Perfect Match – CH 106

Chapter 106 [Extra WHAT IF Chapter] The Young Man (6)

“Sister-in-law, what are you saying? Linglang is not even a year old yet. You and my brother will both be fine. Why are you saying these things? You are scaring me. Besides, Father has already sent people to look for my brother. Nothing will happen. Do not worry so much…”

At the Deng family.

Deng Ruyun was startled when she heard her sister-in-law say this. She inexplicably thought of the sudden disorientation she felt when she saw Linglang before, as if everything was heading down that unsettling path.

“Sister-in-law, do not think about these things anymore. You should take good care of yourself and wait for Father to find out some news.”

She quickly comforted her, seeing her sister-in-law sigh deeply with downcast eyes, her gaze shifting to tears. She did not mention the frightening dream and her suspicions again, but instead looked towards the starry sky and began to speak of the past.

She chuckled softly, “Yunniang knows about my time at my parents’ home, right? If it were not for your brother, I would not have the life I have today…”

Deng Ruyun had vaguely heard her mother and Aunt Juan mention some things. Her sister-in-law’s surname was Zhu, and her given name was Yushuang. Her family also dealt in medicinal herbs, but they did not have the Deng family’s expertise in medicine making; they only tended a small medicinal herb field and sold raw herbs.

Zhu Yushuang’s mother died when she was three years old. Because she was young and her maternal family was quite influential, her father remarried, taking her aunt as his second wife.

At first, her aunt treated her well, taking good care of her as a child who had lost her mother at a young age. However, the second year after her aunt married into the family, she had her own child, which, coincidentally, was also a girl.

After her younger sister was born, neither her aunt nor her father cared for her as much, and her aunt, not long after, gave birth to two more boys.

“My father doted on my aunt because of her youth and beauty. Compared to my mother, who only had me after five years of marriage, my father was even more fond of her because she had repeatedly brought children into the Zhu family. After my aunt had her own children, how could she possibly care about me?”

Zhu Yushuang looked down at her daughter, gently stroking Little Linglang’s face. Her daughter was finally tired, yawning, her long eyelashes fluttering as she drifted off to sleep.

She told Yunniang that her situation at her parents’ home was completely different from Yunniang’s.

“My family relied on the medicinal herb fields for a living, but three years of severe drought made making ends meet extremely difficult. With the family struggling, it was normal for my aunt to neglect me. But I was at a growth spurt then, so I inevitably ate more. Every day, if my aunt saw me take even half a bowl more rice than necessary, she would frown and stare at me. If I took even a couple more bites of food, she would turn around and cry to my father, saying that my younger siblings would not survive.”

Zhu Yushuang recalled those days, so close yet so far.

“My father always favored my aunt far more than my mother. Whenever he heard my aunt complaining, he would give me a cold look. His gaze was so cold that I dared not eat anymore. I could only tremble and put down my bowl, going to the backyard to gather medicinal herbs on an empty stomach. Later, I did not dare eat in front of them anymore. I would wait until they had served the food and eat whatever was left. If there was nothing left, there would be nothing to eat.”

She spoke so frankly, and Yunniang looked at her incredulously.

Zhu Yushuang smiled helplessly.

Even so, this young woman, not yet of marriageable age, dared not leave that house. She could only bow her head and fawn over her father and aunt, caring for her younger siblings and doing chores for the household. She did not feel like a daughter in this family but merely an outsider seeking sustenance.

“Every year, I hoped the harvest would be better so my father and aunt could hire a couple of tenants to help, and I could do less work. But when the harvest was bad, they could not bear to hire anyone; when the harvest was good, they were even more reluctant to spend money. They just cried poverty everywhere, asking others for help.”

The Deng family, because their business was thriving, always helped these farmers and was willing to buy their medicinal herbs at high prices. As long as the herbs were good, the money would always be paid early.

That year, the harvest was much better, and the Deng family still bought the medicine at a slightly higher market price. Father and Aunt were very happy with the money, but delivering the medicine to the Deng family in Jinzhou City would cost a considerable amount of money for transportation.

