What? The majority of the silver money in her hand was earned by Song Shi’an?
So what? Song Shi’an was her own husband, and his money was her money. If you eat Song Shi’an’s, drink Song Shi’an’s, then it’s equivalent to eating Jiang Chun’s, drinking Jiang Chun’s.
Who has objections?
Even if you have objections, you have to hold it in. Even if Song Shi’an has objections, he has to hold it in too.
Otherwise, hmph hmph, she’d make him suffer for it!
And then, they heard Song Shi’an lightly say: “You just go ahead and discipline her. You’re her elder sister-in-law, disciplining her as a younger sister is only right and proper.”
Jiang Chun hooked her lips, oh-ho, she liked hearing this kind of talk.
She sneered and said: “That’s your legitimate tangmei (堂妹, paternal cousin). I discipline her, and you don’t feel any heartache?”
Song Shi’an gave a light snort: “You’re not the kind of shrew who, with nothing to do, randomly picks fights. If she did something wrong and gets disciplined, that’s what she deserves. What heartache should I feel?”
Jiang Chun burst into laughter and teased: “Later, your tangmei will definitely mutter in her heart, ‘With a step-sister-in-law, comes a step-brother.’”
With a stepmother comes a stepfather, can it also be changed into ‘with a step-sister-in-law comes a step-brother’?
What kind of nonsense is that?!
“Pfft…” Song Shi’an couldn’t hold it in, and directly burst out laughing.
Jiang Chun, seeing him laugh, righteously said: “Miss Cheng was her previous sister-in-law, so I’m her later sister-in-law, right?”
Song Shi’an restrained his expression, turned serious and said: “Don’t say such things. I was only engaged to her—of the three letters and six rites, we only completed half. How does that count as a sister-in-law?”
It was just a casual joke earlier, Jiang Chun didn’t really take Miss Cheng, Song Shi’an’s former fiancée, too seriously.
Seeing him being so serious, she immediately surrendered and said: “Alright, alright, there’s no previous sister-in-law. Let’s not talk about her anymore.”
Only then did Song Shi’an become satisfied.
Since the little sister-in-law and the maternal cousin aunt were living next door, and the rooms weren’t soundproof, the two of them couldn’t do much, and could only hug together and obediently sleep.
••
The next day after breakfast, Jiang Chun told Song Shiyin and Pan Xing to stay in the room and not wander around. She and Song Shi’an hired a carriage and went to the dock to inquire about the situation, to see if there were any passenger ships heading north.
They had excellent luck. There would be a passenger ship heading north the next morning, passing through Qizhou Prefecture and making a brief stop at Hongye County.
Jiang Chun hurriedly took out four taels of silver and booked two adjacent cabins.
On the way back to the inn, Jiang Chun asked Song Shi’an: “Should we inform Han Langjun about us leaving?”
Song Shi’an shook his head and calmly said: “No need. He should have someone watching Hongxiu Tianxiang. Our redeeming of the girls and booking the passenger ship definitely won’t be hidden from him.”
Anyway, once the three-year term ended, Han Xiao would return to the capital, and they’d have plenty of chances to meet then.
For now, as he was still an official’s servant, and with Consort Liu’s faction being so jumpy and suspicious, to avoid bringing trouble to him, it was better to keep less contact.
Jiang Chun didn’t go straight back to the inn, but instead asked the coachman to take them to the West Main Street, the most prosperous commercial street in Shaoxing City.
Then, under the pretense of buying gifts for Jiang He, she and Song Shi’an began strolling leisurely through the street.
As for the purpose, of course, it was to check in and receive rewards.
Shaoxing Prefecture was a prefecture-level city, one level higher than Hongye County. Checking in here, the quality of reward items would naturally be higher.
[Ding! Successfully checked in at 【Shaoxing City Bookstore】, received 12 stacks of xuanzhi (high-quality rice paper), 50 sheets of Huanhua bookmarks, 11 sticks of pine soot ink.]
[Ding! Successfully checked in at 【Shaoxing City Blacksmith Shop】, received 3 iron shovels, 4 iron hoes, 4 iron axes.]
[Ding! Successfully checked in at 【Shaoxing City Medical Hall】, received 14 taels of bird’s nest, 9 taels of ginseng slices, 16 taels of black pepper.]
