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

Lv Zhu looked at the disbursement voucher in her hand over and over again, so angry her almond-shaped eyes widened enormously.

Song Wan tidied her hair and had Heng Zhi accompany her outside.

Lin Jiayue was followed by two young maidservants. Seeing Song Wan, they all performed courtesies in unison. Lin Jiayue’s face showed a slight smile, and at first glance her manner and movements carried the refined air of a proper young lady.

“I just gave your maidservant the disbursement voucher Xingjian wrote. I’ve come now to collect the silver.”

Song Wan said, “Since husband wrote a disbursement voucher for you, you can go directly to the estate’s general affairs office to collect the silver. There’s no need to seek me out here.”

Having a second-rank maidservant from the room bring tea and water, Song Wan waited for Lin Jiayue to speak.

Since Jiang Xingjian had bypassed her to allocate silver to Lin Jiayue, it showed he also knew this action was unreasonable and would absolutely not have Lin Jiayue come find her. Now that she had come to the door, who knew whether she wanted to show off a bit or was preparing to flaunt her power.

Sure enough, Song Wan had only picked up her tea and remained silent for a moment when Lin Jiayue could no longer contain herself.

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

“Your proper conduct has been learned very poorly indeed.”

Hearing the words “proper conduct,” Lin Jiayue’s expression darkened, “He likes my temperament precisely—it’s not too boring.”

Song Wan’s hand gripping the teacup tightened. She laughed lightly, then prepared to leave, but heard Lin Jiayue say, “Is this interesting to you? Holding onto an empty legitimate wife’s status, living as a grass widow, deceiving yourself daily—can that truly make you happy?”

“Impudent! How dare you show disrespect before Madam?”

Song Wan waved her hand, and Heng Zhi stepped back without speaking further.

“Then in Concubine Lin’s opinion, what should I do?”

Lin Jiayue looked at Song Wan, her eyes showing determination, “I have no hostility toward you. I simply don’t understand—Xingjian doesn’t like you, so why do you insist on staying at the marquis estate? You’ve already wasted six years. Why continue to waste away?”

“…”

Song Wan sat back down in the main seat and said indifferently, “I truly don’t understand your meaning.”

“What’s not to understand? Xingjian and I are in love. He once said that upon returning to the capital he would marry me as his wife. But who could have imagined there would be such a foolish woman in this world who would actually marry in holding a memorial tablet to remain a widow?”

Lin Jiayue looked at Song Wan, her heart also full of discomfort.

Clearly she and Jiang Xingjian had been in love first—how was it that now it seemed as if she had interfered in someone else’s relationship? Though she had confidence in herself, when Jiang Xingjian was together with Song Wan, she still couldn’t help worrying.

She was his legitimate wife in name. They went together every morning and evening to Fuhe Hall to pay respects to the old lady. Everything in their courtyard came in matching pairs. When mentioning Song Wan, Jiang Xingjian’s eyes were full of unspoken praise.

Though the two had never had any intimate gestures, Lin Jiayue just couldn’t help feeling jealous.

After all, Jiang Xingjian was supposed to be her beloved.

“Have you ever considered that your irresponsible actions toward yourself also bring trouble to others?”

Song Wan blinked, trying to understand what exactly Lin Jiayue meant by “bringing trouble to others.”

She had always considered herself intelligent, but not a single sentence from Lin Jiayue’s words was comprehensible.

Raising her head to observe the girl before her, Song Wan still didn’t understand exactly what aspect of her Jiang Xingjian loved.

If speaking of appearance, she felt herself superior. If speaking of family background, her match with Jiang Xingjian couldn’t be considered marrying up. Could it really be as Lin Jiayue said—that she was too boring?

But from childhood she had been proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, needlework and embroidery, and had even dabbled in the various schools of philosophy and poetry. How could she be boring?

“Your family background is good and your birth is high. Even if you left Jiang Xingjian, you could find another person of your heart, couldn’t you?”

Originally Song Wan had been pondering whether she was boring, but hearing this sentence, her brows knitted tightly.

