The Eldest Princess is Always Feigning Poverty and Weakness - Chapter 5

Opening the door, a sharp, cold wind carrying the scent of fresh air rushed toward her. Wen Ningzhou closed her eyes and took several deep, appreciative breaths.

On a winter morning, the air drawn into one’s lungs has a soul-cleansing chill to it.

Wen Ningzhou lifted her skirts and stepped out, taking a proper, discerning look at this small courtyard.

This was where she would be staying temporarily. Once Chen Changqing left, she would still have to live here for a period of time.

Exactly how long she would stay, she didn’t know; at the very least, she had to wait until she fully understood the rules of survival in this society and found a way to earn her own living.

Once she had saved enough money, she would make her move.

She felt no particular attachment to this place. To her, one location was as good as another, so long as it was as far away from Chen Changqing and the Eldest Princess as possible.

The square courtyard was small, enclosed by low, yellowish walls made of mud mixed with straw. The gate consisted of a few wooden planks cobbled together, hanging precariously from the frame—it offered no real security.

However, the rural folk here seemed simple and honest. The gate served a mostly symbolic purpose; if someone was home during the day, it was left wide open. If it was closed, it was a signal to others that no one was in or that the household was not receiving guests.

Strictly speaking, this square yard should have looked bright and spacious, but as Wen Ningzhou looked around, she saw firewood piled haphazardly in the corners and several dead trees. Despite someone living here, the ground was overgrown with wild weeds, leaving only a narrow path cleared to the front door.

It seemed that Chen Changqing, living here with his mind solely on the works of the Sages, hadn’t bothered to tidy or sweep the place at all.

Wen Ningzhou wandered around the property and found the layout to be quite simple, with a small yard in both the front and the back. The room she had occupied last night was the eastern wing. In the centre was the main hall, where a few calligraphic paintings hung on the walls. The long side table held only a few items, but even those were scattered and coated in dust.

Across from the main hall, the western wing served as Chen Changqing’s study.

Wen Ningzhou glanced inside from the doorway. She saw Chen Changqing sprawled on the couch in the study, sleeping soundly. He had even forgotten to blow out the candle on his desk, which had now burnt down to nothing.

There were patches of vomit by the door, near the chairs, and in front of the couch. Even after a whole night, the lingering stench was enough to make her head spin.

The mess by the couch was right next to Chen Changqing; it appeared he had been lying down when he was sick, as a corner of his quilt was actually soaking in it.

Wen Ningzhou beat a hasty retreat, nearly overcome by the smell so early in the morning.

She didn’t wake him. Instead, she continued inspecting the courtyard. If it were cleaned up properly, she realized she might actually like it here. It was neither too big nor too small—perfect for a “salted fish” like her to live a quiet, low-key life.

Perhaps she could learn a trade to earn some money. While she was staying here, she could clear a small patch of the yard for a vegetable garden and keep some chickens or geese in the back. When the time came for her to leave, she could simply sell the livestock.

Outside the western wing, there was an auxiliary room containing a clay stove and a pile of firewood. The woodshed and kitchen were not separated, and the stovetop was covered in a layer of black grime. There was some dry flour on the kneading board, though how Chen Changqing usually managed to cook was anyone’s guess.

Today, Wen Ningzhou was wearing a light green padded jacket she had found in the wardrobe. As a bride, the original girl had brought no dowry—only the wedding dress and two changes of clothing.

It made sense, considering this noble lady had severed ties with her family to marry Chen Changqing. There had been no “parents’ command” and no “matchmaker’s word.” She had run off with a strange man against everyone’s wishes.

It was, for all intents and purposes, an elopement.

The Prime Minister was likely beyond furious. As a founding statesman who stood above thousands and second only to the Emperor, having such a shameful scandal occur in his family was a massive loss of face. The fact that he hadn’t broken her legs was probably due to the last shred of his fatherly affection.

