When the marquisate was in trouble, Lanyin had not left. Instead, she had offered up the majority of her dowry to help them through the crisis. From that moment on, Madam Sun no longer had a single grievance against her.
Otherwise, how could someone like her—who valued power and status so much—have ever relinquished control to Lanyin? How else could she have left for over a year without ever intervening in household matters?
What a pity.
Madam Sun sighed inwardly and looked at her son, who sat beside her in utter dejection. She said nothing but simply patted his arm before calling for Zhou An.
“Take this to the official from the Ministry of Revenue. Be polite when you speak to him.” As she spoke, she reached for the box in Xiao Ye’s hands.
But the moment her fingers touched it, she felt him pulling away. Though it was only half an inch, he still shrank back.
Yet, as if realizing something, he ultimately froze in place. In the end… he let her take the blackwood box from his hands.
Once it was in her possession, Madam Sun immediately handed it to Zhou An.
Fearing further incidents, Zhou An dared not delay. He took the box and quickly left.
Soon, only Madam Sun and Xiao Ye remained in the room.
Looking at his pale face, Madam Sun softened slightly. “You are still injured. Get some rest.”
But Xiao Ye once again fell back into that lifeless state. His wounds prevented him from sitting, so he could only lie on his stomach. Madam Sun tucked the brocade quilt around him before sitting by the bed and addressing the real reason for her visit. “I need to ask you—what are you planning to do about that woman in Xiangliu Courtyard?”
Xiangliu Courtyard was where Gu Qing resided.
Xiao Ye had remained silent all this time, but upon hearing those words, an uncontrollable surge of disgust and loathing rose in his heart.
If not for her, how would things have come to this between him and Lanyin? If not for her, Lanyin would never have left. He and Lanyin would never have been separated…
It was all because of her!
A fire burned in Xiao Ye’s chest. The more he had cherished Gu Qing in the past, the more he despised her now.
Her existence was a reminder to him.
It was because of this woman that he and his wife were separated.
He wanted her gone, wanted to never see her again for the rest of his life. Yet, at the same time, a sliver of rationality whispered to him—This is your fault. If not for your favoritism, your injustice, your sense of entitlement, your wife would never have left you. This has nothing to do with anyone else. Everything that has happened is a consequence of your own actions…
And so, he could only remain silent.
He closed his eyes, unwilling to say another word.
Seeing Xiao Ye in this state, Madam Sun’s gaze filled with disappointment. Her son had always been decisive in other matters, yet when it came to affairs between men and women, he was hesitant, wavering, unable to make a clean break.
Hesitation only leads to disaster.
She shook her head, ultimately choosing not to say more. She merely tucked the quilt around him again before rising to leave.
Stepping outside, she was met with a courtyard full of kneeling servants. Her expression remained stern, but she no longer had them continue kneeling. Supported by Jinglan as she walked out, she passed by Lady Xu and finally lowered her gaze, casting a cold glance at her niece before saying, “Come with me.”
Without waiting for a response, she continued walking forward.
Lady Xu had been kneeling for hours, her legs long since gone numb, but she dared not delay. Seeing Madam Sun leave, she immediately pressed her hands to the ground, struggling to her feet before hastily following.
On the way, Madam Sun ordered someone to summon Gu Qing. But after she had settled into her own quarters, flipping through the account books that Lady Xu had presented, Jinglan returned with a message.
“The reply from Xiangliu Courtyard is that Lady Fang… has fainted.”
Madam Sun’s hand, which had been turning the pages, paused mid-motion. After a moment, she tapped the ledger with her fingers, her lips curving into a half-smile. “So she intends to cling onto our Xiao family now.”
—
By evening, the events of the morning court session had already spread throughout the city.
Previously, due to the prestige of the Chengbo Manor and Xiao Ye’s status, people had only dared to whisper behind closed doors. No one had dared to openly discuss the scandal. But now, with the Emperor himself meting out punishment—whipping and demotion—the restrictions had lifted, and gossip flowed freely, unbridled and merciless.
People spoke of how the Shizi of the Chengbo Manor fell for his own wife’s younger sister, disregarding his wife’s dignity, and brought the woman home to keep as a hidden mistress—yet he still refused to let his wife leave. Others claimed, Xiao Ye was merely bitter about losing face, refusing the divorce out of resentment, intending to take his wife back home to torment her properly.
