Chapter 37: Going Home...

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“The master is back!”

The county magistrate’s residence, which had been shrouded in gloom, erupted into commotion the moment news arrived that their master was safe and sound.

No one wanted the county magistrate to die. Those bound by servitude had little control over their own fate. As long as their master was alive, everyone in the household could live with dignity. Once he was gone, the Zhang family would inevitably decline, even with Madam’s substantial dowry. And if they were sold off then, who knew where they might end up?

A proper official household with such a small and manageable family was a rare thing indeed...

“Where is my son?”

The old matriarch was so overcome with excitement that she ran outside without even putting on her shoes. Old Master Zhang followed close behind, carrying them. The Zhang siblings also hurried out at the news. Of the entire family, only Luo, the mistress of the household, had gone deathly pale.

How could she ever have imagined that the dead man would make it back alive?

She had acted then to protect the entire family, but to say she had harbored no selfish motives would have been a lie. If Zhang Rui had failed to return, then for the sake of the Zhang family’s dignity, her mother-in-law likely would not have driven her out. The whole family would have had to rely on her for their livelihood, and they might even have treated her with greater courtesy.

But now everything was different. Her husband had returned alive. She had shut him outside the gates in order to save herself. Such a vicious act would make it entirely reasonable for him to divorce her...

At the thought, she bit her lower lip so hard that blood trickled from her red lips.

“Mother, are you all right?”

When Zhang Rui reached the county office gates and saw his mother running out without her shoes, he was both amused and exasperated. He hurried forward to support her, took the shoes from his father, and put them on her feet.

“It’s bitterly cold, yet you don’t care for your own health. You’re getting on in years—what if you catch a chill?”

“My son, are you unharmed?”

Only after seeing that her son was alive and well did the old woman finally relax. Tears streamed down her face.

“You nearly frightened your mother to death!”

When the provincial governor had personally come before, the family had nearly begun preparing the funeral arrangements.

Fortunately, her son had been blessed with extraordinary luck and had not been killed by that wicked woman. But where was she?

Realizing this, the old woman hurriedly turned around and glared fiercely behind her, searching for the vicious daughter-in-law who had threatened her. For the sake of the family, she had been forced to endure it even if that woman had caused her own son’s death. But now she would see whether she did not tear the woman’s skin off!

“It’s all right, it’s all right...” Zhang Rui watched his mother fuss over him one moment and turn around like a hungry wolf the next, searching for someone. He could not help laughing inwardly. The world’s circumstances had changed, but his mother’s personality had not changed in the slightest.

“My son, what exactly happened?”

The old man in a flamboyant red robe also sat down nearby. He gave his wife an amused glance before turning concerned eyes on his most promising son.

“The provincial governor clearly said that you...”

“Your son was simply lucky.” Zhang Rui looked up with a smile. “In that perilous place, I happened to encounter His Highness the Third Prince. With his guards protecting me, I managed to escape alongside him.”

“Oh my, you even met a prince?” His father was instantly intrigued.

His mother, however, suddenly remembered something, and her expression changed.

“My heavens! On the day disaster struck, someone called from outside the gate, claiming to be the crown prince. Your wicked wife forcibly kept him outside. That was the real prince, wasn’t it? What are we going to do? I always said Luo was a bringer of misfortune.”

Luo had just arrived and had not yet drawn near when she heard herself called a wicked wife and a bringer of disaster. Her face turned even paler.

“Exactly—a bringer of disaster!” A girl of fourteen or fifteen who had arrived with them glared viciously at Luo, her eyes full of contempt.

“Enough!”

Zhang Rui rose at once.

“Who taught you to speak to your sister-in-law that way? Have you no manners?”

“Brother...” The girl stamped her foot. “She locked you outside and nearly got you killed!”

“If your sister-in-law hadn’t locked the gate, the entire family would have been in danger!”

Zhang Rui shot her a stern look, then stepped forward and took Luo’s cold, pale hands in his own.

“You’ve worked hard, Madam. If you hadn’t acted decisively, our entire family might have ended up like those other victims.”

Luo stared at him in stunned disbelief. In three years of marriage, this was the first time she had ever heard him defend her.

“My son...” The old matriarch frowned when she saw how fiercely he protected Luo. “But she did keep His Highness the prince outside the gate.”

