Chapter 224: Daughter-in-law
Chen Buyu led away those household servants, so the others were safe.
Zhong Chushan tidied his somewhat messy hair and said, “In the end, it was still that boy who led the person away. We saved for nothing. Should we continue to save next?”
Su Yaoguang said, “At this hour, the auspicious time has already passed. Even if we grab him back, they probably won’t continue the ceremony.”
The others felt that Su Yaoguang’s words made sense.
That Steward Tong had only one beloved daughter, and he had racked his brains just to find her a good husband. He would never skimp on the wedding.
“Alright, let’s go back to the inn. We’ll talk about tomorrow’s matters tomorrow. It’s too late today, and I’m really a bit tired.” Zhou Wangshu said.
“What about Chen brother?” Student Zhang asked.
“If he escaped, he will definitely come back to find us. If he didn’t escape, the Tong Family won’t do anything to their future son-in-law.”
“Makes sense.”
After returning to the inn, Su Yaoguang fell headfirst into sleep. Someone knocked at the door. She had already fallen asleep and didn’t want to get up. Wrapping herself in the quilt, she said, “Who is it?”
“Me.” Zhou Wangshu said from the doorway, “Did you sprain your ankle just now?”
Su Yaoguang mumbled sleepily, “Mm.”
“I bought some trauma ointment from the boss. Open the door, and I’ll apply it for you.”
“Don’t want to move.” Su Yaoguang said with a yawn, “So sleepy. Let’s do it tomorrow!”
“Then I’ll come in by myself?”
“Come in if you can. Anyway, I don’t want to move.”
Zhou Wangshu opened the window and flipped in through it.
He walked to the bedside and looked at Su Yaoguang, who was wrapped up like a silkworm chrysalis.
Su Yaoguang was really sleepy, her eyelids fighting. Even though he stood right in front of her, she didn’t open her eyes to look.
Zhou Wangshu sat on the edge of the bed and lifted the quilt.
He held her ankle, rolled up her pants, and applied the ointment to her wound.
“Hiss…” Su Yaoguang winced in pain.
“Bear with it.” Zhou Wangshu applied the medicine for her and slowly massaged the wound. “You got injured and didn’t say anything. If I hadn’t noticed you walking oddly, you’d have to endure it tonight, and it would serve you right if it hurt you to death.”
“Wangshu…”
“Does it hurt?”
Su Yaoguang grabbed his arm and scooted toward him, saying, “Congratulations. I knew you could do it.”
“Just a ‘congratulations’ is enough? No reward?” Zhou Wangshu teased her.
“There is!” Su Yaoguang said vaguely, “When we get back to the provincial capital, we’ll handle the divorce. Then you can go to the capital to take the exam without worry.”
Zhou Wangshu’s gentle movements suddenly became forceful. The original wound hurt terribly, jolting Su Yaoguang awake from her half-sleep.
Su Yaoguang winced in pain, opened her eyes, and glared at Zhou Wangshu. “Stinky boy, can’t even wait these few days? Want to be a widower?”
“Your gift is a divorce letter?” Zhou Wangshu said with unhappiness. “Such a special gift is probably one of a kind throughout history.”
“You’re going to the capital. If you perform well in the provincial and metropolitan exams, top three scholars is possible. By the end of the provincial and metropolitan exams, you’ll be about sixteen. The nobles in the capital love picking son-in-laws from the top three scholars. With your conditions, you’ll definitely be the one everyone fights over. If you’re still tied down by a marriage then, even good matches won’t be easy to arrange. Wouldn’t that delay your big matters? I’m your older sister. How can I let you suffer such a big loss? So, before going to the capital, we need to sort out our relationship clearly.”
“You’re not coming with me to the capital?” Zhou Wangshu clenched his palm.
He had thought more than once about leaving here for the place he truly wanted to go, but he had never imagined that his departure would feel so reluctant.
“I won’t go.” Su Yaoguang said, “We live pretty well in the provincial capital. Look, the people there take good care of us and like our mother and daughter. Though the capital is prosperous, at the feet of the emperor and full of nobles, for little people like us, that kind of wealth is actually trouble.”
“So your meaning is, after divorcing me and I go to the capital, you all stay in the provincial capital, and from then on, bridges return to bridges and roads to roads, never to cross paths again?”
Su Yaoguang noticed Zhou Wangshu’s face wasn’t good, his tone full of resentment, as if he was angry.
“How could we never cross paths? When you rise high, I’ll still count on you to bring our mother and daughter to the capital for a visit, to let us feel the prosperity.” Su Yaoguang said lightly to comfort him.
