Union

Chapter 165 164 Body Contract
In one day, Chen Yanzhou first took Yunying to stroll around Linghui Temple and the temple fair at the foot of the mountain, and then took her to join the fun at the night market in the capital.

This was originally an unremarkable matter, and at most, it would only elicit a laugh. When it reached the ears of the public, it would only lead to a few teasing remarks, saying that Chen Yanzhou also had such a romantic affair, which was quite fitting for his youthful arrogance.

However, Chen Yanzhou and Lin Shuqing only divorced on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and today, the fifth day, he is already openly traveling with his girlfriend.

This led to further speculation: perhaps the reason for the divorce was not because Lin had done anything wrong.

On the other hand, it also makes people wonder, "Chen Yanzhou seems like a good person on the surface, but I didn't expect him to be so heartless."

Chen Yanzhou and Yun Ying had no interest in what the powerful figures in the capital were saying behind their backs.

Just like Yunying said before, other people have mouths, so let them say what they want.

But neither of them expected that the story would spread to the Marquis of Chang'an's residence.

In the past few days, many nobles and merchants have come to visit the Marquis of Chang'an's residence.

Furthermore, since this year's imperial examination is held every three years, the spring examination will be held in the capital in early spring, and candidates from all over the country will come to the capital one after another. Those who feel that they have no chance and want to take shortcuts begin to cast a wide net, sending visiting cards to the residences of various powerful and wealthy people.

The Marquis of Chang'an's household has a history of investing in such scholars.

The reason is simple: the investment is small, but the returns can be substantial.

In his early years, the Marquis of Chang'an was quite the talent scout on two occasions, selecting two exceptional individuals from among the many candidates who came to the capital.

Although those talented individuals only passed the imperial examination and became officials in the capital through the machinations of the Marquis of Chang'an, this was nothing more than a trivial matter to the Marquis of Chang'an, but to the many other candidates, it was a testament to their great abilities.

Because of his skillful handling of public opinion, Marquis Chang'an later gained a reputation for recognizing talent.

The candidates who went to the capital without relatives or friends to guide them all followed the rumors and went to the mansion of the Marquis of Chang'an, thus forming a connection with him.

For this reason, every year on the eve of the imperial examinations, the Chang'an Marquis's residence is bustling with visitors. An uninformed person might mistake the Chang'an Marquis for some extraordinary figure.

But those in the know, such as the powerful and wealthy in the capital and the common people, all knew that the Marquis of Chang'an was only a fifth-rank official.

Leaving aside these digressions, let's just say that because Chen Yanzhou made no attempt to conceal his actions, the news of his outing with a beautiful woman reached the ears of the Marquis of Chang'an in the middle of the day.

The news was spread by a scholar who had come to the capital for the imperial examinations. He already knew that Chen Yanzhou was the son-in-law of the Marquis of Chang'an, but he divorced the daughter of the Marquis of Chang'an on the first day of the month.

Because the divorce was scheduled for the first day of the Lunar New Year, and the Rongguo Duke's Mansion maintained a cold and domineering demeanor throughout, the people of the capital increasingly believed that the divorce was entirely due to the Chang'an Marquis's third daughter's lack of virtue.

This may be true or false, but whether it is true or false, as long as I can gain the favor of the Marquis of Chang'an through this matter, then my goal will be achieved.
One of the scholars was particularly indignant on behalf of the Third Miss. He said that the divorce might not have been Chen Yanzhou's doing; he might have been bewitched by those filthy women. A lady of such high birth as the Third Miss was no match for those women; it was a pity for her.

Then someone else said that Chen Yanzhou's actions were too outrageous. Haven't you heard of not hitting someone in the face? What he did was no different from openly slapping the Third Miss in the face. If he were the Third Miss, he would find a younger, better woman to marry right now and see if Chen Yanzhou could save face.

This person spoke intermittently, as if saying nothing at all, yet he had already said everything.

It's almost as if he's saying outright that he wants to marry the third daughter and climb the social ladder.

It's a real pity, this man's family were just wealthy merchants. Although his business was large and he made a lot of money, he was also quite talented and passed the imperial examination smoothly.

But that's where it ends.

He barely passed the provincial examination, let alone the imperial examination... It's really not as good as marrying a noblewoman from a high-ranking family.

But given his background, at best he could only marry a concubine's daughter from a high-ranking family; marrying a legitimate daughter... wasn't impossible. Someone like the third daughter of the Marquis of Chang'an, who was divorced, was still someone he could dream of.

Everyone saw through this man's plans. But no one revealed them, and no one said a word more.

