Chapter 6
My maternal grandfather came from a merchant family.
Two hundred thousand taels was not an enormous sum for my aunt and mother.
Still, gathering the money took some effort.
When the three of them produced the four hundred thousand taels in banknotes,
their eyes were full of hatred.
I brought out the divorce agreement.
Wang Heng signed it at once.
“I must have been blind to marry you.
“You’ve got your money. Keep your mouth shut from now on.”
I let him talk.
After all, they had paid dearly. A few bitter words were hardly worth objecting to.
My mother said coldly,
“Now that you’re divorced, you should bring your dowry home.
“Your father and grandmother miss you.”
I had already bought a house. My dowry and other belongings had all been moved there the night before.
“No need to trouble yourself. Just mind your own affairs.”
After I left,
I gave Wang Heng the medicine to treat Song Wan.
He asked me for the physician.
I refused.
“Each month, I’ll have someone bring that month’s supply.
“In a year, she’ll be completely well.
“There’s no need to be angry. I have my own safety to think of.”
He shook with anger, but there was nothing he could do to me.
Within that year,
I would find a new protector in the capital for my daughter and me.
I bought a new house
and settled in the capital.
The protector I chose was the Princess Royal, who lived in widowhood.
Like me, she had never been loved by her mother.
Getting close to her and winning her favor was not easy.
But sincere persistence can wear down even the hardest heart.
After a year of attending her and keeping her company, the aptitude I showed with an abacus finally softened her toward me.
“Ah Yue, what do you want?”
I offered her two hundred thousand taels in banknotes.
“Your Highness’s protection. A way for my daughter and me to live in safety.”
She smiled.
There was pity in it, and tenderness too.
From the thick stack of banknotes, she took just one. She pushed the rest back to me.
“My mother favored her younger daughter and son. To win the Cui family’s support for my brother, she married me to their third son, a mad simpleton.
“More than a decade has slipped by since then.
“My mother is dead. So are my brother and sister.
“Only I remain alive. Only I still enjoy the wealth and privileges of the imperial family.
“Do you know why?”
“Because Your Highness is ruthless enough. You were never so foolish as to repay cruelty with kindness.”
Her smile grew a little more sincere.
“That is also why, of all those women, I chose to keep you at my side.
“Ning’an—yes, my fief. The steward who manages my fields, estates, and shops there is growing old. Go and assist him for three years.
“Three years of hard work, and I promise you and your daughter a lifetime of prosperity and peace.”
I gathered up the remaining money and knelt to thank her.