“Mother...” Zhang Rui sighed. “That Painted City was filled with demons and monsters. The prince I encountered was real, but the person knocking at the gate might not have been. Thousands of people died in Fuchuan County this time. Were they not all ensnared in precisely this way? Those evil spirits only needed to get inside a house. Some could even disguise themselves as the emperor. If Luo had not acted decisively, our family truly might have met with disaster.”

“This...” The old woman felt a trace of fear after hearing that. Thinking back, they had seen the devastation in the homes of many people in Fuchuan County with their own eyes over the past few days. When trouble had struck Jiangnan years ago, they had been far away and had merely heard that many people had died. Nothing compared to witnessing it firsthand. It was said that not one of the dead had been left whole, whether child or woman. Their deaths had been truly horrific.

Seeing that his mother had finally listened to reason, Zhang Rui relaxed slightly. His mother, Huang, had always been a forceful woman; otherwise, she could never have kept his good-for-nothing, lazy father in line. But she was not malicious. She favored her own son, certainly, but what mother in the world did not?

“Oh, that reminds me...” Zhang Rui suddenly recalled the important matter he had yet to mention. “Mother, have someone make preparations. We may have to go to the capital after the New Year.”

“To the capital?” His mother stared blankly for a moment, then nodded repeatedly. “Oh, yes, yes! My son has been stuck in this godforsaken place for three years already. According to what your old tutor said, you should be able to return to the capital and report on your duties now.”

She immediately turned to Luo.

“Luo, you’ll accompany your husband this time. Make the proper arrangements and see if he can be transferred somewhere better. What future could my son possibly have in this barren backwater?”

Luo finally understood. She pressed her lips together.

So that was it...

They had refrained from blaming her because they still needed to use her dowry money to smooth the way. Since she was still useful, that was the only reason they had suddenly become so forgiving. I knew there was no way this man would suddenly become so kind...

She had once had the chance to refuse. But now... after what she had done, if she still refused to spend money on his advancement, she feared there would be no place for her in the Zhang household.

She was just about to agree when her husband suddenly spoke.

“Mother, all of you will accompany me to the capital this time.”

“Why is that?” His mother was taken aback. “When the magistrate from the neighboring county returned to the capital to report on his duties, he was gone for only a month or two, and he was sent back to the north afterward. Our family’s means are limited. Even with some money spent on connections, we probably won’t secure a particularly good posting. Most likely we’ll still end up somewhere in the north. Taking the whole family back and forth would be expensive. We should save wherever we can.”

“Mother...” Zhang Rui’s younger sister spoke up. “I want to go to the capital with Big Brother and have a look around.”

“Go, go, go! Why are you joining in? You’re an unmarried girl. What are you doing running around?”

“Mother...” The girl looked deeply dissatisfied.

“Ahem...” Zhang Rui cleared his throat. “You’ve misunderstood, Mother. After I happened to meet the prince and rendered him some small assistance, I received confirmation that I’m to be transferred to the capital after the New Year.”

“What did you say?”

The entire family turned to him in astonishment.

“Brother, is that really true?” the girl asked, her face alight with delight.

“It’s true...” Zhang Rui gave her an indulgent look. His sister was named Zhang Meng. Her name was delicate and charming, but she had not been nearly so pretty before. Before he had used his writing to alter his official record, the girl had been sallow and thin, like a bean sprout. Now her skin was fair and soft. Though her hands and feet had grown rough from working in the fields, once dressed up she already looked rather like a young lady from a wealthy family.

“We’re going to the capital, Mother!”

The girl cheered and threw her arms around their mother’s.

“Slow down... You’re always so hasty...” Their mother, Huang, was also bursting with joy. “My son, is this news reliable?”

“It should be.” Zhang Rui smiled. He had no reason to doubt the Yuchi family’s information.

“Oh, what a blessing from our ancestors!” His father, Zhang Hong, was so excited that he immediately began bowing toward the ancestral tablets.

The entire family was filled with celebration, but Luo’s expression had stiffened. She had thought her husband wanted her to arrange something for him, but now it was clear that was not the case. Her husband was about to become an official in the capital, and she had committed such an act before...

Knowing the old matriarch as she did, Luo was almost certain the woman would persuade him to divorce her.

Sure enough, in the very next moment the old matriarch said, “Ahem... Luo, first go instruct the servants to prepare a good meal. Our family must celebrate properly.”

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“Yes... Mother...” Luo’s face once again turned deathly pale. She knew perfectly well that the other woman was sending her away.

