Chapter 2: How Could One Possibly Swallow Their Pride?

Yunniang gazed at Li Yi, and for reasons she couldn't quite explain, the boy before her no longer seemed like the coarse, taciturn youth from the countryside—he seemed utterly transformed.

"Yi-ge, are you... are you alright?" she asked, her voice trembling.

Everything felt as though it belonged to another lifetime. Li Yi, his heart surging with ambition, turned and gave her a broad smile.

"Yunniang, I'm hungry."

"You're hungry?" Yunniang blinked in surprise, then broke into a delighted grin. "That's wonderful! If you have an appetite, it means your health is returning."

She lifted the curtain and stepped out to prepare a meal for him.

Left in peace, Li Yi quietly reflected on his circumstances. Unconsciously, he wandered over to the long spear propped against the main room wall.

The spear was far from elegant—just a hard wooden shaft with a plain spearhead, crude and unadorned. Grasping the shaft in his right hand, Li Yi felt his restless thoughts settle. He stepped forward, and in a flash, the spear darted forth like a dragon, blossoming into a flawless flourish.

He had to admit—the previous Li Yi, for all his dullness, possessed remarkable skill with arms.

He set the spear back against the wall and turned his attention to three short javelins lying nearby. Even more rudimentary than the spear, each javelin stretched just over a meter, its head rusted and notched, the tip blunted with age.

Taking one in hand, Li Yi was struck by a sudden inspiration. The javelin became a black streak, whistling through the air to embed itself in the trunk of a tree outside the courtyard. The shaft still quivered as Li Yi's eyes brightened—who would have thought that, aside from spearwork, his predecessor also possessed such skill at throwing weapons?

The javelin had pierced the trunk clean through—a testament to his natural strength, almost superhuman.

"Good heavens, Yi-ge, are you trying to scare me to death?"

A short, wiry man entered, carrying a cloth sack in one hand and patting his chest with the other, his eyes running up and down Li Yi with relief and delight.

"Yi-ge, are you truly recovered?" he asked.

Li Yi nodded and, after a moment's recollection, recognized him as his cousin and neighbor, Li Zijing.

A cousin in this sense meant descending from the same great-grandfather—a close relation in the clan system. Li Zijing also had a younger brother working as a courier at the Yinchuan post, named Li Zicheng.

Yes, the very same Li Zicheng who would one day bring down the Ming dynasty.

Li Yi hadn't expected to find himself related to Li Zicheng, though at present the latter was focused on his government duties, with no sign of rebellion in sight.

Li Zijing was only about twenty, but years of farm labor had left his skin dark and his frame gaunt, his face prematurely lined—giving him the air of a wizened old man.

"You've given us all quite a scare these past days," Zijing said, placing his sack down and glancing at the javelin lodged in the tree. "Now that you're better, don't go looking for trouble with the Ai family. They're powerful folks; people like us, scraping by in the fields, can't afford to cross them."

Yunniang, emerging from the kitchen, turned pale at these words.

She lowered her head. "It was all my fault—I brought this on you."

Li Zijing sighed. "The Ai family isn't just famous in Mizhi County, but throughout the whole region. They're officials and landlords, men of great wealth and influence. We have neither power nor connections—how can we afford to make enemies of them? This time you survived their beating, but let's not stir up any more trouble."

Li Yi frowned, enduring a headache as he forced himself to recall the cause of his recent injuries.

In Mizhi County, four surnames reigned: Ai, Gao, Feng, and Du. The Ai family, enriched by generations in government, had consolidated land, lent money, and collected taxes, making them the foremost clan in the county. The current patriarch, Ai Yingjia, was a retired fifth-rank official, residing at the family estate in Shuangquanli, which was known as the "Official Village" due to its many bureaucrats.

Originally, Li Yi had no dealings with the Ai family. But Ai Yingjia's youngest son, Ai Wanhua, took a fancy to Yunniang, harassing her repeatedly in an attempt to make her his concubine. Yunniang, born of a scholarly family and betrothed to Li Yi, refused him outright. When persuasion failed, Ai Wanhua tried force. The previous Li Yi intervened, only to be brutally beaten by Ai's retainers at his command. Public outrage alone had ended the matter.

Though Li Yi had protected Yunniang, his injuries left him coughing blood for days, with no sign of recovery—until he, the Li Yi from another life, had taken over.

"Damn it," Li Yi muttered, "to think that upon arriving in this world, I’d be thrown into such trouble."

Li Zijing, still fretting, asked, "Yi-ge, did you hear what I said?"

"I heard you," Li Yi replied offhandedly, though inwardly he had already marked the Ai family.

He'd always been bold and vengeful by nature—how could he swallow such humiliation, especially now? Still, the previous Li Yi seemed the quiet sort, unlikely to cause fresh trouble, so his cousin let the matter drop.

Just then, a group of scrawny boys burst through the door.

At their head was a youth as tall as Li Zijing, all skin and bone, who called out loudly, "Master, are you feeling better?"

Before Li Yi could answer, Li Zijing snapped irritably, "You little monkey, always running off—if your aunt scolds you tonight, don’t expect me to stick up for you."

