Chapter 32
"The Marquis of Jing'an household is grand and powerful, and it is my Song family who has aimed too high in marrying into it. If the Marquis of Jing'an looks down on the daughter of the Song family, just say so outright. We Song family women are not the kind to shamelessly cling to the marquis household."
The sun had just passed noon, and in ordinary households, people were still not awake from their afternoon naps. Madam Song arrived at the main gate of the Marquis of Jing'an household with a group of servants and began shouting for someone to come out.
Madam Song was naturally beautiful—otherwise, she could not have given birth to two outstanding children like Song Yue and Song Yao. But to project the dignity of a principal wife, she always wore a stern expression to make herself seem more distinguished.
At this moment, her round eyes were wide with anger, and even her eye rims had reddened. Her choked voice perfectly completed the image of a heartbroken mother. Standing at the main gate of the Marquis of Jing'an household, she neither entered nor expected anyone to announce her arrival. Shedding her usual refinement, she personally opened her mouth to shout and curse.
Her voice trembled as if she were choking back tears.
Almost immediately, the gatekeeper of the Marquis of Jing'an household poked his head out. Though he did not recognize Madam Song, seeing Song Yao and the others standing behind her with their heads bowed and arms at their sides told him something was about to go terribly wrong.
The young gatekeeper did not dare act on his own authority and could only run back to report to Wei Cai'e.
Zhao Guangming, who had already become a steward of the outer courtyard, reacted faster than Wei Cai'e. His eyes flickered slightly as he hurried forward to greet them. "How can we let Madam Song and the young madam stand outside? Open the main gate at once!"
"Madam Song, Young Madam, this humble one has failed in his duties, failed in his duties. Please come in, please come in." Zhao Guangming bowed slightly. His words sounded polite and considerate, yet there was something rather odd about them.
Madam Song had only been feigning great fury. How could she possibly take this opportunity to back down? "No need. The main gate of the Marquis of Jing'an household is something my Song family cannot aspire to. On the wedding day, you left the bride behind and rode off on horseback alone, having your brother help with the bowing ceremony. This is a marriage bestowed by His Majesty himself, so my Song family endured such disrespect. But today, on the day of the bride's first visit home after the wedding, not having the groom accompany her is one thing—we never expected any gifts for the occasion either—but you made my daughter walk home alone.
This is an outrageous humiliation, an outrageous humiliation!
Even if my Song family daughter is not some outstanding talent among people, she is still a good woman raised with knowledge and propriety by my Song family. It was your Marquis of Jing'an household that came to seek this marriage in the first place, and it was your Marquis of Jing'an household that requested His Majesty issue the decree. But now, is this how you trample the Song family's face into the ground?
Your Marquis of Jing'an household has rendered great service to the dynasty, and my Song family dares not say much. Before the marriage, my daughter was perfectly well. She spent only three days in your Marquis of Jing'an household and has already been reduced to this state. It is my Song family who aimed too high. Today I ask only for a letter of divorce, so that my Song family daughter need not remain in the marquis household and offend your esteemed family any further!"
Every word Madam Song spoke was steeped in blood and tears; she was on the verge of wailing aloud. All the while, she tenderly and painfully smoothed Song Yao's hair, then forced herself to look calm and quickly turned her gaze away to wipe her tears.
Every word and every sentence, combined with Song Yao's current fragile, thin, and withered appearance, immediately swayed the hearts of the onlookers.
"A full three days, a full three days! Your Marquis of Jing'an household is grand and powerful, yet you could not even summon a single physician to examine my daughter. Wuu wuu wuu, my poor, ill-fated daughter! Today, even if I must risk every ounce of face I have, your mother will not let you die young and inexplicably inside the Marquis of Jing'an household!"
Song Yao only needed to keep her head down and remain silent throughout. Madam Song, however, was more nervous than anyone. While wiping tears and wailing, she kept glancing at the inside of the marquis household's main gate from the corner of her eye, calculating the timing. "Today I will first take my good-for-nothing daughter home. I ask the marquis household to send the divorce letter to my Song family as soon as possible! If the marquis household feels it is beneath them to come to my Song family, I will have someone wait here—your esteemed family need only toss the divorce letter out the gate."
From the corner of her eye, she saw a group of people hurrying toward them from inside the gate. Madam Song, still choking with tears, shouted her final line: "Yueyue, let's go!"
"Stop!"
"Wait, in-law, please wait!"
Shouts came from both left and right at the same time. Only two words flashed through Madam Song's mind—how unfortunate.
She used every ounce of strength in her body to keep her expression from turning hideous. If not for the upbringing that had supported her all these years, she would have loved to scream and curse.
The people inside the gate might not have been able to stop her, but the group arriving from outside happened to spread out and block their path home. Madam Song's eyes were red as she forcibly held back tears of humiliation.
Looking up, she saw it was none other than Xu Gandang, Marquis of Jing'an, who had just returned after being kept by the Emperor for further discussion following the morning court session.
Ever since the wedding day, when he had been forced to appear and say that his grandson's wife brought fortune to the family and that his health had improved, this was the first time he had left the household to attend court—and he had run straight into this mess.
Xu Gandang stood at the main gate, looking at Wei Cai'e, who had rushed over from inside with shifty, evasive eyes, and wanted to kill someone.
Xu Kaicheng had also just returned. Standing behind the crowd, he watched the scene before him with the same shocked, spectator-like expression. After searching for a while, he finally spotted the frail figure squeezed to the back of the Song family group, head lowered. Suddenly, their eyes met in an uncanny moment. Song Yao's previously distracted gaze abruptly gained a spark of life, and he even seemed about to come over.
