Dissolving the partnership

Gu Yu brewed the tea with practiced ease, her movements a delight to behold.

"Your Highness, would you like some tea?"

The rising steam added a touch of hazy, tea-scented beauty to her delicate face.

Jing Zichen had always loved her ethereal appearance, and now he was completely mesmerized, taking a long time to regain his composure.

He took a sip, nodded, and praised, "This tea seems to be this year's new tea. Although it's not a rare or expensive tea, it's fresh and refreshing."

"Your Highness is truly a connoisseur of tea."

Gu Yu smiled slightly, her voice soft and gentle, "The matter I originally wanted to tell Your Highness last time was not mentioned because my father and elder brother were at home."

"I wonder if Your Highness has any time to speak with me at this moment?"

"Okay, Sister Ayu, you go ahead."

"Now that the Crown Prince has been deposed, Your Highness can finally dream of that position. I wonder if Your Highness is interested?"

Jing Zichen smiled and said, "If I said I didn't want to, it would make me seem like a fake person. Sister Ayu, what are you planning to do? Do you want to be the Empress?"

“I don’t want to.” Gu Yu shook her head sincerely. “My whole life has been trapped. When I was a child, it was my own home, a small boudoir. When I grew up, it was my husband’s home, just a slightly larger courtyard. Even the Empress is trapped in a more exquisite, magnificent, and larger cage…”

“Your Highness is a good person. If you were to truly take that position, you would surely become a wise and benevolent ruler. That is why I want to help you.”

She looked intently at Jing Zichen, making the person being stared at feel a little embarrassed.

"Sister Ayu, this... I... I'm a little embarrassed to face this expectation." He lowered his head slightly.

"Your Highness, please don't be so modest. I want to help you succeed, but it has little to do with my father and brothers. Would Your Highness think that A-Yu is overestimating herself?"

"No, if Sister Ayu were a man, she would surely be a strategist who could govern a country. It's just a pity that she is born a woman."

Gu Yu continued, "I just want to remind Your Highness that the deposed Crown Princess is about to give birth. This child is the Emperor's first grandchild. If it is a grandson of the Emperor, the Emperor may take pity on the deposed Crown Prince and deal with him leniently."

"Moreover, the matter of the deposed crown prince raising troops was influenced by slanderous words from petty people, and it was also orchestrated by the emperor himself. Therefore, he must feel guilty towards the deposed crown prince. The fact that the matter of the deposed crown prince was handled so lightly shows that the emperor has a soft spot for him."

"What does Sister Ayu mean?"

"The things the deposed crown prince has done are not only those that are on the surface. For example, just as he raised his army, the Northern Di invaded again. Your Highness should investigate these things and expose them to the public so that the deposed crown prince can never recover."

Gu Yu spoke in a gentle and soft tone, which made people feel no sense of vigilance.

Jing Zichen thought that Gu Yu was too kind. The deposed crown prince was indeed a hidden danger, but it would only ruin his reputation. What good would that do? Dead people don't have any disloyal thoughts.

“Sister Ayu is right. I should pay attention to the deposed crown prince.”

He used to address the deposed crown prince with the respectful title of "Your Highness the Crown Prince," but now he coldly calls his elder brother the "Deposed Crown Prince."

Jing Zichen thought to himself, things are different now; the world has changed.

"Your Highness, please go ahead with your work. I won't see you off."

Gu Yu poured herself a cup of tea and watched Jing Zichen's departing figure.

Jing Zichen is neither naive nor a kind person, so the deposed crown prince will die, after the deposition, and in the midst of fratricide.

Gu Yu smiled, genuinely appreciating the summer scenery in the garden. In the blink of an eye, it would be summer, then autumn, then winter, and her enemies would die one by one.

Her heart felt empty. After the hatred dissipated, what could fill the void?

My gaze fell on the empty vegetable garden. Because I was sick, I hadn't planted anything in the garden, and it was empty now. I probably wouldn't be able to harvest anything in the fall.

"Miss!" Chunyue hurried over, "Young Master, no, Lord Xu has come to the manor. He wants to see you, Miss."

Gu Yu glanced at the empty seat opposite her and said calmly, "Please invite him in."

Xu Qiu rarely stepped into Gu Yu's courtyard. Although she wasn't as obsessed with flowers as the average young lady from an official family, she still planted all kinds of seasonal vegetables, herbs, and fruits.

Now it is empty and desolate, the abandoned land overgrown with weeds.

He glanced again at the bare old plum tree, and was then invited by Chunyue into Gu Yu's boudoir.

The room was filled with ice to cool it down, and the temperature was just right. She took a new teacup from the center of the table and poured herself a fresh cup of tea.

