Chapter 113

After the Cannon Fodder Gong Turns to Farming, He Gets a Happy Ending with the Aloof Protagonist (Transmigration)

The gates of the Jiang residence were thrown wide open, and a crowd surged in to witness the lively, joyous wedding ceremony; suddenly, a stir rippled through the throng.

Holding the end of the ceremonial red silk sash, Jiang Baiye glanced backward and exchanged a meaningful look with He Lin.

"First bow: to Heaven and Earth."

"Get over here!" From the back of the crowd, Lu Qingsheng grabbed Shen Feng by the scruff of his collar, keeping his voice low to avoid attracting attention.

Lu Qinghong also seized the shameless fellow from the left, suspecting he had been bought off by Lu Lize—just as they themselves had been.

Shen Feng was in the middle of a scheme to snatch the baby; he couldn't afford to be discovered. He wrenched himself free from their grip, hissing, "You two are acting crazy!"

He hurriedly tried to wriggle his way forward, causing the onlookers on the periphery to yelp as they were jostled. Panicked, Lu Qinghong scrambled to give chase but collided with someone.

Old Master Lu had been watching the ceremony with rapt attention, a smile that was a mix of complex emotions and gratification playing on his lips; the sudden impact nearly knocked him off his feet.

"Second bow: to the elders!" No matter how noisy the crowd became behind them, their hands remained tightly clasped, fingers interlaced.

Lu Lize could feel the earnestness and intense affection—as if the other man wanted to etch him into his very bones—and squeezed back just as firmly.

He-shi and Madam He watched with tear-rimmed eyes; moved by the atmosphere of happiness, their own expressions softened with warmth. "That’s wonderful."

"So, has your He Yun settled the big milestone in life?"

"Just like you—he’s already got a grandchild to hold."

"You’ll be there soon, too." The two women exchanged pleasantries, their eyes crinkling with smiles.

Having traveled far and wide with her husband and son, Madam He had shed the air of a simple farm woman; she now possessed a dignified elegance that rivaled Madam He’s own.

To outsiders, the family—especially with the newly minted *Zhuangyuan* (top scholar) in their midst—looked nothing short of magnificent.

When the call came for the "couple to bow to each other," the crowd erupted in playful teasing. Both men were flustered; even Jiang Baiye found himself overwhelmed. Yet, after a moment’s hesitation, he reached out and placed his arm around Lu Li’s waist.

Just as the crowd—and Lu Li himself—looked on in bewilderment, Jiang Baiye lowered his gaze, turned his head slightly, and pressed a kiss to Lu Li’s lips.

A kiss shared in full view of everyone.

A passionate love, at once subtle and grand.

"Ahhh!" Madam He’s daughter let out an uncontrollable, high-pitched squeal of excitement. Madam He took a long moment to snap back to reality, but by the time she tried to cover the girl's mouth, it was already too late. Few in the crowd were as visibly stirred as she was; while the social customs of Great Ning were not overly restrictive, the display still made more reserved onlookers blush and avert their eyes, unsure of where to look.

"My, these young ones—truly something else; no wonder he is..."

There were, of course, other opinions, but who would dare utter a single word against the top scholar now?

Lu Lixi stood frozen on the spot; the sensation of that gentle touch seemed to linger on her lips. A moment later, the realization hit her, and her cool, composed eyes instantly welled up with bashfulness.

"The ceremony is complete—escort the couple to the bridal chamber!" Amidst the joyful shouts, she was supported by Jiang Baiye as they returned to the new nuptial room.

"Shall we have a drink together?" Jiang Baiye couldn't help but smile as he looked at Lu Lixi, who was sitting obediently on the edge of the bed, looking every bit the demure bride.

"Who told you to kiss me?"

"Then... shall I let you kiss me back?"

"You shameless rogue!" Lu Lixi snatched up a handful of peanuts, intending to throw them at him, but she stopped abruptly. Her gaze fell upon the red dates, peanuts, longan, and lotus seeds arranged on the bed to spell out the auspicious wish: "May you soon bear a precious son."

