Chapter 2 There's no way around it, the slap in the face comes just like that!

The arrival of Song Yushu made the atmosphere in the hall strange.

Jiang Yu took a sip of tea, Su Yuezhen lowered her head, looking as if she couldn't contain herself, while Song Yushu remained indifferent, looking down at his nose.

At this moment, only Qi Yuanhong was kept in the dark.

"What does Madam Jiang mean by this?" the old woman asked Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu placed the teacup on the table, making a crisp sound. She did not answer the old woman's question, but said, "A few days ago, a servant in the house rescued a person. Upon inquiry, it turned out that this person was an old acquaintance of the fourth young lady of the Earl of Qingshan's mansion."

"What a coincidence! My husband, whom I've raised for many years, also has a close relationship with Miss Su, so I invited her over. They're all acquaintances; we can sit down, chat about the past, and also look forward to the future."

......

The room was eerily quiet.

Qi Yuanhong looked at Song Yushu, then at Su Yuezhen who had her head down. If he still didn't understand by now, all those years of studying would have been for nothing.

He clenched his fists tightly, took a deep breath, and suppressed the anger surging in his chest. Jiang Yu felt much better seeing him almost bursting with pent-up frustration.

There's no way around it, the tables have turned so quickly!

"When did Young Master Song meet Miss Su?" Jiang Yu asked Song Yushu.

A slight ripple appeared on Song Yushu's calm face. He glanced at Su Yuezhen and said, "When we were in the capital, Miss Su often invited me to perform at her residence."

“Often…” Jiang Yu said meaningfully, “Those two are really old acquaintances.”

Song Yushu: "My relationship with Yuezhen is not as simple as just old acquaintances..."

"Enough!" Su Yuezhen stood up abruptly, her eyes moist as she looked at Song Yushu. "It's all in the past, why bring it up again? You and I..."

"Miss!" The old woman, seeing that things were about to go wrong, immediately grabbed Su Yuezhen's arm to stop her, but was violently shaken off.

Su Yuezhen looked at Song Yushu with tears in her eyes, "Our identities are worlds apart, we are destined not to be together, why bother with each other?"

Song Yushu seemed to be angered by her words. He stood up and stared intently at Su Yuezhen, saying, "You know our statuses are vastly different, so why did you provoke me? Who sends me gifts every day? Who said they loved me? And who pulled me into their tent?"

Oooh!

Are we playing this big?

Jiang Yu took a sip of tea and continued watching the show. Qi Yuanhong's face, however, had turned purplish-blue.

"Shut up!" The old woman blocked Su Yuezhen's way, glaring angrily at Song Yushu. "Stop spouting nonsense! My young lady invited you to perform a few times, and you got the wrong idea. My master beat you up and kicked you out. Now you're ruining my young lady's reputation. I think you don't want to live anymore."

These words carried a strong threat, and Su Yuezhen's mind cleared considerably. She turned to look at Qi Yuanhong and saw that his face was pale and purplish. She wanted to say something, but Qi Yuanhong didn't even glance at her.

Seeing that the play was almost over, Jiang Yu coughed and said, "What's going on? If there's any misunderstanding, just talk it out. Why bring up taking someone's life? It's not worth it."

Everyone in the room was looking at her. Jiang Yu shrugged, indicating that she was just watching the show.

"Jiang Yu!" Su Yuezhen seemed to have found an outlet for her anger. "You lowly commoner, you lowly merchant's wife, I will make sure you die."

Her eyes were bloodshot, and the muscles in her face were contorted.

Jiang Yu looked at her calmly and sharply, "I'd like to know how the young lady of the Earl of Qingshan's mansion, the Imperial Concubine's own niece, intends to take my life."

"you...."

Su Yuezhen raised her hand and pointed at Jiang Yu, about to continue her harsh words, but was stopped by the old woman beside her. The old woman said, "Madam Jiang, I don't think you're a fool. You should know who you can offend and who you can't."

Jiang Yu stood up and looked at the two, master and servant, and said, "I am just a commoner who doesn't understand grand principles, but I know that those with nothing to lose are not afraid of those who have something to lose. If pushed too far, I'm willing to risk my life. May I ask you, do you care about the reputation of the Qingshan Marquis's Mansion? Do you care about the face of the Imperial Concubine?"

......

Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried a fierce, desperate glint in her eyes. The room was deathly silent...

After a while, the old woman asked, "What does Madam Jiang want?"

Jiang Yu ignored her and looked at Qi Yuanhong instead, "Divorce is fine, but you have to pay back all the money you've used from my Jiang family over the years."

"Why should I? Honglang, write her a letter of divorce." Su Yuezhen was so angry that she almost lost her mind.

She came here to show off her power, but instead, she ended up having her face trampled on. Now, she wants to retort to anything Jiang Yu says.

"A letter of divorce?" Jiang Yu looked at Su Yuezhen as if she were an idiot. "Which of the seven grounds for divorce did I violate?"

Su Yuezhen was momentarily speechless. She turned to look at Qi Yuanhong and saw that he was still pale and refusing to look at her. She gritted her teeth and said, "No children in three years."

"Ha!" Jiang Yu sneered, "Qi Yuanhong, the reason you and I got married three years ago was because your father was seriously ill and wanted to see you get married. Your father passed away on our wedding day, and we began to observe mourning. We haven't consummated our marriage yet, so how can you say we haven't had any children in three years?"

