Ankoku Kishi Monogatari ~Yuusha wo Taosu Tameni Maou ni Shoukansaremashita~ - Chapter 51.3: Underground Labyrinth

“If you were the supreme master of the Dao of Immortals, revered by countless beings, able to glimpse life and death, and understand the destiny, what kind of woman would you seek as a partner?”Jiang Feng: “I would marry an eighteen-year-old.”“...do you want to die?”“I'd rather die to marry an eighteen-year-old.”

A firefighter in her previous life, Li Jing’er transmigrated back to ancient times and became the wife of the second son of a farmer. A month after Li Jing’er married into the family, her husband left to join the army.

Then news arrived that her husband was killed in battle but the compensation paid by the imperial court was snatched away by her greedy in-laws. Forced into a corner, she planned an escape, severed family ties, and left with her six-month-old baby daughter.

Joining the flow of refugees escaping from disaster and war, she picked up several lost and abandoned children along the way and tried to start a new life.

Then out of the blue, her deceased husband appeared…

- Description from Novelupdates

The six prefectures of Zhongbo were offered to foreign enemies on a silver platter, and Shen Zechuan was taken into custody in the capital, reduced to a drowning dog—loathed and condemned by all.Xiao Chiye followed the scent of the furor and made his way over. But instead of setting others on him, he kicked Shen Zechuan with his very own leg, rendering the latter an invalid. Who would expect this invalid to turn around and bite him in a counterattack until he was all drenched in blood?That was the start of an epic feud between both men who tore at each other every time they come face-to-face with one another.“Fate wants to bind me here for life, but this is not the path I choose. The yellow dust submerged my brothers deep under. I have no wish to bow in submission to an illusory fate. The imperial edict can’t save my troops, and the imperial court can’t fill the stomachs of my mounts. I’m no longer willing to lay down my life for this purpose. I want to surmount that mountain. I am going to fight for myself.”Note: A ‘drowning dog’ is someone who is down and out, having lost favor or power.