Chapter 68: The Abandoned Wife

The gate of the yamen faces south. Even if you have a reason but no money, don't come in. Even if the lawsuit is a lawsuit for justice, thousands of taels of money are poured in, connections are made, and a smile is put on, the poor people cannot decide what justice is.

Mr. Shi and Wang Xianyi put the silver and the indenture in front of the Tian family mother and daughter. The yamen official persuaded them with both reason and emotion: "The matter is done. You have sold your body, performed the opera, and you can't get the bracelet back. It is better to let Youshi go. You can redeem yourself, get the silver, and reunite with your family."

Qixian Pawnshop, the Xue Mansion, and the Shi Mansion were notorious. The banker had achieved his goal and was willing to let the matter go, not asking for the truth. The Tian mother and daughter had lost their support. Despite their grievances and reluctance, they could only swallow their anger and nod their heads in agreement.

When the dust settled, Yanru was spared from imprisonment and became a divorced wife instead of a prisoner. She returned to Daiyuan with the official documents, packed up her things, and was kicked out by her in-laws.

Xue Jia remained silent. He wasn't sad or disappointed; rather, his inner wisdom was so poor that he couldn't express the overwhelming emotion within him. After all, they were husband and wife, and having shared Yan's bed for years, Xue Jia felt a certain melancholy. But when he thought about marrying again in this life, perhaps marrying a richer, prettier, and more desirable wife, that melancholy faded. Even as he contemplated the sorrows of his life, Xue Jia couldn't suppress the upward curl of his lips.

You can't blame him for being heartless and ungrateful. Since ancient times, promotion, wealth, and the death of a wife have been the three greatest joys in a man's life. Besides, it's about exchanging wives, not marrying one. You Yanru is alive and well, so why not be happy about it? He has much more conscience than other men!

After the carriage landed, Yanru walked back to the side room of her secluded pavilion. Wang Xian had given her two days to move out of Daiyuan, but he hadn't given her any help with the packing. Yanru had no choice but to write a note, asking Yanbao to take a day off and come from Guanyan Academy to help her. After moving out of her in-laws' house, she would stay overnight at an inn in the city before taking a boat back to Jinling.

Yanbao would not arrive until tomorrow, so Xue Jia temporarily stayed in the guest room of Zhufangyuan, which Yanru had coveted. Yanru was left alone in the side room, sitting there all night without sleeping.

Yanru waited in a daze until dawn, when she finally rose from her bed. She opened the camphorwood chest where she stored her clothes. Inside were cheap, oddly shaped dresses. The silks and satins she had bought for her wedding, which she and Xue Jia had pawned for cash because of the two years of trying to maintain their reputations, were now the only valuable item left, Liu Xiang's large red fox fur coat.

Yanru opened another box, revealing hundreds of scrolls piled tightly together in a circle: paintings of her painted with love by Liu Xiang; paintings of her painted by Mianzong, forced by livelihood and the tyranny of his power; paintings of her in her prime, painted by Ji Mingxiu with a few strokes; and paintings of her painted by Xue Jia on a whim, without skill or aesthetic, with a touch of playfulness and mockery—he had painted her as a dog, a cat, a pig, a cow, but never a human. She lied to herself that these were marital pleasures, but in reality, she dared not admit that in the eyes of Xue Jia, and indeed the entire Xue family, You Yanru was merely a plaything for entertainment.

Yanru sat down at the long table beside the bed and opened her dressing table. The first layer was filled with bottles and jars, each rimmed with a thin, greasy layer of powder. Xue Jia hadn't given her much money for rouge and hair wax in a long time. Yanru, a woman of high status, refused to buy cheap, much less pay out of pocket, so she made do with used, expensive items. The second layer was filled with jewelry. Wang Xianyi had flattered her by letting her take everything she'd bought her, but in reality, all the gold, jade, and gemstones had been snatched away by Wang Xianyi under various pretexts, leaving only a few silver hairpins and wooden combs, worthless. Yanru reached inside and pulled out a small wooden box. Two jade rings lay within, their outer shells intricately wrought with a pattern of intertwined branches. Xue Jia considered the things Dong Shi refused to accept as worthless, tasteless to eat but a pity to discard. He tossed them back into Yanru's dressing table, rounding them up as if they were hers. Yanru felt resentful, but seeing that the cardboard was valuable, she was reluctant to throw it away, so she kept it reluctantly.

Xue Jia arrived at the Piyou Pavilion at some point. The side rooms held many items, and her husband's family, fearing Yanru might sneak in and steal something she shouldn't, had Xue Jia specifically sent to the courtyard to monitor her every move. Her heartless husband didn't even enter the house to take a look; he simply sat outside on a stone bench, happily nibbling on a duck leg with a wine jug. Yanru looked at Xue Jia's awful appearance, took out her ring, and put it on her finger. Facing the light, sadness washed over her once again:

The ring that Dong Shi didn't want, the man that Yi Bin didn't want, were all taken by her, leaving them in this situation. When Dong Shi and Yi Bin heard about this later, would they be thankful that they had escaped in time and narrowly avoided disaster, or would they mock You Yanru for picking up trash and treating it as treasure?

