The Family of Time Travel Has an Ugly Wife

The Deadly Forest was like spring all year round, and cooked food couldn’t be kept for long.

Wan Qiu made a lot of dried bacon and pickled meat, and sent them to Lian Zhou and Linlang on a dark and windy night. He tried, “It’s not good to eat these things all the time, Princess. Shall I teach you how to cook?”

Linlang refused to learn, resisting, “This princess will not learn the work of those servants.”

People born into noble families were proud by nature. Even if they starved, it was difficult for them to let go of the pride in their bones.

Linlang didn’t learn, but Lian Zhou did.

He couldn’t see, so he could only grope around and said to Wan Qiu, “Teach me how to cook rice. This should be simple.”

Cooking rice was indeed very simple, but it was quite difficult for Lian Zhou, especially for the blind Lian Zhou.

Wan Qiu looked at Lian Zhou and suddenly remembered his former unbridled appearance—dazzling and aggressive. Just standing there with his chin held high, people couldn’t help but make way for him.

Now…

Wan Qiu felt a pang of sadness.

Although he was jealous of Lian Zhou and minded Shan Yu’s kindness to him, they had shared happy times before Lian Zhou entered the palace.

Those days had been truly good. They went to the theatre together and ate a lot. Lian Zhou took him to try many things he had never dared to think of and also taught him a lot.

For instance, self-confidence, aesthetics, and how to get along with Shan Yu.

Wan Qiu was grateful to Lian Zhou and once thought that they would become good friends, but unfortunately, a lantern festival changed everything.

Perhaps blindness had enhanced Lian Zhou’s perception in other ways. He tilted his head toward Wan Qiu and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Wan Qiu shook his head, then quickly added, remembering Lian Zhou’s blindness, “You can’t see. Are you sure you can do it?”

Lian Zhou smiled and nodded, “When I was in the cold palace, I was alone…”

Wan Qiu finally couldn’t hold back and said with red eyes, “How could that person be so cruel? How could he do this to you?”

“Don’t cry.” Lian Zhou patted Wan Qiu’s hand gently and said, “If Shan Yu finds out, he’ll think I bullied you.”

Linlang, who had been silent on the side, finally squatted down and said to Wan Qiu, “He can’t see. You teach me, and I’ll learn.”

The days passed slowly, filled with fear and uncertainty. As the New Year approached, news of defeat came from the border once again.

It was said that the enemy country had developed a thing called gunpowder, which was extremely lethal.

Shan Yu pondered, “It seems that there are time travellers not only here but also in the enemy country.”

“That’s great,” Er Zhu clapped his hands and spoke. “Let the dog emperor’s country be destroyed, and may he die on the battlefield to relieve my hatred. Then I’ll definitely set off firecrackers to celebrate.”

Shan Yu shook his head. “No eggs can be left alive under a fallen nest. By then, we’ll all be slaves of a fallen country and won’t have a good life.”

Er Zhu frowned, looked at Shan Yu for a long time, and asked, “Do you want to help that dog emperor?”

Shan Yu shook his head again and said with certainty, “We have to help ourselves.”

Before, Shan Yu had been reluctant to go to the battlefield because he hadn’t been forced to that point. Now, the enemy had extremely lethal hot weapons like gunpowder, and defeat seemed inevitable.

The destruction of a country and a family was never just the emperor’s business. Ordinary people like them were the first to suffer.

When it involved his own survival, Shan Yu could no longer remain indifferent.

He wrote three prescriptions anonymously.

One was for poison, another was for treatment, and the third was a haemostatic prescription handed down from Shan Yu’s family.

These three prescriptions passed through the hands of Er Zhu’s brother-in-law and eventually reached the emperor, turning into tools that could turn the tide of war.

In a sense, it was a competition among time travellers.

All were talented individuals from modern times, scattered across different countries and regions.

If someone in the enemy country could develop extremely lethal weapons and gain the upper hand with technological advances, then Shan Yu, on the side being crushed, could also use his medical expertise to reverse the situation.

Though it wasn’t entirely fair, in war, the methods mattered less than the outcome—winning was the key.

.

In the cold winter, a plague suddenly broke out in the enemy camp, wiping out their forces.

The emperor, stationed with his army, seized the moment of high morale and led his troops to breach the enemy’s capital, beheading their king on the battlefield, avenging the national and familial hatred.

The war that had lasted nearly a year came to an end, marked by a great victory.

When the news returned, the entire country erupted in celebration.

The people were jubilant, shouting the victory news and spreading it to everyone. Shan Yu stood at the window, his hands behind his back, fingers clenched into fists.

This victory wasn’t fair, and there was nothing to be truly happy about.

Years later…

On the day the princess left, Lian Zhou asked her to take the child with her.

Wan Qiu was reluctant and said to Lian Zhou, “Do you really want the princess to take the child away? I could take care of him…”

Lian Zhou didn’t say anything.

“…Would you like to hold him?” Wan Qiu offered the several-month-old baby in his arms to Lian Zhou. “You haven’t held him since he was born, right? Do you want to hold him?”

Lian Zhou shook his head and said, without any emotion, “Just pretend I never gave birth to him.”

Wan Qiu pursed his lips and handed the child to the princess.

Linlang glanced at her nephew in her arms and asked Lian Zhou, “This child has dragon birthmarks on his feet. He is destined to be the crown prince. The emperor will definitely make him the crown prince… Lian Zhou, are you really not going back?”

Lian Zhou, not wanting to talk about that person, simply told Linlang, “Remember to ask your imperial brother for forgiveness after you return to the palace, or hide with your mother. With the child, maybe he will be lenient with you…”

Linlang did not worry about what her imperial brother would do to her. After saying goodbye to Lian Zhou, she said to Shan Yu beside her, “Come here, I have something to say to you.”

The warm spring breeze brought warmth, and the mist cleared the sky.

A little girl’s thoughts were all on her face.

Linlang said, “Zhan Nanyan, this princess’s name.”

Shan Yu was surprised, “Your name was not Linlang?”

“That is this princess’s title.” Linlang looked at Shan Yu with a haughty face. “Except for my father, mother, and brother, no one was qualified to know this princess’s name, but since you saved my life, I allowed you to say it once.”

Shan Yu smiled and said softly, “Nanyan, a very nice name.”

Linlang snorted, her eyes sweeping across Wan Qiu not far away, her eyes lost for a moment, and then she resumed her usual haughtiness. “You should move Lian Zhou to another place as soon as possible. My brother will come soon after he finishes dealing with state affairs.”

When the princess left, she dealt with the hidden nails. Shan Yu breathed a sigh of relief and planned to send Lian Zhou to the top of the Deadly Forest.

It was the safest place. Even if the emperor came, the exotic flowers and fierce beasts in the mountains could stop him.

Er Zhu worried, “But it can stop him for a while, not forever.”

Shan Yu sighed, “Calculating the time, it had been a long time since the last celestial change. If we are lucky, there would be new travellers coming soon, and the door of time and space would open again…”

Er Zhu asked hurriedly, “You want to go back? What if you fail? Or go to another place?”

“We have to try. We can’t just sit and wait for death.”

“Then take me with you! I’m leaving too!”

Er Zhu was about to pack up his things when he saw a person standing outside the door for a long time.