Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

A girl's will is always as stubborn and serious as a moth to a flame. Some people say that this is because she is young and brave, while others say that this is just the clear stupidity that comes from being too young.

Li Chunfeng looked at Mingxin, and only he knew what he was thinking. The girl was shaking slightly because of excessive excitement. Looking at such a girl, you would feel that a too straightforward rejection would be a great harm to her.

He thought for a moment and asked De Xiu to bring a mirror: "Miss, please look at this mirror. After one stick of incense, if you still have not changed your mind, I will consider your proposal."

Mingxin looked at it impatiently. She felt as if there was a vortex hidden in the center of the bronze mirror, sucking her mind in.

As the drums and music played, she dressed up beautifully and became a wife of the Li family. After the sweetness of the newlyweds faded, she gradually discovered that married life was completely different from what she had imagined before marriage.

During the day, when she wanted to talk to him, he was always busy and nowhere to be seen. He was either studying at the Taishi Bureau, reading, fortune-telling, or even playing chess with Yuan Tiangang at Xuanji Pavilion. When she finally caught him at home, she racked her brains to find a common topic to talk about, but she found that she didn't understand what he said, and he fell asleep when she talked.

At night, she wanted to pull him to bed, but he was addicted to stargazing. Occasionally, when he guessed that there would be a strange star phenomenon, he would stay up all night and sit in the courtyard waiting. At first, she was full of tenderness and waited for him with her clothes on. After a few times, she could sleep by herself without paying any attention to the bastard outside the house who wanted to live with the stars.

The child was born nearly ten years after their marriage. When she was giving birth, he took the rare time to accompany her, but the next day he rushed back to the Imperial History Bureau to repair his astronomical instruments. After that, she took care of the child's eating, drinking, defecating, urinating and sleeping, and even with the help of maids and wet nurses, it was still beyond her ability. As for raising flowers, birds and kittens, sorry, she was not in the mood for that.

When the child was three years old, he suddenly developed a high fever after playing. The doctor and the medicine he took were ineffective. Seeing the little person's face flushed in her arms and mumbling nonsense, she wanted to see her husband more than ever. Even if he was powerless, as long as he could comfort her a few words, she would always be able to muster up the courage again.

But where is he?

De Xiu, who was sent to the Imperial History Bureau to look for someone, came back with a bitter face: "My husband's research on the celestial ecliptic instrument has reached a critical time, so please do as you please. You can withdraw the money in the account, and tell me to take a carriage to invite the pediatric doctor Fu immediately."

She held the child in her arms and suddenly collapsed. That night, the child's fever subsided under the treatment of Doctor Fu. But she was full of resentment and cut up all the mandarin ducks in the bedroom.

Astronomy! Geography! Gua Xiang! Go! Yuan Tiangang! The Bureau of Historians! And that damned Hun Tian Huang Dao Yi! Everything was more important than home, everything was more important than her and the children. What fun was there in life? What difference did it make whether he was there or not?

Why did I fall in love with him at first sight at the flower-viewing banquet of Princess Xiangyang? A man who looks good but is useless.

Mingxin shuddered, returned to reality, and said in a trembling voice: "I was too presumptuous. Mr. Li, just pretend that I have never been here today." As she said this, she could no longer hold back her tears and rushed out of the door.

Wen Jiao didn't have time to say goodbye to Li Chunfeng and hurriedly chased after him. As soon as she got on the car, Mingxin couldn't help crying. Wen Jiao quickly took out her handkerchief and wiped her tears: "Don't cry, don't cry, it's all just magic. It's nothing but illusions, not worth shedding tears for."

Ming Xin sobbed, "I know, I just can't stop."

Wen Jiao asked curiously, "What did Li Chunfeng show you?"

Mingxin wiped her tears and said, "He showed me what I would look like after marrying him."

Wen Jiao understood what she meant and patted her neck sympathetically: "It's okay, we don't have to hang ourselves on this tree."

Mingxin couldn't stop crying, and said while hiccuping, "Miss, I just realized that I don't like Mr. Li that much."

If every first love could be performed to the effect of being forever, then modern people who can have many romances in their lifetime would not have enough lives to toss around. Wen Jiao suppressed a laugh: "Then don't like it. Anyway, Li Chunfeng himself said that he is not a good match."

Mingxin covered her face and sobbed, "But Miss, I feel so ashamed. I boasted so much, and when I saw that the future would not be as happy as I thought, I ran away in shame. I don't know what Mr. Li thinks of me."

Wen Jiao patted her dog's head and hugged her in her arms. The girl was only eighteen or nineteen years old, and was originally the age of a younger sister. "He can think whatever he wants. It's none of your business. Think about it. No fifth person knows about this. You and I won't tell anyone. Li Chunfeng is not a talkative person, and he will naturally restrain his servants from telling anyone. Even if it's embarrassing, it's limited. What are you afraid of? Besides, it's human nature for a girl to want a happy marriage. If she insists on marrying that man because of a momentary passion or because of face, she knows it's not right, then she doesn't love herself."

Mingxin kept whimpering.

"Don't cry, I'll tell my mother when I get home and pick a good son-in-law for you from among the Yin family's disciples, okay?"

"Ah."

"You should be open-minded in choosing whichever one you like, just speak up."

"How can this be so embarrassing..."

"You even dare to confess your feelings to this half-immortal named Li. Others don't have supernatural powers, so why should they be afraid of him?"

"That's right..."

Finally, Mingxin fell in love with an eighth-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue, who was three years older than her, fair-skinned, handsome, gentle and warm. The two fell in love with each other as soon as they met, and Wen Jiao temporarily took the identity of her family and exchanged engagement letters with them. Mingxin was married from Wanhua Tower, and Wen Jiao gave her a plate of pearls as a dowry. When the groom came to pick her up, he looked at her with tenderness.

Wen Jiao gave Su Xin the same pearl and personally took her to Ye Siniang's house to pay respect to her teacher. Ye Siniang had always admired Su Xin's character. Now that she knew Wen Jiao had set her free, Su Xin could have gone home to reunite with her parents and brothers. However, since she could no longer remember her parents' hometown and had no one to rely on, she could not help but feel pity for her and asked, "As for me, I always feel that my family is very lonely recently. Su Xin, if you don't mind, how about I take you in as my goddaughter?"

Su Xin was stunned. Wen Jiao stepped on her foot quietly, and she came to her senses. Without saying a word, she threw herself on the ground, her voice as sweet as honey: "Foster mother, please accept your daughter's greetings!"

Ye Si Niang had tears in her eyes and kept saying, "Okay, okay."

Wen Jiao also smiled and thought to herself: Okay, okay.