"Lord Xu, why are you standing while talking? Please sit down."

Xu Qiu had imagined many times what it would be like for the two of them to meet again. He always thought that he would be furious and in a high position.

But the moment he saw her, the anger he had been holding in vanished without a trace.

"Madam..." Xu Qiu's tone was somewhat pitiful. He sat down, but his tone wasn't defiant. "Why do you want a divorce?"

"Lord Xu, please have some tea. If you've come all the way from Yangzhou, you must be tired from your journey these past few days." Gu Yu's slender fingers stroked the teacup and handed it to Xu Qiu.

His eyes were fixed on the cup of tea, which was rippling slightly, and he murmured softly, "I've arrived, but Madam doesn't even brew a fresh cup of tea. I have no noble status, so Madam doesn't bother to trouble herself for me..."

Gu Yu frowned. "Fine, then we won't drink this tea."

"Wait, wait..."

He quickly pressed down on Gu Yu's hand, which she was about to pull back. He still held her hand with his left hand, and took a sip of tea with his right hand. "Madam, I'll drink, I'll drink. The tea you brew is all good tea."

"Lord Xu, you've come at the right time. The previous guest just left. If you had come earlier, you might have been the first guest."

“Madam, isn’t it early for me? I traveled day and night, a journey that should have taken six days, but I rushed back in three days and three nights,” Xu Qiu said with dissatisfaction.

Gu Yu's lowered eyelashes trembled slightly, but she didn't dare to look at him.

"Madam, look at me..." He used his usual tactic, taking her hand and placing it on his cheek. "I don't believe it—"

You have no feelings for me at all.

Gu Yu's fingers twitched as if burned, and he curled his fingertips, but he refused to let go.

She glared at him, embarrassed and annoyed. "Lord Xu, you're still so shameless."

"Alright, now you can talk to me properly, Madam. I just want to ask you something clearly. Why? If I have done something wrong, please tell me, and I will correct it."

His brows were full of stubbornness, as if he wouldn't give up until he got a satisfactory answer.

Gu Yu thought to herself, "What you did was neither wrong nor bad; on the contrary, it was too good that made me feel sorry for you."

“Xu Qiu, you did nothing wrong. It’s just that we didn’t get married because of love in the first place. You used my status and family background to find a powerful tree to shelter under, and I used your hand to get rid of Sun Gu.”

But you don't need me anymore. The Crown Prince's rebellion has implicated countless powerful families in Jiangnan. If you want to establish a land administration there, no one can stop you now.

"Once this is accomplished, you will become the emperor's most capable minister and rise rapidly in rank, without needing the Duke of Ying's mansion as a powerful patron."

"I think it's not that Madam feels I don't need you anymore, but rather that you don't need me anymore." Xu Qiu laughed self-deprecatingly. "Madam has a better knife now, doesn't she?"

He was laughing, but his face grew paler and paler, and he suddenly fainted, startling Gu Yu so much that her pupils contracted.

She quickly reached out to support his body as he was about to fall. Xu Qiu's weight was half on her, and Gu Yu struggled to call out to the people outside.

It turned out that he really hadn't rested for a while and had rushed to the Duke's mansion. Thinking of this, Gu Yu felt a pang of sadness.

Hearing the noise, Qiuju quickly opened the door and together they moved the person to the small couch that Gu Yu used for her afternoon nap.

"What's going on, Miss?"

Qiuju thought to herself, it's been almost half a year since the divorce, it's not good to leave her here, but looking at the young lady's appearance, she doesn't seem to be completely heartless.

Does this count as a divorce or not?

"He... was probably too tired. It only took him three days to get here from Yangzhou Prefecture. He was traveling at night. He's such a fool."

Qiuju sighed inwardly, "She really is a fool." But even so, she wouldn't say a word more about what her young mistress wanted to do; her young mistress certainly had her own plans.

"Remove everyone else from the courtyard, leaving only Chunyue and you. Don't tell Father and Brother about Xu Qiu's presence here."

"Okay, I understand, Miss." Qiuju nodded and left the room.

Gu Yu sat on the small couch and saw that his forehead was covered in sweat, so she took a small fan and fanned him.

His fainting spell silenced all the heart-wrenching words she had prepared.

Since we're allies, how can we not break up?

They had already planned to divorce, it's just been brought forward a bit. Before their love became too strong or their charade turned real, it's best to settle things early, to avoid any future problems...

Feeling drowsy, Gu Yu propped her head up and took a nap. When she opened her eyes again, the person sleeping soundly in front of her was gone.

Gu Yu frowned and called out loudly, "Qiu Ju—"

"Miss, are you asking about Lord Xu? He's chatting with the master and young master in the front hall right now." Qiu Ju said, turning her eyes away guiltily as she pushed the door open.

