Although she suffered a lot, Jiang Wu’s confinement was finally over.

To go out, she had to tie a wind collar around her neck to cover up the marks left by Chu Ling.

The original plan was to find Mo Yangzhou as soon as she came out, and she had also agreed with Qingyang, but Jiang Wu backed out at the last minute.

She would never be like this. This feeling was a bit strange, as if going to find Yang Zhou with all these marks on her body would make her uncomfortable. She also felt uncomfortable thinking that Yang Zhou’s eyes would dim if he saw these.

But between them, she had always been the master, so why should she care about his mood?

Despite this dilemma, she still asked her servants to stop when they arrived at the Gōngzhǔ’s mansion.

“Go to the Gōngzhǔ’s mansion and ask the Gōngzhǔ to come out. Tell her that I want to invite her to tea today.”

After waiting for a while, Qingyang Gōngzhǔ came.

“I said, Why are you so good at making trouble for others?”

Qingyang Gōngzhǔ obviously came out in a hurry, and her hairstyle and clothes were not as luxurious and elegant as usual, so it was no wonder that she was annoyed.

Jiang Wu remained silent, feeling guilty.

“Didn’t we agree to meet at your house?” Qingyang Gōngzhǔ asked again, “Why are you out again?”

It was hard for her to say with so many people around, but the two of them were already very familiar with each other, so naturally they could understand each other with just a glance.

Jiang Wu knew that her eyes were telling her that Mo Yangzhou was waiting for her.

She pretended not to know.

“It’s boring to stay at home all the time. It’s time to go out for a walk.”

Qingyang Gōngzhǔ naturally followed her.

When they were alone, Jiang Wu told her the purpose of this trip, which was to ask her to accompany her to find a house.

She also instructed, “Just say it’s what you want.”

Of course, Chu Ling can’t know about it.

Qingyang Gōngzhǔ had become much calmer since she heard her say she wanted Mo Yangzhou last time.

“And then you say that you want that person too? Aren’t you afraid of tarnishing the good name of your Yangzhou family now?”

Since Jiang Wu had thought it through, she naturally didn’t care: “He will follow me in the future anyway, so it doesn’t matter whether he has a good reputation or not.”

But since she had already decided to marry Mo Yangzhou as her husband in the future, she must have a mansion.

It was impossible to return to the Jiang Mansion. She could almost imagine that let alone marrying a son-in-law, her father would never let her into the house just because she was divorced by Chu Ling.

Actually, it was a good thing. She had quite a bit of savings now, so she should have no problem supporting her family in the future, and then she could bring her mother over.

“All right.” Qingyang Gōngzhǔ looked like a gentleman willing to sacrifice his life for her. She lowered her head and muttered to herself, “If Prime Minister Chu finds out that you bought all your mansions in my name, he will kill me even if I am the Emperor, not to mention that I am just a Gōngzhǔ.”

“Don’t think too much,” Jiang Wu comforted her. “By then, he and Chu Yan will be too busy loving each other to care about these things.”

But then she changed her mind and thought, “But this person is insidious, cunning, narrow-minded, cold-blooded, and cruel. It would be bad if he knew about it. It’s better to buy a yard farther away.”

Qingyang seemed to be choked by these adjectives. After thinking carefully, she nodded in agreement: “Indeed, no one knows a husband better than his wife.”

The two went to see some houses for sale in the capital.

Jiang Wu was also used to a life of luxury, and although she told others that Qingyang Gōngzhǔ was going to buy it, she was the picky one, saying things like the wood used to build the house was not good, the location was not good, and so on.

The weather was not too hot in early summer, but Qingyang Gōngzhǔ was so tired from all the work that she was waving a round fan.

“Okay, okay,” Jiang Wu also felt sorry for her, so she pulled her aside and secretly promised, “Let’s just look at the last one.”

She was actually feeling very hot too, so she leaned over to Qingyang Gōngzhǔ to get some air from her fan, but she pushed her aside and said, “Go fan yourself.”

Jiang Wu continued to rub against her shamelessly.

Qingyang Gōngzhǔ couldn’t do anything to her, so she had to allow her.

Jiang Wu and Qingyang Gōngzhǔ had been close friends for many years, so long that she couldn’t even remember how the two became acquainted.

Qingyang Gōngzhǔ was the elder sister of the late Emperor and the daughter of the current Empress Dowager. It sounded noble, and of course, she was noble, but her younger brother left early, and the biological mother of the current emperor was Chu Ling’s sister.

The Emperor was still young, and the government was controlled by the Chu family.