"Who arranged this?" she asked, looking at Jiang Baiye with sparkling eyes. Jiang Baiye cursed inwardly, "Holy crap... this must be my parents' doing; they’re always nagging us to have kids."

"Is that what *you* want?"

Facing Lu Lize’s expectant, joyful gaze, Jiang Baiye found it hard to say no, even as he mentally cursed whoever had orchestrated this setup.

"Do you?" Not getting an immediate response, the smile on Lu Lize’s face faltered.

Jiang Baiye hurriedly nodded. "Yes, yes, yes!"

"Good. I agree."

"Wait..." Jiang Baiye was completely flustered.

"Let's go out for a drink; everyone is waiting for us," Lu Lize said, leading him away contentedly. "We can talk about having children later tonight."

Jiang Baiye kept chanting in his mind: *Meds, meds, meds—where are my meds?!*

Lu Lize, however, seemed to sense he was up to no good; he kept a firm hold on Jiang Baiye’s hand, giving him absolutely no chance to slip away.

Things outside, however, were far from calm.

Old Master Lu, who had been secretly watching from the crowd, was knocked flat on his back. Lu Qinghong was caught red-handed by He Lin—whom Jiang Baiye had summoned—and just as He Lin ripped off Lu Qinghong’s veil hat, Lu Qisheng, who had just grabbed Shen Feng, had his own veil hat fall to the ground. The crowd erupted in a stir, especially among the well-dressed young masters who had long been admirers of "Lord Qingyuan"—many having spent a fortune traveling all the way to Jiangnan just to follow Lu Qinghong.

Seeing the scene unfold, they immediately surged forward: "Lord Qingyuan, what exactly is going on?"

Lu Qinghong, bewildered as to why the Old Master of the Lu family was present, grew even more flustered; unable to answer their questions, he hurriedly moved to help the old man up.

However, the Old Master glared at Lu Yusheng, who was still gripping Shen Feng tightly: "Yusheng! What do you think you are doing?"

The rebuke was sharp and urgent; Lu Yusheng’s hand trembled in fright, yet he still refused to let go of Shen Feng.

Shen Feng glanced left and right.

"Clan Elder, I have a personal score to settle with this man..." Lu Yusheng said, shooting an angry glare at Shen Feng.

Knowing Shen Feng's true identity, the Old Master nearly fainted on the spot upon hearing this.

The crowd, however, drowned out his voice with their chatter: "Clan Elder? The Lu Clan Elder—what is he doing here?"

"He’s probably with Lu Yusheng and the others... but what brings them here?"

Lu Yusheng just wanted to drag the man away as quickly as possible to avoid further chaos; even he himself was confused about many aspects of the situation.

"Come with me!" He roughly grabbed Shen Feng, intending to drag him away.

"Stop!" Jiang Baiye and Lu Lize, both dressed in wedding attire, hurried over. "Dean Lu, what are you doing?"

"This is a private matter of mine!"

"He is our honored guest," Lu Lize said sternly, "and someone you cannot afford to offend. I advise you to let him go immediately."

Lu Yusheng had originally held a certain reverence for Lord Qingyuan, but after learning what kind of person Shen Feng truly was, he thought little of him.

At this moment, Lu Qinghong could no longer hold back; he cast a cold, chilling glance at Lu Lize. "I haven't yet congratulated you on achieving the rare feat of placing first in all three levels of the imperial examinations. However, usurping another person's identity is hardly proper behavior. If word of this gets out, I wonder if you'll be able to keep that title of *Zhuangyuan*!"

Here it was! The crowd sensed the scent of conflict; seeing Lu Qinghong confront him so boldly, they almost immediately believed him.

Yet, that thought lasted only an instant. Shopkeeper Ning and Elder Yi stepped up behind Lu Lize, smiling as they looked at Lu Qinghong. "Say that again?" ”

They had waited a long time for this moment, enduring plenty of harassment along the way regarding the true identity of Lord Qingyuan. Fortunately, the admirers of Lord Qingyuan were generally reasonable people; otherwise, they certainly wouldn't have held out until now.

