I'm Already the Richest Man, Why Did My System Just Arrive?

Chapter 367: Chapter 204: Odd People

Ri Ding said everything he knew in one breath.

Every sentence that reached his ears seemed to boil down to just four words:

Chaos under Heaven!

”The darkest twenty years in Daqian’s history.”

Zheng Xiu suddenly recalled a period of history summarized in just a few brief lines in the history books.

It seemed everything was aligning with history.

Zheng Xiu had not been a part of it.

The wheels of history, like a raging tide, turned on their own.

A single spark had ignited flames everywhere, fanning a blaze that threatened to consume Daqian.

But Zheng Xiu knew clearly that two hundred years in the future, Daqian would be at peace, its people living and working happily, and everything would be thriving. This turmoil hadn’t damaged Daqian’s foundations. Instead, it had allowed the kingdom to be reborn from the ashes.

What Zheng Xiu didn’t understand, however, was what role the ”Gongsun Mo” and ”Xie Luohe” who had actually lived through this history had played. What had they done during these darkest twenty years, this period erased from the history books?

He was Gongsun Mo, and she was Xie Luohe. And yet, at the same time, he wasn’t truly Gongsun Mo, and she wasn’t truly Xie Luohe.

’In these two hundred years, will this paradoxical pair choose self-preservation, or will they, like the ”them” of the past, follow an irreversible path and throw themselves into the great tide of history?’

「That night.」

After closing up shop, the couple returned home. They squeezed into the large wooden tub for a quiet bath together, then lay silently in bed, staring at the pitch-black ceiling. Neither spoke, and they were certainly in no mood for anything else.

Xie Luohe knew Zheng Xiu wasn’t asleep.

And Zheng Xiu knew she wasn’t either.

They held each other quietly, enjoying a moment of peace.

”If I told you,” Zheng Xiu whispered in Xie Luohe’s ear, ”that I’ve been hiding things from you, would you be angry?”

”I would.”

Xie Luohe nipped him, leaving a faint set of teeth marks.

She bared her teeth in the dark, feigning anger. ”I’d be furious.”

”If you don’t know what to say, don’t say anything. You’re supposed to say you wouldn’t be angry.”

Zheng Xiu understood the true meaning behind her words and reached out to tickle her.

He found her weak spot, and she burst out giggling at the ticklish sensation.

After laughing for a moment, Xie Luohe caught her breath and said, ”Alright then. I’ve hidden plenty of things from you, so you can’t get mad either.”

Zheng Xiu paused, surprised. ”Like what?”

”For example, I know you deliberately set up Brother Ridi with his wife. I’ve known for ages that you were the one who shaved my brother’s head—I actually secretly told him a long time ago. For another example, I know you’re always secretly letting your blood to practice your Miracle Technique. And also,” As she spoke, her face suddenly flushed, and her voice became as faint as a buzzing mosquito, ”I actually prefer... to be on my stomach.”

Zheng Xiu was stunned. ’My dear wife, you have so many little secrets.’

”Anything else?”

The heavy atmosphere had been completely shattered by his wife. Both annoyed and amused, Zheng Xiu pressed on.

”There’s also...” In the darkness, Xie Luohe’s voice suddenly took on an indifferent tone. ”From the very beginning, I have been... Feng Bei.”

Zheng Xiu froze, shocked and disbelieving.

”Hahaha!”

Xie Luohe burst into laughter, clutching her stomach. She rolled over, her back to him, her body shaking violently as if she couldn’t catch her breath.

”We’ve been married for so long, and you still haven’t changed this rotten habit?” Zheng Xiu recalled their wedding night when Xie Luohe had used this same trick to lure him in. He was a little angry, but every time the name Feng Bei was mentioned, an inexplicable pain shot through his heart, and his chest tightened. He hugged Xie Luohe. ”Don’t say it. It’s better to just let things be.”

Held tightly in Zheng Xiu’s embrace, Xie Luohe’s laughter died away. She opened her mouth, a question that had lingered in her heart for years on the tip of her tongue, yet she never dared to ask.

Even now, this ”Xie Luohe” did not dare.

After a long silence, Xie Luohe rolled over and pinned Zheng Xiu beneath her, her expression a mixture of shyness and allure.

’Whether I’m Feng Bei or Xie Luohe...’

’Real or fake...’

’In this life, ”she” was destined to be mad for only one man.’

”My love, I want a son.”

”A son of the Zheng Clan.”

...

「A few days passed in the blink of an eye.」

A strange incident occurred in the clan.

Ri Ding’s home had been sealed off by the Clan Leader, with clan warriors standing guard outside, permitting no one to enter.

After their late-night talk, Xie Luohe seemed to have gotten fired up. She became fixated on ”having a baby,” clinging to Zheng Xiu day and night as if she truly wanted a child.

His back aching, Zheng Xiu fumbled for the key at his waist. He was just about to unlock the door to Mohe Pavilion and open for the day when he saw the Clan Leader, Ri Di, who had been waiting near the shop since early morning. The moment Ri Di spotted Zheng Xiu, he rushed over.

”Boss Mo, something’s happened! I must trouble you and your wife to come take a look.”

Ri Di’s expression was frantic.

”Did the Shache Kingdom force its way in?”

Zheng Xiu’s first thought was that the army from the Western Regions had forced its way into the valley.

After learning of the turmoil within Daqian, Zheng Xiu had more or less figured out Arturo’s reason for scouting the Green River trade route.

Ever since ”inviting” Arturo to leave Mohe Pavilion that day, the general from the Shache Kingdom hadn’t actually departed. Instead, he had set up camp ten li outside Richan Valley. This had cast a grim atmosphere over Richan Town. Ri Di couldn’t sleep at night, so paranoid that every gust of wind or cry of a bird sounded like an approaching enemy.

The slightest noise or gust of wind from outside would have Ri Di leaping out of bed and running toward the edge of town without even bothering to get dressed.

Hearing this, Ri Di shook his head frantically. ”No, no, no! It’s Ri Ding! Something’s happened to Ri Ding!”

The young tribesman who had just returned from the Great Desert a few days ago.

On the way, he passed by his house and woke the still-sleeping Xie Luohe.

The two of them hurried toward Ri Ding’s house.

After winding through several streets, Zheng Xiu saw that Ri Ding’s home was surrounded by the tribe’s warriors.

As Zheng Xiu went inside, he noticed the tribesmen guarding the door kept glancing into the house, their eyes filled with terror.