She patted his shoulder and said, “Wangshu, you’re so capable. I believe you’ll definitely achieve something in the future. As your older sister, I might fall short in other ways, but if you have any troubles with silver in the future, just write to me. As long as it’s within my ability, I’ll definitely help you fully.”
Zhou Wangshu stood up. “Rest early. We’ll talk about other things later!”
Su Yaoguang nodded. “Good. The list came out today, so the government office should have a banquet tomorrow. You still need to prepare.”
Zhou Wangshu left Su Yaoguang’s room and gently closed the door. When he returned to his own room and shut his door, the gloom on his face came rushing.
He plopped down on the bed, his eyes full of anger.
Was she so eager to get rid of him?
He stroked the ring on his finger, dissatisfaction flashing in his eyes. “Heartless. Even a stone should warm up after being held. Her heart is harder than stone.”
The next morning. Su Yaoguang knocked on Zhou Wangshu’s door, but there was no response for a long time. She knocked a few more times, and only then did a passing shop assistant say that the person inside had gone out early in the morning. That’s when she knew Zhou Wangshu wasn’t in the room.
She didn’t ask where Zhou Wangshu had gone and went straight to the hall. Just as she arrived in the hall, she saw Zhong Chushan and Student Zhang eating breakfast.
“Morning, Sister Yaoguang.” Zhong Chushan greeted with a smile, “Your complexion doesn’t look good. Did you not sleep well?”
Su Yaoguang touched the corner of her eye and said, “Probably because I was too excited yesterday and couldn’t sleep.”
“That makes sense. Wangshu got first place. If it were me, I’d be excited for several days at least.” Zhong Chushan said, “When we go back this time, the headmaster and teachers will definitely celebrate properly for Wangshu.”
Zhong Chushan thought about how the academy had misjudged people before, treating someone like Xiao Ci as treasure and Wangshu as grass, always humiliating him. Now those people must regret it so much their guts turned green. Of course, ever since Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu’s reputation in the county town grew higher, such things hadn’t happened again. They should be glad they didn’t commit more or bigger mistakes, or else offending someone with such limitless prospects, they’d have to worry about old accounts being brought up anytime.
“I’m back.” Chen Buyu’s voice came from the doorway.
He was full of smiles, like he had picked up a treasure.
At his side, a cute and petite girl accompanied him.
“Let me introduce. This is my wife Tong Shuyun.” After saying that, Chen Buyu introduced to Tong Shuyun, “This is my brother’s wife. We call her Sister Yaoguang. You can just call her Sister Yaoguang. This is my good brother Zhong Chushan. This one is surnamed Zhang, named…”
Su Yaoguang and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.
Zhou Wangshu walked in carrying breakfast. Seeing them standing there staring wide-eyed, he asked, “What are you doing standing here? Why not sit down?”
Su Yaoguang smelled the aroma and knew it was breakfast from that place they often ate at before. She took it from his hand, then leaned close to Zhou Wangshu’s ear and said, “He said that’s his wife Tong Shuyun.”
The key was the word “wife.”
Zhou Wangshu understood and sized up the woman whose face was flushed and who showed shy bashfulness.
“You got married?” Zhong Chushan put his arm around his shoulder and gently patted his arm.
Chen Buyu said proudly, “Yesterday I was still caught and brought back by them. But I had many chances to escape. However, the moment I saw Shuyun, I chose to stay. Sorry, brothers, Sister Yaoguang, my marriage happened a bit rushed. I didn’t have time to tell you all. I’ll make up for it with this wedding wine today.”
“Such a cute sister. No wonder you couldn’t wait to be the groom.” Su Yaoguang saw Tong Shuyun looking a bit uneasy, took her hand and sat down. “You’re here so early. Don’t you need to pay respects to Steward Tong?”
Tong Shuyun shook her head.
Su Yaoguang asked, “Sister Shuyun, don’t be afraid. If he bullies you, just tell us. We’ll help you deal with him.”
Tong Shuyun gestured with her hands, indicating that Chen Buyu hadn’t bullied her.
The crowd noticed something was off.
Tong Shuyun hadn’t spoken a word from earlier until now, and now she was gesturing. It seemed there was some problem with her speech.
“Brother, your sister-in-law is…” Zhong Chushan said in a lowered voice.
Chen Buyu said generously, “Yun’er had a fever when she was little and lost her ability to speak. But no problem. I think Yun’er like this is very cute!”
For the first time, Su Yaoguang felt that this boy Chen Buyu was quite pleasing to the eye.
