The mistress who remarried has returned.

Su Yunze carried the wood into the yard and spread it out on the porch outside his sister's bedroom. "On the way back, an old man driving an oxcart saw that I was carrying a lot of things at such a young age and thought I was very capable, so he gave me a ride on his oxcart. We didn't travel too far."

Su Yunxi followed. After her brother put down his basket, she pulled open his collar and saw that his shoulders were bruised and bluish from being tied too tightly. She looked at her brother's face silently for a long time before saying, "I had always wanted to make incense to supplement the family income. You quietly prepared the raw materials for me. These are common incense used in ordinary households. You've suddenly been able to help your sister."

Su Yunze felt very sweet inside after being praised by his older sister. He didn't know what to say, but just smiled with his lips pursed. He raised his hand and scratched his hair. His older sister pulled open his collar at the bottom of the corridor to see the marks on his shoulders. He then turned his body slightly to let himself be illuminated by the lantern light so that his older sister could see more clearly.

"These are old branches I collected from under the trees. I remember my sister saying that the old branches had already been dried and could be used directly without needing to be dried further. If my sister wants to make incense, she can do so anytime."

Su Yunxi raised her hand and touched her brother's sideburns. "Does your shoulder hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt. I don't feel anything." Su Yunze paused, then asked, "Sister, do you like these fragrant woods?"

"I really like it. Especially since my brother found it himself, it's more than just liking it. I cherish it very much."

Su Yunxi was very happy. He understood perfectly well that his older sister wanted him to study without stopping, so he said, "Then I'll go review my lessons, older sister."

Su Yunxi suddenly felt that she had been too strict with her brothers. They had carried all that timber home and stayed up late studying. But after thinking about their situation, she still didn't say anything to let them relax. When they grow up and become capable, they won't be able to relax as much as they want.

Su's mother took some wound medicine and said to Su Yunxi, "You can either rest or go about your business. I'll go and apply some medicine to your brother. Don't worry too much about him."

Looking at the many pieces of wood at the bottom of the corridor, and smelling the sweet fragrance of cypress and the fresh scent of camphor, Su Yunxi calmed down.

Cypress wood incense sticks can be used in sacrificial rites and prayers to bring peace of mind, while camphor wood incense is mostly used for daily house fumigation and to repel mosquitoes.

She had no other hobbies since childhood except for loving all kinds of fragrant wood. She would often fall asleep while playing in the woods, sometimes even using fragrant wood as a pillow.

My mother often said, "Why doesn't she like needlework, beaded jewelry, or the arts? She just likes wood. She's different from other girls. Maybe she gave birth to a quiet, wooden little blockhead."

Since she was neither sick nor ill, and had no particular problems, her mother didn't control her too much and let her develop freely.

In the past, she most often made agarwood and sandalwood. Qin Huai suffered from insomnia, and she made incense to calm his nerves. These high-quality woods were not common in the Central Plains, but were more common in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions. She needed to use her own money to buy them from the pharmacy. In the past, the money her mother gave her was all used to buy sandalwood incense, so she now had very little money left.

She failed miserably in that relationship for seven years, gaining nothing, suffering numerous scars, and losing all her money.

Even now, she doesn't have the courage to reveal the truth, fearing that the other party will no longer harbor any resentment towards her.

Today I couldn't resist spending another tael of silver to buy agarwood, even though I knew I had no chance to give it to him, and even if I did, he wouldn't even look at it.

Hearing noises from the backyard from the mother and her two children, Su Yuanzhou searched several times in the evening without finding them. He then came over, wearing an outer robe. Seeing his mother carrying wound medicine and about to enter Su Yunze's room, he asked, "Yunze, what happened? Are you hurt?"

When her husband asked her question, Su's mother only glanced at him coldly. She hadn't forgotten how her husband had allowed Wang to use Su Yunze as a scapegoat a few days ago. She didn't reply and went straight into Su Yunze's room. Before he could ask a single question, she went to answer him with tears of gratitude. The two of them were now practically enemies.

Su's mother believed that men's words of concern and care were merely empty promises, effortless and worthless. The fact remained that Su Yuanzhou and Wang had two children right under her nose.

Su Yuanzhou received no response and felt unhappy, especially since Qingniang had once respected and admired him, but now her attitude was completely different. He walked over and stood by the window. "Qingniang, I am truly disappointed. Even you don't understand my difficulties. The other day, I allowed Wang to use Yunze as a scapegoat, which was the best way to protect the Su family. If something were to happen to Su Miao, how would I explain it to the Wang family? You treat them all like your children, without any uncles, aunts, grandparents, or other relatives. If anything happens to Su Miao, so many people will be heartbroken and will all make a huge fuss with me."

Su's mother silently applied medicine to Su Yunze's shoulder, showing no desire to respond to her husband. She had been an orphan since childhood, and her husband had previously felt sorry for her loneliness and helplessness, but now he was using her background to hurt her and her two daughters, which was truly ridiculous.

Su Yuanzhou felt as if he had punched cotton; he finally let out a snort and walked towards Su Yunxi's room. He was dissatisfied, feeling that he hadn't received the respect he deserved from Qingniang and the other two. If he hadn't passed the imperial examination, would they have been able to become respectable officials? They would still be lowly merchants with no status, and it would be difficult for them to turn their lives around.

If he hadn't beaten Xixi so badly that she ran away from home and hid in a dilapidated temple, would Xixi have met the Protector General and had the opportunity to later become involved with the Crown Prince? These three women have absolutely no gratitude.

Hearing her husband's footsteps heading towards their daughter, Su's mother quickened her pace while applying medicine to her son, intending to follow and see if this corrupt official would mistreat her daughter.

Su Yunze looked up at his mother and said warily, "Did he go to see my older sister? I'll go check."

Su's mother held him down, applied the medicine evenly, and then told her son, "Study hard and don't worry your sister. Her mother-in-law is dying, and she's worried about not being able to help. Just think of yourself as your father dead, and let him say whatever he wants. When you grow up and can establish your own household, you can leave him completely. If you go back now, father and son will start arguing, and your sister will inevitably suffer in the middle because she's protecting you. Hasn't she suffered enough because of you?"

Su Yunze nodded, also worried that his sister would get hurt while protecting him. He wished he could grow into a strong man overnight, and when he could pin his father to the ground and beat him.

Then Su's mother left Su Yunze's room and went to her daughter's side.

Su Yunxi carefully selected a piece of cypress wood from the pile of timber, added some water, went into the study, and took out the remaining sticky powder and rose pollen from the cabinet. Previously, Wang had only taken away her incense-making tools, and these sticky powders and pollen were like fish that had escaped being snatched away and scattered to the wind.