The Straw Figure's Marvelous Use, Coming Clean

Late at night, Jiang Family Courtyard.

Jiang Tu climbed into bed softly. The covers were warm and soft, and Zhou Ning'e was curled up asleep. Hearing the movement, she hazily turned over and, as if by habit, burrowed back into his arms. Her little head rubbed against his chest as she found a comfortable position and continued sleeping.

After four years of marriage, their days had gone smoothly, and their love was as sweet as honey mixed with oil. There had been no great storms between them; they had always been harmonious as lute and zither, he sang and she followed, they raised trays level with their brows, and countless unspoken understandings had formed between them.

Jiang Tu pillowed his head on his arm and lay quietly for a while. Moonlight filtered through the window paper and bed curtains, casting everything in a hazy glow.

At last, he broke the silence. "Are you asleep?"

The person in his arms did not answer right away. After several breaths, a soft laugh drifted over.

"Doesn't my husband know perfectly well whether I'm asleep?"

Jiang Tu looked down at her. Zhou Ning'e remained nestled against his chest, not rising, merely lifting her eyes to him. They shone like the moon and stars, carrying a knowing smile.

Over the past four years, she had long grown used to him leaving in the dead of night and returning later. She had also long seen through the fact that he was hiding something from her, yet she had never asked. It had almost become an unspoken understanding between husband and wife, a little secret neither needed to voice.

"I want to discuss something."

"Mm~ Could it be that you want this concubine to accompany you in fooling around again?" She reached out and poked Jiang Tu in the chest, teasing him. "My husband... truly hasn't lost any of his old splendor. You don't look old in the slightest."

"...It's serious."

"Oh." She blinked her misty eyes and slowly sat up. Her close-fitting undergarment clung to her body, revealing a broad swath of snowy springtime radiance. Thin moonlight fell across her profile, softening her outline while making her features bright and exquisite. She put away her teasing thoughts and looked seriously at Jiang Tu. "Please speak, husband."

Jiang Tu fell silent for several breaths, considering how to begin.

Zhou Ning'e did not urge him, merely waiting quietly.

After a moment, he said, "Starting tomorrow, I'll summon more physicians and healers to the estate. I'll also send people to Welcoming Wind City to purchase some Premium Quality medicinal treasures and basic Dao pills."

Zhou Ning'e's eyes darkened for an instant.

Of course she knew what this was for. Since their marriage, Jiang Tu had also worked diligently in the fields, never ceasing night after night, filling every day with pipes and strings. Yet her belly truly had not lived up to expectations; there had never been any movement.

Jiang Tu had always sought physicians to treat her body. Her medicinal soups had never stopped, and he had invited no small number of famed doctors. But after examining her, they could only shake their heads and sigh. They said her ailment had come from her mother's womb, something innate; no matter how she was cared for afterward, it would be difficult to see any effect. They could only leave it to fate.

There was nothing else wrong with her health. She simply could not bear children. Over those four years, the affection between husband and wife had not changed in the slightest; if anything, they had grown closer by the day. Naturally, she also wished to leave her husband a son or daughter, to continue the family line for both the Jiang Household and the Zhou Household. Yet Heaven did not grant people all they wished for.

"Husband, I..."

"I know." Jiang Tu interrupted her, his tone gentler. "Ning E, this isn't your fault, and I've never blamed you for it. What is fated will come when it is fated; what is not fated must not be forced. You needn't carry this knot in your heart... You should be able to tell that I don't care all that much about descendants or the family line."

"I'm saying this today because there's another matter. In a few months, I hope you'll announce to the outside world that you're pregnant and begin recuperating in the inner residence to nourish the pregnancy. To those who know the truth, we'll say that years of treatment have finally begun to show results."

Zhou Ning'e's delicate brows drew together slightly, and her smooth, jade-like nose wrinkled. "Why?"

Jiang Tu was silent for a long time before he spoke. "I... actually keep a woman outside the estate. She's already pregnant. I want to bring her child into the estate and register it under your name."

After saying that, even he felt that this excuse was rather terrible. It was practically smearing black on his own face to conceal the secret. If handled poorly, it could easily harm their relationship and drive a wedge between husband and wife.

But... he could not think of a better pretext for the moment.

Yet Zhou Ning'e's reaction was completely beyond his expectations. She was neither angry nor upset. Instead, she lowered her head, covered her mouth, and burst out laughing.

"My husband truly knows how to joke with this concubine~"

"I'm not joking. It's true!"

Zhou Ning'e looked up at him. Her eyes were clear beneath the moonlight, without the slightest trace of doubt. She said with certainty, "My husband would never keep another woman behind my back. You aren't that sort of flirtatious man... Besides, where would you find the time to keep one? Every day at first light, you go down to work the fields. You're more diligent than even the tenant farmers we hire."

"Every time I leave at night, I'm going to see that woman."

"Do you think I believe that?" Zhou Ning'e tilted her head, wearing an expression that plainly said, Who are you trying to fool? "Husband, this concubine isn't stupid. I know in my heart exactly where you go each night and whether you ever leave the household. If I'm not mistaken, there's an underground farm right beneath our feet, isn't there?"

Jiang Tu's breath caught.

"Let me guess. You grow all kinds of Premium Quality crops inside, don't you? The fine seeds Father gave you back then, along with all the ones you've accumulated over the years, are hidden there. You leave every night to tend to them."

"You, aside from this concubine, have no interest in other women at all. You're even more interested in the seeds in your fields than in women. If my husband weren't so diligent in plowing the fields every night and so utterly careless with this concubine's body, I might have begun to suspect that you had some hidden ailment."