The royal family had no real power, so Qingyang Gōngzhǔ was not as happy as before.

But she was a person without ambition and lived her absurd life just as she wanted. Due to the Empress Dowager’s face, no one took her seriously.

She was very nice to Jiang Wu.

If a person treats you well for one or two days or one or two years, then it may be that he has some ulterior motive; but if he treats you well for more than ten years, whether it was when she was the eldest Gōngzhǔ in the glittering glory or now, then even if she really had some ulterior motive, Jiang Wu would probably be more eager to fulfill it for her than she was.

Qingyang Gōngzhǔ never planned anything.

The last one was much better than the previous ones, but Jiang Wu couldn’t muster up interest, perhaps because she was overwhelmed by the choices or because she was really tired.

It was not until she came to a side room and opened the window that the green bamboo leaves suddenly came into view. Before Jiang Wu even felt the wind, her heart had already calmed down in the green.

The breeze rustled the bamboo forest. She stood there in a daze. Suddenly, a trace of joy emerged in her heart, and her hands tightly grasped the window frame.

“Who would plant so many bamboos in a yard?”

Qingyang Gōngzhǔ asked as she looked at the bamboo forest outside. She crossed her hands in her sleeves. Her movements were not very dignified but seemed casual, free, and easy.

The owner of the house was not at home, and the one who showed them around was the housekeeper. The housekeeper smiled and replied, “Our master likes bamboo, so he planted this patch.”

Jiang Wuzheng was so absorbed in watching that she heard Qingyang Gōngzhǔ ask, “Do you like it?”

She came back to her senses and smiled: “You are buying it; why ask me if I like it or not? But…” She glanced at Qingyang Gōngzhǔ, “Let me tell you, it’s really good.”

Qingyang Gōngzhǔ chuckled.

Although she was smiling, Jiang Wu did not feel it. The woman was looking out the window, and she saw a complex emotion on her friend’s face.

It flashed so quickly, like an illusion.

“Then let’s go with this one.”

When she looked over with a smile, her face had returned to normal.

Qingyang Gōngzhǔ also had secrets from Jiang Wu. Of course, everyone had secrets. Even Jiang Wu had things that she couldn’t tell her.

So she didn’t ask any further questions.

Qingyang Gōngzhǔ went to pay, and when Jiang Wu followed her, she happened to hear the number the other party reported, and her heart ached.

The pain was not felt as the wife of the prime minister but as the future head of the household who would have to support the family.

She pulled Qingyang Gōngzhǔ’s sleeves, asking her to think about it again. But Qingyang silently shook it off. Her eyes clearly showed that if a Gōngzhǔ like her backed down because of the price, how could she show her face outside?

Jiang Wu silently felt sorry for her money, and Qingyang Gōngzhǔ tapped her against her: “Alright. Just consider it a gift to you.”

“That won’t do.” Jiang Wu felt distressed, but she didn’t hesitate. “Wouldn’t that mean you’re supporting a man for me?”

This seemed to wake up Qingyang Gōngzhǔ. She thought for a moment and said, “That’s right. Then I’m at a big loss. You should remember to send the money to my house.” Then she smiled again, “Use Prime Minister Chu’s money to support a man and vent your anger.”

Jiang Wu widened her eyes. What did she mean by Chu Ling’s money?
“That’s my money.”

She worked like a slave for eighteen years; that was what she deserved.

---

Jiang Wu planned to go back home directly.

“What’s the hurry?” Qingyang Gōngzhǔ held her back. “What about the tea tasting? You’re just going to throw me away after you’ve used me, right?”

That was true, so she followed Qingyang Gōngzhǔ to the teahouse again.

This was a famous teahouse in the capital, and the guests who came and went were all dignitaries from the capital.

Qingyang Gōngzhǔ was a regular customer, so she went to her seat with familiarity and ordered two more songs.

Jiang Wu showed little interest.

There was a shadowy figure on the other side of the curtain of the private room, probably the opera singer.

She didn’t look that way either.

“What’s wrong?” Qingyang Gōngzhǔ laughed, “You can spend money on others, but you can’t bear to spend money on ordering a song for me?”

That’s not the case. It’s just that whether it’s tea or koji, it always feels a little lacking when someone else makes it.”

“Oh?” Qingyang Gōngzhǔ raised her eyebrows. “How do you know it wasn’t done by someone interesting?”

Jiang Wu was just about to understand what she meant when the sound of opera came from the other side of the curtain. She looked over in shock at the mere sound.

Wasn’t that Yang Zhou’s voice?