In previous years, when the harvest was small, Father and she could deliver it twice, which was enough. This year, the harvest was good, but Father had sprained his ankle. Paying someone to deliver the medicine displeased Aunt, who said to Father, “Since the Deng family is not short of money, let’s have our eldest daughter deliver some. If they see that it’s a maid delivering the medicine, and she tells them that you sprained your ankle, they will surely understand and send someone to pick up the medicine themselves. Would that not save us money?”

Father immediately agreed to Aunt’s idea. The two of them called her over and instructed her that on her first trip to the Deng family to deliver the medicine, she must shed a few tears and cry for the Deng family to see.

Aunt even told her not to eat for two days, because if she became thin and pale from hunger, the Deng family might have to give her additional money to help the Zhu family. Under the moonlight, Zhu Yushuang was not afraid to tell Yunniang these things. She sneered as she spoke, “Those two had no shame whatsoever; they only wanted to profit from the Deng family’s reputation for good deeds.”

She said her aunt had not fed her for the past two days. Seeing she was nearly starving, she made her take a mule and a cartload of medicinal herbs to Jinzhou City.

“When I arrived in Jinzhou, the first person I saw was your brother. But I could not do what they planned. I just wanted to put the herbs down and leave, but your brother came up to me, looked me over, and asked, ‘Have you not eaten?'”

Deng Ruyun’s tears streamed down her face as she heard her sister-in-law’s words.

Zhu Yushuang still remembered that scene vividly.

She remembered the young master of the Deng family. After asking her, he did not even wait for her answer before turning to his servant and ordering, “Take Young Lady Zhu directly to the kitchen. First, give her half a bowl of porridge, then cook a bowl of mutton noodles.”

Hearing the word “mutton noodles,” her legs trembled. But staying would only play into their hands.

She dared not linger at the Deng family’s house. She hurriedly unloaded the medicinal herbs, spurred her mule, and rushed out of the city.

Deng Ruheng did not chase after her, and she breathed a sigh of relief. But the aroma from the roadside food stalls made the road ahead blurry.

She could only drink some water and quickly leave Jinzhou City. Unexpectedly, just outside the city gate, Deng Ruyun rode after her.

“If you go back like this, you will collapse on the roadside!”

Zhu Yushuang saw him, and indeed, she was about to collapse on the roadside. Not only had he rushed over, but he had also brought a large bag of freshly baked meat pies.

She did not want it, repeatedly saying she’d already eaten, “Young Master, you are too kind. I am fine; I need to go back quickly. I will come back a couple more times tomorrow and the day after, and that will be it.”

She did not dare look at him, but he directly shoved the steaming hot meat pie into her hand.

Holding that hot pie, she could not hold back anymore, and tears streamed down her face.

But given the Deng family’s behavior, she had no face to do anything unjust.

She gritted her teeth and simply told Deng Ruheng about her father’s and aunt’s plans.

After she finished speaking, her face burned as if she’d been slapped, and she was unable to lift her head.

But at that moment, Deng Ruheng only gave a soft “Oh.”

“Do not worry, I will not give them the money. But if the Deng family does not pay, they will not hire anyone else. They will just keep making you run back and forth, which will not work.”

At that time, she was still a young girl, not yet of marriageable age. She did not know what Deng Ruheng was planning and looked up at him.

Sunlight fell on his face, making the gentle smile on the young man’s face shine like a bright lamp in the night.

He smiled and said, “I will go back to the Zhu family with you. I will deal with them for you.”

That day, she was very scared, but inexplicably, she wanted to trust him.

He really did go all the way home with her. When they arrived at the Zhu family, he told her father and aunt that it was too inappropriate for the Zhu family to send a young girl all the way to Jinzhou City to deliver medicine. If something went wrong, the Deng family could not bear the responsibility. If the Zhu family could not hire someone to deliver the medicine, the Deng family would not want the medicine, and they should resell it to a nearby pharmacy, which would be safer.

