lin Chu put down the cabbage and quietly followed behind.

The two sedans continued until they stopped in front of an impressive and grand mansion. Lan Zhi’s maid stepped forward and knocked on the corner gate of the mansion. Soon, the gate opened, and both sedans were carried inside.

The servant who closed the door cautiously glanced around before shutting the corner gate.

Lin Chu crouched under the stairs of a teahouse diagonally opposite the mansion, looking at the golden ‘General’s Mansion’ characters on the front gate, feeling an inexplicable oddity in her heart.

Just as she was about to leave, a hand suddenly landed on her shoulder.

“What are you doing here?”