Chapter 22 shouldn't be like this.
Qi Yuanhong wanted to scold the two servants, but the words of reprimand stuck in his throat. He swallowed them back down and walked into the Qingshan Earl's mansion with a look of disgust on his face.
One day, he will trample all those who look down on him under his feet.
He had only taken a few steps when the Earl of Qingshan's attendant came running towards him, bowed, and said, "Young Master, the Earl wants you to go to the study immediately."
Qi Yuanhong was startled. The arrogance he had shown earlier, which had been about trampling all those who looked down on him, vanished completely in an instant.
"Okay, I'll be right there," he said quickly.
"Son-in-law, hurry up." The servant's tone was tinged with dissatisfaction.
Qi Yuanhong felt a deep sting in his heart once again, but he smiled and jogged after his attendant to the study. The attendant gestured for Qi Yuanhong to enter.
Qi Yuanhong silently took a deep breath, a smile on his face, and walked in. But as soon as he stepped into the study, a teacup crashed to the ground at his feet. Water stains splattered onto his gray robe, stark and unsightly.
Just like himself now.
"Lord..."
"Look what this is!" Uncle Qingshan threw a piece of paper at his face.
Qi Yuanhong knew that this was a notice written by Jiang Yu. He took it and lowered his head without saying a word, like a student being scolded by his teacher, even though he had already passed the imperial examination with top honors.
"It seems he knows," said Uncle Qingshan.
Qi Yuanhong nodded, and Uncle Qingshan asked again, "Where did you see it?"
Qi Yuanhong opened his mouth, but still said the answer, "At the entrance of the Hanlin Academy."
“At the entrance of the Hanlin Academy,” Uncle Qingshan stood up and casually threw the teapot at Qi Yuanhong. Water splashed all over him, and the teapot fell to the ground with a crisp, clear sound.
"It can be found near the Qiankun Zhengwei Archway on the way to the imperial court, at the entrance of the vegetable market in the four cities of the east, west, south, and north, at the entrance of Yingbinlou, the best restaurant in the capital... in almost every crowded place in the capital."
Uncle Qingshan was furious, like a volcano erupting. He pointed at Qi Yuanhong and said, "I have lived this long and have never been so humiliated, never."
Qi Yuanhong lowered his head and remained silent. Seeing him like this, Uncle Qingshan became even angrier and even wanted to slap him twice, but he held back. He asked, "What exactly happened? Who wrote the notice?"
Qi Yuanhong lowered his head and remained silent. He didn't want to mention Jiang Yu. He felt that this was the last line he would draw for his feelings for Jiang Yu. He knew he had wronged Jiang Yu and didn't want her to suffer any more harm.
"You won't talk, huh?" Uncle Qingshan said, "Qi Yuanhong, think about whose territory you're on now, and who you'll rely on for your future career!"
"Jiang Yu." Qi Yuanhong felt that he had completely become a villain.
"Jiang Yu?" Uncle Qingshan asked. He didn't know anything about Qi Yuanhong's ex-wife. He only knew that Qi Yuanhong had a family, and he ordered Qi Yuanhong to deal with it.
“She was my former wife,” Qi Yuanhong said.
"Heh! Heh heh!" Uncle Qingshan sneered twice. "Qi Yuanhong, is this what you call 'resolved'?"
Qi Yuanhong clenched his fist to defend himself, "When I went with Miss Si to talk to her about divorce before, although there was a little accident, we still got the divorce done in the end. She's always been a person who can take things in stride, I didn't expect her to do something so drastic."
Uncle Qingshan's anger had subsided considerably. He sat down behind his desk, squinted for a moment, and asked, "An accident? What kind of accident?"
This reminded Qi Yuanhong of Su Yuezhen's affair, and his humiliation and anger surged again, but his expression was one of difficulty and reluctance to speak.
Seeing his expression, Uncle Qingshan's face darkened further, and he said in a harsh tone, "Say what you have to say directly."
Qi Yuanhong clenched his fist and said, "I went with Fourth Miss to talk to Jiang... Jiang Yu about divorce. Jiang Yu is stubborn and argued with Fourth Miss for a few words. Fourth Miss insisted that I write a letter of divorce for Jiang Yu."
Uncle Qingshan hummed in agreement. This was Su Yuezhen's temperament, and besides, it wasn't a big deal for a merchant to give her a letter of divorce.
He asked, "Then why did you still sign the divorce papers in the end?"
Hearing this question, Qi Yuanhong felt a surge of excitement. He wondered what kind of expression Uncle Qingshan would have when he heard that his beloved granddaughter had been exposed for having an affair.
Was it shame and indignation, or anger born of embarrassment?
He feigned reluctance but felt compelled to speak, saying, "Jiang Yu brought someone with her, a man named Song Yushu. As soon as Song Yushu entered the hall, the Fourth Miss started arguing with him after only a few words. That's when I learned that the Fourth Miss had actually... had a secret affair with that man."
Saying the words "adultery" brought Qi Yuanhong a sense of relief, as if much of the pent-up frustration he had felt over the past few days had dissipated. He restrained his gaze and expression, not allowing himself to show excitement or any other inappropriate emotions, and looked at Uncle Qingshan.
He paused for a moment and said, "Oh, Yuezhen is young and naive and has done some wrong things. I have already punished her, and she knows she was wrong and said she will not do it again."
He spoke in a calm tone, as if he were having a casual chat with someone, saying that his child was playful.
this.....
This shouldn't be the case. If a woman in the family has an affair, and she's an unmarried woman at that, shouldn't she be ashamed to death? How can you be so indifferent?
Disappointment caused Qi Yuanhong to lose control of his expression; his eyes and facial expressions betrayed his shock and resentment.
Uncle Qingshan is over sixty years old and has experienced more than Qi Yuanhong has. How could he not know what he was thinking just by looking at his expression?
He snorted heavily and said, "If Yuezhen hadn't made a mistake, it wouldn't have been your turn to marry her."
This is the stark reality. Uncle Qingshan wants to use reality to strike Qi Yuanhong, to make him see his own position clearly, and to see who can give him what he wants.
Qi Yuanhong was truly shocked. For the first time, he realized that some moral standards and laws were nothing but bullshit in the eyes of the powerful and wealthy.
"How did Jiang Yu, a merchant, find Song Yushu?" Uncle Qingshan asked thoughtfully.
Qi Yuanhong shook his head. "I don't know. Jiang Yu is just a small businessman who owns two shops in our town and the county seat."
He had no idea how big Jiang Yu's business was; this was Jiang Yu's last line of defense against him.
Uncle Qingshan narrowed his eyes again. "How could a small-time merchant save the person I'm hunting down? And how does she know about Yuezhen and Song Yushu?"
When Qi Yuanhong saw how easily he revealed Su Yuezhen and Song Yushu's affair, his worldview shattered once again. He felt he wasn't a good person, and was already quite shameless, but compared to Qingshan Bo, he was nothing.
“I don’t know,” he said.
Uncle Qingshan continued to ponder, and after a while he asked again, "You said that the notice was written by Jiang Yu?"
Qi Yuanhong nodded and said with certainty, "Yes."
"Although the content of that notice was too arrogant, it was still a good article. Are you sure it was written by Jiang Yu?" Uncle Qingshan asked.
Qi Yuanhong nodded again, "Jiang Yu went to school when she was young, and she would read all the books I read later. She... her writing is indeed very... good."
He always felt pressured when he was with Jiang Yu.
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