El personaje femenino secundario es inocente

Capítulo 2

“Originally, I planned to elope with Shen Lang today, because he can’t live without me. But I didn’t want to put my father in a difficult position, and I didn’t want to be an unfilial daughter. However, between his life and my filial piety, I chose his life. It wasn’t until I met you that I thought of a way to both save his life and fulfill my filial duty…”

"You want me to marry Shen Lang, and you'll go back and marry that Ouyang Han. In the end, Shen Lang will live a happy life, and you'll live out your days in memories, right?"

Li Yushan bit her lip, holding back the tears in her eyes, and nodded slightly.

"How can you be so blindly filial? Since your father doesn't care about your happiness, why do you care about his life or death?" Du Peiru scolded.

"He's my father, I can't just abandon him!" Li Yushan finally couldn't hold back her tears.

“I have another way, which is to tell your father about your love with Shen Lang. If he cares about your happiness, he will definitely grant your wish.”

Li Yushan was choked with sobs and unable to speak. Jin'er, who was crying beside her, answered for her, "It's no use! My master and Master Shen are enemies, he would never agree to it. Besides, my master is a money-grubber. For money, he disregarded Miss's happiness and betrothed her to Ouyang Han, the sickly son of Ouyang Hai, the Minister of Justice."

Du Peiru sighed and said, "How about this? I'll marry Ouyang Han in your place."

"What?" Li Yushan stopped crying and stared at Du Peiru in astonishment.

Jin'er happily said to Du Peiru, "Miss Du, thank you! Your kindness will surely be rewarded!"

Li Yushan snapped out of her surprise and said, "Miss Du, you must be mistaken. I told you to marry Shen Lang!"

"That's right! I'm going to marry Ouyang Han in your place!"

"Why? Ouyang Han is a sickly man! He might die of illness in a few years!"

“That’s perfect! I can leave after he dies!” Du Peiru replied easily.

(7)

“Miss Du…” Li Yushan wanted to say something more, but Du Peiru interrupted, “Don’t say anything! This is the decision!”

"Miss Du, thank you! I will never forget your great kindness in this lifetime. I have no way to repay you in this life, so I can only kowtow to you a few times!" Li Yushan said, changing from sitting to kneeling and kowtowing to Du Peiru. Jin'er also kowtowed along with her mistress.

"Get up! Get up! You're really shortening my lifespan!" Du Peiru said as she helped Li Yushan up. "Miss Li, since we look so alike, why don't we become sworn sisters?"

"Good! That's exactly what I was thinking."

How old are you this year?

"eighteen."

“I’m twenty-one this year. So I’m the older sister, and you’re the younger sister. We don’t have much right now, so let’s keep it simple!” After saying that, Du Peiru pulled Li Yushan to kneel in front of the statue and said, “Handsome Earth God, beautiful Earth Goddess, please be my witnesses today. I, Du Peiru, and Li Yushan, are sworn sisters. We will share blessings and hardships together! It’s your turn!”

"Heaven above, earth below, I, Li Yushan, and Du Peiru, are sworn brothers today. From now on, we will share blessings and hardships together!" Li Yushan said. Du Peiru then stood up and helped Li Yushan up.

Du Peiru said, "Alright! From now on, your business is my business, so don't be polite with me anymore!"

“Sister…” Li Yushan said in a trembling voice.

"Alright! Alright! Stop crying!" Du Peiru patted her hand to comfort her. "Shanmei, do you have any clothes for me to change into?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Jin'er quickly took out a dress from her bundle and helped Du Peiru change into it, and then styled her hair in the same way as Li Yushan's. "Wow! Miss, you two look exactly alike! If it weren't for the different clothes, I wouldn't be able to tell who's who!"

"Really?" Du Peiru said happily.

Just then, they heard a horse neigh.

Jin'er said excitedly, "It must be Master Shen who has arrived! I'm going to go see!" She then ran towards the door.

"Shanmei, I want to play with my future brother-in-law, you better hide!" Du Peiru said as she pushed Li Yushan into the inner room.

"Jin'er, where is your young lady?" a magnetic voice asked.

“It’s inside,” Jin’er replied.

Du Peiru saw Jin'er enter with a man. She quickly gave Jin'er a meaningful look. The quick-witted Jin'er immediately understood and said, "Miss, Mr. Shen has arrived!"

"You're finally here!" Du Peiru said, throwing herself into Shen Lang's arms.

(8)

"Hmm!" Shen Lang responded.

"I'm so scared, afraid you won't come, and afraid you'll get caught!" Du Peiru cried earnestly, but since she couldn't squeeze out any tears, she just smeared some saliva on her face.

Shen Lang frowned, shoved Du Peiru aside, and asked, "Who exactly are you?"

"Shen Lang, it's me, Yu Shan! What's wrong?"

Shen Lang stared at Du Peiru for a long time.

Du Peiru couldn't help but ask again, "Shen Lang, you..."

Before Du Peiru could finish speaking, Shen Lang drew his sword with a "whoosh" and held it to Du Peiru's neck, asking, "Speak! Who exactly are you?"

Du Peiru pretended to be scared and said, "Shen Lang, don't you want me anymore?"

Ignoring Du Peiru's question, Shen Lang threatened loudly, "Speak up! If you don't, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

"Oh no! I'm not playing anymore! I'm not playing anymore! Sister Yushan, come out quickly! Your husband is going to kill me!" Du Peiru shouted loudly.

