"Lord Shen's wife?" Pei Xuanqing glanced at Wan Xueying and raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you two divorce in the street yesterday?"
"Look at what the deputy commander said," Shen Yu smiled, "Hasn't our divorce documents been sent to the government office yet?" In other words, Wan Xueying was still his wife and a married woman.
Pei Xuanqing raised his eyebrows, "Does this mean that Lord Shen doesn't plan to divorce Miss Wan Er?"
"How could this humble official be the type to kick someone when they're down?" Shen Yu smiled again, "At least I don't have any such plans at the moment."
"What does Miss Wan Er think?" Knowing that even a fool would not insist on divorce at this time, Pei Xuanqing still asked Wan Xueying.
Wan Xueying had originally planned to use this method to save herself, but Shen Yu hadn't expected her to do so. After giving Shen Yu a grateful look, she smiled faintly and replied, "If someone hadn't shot a poisoned arrow at me yesterday, I would be at the Duke of Ping's mansion right now." This meant that Pei Xuanqing had contributed to her and Shen Yu's divorce.
"Wait," Pei Xuanqing frowned slightly when he heard her words, "A poisoned arrow?" He had agreed to help Princess Mingxia shoot the arrow out of helplessness, but there was definitely no poison on the arrow.
"What?" Wan Xueying sneered, "Deputy Commander, are you not brave enough to take responsibility for this?"
"What do you mean by daring to do something but not taking responsibility? I admit that I shot the arrow yesterday, but I have my own skills, and you are a woman. Even if I wanted to kill you, I would never poison the arrow!"
"Really?" Wan Xueying was not so easily fooled. After all, the facts were there.
"Where is the arrow?"
"It's in a box of my dowry." She emphasized the word "dowry". Shen Yu understood and immediately said, "Speaking of dowry, since Xueying and I have not divorced, shouldn't the dowry be included in the list of things to be confiscated?" Although it was the first time she addressed her in a friendly way, the word "Xueying" came to her mind very smoothly.
"Yes." Pei Xuanqing did not deny this, "But it's being searched now, and it might be difficult to find in such a mess." He actually wanted to find it as soon as possible so that he could see if the arrow was poisonous.
"The dowry was just brought back last night and should not have been put away yet," seeing Xu nod in agreement, Shen Yu continued, "I happen to have a dowry list in my hand, just check it." The reason why he brought the dowry list was because he thought Wan Chengji and his wife would be generous enough to give the dowry to Wan Xueying. He was afraid that something was missing, so he brought it to her specially. Unexpectedly, it came in handy.
Pei Xuanqing nodded slightly, still not making things too difficult for them, and said, "Then we'll talk about it when we meet."
"Okay." Shen Yu held the dowry list in his hand and was not afraid that someone would hide it during the search.
Speaking of dowries, Wan Chengji, thinking that Pei Xuanqing was the empress's nephew and should be flexible, quickly said, "I wonder if Qingling's dowry is also among those to be confiscated? If not, I'd like to trouble the deputy commander to send someone to the East Palace."
Pei Xuanqing raised the corners of his lips sarcastically. "Miss Wan Er is already married, and her dowry list has been reported to the government, so she is not included in the list of items to be confiscated. Miss Wan Da has not yet married into the Eastern Palace, and her dowry list has not been reported to the government. No matter how much you prepare for her, it still belongs to the family property of the Earl's Mansion, so it is still included in the list of items to be confiscated." He paused and said, "Besides, Miss Wan Da's matter has not been concluded yet. Isn't it too early and too much for the Earl?"
Wan Chengji's face flushed red as he said this, and he said awkwardly, "I was just saying it casually."
While waiting for her dowry, Wan Xueying finally saved herself from the brink of imprisonment at the Dali Temple and received an extra dowry for free, but she had no intention of stopping there. She cast a reassuring glance at the ever-nervous Concubine Chen and asked, "I wonder if my dowry can leave with me?"
"Of course." Perhaps because he attacked a weak woman like Wan Xueying yesterday, and heard that the arrow was poisoned, Pei Xuanqing was particularly easy to talk to.
Now, not only Aunt Chen and Madam Wu could finally put their minds at ease, but even the servants who originally belonged to Wan Xueying's courtyard, and even those who were not in her courtyard, seemed to see a glimmer of hope.
They all stared at Wan Xueying eagerly, hoping to attract her attention so that she could take them away. Xu Shi even tried her best to hint that she wanted the maids around her to be taken away by Wan Xueying, and take away her hidden belongings as well.
However, it was bound to disappoint some people. Wan Xueying did not want to take too much. She only specifically asked to take away Aunt Chen and Nanny Wu. The rest were the ten guards who were selected by Wan Chengji for her to go to the northern border, and three coachmen.
"Did you forget about the guards?" Wan Chengji didn't expect Wan Xueying to be so foolish, and had to remind her anxiously, "If you still go to the Northern Frontier, it will be safer with more guards."
Why didn't you realize this earlier? Didn't you think ten guards were too many? Wan Xueying finished complaining silently in her heart, glanced at Pei Xuanqing and asked, "Father, do you think the deputy commander would agree if my daughter took away all the guards of the Bo Mansion?"
