A Fierce Wife, A Gentle Husband - Chapter 1

The Hua family had produced a menace, but even a menace had gaps in her education.

For instance, none of my military manuals or sword treatises explained how one was supposed to “carry on the family line.”

With my wedding drawing closer by the day, I thought the matter over and decided there was no shame in asking for help. I would seek advice from my three far more experienced sisters.

I went to my eldest sister first.

Before I had even crossed the threshold, I heard someone sobbing inside. I pushed open the door and found her dabbing at her tears by the window.

“Zhao’er…” The moment she saw me, she cried even harder. “That wretched man went to the House of Fragrance again!”

The House of Fragrance?

Understood.

When I arrived with my blade, the establishment’s top courtesan was draped bonelessly against my eldest brother-in-law. Her eyes shimmered, and her voice was sweet enough to wring water from.

“My lord~ You finally came back to see me~”

My eyes lit up. Now that was a tone I had never heard before.

So this was how a woman should speak to a man?

I made a mental note.

Then I drew my blade and chased my howling brother-in-law through three streets.

Next came my second sister.

Her eyes were swollen like peaches.

“He… he bought a house outside the city. He’s keeping a singer there…”

I paid the mistress a visit, blade in hand.

She was peeling grapes for my second brother-in-law. Her nails were painted scarlet, her movements gentle, her voice docile enough to drip honey.

“My lord, have a taste. Is it sweet?”

Another lesson. Apparently, I also had to serve him food.

Noted.

One sweep of my blade later, my second brother-in-law fled with grape juice plastered all over his face.

Last, I went to see my third sister.

The moment I reached her residence, I found a full opera unfolding inside.

My third brother-in-law—who had supposedly died in battle half a year ago—was shielding a woman dressed in white.

The woman clutched a handkerchief and wept delicately.

“Please don’t blame him, Sister! He was badly wounded and lost his memory. I was the one who saved him.”

“As soon as his memories returned, he came straight back to find you. We—we are innocent…”

“My lady, I have wronged you, but A-Yun saved my life. I can never cast her aside!”

Honestly.

My third brother-in-law would have been better off staying dead.

I rolled my shoulders and loosened my wrists. He and I had both served in the army, after all. If I did not take this seriously, I might fail to cut him down.

“My lord, you have suffered so much because of me…” A-Yun shrank behind him, her voice quavering.

I was enlightened yet again.

So weakness, too, could win a battle without spilling blood.

My blade changed direction. With one precise stroke, I sliced through a plain silver hairpin.

It clattered to the floor and split open, revealing a hollow compartment. A tightly rolled scrap of paper slipped out.

On it was a detailed map of our border defenses.

“Your savior?”

I lifted the paper on the tip of my blade and looked at my stunned brother-in-law.

“Can you tell now which one is your benefactor and which one is your enemy?”

After that lesson, I, Hua Zhaoye, felt that my knowledge had grown by leaps and bounds.

Full of confidence, I returned home to await my wedding.

The night before the ceremony, my courtyard became the setting for a contest titled *How to Deliver a Dowry Without Anyone Else Finding Out*.

My eldest sister slipped in under cover of darkness and stuffed a thick wad of banknotes into my hands.

“Keep these safe, Zhao’er. Don’t let your second and third sisters know. Those two are stingy.”

She had barely left when my second sister appeared, clutching a brocade box like a thief.

“My dear little sister, keep this ruby headdress. Whatever you do, don’t tell Eldest Sister or Third Sister. Neither of them got one.”

The curtain stirred, and my third sister darted into the room.

“I’m giving you the hot-spring estate on Falling Cloud Mountain, just outside the city.”

“If you ever feel upset or want some peace, go stay there for a few days.”

She handed me a bronze key, concern in her eyes. “Remember, this is our secret. Eldest Sister and Second Sister must never hear of it.”

Mother came last, personally hauling in a weighty chest. The deeds to houses and land gleamed inside.

“My child…” She threw her arms around me, tears dripping onto my shoulder. “You suffered in the army from the time you were little. Keep all of this. Your sisters got nothing.”

I sank into thought.

When Mother had cried so hard she started hiccupping, I finally reminded her, “Mother, don’t cry.”

“If I remember correctly, he’s the one marrying into our family.”

“…”

After sending all four women away, I was just about to sleep when something crashed against the courtyard wall.

Little Zhuzi, one of the army cooks, scrambled over it and pressed an oil-paper parcel into my hands.

“Captain! It’s a pork knuckle I hid away!”

“I overheard that you were getting married when I delivered firewood the other day. I didn’t dare tell anyone!”

He swallowed. “Is the groom handsomer than Strategist Yun?”

“I haven’t even met him. How would I know?”

At the mention of Yun Zhi…

Well.

I hefted the pork knuckle, and a very clear image of that man rose in my mind.

Yun Zhi in his blue-green robes, standing out like a crane in a chicken coop among the rough men of our camp.

Our camp had many virtues. A pleasant smell was not one of them.

Everywhere one looked, there were coarse soldiers.

Then Yun Zhi arrived.

I remembered his first day perfectly. He wore a long robe in a strange shade of greenish blue. Whenever the wind blew, his broad sleeves floated around him, pretty as a painting.

The rest of us could squat on the ground with great bowls in our hands and slurp down a meal in no time.

He needed a little porcelain bowl and a proper seat, and ate every bite with exquisite manners.

We spoke louder than war drums.

His voice was cool and clear, like water striking stone in a mountain stream.

I had decided that this must be the legendary air of an immortal.

Someone that special deserved special gifts, so I searched the camp for the most useful things we possessed.

I gave him a stone training lock. He complained it was heavy.

I gave him a wolf pelt. He complained it smelled.

Fussy man.

Oddly enough, before I left camp, Yun Zhi broke habit and asked why I needed a month’s leave.

I ignored him and simply took back the stone lock and wolf pelt.

If he learned I had come home to get married, I wondered what expression would appear on that lofty face.

Eh. Who cared?

First, I needed to see whether this new husband of mine could take a beating.