Wife, Don't Be Like This!

Chapter 51 - Murdering Her Own Brother-in-law

Song Yan had not expected that upon seeing his younger sister-in-law in the morning, her first sentence would be so explosive.

He raised his head to look at the sky.

It was still broad daylight.

Then Song Yan placed a hand protectively over his chest and took two steps back.

"What are you trying to do?"

Could it be that she was plotting something improper against him?

Sure enough, being handsome is trouble. Even his younger sister-in-law, who had always been like an immortal in a painting, was lusting after his body.

Helpless, helpless! Thinking this, he couldn't help but feel a little smug.

Luo Tianyi was momentarily stunned. A layer of black lines seemed to appear on her smooth forehead. Even her big, shiny black eyes had an especially strange look. In an anime... hmm, it would probably be the so-called 'looking at trash' gaze.

"What are you thinking? Even if all the men in the world were dead, I wouldn't have the slightest interest in you," Luo Tianyi snorted. "Rather, I don't like men at all."

"Lesbian?(Lily?)"

Perhaps because he had vented a little yesterday, Song Yan's body and mind were relatively relaxed, so he was a bit more casual about making some jokes with his younger sister-in-law.

Her little head tilted: "Lily*? What does that mean?"

[TL/N: Literally "white lily," this term is used to describe a lesbian relationship or the "Girls' Love". It comes from the Japanese word "yuri”. Its usage is especially prevalent among younger generations and within online communities that engage with media like anime, manga, and web novels.]

"It means you are as pure and beautiful as a lily." Song Yan nodded.

"So, what exactly are we doing?"

Luo Tianyi's eyes were suspicious. She didn't really believe Song Yan's words; she felt the meaning wasn't that simple. However, the younger sister-in-law was relatively pure of heart, and once they got to the point, she temporarily forgot about it. She pointed to the large vat behind her.

"Didn't I say yesterday that I would help you temper your body?"

Only then did Song Yan walk to the side of the large vat. From a great distance, he could smell a strong scent of Chinese medicine. Looking up, it was just as he expected. Inside was completely filled with an inky-black medicinal liquid.

It wasn't particularly strange. Novels often have plots like brewing medicine for body tempering.

He also felt a bit of warmth in his heart. It was currently early morning. When had Luo Tianyi prepared these medicinal ingredients, and even brewed the liquid? Looking at the clear dark circles under Luo Tianyi's eyes, he was afraid she hadn't slept all night.

But, looking at some of the dregs floating in the medicinal liquid, Song Yan's brow furrowed tightly. The large vat was a full seven chi high, cast from purple copper. Judging from the dregs and the smell, the medicinal ingredients used included at least Atractylodes, earthworm, aconite, thunder god vine, sulfur, nux-vomica...

"Are you sure these are the medicinal ingredients used for tempering the body?"

Song Yan's expression was strange. He no longer suspected that his younger sister-in-law was lusting after his body; he suspected his younger sister-in-law wanted to murder her brother-in-law.

Although, it was a brother-in-law in name only.

Many of these medicinal ingredients are poisonous.

"Of course. There are hundreds of body tempering methods. My sect's secret body tempering method ranks in the top five." The corners of Luo Tianyi's mouth curled up.

Although he knew that many poisons were considered medicinal ingredients in Chinese medicine—for example, arsenic was a Chinese medicine, said to be able to treat hemorrhoids—Song Yan still knitted his brows. He forced his gaze away from the medicinal liquid and looked at the base of the large vat. The ground around the vat was piled high with firewood.

"And what is this for?"

Song Yan seriously suspected that his younger sister-in-law might hold some deep grudge against him. Not only did she want to murder her own brother-in-law, she also wanted to use the most cruel method: to cook him.

"To light a fire, of course." The answer seemed so self-evident.

She really was preparing to cook me.

Although Luo Tianyi's personality was cold, she was extremely serious when it came to matters of cultivation. She slowly explained:

"Since ancient times, a martial artist's cultivation has been inseparable from the assistance of medicinal ingredients."

"And these medicinal ingredients are often expensive. The amount of silver required to cultivate a high-realm martial artist is an extremely exaggerated number. The so-called 'the poor study literature, the rich practice martial arts' is precisely for this reason."

"Just like this vat of medicinal liquid, the cost of the ingredients alone is several dozen taels of silver."

Several dozen taels of silver... In the current state of the Ning Kingdom, for an ordinary commoner family of five, the annual living expenses would not exceed ten strings of cash, which is equivalent to ten taels of silver.

But a single body tempering session for a martial artist requires several dozen taels of silver.

No wonder the vast majority of martial artists are stuck in the first three ranks for their entire lives.

Even if Luo Tianyi didn't say it, Song Yan also knew that body tempering was definitely not something that could be done just once or twice. It was likely a year-round consumption. Perhaps as a martial artist's realm increased, the medicinal ingredients required for body tempering would also become more and more precious.

Take Yang Hua, who was beheaded by his younger sister-in-law yesterday; for a Seventh-Rank martial artist, the cost of medicinal ingredients alone could be several thousand or even tens of thousands of taels of silver. This martial arts practice was truly not something an ordinary family could afford.

Seeing that Song Yan was quite concerned about matters of cultivation, Luo Tianyi continued to popularize knowledge in this area for him.

"Although there are hundreds of body tempering methods, they can generally be divided into two types: one is internal consumption, the other is external application."

"The so-called internal consumption is to brew the medicinal ingredients needed for body tempering into a liquid and drink it."

"This method consumes fewer medicinal ingredients and is suitable for martial artists who are short on silver. But the drawbacks are also very obvious. It is easy for toxins to accumulate in the martial artist's body, which may affect the martial artist's health and can also become a barrier when breaking through to a new realm."

