Farmer girl swaps husbands: buys a sickly villain and pampers him

Chapter 224 Wife
Chen Buyu led the servants away, and the others were safe.

Zhong Chushan tidied his slightly disheveled hair and said, "In the end, that kid lured them away, and we ended up with nothing. Should we try to rescue them again?"

Su Yaoguang said, "It's already past the auspicious time. Even if we take him back, the ceremony probably won't continue."

The others thought Su Yaoguang's words made sense.

The wealthy man, surnamed Tong, had only one daughter, and he went to great lengths to find her a good husband. He would certainly not treat her poorly in terms of her wedding.

"Alright, let's go back to the inn. We can talk about tomorrow's problems tomorrow. It's too late today, and I'm really tired," Zhou Wangshu said.

"What about Brother Chen?" Zhang Xuezi asked.

"If he escapes, he will definitely come back to us. If he doesn't escape, the Tong family won't do anything to their future son-in-law."

"Makes sense."

Back at the inn, Su Yaoguang collapsed into bed and fell asleep. Someone knocked on the door, but she was already asleep and didn't want to get up. Still wrapped in the blanket, she asked, "Who is it?"

"It's me," Zhou Wangshu said from the doorway, "Did you twist your ankle just now?"

Su Yaoguang mumbled a "Mmm" in response, still half asleep.

"I bought some liniment from the shop owner. Open the door and I'll apply it for you."

"I don't want to move," Su Yaoguang said with a yawn. "I'm so sleepy. Let's talk about it tomorrow!"

"So I came in by myself?"

"Go ahead and go in if you can, I don't want to move anyway."

Zhou Wangshu opened the window and climbed in through it.

He walked to the bedside and looked at Su Yaoguang, who was wrapped up like a cicada pupa.

Su Yaoguang was really sleepy, her eyelids were drooping, and even though he was standing in front of her, she didn't open her eyes to look at him.

Zhou Wangshu sat on the edge of the bed and lifted the quilt.

He grabbed her ankle, rolled up her pants, and applied ointment to her wound.

"Hiss..." Su Yaoguang winced in pain.

"Bear with it." Zhou Wangshu applied the medicine to his wound and then gently pressed on it. "You didn't say anything when you were injured. If I hadn't noticed that you were walking strangely, you would have had to suffer in pain tonight. You deserve to be in so much pain."

"Wangshu..."

"Does it hurt?"

Su Yaoguang grabbed his arm and moved closer to him, saying, "Congratulations. I knew you could do it."

"A simple 'congratulations' is enough, is there no reward?" Zhou Wangshu teased her.

"Yes!" Su Yaoguang said vaguely, "Once we get back to the provincial capital, we'll settle the divorce, and then you can go to the capital to take the imperial examination without worry."

Zhou Wangshu's gentle movements suddenly became forceful, causing her original wound to ache terribly and waking Su Yaoguang from her sleep.

Su Yaoguang winced in pain, opened her eyes, and glared at Zhou Wangshu, saying, "You brat, you can't even wait a few days? You want to become a widower?"

"Your gift is a divorce agreement?" Zhou Wangshu said unhappily. "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 palace examinations, you’ll have a chance to be in the top three. By the time those examinations are over, you’ll be about sixteen. The nobles in the capital love to choose their sons-in-law from among the top three. With your qualifications, you’ll definitely be someone everyone wants. If you’re still tied down by another marriage at that time, even if there’s a good match, it won’t be easy to arrange. Wouldn’t that delay your important matters? I’m your older sister, how can I let you suffer such a loss? Therefore, we need to sort out our relationship before you go to the capital.”

"Aren't you coming to the capital with me?" Zhou Wangshu clenched her fist.

He had thought more than once that he would leave this place and go to where he really wanted to go, but he never imagined that he would be so reluctant to leave.

“I won’t go,” Su Yaoguang said. “We’re living quite well in the provincial capital. You see, the people there take good care of us and like us, mother and daughter, very much. Although the capital is very prosperous, it’s under the emperor’s nose and has the most powerful and wealthy people, but for us ordinary people, such wealth is actually a problem.”

"You mean after we divorce, I'll go to the capital, and you'll stay in the provincial capital, and from then on, we'll go our separate ways and never have anything to do with each other again?"

Su Yaoguang noticed that Zhou Wangshu's expression was not good, and her tone was full of resentment, as if she was angry.

"How could we be unrelated? When you become successful, I'm hoping you'll take my daughter and me to the capital for a visit, so we can experience its prosperity," Su Yaoguang said, trying to sound casual as she reassured him.

