go home
Jiang Yunshu has been living quite comfortably at Xiyuan these past few days, except that her letter has yet to arrive.
But Qing Shuang brought with her a horrifying nursery rhyme.
The Big Dipper slants, the Crape Myrtle sways, and the Copper Mountain enters dreams, pressing down on the dragon robe. A newlywed bride laughs in her vermilion gate, her golden carriage replaced by a heavenly bridge. Mars guards the heart, illuminating the endless palace, and whose child sings of impending doom?
Qing Shuang frowned, looking worried, but then she suddenly smiled.
Isn't this the perfect opportunity for a divorce?
"Miss, how can you still laugh? If these words reach the Emperor's ears, we..."
"We are not the ones who should be worried."
Jiang Yunshu smiled.
There was a noise at the door. Jiang Yunshu turned around and saw a large group of people walking towards them.
The old lady walked majestically at the front, followed by the Marquis and his wife.
"Jiang Yunshu, I really spoil you too much. Do you act like this even when you see the old lady?"
The Marquis rebuked her in a low voice, while the old lady glanced at her indifferently and spoke slowly.
“Yun Shu, the Marquis has always treated you very well in the past few years in the Marquis’s mansion. Although you are a concubine, he has never treated you as a concubine. He even put you in charge of the household. The Marquis’s affection for you is deep and righteous, and I, this old woman, have seen it all.”
The old lady's expression was calm, but her words were sincere and heartfelt.
"Since you want a divorce and don't care about Qingyao's future, this old woman has nothing to say. Let's leave it at that. I'll have the First Madam pack out your things and we'll set off immediately."
After saying this, the lady sent someone to her room to fetch her things.
Qing Shuang's expression changed, and she swiftly blocked the man's path.
"Madam, can people just search our concubine's room at will?!"
The old lady didn't say a word, nor did she even glance at her.
Jiang Yunshu smiled; she was too lazy to even pretend anymore.
"The old lady is right. Yun Shu is really a country bumpkin who doesn't understand these principles. Yun Shu feels guilty..." She smiled and looked up at the old lady. "Old lady, Yun Shu will not get a divorce. This matter is Yun Shu's fault. I apologize to the madam and the second young master."
The old lady's expression was inscrutable; she frowned and remained silent.
The Marquis was extremely anxious: "Jiang Yunshu, you have no choice but to get a divorce, you..."
"If you don't agree to a divorce, I'll just write you a divorce letter and leave you!"
"Let's see how you'll have the face to live after you go back to Jiangnan!"
She chuckled inwardly, but feigned fear on her face: "My lord, Yun Shu was wrong. This is all Yun Shu's fault. I hope you will remember our past relationship and not be so heartless towards Yun Shu!"
"Jiang Yunshu, don't push your luck! There's no room for negotiation on this matter. Get back to Jiangnan right now! Our Marquis's mansion can't tolerate someone like you!"
After the Marquis gave him a good scolding, the old lady gently rebuked him: "How could you have come to this!"
“Yun Shu,” she turned to her and softened her tone, “I have seen your relationship with the Marquis over the past few years. Now that you two are estranged, I will let you go home.”
Before Jiang Yunshu could say anything more, the person behind the lady took out a booklet, which contained Jiang Yunshu's expenses in the Marquis's mansion over the past few years and the dowry she brought with her.
As they tallied everything up, Jiang Yunshu discovered that she still owed the Marquis's mansion two thousand taels of silver!
"Considering your good behavior and politeness over the past few years, we will give you one thousand taels. We will send someone to accompany you to Jiangnan. Once you have the silver notes, we will sign the divorce papers. Yunshu, you can then return home in peace."
The old lady's hoarse voice sounded like nothing but calculation to her ears. The Marquis snorted coldly and didn't look at her again. The lady also had a cold face, holding the account book in her hand without saying a word.
She had thought about this before, but she never expected these people to be so shameless as to try to make a quick buck even during the divorce.
