Yan Zhujun, who had never been shut out before, barely managed to contain his anger: “She- she dares! How dare she?!”

“Ungrateful wretch, I, this old man, picked up an ungrateful wretch.” Yan Zhujun stomped his cane in anger.

“Lord, please calm down.” Ling Hua tried to placate him: “Actually, Su Mu’s coldness towards us isn’t without reason. After all……”

“After all, what?” Yan Zhujun glared at Ling Hua: “No matter what, I saved her. If it weren’t for me, she would have died long ago. What right does she have to act tough in front of me?”

Ling Hua dared not speak for Su Mu anymore and could only agree.

Yan Zhujun then turned his resentful gaze to Yan Jiyue: “You useless creature, you’re just as useless. That pretty face of yours is wasted. You can’t even hold onto a woman’s heart. She would rather have a barbarian half-breed from the frontier than you!”

Yan Jiyue’s lips quivered.

None of them heard what Yan Jiyue said, only Yan Jiyue himself heard clearly.

He said: “A Mu used to… care for me deeply.”

Before her rebirth, even with Xie Yi stirring up trouble between them, even when he had made so many mistakes, Su Mu had always treasured him.

The servants once favored Xie Yi more, thinking he was more beloved by Su Mu, and thus neglected him. It was Su Mu who voluntarily stood up and said she only had one husband, disciplining the servants on his behalf.

But those were all in the past.

Now Su Mu no longer wanted him.

As Yan Jiyue fully realized the reality, his heart felt as if it was covered by a heavy layer of willow catkins, making it hard to breathe. Every breath was painful.

He had no right to blame Su Mu. It was he who had forcibly missed out on a good match.

So when his father ordered him to win Su Mu back, Yan Jiyue felt reluctant and deliberately delayed.

He knew clearly what his father meant by having him remarry Su Mu. It was nothing more than wanting Su Mu to fill the void left by Yan Ting in the Yan family. He was unwilling. In his previous life, he had witnessed Su Mu’s suffering. In this life, she had a bright future ahead of her. How could he let her fall into the abyss again?

Yan Jiyue looked at the tightly closed door, swallowing back the pain in his heart.

His A Mu would surely have a smooth life.

Su Mu closed the door and saw Xie Yi standing by the door watching her.

“Sister Mu, don’t be sad,” he comforted.

Yan Zhujun’s words calling her an ungrateful wretch were said right at the door. She could hear them clearly through the door, and naturally, Xie Yi heard them too.

He looked at Su Mu with eyes full of concern, but automatically filtered out Yan Zhujun’s words calling him a ‘barbarian half-breed’.

“It’s alright, I’m not sad,” Su Mu smiled. “But why do you look even paler than before?”

Xie Yi looked flustered: “I don’t think so.”

Su Mu examined him carefully and said: “Could it be my imagination?”

Xie Yi bit his lip and nodded: “Sister Mu must have seen wrong.”

“Alright then, but you really didn’t sleep well last night. Go back and rest for a while.”

Xie Yi shook his head: “There are still many things to do in the house, and I’m not tired at all. I would just lie in bed staring blankly.”

Su Mu saw that he didn’t seem to be lying, so she agreed.

“By the way, I remember you mentioning last time that Master Qiao’s family has a son and a daughter?” she suddenly asked.

“Yes, why does Sister Mu suddenly ask about this?”

Su Mu smiled and said: “It’s nothing. I just think that as neighbors, we should maintain good relationships. You can tell him that if his daughter wants to learn to read and write, she can come to me. I’ll teach her for free. Although merchant families can’t participate in the imperial examinations, it’s still good to know more characters and be educated.”

Xie Yi’s eyes showed some hesitation: “Sister Mu, you already read books late into the night every day. Taking time to teach her would be too tiring.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. I have my own considerations,” Su Mu smiled and pinched his cheek. It was soft and tender, feeling extremely good.

Xie Yi’s face suddenly burned, blushing red. He lowered his head and stammered: “I- I understand. I’ll go tell Master Qiao now.”

Su Mu let go of her hand: “Go then.”

Xie Yi left almost at a run. It was the first time she had seen him so flustered and busy. It was quite amusing.

Talented scholars were already rare in Juecheng, and they all had high standards. Merchant families were not allowed to participate in the imperial examinations, which meant their path to officialdom was cut off for generations. Even if sent to private schools, they would be looked down upon by other classmates.

Therefore, when Su Mu voluntarily offered to teach Master Qiao’s daughter, Master Qiao was so happy he almost jumped up: “This is wonderful!” When he had initially befriended Xie Yi, it was actually because he valued Su Mu’s newly acquired status as a talented scholar behind Xie Yi.

Otherwise, given Xie Yi’s mixed-blood background and former slave status, Master Qiao actually didn’t think much of him. He only thought Xie Yi was lucky to have climbed the social ladder by attaching himself to Su Mu, the talented scholar, and that’s why he treated him with courtesy.

However, Master Qiao hid these little thoughts very well. After all, they weren’t three-year-old children. There was no such thing as friendship at first sight; making friends was all for the sake of ‘benefit’.

That afternoon, Master Qiao brought his seven-year-old daughter Qiao Yue to Su Mu’s house, along with gifts for the teacher.

Su Mu only accepted Qiao Yue, but returned the gifts.