Lu Qinghong’s fists clenched tightly within his sleeves; he nearly looked toward Lu Yusheng in a panic.

“Apologies, everyone. We need to attend to an urgent private matter first; we will explain the details to you all later.” Lu Yusheng grabbed Shen Feng—using him as a convenient shield—and prepared to make an excuse to leave.

“A private matter? You mean the private matter of having me help you impersonate Lord Qingyuan?” Shen Feng spoke up abruptly, dealing yet another shock to the bewildered crowd!

“Nonsense!” Lu Qinghong snapped, his eyes flashing a silent warning. “This man has clearly been bought off by that so-called ‘Triple Champion’ scholar, which is why he dares to spout such rubbish. As for whether or not I am Lord Qingyuan—I trust you have all heard the rumors long ago!”

Jiang Baiye gave a derisive snort. Lu Li remained silent, merely looking at Lu Qinghong—and at Lu Yusheng, who was beginning to realize something was amiss—as if they were fools.

He hurriedly glanced at Old Master Lu standing nearby.

The onlookers also noticed Old Master Lu’s unusual demeanor; he appeared absolutely furious.

“Insolence!” "Lu Xiusheng, Lu Qinghong—do you have any idea what you are saying or doing? Let him go at once!"

"Clan Elder..."

Old Master Lu coughed violently in his anger; he simply couldn't let Lu Xiusheng remain so obstinate and blind to reality. "Do you even know who it is you've seized?"

Shen Feng suddenly had a bad feeling; he hurriedly tried to signal Old Master Lu with his eyes, terrified that if his true identity were exposed, he wouldn't be able to keep up his carefree act.

But Old Master Lu blurted it out anyway—Lu Xiusheng simply wouldn't see reason until he was staring death in the face!

"W-what? Master Qishan?" It was utterly preposterous. Lu Xiusheng tried to force a smile, but the expression wouldn't come.

The crowd was in an uproar. "Master Qishan? He’s Master Qishan?! Then what he said earlier..."

"Wasn't the attitude of Shopkeeper Ning and the others clear enough?"

Everyone’s gaze shifted instantly—not toward Lu Li, but toward Lu Qinghong, the man who had been impersonating Lord Qingyuan. "Young Master Lu, how long do you intend to keep up this charade? Do you take us all for fools?"

"Outrageous! How... how can there be such a shameless person in this world? You’ve swindled me out of so much genuine emotion and money!" ”

“I knew it—he’s all glitz on the outside but rotten to the core, completely hollow within; I should have guessed it sooner...”

An uproar broke out among the crowd; a torrent of ceaseless abuse and resentment surged toward him, leaving Lu Qinghong’s limbs icy cold and making his blood run backward in shock.

Jiang Baiye had no desire to let such a wonderful day be ruined by this; he raised a hand to quiet the crowd. “Everyone, hear me out.”

All eyes turned to him.

“As for who Lord Qingyuan truly is—hasn’t *Wen Fengliu* already made that perfectly clear?”

The crowd was left speechless. Indeed—*Wen Fengliu* was practically a true-to-life depiction of him and Lu Li; or rather, it was a record of the experiences they had actually shared.

“That’s right. Qi Jiu is me, and I am Qi Jiu.” Jiang Baiye said this without a hint of a blush; in fact, he was the one who had asked Li Ze to rewrite the later parts of the story—arguing that since *he* had a wife and child, he couldn't bear to leave the book's version of Qi Jiu all alone.

Lu Lize had once considered giving Qi Jiu a wife and child—a match made in heaven—but he found himself incredibly jealous at the mere thought of it, even though it was just the "Jiang Baiye" within the book.

He hadn't included a single romantic scene; no one—man or woman—was allowed to so much as brush against him.

That changed when Jiang Baiye suggested writing a version of himself into the story.

As a scholar—a top imperial exam graduate—he would rewrite some of their shared past experiences; and so, Lu Lize found himself writing an autobiography while trying to suppress his embarrassment.

