Ch. 2 - He's Sick

When Tan Jin woke up again, he found himself in a wooden bathtub.

Looking around at the furnishings in the room, a long-buried memory resurfaced—

Isn’t this the Grand General’s residence in the Sheng Kingdom?

He sat up. He only remembered that just now, Ye Xiwu had driven six deadly nails into him, completely extinguishing the joy and affection he had felt at the thought of marrying her.

“Ye… Xi…  Wu…”

He ground her name between his teeth, biting down with hatred.

He had thought that with those six nails piercing his heart, he would certainly die, falling forever into the abyss. But unexpectedly, time seemed to have reversed.

He could rewrite history—!

Yang Ruo and Chun Tao had carried Tan Jin back to the room together, then helped him into a bath to drive out the cold before leaving the room.

After asking Chun Tao, she discovered that Tan Jin had been kneeling for four days. 

She was stunned. If it were her, forget about four days and two hours. She’d have passed out.

So… was Tan Jin’s body really that resilient?

He really was the former life of the Demon God.

Impressive.

Sigh… so, what now? Other than treating Tan Jin a little better, there was nothing else she could help him with. 

As for following the plot? Forget it. There was no way she could run off and roam the world with him.

She thought hard but still couldn’t come up with a good plan. The main problem with him was that “evil bone,” but she wasn’t Li Susu, didn’t have the divine marrow, and couldn’t swap it out. 

Besides, she had absolutely no intention of living through such a soul-crushing, body-breaking plotline. She loved herself too much to put herself through that.

She sighed again, having no idea if he had woken up yet after soaking for a whole hour. Yang Ruo decided to check.

When she entered the room, Tan Jin had been replaying all the events of his past life with Ye Xiwu in his head and how he had been tricked by this woman. 

Now that he was back again, he definitely wouldn’t go soft on her. This woman deserved to die—

And then, he looked up and saw Ye Xiwu standing in the doorway, locking eyes with him.

Tan Jin: “…”

Yang Ruo (also Ye Xiwu): “…”

How to put this... the atmosphere was kind of awkward now. Could someone please tell her what to do?

She hesitantly walked to the edge of the tub. She could feel Tan Jin tensing up more and more, clearly nervous and on high alert around her.

Which made sense. After all, the old Ye Xiwu used to beat him often. Now she was suddenly being so kind; of course, he’d be wary. This reaction was perfectly in line with what she remembered from the plot.

Unconsciously, her voice softened. She crouched beside the tub and asked him gently, “Are you feeling any better?”

To her, the current Tan Jin looked exactly like a thin, abused little stray dog—timid, weak, and easily startled. She couldn’t help but lower her voice, completely forgetting how out of character this was.

Tan Jin, who had just been killed by six Soul-Extinguishing Nails and reborn: “…”

What the hell is she doing?

Why is she acting so differently?

Could it be that she had been reborn, too? Was this some kind of test?

The thought made him tense up. He felt it was necessary to respond the way he used to. He racked his brain, trying to remember how his past self had behaved.

Then he recalled when he’d woken up in the bathtub before, Ye Xiwu had been feeling up his chest…

So at the time, he had warily asked, “What are you doing?”

However, at the moment, Ye Xiwu wasn’t doing anything. She simply leaned quietly against the edge of the tub, gazing at him with a reverent expression, showing concern only verbally and not laying a single hand on him.

Tan Jin was a bit confused. Was this not the same moment as before?

Uncertain of how to react, Tan Jin chose to close his eyes and feign sleep, pretending to be too exhausted to speak, a trace of vulnerability showing between his brows.

Yang Ruo understood—he probably hadn’t recovered yet—so she left him be. Instead, she reached out to test the water temperature. It had cooled down a bit, so she stepped out to call Chun Tao to boil more hot water.

The room had floor heating, but in the freezing winter, the water still didn’t stay warm for long.

This time, after giving her instructions, she didn’t leave again. She sat quietly in the room, occasionally looking at him, her thoughts and emotions a tangled mess.

If she followed her purest instincts, she truly did want to treat Tan Jin well in every way. But her mind kept rationally analyzing the situation—she wasn’t Li Susu. She couldn’t help him. She was genuinely worried about his future.

Now that the female lead was gone, who was supposed to save this male lead? Where the hell was Li Susu—

Yang Ruo wailed internally.

