Chapter 5 requires patience to the point of becoming an old tortoise.

Su Yuezhen boarded the carriage wearing a veil, and Qi Yuanhong turned back to look deeply at the courtyard where he had lived for more than ten years. He knew that he had acted unjustly in the matter of divorce, but as a poor man, even if he passed the imperial examination with top honors, his career would still be difficult without connections.

So when they found him at the Qingshan Marquis's residence, he agreed almost without hesitation. Everyone wants to be of noble character, and even if he were born into a powerful family, he could still be noble and loyal.

But the reality is that he comes from a poor family, and for the sake of his future career, he has to humble himself at this moment. He only hopes that when he achieves success in the future, he can help Jiang Yu, and that she will understand the choice he is making now.

Are you still coming or not?

Su Yuezhen's furious voice rang out, and Qi Yuanhong clenched his fists as he boarded the carriage. Su Yuezhen, her face cold, saw him and opened her mouth to lash out, but was stopped by the old woman beside her. Qi Yuanhong ignored her and sat there with his eyes closed.

The carriage rumbled along for half an hour before stopping at the best inn in the county town. Su Yuezhen and Qi Yuanhong both got out of the carriage with cold faces and went back to their respective rooms.

The old woman followed Su Yuezhen into the house, where she saw Su Yuezhen pick up the teapot on the table and prepare to smash it on the ground. The old woman rushed over to stop her, but it was too late; the teapot shattered on the ground with a loud crash.

“My lady,” the old woman pulled Su Yuezhen to sit on the edge of the bed and whispered, “Do you think things haven’t gotten big enough? Or that you haven’t lost enough face?”

“Jiang Yu deserves to die, I want Jiang Yu dead.” Su Yuezhen said with a twisted face, “When have I ever suffered such injustice in my life? And I don’t want this marriage anymore.”

The old woman sighed, "No matter how shrewd Jiang Yu is, she's just a merchant. You can't take her life without her doing something easy. But we need to do things discreetly and without any mistakes, because we do have... leverage over her."

Speaking of the incriminating evidence, Su Yuezhen's eyes reddened again. She wiped her tears with a handkerchief and said, "That heartless Song Yushu, I treated him with all my heart, and he actually sided with Jiang Yu."

The old woman stood silently beside her. The fact that Uncle Qingshan had killed Song Yushu was something Su Yuezhen absolutely could not know, otherwise she might cause trouble again.

After a while, seeing that her anger had subsided, the old woman lowered her voice and said, "Miss, listen to my advice, marry Scholar Qi and live a good life. Don't blame me for being blunt, but with what happened between you and Song Yushu, who else can you marry in the capital? If the Earl marries you off to some remote border region, how do you think you'll live?"

Although Scholar Qi comes from a humble background and is rather poor, he is, after all, a top scholar. With the support of our Lord and the Imperial Concubine, his future is sure to be bright. Officials with real power in the court are far superior to sons of nobles without real power; many will have to defer to you then.”

Hearing this, Su Yuezhen's expression softened considerably. She said, "However, Qi Yuanhong knows about my relationship with Song Yushu."

"Don't worry," the old woman said confidently, "Scholar Qi is a smart man. His future depends on the Earl and the Imperial Concubine. As long as you stop making trouble, he will still give you face. After some time, when things have calmed down, you can coax him a little, and the matter will be over."

Su Yuezhen nodded, but said, "I think she still has feelings for Jiang Yu. Jiang Yu must die."

The old woman was silent for a moment, then said, "Don't act rashly on this matter. Let the Earl decide after we return to the capital."

Su Yuezhen gave a casual "hmm," though the old woman was uneasy about her attitude. But she had said what she needed to say; if her mistress insisted on courting death, there was nothing she could do.

"You rest for a while, I'll go and try to persuade Scholar Qi." The old woman left the room, turned right, walked to another door, and knocked. "Young Master."

After a while, the door opened, and Qi Yuanhong stood inside with a cold face. The old woman smiled and said, "Young master, this old servant has something to say to you."

Qi Yuanhong was so frustrated he felt like he was about to explode, and he didn't want to talk to anyone. But this old woman was a confidante of the Lady of Qingshan, so he had to deal with her and could only step aside to let her into the room.

"Have a seat," Qi Yuanhong said, pointing to the chairs beside the table.

Since he'd already tolerated the old woman's intrusion, there was no need to give her a hard time. He felt he was becoming increasingly tolerant, even tolerating a servant.

The old woman sat down with a smile, looking at Qi Yuanhong sitting opposite her, and said with a smile, "It's so late, why bother you, young master? I have something I want to say to you."

"Go ahead," Qi Yuanhong said calmly.

