The cousin's family is extremely wealthy; she deserves to be a concubine.

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In the northbound caravan, an inconspicuous carriage followed at a distance.

The occasional coughing of the women inside the carriage sounded somewhat jarring on the clattering of horses' hooves on the official road.

"Miss, you're awake?" Madam Wang, who had been watching her young mistress closely, felt the worry on her face ease for a moment.

Chunyan, the little maid who was peeking out from behind the curtain, heard Wang Mama speak and quickly sat down properly, placing a large, thick pillow behind her young lady's back.

"Mother, you're worrying." She then looked at the curtains. "Good Chunyan, hang up a corner of that curtain. I also want to see the beautiful scenery outside."

She was half-lying down, so she might not be able to see the sky and scenery outside clearly, but even a wisp of wind blowing in was a comfort to her, a person who had been ill for a long time.

“Girl, in just one more day, we will reach the capital.”

"When the time comes, we'll go to your aunt, Lady Hou, and ask her to send the imperial physician to give you a proper check-up. Our better days are yet to come."

Mama Wang then took out the water pouch and served the young lady two sips.

"My health is like this. I'll ask for a small room in the Marquis's mansion and recuperate for a year or two, and that should be enough."

As an orphan living under someone else's roof, how could she possibly have the face to ask her aunt to ask the imperial physician for treatment?

"My late mother often said that she had a fairly good relationship with the Lady of the Marquis when she was young. The Lady of the Marquis was the eldest sister in the family and was very kind to her younger siblings."

Now we'll go and seek refuge with Lady Hou; she'll surely remember our past kindness. Don't worry, young lady, your mother will plead with Lady Hou then.”

Thinking of her deceased wife, Wang's mother felt even more pain in her heart.

If the lady were still alive, the young girl wouldn't have had to travel alone from the Western Hills to the distant capital for protection at such a young age.

“My aunt was of high status and married the best. My father passed away suddenly, leaving behind such a large family business, which made the clansmen envious.”

"If I want to protect this family business, the only way is to rely on my powerful aunt." She was the only daughter of the eldest branch of the Hua family, and her given name was Si Rong.

Her mother died during childbirth.

Her father named her after her mother.

She was frail from a young age and was pampered by her father. Just as her father was about to find her a husband, an accident occurred, and she died suddenly, her remains never recovered.

Despite her illness, she handled her father's funeral and decisively spent a considerable amount of money to temporarily appease the Hua family.

Now, by claiming that his mother had jokingly made a verbal promise with his aunt in Beijing to arrange a marriage between their two children, he has temporarily thwarted the wolves in sheep's clothing who wanted to exploit his family.

In a hurry, they used the favors left by their father when he was alive to ask the manager of the North-South caravan for a ride so that they, a few weak women, could go to the capital to visit relatives.

Also, fearing to alert the enemy, Hua Sirong only brought her personal attendant, Wang Mama, and a little maid named Chunyan who had helped her greatly in her time of crisis.

Wang Mama was brought by her mother from her maiden home, the Shen family, while Chunyan was a famine-stricken girl bought from outside. Both of them had no ties to their homeland and were not afraid of leaving it.

"The master is very devoted to his wife, and the mother is happy for our wife."

It's a pity that the mistress was unlucky and passed away early, leaving no son for the master, so the young lady now has no close relatives to rely on.

"In previous years, when the daughter had grown up, I also advised the master that even if he didn't remarry, it would be good to take a concubine and have a son or daughter."

But the master feared he would be too ashamed to face his wife if he died, and he also worried that the new bride would treat the young lady badly, and that the new siblings would disrespect her as their elder sister.

"Alas, the master thought he could protect the girl for a lifetime, but who knew that he would also leave my poor girl so early."

If Mother had known things would turn out this way, she would have risked her reputation back then and pressured Master to give their daughter a younger brother.

Wang Mama was a servant, but her current predicament made her resent the master's infatuation.

If the girl had a younger brother, the two siblings could have protected most of the Hua family's property and lived comfortably in the Hua family's old house, thanks to the influence of the Marquis's mansion and their maternal grandparents' family.

Unlike now, when, despite the late spring chill, I still have to go to the capital to seek refuge with the Lady Hou, whom I've never met before.

If the Hua family is a wolf's den, who knows if the Muqing Marquis's mansion isn't a tiger's lair?