“Don’t make too much of a spectacle. An ordinary family meal will do.” Zhang Rui turned back and said gently, “Many people died in Fuchuan County this time. It would invite gossip if we celebrated too extravagantly.”

“Yes, yes, my son is right...” Madam Huang hastily agreed. “Then we’ll do as you say and have a simple meal. You may go.”

Luo sighed inwardly. Why would anyone need her to give instructions for a simple meal? It seemed the old woman had made up her mind to divorce her.

So be it...

Back then, her father had valued the Zhang family’s potential, thinking that marriage was like a business investment—one bought when the price was rising, not falling. But human hearts were complicated. How could they ever be as fair and predictable as market prices?

The Zhang family was rising now. Once they returned, how could they possibly continue to value a merchant’s daughter like her?

Her father had thought too simply. She herself had thought too simply as well. If she had known this would happen, she would have accepted her cousin’s proposal.

“Mother, what did you want to say by sending my wife away?”

After Luo left, Zhang Rui wore an exasperated expression. He knew his mother must have another scheme in mind.

“What do you think?” His mother glared at him. “This is a rare opportunity! You’re about to become an official in the capital. That’s a blessing so great it could make smoke rise from our ancestors’ graves. You can’t let it be ruined by a merchant’s daughter. Think about it—when she attends social gatherings among the capital’s official families, won’t she be looked down upon? Which of those officials’ wives doesn’t come from a scholarly family? Don’t underestimate such things. They’ll have a major effect on your future.”

“Exactly, Brother!” Zhang Meng chimed in from the side.

“Be quiet!”

Zhang Rui turned and glared at her.

“How has your sister-in-law treated you these past few years? Have you no sense of gratitude? The food, clothing, and comforts in this household—could we have enjoyed such standards without her dowry? And now that our prospects have improved, you want to kick her aside at once? Don’t you feel ashamed? You’ll soon be discussing marriage yourself. How would you feel if your future husband treated you this way?”

“I...” Zhang Meng pouted and lowered her head without a word.

“My son...” Huang found herself somewhat unable to maintain her composure. She lowered her voice. “Luo has indeed worked hard these past two years, but she also used your position as county magistrate to make quite a lot of money in Fuchuan County. We can consider ourselves even. And this time, she shut you outside without caring whether you lived or died...”

“She did it for the safety of the entire family...”

“Nonsense! She did it for herself!”

Huang could not resist poking her foolish son on the forehead.

“You, you... Has that woman bewitched you?”

“Mother...” Zhang Rui was both amused and helpless. “If I divorce my wife the moment I receive a promotion, what respectable family would be willing to marry their daughter to me? Do you think those good families are fools? The women who would still be willing to marry into such a household would either be schemers seeking advantage or come from families that do not value their daughters. What use would such a marriage be? And if we brought in a noble young lady from a powerful family and ended up offending her family, could you really live as comfortably as you do now?”

“I... You...” Huang was furious. “You’re determined to take her side!”

“I’m not taking her side. I’m stating the facts. Luo is a good woman. This will be my first time in the capital, and I’ll be unfamiliar with everything there. Rather than trying to attach myself to some powerful in-laws, I would prefer to work honestly. As long as the inner household remains peaceful and trouble-free, I’ll be satisfied. You were the one who said our family’s means are limited. The poorer the foundation, the less one should crave. Isn’t that right?”

“Old woman, our son actually has a point...” His father hurriedly added his support.

“Fine, fine! I’m the villain, then!”

Huang glared at him. Old Master Zhang immediately shrank his neck and turned away.

Zhang Rui covered his face. Even after becoming the county magistrate’s father, his old man was still as timid as ever.

In truth, he had never intended to divorce Luo and marry again. It was not that he was especially devoted to her. Rather, the Crown Prince already viewed him with hostility. Once he reached the capital, if his mother arranged another marriage for him, it would be all too easy for others to take advantage of the situation.

Yuchi Hong had warned him that officials of the Supreme Court lived perilous lives. Once he arrived there, he needed to keep a low profile and avoid drawing attention. To divorce his wife and marry again with great fanfare would be practically inviting disaster to come knocking sooner.

At that moment, Luo was quietly listening from a corner near the doorway. When she heard that the dispute had ended in her favor, the color gradually returned to her face, though her eyes were filled with astonishment.

This man...

He seemed different from the man he had once been.

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