Chapter 12: Divorce (Revised) "Let's get a divorce."
After leaving the Marquis' Mansion, Chai Heng got directly into Lu Shichu's carriage. She had never been shy about avoiding the suspicion of those people from the Jingwei Division, but she had always avoided suspicion of Lu Shichu because Yang Yan had never liked her as a senior brother.
Now that they were going to part ways anyway, she no longer hesitated and did not let Xiangqiao help her harness another horse.
"Did you meet Master and Madam Master in Xirong?" Lu Shichu leaned against the carriage and looked gently at Chai Heng who was eating pastries.
Although they were both in the capital, they didn't see each other very often, only once a year at most.
Chai Heng took a bite of the dry crab roe pastry and choked a little. He took a sip of tea to recover. "No, Master and his wife were too busy to see me, so they asked Senior Sister Liu Mei to meet with me. By the way, Senior Brother, how did you know that Lord Cui from the Beijing Guards wanted to see me about something important?"
Lu Shichu worked in the Ministry of Justice and wasn't usually close to the Imperial Guards. Like Yang Yan, he was a scholar through and through, though his temperament was much softer than Yang Yan's. He usually kept to himself and avoided interacting with his colleagues, so she was somewhat surprised to be approached by Cui Rushi.
"Lord Cui admires you very much. It just so happens that the Beijing Guards are short of staff this year. He said that several deputy commanders have left and there is no one available. When he heard that you are back, he wanted me to persuade you to join." Lu Shichu was silent for a while, then said, "But Ah Heng, I am not here to persuade you to join. I just want to see what you think."
"After all, the Imperial Guards are a place of fighting and killing. In the early years, the Saint asked Master for military authority, and Master readily gave it to Yang Yan in order to obtain a marriage certificate for you. Master and his wife don't ask for much, they just hope you can live a peaceful life. Do you think you can still find peace after joining the Imperial Guards?"
Lu Shichu is three years older than Chai Heng and thinks he thinks more than Chai Heng. In fact, this is not the case. Although Chai Heng died early in his previous life, he lived to be in his early thirties.
Many things that I didn’t understand before became clear to me soon after I experienced life and death.
"It's true that I might not be able to have peace if I enter the Imperial Guards, but I may not be able to have peace if I stay in the Marquis' Mansion either."
Not only will you not have peace, you will also die early.
She looked like she wanted to escape from the sea of suffering as soon as possible. Lu Shichu subconsciously glanced at her and suddenly realized that she not only wanted to join the Beijing Guards and become Cui Rushi's subordinate, but she might also be thinking about leaving Yang Yan.
"What? You can't make ends meet after just half a year of marriage?" Lu Shichu asked half-jokingly.
"Well, I can't live like this anymore."
"Brother, do you have paper and pen in your carriage? Please help me write a divorce letter. When I return today, I will give it to Yang Yan and have him stamp it with his seal."
Chai Heng suddenly remembered that she was preoccupied with the idea of divorce, but the crucial divorce agreement had yet to be written. Expecting Yang Yan to write it himself would make it seem like she was asking something of him. It would be better to prepare everything first.
When Lu Shichu heard that Chai Heng had made up his mind to divorce, he was stunned at first, but then he felt it was natural.
Yang Yan was a man of many schemes and a profound lack of shame. Lu Shichu, a fellow newly minted Jinshi (Jinshi) of the 24th year of the Zhaoming reign, knew him well. It was inevitable that he would achieve great things in the officialdom, but when it came to life, no one could live well with him.
When Chai Heng wanted to marry him, Lu Shichu had been skeptical of the engagement. He knew his sister was too naive. It would be fine if she didn't develop real feelings, but if she did, she'd definitely be the one to suffer. He'd hinted to his master and mistress that marriage was a lifelong commitment, not just based on looks, but Prince Jing and his wife insisted that as long as she liked him, that was all. Now, after only six months of marriage, he was already regretting it. He'd wasted six months on a jerk.
Thinking of this, Lu Shichu just felt sorry for her.
"Since you are determined to escape from the sea of suffering, then Senior Brother will help you no matter what."
"There is no paper and pen in the carriage. When we arrive at Lord Cui's house, I will definitely write a divorce letter for you." Lu Shichu sat up straight and looked at Chai Heng lovingly.
Whenever he thought that his simple-minded junior sister had finally opened her eyes, he felt a surge of joy in his heart.
The carriage slowly drove towards Cui's residence. Cui Ru was on holiday today and had prepared a mutton hot pot at home. It was cold, and a few pieces of mutton would warm the body.
Chai Heng couldn't eat mutton since she was a child. If she ate a piece, she would break out in rashes all over her body. But thinking that Cui Rushi would be her boss in the future, she ate a few pieces for the sake of face.