Su Yuezhen turned to look at Qi Yuanhong in surprise, but Qi Yuanhong lowered his head and remained silent.

Jiang Yu continued, “I will not leave a wife who has something to take but nothing to return to, who will mourn for three years, or who was poor and lowly before becoming rich and noble. These are the three reasons why a wife should not leave. When your father passed away, I wore mourning clothes to send him to his burial and observed three years of mourning for him. This is what is meant by mourning for three years. You have been supported by my family since you were ten years old. Now you have become the top scholar in the imperial examination and have many distinguished guests. So, you and I can be considered as having gone from being poor and lowly to rich and noble.”

Jiang Yu looked at Su Yuezhen and the old woman and asked, "I've already taken two of the three exclusions. May I ask if the power of the Earl of Qingshan's mansion exceeds the law?"

Su Yuezhen and the old woman were both speechless. Even if Su Yuezhen was domineering and brainless, she knew that some things shouldn't be said in public. Moreover, it now seemed that Jiang Yu was not as simple as they had imagined.

"Yu Niang." Qi Yuanhong looked up at Jiang Yu, "It's all my fault. Do whatever you want with me."

Jiang Yu was speechless. Is this what they call being a prostitute while trying to maintain a virtuous image?

“Fine,” Jiang Yu said, “What I want is simple: you and I will get a divorce, and you will pay back all the money you’ve used in my family over the past thirteen years, with interest.”

Qi Yuanhong wanted to resolve the matter immediately, so he said, "Okay."

Jiang Yu reached out, and her maid Xia He handed her the abacus. Jiang Yu straightened the abacus and said, "When you were studying at the school in town, you received 2 taels of silver for tuition each year. You studied for three years, so that's a total of 6 taels."

Qi Yuanhong nodded in agreement. Jiang Yu quickly turned the abacus on the abacus and said, "If I calculate that you've used this money for 10 years, with 100% interest, you'll need to repay a total of 15 taels and 560 cash."

It was only 15 taels of silver, so Qi Yuanhong didn't take it to heart and nodded in agreement.

Jiang Yu: "Later, you studied at the county school, and your tuition was eight taels of silver per year. With interest, it totaled 127 taels and 500 cash over ten years."

"The cost of writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones each year averages out to about 5 taels of silver per year."

Qi Yuanhong: "Not many."

Jiang Yu: "5 taels per year, for a total of 13 years, including interest, the total is 224 taels and 398 cash."

Jiang Yu: "Although my family is not extremely wealthy, we are still well-off. You have eaten quite a lot of tonics such as ginseng and bird's nest. In addition to your food expenses, five taels of silver a month is not much, is it?"

Qi Yuanhong: "...Not many."

Jiang Yu: "5 taels a month, for a total of 13 years, including interest, the total is 3065 taels and 170 cash."

“When you went out and made friends, the amount of money I gave you varied over the past thirteen years. In the first few years, it was 1 tael per month, then 5 taels and 10 taels. On average, it was 5 taels per month. In total, over 13 years, including interest, it amounted to 3065 taels and 170 cash.”

“You have 3 sets of clothes per season, 12 sets per year. The price of these clothes will be different over 13 years. I estimate that you will have an average of 30 taels per year. Over 13 years, including interest, the total amount will be 1346 taels and 390 cash.”

“If you stay at my house, I’ll charge you 2 taels of silver a month. After 13 years, you will have to pay back 1226 taels and 7 wen.”

"And the jade pendant and other gifts I bought for you. I gave you 300 taels when you went to the capital for the imperial examination. I won't count the interest, so it's 500 taels in total."

"The care my parents and I have given you over the years is priceless to me, but I'll tell you the price today... how about three thousand taels?"

"Okay." Qi Yuanhong had already realized that the amount of money was probably quite large, but he had no choice but to agree now, as this matter had to be resolved immediately.

There was another clattering sound from the abacus, and then Jiang Yu said, "12,570 taels and 350 coins."

The room fell silent, all eyes fixed on Qi Yuanhong. He felt as if he had been stripped naked and subjected to a agonizing gaze; this was the greatest humiliation Jiang Yu had inflicted on him that day.

After remaining silent for a while under the gaze of everyone, Qi Yuanhong looked at Su Yuezhen and said, "Yuezhen, give me the money."

All eyes turned to Su Yuezhen, who felt nauseous, as if she had swallowed a fly.

She, Su Yuezhen, the young lady of the Qingshan Marquis's mansion and the niece of the Imperial Concubine, was already forced to marry a penniless wretch, and now she had to pay off his debts. Looking at Song Yushu's exquisite and handsome face, she felt even more resentful.

She sat there motionless, and Qi Yuanhong's expression grew even more unpleasant. The old woman gently nudged Su Yuezhen, who glared fiercely at Jiang Yu and gritted her teeth, saying, "How could I possibly carry more than ten thousand taels of silver with me?"

Twelve thousand taels of silver could buy a large house in the capital.

Everyone looked at Jiang Yu again, and she put down her teacup and said in a calm tone, "Then Miss Su and the top scholar can rest here for a while. Have your servants raise the money. We'll go and get a divorce when the money is raised."

She was genuinely afraid that Su Yuezhen would refuse to marry Qi Yuanhong because of the ten thousand taels of silver. If that happened, wouldn't she be left with a pile of shit?

no!

We must lock Qi Yuanhong and Su Yuezhen up together!