Chapter 50: Xu San Niang

Chi Mei obediently came forward, lowering his posture greatly.

Jiang Yang saw this and knew that this stupid fish had remembered all the details she had given him.

In fact, Chi Mei didn’t know what purpose these submissive gestures served. He didn’t understand the various oppressive rules of human society, especially the unspoken rules between relatives. Even when Jiang Yang explained it to him, his eyes flashed with confusion and bewilderment. This was something the merfolk would never understand.

But he still remembered everything perfectly, without missing a single detail.

He respectfully came before Lady Liu, his lowered gaze and submissive demeanor pleasing her greatly. Still, she put on the air of an elder and lectured Chi Mei: “You’ve learned the rules well, but even though Yang’er dotes on you, you mustn’t become arrogant. Your hair ornaments shouldn’t be too luxurious.”

‘No matter what my elder relatives say to you, or ask you to do, regardless of whether you’re happy about it or not, just pretend they’re right and listen to them.’ This was how Jiang Yang had instructed Chi Mei in private.

Chi Mei nodded, seeming to understand but not quite, and asked, “And then?”

“Then you just ignore it.”

Jiang Yang actually understood Lady Liu’s psychology. Her elder sister’s husband, Lord Qin, was barely a match for the Jiang family. Lord Qin was a typical young lady from a noble family, his behavior and manners even more proper than Lady Liu, the family’s main wife. Moreover, the inner courtyard of Jiang Qingzhou, whom he married, didn’t have a single male concubine, making his life easy and comfortable.

Unlike Lady Liu in her youth, who had to struggle with one male concubine after another, and endure the misery of terminating one pregnancy after another.

Lady Liu envied and was jealous of her elder son-in-law, but there was nothing she could do. Lord Qin’s conduct was impeccable. Ancient people rose early, and Lord Qin would get up at 5 o’clock every day to pay respects to Lady Liu. Lady Liu couldn’t find any opportunity to display her authority as a mother-in-law.

So she could only nitpick at Chi Mei, trying to find some sense of importance.

After Lady Liu finished her lecture, she carefully observed Chi Mei’s reaction. Seeing that Chi Mei didn’t show any displeasure, but instead nodded obediently and said, “The wife-master is right, this lowly one will not wear these ornaments again in the future.”

Lady Liu nodded with satisfaction, and Zhang Niang behind her also breathed a sigh of relief.

Afterwards, Lady Liu asked a few tricky questions, which Chi Mei answered one by one using the methods Jiang Yang had taught him earlier. Lady Liu was delighted and very satisfied with this Chi Mei.

Later, Zhang Niang found an excuse to call Chi Mei out, leaving Lady Liu alone with Jiang Yang.

“Yang’er, your father doesn’t object to you taking a male concubine, but one thing – before your primary husband enters the family, he absolutely must not get pregnant, understand?” As the primary husband, Lady Liu had suffered greatly from those male concubines. Even before she had entered the family, a male concubine had already conceived a female fetus.

Lady Liu, coming from a prestigious family, couldn’t bear to see the daughter of a lowly male concubine steal the position of eldest daughter from her own daughter. So she found a way to terminate the already formed female fetus.

Although Lady Liu had various minor flaws, she wasn’t like other vicious fathers-in-law who, having been caught in the rain in their youth, wanted to unleash a category 8 typhoon on their son-in-law after rising to power. She still wanted to provide some shelter for her future son-in-law. Lord Qin’s current stable position in the inner courtyard was also thanks to Lady Liu’s benevolence. People are just that contradictory.

Jiang Yang ate casually and said, “Don’t worry, Father. Don’t you know your daughter? Have you ever heard of any courtesan getting pregnant with my child while I was out carousing? I know the severity of the matter. After intimacy, I always give him a bowl of contraceptive medicine. I’ll only stop the medicine after the primary husband has given birth to a daughter.”

“That’s good. As expected of my daughter. Your father was originally worried you wouldn’t understand the importance of this.”

Lady Liu left satisfied, and Chi Mei was sent back by Zhang Niang.

“A’Yang, did I do well?” Once everyone had left, Chi Mei dropped the dignified and submissive posture that made him uncomfortable, and clingily asked Jiang Yang.

Jiang Yang gently stroked his head: “You did very well.”

“What did your father just say to you in the room?”

Jiang Yang didn’t intend to hide anything. Being open with the stupid fish was much better than keeping secrets, as he would even cooperate.

“My father told me not to let you get pregnant yet.”

“What!” The stupid fish glared angrily, the beautiful merman prince almost turning into a fire-breathing fish: “Bad man! I’m already like this, and he’s still not satisfied! How can he be like this? Am I bothering him by getting pregnant? A’Yang, did you agree to him?”

The stupid fish spat out a series of questions.

Jiang Yang quickly put out the fire: “No, no, of course not.”

“That’s fine then.” The stupid fish calmed down, but his mouth was still pouting in dissatisfaction, looking exactly like an emoji.

Jiang Yang explained in detail to the stupid fish: “Human marriages emphasize matching status… Of course, I know you’re a merman prince, and your status is also very noble, but humans and merfolk don’t get along after all. You can only hide your identity, so in my father’s eyes, you’re just an ordinary man, that’s why he made such an unreasonable request…”

“But that’s not right. If I give birth to little fish, aren’t they A’Yang’s children too? Why can other men have children with you, but I can’t?” The stupid fish’s eyes drooped with grievance.

