Chapter 88
Chapter 88
Shen Si’s voice was cool and deep, silencing everyone around him.
Ji Hanyi froze for a moment before looking up, only to see Shen Si’s retreating figure. Just as his sudden appearance before her had brought her an immense sense of security, his departure now stirred an indescribable emotion within her.
Perhaps because Shen Si always appeared when she needed him most, she had unwittingly come to depend on him.
But Ji Hanyi knew she could not continue relying on Shen Si. Once she divorced Xie Yuheng, she would leave the capital. From then on, she would have to rely on herself in all things.
Beside her, Xie Yuheng suddenly dropped to one knee before her. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Ji Hanyi, his expression full of derision. “Even if we go to the Censorate, I won’t agree to a divorce. I won’t draw up a Divorce Agreement with you. Not even a Lord Censor can force me to divorce you.”
“Even if you produce the written pledge from back then and prove that I was the one who broke my word, can your body withstand thirty strokes of the cane?”
He sneered again. “A wife accusing her husband over something as trivial as taking a concubine — once word gets out, your reputation will be ruined.”
“Hanyi, don’t do something like this just to spite me. I promise I’ll treat you well, as long as you’re willing to turn back.”
His shoulders slumped. “Hanyi, after causing such a scene, you must be satisfied now.”
Ji Hanyi had no desire to listen to another word. She merely turned her head and calmly asked, “If I don’t file a complaint, will you agree to divorce me?”
Xie Yuheng’s eyes bulged with rage. “Ji Hanyi, enough is enough.”
“As long as I’m alive, don’t even think about divorcing me in this lifetime.”
“But I promise I’ll send Mingrou away and let you manage all my private assets.”
“You’ll still be the Eldest Young Madam, and the entire household will be placed in your hands in the future. I’ve already promised you everything I possibly can. What else do you want me to do? I merely took a concubine. Are you really going to keep making such a fuss over it?”
Ji Hanyi looked away, gazing at the shadows cast across the ground by the firelight, and gently shook her head. “Then there’s nothing else to say.”
“I have no one and nothing left. What is there for me to fear?”
She knew Xie Yuheng was right. Even if she beat the grievance drum at the Office of Transmission, it might not help. A woman who accused her husband had to endure thirty strokes of the cane first.
In this day and age, divorce was exceedingly difficult for a woman. Unless both parties peacefully agreed to draw up a Divorce Agreement, it was usually the woman whose name and reputation were ruined in the end. She would be condemned for the rest of her life and could never marry again.
But Xie Yuheng clearly intended to keep her bound to him, denying her freedom for the rest of her life.
Even if taking the matter to the authorities destroyed her reputation, she still had to try.
Besides, she had long since been left with no one. She had never considered remarrying, and she would soon leave the capital. As for Xie Yuheng, he had broken his word, engaged in an illicit affair with his cousin during his grandmother’s birthday banquet, and would then be taken to court by his wife for a divorce. His future reputation would hardly fare any better than hers.
Xie Yuheng still held an official post, and the Xie Family still had its pristine reputation to protect. Ji Hanyi had nothing to fear. The Xie Family did.
Ji Hanyi was gambling too — gambling that the Xie Family would yield first, that they feared going before the authorities more than she did.
Xie Yuheng stared at her in shock. “You hate me that much…”
Ji Hanyi did not answer. Bracing her hands against her knees, she rose to her feet and looked down at him, firelight blazing in her eyes. “I don’t hate you. I only want to leave.”
“I’ve wanted to leave for a long time.”
“You’re the one who refuses to let me go.”
As Shen Si departed, he murmured an instruction to the City Patrol Censor before climbing into his carriage.
He remained seated inside the carriage. The glow of the distant fire had yet to die out. Rubbing the spot between his brows, he paused for a moment before issuing another order to the men outside.
City Patrol Censor Cui Zhengyao was the presiding superior of the Military Patrol Office. Upon receiving the order, he beckoned Deputy Commander Ma Renkan of the Military Patrol Office over and gave him a few instructions.
Once Ma Renkan had his orders, he immediately summoned his subordinates and told them to make the necessary arrangements.
Everyone from the Xie Family and the Gu Family was escorted to the Censorate Main Hall. With the men from the Military Patrol Office urging them along, Madam Lin had lost every trace of her former arrogance. Her face was now filled with panic.
It was not that she feared that Ji Hanyi and Xie Yuheng would truly divorce. What she feared was word getting out that the Xie Family had broken their promise and ruining their reputation.
Now, as she looked at the stern-faced bailiffs standing on either side with court staves in hand, her knees nearly gave way. She hurried over, clutched Xie Yuheng tightly, and lowered her voice. “If we were going to the Shuntian Prefectural Office, at least your second uncle could look out for you. But this is the Censorate. I hear Lord Left Censor is utterly impartial. You may be punished as well over this. Why don’t you just agree to her demands? If she wants a private divorce, then so be it. Why are you so determined to hold on to her?”
Xie Yuheng had originally been certain he could keep Ji Hanyi. A woman could hardly afford to waste her entire life waiting him out. As long as he refused to agree, Ji Hanyi would forever remain a wife of the Xie Family. But now, she was willing to disregard both her reputation and the threat of a beating just to divorce him. Even if he wanted to force her to stay, there was nothing he could do.
Madam Zhang was also beginning to panic. This was the first time in her life she had entered the Censorate Main Hall, and its cold, forbidding atmosphere terrified her. She went over to Ji Hanyi and whispered, “You caused this mess yourself. Don’t drag the rest of us down with you when the time comes.”
Ji Hanyi nodded. “Don’t worry, Aunt. Once court is in session, I’ll ask Lord Shen to let you and my cousin leave first. I can handle this on my own.”
Madam Zhang was relieved to hear that, but she still could not resist advising Ji Hanyi in a low voice, “Why must you be so stubborn? With the Xie Family’s status, do you really think you’ll ever find another family of their standing?
“They’ve already humbled themselves by coming to take you back. What more do you want?”
Shen Si was still standing in the rear hall with his hands clasped behind his back, showing no intention of going out.
Standing beside him, Cui Zhengyao said quietly, “As you instructed, my lord, everyone has been sent away. What happened tonight will not spread.”
Shen Si waited a while longer, then glanced at the incense stick before him. It had already burned halfway down.
Only then did he speak, ordering Cui Zhengyao to bring Xie Yuheng in.
Cui Zhengyao froze for a moment before hastily leaving to do as instructed.
In truth, he had found the entire night exceedingly strange. Since when did the Marquis have the time to meddle in such domestic affairs? From what little he had heard, the daughter-in-law of the Xie Family had gone to the Gu Family, and the Xie Family had come to demand her return. Yet the Marquis was apparently so idle that he had decided to involve himself in a matter like this.
What was more, after bringing everyone to the Censorate, he had neither convened court nor begun hearing the case. Instead, he had sent away the people involved. No matter how Cui Zhengyao looked at it, the Marquis did not seem to have any real intention of trying the case…
When Cui Zhengyao came out and told Xie Yuheng to follow him, Xie Yuheng was in the middle of trying to persuade Ji Hanyi that her actions would only leave both sides worse off.
Ji Hanyi’s gaze remained calm throughout. She knew that even as Xie Yuheng tried to persuade her, he had already begun to feel afraid before she did.
She only needed to appear even more indifferent, and Xie Yuheng would panic all the more.
Even though she felt uneasy herself, she knew Shen Si always handled official matters strictly by the book. She had never imagined that the thirty strokes would somehow be spared her. She could not help being a little afraid.
She glanced to the side. Madam Lin was clearly far more terrified than she was.