The boy was Li Guo, son of Zijing's elder brother. Orphaned young, he had been taken in by Li Zijing, but, as with boys of that age, he was wild and unruly, much to his aunt’s daily frustration.

Still, he loved martial arts, so Zijing sent him to learn from Li Yi, making him Li Yi’s apprentice.

Li Guo grinned. "Uncle, every time Auntie gets angry, you hide in the house—I'm used to it."

"You rascal, what are you saying?" Zijing made a show of swatting him, but Li Guo dodged nimbly, so Zijing handed his bag to Li Yi instead.

"There’s two catties of rice here, and a chicken egg. You’re young—you need to eat well for a few days to recover."

Li Yi waved him off. "Your family isn't wealthy either. Take it back, or my sister-in-law will be angry."

Li Zijing’s wife was famous in Shuangquanli for her temper—Li Yi had no desire to cause trouble.

"In my house, what I say goes! If she complains, I'll knock some sense into her," Zijing boasted, though his eyes darted toward his courtyard. Only when he saw his wife wasn’t coming did he relax.

Li Guo teased, "Uncle, don't worry—Auntie’s out feeding the livestock."

"Who’s afraid? You brat, itching for a beating?" Zijing retorted. His dark skin hid any blush, but his bluster was plain.

"I just saw Auntie—she told you to hurry up and bring in the fodder."

"You little scoundrel, why didn't you say so sooner?" Zijing thrust the bag into Li Yi’s arms and hurried off. If he was late, his ears would suffer tonight.

The boys, pent up from days indoors, burst into laughter as soon as Zijing left—even Li Yi couldn’t help but smile. His cousin’s fear of his wife was truly legendary.

Handing the bag to Yunniang, Li Yi asked, "You boys look like you’ve been through a windstorm. What mischief have you been up to today?"

Li Guo replied, "Hunter Liu at the village’s edge said there’s a demon boar in the woods—he’d pay silver if we caught it. We meant to catch it to pay for your medicine, Master, but couldn't find it. So we went to the Wuding River and netted some big fish for your recovery."

He held up a grass carp strung on a cord, while another boy revealed a bundle of small perch.

"That’s quite the haul," Li Yi said, "but I’m feeling much better. You should take them home for your own families."

In times like these, even plain rice was scarce—meat was a luxury.

These boys had gone hungry for his sake, yet still caught fish to help him recover. Li Yi’s heart warmed at the thought.

"Don’t refuse, Master," Li Guo insisted. "We’re all waiting for you to get well so we can avenge you—next time, we’ll kill that Ai Wanhua bastard!"

He hung the grass carp on a tree and shouted, the other boys joining in, yelling for revenge.

Li Yi looked at these thin, undersized boys and could only sigh. "You lot are nothing but children—where do you get these ideas of fighting and killing? Go home and help with the farm work; don’t get mixed up in these affairs."

Ai Wanhua might be a spoiled bully, but he was always surrounded by four or five burly retainers—these half-starved boys couldn’t possibly stand against them.

Vengeance was his own concern—he would not see these loyal youngsters come to harm.

"Master, so you’re just going to let this go?" Li Guo clenched his fists, shouting, "Have you forgotten how Ai Wanhua insulted your wife?"

Li Yi gently patted his shoulder, patience in his voice. "This isn’t something you boys can resolve. Go home."

Li Guo jerked free, his face flushed with anger. "That bastard bullied us in our own home, and you’re just going to take it? Are you scared of the Ai clan? Scared of Ai Wanhua?"

"How many times must I say it? You don’t understand," Li Yi replied, growing impatient.

Seeing Li Yi unwilling to argue further, Li Guo’s face burned with disappointment, his eyes fierce like a cornered beast.

"See, our so-called master is nothing but a coward," sneered a chubby boy, pulling at Li Guo’s arm and glaring at Li Yi. "All brawn, no guts. Let's leave him to his own devices."

"Can’t even protect his own wife—what a waste," another boy scoffed, while the rest voiced their disdain.

Li Guo, teeth clenched, stared at Li Yi with bitter disappointment. "I must have been blind to look up to you. Let’s go."

With that, he led the group away.

"Take the fish, too—give them to your families," Li Yi called, grabbing the chubby boy before he could escape and giving him a kick to the backside. The boy yelped, shot Li Yi a venomous look, and collected the carp.

Yunniang stood at the kitchen door, helpless, her eyes brimming with tears she tried to hide.

Li Yi, unable to bear it, went over and gently stroked her head. "Children are quick to anger—they’ll get over it in a few days."

"Yi-ge, I never wanted to bring you trouble, but... but I don’t know what to do..." Yunniang lifted her tear-streaked face, her voice trembling.

She was a gentle, innocent soul, but what could she do against a man as vicious as Ai Wanhua?

Li Yi softly wiped away her tears, his warm palm cradling her cold cheeks. "Enough now—if you cry any more, I’ll starve to death."

At last, Yunniang composed herself and returned to the kitchen to prepare their meal.