A lazy bum transmigrates and marries a eunuch – it's awesome!

Chapter 238 Jiang Song

Jiang Wanqiu frowned when she learned that Liu wanted to change the seven-day mourning period to three days.

Upon learning that it was Granny Zhao's suggestion, he immediately glared at her sharply.

“Mother Zhao, given Father’s official rank, seven days of mourning is not too long. Why did you encourage Aunt to change it to three days?”

My father is a fourth-rank official, after all. If he were to be treated like an ordinary person, wouldn't people laugh at him?

What are your intentions?

Granny Zhao shuddered under Jiang Wanqiu's gaze. "What are you saying, Second Miss? What could this old servant possibly have up my sleeve?"

Our family's finances are becoming increasingly difficult, and this old servant feels sorry for the suffering of my aunt and the young masters.

Once the master leaves our house, he's no longer considered an official. Whether he stays for seven days or three days, no one will complain.

However, if they stay for four more days, the expenses will more than double, and the two young masters are not yet married, and the dowries for their daughters are still undecided.

If we don't cut back now, how will we survive after the mourning period ends?

"Granny Zhao is right. Even a clever housewife can't cook without rice. You know our family's situation."

Liu held Jiang Wanqiu's hand with a resentful expression and said,

"Ever since that little slut took away the dowry and swindled a sum of money from my mother, the family has been increasingly strapped for cash."

Funerals are incredibly expensive. Now that you've spent all your money, where are you going to get the money to get married in the future?

Besides, your father's death wasn't honorable, so what's the point of making a fuss?

Jiang Wanqiu shook her head speechlessly, "Auntie, don't be short-sighted. Funerals are indeed expensive, but the condolence money we receive should be enough to make up for the deficit."

Since Songdi is going to enter officialdom in the future, it would be a good thing if he could take this opportunity to chat with officials in the court.

"I know you harbor resentment about this, but wouldn't it be a laughingstock if the funeral wasn't handled properly?"

Since learning that Jiang Wanqiu was a reborn woman, Liu had always listened to her daughter, but this time she became stubborn.

"Alright, even if it's embarrassing, there's someone with a big face to take the blame."

I'm just a concubine, and you're all just illegitimate children. Even the legitimate daughter who's a marquis's wife isn't ashamed of herself, so what do we have to be afraid of?

If that little bitch doesn't want to be laughed at, she should hurry up and bring the money back.

"Your father only earns a small annual salary; I've never heard of anyone using a concubine's dowry for a funeral."

Aunt Liu's words made sense, and Jiang Wanqiu opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing.

Auntie is rather inexperienced; let's wait for Songdi to come back and discuss it with him.

Quan'er is basically useless; in the end, Songdi will have to hold this family together.

Jiang Song's academy was only a little over a day's journey from the capital, but it was quite strict and the studies were heavy, so he rarely came back to the capital.

Both the Jianghuai and Liu families tacitly kept all the dirty business out of Jiang Song's sight.

Even Jiang Quan, the youngest son who was previously the most favored, dared not show his rebellious and vicious side in front of Jiang Song.

In Jiang Song's view, his family was warm, happy and harmonious, and even if his eldest sister and second sister had a few minor quarrels, it was nothing serious.

My father is upright, my mother is loving, and my younger sister is outspoken and has a bit of a temper, but she is not arrogant or domineering.

The second sister is gentle, quiet, loving to her siblings, and a rare talent; the youngest brother is lively, cute, well-behaved, and sensible.

Although the family was not wealthy, the mother was good at managing the household and the father had no bad habits, so they always lived a good life.

Even though her younger sister later had a mishap on her wedding day and mistakenly married Governor Xiao, it is said that the couple lived harmoniously without any major conflicts.

Jiang Song had always thought this was his life, but suddenly the sky fell.

The father, still in his prime, suddenly died, and the servant who came to deliver the news hesitated and did not say the cause of death.

The eldest son of the Jiang family was a good-tempered man and did not make things difficult for the servants. After asking the headmaster for leave, he hurriedly returned to the capital.