[Ding! Successfully checked in at 【Shaoxing City Pharmacy】, received 1 jin of dried tangerine peel, 17 taels of silver ear fungus, 8 taels of astragalus root.]
[Ding! Successfully checked in at 【Shaoxing City Jewelry Shop】, received 1 gold choker, 10 velvet flowers, 1 pair of jade pendants .]
[Ding! Successfully checked in at 【Shaoxing City Cloth Shop】, received 7 bolts of silk, 15 bolts of patterned gauze, 10 bolts of fine cotton cloth.]
[Ding! Successfully checked in at 【Shaoxing City Pawnshop】, received 1 pair of happiness reaching the brows vases, 1 pair of silver bowls, 1 Suzhou embroidery kang screen.]
[Ding! Successfully checked in at 【Shaoxing City Money House】, received 6 taels of gold.]
With each store she checked into, the smile at the corners of her mouth deepened a bit.
By the time she heard the system announce “6 taels of gold” in her mind, the corners of her mouth almost grinned all the way to her cheeks.
Six taels of gold—that was a full sixty taels of silver.
Sure enough, the rewards in Shaoxing City were much richer than those in Hongye County. Not only did the quantity of items increase greatly, but the value also rose by a big margin.
It was a pity that they had to board the ship early the next morning, so they couldn’t wait for the 24-hour cooldown to refresh. Otherwise, she would definitely check in again.
Song Shi’an looked at her with a face full of confusion and asked: “What are you grinning like an idiot for?”
Jiang Chun casually made up something: “Just saw a handsome langjun, couldn’t help but take a few more glances.”
Song Shi’an stopped in his tracks, the relaxed ease on his face faded away, replaced by dark clouds.
He said coldly: “Jiang Chun, say that again?”
Jiang Chun was dumbfounded by his reaction, then instinctively shrank her neck guiltily, wishing she could slap herself across the face.
Last time, she joked about finding someone else to have a baby, and he got so angry that they had a big fight—he even cried that time.
She actually didn’t learn her lesson and went ahead and mentioned other men in front of him again.
Sure enough, she had pissed him off once more.
She hurriedly laughed it off and said: “I was just joking. All the men on this street added together aren’t even worth half of you, husband. Looking at them hurts my eyes. If I have free time, it’s better spent looking at husband a few more times.”
Song Shi’an didn’t really believe her nonsense, suspiciously asked: “Really didn’t stare at some other handsome langjun?”
Jiang Chun raised one hand, not feeling guilty at all, and said: “No, really no. I can swear to the heavens.”
She was only happy about the rewards from checking in—nothing to do with any other men, not even a single copper coin’s worth of relation.
Seeing this, Song Shi’an’s expression finally eased up a bit.
Jiang Chun secretly pursed her lips—this guy’s jealousy was really too big, couldn’t even stand her praising another man for half a sentence.
Hmph, if it weren’t for the fear that he’d once again perform a “beauty shedding tears”, she wouldn’t bother indulging him. She’d have to praise someone else in front of him and do so thoroughly!
Just at that moment, there happened to be a wine shop ahead. She simply strode over there in big steps, muttering: “With such a big vinegar jar at home, I have to hurry up and buy a few jars of wine to dispel the vinegar smell on my body.” [Vinegar jar (醋坛子) is a metaphor for someone who is jealous.]
Song Shi’an, after being teased by her with this yin-yang tone, didn’t get angry. On the contrary, he slightly lifted the corners of his lips, revealing a shallow smile at the edge of his mouth.
A few women coming from the opposite direction were directly stunned by the sight, and someone couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise: “What a handsome langjun!”
Jiang Chun, who had gone ahead, heard this, immediately turned around and walked back, reached out to grab his hand, and tilted her chin toward those few women with a smug expression.
The implied meaning: Handsome? Too bad he’s mine—not yours!
Those few women had never seen a woman holding hands with her langjun on the street like this, and at once looked at each other in speechless astonishment.
Jiang Chun couldn’t be bothered with them, pulling Song Shi’an into the wine shop. She bought two jars of Jinhua wine and two jars of yellow wine for Jiang He and Zheng Yi.
