Chapter 1: Joy

It was a late autumn afternoon. Although the sun overhead was not as scorching as in June, Wei Zijun, wearing a straw hat and a face veil, was already sweating. With one hand, she wiped the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief, while the other hand tugged at the straps of the basket on her chest to ease the weight pulling at her back.

Throughout the journey back to the valley from town, a joyful smile never left Wei Zijun’s face.

Her period was late this month, and as someone skilled in medicine, she had already confirmed that she was pregnant. However, she had still made a special trip out of the valley to see a doctor in town to be absolutely sure.

There was truly a little life in her womb; she was really going to be a mother.

Along the way, she had thought about many things. She wondered if the child would be a boy or a girl—not because she favored one over the other, but because she was thinking about whether to prepare clothes for a girl or a boy.

She wondered, after the child was born, would they look like her, or like him?

If it were a girl, she should look like her; if it were a boy, it would be best if he looked like him!

She also thought about how she should break the good news to him once she got back into the valley and reached home. Should she say it the moment she walked through the door? Or should she cook a few good dishes and wait until he had a few cups of wine before telling him?

And when he heard the news that he was about to become a father, how happy would he be?

They had been married for half a year, and finally, a new member was going to be added to this family.

As for the happy task of choosing a name, she would leave that to him, the father; after all, his literary talent was far better than hers.

None of the villagers in the valley knew that her husband was someone she had picked up.

Even Wei Zijun herself had not expected that an act of kindness nine months ago would lead to her own marriage.

She remembered the scene very clearly. After fleeing her family, she had chosen to head toward the neighboring Anyu Kingdom, a place plagued by war and outbreaks of disease, for the sake of safety.

A place others avoided at all costs was, to her, potentially the safest place to be.

Because no one would believe that the brilliant and clever eldest daughter of the prestigious Wei family in the Yanli Kingdom would run away from home and choose to head toward the most chaotic and unstable region.

Once she crossed the border into the Anyu Kingdom and entered Lu City, what she saw before her was nothing but desolation and misery.

Cities and villages were destroyed by war; grave mounds were visible along the road, along with hastily buried corpses wrapped in straw mats that weren't even fully covered by the yellow earth. She didn't know if the Anyu Kingdom had committed some act against the heavens, but natural disasters, man-made calamities, war, blizzards, and plagues occurred frequently.

Their monarch had issued an edict forbidding refugees and disaster victims from heading toward the capital.

However, because the Empress had given birth to another prince, the kingdom was to celebrate and grant amnesty to the world. They not only issued an edict to settle and shelter refugees from the war and blizzards but also included the survivors from the plague-stricken areas.

They were all equally pitiful, homeless people, but because the survivors from the plague zones might still carry the disease and infect others, they became an even lower class among the refugees.

They were required to tie green cloth strips around their arms as a warning, so that other refugees could keep their distance and ensure that nothing untoward happened.

Wei Zijun had voluntarily blended into the group of plague-zone refugees and tied on a green cloth strip herself. The only benefit this gave her on the long, arduous road ahead was that she wouldn't be targeted by people with ill intentions.

Even among refugees, there were villains, but even villains valued their lives.

After traveling together for several days, Wei Zijun learned that the plague-stricken area was vast, involving many villages and towns. Some villages had been wiped out entirely, with not a single soul spared.

This "not a single soul spared" didn't mean everyone had died of the plague; it meant that because so many had died, the authorities, in order to prevent the spread of the epidemic, had cordoned off entire villages and burned them.

Those who were dead, those who were sick but still breathing, and those who still looked healthy—all were burned in one fire.

When she heard this, Wei Zijun’s heart tightened. The authorities' methods were too cruel; the villagers who were burned were too pitiful and innocent, too tragic.

Even though her blood had detoxifying and purifying properties, if it wasn't at the very beginning of the outbreak, but rather after it had already spread, even if she had drained her blood for those people to drink, it likely would have been beyond saving.

It was precisely because of this that she had dared to blend into the group of plague-zone refugees. Her blood was special; even if the others carried the plague bacteria, she would not be infected.

The place where the Emperor of Anyu ordered the refugees to be sheltered was the Soul-Breaking Valley, a desolate and sparsely populated area far from the capital and the major prefectures.

There were two ways to enter the valley: one by land, the other by water.

However, the water route to Soul-Breaking Valley was a murky river filled with an unknown number of crocodiles. They were brutal and ferocious; any living thing that fell into the water became their food.

Therefore, this river was also called the Soul-Breaking River.

The refugees, who were told by the soldiers that they were being "escorted" when in reality they were being detained, didn't dare to escape even after learning their destination. Some had tried at the beginning, only to be caught by the soldiers and executed in public as a warning to others.

Furthermore, they had no better options for the time being. At the very least, during the journey under escort, the government provided food—though it was only coarse grain cakes and watery porridge, it was still better than begging and starving to death along the way.

Wei Zijun’s husband was someone she had picked up on the way to this Soul-Breaking Valley.

At the time, he was in rags, covered in wounds, and because he was blind, the food he received was repeatedly snatched away by others. Eventually, exhausted, he sat leaning against a locust tree by the side of the road, waiting for death.

The food everyone received each day was pitifully little. Even if people saw him, no one would share their own life-sustaining food with him.

When Wei Zijun saw him, she walked over, divided her cake in half, and gave him half a bowl of rice soup.

