The sickly son died young? After the marriage exchange, I will bring prosperity to his entire clan f

She even felt that from this moment on, the situation of the Du family was in Ling Silang's hands, and he could do whatever he wanted.

Where did the Du family go?

Only the widow and Du Youtian remained in the courtyard; no one else was there.

“They went to the Wu family's house. They said they were waiting for you to come and asked Wu Daniu to go back and inform them that they would let you wait a while before you came back.”

"Alright, in that case we'll be going now." Ling Silang stood up. "Wife, let's go."

"it is good."

The widow did not stop them; in fact, she politely escorted them to the door.

Ling's father and mother were at the door, and they were quite surprised to see the two of them come out.

"Mom and Dad, let's go."

Ling's parents didn't ask any questions; they just did whatever Ling Silang said. The two of them got into the carriage, and the four of them left.

The widow happily entered the house with the silver, but Du Youtian was very anxious. "Has the Ling family left?"

"gone."

"Why didn't you stop them?" Du Youtian said anxiously, his tone harsh.

Displeasure flashed in the widow's eyes, but her face showed grievance. "How could I stop her? I'm a stepmother. If I stop her, what if Mingxian says I'm bullying her? Do I dare? There's no one else in the family, and I've only just entered the household. There are some things I don't dare to do."

Hearing the woman's grievances, Du Youtian softened. "Alright, don't be angry. I'll explain this to Mother when she gets back. Don't say anything, or you'll get scolded."

“Okay.” The widow replied, still looking puzzled. “It’s not good for Father and Mother to leave the Ling family like this. After all, Mingxian still has to maintain a proper image in the Ling family.”

"There's nothing wrong with it. That brat Mingxian is an ingrate."

"Ah, I remember before Mingxian got married, she did all the housework. Did you hurt her feelings?"

Du Youtian naturally wouldn't admit it, saying, "How could that be?"

The widow looked puzzled. "I remember someone saying that you would only give the things you bought to your eldest brother's children, not to Mingxian."

"No...nothing like that." Du Youtian's tone was somewhat hesitant.

"It's good that nothing happened. I was wondering how there could be such parents in the world. They are clearly their own children, yet they are not as good as their uncle's family. What child could accept that?"

"Even if the child is bad, he is still your own flesh and blood, which is better than a child from another family. Look at you, has Mingcheng cared about you since you got sick?"

“After Mingwei got married, she couldn’t do housework well, so she called her sister-in-law to her husband’s house as well. Once her sister-in-law left, there was no one to cook at home, and you had to suffer along with her.”

The widow's words made Du Youtian feel sad and bitter, and he even reflected a little. He realized that he really was... very bad to his daughter.

Du Mingxian knew nothing of these things. When the carriage returned home, it was past lunchtime. Seeing them come back, Granny Zhao went to cook again.

Du Mingxian followed Ling Silang into his room.

How did you convince her?

Widow Chen was no pushover. Because she became a widow early, she had relationships with many men in the village. She raised several children on her own and lived a pretty good life. You can't do that without some ability.

"Money," Ling Silang replied succinctly.

Du Mingxian frowned, "But the Du family also has a lot of money."

Du Mingwei's title of "lucky girl" wasn't given lightly. She could bring home good things after going out for a stroll. The Du family had bought land in the past and left behind a lot of money, making them live better than other families in the village.

If it really was about money, the widow could have found a way to get money from the Du family after marrying Du Youtian; it should have been more than what Ling Silang gave her.

Seeing her suspicion, Ling Silang could only tell her the truth, "Money is part of it. I've agreed to give her one tael of silver a month to keep an eye on things. If I pass the imperial examination and need a servant to run errands, I'll have to use Widow Chen's second son."

Du Mingxian didn't know what to say for a moment, "Are you so sure? And with such a big promise, if she believes it at first, then... it's too unpredictable."

"There are plenty of solutions. We're in a hurry, so this is the only way for now. We'll find a solution later, so don't worry."

Du Mingxian recalled Widow Chen's children. Her eldest daughter was the one she wanted to be Wu Daniu's concubine in her past life. Counting the time, Widow Chen's eldest daughter is now... ten years old.

Her second son is eight years old, and her youngest son and daughter are even younger.

Widow Chen's eldest daughter and second son are from her ex-husband's family, while her youngest daughter and youngest son... father unknown.

The villagers gossiped a lot, but Widow Chen didn't care.

Thinking that an eight-year-old child running errands probably wouldn't be involved in anything important, she stopped worrying about it.

"Thank you."

Ling Silang reached out and gently stroked the bridge of her nose. "I am your husband, and these are things that I should do."

Du Mingxian didn't say anything, she just felt very happy at this moment.

That night, she carefully recalled Widow Chen's matter and felt that Ling Silang had made the right move.

Widow Chen has a bad reputation, but she is a good mother. With Ling Silang's promise, she can receive money every month, find a man to eat and drink without worry, and find a place for her second son in the future. Although the chances of finding a place are slim, there is always a chance.

Being around scholars, especially those who have passed the imperial examinations, is a very good thing.

Thinking about it this way, it's a win-win situation; only a fool wouldn't agree.

Meanwhile, back at the Wang family's place, Wang Qi happily brought his things home and went to his father's study to ask for a reward.

"Father, I did a great job this time. One hundred jars saved me money. You have to reward me."

Wang Qi's elder brother, Wang Jin, was discussing matters with their father when he saw his unreliable younger brother push open the door and come in without checking the situation. He immediately asked for a reward, leaving Wang Qi to shake his head helplessly.

After Wang Qi finished speaking, he noticed that his older brother was also there, and said casually, "My older brother is here too."

Father Wang wasn't angry at his second son's lack of manners. "Tell me more carefully."

“Father, elder brother, let me tell you, the Ling family who make sauce are really shrewd. In order to get us to buy more sauce, they actually said the first time they would give us one free jar if we bought twenty jars. We were not talking about a hundred jars. When I thought about it, I realized that they would only give us five free jars. That won’t do. I’m not willing to accept that.”

“I said that wouldn’t do, and asked them to lower the price. In the end, I bought a jar for 4.8 ounces. That’s reasonable, right? It’s 200 coins less per jar.”

Father Wang's expression changed. Wang Jin looked at his foolish younger brother with a half-smile and handed him the riding whip hanging on the wall of his father's study. "Father, hit him if you want, but don't get sick from anger."

The father took the whip and began to strike Wang Qi.

Wang Qi returned home happily, expecting praise from his family, but to his utter shock, he ran outside shouting, "Dad, what are you doing? I saved the family money and you still hit me?"

Wang Jin stood at the door of the study, watching his father chase his younger brother, who was jumping around, with a whip. He slowly said, "Twenty for one, five hundred taels can get you one hundred and five jars. Each jar weighs four taels and seventy-six taels. They're offering you a discount, but you don't want it. You insist on raising the price yourself."

“Our family is rich, but we can’t afford for you to squander like this. It’s good for your father to teach you a lesson. How about I call a few people to hold him down before you hit him? I see you’re having trouble chasing monsters. You were clearly catching up to them just now, so why didn’t you strike with the whip? Is your hand not obeying your commands?”