"What a coincidence. I learned bookkeeping from my father when I was at home. You're not the only ones with account books."
She reached out slightly, and Qing Shuang immediately pulled an account book out of her collar.
"Now that we've settled your accounts, it's time to settle mine too."
Her account books started from the old lady's first birthday celebration, and continued to detail all the banquets, big and small, in the mansion afterward, down to every gift and expense note sent by the Jiang family.
The old lady's face turned completely cold, and the Marquis's eyes darkened with anger. The lady looked at her as if she were someone else entirely.
She became more and more enthusiastic as she read, and her mood improved considerably.
"What evidence do you have for those account books? They're just made up. They're just the words of a woman. Without evidence, how can anyone know if you've falsified anything!"
The Marquis roared angrily.
She smiled at the group of people with different expressions in front of her, raised the account book in her hand, and raised her eyebrows in a good mood: "There is no proof, of course, but the nursery rhymes circulating in the city these days are also no proof."
"Whether or not I believe it is not up to me. If the Marquis's mansion does not return these to my Jiang family, I cannot guarantee where this account book will appear tomorrow."
The Marquis's face darkened, and the old lady said in a deep voice, "Jiang Yunshu, I underestimated you."
She just smiled and didn't say anything.
The group left in a grand procession, leaving the lady standing in the courtyard.
“Jiang Yunshu, even if you expose this matter, the Marquis’s mansion will remain unscathed. I am the daughter of the Minister’s family, and my father will protect the Shen family no matter what.”
Chu Lian looked at her: "There are plenty of people in Yujing who want you dead. What's the point of fighting for these things now?"
For the past few years in the Marquis's mansion, Chu Lian had always been a cloud hanging over her head. Even though Chu Lian didn't use any particular tone now, she could still sense the faint impatience in Chu Lian's voice.
Chu Lian was the only daughter of the Minister's family. She wanted to marry the Marquis because of his good looks.
She has always looked down on Jiang Yunshu, despised Jiang Yunshu's behavior, and despised Jiang Yunshu's background.
"No need for you to trouble yourself, Madam. It's my stuff, so of course I'll take it back."
Chu Lian glanced at her a few more times, then turned and left without saying anything.
Ayao poked her head out of the room, ran out and tugged at her skirt: "Auntie, doesn't Father want us anymore?"
Ayao's eyes sparkled with sadness.
"No, it's us who don't want them anymore, Yao. Shall we go back to Jiangnan?"
Ayao pursed her lips and remained silent for a long time, seemingly not quite understanding Jiang Yunshu's words, but she still nodded.
She rubbed A Yao's head, pinched A Yao's little face, and hugged A Yao tightly in her arms, secretly vowing in her heart: this time, she will definitely protect A Yao.
——
"Miss, what if they refuse to give it to us?"
A few days later, no one visited Xiyuan again after that day.
Qing Shuang was still very worried. This rumor was extremely detrimental to her young lady, and might even affect the Jiang family. If...
“It’s alright,” she waved her hand. “We’re not the ones who should be worried right now. In a few more days, they will put the things out in front of us properly.”
Qing Shuang didn't believe it, but just one day later, Xi Yuan was indeed filled with gold and silver jewelry, dozens of boxes full. Anyone who didn't know better would think it was a wedding banquet!
After leaving the Marquis's residence, Qing Shuang finally came to her senses.
"Miss, you really predicted it. Wasn't the Marquis's mansion short of money?"
Holding a jade hairpin, she smiled and said, "Frugality is just for show for the Jiang family. In the past few years, Father has sent countless amounts of money and gifts, both openly and secretly, but none of them have been shown to us."
Qing Shuang sighed and stopped talking, lowered her head and hugged her bundle tightly. Suddenly, she felt a force push on her head. When she looked up, Jiang Yunshu was smiling at her.
"Qing Shuang, you look really good in this."
These words startled her. She noticed that the hairpin in Jiang Yunshu's hand had disappeared, and she raised her hand to take it off.
"Wearing it."