Jiang Chun gave the wine shop’s assistant a tip of ten wen and asked him to deliver the wine to Yunlai Inn for Pan Xing. Then she continued strolling the street with Song Shi’an.
After some thought, she went into a jewelry shop, first buying a pair of silver earrings for her grandaunt Liu Pozi, then bought three ronghua of different colors, respectively for Jiang Xi, Wang Yin’er, and Jiang Liu.
Song Shi’an, upon seeing this, insisted on having her buy one for himself too.
Jiang Chun was not too willing—she still had quite a few ronghua from the system check-in rewards in her inventory; she could find an excuse to bring them out later, no need to spend extra money.
But Song Shi’an insisted, and even personally picked out a lanhua, saying it suited her extremely well.
Jiang Chun’s mouth twitched—an orchid, such a fresh and elegant flower, paired with her, a butcher woman who could perform a full martial arts show at the drop of a hat?
This wasn’t “beauty is in the eyes of the lover”anymore—this was a brain that must have been caught in a door to say such absurd words!
But in front of outsiders, she couldn’t strip her husband of his face, so she could only reluctantly fork over the money and buy it.
Song Shi’an, however, was in high spirits. Holding that ronghua, he personally pinned it into her hair bun.
Then he tilted his head to look from side to side, and commented: “Not bad, very beautiful.”
Jiang Chun: “….”
Forget it, forget it—if he thinks it looks good, that’s enough. Anyway, this ronghua is on her own head; she can’t even see it.
What is this called? A woman dresses up for the one who pleases her.
Tsk, she really is a thoughtful good wife.
The two of them strolled until evening, then went to Sui Xi Tang, a vegetarian restaurant, for dinner.
Although sneaking off to dine out without Song Shiyin and Pan Xing wasn’t too good, it was a rare chance to go out together—shouldn’t they, as a little couple, get to enjoy some two-person world time?
After returning to Yunlai Inn, Pan Xing hurriedly reported to Jiang Chun: “The wine shop’s assistant delivered four jars of wine, saying it was bought by Mistress Chun.”
Jiang Chun nodded and said with a smile: “Bought for my father and uncle. Before I left, they told me over and over—I wouldn’t dare come back empty-handed.”
Song Shiyin pursed her lips and acted coy with Song Shi’an, saying: “Big brother, why did you come back so late?”
Song Shi’an’s expression was calm as he casually lied: “The ship wasn’t easy to book. We waited at the dock for a long time before securing two cabins for tomorrow’s passenger ship.”
Pan Xing was immediately overjoyed: “Tomorrow we can return to Hongye County? That’s really wonderful!”
Song Shiyin also looked happy upon hearing this. Although she was somewhat apprehensive about the rural life her sister-in-law described—laundry, cooking, feeding pigs, working in the fields—she was even more unwilling to stay in this Shaoxing City, where people knew she had spent a year in a brothel.
Jiang Chun smiled and said: “You all rest early tonight. Tomorrow morning, we’ll have to hurry to the dock.”
Song Shiyin and Pan Xing naturally both responded in agreement without objection.
••
Although Song Shi’an didn’t want to get too entangled with Han Xiao, early the next morning, Han Xiao still sent someone over, delivering 200 taels of silver as a travel gift, two large crates of local specialties, and a box of common medicinal herbs that might be useful on the road.
Song Shi’an had Jiang Chun accept the items and told the attendant who had come to deliver the gifts: “Thank your langjun on my behalf. Tell him to take good care of himself. If we are fated, we’ll meet again.”
The attendant accepted the instructions, bowed, and took his leave.
Song Shiyin looked at the two large crates of local specialties and suggested: “Big Brother, we’re about to board the ship. Why not hire two porters to help carry these two crates on board?”
Jiang Chun let out a snorting laugh: “Hire what porters? Don’t they cost silver? Our family doesn’t have that kind of means.”
After speaking, she handed the small box of medicinal herbs to Song Shi’an, then with one hand lifted one of the large crates, her steps light and easy as she walked onto the deck.
Song Shiyin: “……”
She knew her sister-in-law was strong, but she hadn’t expected her to be this strong.
She pursed her lips—looks like she couldn’t afford to offend her. Otherwise, if she made her angry, with her own small body, wouldn’t she be no match even for one of her hands?