“Yes, yes, I also think this request is too unreasonable,” Jiang Yang said soothingly. “So we won’t listen to him. We’ll have children secretly, but now is not the right time.”

“Then when will be the right time?” The stupid fish pressed.

“Maybe in a year or two.”

“A year or two.” The stupid fish covered his belly: “But I feel like I might not be able to wait that long.”

Jiang Yang stared at him strangely: “What do you mean?” Suddenly, she thought of something and exclaimed in shock: “You’re not already…?”

The stupid fish pursed his lips: “I’m a fish, and fish have a very high conception rate.”

“Then, you?” Jiang Yang looked at his belly in disbelief, unable to accept the sudden change in her identity. It was too fast: “Am I, am I going to be a mother already?”

The stupid fish burst into laughter: “A’Yang is really looking forward to the birth of our little fish, but I’m not pregnant yet.”

“Oh…” Jiang Yang breathed a sigh of relief. That’s good, that’s good. It seems some contraceptive measures will be needed in the future.

“By the way, do you remember Xu San Niang who abandoned Chun Jian?” Jiang Yang changed the subject.

“Of course, A’Yang, did you find her?” The stupid fish’s memory only lasted seven seconds, no matter how abrupt the change of topic, he could follow along.

“Mm.” Jiang Yang nodded. She had indeed found her, but…

“That’s great, I promised Chun Jian I would help him get revenge and kill that heartless woman.” The stupid fish rubbed his hands together, eager to act.

“I’m afraid you won’t have the chance,” Jiang Yang said calmly.

“Why? Has that heartless woman already died?”

“Yes.”

The stupid fish was deeply saddened: “That’s too bad, she died so peacefully, while Chun Jian has to slowly endure the torture of having his qi and blood drained until death. But didn’t Chun Jian say they were about the same age? How did she die so young?”

“Xu San Niang died seven years ago,” Jiang Yang said.

“Xu San Niang didn’t lie to him. Her father really did fall seriously ill, and she borrowed Chun Jian’s pearl genuinely to cure her father, not to exchange it for fame and fortune. But while Xu San Niang could view fame and fortune as fleeting clouds, others couldn’t.”

“There are no secrets in a small fishing village. Everyone knew that Xu San Niang’s father had an incurable illness. When her father suddenly recovered, many people were curious and wanted to seek the cure. But Xu San Niang knew nothing about medicine and couldn’t make up a plausible prescription to fool the village doctor. Eventually, people became curious about how her father’s illness had miraculously healed.”

“One night, someone secretly climbed over the wall to eavesdrop and overheard her father talking about the merman’s pearl. The merman’s pearl was a treasure coveted by the imperial court, and anyone willing to offer it would be rewarded with a thousand gold. Such wealth before their eyes undoubtedly aroused everyone’s greed.”

“The village chief led several strong women to tie up Xu San Niang. They knew that the pearl could only be handed over willingly by its owner, so they threatened Xu San Niang’s father, saying they would beat Xu San Niang to death if he didn’t hand over the pearl. How could Xu San Niang’s father bear to see his daughter beaten to death? To save his daughter, he gave up his life and coughed up the pearl from his body.”

“Xu San Niang’s father was already terminally ill, and it was the pearl that had forcibly extended his life. Coughing up the pearl meant certain death. But those people broke their promise. After getting the pearl, to cover up their crime, they beat Xu San Niang to death and threw her body into the sea. Her blood dyed that patch of sea red.”

Chi Mei was speechless for a long time after hearing this: “So Xu San Niang wasn’t heartless, she didn’t lie to Chun Jian, she didn’t not come back, she couldn’t come back. But I have no way to tell Chun Jian now.” Suddenly, tears welled up in Chi Mei’s eyes, and he said with a choked voice: “…Chun Jian hated Xu San Niang until his death, thinking she had deceived him and ruined his life. Even on his deathbed, he said he never wanted to meet her again in the next life or in all future lives. He died with resentment.”

Jiang Yang hugged Chi Mei to comfort him: “If there really is reincarnation, if souls really exist, Chun Jian will surely find Xu San Niang in the underworld. They will surely clear things up.”

Chi Mei kept wiping his tears, sobbing softly: “But if souls really exist, Xu San Niang must know that Chun Jian resented her for seven whole years. She must be even more heartbroken.”

Jiang Yang was suddenly at a loss for words, and could only repeatedly wipe away Chi Mei’s tears, feeling deeply melancholic.

She didn’t tell Chi Mei that after Chun Jian’s pearl was taken away, it was presented by the people of Xu’s village to the county official, and then passed on to the emperor. The people of Xu’s village were rewarded and became very wealthy because of this. But the generations of wealth of these people were built on the tragedy of Xu San Niang and Chun Jian’s entire lives, as well as their two children. Everything they enjoyed was flesh and blood scraped from Xu San Niang and Chun Jian, while their own two children were still left uncared for on a lonely island.

Author’s Note:

The two little ones will have a good ending.