The three of them chatted happily, and Chai Heng frankly stated that she didn't want to stay in the capital, wanting to help out at the Criminal Investigation Division, the branch of the Imperial Guards in Youzhou. Cui Rushi was initially reluctant, preferring to keep her by his side as his deputy. After all, it was difficult to find a hardworking subordinate who didn't care about salary and only cared about work. But then, seeing her persistence, he had no choice. After three rounds of drinks, he simply gave her the token of the Youzhou Criminal Investigation Division and sent the employment documents to the Youzhou Post Station to complete them for her.
For Chai Heng, getting the token was the first step to leaving Shangjing.
The second step, of course, is to get Yang Yan to agree to the divorce.
Will he agree?
After drinking three cups of wine, this question suddenly flashed through Chai Heng's mind. Soon, he felt that he might have lost his mind.
How could he not agree?
You know, in the previous life, in addition to threatening to cut off her hands and feet, he also threatened to not have her anymore.
He had long been eager to divorce her and run to Xue Ruyue.
Thinking of this, Chai Heng suddenly felt very happy today, and this feeling of happiness remained until she followed her senior brother out of Cui Rushi's house.
She'd drunk too much, her steps unsteady. As Lu Shichu helped her out of Cui's house, they happened to catch a troupe of jugglers from Mishi Street performing a tightrope-walking and ball-jumping show. Countless balls were tossed back and forth, but not a single one landed. Chai Heng, having rarely been out in the capital during such a bustling time, was immediately captivated. She wanted to watch, and Lu Shichu quietly accompanied her.
"Does Yang Yan know that you like lively occasions? Will he accompany you out at this time?" For some reason, Lu Shichu suddenly wanted to ask this question.
"When we first got married, he would go out with me. Later, our relationship deteriorated and he didn't want to see me, so we rarely went out together."
The daughter's red wine that had been buried underground for thirty years made Chai Heng dizzy, but he was still clear-headed when answering Lu Shichu's questions.
"So do you like going out with him?"
"I like him, but he doesn't like to go out with me." At this point, Chai Heng suddenly asked his senior brother, "Senior brother, do you also think I'm not as good as Xue Ruyue?"
When they were in Xirong, Yang Yan's words that compared to Xue Ruyue, she was not worthy of him, did leave some impact on her.
Only when drunk will these problems that have been hidden deep in the heart be released.
"For those who cherish you, no matter what you look like, you are the best in their eyes. For those who don't cherish you, no matter how good you are, they will always think you are inferior to others."
"Ah Heng, you are my junior sister. In my heart, you are the best girl in Furong Mountain. You are good to begin with. Even if you really have some shortcomings, I will not think that you are inferior to an outsider."
Lu Shichu looked at Chai Heng, puzzled as to how she could have such a feeling of being inferior to others after only being away from Furong Mountain for two or three years. After saying this, his gaze suddenly turned to a place not far away, and then, with a faint "Master Yang", Chai Heng's thoughts were pulled back.
Chai Heng followed Lu Shichu's gaze and immediately spotted Yang Yan. Since returning to the capital, he'd changed his clothes quite frequently. This morning, as she boarded her carriage, she happened to catch a glimpse of him emerging from the outer room of the main hall. Back then, he was still wearing a navy blue silk gown. That evening, he'd changed into a moon-white, double-breasted robe and a white jade and silver crown. Who knew who he was dressing so frivolously for?
"Master Lu, my wife sent a maid to tell me to wait for her at night. I waited and waited, but when I couldn't find her, I came out to look for her. I didn't expect her to be here with you."
"Kidnap a decent woman, Lord Lu, do you know shame?"
Yang Yan glanced at Lu Shichu. His expression could be described as calm, but the smile at the corner of his lips looked like he was going to kill someone.
He always spoke harshly, and Chai Heng couldn't stand it. She knew that if she couldn't stand it, Lu Shichu would be even more so.
Thinking that she still had to talk to him about divorce tonight, she decided not to quarrel with him for the time being.
She took a step towards Lu Shichu. From Yang Yan's perspective, she was protecting Lu Shichu.
I stood him up twice today and still protected others.
Yang Yan laughed: "You are really becoming more and more capable, Chai Heng."
Chai Heng didn't want to argue with him and just wanted him to apologize to Lu Shichu.
"You apologize to my senior brother first."
"Apologize? What if I don't?" He looked as if he wanted to see how she would treat him for Lu Shichu if he didn't apologize.
What can she do to him?
She couldn't do anything to him.
All he could do was to complain to the old marquis who lived a hundred miles away from him.
