Lu Yuan took another look at Su Liyan.
'Hmm...'
'Medusa!'
'Nuwa is too divine; Su Liyan isn't like that.'
'Zhao Ling'Er is the pure and innocent type, which Su Liyan isn't either.'
'Su Liyan is the bewitching, mature beauty type. Thinking about it that way, she really does resemble her.'
Su Liyan stared at Lu Yuan, stunned.
Although she didn't know why her man was sizing her up like this, she could tell his gaze held none of the disgust and revulsion she saw from others.
Overjoyed, Su Liyan shyly lowered her head again.
Her grip on Lu Yuan's hand tightened.
Snapping back to his senses, Lu Yuan looked at the dumbfounded village chief and said, "We're heading back for now. We'll come to the ancestral hall tonight to pay our respects. Remember to leave the door open for us."
With that, Lu Yuan pulled Su Liyan along and left.
The matchmaker was so happy she jumped for joy. Seeing Su Liyan obediently following Lu Yuan, she shouted, "Liyan, dear! Come out around noon and tell Aunty where your home is. I need to go back and let your parents know."
Blushing, Su Liyan looked back at the matchmaker and nodded.
"I know, Aunty..."
The people of Shige Village watched Lu Yuan and Su Liyan's departing figures with mixed expressions.
The men were, for the most part, envious.
Snake Woman or not, bad luck or not...
With looks like that, it would be worth dying for.
The women, on the other hand, mostly hated her guts.
This was especially true for the other women who had come with Su Liyan for the matchmaking.
Sure, this Lu Yuan was dirt poor.
But look at him! He was handsome, and his clothes were clean and tidy.
He even had a pleasant way of speaking.
He might be a useless Scholar, but what if he passed the imperial examinations in the future?
You never knew.
'How did *she*, Su Liyan, end up with such a good man?'
But for the people of Shige Village, there was one shared question.
And that was...
When did this kid become such a troublemaker?
Look at how aggressive he was just now.
Everyone used to bully him, so being lectured by him in return felt incredibly unsettling.
...
This world was vast and strange.
In the Northern region of the Empire, a war was being fought against the Beast Race.
It was similar to when Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty sent troops north to wipe out the remnants of the Northern Yuan.
Meanwhile, the Empire's interior was filled with all sorts of evil spirits and Spirit Monsters.
However, in a world with evil spirits and Spirit Monsters, there were naturally ways to deal with them.
Battle-hardened soldiers, for instance, who had climbed out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, were beings that evil spirits dared not approach.
Monks in temples and Daoists in monasteries also possessed methods to guide spirits to the afterlife or annihilate them.
A high-ranking, red-robed official from the Court could even dare to cross great rivers alone in a small boat.
Relying solely on his righteous aura, he could send the Water Ghosts and evil spirits at the bottom of the lake fleeing in terror.
Some Scholars who had earned official ranks could, with just a few words from the sages, pin an evil spirit to a wall, damning it for all eternity.
Generally speaking, evil spirits were afraid of humans.
But they were afraid of powerful humans.
Ordinary people, however, were their victims.
As for Lu Yuan's great-grandfather, he had once been the County Magistrate here.
Although he was an official from the previous dynasty, he had been formally invested with a rank!
He possessed an official's fortune, and even after death, his grave naturally provided Suppression against all ghouls and evil spirits.
It was precisely because of Lu Yuan's great-grandfather that Shige Village had always enjoyed peace and prosperity, with no evil spirits daring to cause trouble.
Those spirits only dared to wander outside the village.
Thus, thanks to Lu Yuan's great-grandfather, Shige Village had grown into a massive village over the decades.
People from other villages all wanted to marry their daughters here.
This was also why Lu Yuan had dared to defy the village chief earlier, and why the chief could do nothing about it.
As for his attitude toward the villagers...
It was purely because, after merging with his predecessor's memories, he learned what had happened before and felt an involuntary disgust.
You see that brick-and-tile house of Lu Yuan's?
Why is it *only* a brick-and-tile house now?
Most of his other belongings had been tricked, swindled, or "borrowed" away by the villagers.
'These people...'
'They're real bullies.'
The original owner of this body was a spineless Scholar, far too timid.
He was bullied mercilessly.
Even though those things had nothing to do with the current Lu Yuan, the moment he put himself in his predecessor's shoes, he would get furious.
Besides, Lu Yuan had no intention of living here forever.
'Once I make something of myself, I'm definitely moving away!'
So, there was no need to put up with them.
'I'll just do whatever I damn well please!'
"We're home. From now on, this is your home too."
Soon, Lu Yuan had brought Su Liyan home.
Lu Yuan's house was in the center of the village, so it was a short walk.
Su Liyan stared at the brick-and-tile house before her, her red lips slightly parted in astonishment.
'A brick-and-tile house...'
'It's so grand...'
When others had said her man's family was poor, Su Liyan had expected a small mud-brick hut.
But she never imagined it would be a three-room, brick-and-tile house with a courtyard paved in bluestone.
It looked far too nice.
"My great-grandfather was a County Magistrate, remember? This was all left behind by him.
A few years ago, my parents were trading goods in the south when they were ambushed by bandits. They never came back.
From now on, it'll just be the two of us in this house. There aren't many rules," Lu Yuan explained with a smile.
Su Liyan stared blankly at Lu Yuan and nodded, then followed him into the courtyard.
"You must have rushed over from another village early this morning. You haven't eaten yet, have you?" Lu Yuan said as he walked ahead.
Su Liyan and the others were from small surrounding villages, brought by the matchmaker to large villages like Shige Village for matchmaking.
The women who succeeded in finding a match would move directly into the man's home.
Those who didn't would find shelter somewhere in the village for the night before heading to the next village in the morning.
Since she had arrived so early today, she probably hadn't eaten much for breakfast.
Su Liyan lowered her head and let out a shy "mm-hmm."
Lu Yuan then pointed to the hen in the courtyard.
"I'll kill a chicken later and make some soup for you. You need to get your strength back. Look how thin you are."
Su Liyan was taken aback. She quickly looked up and waved her hands.
"No, no, you don't have to! Anything simple is fine. We have to be frugal..."
'Who goes to a man's house on the first day and has him kill a chicken for her?'
'I haven't even done any work yet.'
Besides, although the house was grand, Su Liyan could tell the family wasn't actually wealthy.
There were no decorations to speak of; they must have fallen on hard times.
'We have to be practical. The chicken is for laying eggs, how could we eat it?'
Lu Yuan was very pleased that Su Liyan was so sensible about managing a household.
'Perhaps this is a kind of passive reward?'
'This wife is super frugal, super virtuous, and considerate. Is that why her [Multiplication Factor: 9] is so high?'
Lu Yuan didn't know for sure.
But, they were definitely eating chicken today.
At that, Lu Yuan stopped, looked at Su Liyan who had also stopped beside him, and leaned his face close.
As Su Liyan watched his face get closer and closer, her beautiful face instantly flushed crimson.
Extremely shy, Su Liyan only lowered her head slightly but didn't pull away.
That shy yet enchanting look of hers simply made Lu Yuan melt.
"Eat as much as you want. Our family is actually very rich.
From now on, if you're with me, you'll live a life of luxury. We'll have meat with every meal!"