His departure caused both the teachers and the headmaster to sigh repeatedly.

In the past two years, they have devoted all their efforts to Jiang Song, giving him extra tutoring in turn, just waiting for him to make a name for himself and bring fame to the academy.

Unexpectedly, Lord Jiang's passing abruptly interrupted their plans, rendering their efforts over the past two years futile.

Doing academic research is like rowing against the current; if you don't advance, you fall behind. It also requires a burst of energy, but then you lose momentum and eventually exhaust yourself.

With Jiang Song's current level, if he can put in the effort to study for another year, he's guaranteed a second-class ranking. If he's lucky, he might even be able to break into the first-class ranking.

But now that I'm observing mourning, that initial enthusiasm has dissipated, and if I change my temperament at home, it will be extremely difficult to work hard again.

But no matter what, it's impossible to prevent someone from returning home to mourn their father's death. It's just that Lord Jiang died at the wrong time.

Jiang Huai indeed placed high hopes on his eldest son, and the academy he chose was also very suitable for his temperament.

The academy is built halfway up a mountain, and both the teachers and students are the kind of rigid, exam-oriented students from small towns.

The pass rate was quite good, but there were few Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) who ranked highly. This was mainly because they were too closed off and lacked understanding of some current affairs of the court.

If this place were like the Imperial Academy, capable of keenly sensing the direction of the court, the headmaster wouldn't have said such things.

After all, the Marquis of Zhenguo, who shares the empire with the Regent, is Jiang Song's brother-in-law, so whether or not he passes the imperial examination doesn't seem to be that important to him.

Jiang Huai originally chose this rigid and closed-off place to lay a solid foundation for his son, thinking that he would personally teach him about officialdom when the imperial examination was approaching.

Unexpectedly, plans can't keep up with changes, and his death meant that Jiang Song would never achieve the same level of success as in the original story.

Jiang Song was still bewildered when he hurriedly returned to the Jiang family home. It had only been a little over a year since he had been home, but he felt like he didn't recognize the whole house anymore.

After her father died, her aunt's face became thin, and a deep vertical line between her eyebrows made her look somewhat mean.

The younger brother was even paler and more dazed, with a strange gloom in his eyes.

The second sister was still as gentle as ever, but her complexion didn't look too good.

This time, Liu and Jiang Wanqiu reached an agreement, and they both decided to explain the actual situation of their family to Jiang Song.

Despite being a duchess in her previous life, Jiang Wanqiu still believed that she couldn't live without a man.

Since she can't get married and find a man to rely on, the only person she can rely on is her brothers.

Jiang Quan was too young and a hopeless case, so all her hopes were pinned on Jiang Song.

Liu was bound by the traditional beliefs of obeying her father at home, her husband after marriage, and her son after her husband's death.

With Jiang Huai protecting her, she naturally wouldn't bother her precious son with her troubles.

But now that the pillar of the family has collapsed, she desperately hopes that Jiang Song can support the Jiang family.

Jiang Song's current situation is somewhat like a modern-day unfinished project.

From a young age, his parents instilled an elite education in him, creating the impression that he was born into wealth despite being only middle class.

They attend elite private schools costing tens of thousands of yuan a year, learning piano, horseback riding, and other things that only the elite rich kids learn.

But overnight, the middle class fell back into poverty, unable to afford extracurricular classes or even pay for next year's tuition.

If it's only in elementary school, that's fine, but if it's in junior or senior high school, the child is basically ruined.

I can't keep reading.

Children attending elite private schools don't have to take the college entrance exam; they follow an internationally aligned path.

The cost of studying abroad for a year is over a million yuan, which is simply unaffordable for my family.

If they transfer to a public school, what they learned before will be completely insufficient to cope with the college entrance examination.

The most painful part is the psychological gap.

Unable to face old classmates and unable to integrate with new classmates, they can only end up as low-level practitioners of high art.

Jiang Song is now in this awkward situation, all his understanding has been overturned overnight.

The sixteen-year-old boy couldn't withstand the shock; his eyes rolled back and he fainted.