A Ming Dynasty Adventure

This guy is slick-tongued, always pushing his luck after gaining an advantage.

Wei Caiwei said, "The rumors aren't just blocking your romantic prospects—they're affecting mine too. In the eyes of others, I'm a widow, the most disadvantaged in marriage. Now tangled in scandal, it's even harder for me to marry. Yet I haven't asked you to take responsibility. If I can't marry in the future, will you be responsible for marrying me?"

Wang Daxia repeated his line: "That might not be out of the question."

"You—" Wei Caiwei finally understood Wang Commander's difficulties. This kid's mouth was too sharp—no matter what was said, he always came out on top.

Wei Caiwei began shooing him away. "How old are you, already thinking about marrying? Didn't you always say you'd marry a noble lady from a prestigious family? I'm neither from a noble family nor a refined lady—just a minor widow from a humble background. I couldn't possibly aspire to marry someone destined to inherit a five-generation Thousand-Household Title."

These were indeed Wang Daxia's exact words, spoken to Wei Caiwei more than once. When he thought she saw him as a substitute for her deceased husband—saving him, helping him escape over the wall, even risking her reputation to let him stay overnight—he keenly sensed she had feelings for him (and he was right, his intuition wasn't wrong). He bluntly warned her:

Don't be crazily obsessed with me. We have no future—I won't marry you. I'm inheriting my family's title and must marry a noble lady of equal status.

Whatever you do, don't fall in love with me!

Yet in less than three months, through life-and-death experiences and near-constant companionship, he gradually forgot the vast social gap between them. Her every smile and frown tugged at his heart, and the seemingly insurmountable barrier of status vanished like a paper tiger. He saw her interesting soul and beautiful form—and he loved both, wanting it all.

So when his father warned that continuing ties with the young widow would ruin his reputation and ensure no noble lady would marry him, his first reaction was actually... joy?

There's such a good thing?

But when Wei Caiwei threw his past words back at him, Wang Daxia was filled with regret—so bitter it turned his guts green. How could I have said such heartless things back then?

The words were too absolute, and now it was hard to backtrack.

Wang Daxia struggled to recover, saying, "That was then, this is now. I didn't know you well back then and thought you were a real widow treating me as a substitute for your late husband—being kind to me, seducing me. Though I'm a rogue, I wouldn't take advantage of someone's vulnerability, so I cruelly rejected you to prevent false hopes. But now it's different—"

Wei Caiwei cut him off: "Now we have rumors, and you can't marry a noble lady, so you're settling for second best? Marriage isn't about two people making do just because there are no other options."

Wang Daxia hurriedly said, "I'm not settling, I actually—"

"Look at you—changing your mind at least three times in under three months. You're still young, unstable in temperament, and childish enough to think marriage can be decided with a casual joke." As she spoke, Wei Caiwei pushed Wang Daxia toward the door, saying:"Though I've never truly been married, I believe if I were to marry someday, he must be someone who can share both prosperity and adversity. No matter how the world changes, whether in wealth or poverty, even physical... disability, we would never abandon each other. Both of us would be willing to die for the other and strive to make each other happy. Until death, we would never regret having loved. How can marriage be decided by a casual remark?"

In her past life, she and her late husband had lived exactly that way.

Wei Caiwei pushed Wang Daxia outside and slammed the door shut. Wang Daxia tried to charge back in, nearly getting his nose hit by the door.

Wang Daxia pounded on the door, "You know me—I've always spoken like this. I'm not treating marriage as a joke. I truly... admire you. Every night I shamelessly come to your house for meals, not for the food, but just to see you. The moment I see you, I feel inexplicably happy. I think I must have fallen for you."

She never expected her late husband had confessed his feelings at just fourteen. This made Wei Caiwei behind the door blush with a racing heart—it was too unexpected. Her husband in his youth was so easily stirred, like a hornet's nest, exploding at the slightest provocation.

It's my fault for holding back too long. Tonight, suddenly pretending to be lovers, I lost control and recklessly poured out a lifetime of accumulated emotions. What started as acting became real—though I spoke those words, my eyes and expression were full of genuine feeling, confusing him and leading to his "it's not impossible" remark.

The grapes have just begun to bear fruit, still green and unripe. How can I cruelly pluck them prematurely?

Wei Caiwei spoke through the door, "I'm not angry with you. You're only fourteen, your feelings are still unstable. Tonight, to dispel the rumors, I acted too convincingly as your lover. You, however, became too immersed in the role, unable to separate fiction from reality. The play is over, but you haven't taken off your costume yet—you're somewhat bewitched, hence these words. Go back and calm down. By tomorrow, you'll change your mind. I'm very tired and need to rest upstairs. Commander Lu and the others are waiting for you—don't be late."

After speaking, Wei Caiwei headed toward the stairs. She deliberately stomped in place on the steps, making the sound gradually fade as if she were truly going upstairs.

Wang Daxia first continued pounding on the door, "I'm fourteen, not four—I can tell the difference between acting and genuine feelings. Don't underestimate me. What I said wasn't a casual remark..."

Wei Caiwei sat on the stairs, hugging her knees. Since her rebirth, her goals had been revenge and preventing the tragedy in the Wang family, so Wang Daxia wouldn't castrate himself and live with lifelong regret as in her previous life.

But would a Wang Daxia who hadn't castrated himself still be her late husband Wang Daxia?