Xu Kaicheng was startled and quickly raised his hand to point at Xu Gandang. Song Yao pouted and went back to lowering his head, playing the part of a useless good-for-nothing.
With Xu Gandang back, Madam Song's plan for a divorce naturally fell apart. Whether she wanted to or not, under Xu Gandang's insistence, they still entered the main gate of the marquis household. Song Yao tilted his body and followed behind, frail and weak, with several servants behind him also looking pale and malnourished.
Song Yao was faking it, but the servants behind him were not. In certain respects, the Song family truly rivaled the marquis household under Wei Cai'e's management.
Song Yao's meal had been obtained through threats. The servants' meal had simply been skipped altogether. With no breakfast, they had walked for half an hour and were starving by now. The fact that each of them could still stand was already an effort.
With Xu Gandang presiding, how would Madam Song dare make any more trouble? She gave a proper tearful account of her daughter's pitiful state, emphasizing how "Song Yue" had been plagued by illness for three days in the marquis household without being able to see a physician, and further recounted the grievances of today.
Under Xu Gandang's repeated assurances and after receiving a pile of apology gifts, she decided to stop.
She had no choice but to stop. Under Xu Gandang's increasingly heavy pressure, the already guilty Madam Song's heart pounded violently. In the end, she could only "sorrowfully" trust in the Marquis's character and reluctantly return to the Song residence.
By the time Xu Kaicheng slipped over, Madam Song was just leaving. She had not even stayed for a cup of tea before departing with a stubborn, aggrieved air. Xu Kaicheng only had time to exchange a glance with Song Yao before retreating again.
In the main hall, after being soothed by Xu Gandang for a few words, Song Yao was helped away by Zhao Cuihua, looking sickly and unsteady.
With everyone else gone, Wei Cai'e was trembling all over.
"Kneel!"
At Xu Gandang's furious shout, Wei Cai'e's legs gave way and she dropped straight to her knees. An almost tangible killing intent enveloped her, leaving her unable to utter a single word in her defense.
Xu Gandang said nothing, merely fixing Wei Cai'e with a murderous stare. For those who still held promise, he did not stint on instruction. But for Wei Cai'e—if not for Xu Kaixuan standing between them—the grass on this woman's grave would already be a meter tall.
Zhao Guangming, who had been following respectfully behind Xu Gandang, slowly withdrew. At the doorway, speaking loudly enough for both people inside to hear, he ordered a servant to ride at full speed to the military camp and bring the eldest young master back.
Wei Cai'e kept her head down, her body trembling uncontrollably. She stared venomously at the ground, constantly comforting herself: this Marquis of Jing'an household would sooner or later belong to her son. Her son would be the next Marquis of Jing'an.
No matter how dissatisfied Xu Gandang was with her, as long as her son's heart leaned toward her, there would be no problem.
Besides, she hadn't done anything wrong. She had merely forgotten that cheap wench's first visit home. That ill-mannered, lowborn thing had dared to play tricks on her mother-in-law on the very day of the tea ceremony. She had simply been unable to tolerate a junior ignoring her.
She hadn't even gone out of her way to make things difficult for her!
What had she done wrong? At most, she had been a little negligent due to being busy. It wasn't as if she had committed some heavenly offense!
That poisoning incident back then—hadn't it also fizzled out in the end?
Wei Cai'e quickly glanced up at Xu Gandang, growing ever more certain that she hadn't done anything serious.
It was all this old geezer making a fuss over nothing, and that cheap wench stirring up trouble for no reason. Back in the old hometown, some daughters-in-law were beaten to death by their mothers-in-law, and their natal families never dared make a sound. So why was the Song family making such a big deal out of this?
The more she comforted herself, the more justified Wei Cai'e felt. Gradually her body stopped trembling, and she even straightened her back, slumping into a kneeling position.
She was kneeling now only because the person above her was her father-in-law, the Marquis of Jing'an—not because she had done anything wrong!
Just wait until her son came back...
Wei Cai'e waited—and knelt for a full two hours. Accompanying her was Xu Gandang, sitting expressionlessly in the seat of honor.
By the time the sunset glow had spread across the mountain ridges, a commotion finally came from outside. The trace of satisfaction on Xu Kaixuan's face drained away the moment he entered the marquis household.
Zhao Guangming was waiting at the main gate and quickly explained the situation in a few words.
"I'll go take a look."
With a wave of his hand, the twenty silver-armored guards behind him dismounted simultaneously. The clattering sound made Zhao Guangming glance over. Each one was clad in full silver armor from head to heel. As they moved, the display was magnificent—twenty men projecting the aura of a mighty army on the march.
Material like this, with a full suit of armor, would cost about five hundred taels of silver per man. His gaze swept over the cold gleaming sabers at each man's waist and the ten-feather longbows hanging from their saddles. It was as if he had merely cast an ordinary glance—Zhao Guangming's expression and gaze remained unchanged as he turned and followed Xu Kaixuan away.
Quite a few people outside had been waiting to watch the drama. Some idlers who had been wandering about aimlessly had now all vanished without a trace.
After all, it was not a glorious matter, so Xu Kaixuan did not have his personal guards follow him. He strode like a dragon and walked like a tiger to the main hall. The two servants outside saw him from afar, bowed, and stepped forward to pull open the doors.
As soon as Xu Kaixuan entered, the doors were closed again from the outside.
Inside, Wei Cai'e's initial confidence had given way to sheer terror. She was curled on the floor — it was less kneeling than a collapsed heap. Her hair clung in damp tangles to her sweat-soaked face, and the careful makeup she had done that morning was now a smeared mess.
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