"I’ll do the packing. You go lie down. Would you like some ginger soup? I can brew you a bowl with plenty of brown sugar, how does that sound?"

Xu Su Ying naturally had no reason to refuse and was hurried to bed by her daughter.

A short while later, not only was the ginger soup delivered, but also a bed warmer filled with hot water.

Xu Su Ying finally felt herself coming back to life, and the color returned to her cheeks.

Xu Su Ying had intended to keep pressing her daughter about consummating the marriage, but the girl bustled about, deliberately keeping her distance.

She would ask a question in a hushed voice, but her daughter would pretend not to hear, making Xu Su Ying so angry she shot her several sharp glares.

’That silly girl is just clueless; she doesn’t know how good a man can be. After the New Year, Jing is seventeen, making him eighteen by nominal age.’

’Lads at that age are all bursting with vigor and vitality. With all that energy and nowhere to spend it all day, it’s the perfect time for a woman to be enjoying herself.’

’—Except that they’re young and lack technique.’

’But that’s not a major drawback. With a little practice, he’s bound to learn.’

’After that, wouldn’t life be grand?’

’But for some stubborn reason, that silly girl still hadn’t consummated the marriage. It was infuriating!’

On the twenty-fifth, the snow finally stopped. Xu Su Ying directed Chen De’an to hitch up the ox-cart and start moving their things to the county seat.

Xu Su Ying was meticulous in managing her household. She never skimped on what needed to be spent, but she was also careful not to spend a penny more than necessary.

For instance, she left just one set of clothes and bedding at their old home, taking the rest to the county seat.

After all, who would come back, other than for the spring planting and autumn harvest?

The county seat was home now, so it had to be made perfectly comfortable.

The moment the Chen family began to move, word spread through the entire village.

Neighbors and townsfolk were gossiping about everything under the sun. Some said that the moment Chen Song became the county magistrate’s assistant, he bought a fine house. This meant he had either accepted ’gifts’ from people or embezzled funds.

Others said Chen Wanqing had married beneath her. No one knew what the Chen family was thinking. Since they were planning to move to the county seat, why hadn’t they waited to find a husband for their daughter there? With Chen Wanqing’s beauty, she could have at least married the son of a wealthy merchant or the scion of an official’s family. In any case, it would have surely been a better match than the Zhao Family.

This seemed to lend even more credence to the idea that Chen Song had accepted bribes.

The reasoning went that the house was a ’gift,’ but it had arrived too late—at least, after Chen Wanqing was already engaged to Zhao Jing. The Chen family couldn’t break the engagement again, so they had to grit their teeth and go through with the marriage.

And so, they reached a conclusion: if you want to get rich, you have to be an official.

Once you’re an official, people line up to give you ’gifts.’ Not just houses, but shops too—no wonder the Chen family could afford to include a shop in the dowry! It was because things like that were nothing special to them; if they wanted one, they could get it in an instant!

When these rampant rumors reached Xu Su Ying’s ears, she was absolutely furious.

At first, Xu Su Ying didn’t want to bother with it. But if her husband’s name was tarnished, it wouldn’t just affect his official career—it would impact their son’s future prospects as well.

If it got to the point where their son was implicated and couldn’t take the imperial examinations, that would be enough to make her die of anger.

Xu Su Ying was a woman of action. That very day, she went to the house where the local women usually gathered to gossip. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

She even brought a small bag of melon seeds. The moment she arrived, she set them on the table, plopped herself down on the kang bed, and immediately launched into a complaint.

"That stubborn blockhead, Chen Song, goes around scowling all day, and his voice is so gruff he sounds like a cold-faced demon. Now that he’s been promoted, he’s even more determined to establish his authority. He doesn’t even crack a smile these days. Even his old colleagues are a little intimidated by him. I have no idea who would dare give him ’gifts.’ Chen Song is just itching for a chance to make an example of someone. If he caught a person like that, he’d surely use them to show his might."

The village women fell silent for a moment before one of them asked tentatively, "Then how did your family afford that big house in the county seat?"

"I earned it!"

Xu Su Ying slapped the low table on the kang, her whole body practically vibrating with excitement.

She launched into the story of how she had earned money doing makeup, hairstyling, and dressmaking for people in the days leading up to Mrs. Wang’s birthday. Just like that, the source of her silver was explained.

The women were still skeptical. "You can earn enough silver to buy a house just by doing a little makeup, styling some hair, and making a dress? I don’t believe it!"

"Well, that depends on who I’m doing the makeup, hair, and clothes for. Let me tell you, Mrs. Wang’s youngest daughter-in-law is a noble lady from the Prefecture! Her dowry was over a hundred chests. When she came into the shop, all the jewelry on her head was gold inlaid with precious stones. She had a ruby bigger than a pigeon’s egg, and it was so brilliant it could blind you."