Chapter 30
Ridiculous

“Miss, Concubine Lin is still waiting outside the courtyard.”

Lv Zhu repeatedly looked at the ticket in her hand, her almond-shaped eyes wide with anger.

Song Wan tidied her hair and asked Heng Zhi to accompany her outside.

Lin Jiayue, accompanied by two young maids, greeted Song Wan with a smile, her demeanor exuding the grace of a noble lady.

“I just gave the ticket written by Xingjian to your maid. I’m here to collect the silver.”

Song Wan said, “Since my husband has written the ticket for you, you can go directly to the general affairs office to collect the silver. There’s no need to come to me.”

After having a second-class maid serve tea, Song Wan waited for Lin Jiayue to speak.

Since Jiang Xingjian had bypassed her to allocate silver to Lin Jiayue, it indicated that he knew this action was unreasonable and would never let Lin Jiayue come to her. Now that she had come, it was unclear whether she wanted to show off or assert her dominance.

Sure enough, as soon as Song Wan picked up her tea and remained silent for a moment, Lin Jiayue couldn’t hold back.

“Jiang Xingjian gave me silver to open a shop. Aren’t you angry?”

“Your manners are really lacking.”

Hearing the word “manners,” Lin Jiayue’s face darkened. “He likes my personality; it’s not too boring.”

Song Wan tightened her grip on the teacup, chuckled lightly, and prepared to leave, but then Lin Jiayue said, “Do you find this interesting? Holding onto the title of the main wife and living like a widow every day, deceiving yourself, are you really happy?”

“How dare you be so rude in front of the young madam?”

Song Wan waved her hand, and Heng Zhi stepped back without saying another word.

“Then, according to Concubine Lin, what should I do?”

Lin Jiayue looked at Song Wan with determination in her eyes. “I have no hostility towards you. I just don’t understand why you stay in the Marquis’ residence when Xingjian doesn’t like you. You’ve wasted six years. Why continue to waste more time?”

“……” Song Wan sat back in her main seat and said calmly, “I really don’t understand what you mean.”

“What’s there not to understand? Xingjian and I are in love. He said he would marry me when we returned to the capital. But who would have thought there would be such a foolish woman in the world who would marry in holding a memorial tablet and live like a widow?”

Lin Jiayue looked at Song Wan, feeling uneasy. Clearly, she and Jiang Xingjian were in love first, so why does it now seem like she intrudes on someone else’s relationship? Although she is confident in herself, she can’t help but worry when Jiang Xingjian is with Song Wan.

She is his legitimate wife in name. They go together every morning and evening to pay respects to the old madam at Fuhe Hall. Everything in their courtyard is paired, and when Jiang Xingjian mentions Song Wan, his eyes are full of unspoken praise. Although they have never had any intimate interactions, Lin Jiayue can’t help but feel jealous.

Jiang Xingjian should be her lover.

“Have you ever thought that your irresponsible actions might cause trouble for others?”

Song Wan blinked, trying to understand what Lin Jiayue meant by causing trouble for others. She always considered herself smart, but she couldn’t understand a single word of what Lin Jiayue was saying.

Looking up at the girl in front of her, Song Wan still couldn’t understand what Jiang Xingjian loved about her.

If it was about appearance, she felt she was superior. If it was about family background, her marriage to Jiang Xingjian wasn’t considered a high match. Could it really be, as Lin Jiayue said, that she was too boring?

But she had been proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, needlework, and embroidery since childhood. She had even dabbled in the works of various philosophers and poets. How could she be boring?

“Your family background is good, and you have a high status. Even if you leave Jiang Xingjian, you can still find someone else you like, right?”

Originally, Song Wan was pondering whether she was boring, but upon hearing this, her brows furrowed tightly.

Heng Zhi, unable to contain her anger, picked up the hot tea in front of her and splashed it onto Lin Jiayue’s face. “You enjoy making a fool of yourself, constantly flaunting your cheap tricks to attract the master, and now you want to tarnish our young lady’s reputation? You are a heartless and despicable woman, unworthy of pity.”

“Heng Zhi.”

Seeing her about to step forward, Song Wan stopped her.

Although the tea wasn’t hot, being splashed in the face was still humiliating. Lin Jiayue, unable to contain her anger, shouted, “I’m doing this for your own good. Why are you all going crazy?”

Two young maids stepped forward to help Lin Jiayue wipe her face while Song Wan stared at her without blinking. After a long time, she realized that apart from a sense of disdain, Lin Jiayue indeed had no ill intentions.

Lin Jiayue truly believed that what she said was for Song Wan’s own good.

Song Wan suddenly became curious.

“In noble families, there is no such thing as divorce. What you are suggesting is impossible. Moreover, don’t you know that our laws state that taking a concubine as a wife is punishable by one and a half years of imprisonment?”

“If it were a merchant or commoner, it might be different. But in a noble family like the Marquis’ residence, even if I were to die, they would have to choose another legitimate wife. They would never do something as improper as elevating a concubine to the status of a wife.”

If Lin Jiayue were not a concubine, even if she were an unofficial mistress, there might still be room for negotiation. But as things stood, it was all empty talk.

“Impossible.”

Lin Jiayue’s face turned pale. “I don’t believe that noble families can’t divorce. Do you mean that even if a couple is unhappy, they have to stay together until death?”

Song Wan lowered her eyes and said calmly, “Are you so certain about divorce because my husband… did he promise you something?”

“He…”

Did Jiang Xingjian promise to marry her and make her the mistress of the Marquis’ residence?

Lin Jiayue thought carefully and suddenly realized that since returning to the Marquis’ residence, Jiang Xingjian had never said such things again. Even on the day she moved to Xiu Yan Pavilion, he only said, “Trust me.”

Sweat appeared on her forehead, and Lin Jiayue suddenly felt a bit panicked.

Seeing this, Song Wan said, “In noble families, there is no such thing as divorce because it is a major family matter. It requires both families or clans to burn incense and open the ancestral hall, with the clan leaders worshiping the ancestors and heaven and obtaining the ancestors’ consent before a divorce can happen.”

“Divorces are rare, but dismissals are common. If a man is dissatisfied with his legitimate wife, he can dismiss her based on the seven grounds or absolute severance.”

Lin Jiayue suddenly looked up, a glimmer of hope rising in her heart.

Song Wan curled her lips, finding Lin Jiayue’s thoughts increasingly ridiculous.

Not to mention that she had the support of the Song family and her aunt, the Marquis’ residence wouldn’t dare to dismiss her. Moreover, the emperor wouldn’t allow the Marquis’ residence to dismiss her and remarry, given that she had been a widow for Jiang Xingjian for six years.

“Why did my husband allocate two thousand taels of silver to you to open a shop?”

Lin Jiayue, pale-faced, replied, “I found a way to make ice in the summer to earn money for the Marquis’ residence.”

“You asked me earlier if I was angry that my husband gave you money to open a shop. Now I’ll answer you.”

Song Wan’s gaze was calm and steady as she looked at Lin Jiayue. “A woman’s only private property is her dowry. Since the Marquis’ residence hasn’t divided the family, all income and expenses are public accounts. No one else, not even my husband or the uncles in the residence, has private property. At least not openly, and they shouldn’t have any.”

“And as a concubine, you don’t have a dowry. Even if my husband dotes on you, he can only give you a small amount of personal money. So you asking me if I was angry is really…”

“Quite laughable.”