Master Qiao praised Su Mu even more in his heart.

After teaching Qiao Yue for an afternoon and assigning some homework, Su Mu asked Xie Yi to send Qiao Yue back.

In the evening, Xie Yi prepared a table full of dishes for her, all Su Mu’s favorites, but Xie Yi seemed listless.

“No appetite?” Su Mu noticed his unusual behavior.

Xie Yi shook his head: “I ate at noon, I’m not hungry now. Sister Mu, please eat more.” Su Mu nodded, not inquiring further.

After dinner, Su Mu continued reading, while she sent Xie Yi to bed early.

Reading late into the night, Su Mu closed her book, extinguished the light, and prepared to sleep.

But suddenly she heard a tiny sound. The sound was extremely faint, and with the chirping of insects and croaking of frogs outside covering most of it, it reached her ears even more intermittently, broken and formless.

Su Mu sat up, pricking up her ears to listen carefully.

She found that the sound was coming from Xie Yi’s room. He was usually very quiet when sleeping, so why would he suddenly make such a sound?

Curious, Su Mu put on her shoes and walked very lightly to Xie Yi’s door.

The closer she got to Xie Yi’s room, the more obvious the sound became. It was fragile and painful, like a whimper, or like a cry muffled by cloth stuffed into the mouth.

Su Mu couldn’t help but knock on his door: “Xiao Yi, what’s wrong?” The broken sound stopped abruptly.

After a moment, Xie Yi’s weak voice came from inside: “I’m fine, Sister Mu.”

“But I thought I heard you crying. Did something happen? Can you tell me?”

Xie Yi’s voice was as light as if floating in the air: “…Really, it’s nothing. Sister Mu, you should rest early.”

Su Mu was still worried: “Then let me come in and check on you. Once I’m sure you’re okay, I’ll leave.”

Xie Yi fell silent.

The silent atmosphere made Su Mu more certain that Xie Yi had encountered some trouble. She knocked on the door again: “Put on your clothes now, I’m coming in.”

“No, don’t-” Xie Yi refused in panic.

But it was too late, Su Mu had already pushed open the door. She lit the lamp in Xie Yi’s room, and a small flame illuminated the entire room in the darkness.

Su Mu placed the oil lamp by Xie Yi’s bed, and finally saw how haggard Xie Yi was.

The thin undergarment draped over his body, his face and lips as pale as paper, his forehead covered in a dense cold sweat. He looked like a mermaid just pulled out of the sea, even his clothes were wet, and his damp long hair clung stickily to his face.

Su Mu was shocked and quickly grabbed his hand, which was also cold.

“Xiao Yi, what’s wrong? Is it- is it that your wound has torn open again?” Xie Yi shook his head, his dry, pale lips cracking, with bright red blood seeping from the cracks, strangely beautiful.

“Sister Mu, please leave quickly. I’m fine, it’s just- it’s not clean here.”

“What do you mean not clean? Xiao Yi, you’re sick. I’ll go find a doctor for you.”

Xie Yi shook his head more vigorously, biting his lip in shame: “No, it’s not sickness.”

“Then what is it? You look very ill. If you don’t tell me the reason, I’ll have a doctor come to examine you.” Su Mu felt his forehead and wiped the sweat from his brow with her sleeve.

Xie Yi’s eyes reddened with distress, his hands tightly gripping the quilt, his gaze avoiding hers in embarrassment: “It’s- it’s that my menstruation has come.”

Menstruation…

Su Mu’s gaze silently moved to Xie Yi’s stomach covered by the quilt. How could she not have thought of it? In a matriarchal world, men give birth to children, so naturally men also menstruate.

Although Su Mu herself was a transmigrator, it seemed that this world automatically modified the bodies of transmigrators. Not only had she grown taller than before, but the monthly visitor that used to come without fail no longer came.

Seeing Su Mu staring at his stomach without saying anything, Xie Yi’s face grew even paler, his heart feeling as if stabbed by an icy knife, dying of shame and anger.

“Sister Mu, please go back. A man’s menstruation is unclean.” Xie Yi lowered his head, not daring to look at Su Mu anymore.

Su Mu snapped out of it and said, “How could it be unclean? It’s just a normal physiological phenomenon.” Before Su Mu transmigrated, she often suffered from menstrual cramps, rolling in bed in pain even after taking painkillers. Now seeing Xie Yi like this, she seemed to see her former self being tortured by Aunt Flo.

Xie Yi’s heart trembled uncontrollably, surprised that Su Mu would say such a thing.

Hadn’t women always considered menstruation dirty? Even his father said so, that when men menstruate, they need to avoid women.

Although Su Mu’s words were shocking, hearing her say this made Xie Yi feel warm in his lower abdomen no matter how much it hurt.

“Did it just start tonight?” Su Mu carefully tucked the quilt around him. Naturally, one needs to stay warm during menstruation.

Xie Yi shook his head: “It started last night.”

“Last night?” Su Mu’s voice caught, then she said somewhat angrily, “Then why didn’t you tell me? You even washed clothes with well water today, the water was so cold.”

Memories of the day flooded back, recalling Xie Yi’s somewhat sluggish movements, his pale complexion…

Su Mu realized with a start: “It’s been hurting since last night, hasn’t it?”