Upon hearing his threat, Zhu Yushuang saw her father and aunt turn pale.

There was no other pharmacy offering a higher price than the Deng family.

The two repeatedly explained that it was only a temporary measure; they would hire someone to deliver the herbs safely the next day and would never let her deliver the medicine alone again.

That day, she saw Deng Ruheng to the village entrance, where she saw the young man smile at her.

“You do not need to worry anymore. If they treat you like this again, just tell me.”

She inexplicably dared not look him in the eye, but he gave her the remaining meat pies from his bag.

Later, every time he saw her, he would ask her in detail how she was doing at home.

Knowing she had no way to repay him, she heard that he enjoyed making rare pills, so she also kept an eye out for uncommon herbs in the mountains for him, and whenever they met, she would give him a large bag of them, claiming it was in her father’s name.

She could not admit she gave him the gift, nor did she want his money. But whenever she heard he had invented a pill not available on the market, she was overjoyed for him. If the research failed and he was dejected, she would prepare a whole basket of words to comfort him.

He often asked her, “How can you be so eloquent? You’ve said all the most beautiful things in the world.”

She did not know how to answer, perhaps because she had spent too many years at home bowing and scraping to please him.

However, she took it as a compliment, and a sweet joy welled up inside her. Even if she was utterly useless, at least this one thing made him think she might not be so bad.

But she never imagined that someone of her background could marry him. Her aunt was even planning to arrange a marriage for her with the son of a village creditor, to be done the following year.

That creditor’s son was not even as tall as she was and certainly not nearly as handsome as Deng Ruheng, but she felt that was the only kind of person she could marry.

But the very next day after hearing the news, he sent his parents to propose marriage!

She thought he only pitied her, but he said, “How does Yushuang not know I do love you?”

…

“Yunniang, do you still remember the day I married into your brother’s family? I cried so much. You even held my arm and asked me if I was reluctant to leave my home.”

Zhu Yushuang lowered her head and laughed. “How could I? My tears were not because I was reluctant to leave, but because I had finally jumped out of that quagmire and married your brother.”

Linglang had fallen asleep in her arms sometime earlier.

Deng Ruyun listened to her recollections, speechless for a long time, only able to hold her sister-in-law’s hand, wanting to offer her some comfort.

Her sister-in-law also held her hand.

Her voice carried from inside the courtyard wall to outside.

“So, Yunniang, your brother is such a good man; how could I let him get lost? If I do not hear from him again in a few days, I really have to go find him. No matter what, I will find him; I will definitely find him…”

Outside the Deng family courtyard wall, Teng Yue listened to Yunniang and her sister-in-law’s words, lost in thought for a moment.

He could not help but recall the long, vivid dream he had experienced that afternoon.

In that dream, he had not met Yunniang beforehand. Even after he left Jinzhou, he did not know that this girl, Yunniang, existed and had always been by his side.

The reason Yunniang became his betrothed was that that year, her brother had left the pass and never returned. And as her sister-in-law had indeed said, she had left her infant daughter behind to search for her husband beyond the pass, making several trips back and forth, only to find a pile of deliberately placed bones.

Her sister-in-law believed her brother had perished in the sandstorms beyond the pass. Her already frail body could not withstand the onslaught, and she died upon returning to Jinzhou. The news of her death dealt a heavy blow to Yunniang’s parents, who soon passed away one after the other.

The Deng family was burdened with debt, and their assets were gradually sold off until they could no longer sustain themselves in Jinzhou City. Thus, the once-large Deng family was reduced to only Yunniang raising her young niece in their rural hometown. Fortunately, she had the companionship of Aunt Juan and Xiuniang, but she also had to care for her elderly grandmother, barely managing to keep going by her own still-unlearned pharmaceutical skills.

In that long dream, the Deng family’s collapse began from this point.