Afraid of staining her jacket and making it difficult to wash, Wen Ningzhou found a summer robe belonging to Chen Changqing in the wardrobe. It looked discarded, thrown into the bottom of the cupboard in a wrinkled heap.

She put the robe on backwards and rolled up the sleeves along with those of her jacket.

Approaching the well in the middle of the yard, she carefully attempted to draw a bucket of fresh water. She washed her face first, then used a willow twig dipped in salt to clean her teeth.

Pouring the remaining water into a wooden basin in the kitchen, she set about scrubbing the stovetop and the kneading board clean.

After drawing another bucket of water, she found a small handful of rice in the jar. She rinsed it and placed it into the large iron pot, then sat before the stove to start a fire.

Once the fire finally caught, she quickly added more wood. Her dark eyes reflected the dancing orange flames.

The firelight illuminated her face, making her look like a noble young lady stepped out of a classical oil painting. Her fine skin glowed with a warm, amber hue as she let out a lazy yawn.

The reason Wen Ningzhou accepted being transmigrated into this strange world so quickly was that even in the modern world, she had no real attachments—no relationships that were truly essential to her.

She had no lingering ties.

The only thing she felt sorry about was her tutoring pay. If she had taught for just one more day, she could have collected her wages.

Think of it as using that money to buy this novel, she thought. She had paid a high price for this particular lesson.

Then there were her roommates. When they returned from the holiday and found her lying “stiff” on the bed, they would likely be terrified.

She only hoped that when she died, her expression was peaceful and not too gruesome; otherwise, the timid girl in the opposite bunk would probably cry her eyes out.

She couldn’t change what had happened; she only hoped that her sudden passing might somehow lead to her roommates being recommended for postgraduate studies as a form of compensation for their trauma.

As the thin, watery rice porridge simmered in the pot, Wen Ningzhou tended the fire, her mind racing. She was incredibly worried.

Aside from those few grains of rice, the only thing in the kitchen was a small scoop of raw flour. There was nothing else, and finding wild vegetables in winter would be difficult.

If she managed to push Chen Changqing to leave today, she would have to find a way to survive on her own before she could earn any money.

She felt a sense of urgency. This mud-brick house didn’t even belong to Chen Changqing.

He had sold his own ancestral home. It was only with that money that he had been able to afford the journey to the capital to seek a mentor—which was how, somehow, he had met the Prime Minister’s daughter.

And the lady had ruined her life for the scholar at first sight.

Wen Ningzhou was already tired of trying to pick apart the logic of that detail.

What kind of astronomical coincidence would it take for a spark to fly between Chen Changqing and a high-born lady?

To be fair, if it weren’t for Chen Changqing’s subsequent series of despicable actions, he would be a textbook example of an inspirational success story.

Coming from a family of absolute poverty, he had managed to educate himself, travel to the capital to find a mentor, and trick the Prime Minister’s only daughter into marriage. Ultimately, he became the Prince Consort to the Eldest Princess and shamelessly kept a harem, enjoying the company of women on both sides.

Unfortunately, his success was built on deception and harm. Initially, to hide the fact that he was already married a crime of deceiving the Emperor—he had secretly disposed of many people who knew the truth.

This included defenseless children and elderly women from his own village.

He had sold his ancestral home and then paid a few copper coins to rent this abandoned courtyard. This place was only available because it was so dilapidated and remote; the original owners had built a new house elsewhere in the village, so this one sat empty and was essentially discarded.

Thus, they let Chen Changqing rent it for a mere three copper coins a year, just to make it official. The original owners would occasionally drop by or bring things for him from the market.

After all, Chen Changqing was the only scholar in the village. In the eyes of the illiterate villagers, a man of learning who might one day become an official was a person of great importance.

When Chen Changqing had “married” Wen Ningzhou yesterday, he had used his old ancestral home—now owned by someone else—to host the event. The wedding feast for the villagers had been held there, so all the leftover food was at someone else’s house.