Alas. Yanru sighed deeply, collapsed to the ground, and wailed loudly, her voice hoarse: "Wuwuwu, Xue Jia, you black-hearted bastard! Both my mother and I are short-lived! Are you worthy of me?! Wuwuwu..."

Xue Jia remained unmoved. At this moment, he heard a strange noise outside, and a young girl in green walked briskly into the Piyou Pavilion. Seeing the newcomer, Xue Jia couldn't help but feel distracted and said obscenely, "Oh, my aunt is here?"

Yanbao mumbled a few words to him, then, having been teased by the ugly man, flew into a rage and stomped into the side room. Yanru saw her younger sister, Yanbao, whom she had been secretly and openly angry with for half her life and had always looked down upon, now in her prime, free and unrestrained at the academy, with a lover who shared her feelings. She was so jealous that she screamed, "Why do you have to suffer?"

"You Yanru, you're sobbing!" Xue Jia yelled outside like a mad pig. "Pack up your junk now! Get the hell out of here today!"

Yanbao was so disappointed: "Don't cry, you'll have more to cry about when you get home and see mom! Sister, where are your things? Why haven't you packed them yet?"

Yanru gestured at the mess in the room. Yanbao rolled her eyes and helped her sister sort through the tangled luggage. She wanted to sort out what was valuable and what wasn't, then pack carefully according to their value. After searching for a long time, she found an exquisitely framed scroll amidst the rubbish. You Yanbao opened it and, with a few strokes of thick ink, sketched a picture of a girl with a round head and a tall figure, unbuttoning her dress and smiling charmingly—it was her sister, You Yanru, from ten years ago. There was no seal on the scroll, only the name "Ji Mingxiu" scribbled lightly.

Ji Mingxiu? That must be worth a fortune. Yanbao was about to clear out a box and put it away when Xue Jia suddenly burst into the side room. Like a giant toad vomiting into a fat pig, he roared, "Damn it! This is something I paid for! This masterpiece that my Xue family paid for! Don't even think about taking it away!"

"Bullshit! This painting is of me! It's mine!" Yanru leaped to her feet, hurling insults at them, and engaged in a struggle with Xue Jia. Yanbao stayed out of the situation, not bothering to pay attention, simply retreating outside, clutching the painting. Outside, the weather had cleared, and the soft, warm autumn sun cast a sweet, golden glow over the figure in the painting. This figure's beauty, even more striking than if one were viewing the painting indoors, was strikingly different from her sister, whose face was puffy and her brow darkened.

Yanbao recalled the stories of the past ten years with a lot of emotion, and mocked You Yanru for being busy for half of her life, and now she was just making wedding dresses for the Xue family.

"I can't become like her."

"Young Master! Tsk, Dalang! Dalang!" Suddenly, another person rushed into the Piyou Pavilion. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Long'er, who was with the Xue family. His eyes were red with anxiety, and his forehead was sweating profusely. He shouted that he wanted to find Xue Jia. Hearing this, Xue Jia pushed Yanru away and said, "What's the matter? You look so anxious."

Long Er asked, "Sir, have you signed Yu Shi's divorce letter?"

Xue Jia said, "No, there was no ink in Daiyuan yesterday. How can I sign without ink? My mother just brought it to me today. I was eating duck legs just now, so my hands are busy. I will sign after I finish eating."

Long Er hurriedly said, "Don't paint, don't paint! Madam said! Don't rush to divorce! No, Madam said it won't be divorced! You Shi will still be our new bride!"

?! ?! ?!

Yanru, Yanbao, and Xuejia, the three people present, heard this. For a moment, surprise, shock, confusion, joy, anger, and all kinds of emotions filled this small room. Xuejia grabbed Long'er's clothes and said, "What the hell? Are you making fun of me?"

Yanru cursed: "What the hell?! What do you, the Xue family, mean?!"

Long Er said, "Da Lang, my lady, it's true what Madam said. Mr. Shi has also arrived and is now in Zhu Fang Courtyard. Madam asked me to come over and said that you should not divorce or sign the marriage agreement, and she also asked you and Madam to go there right now."

Xue Jia and Yan Ru looked at each other, and had to put aside their grudges for the time being and headed to Zhu Fang Yuan. As they stepped out of the door, Yan Ru didn't forget to throw a look at her sister: "Keep this painting, don't let Xue Jia take advantage of it!"

He arrived at Zhufang Courtyard with a heavy heart. Only Xue Jia was allowed to be called in, and Yanru waited outside. When he came out, Yanru hurriedly asked, "What do you mean, now?"

Xue Jia said, "Mother said that she will not divorce you and will let you continue to enjoy the good life in the Xue Mansion. However, you have to do a small thing for my family."

Yanru was eager to ask: "What's the matter?"

Xue Jia scratched his forehead and relayed, "Seven days later, go and ask Zheng Sirui to come out and meet her."