Seeing a shifty-eyed person nearby staring at the food in his hands, Wei Zijun didn't leave immediately. Instead, she stood by his side to ensure that the food she had given him actually made it into his stomach.

After he finished eating, Wei Zijun turned to leave, but after walking a few steps, her feet felt as if they were weighed down by heavy objects; she couldn't lift them.

His situation was so dire; leaving him there was as good as leaving him to die.

Hadn't she given him the cake and porridge precisely because she hoped he would live?

After much hesitation, Wei Zijun turned back to the locust tree and asked him if he was willing to come with her.

At the time, he seemed surprised that someone would say such a thing to him; he paused, then nodded and said yes.

Just like that, Wei Zijun took him along.

She had originally thought that once they reached their destination and his health improved, they would go their separate ways.

However, when they reached the entrance of Soul-Breaking Valley, the government had posted a large notice on the rocks, and the yamen runners registering people at the entrance kept banging gongs to remind everyone that housing in the valley was limited, and priority would be given to those with families.

Those who were alone would have to live in simple, large tents.

It wasn't that Wei Zijun couldn't endure such hardship, but she knew that as a young woman, living in such a mixed environment was truly inconvenient.

Looking at him, who was also alone, Wei Zijun thought for a moment and proposed that they pretend to be a family so they could have a fixed, private place to live.

He thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

When they went up to register, before Wei Zijun could even speak, the yamen runner took one look and wrote down "husband and wife." She wanted to explain and correct him, but the runner, seeing the chaotic crowd waiting behind them, was already very impatient.

Wei Zijun let it go. Fortunately, because the scene was chaotic and the runner was impatient, the registration of the refugees' names and origins was not strict at all; whatever they reported was what was written down.

Thus, Wei Zijun bit the bullet and gave a place name she had heard from fellow travelers. For her name, she reported "Wei Sanniang," and as for his name, since she hadn't expected to form a temporary family, she hadn't asked him his name.

When she turned back to ask him, the overwhelmed yamen runner was already impatiently shooing them away, urging the next family to come forward and register.

Whether the Emperor had decided on this to gain merit for his newborn son or simply for a good reputation, in such a remote place far from the reach of the throne, it was no surprise that the subordinates were perfunctory and careless.

Those who entered Soul-Breaking Valley were left to their own fate. The imperial court only provided a place to stay and nothing else; who knew how many people would survive after a while.

This registration process was merely for show, a mere formality.

Thinking of this, Wei Zijun looked at the valley entrance ahead and smiled.

At the time, she had already lied about them being a married couple, yet she didn't even know his surname or given name.

Usually, when she went out to buy things, she went with him. He said he didn't trust her to go out of the valley alone. He couldn't see, but he said he had strength, so he always carried the basket.

This time, she had specifically made an excuse to go out alone to confirm if she was truly pregnant.

Wei Zijun was very tired and hungry, and she really wanted to stop and put down the basket to rest, because since their household only consisted of two people, their assigned dwelling was further away from the valley entrance.

However, she wanted to get home sooner, see him sooner, and tell him the good news sooner.

Therefore, Wei Zijun paused for only a moment before lifting her legs to continue walking forward.

"Sanniang, you're back?" As soon as she entered the valley, someone walking toward her greeted her.

"Yes, Auntie Qian, are you going to pick mushrooms?" Wei Zijun responded with a smile.

In the entire valley, Wei Zijun was only slightly familiar with this Auntie Qian.

"Yes, didn't it rain yesterday? I figured there would be plenty of mushrooms on the mountain today. I'll pick as many as I can; if I can sell them, I will. If I can't, I'll dry them if the weather is good, or pickle them if it's not. Once winter comes, they'll be a vegetable, one way or another." Before Auntie Qian finished speaking, she had already walked some distance away, as if afraid that if she were any slower, the mushrooms on the mountain would be picked by someone else.

Wei Zijun also quickened her pace toward home. After branching off from a fork in the road, the path became a rugged, winding mountain trail.

The medicinal herbs and embroidery she had brought out of the valley today hadn't sold for much, but it was enough to buy this basket full of things.

Rice, flour, fabric to make clothes and small quilts for the child, a carp, and two catties of wine for him.

He loved the sweet and sour fish she made. Drinking a little wine and then hearing the good news that he was about to become a father—just thinking about it, Wei Zijun could imagine his expression and reaction; it should be shock first, followed by pleasant surprise.

After turning a few more corners, she finally saw their home.

When they were first assigned the place, it was a very simple wooden house that leaked when it rained and let in the wind. But after nine months of hard work and repairs, the house still looked shabby, but at least it no longer leaked or let in the wind.

Moreover, they had built a fence around it, and even had a courtyard gate.

Around the fence, she had planted wild chrysanthemums she had dug up. By the gate was a wisteria vine; although it wasn't very big now, it would grow.

There were many large ones on the mountain, and he had the strength to dig them up, but she was afraid that if the plant was too big, it wouldn't survive the move.

Huh? Why was the door still closed? At this time, shouldn't he be sitting in the courtyard drinking tea?

The tea was wild tea she had picked on the mountain and roasted; he liked it very much.

Wei Zijun pushed open the courtyard gate and looked at the tightly shut door, feeling very puzzled.

She entered the courtyard, not even bothering to check if the chickens she raised had laid any eggs, and headed straight for the door. When she was two steps away, the door suddenly opened, and she saw him sitting there.

Just as she breathed a sigh of relief and was about to greet him, Wei Zijun suddenly realized: he was sitting there properly, so who had opened the door...