It wasn't until Minister Chen died and the Chen family fell into decline that Chen Yanzhou finally agreed to marry me. To help him pass the civil service examinations, I used my family's resources to run a business day and night, all to save enough money for him to become the spirited young man he once was.
I stayed in our hometown to manage his estate. He promised that once he had made a name for himself, he would bring me to the capital so we could be together. But when news came that Chen Yanzhou had been promoted, he sent an elaborate bridal procession to bring back his childhood sweetheart, whom her husband had cast out.
The servants whispered among themselves: “Back then, Young Master only married Madam to spite the childhood sweetheart who had married someone else.”
“How could a wife with nothing but the stench of money, a poor girl from the countryside, ever compare to the woman he cherished in his youth?”
Even the son I had raised with such care took Song Qing's side.
“I don't want a mother who comes from a merchant family and cares about nothing but money!”
“Only a talented woman like Aunt Qing is worthy of Father's refined, scholarly nature!”
The father and son drove me out with nothing. They thought that without my support, I would soon come crawling back to beg their forgiveness. They had no idea that every bit of the Chen family's wealth had been earned by me.
Since you despise the stench of money on me, then stay with your beloved and live a life of poverty.
