TFWYH – Chapter 724 Be Good to Her

As she spoke, Jiang Shi seemed to recall the impoverished days of the past. Emotion welled up in her eyes as she continued,

“Our family was so poor back then. Yet you, a married woman, shouldered the burden of supporting the entire household all by yourself.”

“I understood everything.”

“I also knew it wasn’t proper.”

“You were the daughter-in-law who had married into our family. You should have been able to rely on your husband’s household.”

“But Yu’er couldn’t walk properly at the time, and I was just a woman who only knew a little sewing and embroidery. I couldn’t give you a comfortable life without worries, and instead I burdened you with running around to support the family.”

“I’ve always felt terribly guilty… and deeply ashamed.”

“But now Mother finally has the means.”

“I prepared all of these for you.”

“There are also gold ornaments and jewelry.”

“As for the bride price our family owed you before… Mother will make it up to you as well…”

Jiang Shi was, after all, simply an ordinary woman.

And a woman of ancient times at that.

Women in that era lived by the principles of obeying their father before marriage, their husband after marriage, and their son after their husband’s death.

She knew very well that her son had gone too far.

He had stopped at nothing to achieve his goals.

But as a traditional woman, there was little she believed she could do.

Besides teaching Wan’er how a woman of their era was expected to face such choices…

The only path she could think of was forcing her son and daughter-in-law to consummate their marriage, allowing Tang Wan to bear a child so she could secure her position through motherhood.

She had even made herself perfectly clear to Ling Yu.

In this lifetime, she acknowledged only Tang Wan as her daughter-in-law.

Only Tang Wan would one day be buried in the Ling family’s ancestral cemetery.

Beyond that…

She simply didn’t know what else she could do.

Fortunately…

Ling Yu had finally come to his senses.

Thinking of that, Jiang Shi felt overjoyed, and her mood brightened considerably.

Tang Wan could only sigh helplessly before accepting the deeds.

Ling Yue, meanwhile, had no objections whatsoever.

“If it weren’t for Sister-in-law, none of us would be where we are today.”

“It’s only right that these go to her.”

“Not just what Mother is giving her—even all the money I earn can go to Sister-in-law.”

What she didn’t tell Tang Wan was…

She had secretly been saving things for her.

Well…

In truth, she and Jiang Shi had thought of exactly the same thing.

When Tang Wan married into the family, her dowry had consisted of only five taels of silver.

Although that amount seemed insignificant to them now, back then it had been an enormous fortune—

Even though the money had ultimately ended up in Old Madam Ling’s pocket.

As for the Ling family?

They had had absolutely nothing.

Not even a proper bride price.

No one should ever let their beloved sister-in-law suffer such an injustice.

Without even telling Jiang Shi, Ling Yue had begun building her own little treasure trove.

Whenever she earned money, she’d secretly exchange her banknotes and silver for gold, then commission a new piece of gold jewelry.

Little by little, she stored them away.

By now, her private collection already contained more than a dozen gold ornaments.

Hairpins…

Full hair ornament sets…

Bracelets…

Necklaces…

Rings…

She had nearly everything.

And every single one of them…

Had been prepared for Tang Wan.

She hadn’t known before.

But later, after occasionally hearing Jiang Shi mention it, she learned that even now, her eldest brother and sister-in-law still hadn’t consummated their marriage.

She had planned to wait until that day finally came.

Then she would give Tang Wan every single gold ornament she had saved as a gift.

Sister-in-law would definitely be very happy… wouldn’t she?

Besides that…

Lately she had also been keeping an eye out for vacant land.

She wanted to build Tang Wan a horse ranch.

Unfortunately, land in the capital was worth a fortune, and so far she hadn’t heard of any suitable plots for sale.

But now things were different.

Mother had just given her so many property deeds.

When she got home, she’d examine them carefully and choose the best location to build a horse ranch as a present for Tang Wan.

Sincere hearts were repaid with sincere hearts.

Everything Tang Wan had done for the family had been seen by everyone…

And remembered by everyone.

When they had nothing, they were powerless to repay her.

Now that they finally had the means…

Naturally, they all wanted to find every possible way to treat her well.

Tang Wan, however, had only one thought:

Honestly… I’d rather sleep with my handsome husband.

It had already been over a year since they were married…

Yet her husband still hadn’t consummated their marriage.

Just how much longer am I supposed to wait?

…

In the end, Ling Yue decided not to accept the shop Yu Ziqing had offered.

When Yu Ziqing learned that the deal had fallen through because of a single shop assistant’s actions, he was so furious that he smashed several tea sets.

At this point, cooperation between them was no longer possible.

Ling Yue was no longer the girl she once had been.

As Ling Yu’s status rose, so did hers.

There was no way she would ever again agree to his “unequal contract.”

What a pity.

Although Yu Ziqing had never dealt with a gambling-stone business before, just listening to Ling Yue explain the concept was enough for him to realize how immensely profitable it could be.