CHAPTER 112: CHAPTER 111: CHOKED WITH INDIGNATION

After Su Jingyue took the medicine given by Yu Xiaolian, he quickly stopped coughing, but the mood between the two brothers remained heavy.

Because he couldn’t stop their father from heading south to Maizhou, Su Jingchen felt a sense of defeat and powerlessness.

Su Jingchen’s anxious mood persisted until the twenty-second day of the twelfth lunar month, when he finally felt at ease.

The father’s trip to Maizhou not only proceeded smoothly but also resulted in a substantial profit.

The father sent a carriage to bring the brothers home for the New Year, and during this period, he never brought up the matter of the Yao family’s indenture.

The Su Family appeared harmonious and cheerful as they celebrated the New Year.

As the end of the first month approached and Su Jingchen was about to return to the academy, Mrs. Yao grew restless.

She subtly hinted at the matter of her indenture to the father.

Ever since she learned that her indenture was held by Su Jingchen, Mrs. Yao had been particularly well-behaved and virtuous throughout the first month.

Not only did she refrain from creating trouble, but she frequently reminisced about her past with Mrs. Zheng, claiming they were as close as sisters, played together since childhood, and expressing sorrow over Mrs. Zheng’s sudden death from childbirth, while also mentioning her own impending delivery, feeling both nervous and fearful, employing emotional appeals with the Su Jingchen brothers.

Originally, the father was inclined towards Mrs. Yao, wanting to retrieve her indenture for her.

But recalling his close brush with death in Maizhou, he broke out in a cold sweat.

After purchasing a batch of medicinal herbs in the Maizhou mountains, the father planned to bring back some mountain goods, believing that various nuts and snacks would sell well as the year-end approached.

This was his first time dealing in mountain goods, and after some struggles, through a fellow herb trader, he met a mountain goods supplier named Wang San.

The father and Wang San agreed on the price and quantity of the mountain goods, and planned to collect them from Wang San’s warehouse on the way back.

On the return journey, the father calculated in his mind how much money he could make from these goods.

The herb trader traveling with him found an excuse to take a different path at a fork in the road.

The father didn’t perceive anything amiss at the time, as he had to take a detour to collect the mountain goods, and it was reasonable for others in a hurry not to wait for him.

Only when the father’s group followed the map to Wang San’s warehouse, finding the surroundings increasingly desolate, did the father recall Su Jingchen’s warning, feeling a jolt in his heart, and immediately ordered the cart turned around to take another road.

To verify his suspicions, the father sent a handyman skilled in martial arts to investigate the supposed warehouse.

Soon he discovered there was no warehouse at all but a hideout for bandits.

His father had nearly walked into a trap, a thought that sent him into a cold sweat.

Back in Yangcheng, after selling the herbs and earning a profit, the father went to a temple to offer incense, generously donating fifty taels for incense, asking the elder abbot for enlightenment. The abbot told him he had been assisted by a benefactor, avoiding a life-threatening disaster.

From that day on, the father firmly believed his son was the benefactor who saved his life.

If not for Su Jingchen’s warning, he might not have made it back.

While Mrs. Yao whispered in his ear, he viewed her coldly, his brow furrowed, feeling increasingly annoyed by her.

She was over thirty, yet imitated young girls in acting coy, something the father had once appreciated, finding Mrs. Yao gentle and considerate, but now his mood had shifted.

Her pregnancy made her clumsy and unattractive; her pretending to be youthful and behaving coyly suddenly disgusted him.

Recalling his elder son’s suggestion of taking another concubine, he suddenly felt hopeful.

"Master, I’m due to give birth right after the first month, and I feel uneasy, afraid that once I have the child, Jingchen might sell me off," Mrs. Sun said.

Seeing the father silent, Mrs. Sun pressed on, "Doctor Sun mentioned that if I continue worrying like this, it could become a serious illness by the time I give birth, possibly resulting in a double death."

You seem fine; what woman hasn’t given birth? Even Mrs. Zheng wasn’t as delicate when she was pregnant.

A maid’s body, a lady’s heart.

Although the father mentally criticized, considering Mrs. Yao was carrying his child, he couldn’t say it outright.

"Jingchen promised me as long as you’re well-behaved, he won’t truly sell you, so feel at ease."

Had he not been thinking of taking a concubine, the father might have found Mrs. Yao charming still, but examining her closely now, he noticed Mrs. Yao had grown plump, with a yellowish complexion and freckles dotting her face.

How had he been so bewitched by Mrs. Yao!

A few dozen taels could marry a beautiful maiden, yet he made a maid from humble origins rise to prominence.

Once a person holds a prejudice against you, everything about you seems disagreeable.

The father increasingly found his son’s words sensible.

Holding Mrs. Yao’s indenture meant holding the key to her survival, purely advantageous, while dissolving it might incur other troubles.

The father offered Mrs. Yao a few symbolic words of comfort, seeing her observe his impatience, she dared not persist.

Unexpectedly for Mrs. Yao, shortly after childbirth, still within her month of confinement, the father brought home a young concubine.

Mrs. Yao seethed as she glared at the sixteen-year-old concubine Mrs. Huo, budding like a flower in bloom, her eyes blazing with fury.

Mrs. Yao was furious inside but didn’t show it outwardly.

After all, the master was often away; she’d have her chance to deal with this little minx soon.

The father took a concubine without consulting Mrs. Yao, expecting a great uproar, but she surprisingly did not act out, instead warmly comforting Mrs. Huo, pretending to favor her.

The father, seeing this, was delighted.

He also felt guilty for his recent poor treatment of Mrs. Yao, since she had given birth to a daughter.

Having two sons already, a daughter was not a bad thing; the father comforted himself with this thought.

Mrs. Yao, during her month of confinement, naturally passed on the duty of attending to the father to Mrs. Huo.

With the charming Mrs. Huo present, even after Mrs. Yao’s confinement, the father had no interest in her anymore.

At her age, Mrs. Huo was fresh and charming like a budding flower, who would forsake blossoming beauty for aging greens?

Mrs. Yao spent her month consumed with jealousy and frustration.

Because the idea to take a concubine came from Su Jingchen, Mrs. Yao often cursed him and his deceased mother whenever she lay alone at night.

After enduring the confinement, seeing the father preparing to go on business ventures again, Mrs. Yao’s spirits lifted.

Mrs. Huo, the little vixen, had been flaunting her charm extensively, engaging the master nightly.

Pah! She claimed to come from a good family, but who from a good family would marry a sixteen-year-old daughter to a forty-something old man?

Recalling how the father had been buying clothes and jewelry for Mrs. Huo recently, Mrs. Yao grew insanely jealous.

Day and night she hoped the father would hurry off, so she could deal with the little vixen.

Unexpectedly for Mrs. Yao, not only did the father leave, but he took Mrs. Huo with him, under the pretext of needing her to accompany him, tending to his daily needs.

Furious, Mrs. Yao’s anger built up till she was ill after the father and Mrs. Huo departed.