I Transmigrated and Already Had a Wife - Chapter 4

In fact, Jiang Zhou was mistaken. Before her family fell on hard times, Lin Muwan was indeed a government official’s daughter whose hands had never touched water. Since her father was imprisoned, the Lin family, old and young, were banished to Linyang County. Along the way, they endured every hardship they had never known before. They slept in the wilderness at night, ate hard, dry wowotou (steamed corn bread), sometimes didn’t have a single meal a day, and were constantly subjected to whippings. Those who couldn’t endure died on the road and were directly thrown into mass graves by the soldiers.

She and her mother firmly believed that her father was framed. As long as they lived, there would be a chance to overturn her father’s case. Holding onto this belief, they finally managed to endure and reach this place. Then, she was bought by Madam Jiang and married to Jiang Zhou. She thought life would be better, but after arriving at the Jiang family, Jiang Zhou was verbally and physically abusive towards her. She ate the leftover food of the family’s servants and was treated worse than the dog Jiang Zhou kept.

The servants at home were snobbish and, seeing that she was out of favor, dared to bully her as well.

Life was in despair; she had escaped the wolf’s den only to fall into the tiger’s lair. Even wishing to die became a luxury. What would her mother do if she died?

Thus, she struggled desperately to live in the Jiang family, worse than a dog. Unexpectedly, half a month after the marriage, Jiang Zhou set her sights on her again, secretly drugging her food when she wasn’t paying attention and taking her innocence.

She hated Jiang Zhou, wishing she could kill her, but she couldn’t—not yet.

Seeing her lost in thought, Jiang Zhou moved to the edge of the bed and sat down, patting the spot beside her. A hint of doting affection, which she herself hadn’t noticed, surfaced on her face: “I’ve noticed you really don’t like to talk.”

“Don’t like it?” Lin Muwan pursed her lips. Before her father’s trouble, she had also shared wine and spoken freely with her friends. However, those so-called friends scattered the moment the Lin family fell into trouble.

Lin Muwan hid the wooden hairpin she held into her sleeve, sat down stiffly beside Jiang Zhou, and stared at her without blinking.

Jiang Zhou: “…” Her face flushed red, and she turned her head away. Why does she keep staring at me? After a while, she asked, “Aren’t you… aren’t you tired?”

As if remembering something, she quickly explained: “You sleep on the inner side (on the clothes), I’ll sleep on the outer side.”

Lin Muwan stared at Jiang Zhou again, motionless for a moment, which made Jiang Zhou feel uneasy. She was very afraid that Lin Muwan would suddenly ask to sleep together. Although they had been intimate last night, and she had a good impression of her and wanted to take responsibility, all of that was predicated on Lin Muwan being single.

Now that she knew Lin Muwan was the original owner’s wife, even though she occupied the original owner’s body, she was not the original owner after all. How could she still harbor any other feelings for Lin Muwan?

Seeing her staring without moving, Jiang Zhou simply took the candle in one hand and pushed her gently towards the inner side of the bed with the other. She pointed to the candle in her hand and joked, “Hurry and sleep. It’ll be burned out soon, and you’ll have to fumble around in the dark if you need to get up at night.”

Lin Muwan’s face flushed. She looked away and moved her body a little further in. Once the heat on her face subsided, her eyes fixed on Jiang Zhou again.

Not understanding why she kept staring, Jiang Zhou’s face felt hot. She grumbled, “If you don’t lie down, I’m blowing out the candle.” With that, Jiang Zhou turned and made a motion to blow out the candle. Sigh, her arm was getting tired from holding the candle up for so long.

After a while, a rustling sound came from behind her. Jiang Zhou knew she had lain down, shook her head, and finally blew out the candle. She lay down on her side, facing outwards, with what felt like a galactic river separating the two of them—neither could touch the other.

On the not-so-soft bed in the drafty thatched hut, Lin Muwan lay on her side, her bright eyes filled with confusion. Who could have imagined that the former scoundrel Jiang Zhou would one day use her not-so-broad shoulder and quilt to shield her from the cold wind?

She squeezed the wooden hairpin hidden in her sleeve, her gaze resting on Jiang Zhou. Jiang Zhou was facing outwards, one arm pillowed beneath her head, her body slightly curled up. The autumn night was cold; Jiang Zhou was only wearing an undergarment, while her outer coat was spread beneath Lin Muwan, and before sleeping, she had taken off her mid-layer garment to cover Lin Muwan.

