Song Lanzhi recognized Ming Yi and was about to speak, but Ming Yi stopped her.
“Bring the writing materials,” Ming Yi instructed her attendants.
Bai Ying presented the brush and ink, while a guard brought a long table. Ming Yi wrote a divorce letter in front of everyone and handed it to Song Lanzhi’s mother-in-law. “Press your handprint on this, and we’ll only take your daughter-in-law with us.”
“What daughter-in-law? She’s just a shameless woman who wouldn’t leave my son alone,” the old woman grumbled, taking the divorce letter and looking at it blankly. “I can’t read.”
Song Lanzhi read it softly for her: “The bond between husband and wife is formed through three lifetimes of fate, leading to this life’s marriage. If the bond is not harmonious, it becomes a karmic debt. With two hearts no longer in accord, it’s difficult to unite as one. After consulting with relatives, each shall return to their path…”
“Stop, stop, stop. I don’t understand. Just tell me, does this mean she’ll have nothing to do with my son anymore?” The old woman waved her hand impatiently.
Song Lanzhi lowered her eyes and nodded, but couldn’t help adding, “My husband’s last wish was for me to take care of you…”
“You’re not trying to take care of me, you’re just after my son’s wealth!” the old woman said angrily. “Before you leave, return all the property deeds and shops he entrusted to you!”
With that, she forcefully pressed her handprint on the divorce letter.
Ming Yi took the letter and asked Song Lanzhi, “What wealth?”
Song Lanzhi’s eyes filled with tears. After a moment of choking back sobs, she said, “My husband had earned quite a bit from his business, but when trading with Cangxue, women were smuggled as cargo on his ship. He didn’t know about it but was implicated by his associates and lost all his assets. He took his own life out of despair. Before he died, he specifically instructed me to take care of his mother.”
“But, Your Excellency, please understand, that all the family’s land and property deeds were lost. There’s no wealth left. I was afraid my mother-in-law would be too grief-stricken, so I lied to her, saying we still had shops collecting rent to provide for her. In truth, it’s all money I earn by copying books at the scribes’ quarter during the day.”
The old woman grew angry hearing this. “Not a word of truth from your mouth! My son’s vast fortune couldn’t have all disappeared! She must have embezzled it, yet she feeds me nothing but meat broth and leftover vegetables all day.”
She sat down and began to wail, “Oh, my poor son! He didn’t even leave behind an heir, wasting his life on this viper of a woman!”
Ming Yi waved her hand. “There’s no need to rush. I’ll have someone fetch the household registry to check what assets your family has.”
After Ji Bozai unified the six cities, he re-registered all the inhabitants, including their land and property deeds. At the time, no one knew why he went to such trouble, but now it proved convenient for investigation.
Song Lanzhi’s household registry was also being reviewed by the Ministry of Personnel, so it wasn’t difficult to retrieve. It was brought over moments later.
Ming Yi carefully examined it and found that Song Lanzhi truly owned nothing, not even the small courtyard they were currently living in, which was rented.
“She must have found a way to hide it!” The old woman became frantic and began to wail loudly. “Oh, my poor son! He thought of this old woman until his dying breath, but he entrusted everything to the wrong person. Now it’s all fallen into her hands, and not a single coin is left!”
Song Lanzhi, finally fed up with the old woman’s constant crying over her son, condensed her expression. “I’ll leave today without taking anything. This entire courtyard, including the clothes on my back! It’s all yours!”
As she spoke, she took off her outer garment, leaving only her underclothes.
The moment the outer garment hit the ground, the old woman quickly snatched it up, frantically searching the sleeves. She found twenty coins and exclaimed with joy, then spat at Song Lanzhi, “Only this much left? There must be more hidden in your room.”
Song Lanzhi knelt and bowed to her, then stood up and said, “The divorce letter is signed. From now on, I am no longer a member of the Liu family. Whether in life or death, wealth or poverty, we have no more connection. This bow is to thank you for giving birth to a good son.”
The old woman scoffed and turned to search Song Lanzhi’s room.
After searching for a while, she found only some tattered clothes and half a tael of gold wrapped in several layers, seemingly kept as emergency savings.
Nevertheless, it was something. The old woman immediately started shouting, “You claimed to be so innocent, yet you hid half a tael of gold from my son. You had gold but only gave me meat broth without meat. Bah!”
Song Lanzhi calmly replied, “That was for your medicine.”
“Now you’re cursing me to take medicine!”
Ignoring the wailing from inside, Song Lanzhi walked out of the small courtyard.
Bai Ying approached with a cloak to support her. Only then did Song Lanzhi come to her senses and bowed to Ming Yi, “I’ve made a spectacle of myself in front of Your Excellency. May I ask why you came to find me today?”
Ming Yi walked alongside her, smiling faintly. “It’s nothing major.”
“Oh,” Song Lanzhi nodded, already planning in her mind to sleep on the floor at the scribes’ quarter to earn money and have a place to stay – a good arrangement.
Then she heard Ming Yi continue, “There’s a vacancy for the position of Vice Minister of Rites in the court. I’d like to invite you to take it.”
The nearby steamer at a bun shop was lifted, releasing a cloud of steam.
Song Lanzhi blinked in confusion through the mist, as if in a dream. “Invite me to be… what?”
“Vice Minister of Rites, a third-rank official in the court,” Ming Yi said. “You might not be fully utilized at first, as your background will invite criticism. But you’re well-versed in the Four Books and Five Classics, and you have a thorough understanding of ancient and modern etiquette. Your time will come.”
Song Lanzhi was shocked for a moment, then slowly understood. “Your Excellency wants me to be a role model for women, to show that even a divorced widow can become a court official?”
Ming Yi’s eyes curved in a smile. “Are you willing?”
“I am!” Song Lanzhi clenched her fists. “I won’t let Your Excellency down.”
Intelligent and resolute – exactly the kind of person she wanted.
Ming Yi took her to the Ministry of Personnel and arranged for her residence and attendants.
As they left the ministry, Song Lanzhi was excited, already imagining the uproar this would cause in the court in a few days.
However, just as they stepped over the threshold, a burst of Yuan Power shot toward Ming Yi’s face from afar.
Ming Yi tilted her head to dodge it and began using her Yuan Power to repair her meridians. But the attacks came one after another, clearly aimed at taking her life.
The guards immediately raised a protective shield, and Bai Ying stood in front to protect her. But they couldn’t prevent several sneak attacks from behind. Before Ming Yi could fully mobilize her Yuan Power, her arm was injured.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a vital area, and after the injury, a white protective shield formed around her body.
She swiftly forced one of the hidden assassins out into the open.
The man hadn’t intended to survive anyway. After covering for the others to escape, he coldly looked at her and said, “Want to know who sent me? I’ll tell you. Everyone in the court, high and low, wishes you dead. Even the common people in the city wish you dead. You think you’re advocating for the people, but in our eyes, you’re nothing but a lowly woman trying to meddle in imperial power!”