Chapter 626 - 231: Capital City
Chapter 626: Chapter 231: Capital City
The group had their lunch at the post station today.
When they went to settle the bill after the meal, preparing to return to the Capital City, they were informed that someone had already paid their tab in advance.
The generous stranger hadn’t left a name, only a message saying that seeing their family reunited had deeply touched him. He hoped that in his own lifetime, he might once again see his daughter who had married far away.
The gentleman who paid the bill had already left, making it impossible to catch up with him now. Xu Shiling could only send his men to inquire about who had quietly done this good deed while he carried his mother on his back, helping her onto the carriage.
When the convoy set off again, the old lady, Xu Suying, Mrs. Guo, and Chen Wanqing shared one carriage.
Xu Yanlin, De’an, Zhao Jing, and Yao’an shared another.
Xu Shiling and Chen Song—both skilled in martial arts—along with the guards brought by Xu Shiling and the old lady, all rode on horseback, securing the flanks of the convoy.
After her overwhelming excitement, the old lady was left completely drained of energy. She hadn’t even been able to eat her lunch, barely managing to drink a bowl of chicken soup. Even now, her hands and feet were still trembling.
Xu Suying held her mother’s hands and recounted the events of her past. She talked about how she had been saved by Chen Song, their harmonious marriage, and the subsequent birth of their two sons and one daughter. She proudly mentioned how Chen Song deferred to her in all matters, both inside and outside the home. He was a motivated man, she noted, currently serving as a Salt Transport Judge in Xinghuai Prefecture.
After rambling on about various things, Xu Suying pulled Chen Wanqing over to present her to the old lady.
"This is my daughter. Isn’t she as beautiful as I was in my youth? Let me tell you, beauty is truly her least remarkable trait! Her talent in incense making is unparalleled, countless times better than mine. She’s also incredibly lucky—the husband she picked is one in a million..."
She then pulled Zhao Jing forward to boast about him, detailing how he had first achieved the Junior Triple First and then became the top scorer in the provincial examination. Although he came from a small town, his talent was exceptional.
Coincidentally, her nephew Yanlin was also Zhao Jing’s academic mentor. However, it wasn’t that Yanlin had pulled strings to give Zhao Jing the top title. Rather, Zhao Jing’s literary talent was truly astonishing and breathtaking. She assured them that once they spent some time with this grandson-in-law, they would see just how wonderful he was.
Wherever Xu Suying was, there was never a dull moment.
Ever since getting into the carriage, she had been chattering away non-stop. Her voice was crisp and loud, accompanied by constant smiles and laughter. When exaggerating a story, she would even gesture wildly with her hands. Whether she managed to make others laugh or not, she herself was endlessly amused, radiating a festive and joyful aura.
The old lady’s heart and eyes were completely filled with her daughter. Whatever Xu Suying said, she would readily agree with a "Good," "Alright," or "If you think highly of him, he naturally can’t be bad."
Seeing this, Mrs. Guo didn’t feel jealous at all. She turned to Chen Wanqing and whispered, "In the past, back at home, anyone who wanted to make the old lady laugh had to rack their brains. Even then, she wouldn’t necessarily humor them. Your mother is different. As long as she makes an appearance, no matter what she says, the old lady is an enthusiastic audience."
She then explained to Chen Wanqing that since Xu Suying was the old lady’s youngest child born in her later years, she was truly the apple of her mother’s eye.
When Mrs. Guo first married into the Xu family, Xu Suying was only six or seven years old and unimaginably mischievous. She would dare to draw a mustache on the old master’s face while he was taking his afternoon nap or add paste to his inkpot. She had even sneaked bugs into her older brothers’ clothes and led them to poke a hornet’s nest—resulting in all four siblings getting their faces stung with swollen lumps.
"She was impossibly naughty. Because of that, when I was pregnant, I suffered from nightmares for the longest time. I dreamed that the child I gave birth to would behave exactly like their aunt."
From Mrs. Guo’s fond words, it was easy to tell that she shared an exceptionally close relationship with her sister-in-law. In truth, their bond was beyond excellent.
After Mrs. Guo married into the family, she hadn’t conceived for several years. Had it been any other household, a mother-in-law would have long grown anxious, itching to shove concubines into her son’s room just six months into the marriage and forcing all sorts of folk remedies on the wife.
The Xu family had no such troubles because the precocious little Xu Suying constantly spoke up on Mrs. Guo’s behalf. Furthermore, the old lady wasn’t a harsh or critical mother-in-law. Deep down, she sincerely wished for her son and daughter-in-law to have a happy life together, so she actually listened to Xu Suying and refrained from interfering in her son’s private marital affairs.
That single act of support was enough for Mrs. Guo to be grateful to Xu Suying for a lifetime, not to mention another major incident. After Mrs. Guo had her first child, she didn’t add a second child to the family for five years. Using Xu Shinian’s birthday as an excuse, his colleagues in the officialdom directly gifted him two beauties.
Before Mrs. Guo even had time to get angry, Xu Suying had clapped her hands and eagerly declared that a shop she had just opened was short-staffed, meaning these beauties were delivered at the perfect time. With a bit of training, they could work at the shop. If they did well, they could even become Shopkeepers and eventually emancipate themselves.
And just like that, with a few simple sentences, she swept the two beauties away.