Chapter 3

Yang Dongye would certainly become an official.

His colleagues would all have lovely wives and beautiful concubines, while he’d have only the wife who had shared his hard times. Could he bear their jibes and mockery?

Great families loved marriage alliances. Everyone else’s in-laws could offer support. What could I give him? The pitiful handful of money I’d saved?

Not to mention the intricacies of holiday visits and socializing with noblewomen. Learning all that would take time and effort.

My virtues mattered because he and his mother were in trouble. Once they returned to a life surrounded by maids and servants, where would I fit?

“So this, I think, is something we can’t agree on. As we promised, we’ll divorce by mutual consent. If our son and daughter want to go with you, I won’t stop them. I—”

“Xihua, you’re being unfair!”

For once, Yang Dongye interrupted me. His eyes were red.

“Father and Brother were cleared today. I was so happy, and now suddenly you don’t want me? You’re cruel! At least give me a chance. Even workers get a trial period. Why do you go straight to casting off your husband?”

“I’m not casting you off. It’s a mutual divorce.”

He looked so pitiful that I felt a tiny pang.

Ah, well. I had loved him, after all.

“You want a trial period?”

“Yes! Yes!”

The moment he sensed hope, he perked right back up.

Unfortunately, the divorce was essential.

“Think about it. You love me, don’t you?”

“Of course. I love you best of all. I can’t live without you.”

“For the rest of your life?”

“Until I die.”

“Then what difference does our legal status make?”

“Huh?”

“Titles are empty things. What matters is our love.”

Yang Dongye stared. I’d already led him into my argument.

“We divorce. That way, if I’m unhappy in the capital, I can leave whenever I like. If your feelings haven’t changed by then, we can simply marry again.”

No rule said divorced people couldn’t remarry.

We’d divorce first, regardless.

I wasn’t going onto someone else’s territory with no safeguards whatsoever.

Yang Dongye thought my reasoning over carefully and decided it did seem to make sense.

We agreed at once to visit the magistrate’s office the next day and arrange our divorce. Once it was done, the capital trial period would officially begin.

Six months to see the splendor of the capital and meet its assorted monsters. That would do.

Song Xihua wasn’t afraid of a fight.

My rule in life was to greet people with a smile and make money through goodwill.

If someone didn’t behave like a human being, I’d teach them how. Then we could get back to the goodwill.