The thing she had worried about all night had not happened. Jiang Zhou seemed different from before.

Lin Muwan blinked, a little sleepy. She had thought she wouldn’t fall asleep with Jiang Zhou there, but when drowsiness came, she slowly drifted off.

In the dead of night, Lin Muwan felt as if she were next to a furnace; her body grew hotter and hotter, and the surrounding air felt thin. What was happening? Why couldn’t she breathe?

She suddenly opened her eyes. Jiang Zhou had turned over at some point, and she was nestled in her arms, her cheek pressed against Jiang Zhou’s chest.

Lin Muwan’s heart leaped in shock. She instinctively turned her head to look behind her. By the faint moonlight, the bedding Jiang Zhou had spread out was half a meter away behind her. Yet, she was pressed tightly against Jiang Zhou.

So, did I cross over on my own? She bit her lip, her eyes filled with complexity.

Was there a possibility that Jiang Zhou had held her while she was asleep? The more she thought about it, the more she felt this was the most likely possibility.

Feeling ashamed and angry, she roughly pushed Jiang Zhou away. Jiang Zhou let out a soft groan, rolled over, turning her back to Lin Muwan again, and continued to sleep.

Lin Muwan thought she had woken up. She held her breath and stared at her back for a long time without daring to blink, until Jiang Zhou’s heavy breathing sound returned, and only then did the stone in her heart drop.

Lin Muwan bent slightly and moved inward a bit, returning to her spot. Her back pressed against the wall, and the icy sensation against her skin made her spirits lift, driving away most of her drowsiness.

The next day, the sky had just begun to lighten, and the room was still dim. Jiang Zhou opened her eyes and felt the person in her arms snuggle against her neck. It tickled, and the warm breath made that patch of skin feel scorching hot. The warmth seemed to spread slowly from that spot, all the way to her heart.

She paused, blinked, and only after a long time did she stiffly and slowly withdraw her hand. She pursed her lips and stared at Lin Muwan. She was sleeping soundly, and after losing the heat source, she seemed unhappy, frowning with her small mouth slightly pouted. She looked utterly adorable.

Jiang Zhou was momentarily stunned, only snapping back to her senses after a while. She quietly pinched her own thigh hard. What are you looking at? You’re lusting after a married woman. Just because you occupy her body, do you really think her wife is yours?

Jiang Zhou got out of bed, feeling a bit dejected. She was only wearing a white undergarment, which made it inconvenient to go out. She also couldn’t bear to take the clothes off Lin Muwan. Fortunately, Lin Muwan had slept toward the outside, and the outer coat she had spread on the inner side of the bed yesterday was within reach. Jiang Zhou got dressed and hastily opened the door and left.

It was still early, and the morning chill was heavy. Even though villagers had to wake early for farm work, few were up at this hour. She ran two laps around the village path, as she would for her usual training, and stopped when her body started to feel slightly warm.

Since this was her first arrival, getting familiar with the environment was important. After running these two laps, she was mostly familiar with the surrounding routes and began to walk towards her two acres of land. She had been there once yesterday. It was covered in weeds, some of which were as tall as a person, clearly abandoned and unmanaged for a long time.

How could good farmland be abandoned? This showed that the original owner was truly insignificant in Old Master Jiang’s heart. Even after being driven out, she was still his biological daughter whom he had raised for so long. One would even have affection for a dog one raised, yet Old Master Jiang showed no familial sentiment at all. No wonder the original owner went astray.

Jiang Zhou couldn’t help but curl her lip. Given the current situation, the weeds in the field must be cleared before anything could be planted.

The two acres were side-by-side, but the only drawback was that they were too far from a water source. In a severe drought, water would have to be carried from the river outside the village to irrigate the land. No wonder the field was abandoned and unplanted—it would be a miracle to grow good crops on such land.

At this point, she was also a bit troubled. She didn’t know much about farming crops. Even though she had lived in the countryside as a child, how could a child pay attention to such things? However, she used to often accompany her grandmother and help water the vegetables when her grandmother was gardening.

A thought suddenly flashed through her mind. What if I plant vegetables?

Winter was approaching quickly. Technology was undeveloped in ancient times, so fresh vegetables would definitely be unavailable in winter. If she could grow vegetables, wouldn’t that also be a source of income? Jiang Zhou was instantly eager to try.