Su Muxi scoffed, "Hmph! Your Highness, your leg has healed, but your brain has gone haywire?! I went to the palace to beg the Empress Dowager to issue an imperial decree for us to divorce! Did you think I was playing hard to get when I said I wanted a divorce? Qiao Ziming, you overestimate yourself and underestimate me!"
Qiao Ziming looked at Su Muxi with disbelief.
However, he quickly returned to his previous condescending demeanor.
"Su Muxi, do you think I would believe what you're saying? Ha! I really underestimated you before. I thought you were just an obedient and sensible person, but I never expected you to be so scheming! If you really wanted a divorce, would you have taken such good care of me for the past three years? Would you have used a hundred-year-old ginseng to please my mother? Would you have cut your own hand with a knife to create a scar and repeatedly experimented with scar-removing ointments to help my sister restore her appearance?"
Before Su Muxi could say anything, Bai Zhi burst into tears.
"So, Your Highness knew about my young lady's sacrifices. But since you knew everything, why did you still make such malicious assumptions about my young lady and humiliate her?!"
"How dare a mere maidservant interrupt like this!"
Qiao Ziming rebuked her sharply, then looked coldly at Su Muxi, "If you had behaved yourself, what you've done would have been enough for you to stay in the Marquis's mansion for the rest of your life, but you're not satisfied! Since that's the case, don't blame me for being heartless! Today I'll divorce you, you wicked woman, and let you know what it means to lose more than you gain!"
"Fine! Take the break if you want! But move aside first, my father is injured, I need to go home first!"
Su Muxi looked anxious and didn't want to get entangled with Qiao Ziming any longer, so she turned to leave after saying that.
But Qiao Ziming said coldly, "You're just injured, you won't die. You can leave after I write the letter of divorce!"
In his view, this was just an excuse Su Muxi was using to delay things.
Thinking of the grievances Yingying had suffered, Qiao Ziming's gaze became even more determined.
He is determined to divorce Su Muxi today!
Before he could finish speaking, Su Muxi slapped him across the face.
"Smack!"
The crisp sound seemed to be amplified several times in the spacious Sunset Courtyard.
Qiao Ziming's eyes were filled with shock, "You actually dared to hit me?!"
"So what if I hit you? I'm hitting you, you ungrateful, hypocritical scoundrel! Where do you think those medical records I've been looking at came from? They were copied down by my father from all the medical clinics in the surrounding counties! Now that my father is injured, how can you say such heartless things!"
No sooner had Su Muxi finished speaking her angry words than Qiao Ziming's servant ran over.
"Your Highness, Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has sent someone to request that you two go and receive an imperial decree!"
Su Muxi stared coldly at Qiao Zimo, a mocking smile curving her lips. "Whether I'm playing hard to get or not, you'll soon find out. But your wish to divorce me won't come true! Because I, Su Muxi, have never done anything to wrong your Qiao family. Even if we leave, it will be a peaceful divorce!"
…
Jiang and Qiao Zixi had already arrived at the front yard. Upon seeing Su Muxi, Qiao Zixi revealed a mocking smile, and then said to Qiao Ziming with a smile, "Brother, look at how many precious medicinal herbs the Empress Dowager has brought. They must have been obtained by the Princess from the palace for Mother!"
Standing to the side, Madam Jiang also looked smug. As she looked at the palace servants in the courtyard holding gift boxes, her previous dissatisfaction with Bai Mengying vanished instantly.
But after hearing Qiao Zixi's words, Qiao Ziming's expression became even worse.
The Empress Dowager made Yingying kneel for an hour, so why would it be because Yingying brought her mother medicine?
He subconsciously glanced at Su Muxi beside him and saw the mocking look on her face, which made him feel inexplicably ashamed.
Once everyone was present, Eunuch Liu coughed lightly and opened the imperial edict.
The people in the courtyard hurriedly knelt down.
"Imperial decree from the Empress Dowager! I have heard that the Heir Apparent of the Marquis of Anyang is infatuated with Princess Chang Le and disregards his former lover. Therefore, I hereby issue this decree, ordering the Heir Apparent of the Marquis of Anyang, Qiao Ziming, to divorce his first wife, Su Muxi."
Qiao Ziming was struck dumb upon hearing this, and remained speechless for a long time.
Su Muxi didn't lie to him?
She really wanted to divorce him!
Upon hearing this, Jiang and Qiao Zixi were overjoyed and ignored the words "disregarding old friends" in the imperial edict, urging Qiao Ziming to accept the edict quickly.
Qiao Ziming, however, did not make a move. Instead, he looked at Su Muxi beside him, his heart filled with complex emotions.
If Su Muxi were shrewd and greedy for the title of the Crown Prince's wife, he would not hesitate or feel guilty about the divorce.
But now, seeing the undisguised joy on Su Muxi's face, he hesitated.
Su Muxi really wanted to leave the Marquis's mansion.
But why is that?
Is it because he wants to marry Yingying as his concubine?
It's perfectly normal for a man to have multiple wives and concubines. If Su Muxi truly loves him, why would she mind having a concubine as a secondary wife? And why would she want to leave?
So, Su Muxi never loved him from beginning to end?
Was all of this just his own wishful thinking?
But Su Muxi was just an ugly female doctor. How could she not love him after spending three years with him day and night?
If you didn't love him and didn't want the title of the Crown Prince's wife, why did you marry him in the first place?
Was it just to make it easier to heal his leg?
Su Muxi ignored Qiao Ziming, who was standing there dumbfounded, and instead smiled as she accepted the Empress Dowager's decree from Eunuch Liu's hands.
"Su Muxi thanks the Empress Dowager for the imperial decree!"
Eunuch Liu, no longer displaying his usual stern demeanor, smiled and said to Su Muxi, "Congratulations, Miss Su, on regaining your freedom."
Su Muxi bowed and thanked him, "Thank you for making this trip in person, Eunuch Liu, but my father is injured and I need to rush home, so I will not be able to entertain you any longer."
Eunuch Liu comforted her, saying, "Miss Su, there's no need to worry. Physician Su is fine and has been treated. The Empress Dowager was afraid that you would worry and be made difficult by others, so she hurriedly sent this old servant to deliver the decree."
Jiang Shi and Qiao Zixi realized that the Empress Dowager's decree was not for Bai Mengying, but for Su Muxi!
But wasn't Su Muxi just the daughter of a minor official in the Imperial Medical Academy? How exactly did she manage to persuade the Empress Dowager to intervene?
Moreover, judging from Su Muxi's appearance, she is not sad or upset about the divorce at all; on the contrary, she is quite happy.
But how could that be?!
Qiao Zixi was the least able to keep secrets, and she was even more unwilling to believe that the Empress Dowager's decree was issued for Su Muxi.
So he hurriedly asked, "Eunuch Liu, did the Empress Dowager issue this imperial decree because she couldn't bear to see Princess Chang Le suffer, and thus ordered Su Muxi to divorce my brother?"
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