Chapter 3 – The Edict of Divorce

Doctor Li carefully took the boy’s pulse. After a while, he shook his head and said, “Miss, your son… can’t be saved.”

Without money to buy medicine, he wouldn’t survive for long.

Doctor Li hardened his heart—this medical hall wasn’t his, so he couldn’t make decisions.

Tang Chaoyang had studied medicine herself. Of course she knew this.

If the situation hadn’t been so urgent—and if the people of Hancheng weren’t so cold and hostile—she wouldn’t have acted so desperately upon coming back to life.

Still kneeling with her forehead pressed to the ground, Tang Chaoyang pleaded again for Doctor Li to lend her the acupuncture needles.

Seeing her so determined, Doctor Li finally agreed. “Alright.”

He handed her his case of acupuncture needles.

But he warned her, “Don’t stick them in randomly. You’ll only make the child suffer more.”

Tang Chaoyang tugged the corners of her lips, trying to smile in gratitude.

But her face was frozen stiff—she couldn’t even manage a smile.

“I’ve studied acupuncture,” she said hoarsely.

She was now deeply grateful that in her past life, she had not abandoned medicine despite her hatred and thirst for revenge.

Doctor Li didn’t try to dissuade her further. Anyone with only a shallow knowledge of acupuncture couldn’t treat others effectively anyway.

This woman was probably just making a desperate attempt to save a hopeless case.

Tang Chaoyang sat cross-legged and laid her son across her lap.

She turned his small body over, then rubbed her own frozen hands vigorously to warm them up.

Once her hands were slightly warmer, she rolled up the boy’s pant leg.

Opening the needle case, she pulled out a silver needle and skillfully inserted it into Fei An’an’s Weizhong point.

Doctor Li observed her technique closely.

He nodded slightly—but then shook his head. It was useless. This child’s condition was too severe; acupuncture alone wouldn’t be enough.

Tang Chaoyang continued inserting needles at the Fengchi, Shaoshang, and Quchi points in turn.

Doctor Li sighed again as he watched—
But then his eyes widened in disbelief when she suddenly changed position and inserted a needle elsewhere.

That spot—how could she…

Though Tang Chaoyang knew that point was risky, she had practiced this many times before.

Without medicine to bring down the fever, this was the only way she could regulate his meridians and blood flow.

As she worked, she noticed several dark bruises on Fei An’an’s fair skin.

She was reminded of how her son had used his small body to shield her from the soldiers’ kicks.

Tang Chaoyang’s eyes filled with red.

---

At that moment, in the Imperial Study of the capital—

Emperor Ling Guyong looked down at Fei Yan, whose expression remained calm and indifferent.

Smiling faintly, the emperor asked, “What do you think about General Su voluntarily surrendering the military seal to redeem Tang Chaoyang?”

The Grand General of the Nation, Old General Su, was Tang Chaoyang’s maternal grandfather.

Fei Yan answered respectfully, “Congratulations, Your Majesty.”

“Congratulate me?” Ling Guyong chuckled. “Ah Yan, you’ve learned to flatter now.”

He lounged lazily on the dragon throne, looking relaxed and easygoing.

But don’t be fooled—this young emperor was sharp and ruthless beneath the surface.

Now that the powerful Su family had willingly surrendered its military authority, the emperor would naturally feel more at ease.

Everyone knew this was political theater—
An unspoken agreement between ruler and minister.

Ling Guyong smiled. “Regardless, Tang Chaoyang is still your wife. Don’t you feel the slightest bit of regret, Ah Yan?”

He’d never met Tang Chaoyang in person but had heard rumors—
She was deeply in love with Fei Yan, possessive, proud, and arrogant.

The kind of woman most men couldn’t handle.

Fei Yan’s face remained emotionless. “Your Majesty, my wife is now the Lady Dong. She is the only one I acknowledge.”

Ling Guyong wasn’t surprised by this answer.

After all, Fei Yan and the Imperial Tutor’s daughter were childhood sweethearts.

