"Even though she grew up in our remote backwater, she doesn't look like a country girl at all. Otherwise, your father wouldn't have arranged such a marriage for you back then.
"He thought that if you could pass the exams and become a Scholar, having her as a Scholar's wife wouldn't cause you to lose face."
Madam Ning fell into her memories. "It's just a pity your father died early. I didn't have the ability to hold this family together, so I could only seek another backer.
"But we didn't mistreat her back then. We compensated them with Silver, and her parents accepted it quite happily.
"I know her family also disdained you for being poor at the time. Without your father's support, they probably thought you would amount to nothing more.
"Why bring this up all of a sudden?"
Ning Yuchen lowered his voice. "Mother, you know I don't have any brothers or clansmen to support me. It's hard to gain people's respect when I'm fending for myself out there.
