Shen Qing entered the backyard of the yamen without any hindrance.
The light in Qi Zhenheng's study was still on. Without thinking, Shen Qing lifted her gown and skirt, strode up the steps, and knocked on the door.
The door didn't open from the inside for quite a while.
Qi Zhenheng looked at her in surprise: "Madam, why are you here so late?"
Shen Qing walked in on her own, her voice trembling with rage: "My mother-in-law insisted that I come and beg you to release Gao Yuanxiang! You absolutely cannot release Gao Yuanxiang and Gao Yuanqi! Those two bastards schemed against me! They bankrupted me! They should die!"
Qi Zhenheng glanced outside the door and quickly closed it.
"Watch your words!" he whispered. "If someone with ulterior motives overhears this and makes a big deal out of it, you'll definitely get into big trouble!"
Shen Qing put her hands on her hips, raised her chin, and exhaled to release her anger.
After calming down a bit, she turned to look at Qi Zhenheng.
Only then did they realize there was another person in the room.
Cheng Zhiwen.
Shen Qing: "..."
Cheng Zhiwen's expression was unreadable, his eyes filled with inquiry as he looked at her.
Shen Qing pursed her lips and said awkwardly, "You're here too."
He chuckled mockingly: "Am I that surprised? It's you who came to Brother Zhenheng's place in the middle of the night, what brings you here?"
"...I'll come if I need anything."
"Your so-called 'something' doesn't seem to be extremely urgent, and we can't wait until tomorrow to talk about it?"
Knowing that he was admonishing her that it was inappropriate to visit Qi Zhenheng in the middle of the night, Shen Qing cleared her throat and remained silent.
It was definitely inappropriate; it was impulsive.
Qi Zhenheng spoke up at the right moment: "Alright, alright, it's nothing."
He gestured for Shen Qing to sit down, poured her a cup of tea, and said with a frown:
"According to the Qing Dynasty Code, Gao Yuanxiang and Gao Yuanqi's false accusations were serious and they should be sentenced to one hundred strokes of the cane, exile for three thousand li, and three years of penal servitude. However, given that Gao Yuanxiang was not the mastermind, the sentence can be reduced by half."
Shen Qing pondered for a while, then asked, "So that means fifty strokes of the cane, exile for 1,500 li, plus a year and a half of forced labor?"
Cheng Zhiwen laughed out loud.
Qi Zhenheng chuckled and said, "That's not wrong, but for convenience, she might be sentenced to exile for two thousand miles plus two years of penal servitude."
It means being exiled and imprisoned in a place two thousand miles away.
Shen Qing was satisfied: "That's good! By that calculation, I have at least two years to do business quietly."
Qi Zhenheng asked, "What about your mother-in-law's side?"
Shen Qing rolled his eyes: "If the old woman can't bear to leave her daughter, she can go into exile with her. It just depends on whether she's willing or not."
She stood up, cupped her hands in greeting to Qi Zhenheng, and said, "I'm sorry to bother you so late, Lord Qi. I'll be leaving now."
"Madam, let me see you out."
Before Qi Zhenheng could finish speaking, Cheng Zhiwen had already stood up and said to Shen Qing, "Let's go together."
Shen Qing gave him a resentful look, but did not refuse, and took the lead in leaving the study.
The two boarded the carriage one after the other and sat facing each other.
Cheng Zhiwen's expression was bad, and her tone was even worse: "What time is it now?"
Shen Qing knew he was going to scold her for contacting Qi Zhenheng in the middle of the night, and she became even more irritated. She spoke first, "It was indeed an emergency, and I didn't think about it that much. Don't say anything more."
Gao Liushi alone is enough to annoy her, and with Cheng Zhiwen acting like this, she's really going to lose her temper.
"I advise you—this is not like abroad. You are a newly widowed woman, going to an unmarried man's house in the middle of the night. You're just asking for trouble!"
Every word and phrase reminded her that she was a widow.
Shen Qing couldn't help but retort, "So what if I'm a new widow? Can't a new widow even seek help from the local official?"
"A widow's door is always a source of gossip; haven't you heard that saying?"
"I've heard that, so what? People demand that widows not go out at night, so should I really stay home? People also demand that I die, so how can I die?"
Cheng Zhiwen choked, her face turning pale with anger.
Shen Qing crossed her arms and closed her eyes to rest, but she was still angry and said, "You're acting very strangely tonight. You were perfectly fine when you took me and Su Lan home."
Cheng Zhiwen remained silent.
Shen Qing continued, "I originally thought you had studied abroad and weren't a feudal person, but I didn't expect you to keep saying 'there's always trouble around a widow's door.' You seem to really enjoy reminding me that I'm a widow. I know I'm a widow, but I don't think that just because I'm a widow, I'm inferior to others!"
She didn't open her eyes when she said these words, so it's impossible to know what expression Cheng Zhiwen had, but she made everything she wanted to say clear.
The only sound all around was the rushing of horse-drawn carriages.
After a moment, Cheng Zhiwen finally spoke in a low voice.
“I’m not saying it’s bad that you’re a widow. I just want to remind you that this environment categorizes people into different classes, and different people have different constraints and rules. If you don’t follow the rules of this environment, you will inevitably suffer misfortune.”
I hope you can be more careful and protect yourself. You know that Master Zhao intends to persecute you, yet you still travel dozens of miles to the prefectural government office in the middle of the night? What if something happens to you on the way? Who will rescue you in the middle of the night?
This time, Shen Qing did not refute.
She understood what Cheng Zhiwen meant.
But she still felt uncomfortable with his well-intentioned but tactless remarks, so she turned to the side, kept her eyes closed, and refused to communicate.
They arrived at the Gao family's house soon.
Shen Qing crouched down as she got out of the car.
Cheng Zhiwen followed her out of the car.
The two stopped by the carriage.
She calmed down considerably and said, "I'll think about whether those machines need to be repaired in the next couple of days. If they do, you can arrange it for me."
"good."
Looking at Cheng Zhiwen's thin and delicate lower face, she suddenly remembered the kiss during the Lantern Festival, and also remembered that she had made up her mind to tell him the whereabouts of the original owner of this body while she was in prison.
"I was planning to tell you her whereabouts these past couple of days, but you just made me very angry, so I don't want to say anything now."
He smiled and tapped his chin on the gate of the Gao family behind her: "Then we'll talk about it when you're ready!"
Shen Qing turned and left.
After passing through the main hall, neither Gao Liushi nor her three grandsons were seen; they must have already gone back to their rooms to sleep.
Shen Qing returned to the Intermediate People's Court.
Chunju had just finished helping Sulan bathe and go to bed when she came out of the bathroom and saw her. She greeted her, "Young Madam, did you go out again?"
Shen Qing nodded and went back to her room.
She sat down at the dressing table and had Chunju remove the hairpin from her hair bun, then put all her long hair up in a bun for later bathing.
The young face reflected in the bronze mirror was full of collagen, with watery eyes, red lips, and white teeth.
Shen Qing stared at the face that was both familiar and unfamiliar, and said absentmindedly, "Chunju, you said widows aren't snakes or scorpions, so why does everyone avoid them like the plague?"
Chunju guessed that Cheng Zhiwen must have scolded her again.
Without stopping, he removed her hairpin and said, "Because you are the young mistress of the Gao family! The Gao family is a prominent family in Jiangzhou, so naturally no one dares to offend you. But if you were just an ordinary widow, it would be different. People who want to provoke you could line up all the way to the city gate."
As she spoke, she glanced up at the window lattice to make sure no one was eavesdropping outside, then asked in a low voice, "Young mistress, are you thinking of remarrying?"
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