“I want to separate from the family.”
“What?” Everyone erupted in an uproar.
“I want my branch of the family to leave and establish its own household,” Cheng Yao repeated loudly.
Feng Xianxian turned to Second Master Zhan. “Father, do you agree?”
Second Master Zhan weighed the matter carefully.
Zhan Haoting was as good as dead, while Zhan Haochen was hardly capable of shouldering any great responsibility. Once they reached their destination, that branch would consist of nothing but women and would only become a burden.
Meanwhile, Yu Rong could still provide for his side of the family. If they separated, he would no longer have to share anything with them.
He considered it for only a moment before nodding. “I agree.”
“Good.” A smile curled at the corners of Cheng Yao’s lips. “I ask all the uncles and elders present to bear witness. If I lose, I will willingly accept being cast aside and become Feng Xianxian’s servant. But if I win, my branch of the family will leave and establish its own household.”
“Very well. Don’t pretend to have forgotten all about it when the time comes,” Feng Xianxian sneered.
“I could say the same to you.”
Someone spoke up. “Yao’er, if you want to separate from the family, have you asked your mother-in-law?”
Cheng Yao’s expression did not change. “I have. My mother agreed.”
Asked her... Of course she hadn’t!
With her mother-in-law’s timid, spineless personality, how could Cheng Yao possibly expect her to make a decision?
That was impossible.
She would have to turn the tables and take charge herself.
Besides, even though she had said that, her mother-in-law in the crowd had not uttered a single word.
That meant she had tacitly given Cheng Yao permission to decide, didn’t it?
“Let’s begin.”
Feng Xianxian could hardly wait to see Cheng Yao become a discarded wife.
Cheng Wan cast her a sidelong glance. Perfect. She wanted to see whether this woman would lose her composure after being humiliated.
“I’d like to add one condition,” Cheng Yao said. “I will decide how much ginger soup they drink. No one is allowed to give them more or less.”
“Fine. We’ll do as you say.”
Cheng Yao began boiling the ginger soup.
Before long, the room filled with a spicy, pungent aroma touched by a hint of sweetness. Everyone swallowed unconsciously.
On a cold, rainy day like this, there was nothing more comforting than a mouthful of hot ginger soup.
Cheng Yao did not trust anyone else, so she had Hongxiu help pour the ginger soup down the throats of Old Madam Zhan and Second Madam Zhan.
As the warm, stimulating liquid entered Old Madam Zhan’s throat, everyone could clearly feel the coldness leaving the old woman’s body as her temperature began to rise.
The same happened with Second Madam Zhan. Even her coughing grew less severe.
Then, after their stomachs had been filled with ginger soup, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law actually woke up.
Everyone cried out in amazement, calling it a miracle, and begged Cheng Yao to make more ginger soup.
Cheng Yao spread her hands. “There’s no ginger left.”
In truth, the ginger she had bought from the old clerk had already been used up. Everything else had come from her personal space.
She had added a single drop of spiritual spring water to the ginger soup. It could strengthen the body’s resistance, ease minor ailments, and heal wounds. But one or two uses were enough—where could she possibly get enough spiritual spring water to keep wasting it?
Everyone was deeply disappointed, but the guards urged them to continue on their way, so Cheng Yao temporarily set aside the matter of separating from the family.
When they stopped to rest that evening without any ginger soup, everyone felt as though something was missing.
At dawn the next morning, as the first rays of sunlight pierced the clouds, Zhan Haoting’s consciousness gradually returned.
First came the pain seeping through every joint and bone in his body. Then came the faint medicinal fragrance at the tip of his nose, mingled with a familiar hint of body warmth.
He struggled to open his heavy eyelids. Through his blurred vision, he saw a mass of soft black hair close at hand. She was sleeping beside him, using her arm as a pillow. Her breathing was light and shallow, and a faint red mark lingered at the corner of her eye from being pressed against her arm.
He moved his fingers. His fingertips nearly brushed the strands of hair scattered across her neck, but he suddenly stopped.
His Adam’s apple bobbed. Just as his hoarse voice forced out a single word, her lashes trembled.
He immediately held his breath, clearly seeing the astonishment and delight in her eyes as she lifted her head and looked at him.
“You’re awake?” Her voice was husky with sleep. She reached out to feel his forehead.
But he turned his head slightly and gently rubbed the tip of his straight nose against her cool fingers.
She recoiled as though burned, her little face flushing.
What was wrong with this man? The moment he woke up, he was already acting so intimate and dependent on her. She wasn’t used to it at all.
When he sensed her apparent resistance, a faint ripple passed through Zhan Haoting’s dark eyes, so fleeting that no one could catch it.
