Chapter 1
Azure sky, yellow leaves on the ground, autumn wind whistling, beneath a long pavilion.
"Cha'er, this time I go to Yan City, I don't know when I can return. If I can pass the provincial examination and become a Juren, I'll come back and marry you. Are you willing to wait for me?" The young woman in brown clothes had tears in her eyes, looking at the man in green clothes in front of her with great reluctance.
The man had skin like ice and bones like jade, with eyes as beautiful as a painting and delicate features. A small teardrop mole at the corner of his eye made him even more charming and alluring. He lowered his head and spoke with a sorrowful expression: "Lu Cha is certainly willing to wait for you, but marriage is a major affair, subject to parents' orders and matchmakers' words. Even if I marry someone else, Lu Cha dares not disobey. I only hope you can return early, and not let me marry another."
The woman's expression became even more sad: "If only I were born into a wealthy family, then we could be of equal status, and no one could stop us from being together."
The woman said a few more words of love, and the man responded with sorrow. Soon, the woman shouldered her bundle and left, looking back every few steps.
After the woman walked far away, the man's melancholic expression instantly turned into contempt.
He raised his fair white fingers to gently wipe away the tears on his face, then turned to sit on a stone bench, picked up a teacup, and took a light sip of tea.
"Such a weeping woman is truly annoying," he sneered.
The purple-clad servant who had been standing nearby was somewhat puzzled: "Young master, why do you go to such lengths to please her? She has neither money nor looks, only knows a few sour poems. Yet you refuse Miss Qian's favor for her sake. Zi Yi truly doesn't understand."
The green-clad man put down his teacup, his red lips curling slightly: "I just want to take a gamble. If she can pass the provincial examination, I'll marry her. If she's useless, I'll go accept Miss Qian's favor."
Zi Yi was slightly stunned and sighed: "Young master..."
Zhang Meng crouched in the dense grass, hearing these words with her own ears, feeling quite emotional.
Since she had transmigrated to this female-dominant world, she had been living in the mountains. She never knew that not all men here were as gentle and kind as her adoptive father Yang Qing, but could also play tricks like the vicious female supporting characters in TV dramas.
But love and affection are matters of mutual willingness. She didn't want to interfere, nor was she willing to interfere. Even lying on the grass to sleep, awake for a long time, she didn't come out to disturb the couple. She just silently observed.
After the handsome man named Xu Lu Cha left with the purple-clad servant, she finally stood up straight and walked out.
Zhang Meng originally lived on a small mountain in the west of the city, where trees were lush, flowers bloomed, and the scenery was very beautiful.
Eleven years ago, her soul transmigrated into a seven-year-old girl who had been abducted. While escaping, she fell off a cliff. A young lame man saved her.
That man was named Yang Qing, originally a servant in a wealthy household. Because he made a mistake, he was disfigured by his master, beaten nearly to death, and thrown onto the mountain to fend for himself.
When Zhang Meng first saw Yang Qing's face, she was startled, because his features were indistinguishable, just a bloody mess.
Although Yang Qing's appearance was terrifying, he had an extremely good heart. Whenever he found something good to eat, he would give it to Zhang Meng. He himself would just eat some sour and astringent fruits to stave off hunger.
Zhang Meng was deeply moved. When her injuries were somewhat better, she took charge of all the housework and farm work at home, and sometimes went hunting with Yang Qing.
Originally frail and delicate, she gradually became strong and robust. Although she couldn't achieve the muscular physique of a female athlete because of her small frame, she was the type that looked slim in clothes but had meat when undressed. Moreover, she knew a bit of martial arts, more than enough to fight off a few ruffians.
Yang Qing's face also slowly healed, scarred over and recovered. Although his face was pitted and covered with scars, his skin was fair. Combined with his well-proportioned features, red lips, white teeth, and eyes like autumn waters, he could indeed be considered a handsome man.
If Yang Qing's face had remained a bloody mess like when they first met, perhaps, despite his gentleness and kindness, Zhang Meng might not have developed romantic feelings for him. She might have just regarded him as her closest relative.
But as his face gradually recovered, Zhang Meng felt he became more beautiful day by day, so beautiful that she couldn't take her eyes off him. Zhang Meng's heart could no longer be guarded.
She fell in love with her adoptive father, Yang Qing.