Hearing Du Peiru's shout, Li Yushan shyly emerged from the inner room and gently said to Shen Lang, "Shen Lang, quickly put down the sword! Don't hurt my sister!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang sheathed his sword with a "whoosh" and asked, "Yu Shan, didn't your mother only give birth to you, her only daughter? How come..."

So Li Yushan slowly and methodically told Shen Lang what had happened.

Shen Lang was extremely grateful, but he still couldn't help asking, "Shanmei, did your mother give birth to twins back then?"

"No!" Du Peiru answered first, "Yushan and I are even different ages!"

"Miss Du, could you have misremembered your age?"

"You're the one who got the age wrong! Is my memory that bad?" Du Peiru angrily questioned Shen Lang.

Shen Lang wanted to say something more, but he swallowed it back and changed his words, saying, "Miss Du, please don't misunderstand! I didn't mean anything by it."

"Forget it! Forget it! I won't hold it against you," Du Peiru waved her hand and said. "Oh dear! I almost forgot to ask you, how did you recognize that I wasn't Yushan?"

"Hmm...it's actually quite simple. First, given Yu Shan's personality, she would never rush towards me the moment she sees me, much less speak when a sword is held to her throat; second, the scent on you is different from Yu Shan's; third, your eyes lack the sparkle of love, and..."

"Oh dear! Why did you say so much all at once! Never mind! Never mind! I know you genuinely like Yushan, and I feel very reassured leaving her in your care!"

"Are you really going to help us?" Shen Lang asked skeptically.

"Actually, it's not really helping you. You see, I have no food or shelter, so helping you is also helping myself. That's what you call mutual benefit! Oh! Enough talk, let's go!"

"I am deeply grateful! If you ever need my help in the future, I will do my utmost!" After saying this, Shen Lang clasped his hands in a fist salute to Du Peiru, helped Li Yushan into the carriage, and then drove the carriage southward at breakneck speed.

Volume 2

(9)

"Jin'er, are you sure you want to crawl through this hole?" Du Peiru asked reluctantly.

"Miss, we can go in from here without anyone noticing."

"Never mind, this young lady is flexible and adaptable. What's a dog hole?"

Being a bride in ancient times was truly a difficult task. The phoenix crown weighed several pounds, almost making it impossible for her to lift her head. People assumed the bride was just shy, but who knew the truth? She hadn't eaten all day, her stomach was growling with hunger, and the apple symbolizing peace and safety had long since perished, leaving only the "bones" in Du Peiru's hand. Finally, after the ceremony ended and she was led to the bridal chamber, Du Peiru breathed a sigh of relief.

After everyone had left the new house, Du Peiru asked, "Has everyone left?"

"Yes!" one person replied.

Upon hearing this, Du Peiru tossed aside the half-eaten apple core in her hand, lifted her headscarf, and threw her phoenix crown on the ground. "Who designed this phoenix crown? Why make it so heavy? Did they have nothing better to do? It almost crushed my head!" Du Peiru complained. Suddenly, she saw a table full of food and wine in front of her, immediately rushed over, picked up her chopsticks, and started eating. As she ate, she said, "Jin'er, come and eat too. You've been starving all day. Don't be shy, come on!"

Ouyang Han had assumed his stepmother would choose a submissive wife who obeyed her husband and elders. He reasoned that such a girl would be completely at his mercy, daring not to disobey his orders. However, upon entering the bridal chamber, Ouyang Han discovered that this girl was utterly unrestrained by social norms. She had eaten the apple down to the core; she had already removed her red veil before the groom could even lift it; she had carelessly tossed her phoenix coronet to the ground; her eating manners were utterly wretched, completely lacking any ladylike grace, and she even called out while eating—it was incredibly impolite. Despite her behavior, he loved this kind of girl! Jin'er?! Was she calling him? Hmm! She must be calling her maid! Ouyang Han smiled. How adorable! He had initially thought she was just a weed, but she turned out to be a treasure!

Ouyang Han smiled and sat down in front of her.

Du Peiru was startled when she saw him and exclaimed, "You...you're the groom?"

Ouyang Han nodded.

"Are you Ouyang Han?" Du Peiru asked.

Ouyang Han nodded again.

Du Peiru looked around and asked, "Where's Jin'er?"

(10)

“There’s no Jin’er in the room!” Ouyang Han said.

"Ah! It was you the whole time?" Du Peiru asked in surprise.

"Hmph!" Ouyang Han shrugged.

"You saw everything?" Du Peiru asked, her eyes wide.

"What do you see?" Ouyang Han asked, feigning ignorance.

"It's that... um! It's okay, it's okay! Eat your vegetables, hehe, eat your vegetables!" Du Peiru said, pretending to be naive, and ate her vegetables in small bites, acting very ladylike.

Chapter Two

But Ouyang Han imitated her earlier actions, wolfing down his food.

Seeing that he had almost finished his favorite dish, Du Peiru disregarded her image and picked up the dish to pour it into her own bowl.

Ouyang Han ignored her and started eating directly from her bowl.

Upon seeing this, Du Peiru immediately exclaimed, "Wow! How could you do this? I've already put it in my bowl!" As she spoke, Du Peiru covered the bowl with her hand, then spat into it a few times, and continued, "Let's see if you can still put it in my bowl!" She even had a sly smile on her face as she spoke.

Ouyang Han, however, didn't seem to care and continued to put food into her bowl.

Du Peiru screamed, "Wow! Are you kidding me! There's saliva in it!"