It was a close call, though—he barely managed to avoid letting Jiang Baiye lead him astray into writing something explicit.

"As for why Lize never revealed his true identity to everyone... well, I’m sure you all understand the nature of Qingyuan-jun. He was once exploited by those with malicious intent. It seems you didn't truly know Qingyuan-jun well enough back then." Jiang Baiye turned the tables on the accusers.

Those who had initially intended to question why Lu Lixi hadn't been open with everyone from the start now felt too embarrassed to speak up.

Hadn't they known what kind of person the real "Qingyuan Jun" was from the very beginning? Why had they allowed themselves to be deceived by Lu Qinghong? Ever since Lu Qinghong had revealed his identity, his words and actions had borne no resemblance to the true Qingyuan Jun; it was they who had mistaken a fish-eye for a pearl.

"At first, Lixi just wanted to keep a low profile and study for the imperial examinations, avoiding outside distractions. He only wrote books to earn money for his studies."

"Later, people started threatening him. Lixi and Shopkeeper Ning repeatedly warned certain individuals, but those people just kept pushing their luck. Back then, we were up against some powerful figures and had no choice but to swallow our pride and endure it."

Shen Feng clicked his tongue; Jiang Baiye was certainly painting the whole picture—the good and the bad—entirely from his own perspective.

No one doubted his words in the slightest; after all, this was indeed part of the truth.

Shopkeeper Ning and his companion also slowly revealed some of the facts. The crowd was shocked by what they heard, though that was a matter separate from the two newlyweds.

Jiang Baiye had a banquet set up at home to treat the passersby who had stopped to offer their congratulations; it was a casual affair where people could grab a bite to eat.

Lu Lixi instructed a servant, "Swap his wine for water."

The servant looked puzzled.

"Hurry up!" Jiang Baiye took the opportunity to instruct He Lin, "Quick, brew some of the medicine I have in the carriage and secretly bring it to me."

"Huh? What's going on?" He Lin’s gossipy instincts instantly flared up.

"Hurry up!"

A moment later, upon meeting up with Lu Li, Jiang Baiye appeared perfectly composed. "I'm ready."

"Young Master, the wine." A servant handed a cup of plain water to Jiang Baiye, and the two of them shared a casual drink with some of the guests present.

Meanwhile, Jiang Dazhu and the others led their close friends and relatives over to Hanmo Pavilion.

Jiang Baiye was surprised to detect no scent of alcohol; he wondered if a mistake had been made. But when he personally picked up a flagon and poured some out, it still smelled like plain water...

"Li, don't drink too much; let me finish it for you."

"It's fine. I shouldn't drink too much—getting drunk is no fun." He promptly swapped his own liquor for water.

After receiving the well-wishers at home, the couple headed to Hanmo Pavilion. The guest list included Jiang Baiye’s business associates and friends, Lu Lize’s friends, and various acquaintances from Qingshui Village with whom they had a good rapport.

He’s close female friends, Uncle Luo, Town Head Wang, Dr. Sun from the Sun Family Pharmacy, and many others arrived at Hanmo Pavilion and were astonished by the lavish banquet spread.

They knew Jiang Baiye was resourceful and had become successful, but they hadn't realized he was capable of pulling off something so grand and magnificent—just how much must this have cost?

"Today is both our wedding banquet and a celebration of Lize placing first in the imperial examinations. Everyone, please make yourselves at home!" Jiang Baiye downed his drink in one gulp—only to find, *huh*, it was still water?

Lu Lize drank along with him, maintaining a smile; when he caught Jiang Baiye’s gaze, he even gave a playful wink.

From then on, no matter how Jiang Baiye switched his drinks, they all tasted like water—it would be truly bizarre if he couldn't guess what was going on!

"Medicine, medicine—the medicine is here!" When He Lin, sweating profusely from the effort, quietly brought over the contraceptive medicine Jiang Baiye had requested, Jiang Baiye found himself growing suspicious of even that.

Could Lize have swapped this out for something to boost fertility instead?