Peaceful Farm Life

Chapter 2498: Chapter 2499: Return to Tianyun (65)

As soon as Tao Chengyin walked up to Su Xing, he said cheerfully, ”Child, before this I scolded you for boasting shamelessly, and you never talked back. If I’d known you would score this well, I wouldn’t have said those words even if you beat me to death and slapped my face with them. No one in our family has ever taken first place, especially in such an important exam. Daughter-in-law, our family is going to bask in your glory this time. I reckon the whole Imperial City will be talking these days about what kind of person this Huo Xiner is!”

This was actually the first time Tao Chengyin addressed her as daughter-in-law, and seeing how greatly his attitude toward her had changed, Su Xing was quite happy.

He was someone who loved her husband; she was also working hard now to build a good relationship with her husband’s father. Now that her husband’s father had changed his view of her, this was very good.

Su Xing only smiled and said, ”When you spoke that way before, Father, it wasn’t my place to say anything. But I honestly never expected I’d be the top scorer. This is really thanks to my grandmother, who, after my father died, urged me to practice martial arts every day, and even sold off family assets to hire masters to come teach me at home. Otherwise, I reckon it would’ve been hard for me to even pass as a Scholar, let alone take first place.”

”So the old madam, my in-law, has been urging you to practice martial arts all along, no wonder...” Tao Chengyin suddenly saw the light. ”I really did look down on you before. Ah, it’s your father’s fault, your father’s fault. In you passing the Scholar exam—let alone as top scorer—your grandmother has rendered great service. I’ll send someone at once to invite the old madam over so we can all celebrate properly together.”

As he spoke, Tao Chengyin really did send someone to the Huo family with a visiting note to invite Madam Huo to the Tao Mansion.

Hearing that her grandmother would be coming later, Su Xing was very happy, and even shared a delighted glance with Taoming Ye.

Taoming Hai’s straight back unconsciously bent a little. So the reason Su Xing’s martial skills were so good was that Madam Huo had been urging her to train all this time and had spent a fortune hiring people to teach her at home...

Mrs. Cao couldn’t keep her back quite so straight either. She had originally thought Su Xing only had some half-baked, three-legged-cat skills, but unexpectedly, that wasn’t the case at all... She was the top scorer. Mrs. Cao had always thought her own son was pretty impressive, but he’d only ranked ninety-second...

Wan Banyan, on the other hand, was extremely displeased; her teeth practically itched with jealousy. It was supposed to be her husband who was in the limelight, but now it was all taken by Huo Xiner. Everyone’s attention was on Huo Xiner now; they didn’t care about her husband at all, even though he had also passed the Scholar exam! And on top of that, because Huo Xiner had once been engaged to her husband, only if Huo Xiner lived miserably could she feel at ease. But now, Huo Xiner seemed to be living better and better? It was enough to make her explode with rage!

Everyone else was genuinely happy for Su Xing.

Especially the four younger half-brothers and half-sisters. Seeing that Su Xing had taken first place, they even thought to themselves that perhaps, in the end, Su Xing really might become the Martial Champion!

Once the enormous firecrackers were bought, the family patriarch Tao Chengyin personally lit them. He was simply too happy today; surely the Imperial City was already talking about his eldest daughter-in-law taking first place. His face was truly aglow with honor.

As soon as Madam Huo heard that her granddaughter was the top scorer, she happily accepted Tao Chengyin’s invitation and took a carriage to the Tao Mansion.

When Tao Chengyin heard that Madam Huo had arrived, he personally went out together with Su Xing and the others to welcome Madam Huo inside.

”Old madam, my in-law, I’ve offended you many times in the past; I hope you can be forgiving,” Tao Chengyin said shamefacedly as he accompanied Madam Huo into the Tao Mansion.

Now that Su Xing and Taoming Ye were so loving, and with today being the joyous day that Su Xing had passed the Scholar exam as the top scorer, Madam Huo spoke very magnanimously: ”Let bygones be bygones. As long as Xin’er lives well in your household, this old woman will have nothing else to say.”