“How long was I unconscious?”
His voice was so hoarse it was almost unintelligible, yet his expression remained impassive.
“We’ve already been on this road of exile for three days.”
Cheng Yao stared intently at him. The corners of her lips slowly lifted, and then her smile bloomed like a flower.
“Congratulations, Zhan Haoting! You’ve come back from the gates of hell!”
Zhan Haoting was stunned for a moment before the corners of his lips curved into a faint, feeble smile.
Half awake, Zhan Haochen heard Cheng Yao’s words and sprang up.
“Big Brother, you’re awake?”
Zhan Haoting shifted his eyes and slowly nodded.
“That’s wonderful!” Zhan Haochen was both shocked and delighted, his words tumbling over one another. “Mother, Big Brother is awake!”
His shout woke everyone.
“Haoting is awake?”
“Does that mean we’re saved?”
“I can’t believe he survived injuries that severe.”
“Could this be a final rally before death?”
No one quite dared believe it. They all crowded around him.
But when they saw that his eyes were clear and alert, they were immediately convinced, and even greater joy surged through their hearts.
With him alive, the entire family had hope of surviving!
“Haoting, you’ll recover soon.”
Xiao Fu was in tears. His voice trembling, he said, “General, you have your wife to thank. She has cared for you day and night without even taking off her clothes.”
Someone nearby chimed in, “If you ask me, it’s because Zhan Haoting’s wife knows medicine.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Now I understand why we felt stronger after drinking that ginger soup, and why those little wounds healed so quickly. Yao’er must have added some other medicine to it.”
“Look at Old Madam Zhan and Second Madam Zhan. Their injuries were so severe that they were barely clinging to life, and they remained unconscious the whole time. Yet one bowl of ginger soup from Yao’er brought them back around.”
“That’s right!”
Everyone’s eyes lit up. One of them asked Cheng Yao, “Where did you learn your medical skills?”
Cheng Yao gently smoothed her hair. “I once wandered outside and learned from a folk healer. After I returned, my grandfather also found many medical books for me to study... I only remembered a few remedies and mixed them using the medicine my maternal grandmother had brought along. I didn’t expect them to work so well.”
She made it sound simple, but that did not stop everyone from praising her. Compliments poured forth as though they cost nothing.
This was a road of exile. If anyone fell ill or suffered an injury, there was no one to turn to and nowhere to seek help. They could only wait for death.
But with a physician in the group, they had a much greater chance of survival. Naturally, they had better flatter her while they could.
Cheng Yao struggled to cope with the flood of goodwill and flattery.
Just three days ago, she had been a complete nobody. From time to time, people had called her a harbinger of bad luck, immoral and heartless, unfilial and unrighteous.
Now they were praising her to the heavens. The sheer contrast was difficult for her to adjust to.
Cheng Yao shook her head. “I’m really not as extraordinary as you make me sound. My husband is physically strong, which is why he recovered so quickly. As for Grandmother and Second Aunt, their injuries looked frightening, but they were actually external wounds that hadn’t harmed their internal organs. Their recovery wasn’t entirely thanks to me.”
She wanted to downplay the influence she had brought with her, so no one would keep an eye on her or cause her trouble.
Shao Yutong pressed her lips together and smiled. “Elder Cousin-in-law, you’re too modest. Given the injuries my elder cousin, Grandmother, and Second Aunt sustained, even a renowned physician might not have been able to heal them so quickly. Yet with nothing more than a pot of ginger soup, you managed to stabilize their conditions. Your medical skills have truly reached the pinnacle of perfection.”
Oh, come on. This was blatant praise meant to set her up!
As expected of the heroine of the novel—Shao Yutong was ruthless not only toward herself, but toward others as well.
Cheng Yao had only just saved her life, and now she was already digging a pit for her to fall into. How vicious!
Cheng Yao secretly warned herself that she must never show off again.
She smiled as well. “Cousin, you flatter me. I only know a little about medicine—barely enough to be called a doctor. How could I possibly be mentioned in the same breath as a renowned physician? Didn’t Third Sister-in-law say that I was gambling with Old Madam and Second Aunt’s lives by using ginger soup? Just take it as me having a bit of luck on my side.”
“Oh, right. Third Sister-in-law, I’ve done what I promised you. Shouldn’t you now let my branch of the family separate from the household?”
Even though they had been exiled and stripped of their status as nobles, they were still legally one family on the household register.
Only by separating from the main household and no longer being subject to the head of the family could their branch truly become masters of their own affairs.
The moment she said this, everyone turned to look at Feng Xianxian, their eyes filled with amusement.
