Chapter 3 I Can Do Without a Title
Qi Yuanhong felt he understood Jiang Yu quite well. He knew that divorcing Jiang Yu would not be easy, so he brought Su Yuezhen with him. He didn't want to talk about feelings with Jiang Yu and wanted to use the power of the Qingshan Marquis's Mansion to pressure her.
He knew he was in the wrong for divorcing Jiang Yu, and he couldn't reason with her about feelings. Jiang Yu was a woman whose heart could harden like a stone.
But he never expected that Su Yuezhen had an affair with an actress, and that Jiang Yu had caught her red-handed. He also never expected that Jiang Yu would settle accounts with him so meticulously, practically exposing him completely.
The biggest headache right now is that Jiang Yu wants more than 10,000 taels of silver, and he can't come up with that much money even if you beat him to death.
"Yu Niang," Qi Yuanhong called out, his voice pleading.
"Call me Miss." Jiang Yu said calmly, "From now on, you have no right to call me Yu Niang."
Qi Yuanhong clenched his fist. "Miss Jiang, I'll go raise the money right now."
Jiang Yu looked down at her slender white fingers. Xia He had painted her nails yesterday with the brightest red balsam, but the color was too vibrant and she didn't like it. Next time, she would prefer pink.
With her mind on the nail polish incident, she replied to Qi Yuanhong, "I doubt you can help with raising the money. You should let Miss Su's servants handle it."
Another round of humiliating words followed, and Qi Yuanhong's clenched fists bulged with veins.
Seeing his cowardly, humiliated state, Jiang Yu felt a surge of satisfaction. Qi Yuanhong hadn't been this amusing before; perhaps he'd overdone it to hide his ugly side.
“I’m the kind of person who likes to finish things today,” Jiang Yu said, looking at the old woman standing behind Su Yuezhen. “I imagine you don’t want things to drag on, do you? Who knows what rumors might spread? I’m just a common merchant; I don’t care that much about reputation. I don’t know about you…”
What follows is self-explanatory.
The old woman took a deep breath, bent down and whispered in Su Yuezhen's ear, "Miss, let's pawn your jewelry first."
Su Yuezhen glared at Jiang Yu with red eyes, while Jiang Yu leaned back in her chair, calmly returning her gaze. The difference in their demeanor was immediately apparent.
Su Yuezhen raised her hand, took off the gold hairpin from her hair, and handed it to the old woman. The old woman held the hairpin without moving it; one hairpin was definitely not enough.
Su Yuezhen gritted her teeth and took off a gold-inlaid jade hairpin, then a hair ornament, a hairpin with dangling ornaments... and finally a jadeite bracelet and a mutton-fat jade pendant....
In no time, all of Su Yuezhen's jewelry appeared in the old woman's hands. Su Yuezhen was so angry that her face turned purple. Being forced to pawn all her jewelry to pay back money was undoubtedly a great humiliation to her, the Fourth Miss Su.
The old woman glanced at Su Yuezhen's purplish-blue face, gritted her teeth, and carefully carried the jewelry away.
Actually, these items might not even be worth ten thousand taels of silver, but mentioning the Qingshan Earl's Mansion and the Imperial Concubine's name should get the pawnshop to pay that much. Anyway, they'll come to redeem the jewelry as soon as they return to the capital. It's just that then, her young mistress will be ridiculed by the other young ladies and wives in the mansion.
The old woman left, her mind filled with thoughts. Jiang Yu also got up and walked out. Being with scumbags and bitches, even the air smelled rotten.
As soon as she stood up, Song Yushu also stood up and followed her out of the hall. Jiang Yu sensed someone following her, so she stopped and turned around, saying:
"Young Master Song, I had someone save your life, and you helped me out. We're even now. You can leave now."
Song Yushu bowed deeply to Jiang Yu, saying, "Thank you for saving my life, Miss. However, I have some things I would like to say to you."
Jiang Yu glanced at him for a moment and said, "Let's go to the side hall."
She turned and walked towards the side hall, with Song Yushu following three steps behind her. The two entered the side hall one after the other, and after sitting down, Song Yushu lowered her head slightly.
The young man, with skin as white as porcelain and delicate features, had his brows slightly furrowed, revealing helplessness and sorrow that truly tugged at the heartstrings of anyone who saw him.
No wonder Su Yuezhen couldn't resist, but Jiang Yu leaned back in his chair, admiring the beauty without saying a word.
“Young Miss,” Song Yushu raised his head, his eyes seemingly filled with tears, and said earnestly, “I am truly grateful to you. Without you, I would be dead. I was sold into an opera troupe when I was three years old. The troupe leader didn’t treat me like a human being; I was just a tool for him to make money.”
I truly envy Scholar Qi. He met you during his most difficult time, and you helped him so much, spending so much money on him. But he has no conscience and has let you down…”
Jiang Yu didn't know what he wanted to say, so he picked up his teacup, took a sip, and continued listening. But then he saw Song Yushu tug at his robe, revealing his long, fair neck and delicate collarbone, his fair and smooth skin even glowing slightly.
His half-revealed, half-revealed look was incredibly alluring, and his slightly shy gaze drifted towards Jiang Yu...
"Cough cough cough..."
Jiang Yu was so shocked that she couldn't swallow her water properly and coughed violently. It wasn't that she was ignorant; it was just that her workplace in her previous life was too proper, and she had never encountered anything like this in this life.
"Young Miss." Song Yushu walked to Jiang Yu's side with a worried expression and was about to help her up.
Jiang Yu quickly reached out to stop her, "Cough cough...you step back."
Song Yushu took two steps back with a worried look on his face. Jiang Yu took a couple of breaths and felt a little better before saying, "Just say what you want to say directly. I don't like beating around the bush."
Song Yushu sat back in his seat, lowered his eyes and pondered for a while, then said, "Miss, actually I am much better than Qi Yuanhong. I am more beautiful than him, I can sing songs to make you happy, I am obedient, I will never disobey you in doing whatever you ask, and... I can do without a title."
........
Jiang Yu felt she had truly seen something extraordinary today. First, she heard that Su Yuezhen had taken the initiative to invite the actress into her tent, and then this actress offered herself up for a bed. Was the Great Qian Dynasty really this open-minded?
“Young Master Song,” Jiang Yu said after organizing his thoughts, “Although I saved you, the Qingshan Marquis’s Mansion will probably not let you go. I think you’d better run away as soon as possible.”
Song Yushu's face showed dejection. "Can't the young lady give me a place to stay?"
Jiang Yu: "No, we're even."
Seeing Jiang Yu's decisiveness, Song Yushu straightened his clothes and became serious again. "I am not one to pester. Farewell today. I hope to see you again someday, Miss."
Seeing that he was sensible, Jiang Yu took out a hundred-tael silver note and handed it to him, saying, "This is a token of my goodwill. I hope that Young Master Song will have a bright future."
Song Yushu stared blankly at the silver note in his hand for a moment, then smiled, a smile of relief. He bowed deeply to Jiang Yu again, "Miss is a very generous person. I was the one who offended you just now."
"It's nothing, we're all just trying to survive." Jiang Yu could understand his eagerness to find another job in order to survive, but she couldn't accept it.
Song Yushu was embarrassed and moved when his thoughts were exposed. He said, "I wish Miss a bright future. Farewell."
Jiang Yu nodded. "I'll have someone take you to a safe place."
After thanking him, Song Yushu turned and left.
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