The old lady spoke, then kicked the door of the room open.
Lu Zhaozhao had just processed Jiang Yanqing's life story.
She quickly threw on her clothes, watching coldly as Old Lady Jiang rushed in through the doorway.
Old Lady Jiang narrowed her slanted eyes, her wrinkled face twisting into a pout, giving her a rather shrewish appearance.
She planted her hands on her hips and pointed at Lu Zhaozhao: "What are you just standing there for? Why aren't you up and working? Your useless man has gone to town again to get medicine, and you still want to laze around? Huh? Am I supposed to feed two good-for-nothings?"
"You're really noisy."
Lu Zhaozhao was already angry about Jiang Yanqing's circumstances, and now Old Lady Jiang had walked right into it.
"You dare say I'm noisy? I'm your mother-in-law!" Old Lady Jiang mustered her courage and stepped forward to drag Lu Zhaozhao up.
Lu Zhaozhao pulled out her hairpin, calm and unhurried: "Mother-in-law, there doesn't seem to be anyone around right now. If you were to die, I think I could probably escape?"
Old Lady Jiang sneered at her words: "You wouldn't dare! I've already made arrangements. If I die, I'll have my son report you to the county magistrate. Why did you and your father run away? If you want to kill your father, go ahead and try."
Lu Zhaozhao finished putting on her clothes, stood up, and raised the hairpin as if to strike.
She had trained in self-defense; dealing with an old woman was more than enough.
The old lady's face paled with fear: "Don't you care about your father's life?"
"What's there to fear? At worst, my father and I will flee together. But as for you all… you married me into this family, and now the Marriage Certificate has already been submitted. I don't know what crime my father committed, but according to the laws of this dynasty, whatever crime he committed, you would be equally guilty.
No one would come out of this well."
Lu Zhaozhao's expression remained blank.
In just a few sentences, the old lady was completely cowed: "I, you…"
"Mother-in-law, I'm hungry." Lu Zhaozhao sat on the only stool in the room, posture perfectly upright.
Old Lady Jiang was shocked. This little wretch actually expected her, the mother-in-law, to cook for her?
What kind of world was this!
"Sister Jiang, Sister Jiang, are you home?"
Hearing movement outside, Old Lady Jiang immediately began wailing: "What sin have I committed! A son who's a medicine jar, married to a shrew of a wife! This life is unbearable!"
She sat on the ground, howling and slapping her thighs.
Outside, the person who had come looking heard the noise and hurried over.
She saw a young girl sitting on a stool, and Old Lady Jiang sitting on the ground crying.
"What, what's going on here? Who is this, Sister Jiang?"
The newcomer wore coarse brown clothing, her hair tied up with a wooden hairpin. She was about the same age as Old Lady Jiang, around fifty years old.
She came over to help Old Lady Jiang up.
Old Lady Jiang pointed at Lu Zhaozhao through her tears: "This, this is the wife my eldest son married. Tell me, what sin have I committed? My eldest son is like a medicine jar, taking medicine all day, dragging the whole family down! And now he marries someone who's only good-looking and can't do anything else.
Making my old bones cook for her."
"I have to say, as a new bride, how can you give your mother-in-law such a hard time? What new bride doesn't work? Your man is already a sickly one, eating up the family's money…"
While she spoke, several other women who had planned to go up the mountain together to dig for autumn vegetables also gathered around and came inside.
Lu Zhaozhao looked at them with a wronged expression and said, "On the wedding night, my mother-in-law demanded that my dowry be handed over to the family. I had just gotten married and didn't understand anything. I was planning to get up soon to do chores, but my mother-in-law just scolded and insulted me."
The old woman: …
Old Lady Jiang stared at Lu Zhaozhao in shock.
Lu Zhaozhao wiped away her aggrieved tears and continued, "My husband became a Xiucai (Scholar) at the age of twelve, ranking first in the county. As a stipend scholar, he receives a monthly salary of five taels of silver, all of which my mother-in-law keeps in her hands."
Old Lady Jiang could no longer remain calm.
How did she know?
Did that little bastard tell her?
"This money was spent on the second brother. My mother-in-law hired a famous teacher from the county to tutor him in his studies. My husband's medicine expenses were all earned by him copying books, which the county bookstore can testify to," Lu Zhaozhao said slowly.
"Shut up! What nonsense are you spouting!" Old Lady Jiang's voice was sharp.
"Mother… which part of what my wife said was wrong?"
Outside the door, the man's voice carried a slight sob, as if deeply hurt.
Old Lady Jiang was stunned!
She turned her head stiffly.
Jiang Yanqing was standing at the doorway holding medicine. He was thin and wore shabby clothes, but his handsome features still made people feel favorable toward him.
The others' gazes toward her also changed.
All these years, Old Lady Jiang hadn't said it was like this…
"Mother-in-law, what did your daughter-in-law say wrong?" she spoke, her voice soft and gentle.
"Aunt Jiang, this is really too unfair. The new bride just married into the family, can't she even rest for one day?"
Someone in the crowd spoke up.
"Exactly! All these years, didn't you say it was because the family paid for your eldest son's medicine that the household was dragged down?"
"Stop gossiping here! My family's affairs are none of your business! Get out, all of you, get out!" Old Lady Jiang angrily chased everyone away.
After they left, she stormed back and shouted at Jiang Yanqing, "You! Divorce her! She's a jinx!"
Jiang Yanqing ignored her, his emotions complex as he looked gently at Lu Zhaozhao: "Are you hungry, wife?"
"I am hungry. Mother-in-law said she would cook for me." Lu Zhaozhao gazed meaningfully at Old Lady Jiang, twirling the hairpin in her hand.
Old Lady Jiang choked on her anger, nearly fainting from rage.
She stomped out to the kitchen to cook.
Inside the room, Jiang Yanqing looked tenderly at Lu Zhaozhao, gently stroking her neck as he casually asked, "I never told my wife about family matters. How did you know?"
Was her handsome husband this cautious?
Lu Zhaozhao had prepared for this and fabricated an answer: "I guessed. Even wealthy families have parents who show favoritism. My husband looks handsome—appearance reflects the heart, so naturally you're a good person. Even if you weren't, I couldn't let her speak ill of you."
Lu Zhaozhao's words pleased him.
Looking at the trust in her eyes, his gaze gradually deepened.
"I thought my wife would be hungry when she woke up, so when buying medicine, I brought back some dumplings with chicken filling for you. Have some first."
Lu Zhaozhao was surprised.
According to the book's plot, they were currently in a famine year. With the harvest failing and food prices rising, a bowl of dumplings would cost quite a bit.
He actually bought them for her?
Jiang Yanqing was also puzzled. He had originally intended to eat alone in the county town, just as he always did. Yet, as if guided by some inexplicable impulse, he thought of Lu Zhaozhao from last night. Before he knew it, he had brought the food back.
Since he brought it back, it was only right for the two of them to eat together. But when he saw her, he gave it all to her.
Lu Zhaozhao pushed the dumplings toward him: "Husband, feed me!"
With such a beauty before her, she had no desire to eat on her own.
Jiang Yanqing's face flushed slightly as he obediently fed her. Gazing at her features, he couldn't help but think how stunningly beautiful she was, radiant and captivating. It was completely different from the glimpse he remembered from his previous life, as if her soul had been replaced.
As she ate the dumplings fed to her by the great Villain, Lu Zhaozhao pondered the life story of Jiang Yanqing that the system had shown her.