Jiang Yunshu didn't say anything more, lay down in the carriage, and muttered, "It's a pity it's not as good as the carriage at home, where we can eat ice."
Qing Shuang smiled again, as if she saw the young lady before she was married, playful and roguish yet full of chivalry.
After a bumpy journey of nearly half a month, the carriage finally arrived in Jiangnan from Yujing City.
"We've finally arrived. Everyone's lost weight."
Her mother's eyes reddened as she looked at her.
She rushed forward and hugged her parents. Thinking of the tragic end of the Jiang family in her previous life, tears streamed down her face.
Jiang's parents thought she had been wronged at the Marquis's mansion, and they felt even more guilty. They thought they should never have let A-Yun marry that Marquis!
Merchants had a low social status and were not even qualified to speak.
"I made your favorite dishes. You must be tired from your journey. Take a break and go eat something."
Jiang's mother, Ruan Qingshang, said with a choked voice.
Jiang Yunshu walked into the hall and discovered that there were three large tables in the room.
This is……?
“You’re back today, and your uncle and aunt are here to welcome you back. I was originally planning to go to Xiangyun Pavilion, but your father insisted on doing it at home.”
Jiang Yunshu glanced at her father and breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, they were at home. Who holds a banquet when they get divorced?
"You two go and rest for a bit, don't overwork yourselves."
Her father ushered Ayao and her into the room. The furnishings in the room were so familiar, as if they had just left yesterday, yet there was also a deep sense of unfamiliarity.
Ayao had never been here before. She had been quietly following her, remaining so until she lay down and then realized that Ayao was standing by her bedside.
Are you hungry?
Ayao pursed her lips and didn't speak, then shook her head after thinking for a moment.
Are you a little scared?
Ayao lowered her eyes and stopped looking at her, her hand gently clutching the hem of her clothes.
She propped herself up on her arms and reached out to touch Ayao's head. This place was her home where she had lived for more than ten years, but for Ayao, it was a place that only appeared in her mouth.
Everything was unfamiliar, even her parents were strangers to Ayao.
"No, if Mother is happy, then Ayao is happy."
Ah Yao spoke in a muffled voice, without raising her head, her hands tightly gripping the hem of her clothes.
"Ayao, this is no longer the Marquis's mansion. No one will bully us or hurt us."
"If you don't like so many people, why don't you stay in your room and wait for Mom to come back?"
Ayao slowly raised her head, pursed her lips and looked at her for a long time, then shook her head: "Ayao wants to be with Mother, she doesn't want to be alone."
She smiled and ruffled Ayao's hair again.
"Jiang Yunshu!"
"Your savior has arrived! Aren't you going to greet him?"
A voice came from afar, a powerful yet melodious and familiar wild tone.
'Bang!'
The door was suddenly pushed open, and Jiang Shuyue, wearing a light green silk dress, rushed in.
"How can you sleep at your age? Get up!" Jiang Shuyue took two steps forward and squeezed Jiang Yunshu aside.
"Let me lie down. At my age, lying down is just right."
She stood between the mother and daughter, turned to look at Ayao, and smiled so much that her lips almost reached her ears: "Ayao, do you miss your aunt?"
Ayao smiled and lowered her eyelids shyly.
"Luckily I didn't think about it, otherwise I wouldn't have brought any food."
Jiang Yunshu slapped her: "Why are you teasing Ayao?"
“Ling Jingchu is coming after school today too.” Jiang Shuyue turned to the side, becoming more serious. “Let me tell you, this whole thing is thanks to him. If it weren’t for him coming up with that nursery rhyme…”
Jiang Shuyue glanced furtively toward the door, then lowered her voice: "This matter has blown up so much, I've been dreaming about being beheaded every night for the past few nights, it's terrifying!"
Ling Jingchu.
Jiang Yunshu frowned; she knew this was no accident.
In her past life, it was this same person who forcibly brought Ayao back two years after she was sent to the Qiang ethnic group.
However, after returning, A Yao was tortured to death by the Third Prince.
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