Qian Xing realized he had misspoke and quickly corrected himself: "I didn't say I was going to divorce you. I said I could take a second wife, or demote you to a concubine!"

Madam Qian's family background was quite powerful. Back when Qian Xing was just a minor county magistrate of the seventh rank, his wife's family helped him a lot. So even if she made a big mistake, Qian Xing would not dare to mention divorcing her. But he could just give her a crime and marry another woman to help manage the household affairs.

He thought his wife would accept it if he said that, but to his surprise, he was slapped across the face as soon as he finished speaking.

Madam Qian glared at him fiercely and cursed, "Qian Xing, you heartless bastard! You wouldn't be in this position if it weren't for my family's help! You actually want to demote me to a concubine? You're dreaming!"

Demoting her to a concubine was even more humiliating than divorcing her outright, something she never expected.

She knew she had done something stupid today, but it wasn't a big deal. She could just sincerely apologize when she had the chance, and that would be the end of it. More importantly, Qian Xing and Lu Baichuan wouldn't have much interaction. Even if things really turned sour, they could just have less contact in the future. But he actually took the opportunity to say that he wanted to marry a concubine.

This was clearly planned in advance, and he just used this incident to bring it up. In other words, he had already found someone to replace her, right?

"Let me tell you, you better get rid of that vixen. I'll make sure you suffer! I can get you to this position, and I can make you fall from it! You can try!"

After saying that, she turned and left. The guilt she had felt was completely gone. She couldn't even manage her own marriage, so how could she have the time to care whether He Jiuniang was still angry?

Qian Xing then realized that he had been too hasty in saying that.

He has recently taken a liking to a nice girl. She comes from a good family and, most importantly, is beautiful and gentle—his type.

I was thinking of finding an opportunity to mention it to my wife, but I impulsively said it today, and now the plan is basically ruined.

Currently, he is still bound by his father-in-law's family. If he were to force his wife to marry a concubine, and his father-in-law's family made a big fuss, it would really turn into a very ugly situation.

He is now the prefect, and if he wants to be promoted, he can't afford to have too much of a falling out with his wife's family.

Thinking about this, he sighed softly, realizing that he might have to give up love for his career.

On the other side, when Lu Baichuan arrived at the Huoyun Division, the first thing he did was to find Qin Jian and talk about the child kidnapping case.

"I'm not saying this out loud, but this has been going on for so long, and haven't we been the ones helping the government handle it all along? Why are you suddenly bringing this up again?"

Qin Jian glared at him helplessly, feeling that it was pointless for this person to bring up the past.

Lu Baichuan glanced at him calmly and said, "Qian Xing has always wanted us to take over this matter completely. Originally, I thought that since we were already investigating the person behind this matter, it wouldn't be a problem to take over as well. But his wife bullied my wife today, so he should keep this hot potato himself."

"What? Mrs. Qian bullied my sister-in-law... my brother's wife?"

He kept slipping his tongue as soon as he opened his mouth. He had been calling He Jiuniang "little sister-in-law" before, but now that he knew He Jiuniang was his brother's wife, he had to change his address to "brother's wife".

"That won't do. My sister-in-law brings us food every day; she's practically a living Buddha to our Fire Cloud Division! We can't bully our living Buddha, can we? Otherwise, people will look down on our Fire Cloud Division and say we can't even protect a woman!"

"What's wrong with this Mrs. Qian? My sister-in-law doesn't provoke her, so why is she making trouble for her sister-in-law?"

"No, this matter can't be left like this. I'll go ask Qian Xing right now how he wants to handle it!"

Qin Jian was muttering to himself and was about to leave when Lu Baichuan grabbed him and said, "There's no need. Just don't take on that case."

The prefect doesn't have much interaction with them, so even warnings are useless. This case is troublesome enough; if he doesn't handle it well, his performance rating this year will be affected.

If he can't control his woman, then he should pay the price in the officialdom.

"Okay, I'll do as you say."

Qin Jian readily agreed, saying that whatever he wanted was fine, but bullying his younger brother and sister-in-law was absolutely unacceptable!

Many people think he has feelings for He Jiuniang, and even his brothers worry that he will be upset if he finds out about He Jiuniang's relationship with Lu Baichuan. But there's really no need for that.

He only ever felt gratitude for He Jiuniang's life-saving act and the feelings of an ordinary friend. Even knowing that she was his brother's wife, he was genuinely happy for her.

She is no longer a young widow who lost her husband at a young age, but has a husband, family and friends, and is living a better life than anyone else.

He was the one who most wanted to see He Jiuniang live a good life. Now, she hadn't even enjoyed those good days for long, and someone was already bullying his sister-in-law. He absolutely wouldn't allow such a thing to happen.

Lu Baichuan curled the corners of his lips, called over a subordinate, and ordered, "Go and bring Li Yong to see me."

The subordinate acknowledged and left. Qin Jian seized upon the information in his words and asked, "What do you want with Li Yong? Did his wife bully your sister-in-law too?"

Lu Baichuan nodded and said, "Li Yong's wife was the one who started the trouble."

"Oh ho, it seems Li Yongping is quite high-profile, otherwise his wife wouldn't dare to be so domineering."

"Um."

Lu Baichuan sat down, raised his teacup, blew on it, and took a sip.

Although his wife had repeatedly told him not to interfere in this matter, as a man, if he couldn't even handle this kind of thing and let his wife suffer, then what was the point of all those years of desperately climbing the ladder outside?

Qin Jian also sat up straight, determined to give his younger brother and sister-in-law a proper welcome today.

A short while later, Li Yong arrived. Upon seeing Qin Jian and Lu Baichuan, he greeted them with a smile and asked, "What important matter do you two gentlemen have summoned me for?"

Lu Baichuan nodded, but casually asked, "Has General Li gone home for dinner?"

Li Yong couldn't figure out why Lu Baichuan would suddenly ask such a question. He thought it was because his superior was concerned about his life as a subordinate, so he honestly replied, "I went back for a while before coming here."

Since she's already gone back, the fact that she can still smile at him like that means she doesn't know anything about today's banquet.

"Um."

Lu Baichuan nodded and then remained silent.

Li Yong was unsure of Lu Baichuan's attitude. Just as he was about to speak, Qin Jian asked, "General Li, are you a local from Jingzhou?"

"Yes, I spent a few years at the border when I was young. Later, thanks to Your Highness's kindness, I was allowed to stay in Jingzhou."

Li Yong continued to answer honestly, still unable to figure out the intentions of the two men.

Qin Jian nodded thoughtfully: "No wonder..."