The emperor slowly rubbed the jade ring on his thumb and said casually, “Since General Su gave up the military seal to redeem Tang Chaoyang, I will grant him permission to retrieve her from Hancheng.”

He looked at Fei Yan and added gently,
“I will also issue a divorce edict. From now on, you and Tang Chaoyang will have no ties. Ah Yan, will you regret this?”

He hadn’t originally planned to issue a divorce decree. After all, his ministers’ family affairs had nothing to do with him.

But out of consideration for the Imperial Tutor and the Empress Dowager, Ling Guyong decided to go along with their wishes.

Fei Yan, ever cold and handsome, showed no hint of regret.

In his heart—

He had always believed—

He didn’t love Tang Chaoyang.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. Your humble subject accepts the decree.”

Fei Yan accepted the edict of divorce and left the Imperial Study.

He stepped out of the palace and boarded the Prime Minister’s carriage.

Thinking back on today’s exchange between emperor and subject—

Both had spoken with veiled meanings, pretending not to understand what was clearly understood.

The emperor, young as he was, possessed a deep and calculating mind.

And Tang Chaoyang? She was just a woman.

Using her to exchange for the military seal—what a profitable deal.

That was how men were.
In their eyes, women would never be worth as much as power.

---

Half a month later, the Su family’s envoy arrived in Hancheng to retrieve Tang Chaoyang.

This time, Madam Su had personally sent Granny Zhao to fetch her.

Granny Zhao was one of Madam Su’s most trusted aides.

In the carriage, wrapped in heavy winter robes, Granny Zhao groaned from the long journey. After more than two weeks on the road, her old bones ached all over.

And Hancheng—was bitterly cold.

“Granny Zhao, I’ve asked around in town. The young miss is staying in that small courtyard,” said a servant standing beside the carriage.

Granny Zhao stepped out, supported by a young maid.

Passersby who saw her manner and bearing could immediately tell she was from a prestigious household.

Granny Zhao looked over the courtyard.

From the outside, it was run-down, and thick snow covered the roof, looking like it might collapse at any moment.

The young miss had never suffered like this before.
She wondered what kind of state she was in now.

A servant stepped forward to knock.

The door remained shut, but a child’s soft voice called from within, “Who are you looking for?”

Inside the courtyard, Fei An’an tilted his head and looked toward the gate.

Granny Zhao, puzzled by the child’s voice, kept her smile and replied,
“We are from the Su family. We’ve come especially to bring Miss Chaoyang home.”

Fei An’an knew the Su family—he’d visited with his mother before.

“Mother’s not home. She went outside the city to move stones.”

The small boy sat by the doorway inside the house, clever enough not to open the gate for strangers.

On such a cold day, his mother still had to carry stones.
It was bitter. His little head drooped.

Granny Zhao was stunned by what she heard.

Miss Chaoyang had gone outside the city to carry stones?

The proud, domineering daughter of the Marquis of Yong’en—carrying stones?

She signaled her servant to investigate the situation further.

Meanwhile, she returned to the carriage to wait. The cold was unbearable.

The servant knocked on a neighbor’s door.

An old woman opened it. When she saw the carriage at Tang Chaoyang’s gate, she looked nervous.

The servant quickly explained that they meant no harm and were just asking about Miss Tang Chaoyang.

The old woman had once received kindness from Tang Chaoyang, and seeing that these people weren’t here to cause trouble, she relaxed.

“She goes out to work every day—leaves through the north gate and heads southwest for about two kilometers. There’s a mountain there.”

The servant thanked her and reported back to Granny Zhao.

Granny Zhao frowned.

Tang Chaoyang had been exiled to Hancheng as punishment for offending the Empress Dowager.

“We’ll go check outside the city.”

They left the city and, upon reaching the mountain the old woman described, caught sight of Tang Chaoyang.

She was wrapping her bleeding hands in cloth.

These days, she had been carrying stones. Her once-soft, pampered hands weren’t made for such labor.

Now, they were covered in wounds.

Tang Chaoyang looked up at Granny Zhao and her group with a calm expression.

They had come.

In her past life, the Su family had also sent someone to retrieve her at this exact moment.