"This old servant was part of the dowry of the Lady of the Countess and has been with her since I was seven or eight years old," the old woman said. "After the Fourth Miss was born, the Lady of the Countess assigned me to her side. Everyone in the capital knew how much the Lady of the Countess doted on the Fourth Miss."

"Because of your affection for her, now that you've married the Fourth Miss, your parents will surely think highly of you too. And you, son-in-law, are also very talented. As long as you and the Fourth Miss live harmoniously, your future will definitely be bright."

Qi Yuanhong remained silent. This old woman simply didn't want him to tell Uncle Qingshan what had happened that day.

Seeing that Qi Yuanhong remained silent, the old woman glanced at his face and said, "This old servant knows that the young master cares about the matter between the fourth young lady and that actress, but who hasn't been young and naive? Besides, the young master has also been married before. Speaking of which, you and the fourth young lady are... well-matched."

Qi Yuanhong: "......."

What the hell do they mean by a perfect match? Su Yuezhen was having an affair! He was properly married, and they hadn't even consummated their marriage yet. How can that be the same?

But after enduring so much, what else can't he endure? Sometimes he even felt like he was turning into an old tortoise from holding back his patience.

“I know, Yuezhen and I are one. As long as she doesn’t bring up the past, I won’t either,” Qi Yuanhong said.

The old woman's face lit up with a smile. "This old servant knew that Madam had good taste. Young master, you are destined for great things."

Qi Yuanhong gave a stiff smile. "Is there anything else, Granny?"

"No, no, son-in-law, please rest well." The old woman smiled and got up to leave. After she closed the door, Qi Yuanhong kicked over the stool that the old woman had been sitting on.

.........

Jiang family

Jiang Yu sat helplessly in her parents' room, watching her father, Jiang Mingchang, wipe away tears, while her mother, Cheng Xiuyun, stood with her hands on her hips and scolded Qi Yuanhong:

"He's a heartless, ungrateful bastard. I fed him, clothed him, and sent him to school, and in the end he did something worse than a pig or a dog."

"See? He'll suffer a terrible death. He'll go down to the eighteenth level of hell. In his next life, he'll be reborn as a pig, a dog, a fly, or a mosquito."

Jiang Yu: "Don't insult pigs and dogs, he's worse than a pig or a dog."

"Pfft." Cheng Yunxiu couldn't help but laugh when she heard her words.

Then she felt she shouldn't be laughing now, and pointed at Jiang Yu with exasperation, she said, "How can you be so heartless? You're still joking at a time like this."

Jiang Yu: "So, am I supposed to die or live? It's Qi Yuanhong who should die, not me."

Cheng Yunxiu was stunned when she heard this, then slapped her thigh and said, "My daughter is right, that bastard deserves to die. Since you know he did that, you should let your father and me stay at home, and I'll break all three of his legs."

Jiang Yu nodded, "Yes, I was wrong."

Cheng Yunxiu knew she was just fooling herself again, so she glared at her fiercely, then looked at Jiang Mingchang who was wiping away tears and said, "All you do when something happens is cry, cry, cry. It's a good thing our daughter isn't like you. If she were like you, she wouldn't be able to live if something like this happened."

"Such a big thing happened in the family, daughter, don't cry, and you don't cry either. What's wrong with me shedding a couple of tears?" Seeing that neither the mother nor the daughter showed any signs of sadness, Jiang Mingchang felt much better and stopped crying after wiping away his tears.

At this moment, Cheng Yunxiu continued, "Nothing goes right. Your father and I went to Lingyin Temple to pray for you. Everyone says that the divination slips drawn there are very accurate, so I drew one for you. Guess what the old monk said after looking at the slip?"

Jiang Yu immediately chimed in, "How so?"

Jiang Yunxiu snorted: "That old monk said you would have a bright future and a successful official career. A bright future is a good thing, but what the hell is this 'successful official career'? My daughter is a woman, how can she have a successful official career? It's obvious that the divination is inaccurate and he's just fooling people."

Jiang Yu raised an eyebrow; it was hard to say whether her official career would be smooth sailing. Although there were no women holding official positions in the Great Qian Dynasty, the law stipulated that women could take the imperial examinations and become officials.

Because the Great Gan Dynasty had a female emperor who saved it from the brink of collapse and used her wisdom to govern it into a prosperous and flourishing state. This empress was very popular, and during her reign, she allowed several women to enter the court and enshrined the right of women to hold official positions in the law.

Later, most emperors were male. Although the social atmosphere was much more open than before, women's status was still not as high as during the reign of an empress, and no women entered the court again.

Thinking of all this, Jiang Yu didn't tell her parents, but said seriously, "Father, Mother, come with me to the capital."

Cheng Yunxiu and Jiang Mingchang both shook their heads and said they wouldn't go. Cheng Yunxiu added, "I don't think I'm embarrassing you, but that's the Duke's mansion. We can't figure out what nobles say or do. It's better to stay comfortable in our small town."