"Then I'll go find the old marquis and tell him that you've been rude to your colleagues and have been saying nasty things to me all day long. I'll have him beat you with the family stick."
Although Chai Heng, the father-in-law, was afraid of his son Yang Yan on a daily basis, he always followed through with his words and never showed mercy when it came to punishing him.
Yang Yan never thought that she could even think of such a method.
He wanted to say, even if his father beat him to death, what would it matter? It was just physical pain, he could bear it.
But now, seeing her defending Lu Shichu so much, he felt a pang of sadness in his heart for some reason.
After thinking about it again, he decided to give up. He originally wanted to apologize to her for what happened in the past, and confronting her head-on at this time would only make him lack sincerity.
So I lifted my eyelids and looked back:
"Feel sorry."
Being able to say these two words is already the limit for Yang Yan.
Chai Heng was very satisfied. She had something important to tell him today. After receiving this apology, she turned to Lu Shichu and said, "Brother, thank you for accompanying me to Lord Cui today. I will come to thank you another day. You can go back home first."
"Between you and me, there's no need to thank me."
Knowing that Chai Heng had something important to say to Yang Yan today, Lu Shichu didn't stay long. He gave Yang Yan a look that said "take care of yourself" and left.
After Lu Shichu left, Chai Heng turned to look at this person and asked: "Can you speak some human language?"
In their previous life, they had been married for more than ten years, and she had never embarrassed him like this for anyone else.
Yang Yan was actually a little confused. On the one hand, he wondered how she could bear to treat him like this?
On the other hand, he was indeed worried that Chai Heng had other thoughts. Because in her previous life, she thought Lu Shichu was good, but they couldn't be together. So after suffering at his hands, she regretted it and wanted to be with Lu Shichu.
So, I finally chose to suppress my emotions: "You've had too much to drink. I'll carry you back."
Yang Yan said this as he squatted down in front of her. Chai Heng's steps were unsteady at the moment. There was really no other way but to be carried back by him. Thinking that this was the last time in her life, she didn't hesitate and simply lay on Yang Yan's back.
"Did you eat mutton?"
When Chai Heng put her hand on his shoulder, Yang Yan caught a glimpse of the tiny spots of rash on the half of her arm that was exposed.
"I ate a few pieces."
"Lu Shichu is such a nice guy, he doesn't stop you from eating something you shouldn't eat?" Yang Yan asked indifferently.
Chai Heng: "Xue Ruyue is good to you, but your leg hasn't been completely healed by her ointment yet, has it?"
"That's different." Yang Yan mocked, "You've done so many bad things to the Xue family. Have I ever asked you to apologize to Xue Ruyue?"
"But you wanted to kill me for Xue Ruyue."
Perhaps because she was drunk, Chai Heng was rarely willing to bring up the past with him. "Not only did you want to kill me for her, you also dug traps and set animal traps for me. At least, I've never hurt you so much." Her voice was muffled.
After such a long time, this was the first time that Chai Heng cried out in pain in front of him.
Yang Yan's back stiffened, his steps became sluggish, and his eyes darkened for a moment.
"Did you hate me then?"
He asked this question suddenly.
A question I have wanted to ask for a long time but have not dared to face.
Chai Heng looked up and smiled, saying, "When you set me up, I didn't actually hate you that much."
"Although it hurts every time I get up, I know you'll sneak over when I'm asleep to check if I've fallen hard and apply medicated oil on me."
After a pause, she thought of the animal trap again and whispered, "But I really hated you that time before I died, because it hurt so much, Yang Yan. I never imagined what it would feel like to have a bone broken by the trap. It hurt so much that I told myself that if I could go back alive, I would never care about you again in my life."
I thought I had completely stopped caring about it, but for some reason, I still feel sad when talking about those old things.
He always said that she was not someone who could remember lessons, but every failure makes you wiser, and she actually remembered those lessons.
When Yang Yan heard her say it hurt, his breathing suddenly stopped.
He wanted to say that he had never really thought of killing her, and he really didn't ask anyone to set that animal trap, and the few words he said before leaving for Yongzhou were just talk.
But Chai Heng didn't give him the chance to speak, and just spoke to himself:
"You're not happy at all for marrying me and being married to me for so many years. I know."
"I've liked you for so many years, but in the end you hurt me for someone else. I'm not happy at all."
"So Yang Yan, in this life, we should all do something to make ourselves happy." Chai Heng lay on his shoulder, just like many ordinary days in her previous life. The only difference was that when he carried her on his back before, her mind was full of taking advantage of him, but now her mind was full of parting ways in peace.
"Let's get divorced."
The five short and light words revealed full seriousness.
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