She patted his shoulder and said, "Wang Shu, you're so capable, I believe you'll definitely achieve great things in the future. As your older sister, I may be a little lacking in other areas, but if you ever have any financial troubles, just write to me, and I'll do everything in my power to help you."

Zhou Wangshu stood up: "You should get some rest. We can talk about other things later!"

Su Yaoguang nodded: "Okay. The list is out today, and there should be a banquet at the government office tomorrow. You still need to make some preparations."

Zhou Wangshu left Su Yaoguang's room and gently closed the door. When he returned to his own room and closed his door, a gloomy expression appeared on his face.

He plopped down on the bed, his eyes filled with anger.

Was she so eager to get rid of him?

He stroked the ring on his finger, a hint of displeasure flashing in his eyes: "Heartless woman, even a stone should be warmed up by now, her heart is harder than a stone."

The next morning, Su Yaoguang knocked on Zhou Wangshu's door, but received no response for a while. She knocked a few more times, and it was only when a passing waiter told her that the person inside had gone out early in the morning that she realized Zhou Wangshu was not in her room.

She didn't ask where Zhou Wangshu had gone, and went straight to the lobby. As soon as she arrived in the lobby, she saw Zhong Chushan and Zhang Xuezi having breakfast.

"Good morning, Yaoguang," Zhong Chushan greeted her with a smile. "You don't look too well. Didn't you sleep well?"

Su Yaoguang touched the corner of her eye and said, "It's probably because I was too excited yesterday, and I can't sleep."

“That’s true. Wang Shu got first place in the exam. If it were me, I would be excited for several days.” Zhong Chushan said, “When we go back this time, the headmaster and the teachers will definitely celebrate for Wang Shu properly.”

Zhong Chushan thought back to how the academy had misjudged people, treating someone like Xiao Ci as a treasure while regarding Wang Shu as worthless, and even constantly humiliating him. Now, those people were probably regretting it terribly. Of course, since Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu's reputation in the county town had grown, such incidents hadn't happened again. They should be thankful they hadn't made any bigger mistakes; otherwise, having offended such a promising person, they would have constantly worried about their past being brought up again.

"I'm back," Chen Buyu's voice came from the doorway.

He was all smiles, as if he had found a treasure.

Beside him, a lovely and petite girl stood by his side.

"Let me introduce you. This is my wife, Tong Shuyun," Chen Buyu said, then introduced Tong Shuyun, "This is my brother's wife, we call her Yaoguang, you can call her Sister Yaoguang. This is my good brother, Zhong Chushan, and this gentleman's surname is Zhang, and his given name is..."

Su Yaoguang and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.

Zhou Wangshu walked in carrying breakfast. Seeing them standing there staring at each other, he asked, "What are you doing standing here? Why don't you sit down?" Su Yaoguang smelled the aroma and knew it was breakfast from the place they used to frequent. She took it from his hands and whispered in Zhou Wangshu's ear, "He said that's his wife, Tong Shuyun."

The key word is "Madam".

Zhou Wangshu understood and looked at the woman with a rosy complexion and a shy expression.

"You're married?" Zhong Chushan put his arm around his shoulder and gently patted his arm.

Chen Buyu said smugly, "I was still caught and taken back by them yesterday. However, I had many opportunities to leave, but the moment I saw Shuyun, I chose to stay. I'm sorry, brothers and sisters, my marriage was arranged in a bit of a rush and I didn't have time to tell you. I'll make up for it with this wedding banquet today."

"Such a lovely girl, no wonder you're so eager to be a groom." Seeing Tong Shuyun's slight unease, Su Yaoguang pulled her hand and helped her sit down. "You've come so early in the morning, shouldn't you offer tea to Master Tong?"

Tong Shuyun shook her head.

Su Yaoguang asked, "Shuyun, don't be afraid. If he bullies you, just tell us and we'll help you deal with him."

Tong Shuyun gestured to indicate that Chen Buyu had not bullied her.

Everyone realized something was wrong.

Tong Shuyun hasn't said a word since the beginning, and is now gesturing to see if there's any problem with her speech.

"Brother, what's wrong with your wife..." Zhong Chushan said in a low voice.

Chen Buyu said generously, "Yun'er had a fever when she was little and lost her ability to speak. But it doesn't matter, I think Yun'er is very cute!"

For the first time, Su Yaoguang found Chen Buyu quite pleasing to the eye.

