Daqian Empire, Mian Shui County, Xiantao Village.

In a dilapidated courtyard, the house was in complete disarray. Chen Jie lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Had he transmigrated?

He never expected such an absurd thing to happen to him.

But this "new home" of his looked utterly destitute!

"Husband, you're awake. Please get up. It was my fault yesterday. Have some porridge."

While Chen Jie was still in a daze, a pleasant female voice suddenly rang out. He turned his head and saw a woman in patched-up clothes, devoid of any makeup, walking in with a clay pot.

She was forcing a smile, but it couldn’t conceal the red, swollen handprint on her face.

Su Yunjin!

My wife!!

Suddenly, a flood of memories surged into his mind.

Daqian Empire, foreign invaders… Xiantao Village, gambling addict…

One piece of information after another emerged, and Chen Jie finally understood his situation.

His original body belonged to Chen Jiusi, a resident of Xiantao Village in Mian Shui County. His family had once been well-off. His grandfather, a well-known village physician, had no sons, only a daughter. To prevent the Chen family line from ending, he took in a son-in-law—Chen Jiusi’s father.

His father was originally a fisherman in the village, but due to extreme poverty, he married into the Chen family, hoping to learn medicine from the old physician. However, the physician was deeply traditional—his medical knowledge was only passed down to male descendants and not to outsiders, even if they were married into the family. Only those with Chen family blood could inherit it.

Thus, Chen Jiusi became the old physician's heir. Unfortunately, when he was just eight years old, his grandfather passed away, and he never had the chance to inherit the medical skills.

With that, the Chen family's medical lineage ended. However, they still had considerable wealth. But once the grandfather died, Chen Jiusi’s father, no longer under restraint, turned to alcohol and gambling. One day, he got drunk, went swimming in the river, and drowned.

Later, as Chen Jiusi grew up, his mother recalled a marriage agreement set by his grandfather when he was alive. It was an engagement with the Su family, a scholarly household in the neighboring village.

At the time, one family had a medical legacy, and the other was a family of scholars—it was a perfect match, so the engagement was set.

His mother, despite her poor health, went to see the old scholar, who honored the agreement and married off his daughter, Su Yunjin, to Chen Jiusi.

At first, life was decent. Even though the Chen family had lost their medical expertise, they still owned over twenty acres of fertile land and a large courtyard.

With his mother still around, she managed to keep Chen Jiusi in check. But the good days didn’t last. First, Su Yunjin’s father, the old scholar, went to the county town, where he was killed by bandits, leaving behind a five-year-old daughter.

Chen Jiusi’s mother decided to take the little girl in and raise her. However, just a few days later, she passed away due to illness.

Without his mother’s restraint, the gambling and drinking genes in Chen Jiusi’s blood erupted. He began drinking, gambling, and, when he lost, took his frustrations out on his wife. He was no better than an animal.

It wasn’t long before he squandered away three generations of wealth, eventually forcing them to move into the run-down house his father had lived in before marrying into the Chen family.

Last night, he stole the deed to their last three acres of fertile land and lost it all in a couple of rounds of gambling. Furious, he came home, ransacked the house, searching for money to win it back.

But there was nothing—not even a grain of rice in the food jar. Driven mad, he suddenly noticed his five-year-old sister-in-law, Su Yunrui. He recalled hearing that human traffickers in the city paid well for young girls, sending them to brothels to be trained.

So he tried to snatch the child. Su Yunjin fought back, but he slapped her twice and kicked her to the ground, cursing, "You wretch! I’m your husband! What I say goes! How dare you defy me? I’ll beat you to death!"

He kicked her twice more, and little Su Yunrui threw herself in front of her sister, crying and pleading, "Brother-in-law, please, don’t hit my sister! I beg you!"

Chen Jiusi coldly stared at the little girl and said, "I'm only hitting your sister because of you. Listen to me—tomorrow, you’ll come with me to the city. I’ll take you to a place where you can have enough to eat, okay?"

"Brother-in-law, I don’t want to go."

"Not being obedient, huh? Then I’ll beat your sister to death. Do you believe me?"

"Ugh… Please don’t hit my sister! I’ll go, I’ll go… I’ll do whatever brother-in-law says… Ugh…"

"Ah, that’s better."

Chen Jiusi patted the little girl’s head, then looked at his wife on the ground and snapped, "Why are you still sitting there? Go fetch some water for me to wash my feet, useless woman!"

…

As the memories replayed in his mind, Chen Jie felt his scalp tingle.

This guy was a complete scumbag!

Such a beautiful and gentle wife, and he abused her instead of cherishing her? Absolutely unforgivable.

Chen Jie had only one word to describe his predecessor—scum.

With that thought, he took another look at his wife. The woman was about 1.65 meters tall, fair-skinned, with large eyes. Despite wearing a coarse, patched dress, she exuded an air of elegance and gentleness befitting a noble lady.

If she were in the modern world, she would definitely be a top-tier celebrity. But now, she was his wife. He had struck gold.

Chen Jie simply couldn’t understand how his predecessor could bear to hurt such a beautiful woman.

"Husband, what are you dazing off for? Here, have some porridge."

The woman scooped a bowl of white rice porridge from the clay pot.

Nearby, the little girl swallowed hard.

"Glug… Rui Rui totally doesn’t want to drink white rice porridge… not at all… glug…"

The woman glanced at her sister, her eyes filled with heartache, but she still carried the bowl of porridge to Chen Jie.

"Husband."

She called softly, handing him the bowl.

Chen Jie looked at the red, swollen handprint on her face and the bruises on her arm. His heart ached. Instead of taking the bowl, he grabbed her wrist.

The woman shivered in fear, nearly dropping the bowl. Her instinct was to pull her hand away.

But the expected violence didn’t come. Instead, Chen Jie rolled up her sleeve, revealing a bruised arm.

Chen Jie fell silent.

The woman quickly withdrew her hand, tears flashing in her eyes. But she still said, "Husband, drink the porridge. It was my fault yesterday. After you eat, you can take Rui Rui to the city."

Her voice was steady, but Chen Jie detected a slight tremor. Just as he was about to say something, she added, "Husband, eat first."

Chen Jie sighed, took the bowl, and lifted the spoon—

Suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind:

Ding~

[Daily Intelligence System Binding in Progress…]