Just as she was getting a bit bored waiting, she suddenly heard the sound of someone putting on clothes behind her.

Tan Jin came out, and just like in the original plot, he ignored her completely and walked straight out.

Yang Ruo thought, Okay, good. At least this Tan Jin is still following the script.

He must be planning to go out and kneel on the ice again. But how could she let him do that?

So she grabbed his sleeve and blurted out, “Don’t go kneel on the ice—let’s just go to bed.”

What she meant was that, according to the storyline, this scene should be followed by the “sharing the bed” sequence. She just didn’t expect her acting to be so terrible that she let the line slip early!

Realizing what she’d said, she immediately covered her mouth and smacked herself in frustration—God help me, how did I cause such a massive mishap?!

Tan Jin froze but quickly recovered, immediately confirming that he had indeed gone back to the past.

She was even bolder and more direct than before.

But this time, he had no intention of getting entangled with her again.

And yet, in the next moment, Yang Ruo grabbed his hand and started dragging him toward the bed.

Tan Jin resisted.

Yang Ruo didn’t understand why he was being so uncooperative. She figured maybe he was waiting for her to hit him before he’d go to sleep. 

To help him feel at ease, she let go of his hand, went to the usual spot where Tan Jin would lay out his floor bedding, pulled out the bedding herself, spread it on the floor, and even patted it a few times. She thought that would be it, but after a few pats, she realized something was off.

This bedding was way too thin. Not only was it lumpy and uncomfortable, but it did nothing to block out the cold.

No wonder Tan Jin got sick that night—the floor bedding definitely played a part in that.

She thought for a bit, then rolled the bedding back up.

Tan Jin watched her from the side—watched her pull out his bedding, lay it down, then roll it back up again. This was nothing like what he remembered.

He had thought that being reborn, he’d be able to rely on memories from his past life to control everything with ease, but the moment he got back, everything was already deviating wildly from his expectations.

Ye Xiwu…

This woman again.

Tan Jin decided to wait and watch. Once he figured out the situation, he’d deal with her properly.

Yang Ruo had no idea that this Tan Jin was not the same Tan Jin as in the script. She rolled up the bedding and told him, “No more sleeping on the floor. You’re sleeping in the bed from now on.”

Tan Jin didn’t say a word. He stood there quietly, but even after a long while, he didn’t sit down on the bed. Yang Ruo didn’t understand and asked, “Why aren’t you sleeping?” She glanced outside. The sky was already dark; it wasn’t early anymore.

She had just transmigrated, and there were still a ton of things she needed to do and a lot she had to learn. So tonight, she had to get proper rest. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have the energy to face the challenges of this new timeline tomorrow.

Tan Jin said, “Do what needs to be done first. Then you can sleep.”

Yang Ruo paused, then realized he was talking about the whipping.

This guy is seriously...

Yang Ruo was speechless.

But then she remembered Tan Jin was actually a closet masochist, wasn’t he?

In the latter part of the novel, the more Li Susu beat him, the more excited he got.

Ugh—what kind of twisted kink even is that?

She was definitely not into that kind of perversion.

So she pulled him down a bit more forcefully and pushed him to sit down. Her tone grew firm:

“Tan Jin, listen carefully. I’m not going to hit you ever again, so keep those freaky tendencies of yours to yourself.”

Tan Jin didn’t quite understand what she meant, but when he saw her carrying a blanket and the whip she’d dug out, heading for the door, he asked instinctively, “Where are you going?”

Yang Ruo replied, “I’m going to squeeze in with Tao. You sleep here tonight.”

With that, she had already stepped out of the room. Since her hands were full, she could only kick the door shut behind her.

Bang! The sound of the door closing wasn’t exactly gentle, completely at odds with her tone.

Tan Jin lowered his gaze. Everything that had happened today… None of it matched his memories.

Yang Ruo went to Chun Tao’s room. After she explained the situation, Chun Tao was surprised but couldn’t argue with her mistress, so she had no choice but to let her stay.

The servant quarters had no floor heating—just a simple charcoal brazier.

It was freezing at night. Yang Ruo had brought Tan Jin’s blanket, and by midnight, she was frozen awake.

Chun Tao was still fast asleep, not showing any signs of waking, probably long used to it.