Though Wei Caiwei had deliberately avoided this question, she knew deep down that a non-castrated Wang Daxia would have a completely different personality from her late husband. He would walk a path entirely distinct from his previous life.

The body was the same person, but the soul was different—they were essentially not the same individual.

The Wang Daxia before her was not the Wang Daxia she had deeply loved. He was merely Wang Daxia's past.

Moreover, she had taken advantage of Wang Daxia's youthful impulsiveness and budding affection. Projecting her feelings onto him, she couldn't help but use methods from her past life to tease him—this too was a form of exploitation.The relationship between them was unequal, like an experienced teacher toying with an inexperienced student. The student's mind was still unformed; when he grew up and matured, when he understood what love and marriage truly meant, the mature Wang Daxia might not still cherish the one who stirred his heart in youth.

The mature Wang Daxia might even come to regret it. I cannot interfere with the choices he will make in the future.

As for me, am I merely transferring my feelings onto Wang Daxia, or have I genuinely fallen for the present Wang Daxia?

If I like the present Wang Daxia, does that mean I'm betraying my dead husband from my previous life?

Or can one person love two souls at the same time?

...

Wei Caiwei fell into deep contemplation, so confused about her own feelings that her heart was in turmoil.

Outside the door, Wang Daxia heard the sound of footsteps fading down the stairs and assumed Wei Caiwei had truly returned to her room to rest. It was already past midnight, and he couldn't linger here disturbing her any longer. So he went to the covert post where Lu Ying and the others were stationed to discuss how to close the net on the White Lotus Sect.

This covert post was very close—right at the intersection of Tianshui Alley and Gulou West Diagonal Street, the same tea shop and watermelon stall that Lu Ying had previously opened to surveil Ding Wu.

The small shop had never been shut down and had even gained some fame for its delicious watermelons.

Lu Ying was formulating the plan, "...We can still delay Boss Wang for five days. Within these five days, the tunnel must be completed, and we must uncover the backgrounds of all the clerks and managers of the Myriad Goods Trading Company. Where does each of them live? We need at least five people to monitor one target. Since it's crowded during the day, we'll close the net at night, capturing them one by one. We must arrest them all at the same moment and try to take them alive."

"Also, who stays in the shop for night shifts? Where do they sleep? This also needs to be clarified. We must capture them all in one sweep, closing the net completely without letting even the smallest fish escape."

Lu Ying, meticulous in her planning, distributed several Western telescopes to her subordinates surveilling from the pharmacy. "Observe carefully, don't miss a single detail. Success or failure hinges on the details."

Wang Daxia entered, and Lu Ying said, "You've come at the right time. You were born and raised in the Northern City, you know this area best, and you have the backing of the Northern City Military Command. The task of investigating the residence of every person from the Myriad Goods Trading Company is yours."

"Here's the roster." Ding Wu handed a small booklet to Wang Daxia. "Commander Wu obtained this roster from the trading company under the pretext of investigating counterfeit silver notes. Certainly, many of these people aren't part of the White Lotus Sect, but to be safe, we must arrest every one of them first."

Disappointed in love, Wang Daxia could only channel his grief into work. He skimmed through the roster—from Boss Wang to ordinary porters and cleaners, there were over fifty people in total.

Wang Daxia said, "There are too many people. I'll prioritize them: those who are single or have family members out of town are the most suspicious, followed by temporary workers from other regions. Locals whose families have been in the capital for generations are the least suspicious. Let's focus on investigating the most suspicious ones first. However, we don't have enough manpower. With five people monitoring one target, we'd need at least two hundred and fifty people."

Lu Ying replied, "First thing tomorrow morning, I'll report this to Lord Lu. He will assign us additional personnel."

Wang Daxia looked through the roster and noticed there were cooks and two kitchen assistants, indicating that the Myriad Goods Trading Company prepared its own meals and had a dining hall.Wang Daxia, always full of cunning ideas, said, "I think nighttime arrests work fine for those living outside—we can just scale the walls to catch them. But for those keeping watch in the shops overnight, things could go wrong. If they wake up startled and happen to have firearms hidden nearby, they might resort to mutual destruction, which would spell big trouble."

Lu Ying tapped the table. "Old rules: if you raise an objection, you must propose an alternative plan you think is feasible. Otherwise, we'll be debating until dawn without any resolution."

Wang Daxia suggested, "How about we split it this way: proceed as planned for those living outside, but for those working inside the shops, we'll use drugs."

Pointing at the cook's name, he added, "Everyone has to eat and drink, right? We'll drug the evening meal to make them sleep deeply. That way, we won't have to worry about anyone being driven to desperation and using dangerous firearms to harm our people. What do you think?"

Ding Wu said, "I think it's feasible. Headline Alley has no wells—water carriers fetch lake water from the Pool of Accumulated Water and deliver it to every household's water vats. Along the way, it'll be easy for us to tamper with the buckets."

Lu Ying said, "We need someone knowledgeable about drug properties who can prepare a hypnotic solution, preferably colorless and odorless."

Both Lu Ying and Wang Daxia looked at Ding Wu.

Ding Wu quickly replied, "I can't do that. I only know how to dispense medicine according to prescriptions."

Lu Ying and Wang Daxia said in unison, "Doctor Wei can."

Author's Note:

Banxia: I like the current Wang Daxia. Does that mean I'm betraying my dead husband from my previous life? Can one person simultaneously fall for two souls?

Daxia: Only children make choices—you can have both!