Honestly, she had considered taking more guards, but she feared she couldn't afford to support so many. She was even more concerned that they might be loyal to the Han, publicly following her but secretly loyal to Wan Chengji, Wan Jiangyuan, and the others. In that case, even with more guards, it would be useless. It would be better to just take these ten guards with her now, and then use a combination of kindness and force to win them over later.
Wan Xueying was right. When the ten guards learned that she had insisted on taking only them, even though they could have taken more, their gratitude was overflowing. Later, upon witnessing the suffering their former colleagues endured during their exile, they followed Wan Xueying even more wholeheartedly, willing to sacrifice their lives without complaint.
At this moment, Wan Chengji felt a little scared after her reminder. He wasn't afraid of Pei Xuanqing, but he was afraid that the emperor would think he had dared to deceive the emperor in such a matter as confiscating the property, which would be even more detrimental to the Bo Mansion. Instantly, he gave up the idea of forcing someone on Wan Xueying.
Wan Xueying ignored him and turned to look at Madam Xu. "Mother, where are the indentures for Concubine Chen and Madam Wu?" If it weren't for Concubine Chen's new identity and the unified travel permits for everyone, she should have retrieved their indentures last night. Now, she needed to get the indentures for the ten guards and the coachman as well to feel at ease.
"Here with me." Upon learning that the soldiers had searched the house, Xu immediately put the servants' deeds and a stack of silver bills in her arms.
Knowing it would be difficult to keep them, she tried to slip in some banknotes when giving the indentures to Wan Xueying and the others. However, before they reached Wan Xueying, the indentures and banknotes were all intercepted by the Yulin Guards. In the end, Wan Xueying only got the indentures of those she could take away.
With Pei Xuanqing's consent, Shen Yu and Wan Xueying then led their men to the dowry, and Pei Xuanqing followed behind them.
When they saw the loads of dowry that had just been sent back last night and had not yet been stored in the warehouse, several people hurriedly checked the dowry list and started to count them.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Wan Xueying secretly transferred the poisonous arrow lying in the space into one of the boxes, and then pretended to take it out of the box and handed it to Pei Xuanqing.
Upon inspection, he discovered that the arrow was indeed the same one he usually used, and the tip indeed glowed with a faint blue light. Pei Xuanqing was speechless. What else could have happened? Someone must have secretly replaced his arrow.
Regardless of what he thought, Wan Xueying didn't dwell on it. No matter who poisoned her and wanted to kill her, he was the one who shot the arrow and couldn't escape, right?
At the moment, she was busy asking people to carry out the valuable and useful items in the dowry one by one. She also did not forget to ask the three coachmen to take away their carriages. Of course, she also took the opportunity to transfer some things into the space.
He also secretly transferred the two packages of Aunt Chen and Madam Wu from the space and placed them on one of the carriages. Those were the things that Aunt Chen and Madam Wu had accumulated for most of their lives, and it was really heartbreaking to have them confiscated.
This was all thanks to her mental ability that allowed her to sense the arrival of the officers and soldiers in advance. She had time to put the things in her house into the space, and then used her lightness skills to run to Aunt Chen. She only picked out two packages containing valuables and said she would help them hide them. After turning around and leaving, she put them into the space as well.
Originally, the two of them had seen the house-raiding scene and did not hold much hope, but when they actually saw their packages, they were happy for a long time.
Because there were too many things, the three carriages could not hold them all. Wan Xueying simply adopted the method of "decluttering" to deal with the remaining items, especially the large ones.
Seeing her leave behind a considerable dowry, not only Shen Yu but even Pei Xuanqing was secretly impressed. Before leaving, Wan Xueying approached Shen Yu with an important request.
"Are you really determined to completely sever ties with everyone in the Bo Mansion?" This was a common practice after a married woman's family was convicted of a crime. Even if the woman herself didn't want to, her in-laws would force her to sever ties to protect themselves. But after learning that Wan Xueying was the only daughter of Wan Chengji and his wife, Shen Yu still asked.
"Yes." Wan Xueying nodded. "This is the only way to avoid implicating the Duke Ping's Mansion. Besides, once you and I officially divorce, I won't be implicated at all."
"What if the charges against the Marquis' family are cleared soon? By then, as the only legitimate daughter of the Marquis' family, my status will also rise."
"Wasn't I the only legitimate daughter of the Bo family? At least my parents and brothers knew that. But in reality, it wasn't a matter of status, but rather that they never treated me as their own daughter or sister." She was even more determined because her own father had just dragged her, his own daughter, into this water to protect Wan Qingling, completely disregarding any family affection. Since that was the case, she might as well cut off all ties.
If she hadn't proposed breaking off the engagement at this critical moment, which would have caused complications, she wouldn't have asked Shen Yu for help. After all, he was of high status, and it was understandable that he had saved her at this time and asked her father to break off the engagement for the sake of the Duke of Pingguo's mansion.
As expected, Shen Yu did not disappoint her. He asked the Yulin Guards, who were used to seeing the scene of breaking off engagements, about the procedure. After finding paper and pen, he quickly wrote the document of breaking off engagement and went to find Wan Chengji.
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