I attained immortality through meditation in the Great Qian Dynasty.

"Why would I do this? I'm doing it for my daughter's own good!"

Zhang put her hands on her hips.

"Zhao Zi'an, don't think I don't know! Your brother is dead, and you're half-dead. Why should my daughter have to stay here and live as a widow? I'm taking her away today!"

Zhao Zian ignored her shouting and turned his gaze to the matchmaker and Butcher Wang.

"And who are you two? What brings you to my house?"

The matchmaker gave an awkward smile.

"This is Butcher Wang, a wealthy man who has taken a liking to your sister-in-law and is willing to offer a dowry of thirty taels of silver for a proper marriage. We are here to propose marriage."

Butcher Wang's lecherous eyes were still lingering on Li Suqin.

"Young man, your sister-in-law has it tough on her own. Don't worry, if she comes with me, I guarantee she'll live a life of luxury, a hundred times better than having to stay with you, this sickly old man!"

Zhao Zian smiled.

"Mother-in-law, my sister-in-law is a lawfully wedded wife of the Zhao family. We have paid our respects to heaven and earth and she has been included in the family genealogy. Although my elder brother is no longer here, as long as I, Zhao Zian, have a breath left, she will be the matriarch of the Zhao family. Since ancient times, it is only the husband's family that divorces his wife. How can the bride's family forcibly take her away? This is against etiquette."

"Etiquette and rules? Can etiquette and rules feed you?"

Zhang screamed.

"What kind of life has my daughter been living with your Zhao family? Now she doesn't even have a pillar of support anymore! I can't bear to see her suffer!"

"suffer?"

Zhao Zian countered with a question.

"Although my Zhao family is not wealthy, we have never deprived my sister-in-law of a meal or a piece of clothing. When my elder brother was alive, he doted on her. After he passed away, I respected her like a mother, and she made all the decisions in the household. How can you say she has suffered?"

"As for you, Mother-in-law, when my elder brother was alive, you visited every few days, always returning laden with gifts. Now that my brother's body is barely cold, you're already in a hurry to sell his wife to someone else for a dowry. If word gets out, is this something to be proud of, or something to be ashamed of for the Zhao family?"

"You...you're spouting nonsense!"

Zhang was hit where it hurt.

Zhao Zian continued.

"You're Butcher Wang, right? You want to marry my sister-in-law? That's not impossible. But according to our village rules, a widow needs the husband's family's consent to remarry. I'm the head of the Zhao family. Is that thirty taels of betrothal money for my Zhao family or for my mother-in-law?"

This question directly brought the conflict to the forefront.

Both Butcher Wang and Zhang were stunned.

Their original plan was to give the money to Zhang and take the person away directly.

It has absolutely nothing to do with Zhao Zi'an, that sickly fellow.

"Of course it's for...for my mother-in-law!"

"Oh?"

Zhao Zian raised an eyebrow.

"So you're saying you're not marrying a wife, but buying her? Buying my Zhao family's daughter-in-law from my mother-in-law? If this is reported to the authorities, I wonder what the county magistrate will say?"

Butcher Wang was momentarily stunned.

He's just a pig butcher, how could he understand these intricacies?

All he knew was that he had his eye on Li Suqin and wanted to get her.

Zhang became anxious.

"Stop your nonsense! What do you mean by 'buying people'? Don't I, as her mother, have the right to decide my daughter's marriage?"

"I can't do it."

Zhao Zian was resolute.

"Once she married into the Zhao family, she's a member of the Zhao family. Her affairs are my decision. Today, no one is taking her away from this courtyard!"

Zhang was so angry that she trembled all over.

"Fine! Fine! You want her to stay with this sickly man like you for the rest of her life, unable to remarry? Isn't that just making her live a life of widowhood?"

Li Suqin spoke up.

"I am not living the life of a widow."

"I'm pregnant."

"What?" Zhang didn't react.

"I'm pregnant with the Zhao family's child!"

Everyone was stunned.

Zhang looked at her daughter in disbelief.

"What did you say? You're pregnant? How could that be...?"

Butcher Wang only lusted after Li Suqin's body, he didn't care whose child she was carrying!

"Don't be afraid. Even if you're pregnant, I won't mind. I, Wang the Butcher, keep my word. As long as you're with me, I'll raise this child for you! As if it were my own!"

Zhang pulled Li Suqin back.

"Silly girl! Listen to this! What a good man Wang the butcher is! He doesn't look down on you, and he's even willing to help you raise your child! What are you hesitating for? You're a woman with a child in your arms, how will you manage in the future!"

Butcher Wang went up to pull Li Suqin away.

"Look, even your mother has agreed. Sister-in-law, stop arguing and come with me! I promise you'll have a good life!"

His hand had just reached out.

"roll!"

Zhao Zian grabbed Wang the butcher's wrist.

Butcher Wang let out a scream.

Is this... is this still the sickly person who would fall over at the slightest breeze?

Zhao Zian stared at Butcher Wang.

"The child in my sister-in-law's belly is my eldest brother's posthumous child, the only bloodline of the Zhao family. If you dare to touch her again, I'll make sure you can never lift a butcher knife again in your life."

Butcher Wang was scared.

"Let go...let go! I was wrong! I won't do it again!"

Zhao Zian flicked his wrist and pushed forward.

Butcher Wang was thrown out and landed at the gate of the courtyard.

Zhang and the matchmaker were both terrified, staring blankly at Zhao Zi'an.

This... this is still the same Zhao Zi'an who was always panting, coughing, and never without his medicine bottle?

The matchmaker was the first to react.

That kid from the Zhao family is not someone to be trifled with.

"Auntie, I think this deal is probably not going to work out today. Should we head back?"

Zhang was not willing to accept this.

The cooked duck flew away, and so did the thirty taels of silver.

But then she looked at Butcher Wang, who was groaning and unable to get up at the gate of the courtyard.

This kid is weird!

"I still have chicken stewing on the stove at home! Yes, chicken stewing!"

"I need to hurry back and check, lest the pot burn dry!"

The matchmaker understood immediately.

"Oh dear! What a terrible memory I have! My grandson is waiting for me to come back and breastfeed him! I can't let my precious baby go hungry! Goodbye, goodbye!"

Wang the butcher groaned on the ground for a long time before finally managing to stand up by leaning against the wall.

He glared at Zhao Zian with resentment.

That hand was soft and yielding.

He was really scared.

How can a butcher like him survive without this hand?

Butcher Wang dared not utter another harsh word, clutched his wrist, and fled.

The courtyard fell silent.

Li Suqin couldn't hold back her tears, and they burst forth.

"Zian..."

She buried her face in Zhao Zian's arms.

Warm tears soaked his thin clothes.

"Waaah, I thought... I thought they were really going to take me away today. I'm so scared, Zian, I'm so scared."

Zhao Zian's body stiffened for a moment.

The woman's soft body pressed tightly against him.

This feeling... is so familiar.

Like that beautiful yet chaotic dream.

In my dream, it was the same woman, so gentle, with that same captivating fragrance.

Zhao Zian's mind went blank.

He looked down at his sister-in-law, who was crying in his arms, her face streaked with tears.

Zhao Zian looked at the woman crying in his arms.

He raised his hand and placed it on Li Suqin's heaving back.

"Sister-in-law, don't be afraid."

"With me here, no one will be able to bully you anymore."

Li Suqin raised her tear-filled face and stared at him blankly.