The person who bought his ancestral home had lent him the house for the wedding, decorating it diligently and helping him organize the villagers, all for the sake of a festive celebration.

They could never have guessed that precisely because they had the most contact with Chen Changqing and knew his past, they would be the first ones he would target once he climbed the social ladder.

His reasoning would be that they occupied “his” house and knew of his shameful, humble beginnings.

And so, he would wipe them out entirely.

Thinking of this, Wen Ningzhou felt a wave of revulsion. When she was just reading the book, the impact hadn’t been as strong, but now she realized that Chen Changqing wasn’t just a scumbag—he was a monster.

This little house was indeed very remote. If one took the main road, the capital was over four hundred li away, and that didn’t even include the rugged mountain path one had to traverse first. Even getting to the local market required a six-li journey.

To elope so far from home… Wen Ningzhou truly couldn’t fathom the original girl’s thought process.

She must have been completely blinded by love. As someone who had been single since birth, Wen Ningzhou couldn’t understand this “jumping into a fire pit” style of romance.

Then again, perhaps it was only because she had read the script and knew how much of a scumbag he was. Such things are subjective; perhaps, in the original girl’s heart, it had felt worth it.

Once the porridge was cooked and left to thicken in the pot, Wen Ningzhou kneaded some dough and toasted a few thin flatbreads.

Chen Changqing finally woke up, following the smell of food to the kitchen. He saw the strikingly beautiful girl busy at the stove.

“Wife,” Chen Changqing said as he stepped forward, his voice dripping with greasy affection.

Wen Ningzhou dodged his touch. “The food is in the pot. I’ll serve it now.”

It was a meager breakfast. Wen Ningzhou hadn’t found any oil, so the flatbreads were dry-toasted against the pot, and there wasn’t even a scrap of green vegetable to be seen.

“Wife, there should be cabbage and sweet potatoes in the cellar in the back. There might even be a few yams left,” Chen Changqing said.

“The villagers pooled them together for me. Since I couldn’t finish them, they were put in the cellar.”

Wen Ningzhou asked the obvious question, “Then what do you usually eat?”

The question wasn’t out of place. According to the plot, the noble lady had eloped with him specifically to get married in his hometown.

To be able to marry an official’s daughter was something that would bring great glory to Chen Changqing’s family name in this small mountain village.

The noble lady had gone the entire previous day without eating anything except for half a bun given to her by a village woman to tide her over.

The local custom dictated that once a bride put on her wedding dress, she could not eat, so the original girl had been waiting all day on an empty stomach.

“Usually, the villagers bring me food,” Chen Changqing said. “Or I go to the market outside to find something to eat.”

Wen Ningzhou did a quick calculation. The time spent travelling to the market and back was longer than the time it took to actually cook a meal.

“A gentleman stays away from the kitchen,” Chen Changqing said shamelessly. “In the future, I will have to trouble my wife with the meals. If you don’t know how to cook, just learn from the aunties in the village and you’ll pick it up soon enough.”

When he spoke of the villagers bringing him food, his expression was one of total habit, without a hint of gratitude. Furthermore, he spoke of Wen Ningzhou doing the cooking as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

While they were eating breakfast, Wen Ningzhou brought up her suggestion: she wanted Chen Changqing to set off today. She argued that his career was of the utmost importance and that he shouldn’t waste his time at home with her.

Chen Changqing, of course, did not agree. He was still full of regret this morning that he hadn’t consummated the marriage with his beautiful wife last night, and he was determined to make up for it today.

Wen Ningzhou spent a long time trying to persuade him with gentle words, but Chen Changqing remained unmoved. She didn’t dare speak too forcefully; beneath his refined exterior, this man hid the heart of a predator.

If he were to drop the act and try to use force, the difference in their strength was too great. Wen Ningzhou didn’t dare take the risk. She carefully weighed her next words.

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