She knew he was loyal and kind to his brothers like Zhou Wangshu, and by extension, he respected her as well as the geishas in the dance hall. However, he wasn't as clever as Zhong Chushan, and sometimes he even created messes for them to clean up.

Today, she realized that she had underestimated his personal charm.

The Tong family is incredibly lucky to have found such a son-in-law.

"Sister Tong, those who made the list must have a lot of social engagements these days. Luckily, you're here to keep me company, so I won't be bored."

Tong Shuyun gestured, but Su Yaoguang couldn't understand. However, the maid next to her was clearly Tong Shuyun's translator and quickly translated what she meant to Su Yaoguang.

"Our young lady means that she is the host and should be treated well. If you don't mind, she can take you around to see the sights."

"That would be wonderful," Su Yaoguang said. "Thank you in advance, little sister."

Zhou Wangshu went out early in the morning to buy Su Yaoguang her favorite pastries.

He watched Su Yaoguang and Tong Shuyun chatting happily, his eyes filled with displeasure.

She treats everyone better than him.

Look how enthusiastic she is towards Tong Shuyun, whom she just met. If she had shown some of that enthusiasm to him, she wouldn't be so angry.

What wife would bring up divorce on her husband's wedding day? If she had even a little bit of affection for him, she wouldn't have done something so ruthless.

Su Yaoguang pulled Zhou Wangshu aside and reminded her to keep an eye on Xiao Ci's whereabouts. This Xiao Ci had disappeared without a trace, and she always felt he was a troublesome person.

After breakfast, government officials began delivering invitations.

The men went to their appointment, while Su Yaoguang, as she had just said, went out to play with Tong Shuyun.

"Stop for a moment..." Su Yaoguang called out to the carriage, asking the driver to stop.

The coachman stopped the carriage.

Su Yaoguang jumped down from the carriage and chased after the figure she had just seen. However, after entering a small alley, the figure disappeared as if it had never been there.

"What's wrong?" the maid asked on behalf of Tong Shuyun.

Su Yaoguang said, "I think I saw someone I knew just now, but I must have been mistaken!"

She saw Lady Wen. Lady Wen was with Xiao Yanci; if she were here, Xiao Yanci would be here too. However, she only flashed by before disappearing.

At night, Su Yaoguang had just finished showering when she heard a noise at the door. She turned around and saw Zhou Wangshu staggering in.

Seeing him like this, Su Yaoguang swallowed her scolding and helped him up as he lunged at her.

Su Yaoguang had just taken a shower and was still wearing thin clothes. She had originally thought that Zhou Wangshu wouldn't be back so soon, and that she would change into more conservative clothes after drying her hair.

Now, things have gotten even worse; before she could even change her clothes, the person had already returned.

He's back physically, but his soul hasn't returned. Judging from his drunken, decadent state, even if you threw him onto the street, he probably wouldn't know what happened.

Zhou Wangshu held onto Su Yaoguang's slender waist tightly.

Su Yaoguang said, "Didn't I tell you not to drink too much? Where are the hangover pills I prepared for you?"

Zhou Wangshu held Su Yaoguang tightly, refusing to get up from her embrace.

Su Yaoguang was still drying her hair when she saw this and pushed him away: "You brat, my hair is still dripping wet."

He heard the words "I'll wipe it for you" quite clearly.

Seeing that he was unyielding and wouldn't listen to anything she said, Su Yaoguang let him snatch the handkerchief away.

Zhou Wangshu pressed her against the window where there was some air, dried her hair with a handkerchief, and then sniffed her, saying, "You smell so good!"

"Who am I?" Su Yaoguang asked.

"Do you think I'm drunk? I'm not drunk," Zhou Wangshu said with dissatisfaction. "You are... heartless."

Su Yaoguang: "..."

Seeing that she didn't speak, Zhou Wangshu threw the handkerchief he was using to wipe the water stains aside, hugged her neck, and snuggled against her.

“Xiao Ci hasn’t shown up,” Zhou Wangshu said. “I’ve asked around, and no one has seen him. I have a feeling that he’s getting more and more out of control.”

I originally intended to deal with him here, but this person took precautions beforehand, not even showing his face, giving him no chance to make a move.

Su Yaoguang said, "You don't need to pay attention to him. If he doesn't behave, he'll dig his own grave sooner or later. You don't need to let someone like him affect your own affairs."

"Hmm..." Zhou Wangshu rested his head on her shoulder. "Whatever you say, Madam."