Heng Zhi, unable to contain her anger, grabbed the hot tea before her and threw it forcefully onto Lin Jiayue’s face, “You yourself enjoy acting improper and shameless, dangling your cheap airs around the young master all day isn’t enough—you also want to stain our miss’s good reputation? You woman are truly black-hearted and rotten to the core, deserving of death.”

“Heng Zhi.”

Seeing she wanted to advance further, Song Wan stopped her.

Though the hot tea wasn’t scalding, having someone splash it over one’s face was truly humiliating. Lin Jiayue, unable to contain her anger, shouted, “I was trying to help you! Why are you all going mad?”

The two young maidservants came forward to help Lin Jiayue wipe her face, while Song Wan stared at her without blinking.

After a long while, she finally confirmed that beyond a certain arrogant contempt for her, the person before her truly had no malicious intent.

Lin Jiayue genuinely believed her words were for Song Wan’s benefit.

Song Wan suddenly grew curious.

“Aristocratic families have never had divorced women. The departure you speak of fundamentally cannot happen. Moreover, don’t you know our dynasty’s laws stipulate that taking a concubine as a wife—those who take concubines or guest women as wives receive a sentence of one and a half years’ imprisonment?”

“If it were merchants or commoners that would be one thing, but for aristocratic families like the marquis estate, even if I died they would select another principal wife. They would absolutely never do something that violates proper order like elevating a concubine to wife.”

If Lin Jiayue weren’t of concubine status, even if she were an outside mistress not recorded in the clan registry, this matter might still have room for negotiation. But as things stood now, everything was empty talk.

“Impossible.”

Lin Jiayue’s face turned deathly pale, “I don’t believe aristocratic families cannot divorce. Could it be that even if a couple are bitter enemies, they must be bound together until death?”

Song Wan lowered her eyes and said indifferently, “You’re so certain about this talk of divorce—could it be that husb… he promised you something?”

“He…”

Had Jiang Xingjian promised he would definitely marry her as his wife, making her the mistress of the marquis estate?

Lin Jiayue recalled carefully and suddenly discovered that since returning to the marquis estate, Jiang Xingjian had never said such words again. Even on the day she moved to the Embroidered Smoke Pavilion, he had only said one sentence: “Trust me.”

Fine beads of sweat appeared on her face. Lin Jiayue suddenly felt somewhat panicked.

Seeing this, Song Wan said, “Aristocratic families have never had divorced women because divorce is a major clan matter. It requires both estates or both clans to burn incense and open the ancestral shrine. The clan heads of both clans must worship before heaven and ancestors, and only after reporting to heaven and receiving ancestral approval can divorce occur.”

“Though divorce is rare, repudiation is common. If a man is dissatisfied with his legitimate wife in the household, he can repudiate his wife through the Seven Outs or Moral Severance.”

Lin Jiayue’s head snapped up, a glimmer of hope rising in her heart.

Song Wan curved her lips, only finding Lin Jiayue’s thoughts increasingly laughable.

Forget that she had the Song family and her aunt backing her, so the marquis estate wouldn’t dare to repudiate her—just the matter of her remaining a widow for Jiang Xingjian for six years meant the Emperor wouldn’t allow the marquis estate to cast aside his wife and remarry.

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

Lin Jiayue’s face paled, “I found a method to make ice in summer, to earn silver for the marquis estate.”

“Earlier you asked whether I was angry that husband gave you silver to open a shop. Now I’ll answer you.”

Song Wan’s gaze was calm as still water. She looked at Lin Jiayue and said, “For daughters, only dowry is private property. The marquis estate hasn’t been divided yet, so all expenditures and income are public accounts. Other people, even husband and the estate’s uncles, have no private property—at least openly, they don’t have and cannot have any.”

“And you, born of concubine status, have no dowry to speak of. Even if husband dotes on and indulges you, it amounts to nothing more than giving you a bit of personal silver. So when you ask if I’m angry, it’s truly…”

“Rather laughable.”