Gu Yu felt like she was going crazy. "Aren't you going to stop him? Just throw him out of the manor. How can we let Father and my brother see him?"

“I went to the storeroom to get a new quilt, intending to spread out the bed where Lord Xu sleeps tonight, but I didn’t expect that as soon as he woke up, he went straight to the front hall…” Qiuju replied.

“I didn’t say he should stay here overnight.” Gu Yu felt a headache coming on. “Since Father and Brother didn’t call me, I’ll pretend I don’t know. Please bring him back to me. I have something to say to him.”

"good."

Dusk was falling on the horizon, and the warm golden sunset bathed the entire courtyard. The evening breeze was not dry and hot, but carried a hint of dampness from the riverbank.

Gu Yu didn't wait for him in her boudoir. Instead, she sat down at the stone table in the courtyard. She carefully examined the long-abandoned courtyard, from the mottled corners of the walls to the exquisite eaves.

She belatedly realized that flowers weren't useless after all, and wondered if she should plant something else.

Gu Yu caught a glimpse of the man's pale white robe out of the corner of her eye. "Lord Xu, what are you planning to do now?"

"Madam... I was wrong." Xu Qiu felt a little aggrieved, but she still took the lead in admitting her mistake.

Gu Yu swallowed the words "Where did you go wrong?" that were about to come out of her throat, and almost got led astray by him again. "Lord Xu, please stop calling me 'Madam'. We are divorced and are no longer husband and wife."

"Is this your first time divorcing, Madam?" he chuckled. "Originally, I had no official rank, and Madam was powerful enough to force me into a divorce. But now I am a fifth-rank official of the imperial court, and Madam has also received an imperial decree. Madam has only sent me a divorce decree, so it doesn't count."

"Besides, divorce requires the consent of both husband and wife. My wife's wishful thinking is not my reason to agree."

"Is this what you were talking about with my father and brother?" Gu Yu glanced at him. "Lord Xu, the condition I made when we got married was that we would divorce afterward."

“Well…the matter didn’t work out, did it?” Xu Qiu retorted.

"It's like I can't explain it to you. You don't need me anymore, and I don't need you anymore, Lord Xu. Let's break up the alliance." Gu Yu repeated.

Xu Qiu was somewhat heartbroken. "But it can't be like this. Madam, I like you. I've fallen for you and developed feelings for you. How can you expect me to let go so easily?"

"Lord Xu, let me get down to business first. The deposed crown prince will die; it's only a matter of time. If you can deliver what you have to the Fifth Prince's residence, that will be my last favor."

Gu Yu remained remarkably calm, her expression unmoved, like a heartless and desireless statue.

"Okay..." Xu Qiu remained silent for a while before finally agreeing.

"So, you're going to marry the Fifth Prince, become his consort, and then the Empress... You're not someone who covets wealth and fame. Is it because I'm powerless to help you with your last enemy, and only the Fifth Prince can?"

"Is it Emperor Shengyuan?" Xu Qiu closed his eyes, already having the answer in his heart.

Guan Yiyun, Shen Xiuwen, Sun Gu, the deposed crown prince, and then Emperor Shengyuan.

Even if an ordinary person's entire family is unjustly accused, how could they dare to direct their hatred towards the heavens? But Tang Qingning thought that way and was determined to do so.

"I was wondering why you, who don't believe in Taoism or gods and Buddhas, were determined to divorce me after leaving the manor. Why did you take Zhang Zhenren's blood-written true scripture? Now it seems you had this plan all along. But I was the last one to know."

He was also disheartened, looking at Gu Yu with anger that he couldn't vent, feeling as resentful as a wronged woman.

Seeing that he already knew, Gu Yu didn't hide anything from him.

"To be honest, I used to be completely ignorant of the Four Books and the meaning of politics. When you were learning books and etiquette, I was lucky enough to recognize a few characters."

"But even a nobody like me can see that corruption is rampant in the officialdom of Dasheng today, natural disasters and man-made calamities are happening, and the people are suffering and displaced."

"Whose fault do you think this is? Most people blame Sun Gu, but does the Emperor really know nothing about it? You've worked in the Eastern Depot and dealt with the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so you know Emperor Shengyuan better than I do."

She paused for a moment, then said, "Ever since I learned the truth about the Tang family and wanted to avenge them, I knew that my greatest enemy was Emperor Shengyuan. Unless I go to hell first, I will definitely send him to hell as well."

“I want to avenge the Tang family, but you know what happens when you're powerless. I only have the right to seek revenge because of my current status and family background. And this right is attached to the imperial power. Xu Qiu, don't you think that's interesting?”