Chapter 114
Chapter 114: Chapter 114 Xi Luo Incites Trouble_1 Chapter 114: Chapter 114 Xi Luo Incites Trouble_1 Dr. Zheng sighed for the hardships this young couple had endured. Lin Yue had come to terms with Zhao Erhu’s injury and his unresponsive comatose state; she did not mind at all. Instead, her face bore a resolute smile, “I believe my husband will wake up one day. The children and I are all waiting for him.”
“The sincerity of a young lady’s heart will fulfill her wishes,” said Dr. Zheng, a rare utterance for a medic to make such groundless consolations.
Over the past few days, the medicine Zhao Erhu took had truly stabilized his condition. Dr. Zheng prescribed a new, cheaper remedy—only one hundred coins for a dose. However, it would be needed for another month or two, still a significant expense.
By the time Dr. Zheng left, it was already noon. Lin Yue invited him to stay for lunch. Dr. Zheng, admiring Lin Yue’s strong will as she upheld her family in her husband’s absence, had warmed up to her during their carriage ride and stayed after declining initially twice. In the countryside, strict formalities were unnecessary, especially for an old doctor like him, and besides, there were several children in the house.
Erhu had already lit the fire in the stove. Lin Yue began to cook the rice and sent Dalang and others to the valley to gather some wild shepherd’s purse. She then got busy in the kitchen. With so many ingredients purchased in the morning, Lin Yue could easily prepare a sumptuous lunch with just a few selected items.
Without convenient communication and no one to send the news specifically, Zhao Yunxiang learned about Zhao Erhu’s accident only several days later. However, having to care for the young and old at home, even an anxious Zhao Yunxiang had to make arrangements first. Early the next morning, before dawn, she headed to Zhao Family Village with dozens of eggs. By the time she arrived, it was already noon, and she had even run into Zhao Quan’s wife from the Jin Family along the way. Zhao Yunxiang gave her cursory responses and continued straight to Zhao Erhu’s house, without any intention of returning to the Zhao family’s old home.
Originally, it was Wei Family’s instigation that led to Zhao Jingen marrying Zhao Yunxiang into the impoverished Lin Genfa’s family in Shanglin Village. After all, Lin Genfa had offered five taels of silver as a dowry. Wei Family didn’t give her any trousseau except for a large wooden chest containing some of her old clothes. It was her two full brothers who secretly managed to get her some new fabric, and they also gave her three taels of silver as a dowry; otherwise, she would definitely be looked down upon by her in-laws.
“If my own mother were still alive, how could I have fallen to such a state?” she thought with a pang of sadness. Fortunately, since marrying into the Lin Family, although poor, her husband was considerate, and her mother-in-law treated her well. She got pregnant in the first year of marriage and gave birth to a hefty baby boy the next year, securing her place in the Lin Family. Later, she had another daughter and son.
Therefore, whether it was the unfair treatment she received as a child or the scheming she faced when getting married, Zhao Yunxiang held nothing but disdain and hatred for the people in the Zhao family’s old house, including her own elder brother Zhao Dahuo, in whom she was disappointed. Zhao Dahuo was too honest and weak-willed, crushed under the Wei Family’s mother and sons. Even when they conspired to drive Zhao Erhu out, Zhao Dahuo, his own elder brother, didn’t dare to stand up for him.
Jin Family’s daughter-in-law had married into the Zhao Household a few years after Zhao Yunxiang’s own marriage. Zhao Yunxiang seldom returned to the Zhao family’s old house, except during festivals, so the two women did not meet often. Jin Family didn’t take kindly to her imposing older sister-in-law, who always came across as sharp and strong-willed. Knowing that Zhao Yunxiang was there to visit Zhao Erhu, Jin Family couldn’t resist sneering and stirring up trouble.