{"id":3487,"date":"2026-05-22T12:12:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T12:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/pursuit-of-jade-09\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T12:12:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T12:12:32","slug":"pursuit-of-jade-09","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/fr\/chapter\/pursuit-of-jade-09\/","title":{"rendered":"Pursuit Of Jade 09"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fan Changyu took the medicine bottle and did as instructed. Almost instantly, however, the muscles across his shoulders and back tightened even harder, hard as stone. The pain was evidently unbearable, because he turned his head and bit down directly on the clothes piled on the table.

She frowned slightly, thinking that his reaction had not seemed this severe the last time he applied medicine. Remembering how exhausted he must have been after the wedding today, she suddenly felt a little guilty.

Glancing at the blood- and sweat-stained bandages scattered on the floor, she walked to the cabinet and took out a bolt of plain silk cloth.

It was leftover fabric bought for her parents\u2019 funeral that had never been used up. She cut it into long strips with scissors so it would be easier to bandage him later.

After a while, the tension in Xie Zheng\u2019s body finally eased somewhat. He released the clothes clenched between his teeth and slowly lifted his eyes toward Fan Changyu.

\u201cFeeling better?\u201d she asked quickly, setting down the scissors in her hands.

Xie Zheng deeply disliked letting others see him while treating his wounds. At such moments, he felt like some weak stray dog anyone could kill at will.

But this woman had already seen him at his worst.

Now that the long-standing habit had been broken, his instincts still rejected it. He merely thanked her coldly.

Fan Changyu glanced at the injuries covering his body but magnanimously chose not to hold his attitude against him.

He was probably just in too much pain and in a bad mood.

Xie Zheng picked up the clothes on the table and began putting them back on. The sensation of blood and sweat sticking to his back was deeply unpleasant, but his upbringing prevented him from remaining half-naked before a woman as though it were perfectly natural.

Seeing this, Fan Changyu hurriedly stopped him.

\u201cYou\u2019re covered in sweat and blood. Wipe yourself down first. I\u2019ll find you one of my father\u2019s old clothes afterward.\u201d

The basin of water she had brought in earlier for him to wash with now happened to come in handy.

Xie Zheng could wipe the front of his body himself, but for his back, Fan Changyu had to help him.

She was far more careful than the few rough wipes he had done earlier himself. The wrung cloth carefully avoided the wounds as she slowly cleaned away the blood and brown medicinal stains left behind by the medicine.

Occasionally, her knuckles accidentally brushed against his back.

They were not particularly soft, yet they were distinctly different from his own callused hands. Wherever they touched, it felt as though tiny currents spread outward across his skin.

The unfamiliar tingling sensation made Xie Zheng frown instinctively.

Seeing this, Fan Changyu immediately stopped moving.

\u201cDid I touch your wound?\u201d

He pressed his lips together tightly, his expression growing even colder.

\u201cNo.\u201d

By the time she finished wiping his back, the water in the basin had already turned murky with blood and medicinal residue.

Fan Changyu picked up the cloth strips she had cut earlier and began wrapping his wounds again. This time, her fingertips inevitably touched far more of his skin.

Perhaps because he had just applied medicine and broken out in sweat, his body temperature was even hotter than during any previous contact.

She stood while he sat.

Whenever she lowered her head to wrap the cloth around him, her long hair would occasionally fall forward, lightly brushing against his shoulders and neck.

Tingling.

Itching.

Numbness.

Xie Zheng\u2019s brows nearly twisted into a knot as he quietly shifted slightly away from her.

\u201cAll done.\u201d

Fan Changyu noticed none of his abnormal reactions. After tying off the bandage, she straightened up. After all that work, a thin layer of sweat had appeared on her own forehead as well.

She rummaged through the chest and found one of her father\u2019s old clothes for him before finally carrying the basin outside to dump the water.

The red lanterns beneath the eaves swayed gently in the cold wind. Outside the courtyard wall, the two bear-like shadows immediately crouched down beneath the wall again the moment they saw her come out, apparently believing themselves perfectly hidden.

Fan Changyu cooperatively pretended not to notice them.

\u201cWhich stray cat came to steal meat from my house again?\u201d

Carrying the basin, she walked over to the water vat, scooped two large ladles of cold water into it, then forcefully splashed the entire basin over the wall.

\u201cIf I catch the beast again next time, just see if I don\u2019t teach it a lesson!\u201d

Outside the wall, Fan Da and Liu Shi were instantly drenched from head to toe like drowned rats. The freezing water made them shiver violently, yet they dared not make a sound for fear of being discovered.

Only after the footsteps in the courtyard faded away did Fan Da finally begin spitting frantically.

\u201cPah! Pah! What kind of water did that damned girl throw? What\u2019s that smell?\u201d

Liu Shi wiped the water from her face with her sleeve and sniffed it.

\u201cIt smells like blood\u2026 and sweat.\u201d

The couple froze.

Then they both started spitting even harder.

\u201cTo hell with it\u2014that was their bathwater!\u201d

Their soaked padded jackets were already freezing cold. Now, with the night wind blowing against them, the chill seemed to seep into their bones, making their teeth chatter uncontrollably.

Needless to say, after failing to overhear anything that night, Fan Da and Liu Shi returned home only to come down with severe colds and remain bedridden for several days.

\u2014

Afraid that more complications might arise, Fan Changyu thought it over repeatedly before ultimately deciding to sleep on a pallet on the floor inside the bridal chamber.

