Transmigrated into the Villain's Cannon Fodder Ex-Wife (Transmigrated into a Book) - Chapter 3

The five soldiers in the room glared at the banner officer.

The scar-faced soldier, Yuan San, spoke up.

“Zhao Yuan, if you’re done talking, then get the hell out of here!”

“Is that how you talk to an officer?” one of the officer’s soldiers barked, giving Yuan San a shove, but he didn’t budge.

The soldier, embarrassed, tried again with more force but failed again, while Yuan San let out a low growl, his arm muscles visibly bulging. The frightened soldier fell backward.

Zhao Yuan and his men stepped back as well, obviously intimidated, though Zhao Yuan still blustered, 

“Yuan… Yuan San, are you defying authority?”

“Your sister became a general’s concubine, and you think you’re something special, huh? Your big brother Zhao Dazhi snatched a thousand-man position that should’ve been ours, and now you think you’re some kind of big shot!” Wang Hu charged forward, ready to confront them.

Yuan San, the scar-faced soldier, held him back with one hand, then turned to Zhao Yuan, saying,

“Are you leaving on your own, or do I have to throw you out?”

Yuan San stood a head taller than Zhao Yuan, glaring down at him. Under the pressure of Yuan San’s size and presence, Zhao Yuan looked like a scared chicken.

“Let’s go!” Zhao Yuan no longer dared to look at Lin Chu, throwing the money bag onto the table and hurriedly leading his men out.

Only then did the soldiers turn their attention to Lin Chu. Initially filled with rage, thinking of her as a troublemaker, they saw her shoulders trembling, clearly in the throes of crying.

Doctor Hu, who had been stationed here for years and had seen much, initially looked down on Lin Chu because of her reputation. However, today’s interaction revealed she wasn’t as bad as rumors had suggested; it was probably just gossip.

A woman with striking beauty but no family background was destined to have a difficult life, and Doctor Hu felt a bit of sympathy. He said,

“No need to worry, Mrs. Yan. Yan Mingge will recover.”

He was trying to reassure Lin Chu that she didn’t need to fear those people.

“Th-thank you, Doctor, thank you, brothers!” Lin Chu choked out.

“No need for that, Sister-in-law! Brother Yan treats us like family; this is what we should do. If you need anything in the future, just come to us!” said Yuan San.

After sending off the doctor and Yuan San’s group, Lin Chu wiped away the two tears she had squeezed out and muttered to herself about how lousy her life was.

Her situation was already dire enough, yet that Zhao fellow seemed determined to make it worse, hinting that she should follow him?

She’d have to be crazy to dare to cuckold her future villain of a husband.

After entertaining such thoughts, Lin Chu sighed. No matter what, she still had to carry on.

She picked up the money pouch the ensign officer had left on the table and opened it. Sure enough, it was filled with copper coins and a few pieces of broken silver.

Lin Chu didn’t have much concept of ancient currency, but having some was better than having none, so she started looking for a place to hide it.

She had already searched the house thoroughly; there weren’t many places left to stash things.

This was a chaotic border area, and the officer had come to her house with the money in plain view, which meant quite a few people had probably seen it. With her villain husband gravely injured and unconscious, what if someone desperate broke in to steal it during the night?

The more Lin Chu thought about it, the more nervous she became. She noticed a few blue bricks laid in a corner of the room. She went to the yard, grabbed a hoe, and pried up the bricks, intending to dig a small hole to bury the silver. But instead, she found a large bow beneath the bricks.

Only a small part of it was exposed, but even so, the glossy black sheen made it clear to Lin Chu—an absolute novice—that this bow was forged exceptionally well.

Lin Chu’s eye twitched. Why hide a bow under the floor?

In the original story, Yan Mingge was given a skillful martial arts background, but there wasn’t any detailed mention of his weapons.

So was this bow something her villain husband hid, or had it already been here?

Lin Chu thought it was probably the former. Since the villain husband hid his treasured weapon here, it must be a safe place.

Lin Chu counted out a hundred copper coins, put the money pouch alongside the bow, and replaced the bricks.

She wasn’t worried about her villain husband taking the money. After all, it was his to begin with. She only took a hundred copper coins for emergency use.

After all that, Lin Chu looked over at Yan Mingge, whose face was still stained with dried blood. She thought about getting some hot water to clean him up and also boiling the medicine that the doctor had left.

With that in mind, Lin Chu took a wooden basin, filled it with water, and soaked a clean cotton cloth in hot water before gently placing it on Yan Mingge’s face.

The blood on his face had already dried, so it needed to be softened before it could be cleaned.

After carefully wiping his face clean, she looked at his jade-sculpted features. Lin Chu couldn’t help wondering, how could someone so good-looking turn into a murderous villain later?

Though becoming a villain probably had nothing to do with his looks…

Pushing aside those random thoughts, Lin Chu continued wiping Yan Mingge.

There were also many bloodstains on his body.

His torn armor had already been removed for the bandages. Now, he was only wrapped in layers of gauze, with a blanket draped over him.

Lin Chu used the wet cloth to clean all the bloodstains on his body, then, seeing his clearly defined abs, she couldn’t help but touch them.

Tsk—nice physique!

Just as she was about to pull her hand back, she suddenly felt a chill down her spine.

Turning her head, she saw that her villain husband had woken up! He was staring at her with a confused and strange look.

Oh my gosh!