In the darkness, Yang Ruo thought: since she couldn’t sleep anyway, she might as well check on Tan Jin. After all, in the original plot, he came down with a fever tonight.

Even though she had already given him the warm room and warm bed, the guy did kneel in the snow for four days, not four hours, and definitely not four minutes. If he didn’t get a fever, that would be the real plot hole.

She quietly returned to her room.

The moment she stepped in, her body tensed, not from the cold, but from the natural reaction of entering a warm room after being outside in the chill.

She stuck her tongue out in the dark: Being a noble lady really is the best. Everything you use is the best, even winter warmth.

Of course, in the modern world, this wasn’t even a big deal, thanks to air conditioning.

She approached the bed. Tan Jin was still asleep.

She reached out and touched his forehead, then checked his breath at the tip of his nose. Both spots were burning hot; this was clearly a high fever.

She withdrew her hand. Yep, those four days of kneeling in the snow had finally broken his body.

Honestly, she didn’t really buy how, in the original plot, just slapping on a damp towel or feeding medicine to an unconscious person somehow cured him.

Towel effectiveness aside, just the idea of feeding medicine to someone delirious with fever? What if he choked?

But time was short, and there was no space to come up with something better.

All she could do was get some water, wet a towel, and try to bring down his fever physically. Then she called for Chun Tao and had her boil some fever medicine.

But Chun Tao told her there was no medicine in their courtyard.

Yang Ruo was stunned.

What the hell? You’ve got to be kidding me.

She steadied herself and asked, “Then where is the medicine? Or is there a doctor in the house?”

Chun Tao thought for a moment. “There is. A few days ago, when the eldest miss fell into the water and caught a chill, her courtyard should’ve stocked some. Should I go borrow a dose from her?”

Yang Ruo didn’t hesitate; she waved her off and told her to go.

But Chun Tao still stood there for a while. Yang Ruo found it strange. “What’s wrong?”

“Miss... the eldest miss’s courtyard has never gotten along with ours. I’m not sure if they’d even be willing to lend us medicine…”

Yang Ruo: “……”

Right. Sending a little maid like Chun Tao to borrow medicine from the enemy camp—of course, she’d be scared. So Yang Ruo stood up and said, “You stay here with him. Keep changing the towel regularly. I’ll go borrow the medicine myself.”

Before Chun Tao could say anything, Yang Ruo had already run out of the courtyard.

It wasn’t until she’d gone a fair distance that she realized—she didn’t even know the layout of the Ye residence...

Helpless, she crouched down to catch her breath and planned to find some servant or houseboy to ask for directions.

After quite a bit of effort and enduring some sneering and ridicule from the maids in Ye Bingshang’s courtyard, she finally managed to borrow the medicine.

When she returned, Chun Tao ran up to her with teary eyes, crying, “Miss! You’re finally back!”

Yang Ruo was startled. “What happened to you?” Why was she crying?

Chun Tao couldn’t explain it; she just felt that something about the young miss had changed today. She seemed... much kinder. So when her mistress went out alone so late at night, Chun Tao couldn’t help but worry.

Now that she’d come back safe and sound, the tears just wouldn’t stop.

Yang Ruo patted her on the head. Chun Tao was younger than her. Looking at her felt like looking at an innocent, naïve little sister.

The two of them stayed up through the night tending to Tan Jin.

They woke him up just enough to feed him the medicine while he still had a sliver of awareness.

Tan Jin opened his eyes and saw the two of them. His gaze was dull and lifeless from the fever.

Yang Ruo took the towel to switch it with a fresh one, reaching out to feel his temperature—much lower now. 

Seeing that he was awake, still carrying the drained look of someone who’d just battled a severe illness, she tucked in his covers and said, “Get some rest. Your fever’s mostly gone. Tomorrow, we’ll have a doctor come take a look at your condition.”

Tan Jin, his voice hoarse, said, “Thank you.”

Yang Ruo froze.

She thought back, did Tan Jin ever thank Li Susu in the original plot?

That “thank you” really broke character. He must be delirious from the fever.

Yang Ruo mentally filed it under “fever-induced nonsense” and didn’t think much of it. After tucking him in, she left the room.

Tan Jin stared at her retreating figure, growing more and more convinced—

This person wasn’t Ye Xiwu.

Just like he had suspected that Ye Xiwu wasn’t quite herself before.

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