"Mom, please calm down. We're out of the mud pit of the Hua family now, and things will definitely get better and better from now on."

Hua Sirong comforted Wang's mother, even though she herself felt the future was bleak.

"Bah, speaking of which, that second wife's family is really despicable. If it weren't for them instigating us to give our daughter to the newly arrived county magistrate as a concubine, we wouldn't have had to rush to the capital to seek refuge with relatives."

These days, Wang's mother has been surviving on memories and resentment.

"And then there are the clan chiefs and elders. When the patriarch was alive, the amount of real gold and silver he gave away during festivals could have piled up into several mountains."

When it came to the worst, it was all for naught.

Leaving aside normal expenses, just to get the clan to agree to find a husband for the girl, a lot of things had to be promised.

You can just casually toss it to a beggar and still get a 'thank you, sir's reward' and a response.

It's a good thing to feed the flower family, but it's really like throwing good money after bad, turning the tables on them.

"The world is bustling with activity, all for the sake of profit. Besides, our Hua family are merchants."

Merchants value profit over parting, and that perfectly describes them.

Her father was an exception, however, who was so deeply devoted to her mother, which was truly rare in this world.

"Girls always have so many reasons."

"That's fine too. From now on, we'll be making a living in the Marquis's mansion, which is right under the emperor's nose, the most reasonable place."

It's better than those people in the Xishan countryside, who rely on their elders and don't reason with you at all.

“Mom is right.”

Is the Marquis's residence a place where reason prevails?

Hua Sirong thought it was unlikely.

“Our young lady is as beautiful as a fairy. She will surely win the favor of the Marquis’s wife when she goes to the Marquis’s mansion.”

The young lady has reached marriageable age. If her husband hadn't left in such a hurry, she might be staying home and looking for a husband right now.

"From now on, I'll have to trouble Lady Hou to help arrange the young lady's marriage."

Madam Wang is always worrying. If the Marquis's mansion had a young man of similar age to marry off to her daughter, that would be a blessing.

But she also knew that the girl was just a merchant's daughter, and an orphan who had lost her mother at a young age, so wealthy families would look down on her.

They only hoped that they could rely on the Marquis's mansion and ask the Marquis's wife to find a poor scholar for their daughter, which would not be a problem.

After all, her daughter is not short of money.

"It's not urgent."

She was a young woman of marriageable age; she couldn't very well arrange a marriage for herself.

No matter how anxious Wang Mama was, she was a servant and had no right to arrange a marriage for her master.

Chunyan was young and didn't understand many of the rules, plus she hadn't served the girls personally before.

She said, "Why not? You're sixteen this year. Girls from other families are already married by now."

"The master has passed away, and the young lady must observe three years of mourning; she will be nineteen by then."

She started counting on her fingers.

Good heavens, the girl has become an old maid.

Even in the countryside, there's no reason to keep such a bad product for so long.

"You brat, what nonsense are you spouting?" Wang's mother slapped Chunyan hard across the back.

You brat, there's only so much space in the carriage. If you don't speak, neither the girl nor your mother will assume you're a sturdy little mute.

“If a girl is beautiful, even at nineteen, there will be plenty of talented young men vying to marry her. After a year or two, we can secretly inquire which family has a suitable young man.”

Let's take a look and pick the best one. When the time comes, besides the filial piety ceremony, let's hurry up with the matchmaking and betrothal, and get her married before the Double Tenth Festival, without any delay.

"Mom's here; she won't let our girl suffer."

Wang's mother thought that her daughter was at the best age and had to observe mourning, which was a matter of human ethics, but she still felt uneasy.

"Mom is the best." Hua Sirong tugged at Wang Mama's hand, thinking to herself that her mother was so good to her, treating the sons of good families like radishes and cabbages, lining up to be chosen by her.

She lost her biological mother when she was young, but Wang Mama was like another mother to her.

"The carriage has stopped?" As Wang Mama spoke, Chunyan lifted the curtain to look outside; they had arrived at the post station.

"Girl, please rest. I'll go get some food." The caravan was mostly men, and their wagons were parked far away, not getting any closer.

Whatever happened along the way, it was Wang's mother who took care of everything.

Although Chunyan was only eleven or twelve years old and didn't know much about etiquette, she was strong and had some strength.

He is an invaluable talent when he is away from home.