Xie Zheng said nothing about this.

Fan Changyu fell asleep quickly. While Xie Zheng was still resting with his eyes closed, her breathing had already become deep and steady.

According to folk custom, the wedding candles had to burn through the entire wedding night. Since they needed to maintain appearances for outsiders, Fan Changyu had not extinguished them.

The wedding candles burned steadily until one suddenly crackled softly as the wick burst.

Only then did Xie Zheng slightly turn his head toward the pallet on the floor.

Warm light spread across the ground.

Curled beneath several thick blankets, the woman\u2019s black hair spread across the pillow. Under the dim candlelight, the skin of her face resembled warm jade.

Xie Zheng withdrew his gaze and closed his eyes again.

When she was awake, she carried too much coarse marketplace energy about her. No matter how beautiful her features were, people tended to overlook them.

But asleep, she was at least somewhat pleasant to look at.

The moment he realized he was actually thinking about whether she was pretty or not, Xie Zheng abruptly opened his eyes again and frowned deeply.

What did her beauty or ugliness have to do with him?

Once his injuries healed a little more, he would leave this place.

Whether he and this woman would ever cross paths again afterward was uncertain.

Stopping his thoughts there, he turned over to face the inside of the bed and closed his eyes once more.

\u2014

Fan Changyu had her own daily routine and woke automatically at the usual hour.

She sat up groggily, staring blankly for quite a while after realizing she was sleeping on the floor while a man lay on the bed several steps away and Changning was nowhere beside her.

Then she remembered she had gotten married yesterday and abruptly let out a sigh of relief.

Dawn was only beginning to break outside. The wedding candles inside the room had burned down to short stubs, and the candlestick below was mottled with hardened wax drippings.

Fan Changyu quietly got up.

Since she had slept fully dressed, it spared her the embarrassment and trouble of changing clothes. After putting away the bedding from the floor, she stepped outside.

The wind and snow had continued throughout the night. By morning, the courtyard was covered in thick snow, and both the walls and the withered tree branches outside were completely white.

Fan Changyu rubbed her frozen hands together before first retrieving firewood from beneath the eaves to light the hearth. She hung a kettle over the fire to heat water for washing, then took a broom and swept together the snow piled across the courtyard.

When she heard Changning crying next door, she hurriedly went to bring her little sister back.

Changning was usually very obedient, but ever since their parents died, if she woke up and could not see Fan Changyu nearby, she would cry for a while.

After comforting her sister, Fan Changyu sat her on a stool and picked up a comb to do her hair.

Perhaps because of her weak health since childhood, Changning\u2019s hair was unlike Fan Changyu\u2019s thick black hair. Instead, it was soft, yellowish, and full of wispy strands, making even two tiny buns difficult to style.

Fan Changyu was still clumsy at doing hair, so the little buns on Changning\u2019s head looked differently awful every single day.

After finishing her sister\u2019s hair, Fan Changyu told her to go wash her face.

Changning touched the bun on the left side of her head, then the one on the right, feeling that something seemed wrong. Carrying her washcloth over to the basin, she peered at her reflection in the water and discovered that today\u2019s buns were especially crooked.

She poked at them and said, \u201cBig Sister, my hair is crooked.\u201d

Fan Changyu coughed dryly.

\u201cI still need to go to the county office after breakfast, so I don\u2019t have time to redo it. Let\u2019s make do for today, alright?\u201d

Little Changning was easy to appease and immediately stopped complaining.

When Fan Changyu carried fresh water back into the room, she discovered that the man inside seemed to have been awake for quite some time already. Fully dressed, he sat leaning against the headboard.

Their conversation earlier had likely been overheard by him.

Fan Changyu felt awkward all over again.

She placed the washbasin on the round stool beside the bed and handed him a clean cotton towel, bringing up the promise she had made when asking him to pretend to marry into her family.

\u201cI\u2019m going to the county office shortly to transfer the property deeds. While I\u2019m there, I\u2019ll also help you replace your household registration papers and hire a doctor for you.\u201d

Unexpectedly, Xie Zheng replied, \u201cThere\u2019s no need to hire a doctor. My injuries only require rest to recover.\u201d

His wounds had already been treated with precious wound medicine. All that remained now was waiting for the flesh to heal.

Fan Changyu scratched her head.

\u201cThen is there anything you\u2019re lacking? I can buy it for you.\u201d

He still shook his head.

That only made Fan Changyu feel more embarrassed.

This differed from what she had originally promised, making it seem as though she was the one benefiting from the fake marriage arrangement.

She thought that after handling the official business in the county later, perhaps she could buy him some nourishing supplements on the way back so he could properly recover his health.

After hastily eating breakfast, Fan Changyu headed out.

Now that there was someone else besides her little sister in the house, she no longer sent Changning to stay with Old Madam Zhao. Before leaving, she only instructed her that if anything happened, she could go next door to ask Old Madam Zhao for help.

Unexpectedly, the moment Fan Changyu left, one of the local hooligans keeping watch nearby immediately ran off to the gambling house to report the news.

When loud banging erupted against the door, Xie Zheng had only lazily flipped through two pages of the random book he had casually picked up from the corner of the room.

Hidden beneath his languid expression was unmistakable boredom and impatience.

His mood truly could not be considered good at all.<\/p>","protected":false},"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"novel":[],"class_list":["post-3487","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3487"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3488,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3487\/revisions\/3488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"novel","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/novel?post=3487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}