Chapter 9

After the day that Lan Jiu was disciplined by her grandfather, she immediately behaved better. Afraid that she would be targeted and divorced her husband. Ning Zheng did not care about his wife. He and his grandfather happily raised the children together. Since their mother was so heartless, the two grandfather and grandson raised them together. Ning Xuanyuan, who helped raise his eldest grandson until he was five years old, began to get sick and ill like an old person. This caused Ning Zheng to become even more distant from his wife. He took care of his grandfather and sent a letter to his brother telling him to come back if he could come back to see him. If he could not come, it did not matter. He would take care of his grandfather until the end. Ning Jing, who received the letter from his younger brother, could only feel sorry. But now that he had passed the imperial court examination, it was difficult for him to go anywhere. Moreover, his own children were now old enough to go to school, so he could not leave. Ning Jing could only send a letter back to his younger brother in a sad manner. At first, his wife was going to go back by herself. But Ning Jing didn't trust her to travel alone, so he didn't let her go out of concern. Huang Meiyi knew that her husband was worried, but had he forgotten that she was the daughter of the Protection Sect? Even though she had a child, she had never neglected her training for a single day. Since she didn't want to argue with her husband about this, she didn't stubbornly insist on going. She waited until he could take leave before going, and it wouldn't be too late. Moreover, she wanted to visit her father. Ning Jing understood that his wife really wanted to go back. She would wait until he finished his work and asked for ten days off. If she rode her horse fast, she should be able to make it back and forth in time. As for Ning Zheng, who now had to take care of his grandfather and children, he could only worry about whether his brother would return in time to see his grandfather. As for his wife? Instead of helping him raise his children, she only raised her eldest and middle children. She didn't care about the youngest at all. He really didn't understand why she hated her youngest child so much. His three children were smarter than the others. He had also taught his son about herbs when he was two years old and saw that his son could remember quite a few herbs. Unlike his other children who were only interested in playing, he wanted to put his hopes in herbs with his youngest son instead of relying on his eldest and middle sons who did not know how their wives taught them. Why were they so stubborn? They also bullied his youngest son all the time. After suffering from illness for a month, Ning Zheng's grandfather passed away. He ordered his servants to help arrange his grandfather's funeral. Ning Jing and his wife arrived on the day his grandfather passed away. Lan Jiu, who had just seen her husband's eldest brother and his wife dress well, could not help but feel annoyed. As for her, she had to dress like a commoner like her husband. This made her quite jealous. She also sarcastically said to her husband that his brother's wife dressed very well, but she, as his wife, had to live in poverty and wear old clothes. In fact, Ning Zheng often gave her money to buy clothes, but she scolded him like this. Ning Jing saw her younger brother's wife like this and felt disgusted and told her younger brother to take good care of himself and not to pay any attention to this selfish country wife. If there was anything, he should send a letter to tell her because he had only been here for a few days. His wife was visiting her father-in-law at the moment. It was estimated that his father-in-law would also come to pay his respects to his grandfather's body today. The villagers also came to help Ning Xuanyuan's funeral because he often gave herbs to sick villagers, so he was beloved by the villagers. Ning Jing stayed until the funeral was over and then had to rush back to the capital to continue his work. Huang Meiyi also returned with her husband. She had left her children in the mansion for a long time, so she was worried. Huang Meiyi saw her sister-in-law's eyes and could only worry about her brother-in-law. She told him to be careful of this country wife. She saw that this woman was not a good person. It was just that she could not interfere with her brother-in-law's family affairs, so she could only warn her. Ning Zheng still wondered why his sister-in-law warned him the same way his grandfather warned him before he left. He himself did not think that she would be that bad. If she misbehaved, he would divorce her and that would be the end of it. Since Ning Zheng still gave his wife a chance to improve herself, he didn’t think about everyone’s warnings to be careful of his wife at all. Ning Zheng continued to sell his herbs as usual. Many servants who had left the old master had all left and gone back to their old home. Now Lan Jiu had to do the housework herself, so she was quite tired. She could only take it out on her youngest son, Ning Guan. As for Ning Ai and Ning Yi, she never used them in any way. This made Ning Zheng more and more dissatisfied with her every day. He didn’t know how much longer he would have to watch his third son being bullied. He could only give his son, the one he had placed his hopes in, love and warmth in. At least if his third son had to move out of the house, he would still have the knowledge of herbs to earn money. When his children reached the age where they could go to school, Ning Zheng let all three of them go to school together. But Lan Jiu refused to let Ning Guan go to school with his brothers, which caused Ning Zheng to quarrel with her for the first time. He told her that he had earned all the money. It was his business whether he let anyone go to school or not. Now that there were no servants in the mansion, Lan Jiu was even angrier. She said that if Ning Guan went to school, who would help her with the housework? This left Ning Zheng helpless. He would never let Ning Guan help his wife with her chores. Every time he saw her do it herself, Ning Zheng would not agree to this matter, and Ning Guan was able to go to school with her brothers. This caused Lan Jiu to be so angry with her husband that she did not talk to him for a month. In the end, her husband earned all of the money but never let her keep it. She could only ask for a little at a time.