Some even slandered Gu Qing, saying that as a widow, she seduced her own brother-in-law, causing her sister and her husband to separate for her sake. Yet, in the end, it turned out her brother-in-law never intended to have only her alone…
There were all kinds of rumors.
But compared to past gossip, which had occasionally included criticisms of Lanyin as well, now she had become the one whom people pitied.
A wife whose own husband had humiliated her and refused to let her go—not only were noble ladies and young misses indignant on her behalf, but even men held contempt for Xiao Ye. Storytellers had already begun adapting the scandal into dramatized scripts, publicly berating him in teahouses and taverns across the city.
By the time the news reached Lanyin, dusk had fallen.
Listening to Dan Xi recount the rumors in vivid detail, Lanyin remained calm, showing no reaction. But the expressions of the maids in the room had all darkened—especially Shi Yu, who had never been one to tolerate grievances. Her face sank as she cursed, “That Xiao Shizi is truly despicable! He dared to say such things to His Majesty? If the Emperor had actually granted his request, then Mistress would have…”
Just imagining the possibility of her mistress being forcibly sent back to the Xiao Manor made her furious. She twisted the handkerchief in her hands so tightly that her fingers turned red, her face filled with anger and disdain.
“I must have been blind back then to ever think he was a good man.”
If she had said such things in the past, Ting Yun would have certainly chastised her. But today, not only did Ting Yun not say a word to rebuke her, she too wore a grim expression, her face darkened with displeasure.
With the two senior maids in agreement, the junior servants, Hong Xing and Lu Fu, also began cursing Xiao Ye under their breath.
The entire room was filled with voices denouncing him.
Ting Yun spoke from the side, “Last time, you were still willing to give him a chance. But now, it seems that even if we had waited until the end of the seven-day period, Xiao Shizi would never have given you an answer.”
“Luckily, that Censor…”
She still felt a lingering fear, placing a hand over her chest as she looked at Lanyin and said, “If you had confronted Xiao Shizi head-on, you might not have gained anything in the end.”
Her greatest worry had always been that her mistress would ruin her own reputation just to secure the divorce. Society was already harsh on women—if things had gone wrong, it would have been difficult for her mistress to continue living in Bianjing.
Lanyin did not respond.
She was still thinking about what Dan Xi had just said.
Xiao Ye’s actions had left her shocked, even disgusted. She had never imagined that the man she had lived with for so many years could become like this. She had assumed that his refusal to grant the divorce stemmed from his unwillingness to accept defeat. But now, it seemed that even at the risk of incurring the Emperor’s wrath, Xiao Ye was determined to keep her by his side.
Did he think that this would prove his love? That it would prove she held a place in his heart? That it would prove he was willing to defy even the Emperor just to be with her?
How utterly ridiculous.
She would rather Xiao Ye had never loved her than to be subjected to this twisted, self-righteous kind of love. She felt no gratitude toward him, nor did she believe this to be love at all. A person in love would never stand by and watch as the one they loved was mistreated. A person in love would not harshly criticize, neglect, and assume they were entitled to forgiveness. A person in love would never try to force someone to stay by their side through such means.
If he truly loved her, he would respect her. Even if he wanted to reconcile, he would have sought another way—not by using the Emperor’s authority to suppress her.
Did he believe that as long as she returned, as long as she was by his side again, he could make up for everything she had suffered? That over time, she would come to see his goodness?
But just look at what he had done.
They had been separated for barely half a month, and in that time, he had gone from rage to avoidance. He had pushed all those around him in front of her, letting them plead on his behalf, saying “He loves you,” “He has done so much for you, why can’t you give him a chance to make amends?”—yet he had never once come to her himself and uttered a single apology.
If this was what Xiao Ye called love, then to her, it was suffocating.
But it no longer mattered.
She had never intended to reconcile with him.
Whether Xiao Ye truly loved her or whether it was merely his wounded pride driving him—it was no longer her concern.
What intrigued her more was why, out of the blue, someone had brought up the impeachment of Xiao Ye and Lu Boting in today’s morning court session.
This incident had occurred long ago, and the rumors had already spread far and wide. She did not believe that the Censors of the Metropolitan Court had only just now caught wind of it. If they had kept silent before, then why had they suddenly chosen today to raise the matter in court?
Lanyin did not think it was a coincidence—it seemed more like a deliberate move.
But…
Who could it be?
One of Xiao Ye’s political rivals? Or perhaps…
A shadowy figure suddenly flickered through her mind.