Lin Chu felt like two-thirds of her soul had fled in fear. She awkwardly pulled back her hand that had been taking liberties with his abs, and tears came pouring down instantly. 

“Husband… you’re finally awake!”

Yan Mingge’s expression became even more horrified.

Had she overacted?

Pretending to cry, Lin Chu reviewed her actions, sniffling, 

“The doctor prescribed medicine; it’s boiling on the stove now. It should be ready soon. I’ll go get it for you.”

With that, Lin Chu carried the small wooden basin and fled.

She didn’t calm down until she was in the kitchen, leaning against the stove and taking a deep breath.

Why did he have to wake up just when she was taking liberties?

Lin Chu rubbed her face in despair.

But she still had to face what needed facing. She carried a bowl of black-brown medicinal concoction and walked into the room with a worried frown.

“Husband, should I feed you?” Lin Chu continued to act innocent.

Yan Mingge frowned, looking at her with a cold gaze.

Lin Chu’s hand trembled, almost spilling the medicine. Her heart pounded nervously.

Could you make that look any scarier?

I’m still a delicate flower, you know!

Was he worried she had poisoned the medicine?

Lin Chu frowned at the dark concoction, took a small sip, and then smiled as she handed the bowl over. 

“It’s not too hot…”

“Help me up,” Yan Mingge finally withdrew his chillingly oppressive gaze.

His voice was hoarse, but it still sounded quite nice.

Lin Chu felt as if she’d been pardoned. She set down the bowl, helped Yan Mingge sit up, and stuffed a pillow behind his back.

This guy looked lean, but in fact, he was heavy and solid as a brick. It took Lin Chu quite an effort to get him upright.

She handed him the bowl, and he took it, downing it in one go before handing it back to her.

Lin Chu felt her own throat go dry just watching. He didn’t even frown at the bitterness.

“Do you have anything to eat?” he asked.

“I’ll go cook something right away!” Lin Chu took the bag of rice that the ensign officer had brought and headed to the kitchen.

Considering Yan Mingge’s current condition, she decided to cook a lean meat porridge.

There were still some embers left from boiling the medicine. Lin Chu deftly prepared a pot of rice, handled a piece of lean meat, chopped it finely, and sliced half a bowl of greens to cook it all together.

Once ready, she added half a spoon of salt.

The smell of the meat made Lin Chu’s stomach growl in protest.

She hadn’t eaten all day either, but she decided to hold on a little longer. She needed to take care of the lord in the room first!

Lin Chu found a large bowl, filled it with porridge, and brought it into the room.

Yan Mingge was leaning on the pillow, half-lying in bed. When he smelled the porridge, he glanced towards the door.

Lin Chu set the bowl on the bedside table, took a spoonful, and tested it for poison herself. The porridge was still hot, and Lin Chu scalded her tongue, her face scrunching up

Lin Chu set the bowl on the cabinet by the bed, then scooped a spoonful to test the temperature for herself. The porridge had just come off the stove, so it was still hot, and she burned her tongue. Grimacing, she said, 

“It’s too hot; we’ll have to let it cool before you can eat.”

He shifted his gaze away, as if finding her unworthy of his attention.

Lin Chu felt quite aggrieved. Was it so easy to serve this revered figure?

Yan Mingge had already begun to close his eyes and rest.

About ten minutes passed, and Lin Chu wanted to remind him that he could drink the porridge now. But his breathing was long and steady, as if he were asleep. She had no choice but to gently poke him. 

“My lord… um…”

Before she could finish the words “the porridge is cool,” her throat was suddenly seized in his grip.

Lin Chu’s heart nearly leapt into her throat, the sensation of suffocation was overwhelming.

His gaze was dark and menacing, as if a life meant nothing to him.

Was she destined to be cannon fodder here?

Lin Chu had no idea what had upset him. Since he woke up, she had been cautious and eager to please. Yet now, it felt as though he wanted to kill her!

Fear of death flickered in her eyes, mixed with unwillingness, anger, and a silent plea.

Just when Lin Chu thought she was about to pass out, he suddenly released her.

Air rushed back into her throat, and she clutched her neck, which had been pinched, coughing repeatedly. Tears of fear brimmed in her eyes.

He let out a cold laugh and then picked up the bowl of porridge, finishing it all in one go.

At this point, Lin Chu couldn’t even pretend anymore. She stumbled out of the room and hid in the kitchen.

Her stomach growled loudly; she was starving and could smell the fragrant meat porridge wafting from the kitchen.

If she was going to die, she at least wanted to die with a full stomach!

Lin Chu wiped away her tears and filled a bowl for herself. Her throat hurt so much that swallowing was a struggle, yet she continued to eat while crying.

When she had first transmigrated here and learned about the original character’s circumstances, she hadn’t felt like crying, but now she couldn’t seem to stop the tears.

Lin Chu didn’t dare go back to the room. Who knew if that unpredictable man would snap her neck in the middle of the night?

In the dead of night, Lin Chu was curled up in a pile of straw in the kitchen when she suddenly heard footsteps in the courtyard…

She immediately grew alert. Could it be Yan Mingge creeping over?

No, that couldn’t be right! Yan Mingge’s injuries were so severe that he couldn’t even get out of bed.

Could it be a thief, coming for the silver?

Cold sweat ran down her back. Hearing the deliberately softened footsteps heading toward the main house, Lin Chu carefully crawled out of the straw, grabbed a kitchen knife, and stealthily crept out of the kitchen.