Upon hearing this, Wang felt a moment of guilt, but ultimately, she bit her lip, lowered her head, and remained silent.

After a long silence, she tentatively said, "Husband, why don't we go to the capital? We can still receive a salary there, so we don't have to worry about expenses for now."

“It’s not that simple,” Old Huang said, rubbing his head in frustration. “I’ve already inquired about it. Without a real official position, a marquis’s salary is only three thousand taels a year. Considering the prices in the capital, that’s barely enough to cover daily expenses and social engagements.”

It's almost impossible to live a better life.

"How could this be?" Madam Wang covered her mouth in surprise. "With such meager salaries, how can those dukes and marquises maintain their dignity?"

"They are different from us; they didn't achieve success overnight."

The family's respectable status was maintained through generations of accumulation, dowries from in-laws, and the output of countless fertile fields and shops under their name; it wasn't solely due to their salary.

In the capital, families of high status typically require at least five thousand taels of silver for a wedding, not to mention the expenses of the entire family. If they only have a salary, they would definitely live a very frugal life, let alone live a respectable life; they would be lucky if they could avoid losing face.

Upon hearing this, Madam Wang suddenly felt very embarrassed. "Is my husband blaming me for not bringing a dowry?"

"No, don't overthink it. I just want you to know that life in the capital isn't as good as you think."

Frugality is the right way.

Three thousand taels of silver is not much, but it is more than enough to cover daily expenses, and there may even be a considerable surplus. However, if all the silver is spent on jewelry, headwear, and various fabrics, it will be impossible to make ends meet.

“I’m not afraid,” Wang said firmly. “No matter how bad things get, it won’t be worse than it is now.”

"That won't work either. Da Niu and the others are still young, and I'm worried about them."

"Then let's take them all with us, so the family can be reunited."

"Are you talking nonsense again?" Old Master Huang was very annoyed. "Mother didn't punish us for not disciplining us, which is already out of respect for Father. Life is already much better than last year. Don't be ungrateful. If you keep causing trouble, we might end up back where we were last year."

Huang Chuan is more clear-headed than Huang Shan. He knows what he can and cannot do, and he would never be foolish enough to exhaust all his emotions.

Wang understood this as well.

She had been pressuring Huang Chuan, wanting him to be completely abandoned by his family, so that they could stick together and support each other in their similar circumstances.

However, disappointingly, Huang Chuan never took that step.

The couple's relationship had long since deteriorated; they were clearly torturing each other, yet neither was willing to let go.

"What do we do now?" Madam Wang pointed out the reality directly, "We don't have enough money."

"I'll figure something out!"

The following day, Jiang Nuan finally learned what Huang Chuan's method was.

He pawned the imperial gift of mutton-fat jade, a dead pawn, and received two thousand taels of silver.

These jade pendants are very rare. Each of the brothers received one. Although Jiang Nuan gave them to them casually and spoke of it lightly, he actually intended for his son to pass them down to his descendants.

"That scoundrel!" Old Madam Huang was furious. "He dares to touch things bestowed by the Emperor? Does he think he's lived too long?"

“These items come from private treasuries and don’t bear any royal seal, so strictly speaking, they can actually be pawned.”

Jiang Nuan's face was dark, and her words were very stiff.

She truly hadn't expected her eldest son to set his sights on this place.

"Wang can't stay any longer," Old Mrs. Huang said firmly. "She's a jinx; whoever gets involved with her will be doomed. She must be divorced."

“That’s right,” Old Mrs. Jiang quickly chimed in. “A virtuous wife brings less trouble to her husband. Wang Shi is clearly of poor character. If we continue to indulge her, she will only ruin our family’s reputation.”

“I think,” Jiang Nuan shook her head and said, “the main responsibility lies with the eldest brother. Ultimately, it was his own stupidity that led to this.”

“He has even bigger problems,” Old Mrs. Huang agreed. “He’s already like this before even going to the capital. Who knows what trouble he’ll cause in the future? The marquisate can’t be given to him.”

When Old Lady Huang thought of her eldest grandson, who seemed to have lost his mind, she became even more vigilant, fearing that another Huang Shan might emerge.

“I have the same idea,” Jiang Nuan agreed. “Those who can’t protect their family business are indeed not capable of shouldering great responsibilities.”

She was speechless about this and had no idea what to say.

Huang Chuan was not in dire straits and did not deserve forgiveness at all; stupidity is the original sin!

"Has the jade pendant been redeemed?" Old Mrs. Huang asked anxiously. "We mustn't let people spread this around and make us a laughingstock."

“It cost four thousand taels to redeem it,” Jiang Nuan said, finding it amusing. “Perhaps afraid of being discovered, he went to the next county and deliberately chose an inconspicuous pawnshop, unaware that it was owned by Han Yi’s maternal family.”

Otherwise, it would have been impossible to redeem it.

Even without the imperial designation, mutton fat jade is still a top-grade jade.

Few families with enough to eat would be willing to sell such an exquisite jade pendant.

"That's good," Old Mrs. Huang breathed a sigh of relief, then snorted coldly, "Good things are always in limited quantities. Do you think that just because you went to the next county, no one will know? Do you think you can get away with it by making up some excuse that you lost it? Do you think everyone is a fool?"

Fortunately, someone was keeping an eye on it; otherwise, it would have become the talk of the town in the next county within a few days.

"I probably didn't think that much about it."

"Such good stuff is a waste to leave it to him," Old Mrs. Jiang said indignantly. "Does he have anything else on him? Take it all back and leave it for Da Niu and the others, so it won't be wasted again!"

“They probably don’t have any more,” Jiang Nuan explained after careful consideration. “They left in a hurry, and with someone watching them, they couldn’t have taken anything except their personal jade pendant.”

"That's for the best," Old Madam Jiang sneered, then continued to scold, "They've only been living there for less than two months, and a thousand taels are gone. Are they eating money?"

Jiang Xu and his wife are also away, and their daughter-in-law is pregnant. They haven't spent more than ten taels of silver so far. How can they possibly make ends meet?

“These things have nothing to do with us,” Old Mrs. Huang waved her hand. “The most urgent thing is to think of a way to deal with these scourges!”

They can't live their own lives without caring for their extended family; they can't continue to indulge them and drag others down with them.

"Mother, what are your thoughts?"

"How about slapping it to death?" Old Mrs. Huang said very seriously. "Ever since the Huangshan incident, I haven't been able to resist the urge to beat this wretched creature to death."

However, although Huangshan is her grandson, they are now considered two separate families according to patriarchal law, so even if she wanted to, she couldn't do it that way.

Cough cough...

Jiang Nuan was taken aback by those words.

She quickly tried to persuade her, "Mother, don't be impulsive or worry. You know what kind of person the eldest son is. He's not good enough in terms of courage or methods, otherwise he wouldn't have done such a stupid thing."

If you're short of money, you should find a way to earn it yourself.

If you're a little foolish, you can swallow your pride and ask someone to lend you the money or go home to ask for it.

They chose the stupidest one of all.

She could understand Boss Huang's idea; he simply felt that this was the easiest way to do things, without having to lose face, and he could get a large sum of money without anyone noticing.