Everyone around them was condemning Zhu Jiangqu. How could someone as excessively self-assured as he was possibly swallow that?
The clamor poured into his ears without cease, chipping away at his reason.
"Enough. I'll pretend none of this happened, and I won't pursue the matter of why you showed up at the Prince of Beiping's Residence, either. Hurry home with me. You haven't paid your respects to Mother today."
Zhu Jiangqu thought he was giving Xu Lingzhi a way to step down gracefully. His tone sounded as though he was pleading with her to return, but in truth, he was using filial duty to pressure her.
Zhu Jiangqu felt smug. He had kept Xu Lingzhi under his thumb for so many years that he knew her temperament inside out. Who knew what had gone wrong in the heads of these gawkers today? Instead of condemning this woman who had stayed out all night, they were gossiping about him!
But as long as he adopted a humble posture, outsiders would see him as the wronged party!
Immersed in the drama he had written and staged himself, Zhu Jiangqu failed to notice that Xu Lingzhi's eyes, usually as tender as water, were now cold and clear as she stood opposite him.
All the affection she had once held for him had ceased to exist the moment the truth was laid bare.
Before Xu Lingzhi could act, Yunjian and I pushed through the crowd, walked up to Zhu Jiangqu, and each unceremoniously gave him a kick.
"I brought this lady back to the residence last night. Besides, my father and mother left for the Hot Spring Villa to relax quite some time ago. Spreading such stories in front of our residence, young master-do you think you've lived too long?"
Wenren Luoshui glanced at Zhu Jiangqu lying on the ground in pain. Her lips curled disdainfully, and her icy words struck him one by one.
The man who had been swaggering before his wife just moments ago instantly became a stray dog wagging its tail and begging for pity. His face pale, he knelt before us and kowtowed incessantly.
The Zhu Family merely ran a small business. Back then, even his younger cousin's father, a mere sesame-seed-sized official, had been beyond his reach. How much more so the daughter of the current emperor's closest brother?
If he offended this noble lady, never mind whether the Zhu Family could keep living in the Capital City-whether he would even remain alive was another question altogether.
"Please show mercy, Your Highness! Please show mercy! It's all the fault of this wretched mouth of mine!"
Zhu Jiangqu kowtowed four or five times in succession, each one slamming solidly against the bluestone paving with a series of thuds.
After kowtowing, he began slapping his own face.
Well, well. Quite a bag of tricks you've got.
Zhu Jiangqu truly regretted it until his guts turned green. Where on earth had he found the nerve to say such things in a place teeming with nobles?
Wenren Luoshui and Yunjian did not let him off because of this performance. Yunjian walked up to Xu Lingzhi.
"Madam Xu, this man is scum. He could order the death of even the maid who grew up with you without a second thought. Today, he dared kill the maid you loved like a sister. Tomorrow, he'll dare kill his wife."
Yunjian swept a sharp gaze over Zhu Jiangqu's face and smiled as though anticipating a good show.
Her instincts told her Xu Lingzhi was not the sort to smooth things over merely to keep the peace.
Her affection for Lianxin was also genuine.
Over the years, Lianxin had been by her side through so much. When misery weighed on her at night, Lianxin was the only person she would confide in.
Lianxin had never harbored feelings for the master of the household. She had always said she would spend her entire life by her young lady's side.
Lianxin, who had treated her so well, had ultimately died because of her!
While Zhu Jiangqu continued begging for mercy, Xu Lingzhi silently scrutinized him for a few moments, then indifferently turned her gaze away.
She walked up to me step by step and knelt before me, as though she had reached some firm resolve.
"Commandery Princess Luoshui, please grant this common woman justice. I wish to dissolve my marriage to Zhu Jiangqu."
Though the Little Commandery Princess of the Prince of Beiping's Residence was famous in the Capital City as a beautiful ornamental vase, she was nevertheless the emperor's favorite child apart from the two princesses.
Xu Lingzhi must have been blind to fall for a disgusting man like Zhu Jiangqu.
Lianxin had already died to save her. If she still chose to forgive this man, how could she face Lianxin after her own life came to an end?
Wenren Luoshui raised her eyebrows and turned her head slightly to exchange a glance with Yunjian beside her.
We rather admired Xu Lingzhi for waking up to the truth of her marriage so quickly.
By the standards of an ancient society, the Li Kingdom's customs were actually fairly enlightened. After all, women in the Li Kingdom could sit the imperial examinations and serve as court officials.
It was just that most of those taking the examinations and holding office were still men.
But at least women had more choices.
"Woman! Don't spit on the dignity I'm offering you!"
When Zhu Jiangqu first saw Xu Lingzhi kneel beside him, he had secretly rejoiced.
He thought she had knelt to help him beg the commandery princess for mercy. But before he could enjoy that happiness for long, he heard words he had never imagined.
Xu Lingzhi actually wanted to dissolve their marriage?!
This time, Zhu Jiangqu could no longer spare a thought for begging for mercy!
Whether a thousand years ago or a thousand years later.
There were always some men who considered their pride greater than the heavens.
Men could indulge in drinking and debauchery outside, and they could stay out all night.
But if a man approached a woman to ask for her contact information and she refused, it certainly couldn't be because she genuinely did not want to give it to him, nor could the problem possibly lie with the man.
Clearly, the woman was deliberately playing hard to get!
Clearly, the woman was refusing to give them face!
Clearly, the woman was deliberately seducing them!
Zhu Jiangqu's eyes turned bloodshot. Disregarding the arm Xu Lingzhi had already dislocated, he seized both her arms and roared at her like a madman.
"What did you say? What did you say?"
Never one to mind fanning the flames while watching a spectacle, Yunjian interjected, "Scumbag! Physician Xu said she wants to dissolve your marriage!"
Zhu Jiangqu did not dare provoke us, so he could only keep venting his temper at Xu Lingzhi.
"You're a woman who spends all day parading around outside, and I haven't even held that against you. Yet you actually want to dissolve our marriage?"
"Am I living under the previous dynasty? How is it that I never heard when this dynasty banned women from going out to do business?"
Wenren Luoshui's tone was languid. She and Yunjian stood side by side with their arms folded, watching the show.
If not for his fear of Wenren Luoshui's and Yunjian's status, Zhu Jiangqu probably would have rushed over long ago and slapped each of the two spectators.
Xu Lingzhi was not meek by nature, either. She had previously been willing to toil like an old ox in the Zhu household only because she still loved Zhu Jiangqu.
She had loved studying medicine since childhood. In her hometown, whenever people named physicians with excellent skills, she would certainly make the list.
But when it came to the daughters-in-law families most wanted, she was excluded because she frequently went out to treat patients.
When Zhu Jiangqu had come to ask for her hand, however, he had promised that as long as she agreed to marry him, he would never stop her from practicing medicine outside.
Over the years, Zhu Jiangqu truly had never argued with her over that matter.
But thinking it over carefully, it was only whenever she brought money home that Zhu Jiangqu's attitude toward her grew a little warmer.
Her two children, too, were usually neither warm nor cold when they saw her.
They often would not even greet her when they encountered her on the street. Most commonly, they simply ignored her.
She had always assumed they behaved that way only because they were still young.
It turned out that both children had long since become estranged from her.