All medicine is poison to some extent, not to mention that many of these body tempering medicines were already poisonous. After drinking them for a long time, it would be strange if one's body didn't have problems.

In some respects, this cultivation method was no different from trading life for power.

However, the way these ancient people spoke was truly strange. They really liked to use inverted sentences. It was clearly 'body's health', yet they had to say 'health of the body'.

After complaining a little in his heart, Song Yan looked at his younger sister-in-law again, signaling for her to continue.

"After drinking the medicinal liquid, one also needs to circulate one's own internal force and use one's fists, the soles of one's feet, shoulders, chest, and even one's head to hit tree trunks and rocks. This is to accelerate the absorption of the medicinal liquid, and at the same time, it can also play a certain role in expelling toxins."

"The second type is external application, which is what we are doing. This method consumes ten times the medicinal ingredients of internal consumption."

This point could be understood just by looking at the large half-vat of medicinal liquid.

"For external application, one soaks the body in the medicinal liquid, absorbing it through the skin. The benefit of this method is that it greatly alleviates the invasion of toxins. The drawback is that it's expensive."

"Moreover, during the soaking process, the medicinal liquid must be maintained at a certain temperature. The martial artist needs to circulate their internal force to resist it. This can also save the process of hitting tree trunks with one's body."

So this was the purpose of that firewood.

He had never expected that a martial artist's cultivation would be so troublesome. It was far different from the way it was portrayed in TV dramas, where one could just sit cross-legged and continuously breathe to cultivate internal force.

Luo Tianyi spent a long time popularizing some knowledge about body tempering, internal force cultivation, and application for Song Yan.

Before he knew it, a long time had passed. Luo Tianyi then crouched down and lit the firewood.

Song Yan also took off his outer clothes, and his entire body was soaked in the medicinal liquid.

Although he still had a set of underclothes on, this kind of behavior was ultimately a bit against the rules. If it were seen by those old Confucian scholars, they would probably write a long, critical essay.

But this was the Luo Mansion. From top to bottom, there were probably few who revered the rules of etiquette.

He was originally a little embarrassed, but seeing that Luo Tianyi was so natural and poised, her expression normal, he stopped thinking so much about it. He was a dignified man; how could he be inferior to a woman?

The medicinal liquid was over fifty degrees.

It doesn't sound high, but if you were to take a bath at this temperature, a person would probably jump right out of the bathtub.

A strong burning sensation stimulated Song Yan's nerves. Steam, carrying the bitter and foul smell of the many medicines, rushed towards his face, then condensed on his hair, and in a short time, fell onto his cheeks like dewdrops.

It was only when Song Yan circulated his internal force that the stinging pain eased slightly. The firewood crackled, mixed with a subtle creaking sound. As the water temperature gradually rose, Song Yan also closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and the exposed skin began to show an abnormal red color.

The pores all over his body seemed to open and close at the same time, absorbing the medicinal power contained in the liquid along with his breathing.

His blood seemed to be boiling.

It wasn't until it was almost noon that Song Yan suddenly opened his eyes, and a stream of white air shot out of his mouth.

"That's enough. The next time will be after seven days. During these seven days, you can slowly digest the medicinal power," Luo Tianyi's voice echoed in his ears.

Nodding, Song Yan stood up from the large vat. His whole body actually had a feeling of sluggishness. He looked down and only then discovered that at some point, the originally normal medicinal liquid had actually become somewhat viscous, like some kind of semi-fluid.

A large amount of black, paste-like substance was stuck to his underclothes and skin. It must be the dregs from the medicinal liquid.

Song Yan was a little curious, wondering how much his physical body's strength had increased after this tempering session. He clenched his right fist, and his knuckles emitted a clear, sonorous tremor, like the sound of porcelain glaze crackling.

He threw a punch, and the wind from his fist crackled.

Although the detailed value was difficult to quantify, there was no doubt that the destructive power of this punch was much stronger than before.

Behind Song Yan, Luo Tianyi's sandalwood mouth was slightly agape. For the first time, an expression of astonishment appeared on her pretty face.

Bone ringing?

A First-Rank martial artist?

How is this possible?

She looked at Song Yan, then at the remaining viscous medicinal liquid in the large vat, her eyes full of disbelief.

External application is actually quite wasteful when it comes to absorbing medicinal power.

Although it consumes more than ten times the medicinal ingredients, only two or three percent can truly be absorbed. Due to the different degrees of absorption, the number of tempering sessions needed to break through to the First-Rank martial artist is also completely different. Under the condition of abundant internal force, an ordinary person would still need more than ten tempering sessions before the sound of bone ringing would appear.

Bone ringing is the sign of a First-Rank martial artist.

Even so-called geniuses often need six or seven times.

And she had gone through a full three tempering sessions before the sound of bone ringing appeared.

Brother-in-law, this was only his first time, right?

Could it be that brother-in-law is actually a genius?

Perhaps, brother-in-law had also trained his body before, and this was just a case of 'accumulating deeply and breaking out thinly.' All in all, she would absolutely not admit that her brother-in-law was more outstanding than her in terms of practicing martial arts.

The younger sister-in-law puffed up her cheeks, just like an angry pufferfish.

……

Dongling.

This is the imperial capital of the Ning Kingdom.

And the imperial palace is also known as the Daning Palace.

Within the Daning Palace, there is a side hall named Yanying Hall.

This place is where the Emperor of Daning handles political affairs outside of holding court.

"Ahem..."

Accompanied by a light cough, a middle-aged man with a dignified temperament slowly raised his head. The afternoon sun at the third quarter of the Hour of Shen revealed the deepest weariness on his face.