Jiang Tu opened his mouth, but no words came out for a long while.

Sure enough, some things were easy to hide from others, but nearly impossible to hide from the person sharing one's pillow—especially one as intelligent and perceptive as the person sharing one's pillow.

Wait, who was careless?

He had always been considerate and cherished her greatly. Clearly, Ning E was young and full of fire, always striving to be first every time!

Small body, great appetite.

If he had not possessed the foundation of an Eighth Grade cultivator, he might not even have been able to satisfy this little lass.

And now she was actually turning the tables and accusing him?!

Seeing his somewhat surprised expression, Zhou Ning'e laughed softly and comforted him. "All right, this concubine does not mean to make my husband lay every matter bare before me. Between husband and wife, rather than lie and deceive each other, it is better simply not to speak of it."

"We are husband and wife, one body and branches joined by the same breath, inseparable... When you wish to tell me, you will naturally do so. If you do not wish to, this concubine will not force you."

"If my husband truly wants me to pretend to be pregnant and raise a child to help conceal things for you, then I will do it. It just so happens that it would make up for this concubine's regret at having no children. But there is only one thing I wish to know... Whose child is it?"

Jiang Tu fell silent.

"Is it an orphan my husband has adopted? Or perhaps... the descendant of an old friend whose identity cannot be exposed? This concubine only wishes to know where the child I will raise truly comes from."

Jiang Tu looked at her, and the tightly drawn string in his heart eased slightly.

He knew some things could no longer be concealed. Moreover, after four years of trust built bit by bit, along with Zhou Ning'e's wholehearted devotion—her never doubting him, never prying, never asking too much, and exercising the same caution and discretion in keeping secrets—he decided to take the initiative and reveal part of the truth.

He took a deep breath and pulled out a palm-sized Straw Figure.

Zhou Ning'e looked at the little thing in confusion, tilting her head in puzzlement.

The Straw Figure lay quietly in his palm. Its dark green blades of grass gleamed faintly beneath the moonlight. She leaned closer for a careful look, and the Straw Figure suddenly turned its head, tilting it as it met her gaze. One person and one grass figure tilted their heads, staring at each other with wide eyes.

Zhou Ning'e: "..."

Little Straw Figure: "..."

Zhou Ning'e: "—!"

Aah!!

She abruptly recoiled backward, nearly tumbling off the bed. Jiang Tu caught her at once.

Her eyes were wide as she stared at the Straw Figure, still badly shaken. Even her words came out awkwardly. "Th-That... is alive?!"

Jiang Tu said nothing. He merely flicked his finger.

Smack!

The Straw Figure in his palm rapidly swelled and changed beneath the moonlight, skin, robes, brows, and eyes taking shape.

In only a few breaths, it transformed into an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes. The baby's little face bore four or five parts resemblance to Jiang Tu and five or six parts resemblance to Zhou Ning'e. Its eyes were closed, its breathing even, as though it were peacefully asleep.

Jiang Tu had spent a long time molding that face into shape, carving it entirely from the likeness of himself and his wife.

Zhou Ning'e covered her mouth, her eyes widening round.

Then the Straw Figure slowly grew larger. The infant became a child, the child became a youth, and the youth became a young man. The features of every stage transitioned naturally, as though he were truly growing taller and maturing, until it finally settled into the form of a young man.

His features were handsome and refined, his temperament gentle. At first glance, he resembled a younger Jiang Tu, but upon closer inspection, he carried some of Zhou Ning'e's charm as well.

Zhou Ning'e watched for a long time, as though she were dreaming. It was as though she had truly seen their child toddling all over the ground and living out an entire lifetime. Her little mouth opened several times, but no sound emerged.

Only after a long while did she draw a deep breath and ask softly, "...A Daoist Sect artifact?"

Jiang Tu neither denied nor confirmed it.

Zhou Ning'e suddenly understood. "So, husband, you are a Daoist Sect cultivator? You descended the mountain to undergo tribulations in the mortal world? I've heard that Daoist Sect cultivators cannot reveal their identities to outsiders while undergoing training... Can you tell me these things?"

Jiang Tu looked into her bright eyes and suddenly did not know what to say.

A Daoist Sect cultivator concealing his identity while training in the mortal world—this was a good explanation. It would neither expose the truth of the Agricultural Dao Sequence nor fail to account for the Straw Figure, the underground farm, and all his unusual behavior.

Thus, he merely smiled without confirming or denying it.

But Zhou Ning'e swiftly connected every clue. "So you have a lifespan far beyond ordinary people and will not grow old. To avoid arousing suspicion, you must change identities every few decades and continue living on? That is why you need a son... You use the Straw Figure artifact to transform into your son. Once your current identity grows old, your son will take over the family estate and allow you to continue living under another identity? It all follows naturally!"

Jiang Tu looked at her, his emotions somewhat complicated.

That was right. Back then, he had repeatedly instructed Big Household Zhou not to reveal Ning E's inability to bear children. On the one hand, it truly was a private matter for a young woman that should not be spread outside. On the other hand, he had been preparing for a plan in which a son would replace the father.

His wife was far cleverer than he had imagined. With only the slightest hint of information, she had guessed everything.

The underground farm, the Premium Quality crops, the Straw Figure's transformations, the plan to change identities... The only thing she had guessed wrong was that he was a Daoist Sect cultivator, but that was precisely the point he most needed her to misunderstand.

This was Ning E—his Ning E.