Ting Yun was still speaking beside her. “I wonder what that Censor’s name is. I should send someone to investigate. After all, we truly owe him our gratitude this time.”
Just as she finished speaking and was about to ask Lanyin’s opinion, she heard Lanyin suddenly ask, “You just mentioned that during the morning court session, Prime Minister Pang coughed?”
She was addressing Dan Xi.
Dan Xi was momentarily stunned and hesitated for a long while before replying hesitantly, “Yes… that’s what people outside are saying.”
No one knew who had spread the details of the morning court session, but the rumors circulating in the city were vivid and precise, as if the storytellers had witnessed the events firsthand. They even described how many sips of tea His Majesty took, the exact tone he used to reprimand Xiao Shizi, and how heavy his footsteps were when he left. Naturally, Prime Minister Pang’s cough had not been overlooked either.
However, compared to the powerful words of the Censor who had brought the impeachment forward, a single cough seemed insignificant—merely an incidental detail, barely drawing any attention.
“They say that after Xiao Shizi spoke, His Majesty remained silent for a long time. Then, Lord Pang suddenly coughed, and after speaking briefly with him, His Majesty immediately erupted in anger at the Shizi.”
After finishing his account, Dan Xi cautiously asked Lanyin, “Mistress, is something wrong with that?”
The other maids in the room also looked puzzled. It was just a cough—Prime Minister Pang was elderly, and there were rumors that he had been suffering from a seasonal cold. What was so unusual about it?
Lanyin did not answer immediately.
Instead, her delicate fingers gently tapped against her knee.
She wasn’t even sure what she was thinking. These minor details were things most people wouldn’t even notice. Everyone’s attention had been fixated on the Censor’s bold accusations—who would care about an old man’s cough?
But she found it strange.
The timing was too perfect.
If Prime Minister Pang had not coughed at that exact moment, there was no guarantee what decision His Majesty might have made. To him, the personal affairs of his ministers were trivial matters, and whether she divorced or not was of little concern. A single phrase—”Settle it among yourselves”—from the Emperor would have meant that she and Xiao Ye could never separate.
Not now, and not ever.
So, to her, Prime Minister Pang’s cough was crucial.
And what led her to connect it to Prime Minister Pang… was the fact that he was Qi Yubai’s mentor.
“Mistress?”
Ting Yun, noticing her silence, called out softly.
“Hmm?”
Lanyin looked up and saw the concerned gazes of everyone in the room. She quickly suppressed her thoughts and gave them a reassuring smile. “It’s nothing.” Then, turning to Ting Yun, she asked, “What were you saying just now?”
Ting Yun studied her for a moment and, seeing nothing amiss, repeated her earlier words.
Lanyin listened and then shook her head. “No, that wouldn’t be appropriate. That official was simply performing his duty. If we suddenly send him a gift, it could be misconstrued by others, making it seem as though he accepted bribes in exchange for bringing forth the impeachment. It would only bring him unnecessary trouble and slander.”
The Censors of the Metropolitan Court valued their reputations above all else.
Hearing this, Ting Yun’s face paled. Clutching her chest, she murmured, “Good thing I asked you first. Otherwise, I might have ended up harming that official instead.”
She continued speaking, but Lanyin was no longer listening.
She lowered her head and continued pondering the unanswered question from earlier.
Could it really be him?
With this thought weighing on her mind, that evening, when she went to the Qi residence for dinner, she decided she would take the opportunity to ask Qi Yubai directly.
And as fate would have it—
She and Qi Yubai happened to arrive at the residence almost at the same time.
The sky had not yet been completely swallowed by darkness. Streaks of violet-red clouds painted the horizon, interwoven with golden hues, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene.
If it had been any other day, Lanyin would have stopped to admire the view.
But today, she had no interest in the scenery.
She was impatient for answers.
So the moment she spotted Qi Yubai walking ahead of her, still dressed in his crimson official robes, she quickly called out.
“My lord!”
Qi Yubai had been giving instructions to Tianqing when he suddenly heard her voice. He paused and turned around, only to see Lanyin approaching quickly.
Unlike her usual graceful, measured steps, today she walked with obvious urgency. By the time she reached him, she was slightly out of breath.
Qi Yubai was momentarily worried that she had walked too fast and might lose her balance. His first instinct was to reach out and steady her—but in the end, he merely clenched his fingers behind his back and restrained himself.
Lowering his gaze, he looked at her. Just as he was about to ask what was wrong, she lifted her face and, without blinking, asked—
“Was it you?”