Chapter 4

Chapter 4

That very night, Zhong Ling’an left the capital and raced toward the borderlands.

By morning, rumors were everywhere.

Everyone said he loved that kept woman to the point of madness, so much that he would ride a thousand li just to beg her to stay.

Others said I had driven her away to prevent her from becoming a grave threat in the future.

That day, she had said I was not worthy of being her enemy.

She was right. Tactics like retreating in order to advance, like scheming for a man’s heart-I could not learn them, nor would I ever try.

Of course Zhong Ling’an would go after her. She had expected nothing less. This was precisely the outcome she wanted.

Before I was even married, I had already become the laughingstock of the entire capital.

My mother said worriedly, “How are you supposed to live from now on…”

I looked at the wound in my palm and gave a cold laugh. “If there is no way to live in the inner courtyard, then I will find another path.”

Zhong Ling’an found Song Wanyin and her child in Lan City. He even ordered the Personal Armored Guard to seal off the streets of Lan City so tightly that not even water could pass, leaving her nowhere to run.

Even the city lord of Lan City was alarmed.

The people on the streets saw with their own eyes as he pulled Song Wanyin into his arms, his face filled with the joy of recovering what he had lost. Song Wanyin wept softly and beat her fists against him.

Yet the young general, known for his unyielding iron bones, actually gave a helpless laugh at that moment. He showed not the slightest anger, only apologized to her with the utmost care.

When the news reached me, I was practicing calligraphy.

The storytellers in the teahouses were moved to tears by this earth-shaking love that transcended differences in status and family background.

Their love was stronger than gold, defying the judgment of the world.

And I, just so happened to become the hideous third person in this romance.

They said I was scheming, that I clung to a meritorious official, begged His Majesty to grant the marriage, and drove away his kept woman in an attempt to monopolize my future husband.

Without my realizing it, I had already become a woman of unforgivable wickedness and deep calculation.

Zhong Ling’an and the others remained in Lan City for more than a month. Song Wanyin refused to return with him.

So he spent that month rebuilding a beautiful dream for her, living like an ordinary married couple, just as they had back at the border.

She accompanied him as they galloped across the open fields. He stood before the mirror and combed her hair for her.

There were no worldly barriers of birth or status, and no lawful wife presiding over the household.

All of this was told to me by Zhong Lingjia.

In front of me, she mocked me without restraint, saying I would never obtain my future husband’s love in this lifetime, that I would spend my life watching my husband and his true love remain devoted and inseparable.

For most people, that would indeed be the most vicious curse.

But the most important thing in this world was not necessarily sharing a heart with a man.

Once Zhong Ling’an had coaxed Song Wanyin, he brought them back.

For that month and more, I lived in seclusion and rarely stepped outside.

He had already forgotten that our wedding day was approaching.

On the night of our marriage, he came to me first and said coldly, “At the welcome banquet, I spoke nonsense after drinking, which led to this absurd marriage. But the imperial decree has been issued, and I absolutely cannot let the Zhong Family bear the crime of defying it, so this marriage must take place. But I must also warn you: the only person I love is Wanyin. I will never feel even the slightest affection for you. If you know what’s good for you, this play can end after a year or so. I will give you a divorce letter, and we will each return to where we belong.”

Nonsense after drinking? Four brief words had destroyed my future and severed my path, all to make room for his sister. How casually he said it.

“The general asked for a reward, and I was bestowed like some object. With one sentence, you cut off my path to becoming a female official. How can you speak of returning to where we belong?”

I pressed him with question after question. He avoided my gaze.

After a long while, he frowned and said, “This is your fate. You cannot blame me. You can only blame yourself for blocking Lingjia’s path.”

Just because his sister had complained a few times, he had wantonly ruined my future to pave the way for her. Was this the conduct of a great man?

He swept his sleeve and left.

He thought I would meekly accept my fate. He never expected that, several days later, I would stop Princess Jiuhua’s carriage.