She knew he was loyal, treated Zhou Wangshu and these brothers well, respected her accordingly, and even respected the courtesans in the dance hall. But he wasn’t as smart as Zhong Chushan and sometimes even made messes for them to clean up.
Today, she realized she had underestimated his personal charm.
For the Tong Family to find such a son-in-law was truly great luck.
“Sister Tong, these list-placed scholars will definitely have many social engagements these two days. Luckily I have you to accompany me, so I won’t be bored.”
Tong Shuyun gestured a bunch. Su Yaoguang couldn’t understand, but the maidservant beside her was clearly Tong Shuyun’s interpreter and quickly translated her meaning to Su Yaoguang.
“Our miss means that as the host, she should entertain Miss well. If Miss doesn’t mind, she can take you around to see the sights.”
“That would be the best.” Su Yaoguang said, “Then thank you first, sister.”
Zhou Wangshu had gone out early in the morning just to buy pastries that Su Yaoguang liked to eat.
He watched Su Yaoguang chatting happily with Tong Shuyun, his eyes full of unhappiness.
She was better to anyone than to him.
Look how enthusiastic she was to Tong Shuyun, whom she just met. If she shared even a bit of that enthusiasm with him, he wouldn’t be so annoyed.
Which wife would bring up divorce on her husband’s joyous wedding day? If she had even a little thought for him, she wouldn’t do such a ‘heartless’ thing.
Su Yaoguang pulled Zhou Wangshu to the corner and reminded him to keep an eye on Xiao Ci’s whereabouts. This Xiao Ci had mysteriously disappeared, and she felt he was a troublesome person.
After breakfast, officers from the government office began delivering invitations.
The men went to their appointments, and Su Yaoguang went out to play with Tong Shuyun as mentioned earlier.
“Stop for a moment…” Su Yaoguang called to the horse-drawn carriage, asking the coachman to stop.
The coachman stopped the horse-drawn carriage.
Su Yaoguang jumped down from the carriage and chased after the figure from earlier. However, upon entering a small alley, that figure disappeared, as if it had never appeared.
“What’s wrong?” The maidservant asked on behalf of Tong Shuyun.
Su Yaoguang said, “I think I saw an acquaintance just now. Probably saw wrong!”
What she saw was Wen Shi. That Wen Shi was following Xiao Ci. If she was here, Xiao Ci was too. But she only glimpsed for a moment, and then the person was gone.
At night, Su Yaoguang had just bathed and come out when she heard a commotion at the door. Looking back, Zhou Wangshu staggered in pushing the door.
Seeing him like this, Su Yaoguang swallowed her scolding words and supported him as he lunged over.
Su Yaoguang had just bathed and was still wearing thin clothes. Originally, she thought Zhou Wangshu wouldn’t be back so soon, so she’d dry her hair and change into thicker clothes.
Now, before she could change, the person came back first.
The person came back, but his soul didn’t. Looking at this drunken stupor, even if thrown on the street, he probably wouldn’t know what happened.
Zhou Wangshu hugged Su Yaoguang’s slim waist and wouldn’t let go.
Su Yaoguang said, “Didn’t I say not to drink too much? Where’s the hangover pill I prepared for you earlier?”
Zhou Wangshu hugged Su Yaoguang and stayed in her arms, refusing to get up.
Su Yaoguang was still drying her hair and, seeing this, pushed him away. “Stinky boy, my hair is still dripping.”
“I’ll dry it for you.” He heard this sentence clearly enough.
Seeing him so shameless and that talking wouldn’t help, Su Yaoguang let him snatch the towel.
Zhou Wangshu pressed her to the window for ventilation, dried her hair with the towel, and even leaned down to sniff, saying, “You smell so good!”
“Who am I?” Su Yaoguang asked.
“You think I’m drunk? I’m not drunk.” Zhou Wangshu said discontentedly, “You’re… heartless.”
Su Yaoguang: “…”
Seeing her silent, Zhou Wangshu tossed the towel aside and hugged her neck, rubbing in her embrace.
“Xiao Ci hasn’t appeared.” Zhou Wangshu said, “I asked around. No one has seen him. I feel this person is getting more out of control.”
Originally wanted to settle him here, but he had taken precautions ahead, not even showing his face directly, giving no chance to act.
Su Yaoguang said, “Don’t mind him. If he doesn’t behave, he’ll dig his own grave sooner or later. Don’t let such a person affect your own matters.”
“Mm…” Zhou Wangshu pillowed on her shoulder. “As the madam says.”