Jiang Mingchang: "Your mother is right."

“Father, Mother,” Jiang Yu said earnestly, “If it weren’t for Qi Yuanhong’s affair, I wouldn’t stop you from staying here, but things are different now.”

"I've offended the Qingshan Marquis's family. That Su Yuezhen is arrogant and unruly. If she does anything to you, it will be too late to regret it. You must come with me to the capital. No matter how arrogant the Qingshan Marquis's family is, with the Chu State Duke's mansion as our backing, they won't dare to harm us openly."

These words made Cheng Yunxiu and Jiang Mingchang's expressions turn serious. Jiang Mingchang even asked, "Is it really that serious?"

Jiang Yu: "Yes, in the eyes of the powerful and wealthy who have no morals, the lives of ordinary people are as worthless as grass."

The room fell silent for a moment, then Cheng Yunxiu stood up and said, "I'll pack my things now and go to the capital with my daughter to enjoy a life of luxury."

Jiang Yu's eyes welled up with tears. Going to the capital wasn't about enjoying a life of luxury; it was about an uncertain future. She went over and hugged Cheng Yunxiu, saying, "Mother is so good."

Seeing her clingy behavior, Cheng Yunxiu was about to say something, but sensing something was off about her voice, she hugged her and patted her back, saying:

“My daughter is good too, smart and filial. Without you, your father and I would still be struggling to make ends meet with that little shop.”

Seeing the mother and daughter embracing, Jiang Mingchang reached out his arms as if to hug them too, but hesitated and pulled back. Jiang Yu, noticing this, reached out her arms to him, and Jiang Mingchang went over and embraced both mother and daughter...

"Miss, Butler Li is back."

Xia He's voice came from outside. The family of three separated, and Jiang Yu said to the door, "Please invite them in."

A moment later, Xia He brought Li Zhong in. Li Zhong bowed to the three of them and said, "This humble one greets Miss, and Master and Madam."

Jiang Yu stood up. "Butler Li, there's no need for such formalities. Please sit down."

Li Zhong was the steward of the Duke of Chu's mansion. Even a third-rank official could only serve the prime minister; the Duke's mansion was of a higher rank. Jiang Yu was new to the place and unfamiliar with the Duke's mansion, so being polite to him was the right thing to do.

“I have sent Song Yushu out of Wu’an County. As for what happens to him in the future, that’s up to him,” Li Zhong said.

Jiang Yu nodded, "Thank you for your help, Butler Li."

Li Zhong respectfully stood up, saying, "It's all my duty."

Jiang Yu waved for him to sit down, and after Li Zhong sat down, he asked, "When does Miss plan to set off back to the capital?"

Jiang Yu thought for a moment and said, "Tonight then."

"Tonight?" Li Zhong asked, puzzled.

He wanted Jiang Yu to leave for the capital as soon as possible, as the Duke had been waiting. But he hadn't expected Jiang Yu to set off overnight.

"It's safer to leave early," Jiang Yu explained.

Li Zhong nodded knowingly. Today, Jiang Yu had embarrassed Su Yuezhen and Qi Yuanhong. Qi Yuanhong was one thing, but Su Yuezhen wasn't one to tolerate things. Moreover, she was capricious and vicious; she might turn on Jiang Yu and his family at any moment. Leaving overnight was indeed safer; Su Yuezhen probably didn't expect them to return to the capital so late at night.

"Alright, I'll go make preparations right away." Li Zhong stood up, bowed, and left. Jiang Yu said to Jiang Mingchang and Cheng Yunxiu, "Father and Mother, I've already arranged the business matters. You just need to bring some personal items. If you need anything, you can buy it when you get to the capital."

Cheng Yunxiu and Jiang Mingchang both knew the importance of the matter. Cheng Yunxiu even waved her hand and said, "You don't need to worry about us, hurry up and pack up."

Jiang Yu nodded, "Okay."

She turned and left. Jiang Mingchang sighed and said, "I wonder what the Duke's mansion is like. Will my daughter be mistreated there?"

Cheng Yunxiu looked out the door and said, "If they mistreat our daughter, we'll bring her back. We have business to make money, we won't suffer their mistreatment."

Jiang Mingchang nodded, "But what about my daughter's future marriage prospects now that she's divorced?"

Cheng Yunxiu turned around and glared at him. "My daughter is beautiful and smart. Even if we get divorced, she can find a good family to marry into. Even if she can't find a good family, she can still live a comfortable life if she never marries. Anyway, our daughter is capable, so what's there to be afraid of?"

Jiang Mingchang thought to himself that no woman can live without getting married, but then he realized that his wife was right. His daughter was no ordinary woman; she could run such a big and successful business, and she could live a good life even without marriage.

Thinking about this made him feel much better.