However, Yunniang’s brother did not die. He had encountered Zhu Tingguang, the youngest son of the Prince of Yanshan, in the border region, and was kidnapped and imprisoned in Xi’an, where he spent many years making medicine for the Yanchun Hall pharmacy in Xi’an…

Teng Yue tried hard to recall the dream, a dull ache creeping into his head.

He did not know if the dream was real or not, but hearing Yunniang’s sister-in-law’s words now seemed to make a lot of sense.

He could not help but think how wonderful it would be to speak with Yunniang. He came to the Deng family out of unease, hoping to speak with Yunniang and ask her about her uncle and aunt.

In his dream, these two had often bullied Yunniang, and when Yunniang’s parents were alive, they had fallen out with the Deng family’s eldest branch because of Aunt Juan.

If Yunniang’s account matched his dream, then the dream was likely real.

However, Teng Yue listened intently outside, hearing Yunniang and her sister-in-law return to their room from the courtyard, but he could not find an opportunity.

Instead, he vaguely heard Yunniang’s father say that it was getting late and he would take a quick look around the courtyard before resting.

If Teng Yue were to be discovered by Yunniang’s father outside the Deng family’s courtyard wall, he would have no way to explain himself.

He could only think of seeing her again tomorrow, and quickly turned to leave.

But just then, he suddenly saw someone walking towards the alley.

Fearing he might run into the Deng family and have trouble explaining himself, Teng Yue quickly hid in the bushes by the wall.

But the person was not a member of the Deng family. The man was hooded and acting suspiciously. Teng Yue initially thought it was a petty thief and did not want to pay him any attention. But as the man got closer, he looked more closely and was shocked.

Was this not the second-in-command of the bandits he had personally captured a few days ago?

Yesterday, after being severely interrogated, this man had not had a chance to breathe his last and had met his end. The commander, though displeased at not getting any deeper information, had only been able to throw him into a mass grave on a straw mat.

How could this second-in-command of the bandits be in the city now?

Teng Yue was astonished. Seeing him limp deeper into the alley, he quietly followed.

He followed the bandit around a few times, when suddenly the bandit whistled. Then, from the shadows by the roadside, the contact person appeared.

Teng Yue was extremely cautious, not daring to approach. But he noticed a door to a nearby house was open. He turned and hid inside, able to hear two people talking in the corner outside through the wall.

“How about it? We said we’d get you out, and we really did, right? It’s just a little suffering.”

The second-in-command seemed to pause upon hearing this. “A little suffering? I was almost beaten to death!”

“Otherwise, how would it look so realistic?” the other person retorted, adding, “It’s because the higher-ups still think you are useful, and they are adamant about not telling the truth. Otherwise, would the Prince of Yanshan’s Mansion risk rescuing you?”

These words reached Teng Yue’s ears over the wall.

Teng Yue’s brows furrowed.

Prince of Yanshan’s Mansion.

In his dream, the reason the Prince of Yanshan’s Mansion committed atrocities outside the Great Wall was that Deng Ruheng and his group stumbled upon them selling military supplies to the Tartars.

And this band of bandits was also secretly selling military supplies, which was why they were targeted by the garrison, and why they had not been caught multiple times… Now it seems that the Prince of Yanshan’s Mansion, under the Prince Qin’s control, was protecting them!

Teng Yue’s heart tightened.

Reality and fantasy seemed to intertwine here.

So, what happened in his dream was not false but a true event that had occurred in another world?!

Teng Yue’s heart pounded, but he still patiently listened to the two men talking, telling the second-in-command to go to the Great Wall for refuge, adding, “The Regional General is currently outside the Great Wall; you will find a place to stay there.”

The Regional General… was Zhu Tingguang, the youngest son of the Prince of Yanshan, and he was currently outside the Great Wall!

Everything was in order. Teng Yue dared not alert the bandits in the slightest. He followed the two to their temporary lodgings, secured the entrance, and had a member of the Teng family’s personal guards, who happened to live nearby, keep watch from outside.

Following the messenger’s instructions, he ordered the second-in-command to leave the city in three days and head towards the border.