Madam Lu was startled by the intense look Zhou Xuennian gave her.
"Husband, why are you looking at me like that?" It was unsettling.
Madam Lu dodged Zhou Xuennian’s fervent gaze, feeling a sense of unease.
However, Zhou Xuennian suddenly took her hand in his and said urgently, "Zhen Zhu, whether or not I can pass the examination and become a scholar this time depends entirely on you."
Madam Lu was taken aback and tried to pull her hand back, but part of her was reluctant to do so; she allowed him to hold it half-heartedly and scolded, "How can it all depend on me to pass the examination for a scholar when I can’t take it for you?"
She looked down at her husband’s hand, which was long and handsome, fitting for a man who wrote for a living.
The Lu Family were butchers, and Madam Lu’s brothers all helped with slaughtering pigs and selling them, while she, the youngest sister and a late-life child, was always doted on. She disliked the roughness of men like her brothers and longed for the company of scholars, so she was overjoyed when she learned she was to marry Zhou Xuennian.
And indeed, as she expected, her husband was learned, well-spoken, and even had handsome hands. There was nothing about him she found displeasing.
Startled by a nudge, Madam Lu came back to her senses, coughed twice, and said, "I’m listening."
"Mother has ninety taels, and I’m certain she can make it one hundred. If you can just come up with another two hundred taels for me, that will be enough," Zhou Xuennian said urgently.
Madam Lu frowned and withdrew her hand, her face turning sour as she responded, "Other men give their women money, but you’re asking me for silver? Where am I supposed to find two hundred taels?"
Zhou Xuennian felt displeased deep down but put on a smile and moved closer, saying, "My good Zhen Zhu, I know you well. You came into this marriage with a sizable dowry, and over the years, your private savings must have grown, right?"
Upon hearing this, Madam Lu jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on and said shrilly, "When I married into this family sixteen or seventeen years ago, our own family circumstances weren’t that good. How much could there have been? And these past few years, you’ve barely given me any money at all, so where would I have any?"
"Doesn’t your mother give you some extra on the side?" Zhou Xuennian said coolly.
The Lu Family’s business in butchering had been thriving in recent years, and their financial foundation had thickened. Old Lady Lu, who dearly loved her only daughter, had always given her occasional financial assistance.
"I have a few sister-in-laws watching over me; how much could I possibly receive?" Lu Zhenzhu said indignantly.
She knew he was eyeing her private stash, hmph.
"Then why not borrow some from your mother?" Zhou Xuennian suggested subtly, "If you speak very nicely to Mother, she will surely support her son-in-law."
He paused and added, "Rest assured, a small kindness will be repaid with a wellspring of gratitude. If your mother helps me this time, when I make it big in the future, I will certainly not forget the Lu Family, and I will be sure to pull you all up with me."
"My mother doesn’t have that much silver," Madam Lu said.
Zhou Xuennian became very annoyed but then sighed, "If that’s the case, then let it be. Such a pity, I was looking forward to passing the examination for scholar this time and then aiming for the official imperial examinations to become a successful imperial examination candidate. I wanted to win you a phoenix halo crown, to have others call you Lady of the House, and to have maids and servants waiting on you, so you’d no longer have to care about what other people think. Such a pity..."
Madam Lu’s heart was moved by the thought of the scene he described, and she felt a surge of excitement. She pursed her lips and said, "Let me think about it, I will discuss it with my mother first."
"You must hurry, the examination date has already been postponed due to various factors, but it’s still at the end of the month," Zhou Xuennian got up quickly.
Madam Lu nodded her head.
Zhou Xuennian, feeling a great relief in his heart upon persuading his wife, glanced at Madam Lu and smirked with satisfaction, confident that with a little flair, she would want it too.