Married to a Villainous Minister - Chapter 68

Old Madam Yu’s performance of self-blame and sorrow tugged at Yu Ruhai’s heart. He thought of how hard his wife had worked for the family all these years, how she had exhausted herself for their well-being. 

Yes, she had shown favoritism now and then, but wasn’t that human nature? Overall, she had never been too harsh on the children from the first and second branches.

“You unfilial child! Look at how upset you’ve made your mother!” Yu Ruhai roared in fury. “Sending Jinshu to the county academy was my idea. What, do you want to anger this old man into his coffin too?”

Madam Zhang and Yu Qiaoshan both paled at the scolding. Madam Zhang, flustered and anxious, said, “Father, we never meant to upset you or Mother. But Zhizhou is your grandson too. If you can plan wholeheartedly for Jinshu and Jinyan, why can’t you also send Zhizhou to the county academy?”

Yu Ruhai was growing weary from all the arguing, and his head was starting to ache. Beside him, Old Madam Yu was still dabbing at her tears. With a dark expression, he snapped, “You short-sighted woman, didn’t I already explain it? Jinshu is older than Zhizhou and already had his engagement with the Liu family broken off.” 

“Without academic achievement or rank, how will he ever land a good marriage? Once the household has some extra silver, it won’t be too late to send Zhizhou to the academy. Must you make such a scene over this?”

But Madam Zhang didn’t believe a word of that promise. Over the years, she’d never once fought for her children’s interests, but now that things had blown open and they had already offended the third branch, she was determined to fight for something concrete.

“You say Jinshu is older, but isn’t Jinyan younger than Zhizhou by a year? When you sent Jinyan to the academy back then, did you first consider sending Jinshu instead?” she pressed. 

“Father, I’m not trying to argue for the sake of it, but people’s hearts know the truth. If the situation were reversed, if Zhizhou were the older one, what would you have done then?”

“I… of course I would’ve sent Zhizhou!” Yu Ruhai answered, but his voice lacked confidence. He had no desire to continue bickering with Madam Zhang, after all, women always had endless arguments at the ready.

He raised his voice to assert his authority. “Sending Jinshu to the county academy is decided. You from the first branch shouldn’t bear resentment over it. Let me be clear, once the household has more silver, we’ll send Zhizhou too.” 

“All these grandsons of mine, I hope they all achieve success and bring honor to the family! Even when times were tight, I scraped together every coin to pay the academy fees. If Zhizhou truly has the heart for studying and taking the imperial exams, why would I favor one over the other?”

Just then, a loud knock came from the front gate. The voices of a few village women rang out through the courtyard wall.

“Middle of the day, why’s Doctor Yu’s family got the gates locked up?”

Hearing the noise from outside, Yu Ruhai immediately composed himself. He swept his gaze over everyone in the room.

“Everyone, back to your business. Don’t give others a reason to laugh at us.”

After all that commotion, Madam Zhang couldn’t believe that the old man still sided with the third branch. Her heart felt cold. But she also knew Yu Ruhai cared most about appearances. If the fighting continued and the neighbors saw the scandal, the first branch would be the ones to suffer.

The family began to disperse. Madam Zhao had already gotten up from the ground and shot a venomous glare at Madam Zhang and her husband.

Just then, Yu Ruhai remembered the consultation fee from the Mu family. If Madam Zhang hadn’t stirred up trouble, he would’ve asked Yu Jiao for it earlier.

“Meng girl, where’s the consultation fee from the Mu family?” Yu Ruhai called out just as Yu Jiao was about to leave.

Yu Jiao paused for a moment. During the chaos earlier, she had quietly counted the money. The Mu family had given a full twenty taels.

She pulled out the pouch from her clothes and set it on the table.

Yu Ruhai hurried to open it. The sight of the bright silver glinting under the light made everyone’s eyes light up. The Yu family had never seen such a large consultation fee before.

He counted it, twelve taels in total.

But something felt off. Yu Ruhai clearly remembered how full that pouch looked when the Mu family servant handed it to Yu Jiao, it had been much heavier than it was now.