But this man was completely overthinking things. He assumed Lin Shuqing's divorce was simply a formality, and that the Marquis of Chang'an's household was now determined to find her a marriage partner as soon as possible. His family was a perfect match; although they were imperial merchants, one of their aunts had become a concubine of the Prince of Zhaoyang, which elevated their social standing. Wanting the divorced daughter of the Marquis's household to be their principal wife wouldn't be considered an insult to their social standing…

However, this person was unaware that Lin Shuqing had an ambiguous relationship with the Second Prince and was already more than two months pregnant.

The information asymmetry meant that no one, including the Marquis of Chang'an's heir, responded to what the man said.

The scholar left the Marquis of Chang'an's residence filled with regret.

After watching the scholars leave, the heir of the Marquis of Chang'an returned to the flower hall to find his father.

Marquis Chang'an was sulking with a dark expression. Seeing the heir return, he instructed, "From now on, don't let these people who don't know their own limitations come to our door again. What a bunch of scoundrels! A mere merchant's son, daring to covet Shuqing!"

The heir of the Marquis of Chang'an did not agree with his father, but only silently replied, "Yes."

After so many days, what exactly happened on New Year's Eve was no longer a secret to him.

Although the heir of the Marquis of Chang'an was annoyed by the Rongguo Duke's family's decisive actions, it was his younger sister's mischievousness and spoiled behavior that caused all of this.

If it weren't for Shuqing's mischief, her entanglement with the Second Prince, and even her pregnancy with an illegitimate child, why would their Chang'an Marquis's mansion need to be bothered by public opinion and have to keep a low profile during the New Year?

Ultimately, the blame lies with Shuqing.

If Shuqing weren't currently pregnant, she would actually be a good match for that scholar. To put it bluntly, she has flaws in character, and it's a great honor for them to marry into that family.

But his father was seething with anger, so he naturally wouldn't say these things. Otherwise, he would become his father's punching bag and have to take the punishment for Shuqing.

The heir of the Marquis of Chang'an silently served his father. The Marquis of Chang'an had drunk a few cups of wine earlier, and now, with the wine taking effect, he was also somewhat drunk.

The drunken Marquis of Chang'an was not in good control of his emotions and soon began to curse loudly.

First, he cursed Shuqing for being an unfilial daughter, daring to do all sorts of dirty and disgusting things; then he cursed Chen Yanzhou, saying that he was indeed worthy of being the son of the Duke of Rong, acting insidiously and without mercy, even going so far as to travel with a beauty at this time, once again putting the Marquis of Chang'an's mansion in the spotlight; after cursing these two, he also cursed the Second Prince and the Duke of Rong...

The heir of the Marquis of Chang'an was frightened, also worried that there were spies from other households in the mansion, and that his father's inappropriate words and deeds would be spread to these two people, causing more trouble.

The heir of the Marquis of Chang'an quickly covered his father's mouth and said urgently, "Father, please, I'm begging you. Please have mercy on your words and don't bring trouble to the manor."

But by this time, Marquis Chang'an was completely drunk and confused. He was only angry at his son's disobedience and lack of filial piety, and he couldn't listen to anything his son was saying.

Enraged, the Marquis of Chang'an slapped his son several times across the face, leaving the son completely stunned. "If I weren't so incompetent, I would have hit him..."

Marquis Chang'an ultimately failed to utter those words, because in a fit of fear, his heir struck him on the back of the head. Marquis Chang'an's eyes rolled back, his neck lolled to the side, and he fainted.

The servant of the Marquis of Chang'an was watching from not far away, and was now trembling with fear.

The prince called out, "Someone come here!" The servant rushed over, knelt down with a thud, and kowtowed, saying, "I didn't hear anything, I didn't hear anything!"

“I know you didn’t hear me. Alright, get up. Father is drunk and can’t even stand. Quickly help him back to his room to rest.”

"Yes, yes, I'll escort the Marquis back to his room right away..."

With the help of his servant, the heir of the Marquis of Chang'an finally managed to get the Marquis of Chang'an into his room.

Meanwhile, the clever little maid had already relayed the news to Lin Shuqing.

Lin Shuqing divorced Chen Yanzhou, became pregnant, and had an affair with the Second Prince. These events caused the Lady of Chang'an much distress. In her anger, the Lady of Chang'an certainly lashed out at her daughter, but the maids and servants who served Lin Shuqing also suffered greatly.

With such a serious incident involving their mistress, the maids and servants were guilty of dereliction of duty and deserved severe punishment. Furthermore, Lady Chang'an was worried that the maids and servants would leak the matter, so to silence them, she administered a drug to all the maids and servants who served Lin Shuqing, making them mute, and sent them far away from the capital.

Lin Shuqing originally had four maids whose names all began with "Rui".

Ruizhu died on the way to exile; Ruijin scratched her face with a rash, resulting in disfigurement, and was sent back to the Marquis of Chang'an's mansion; Ruixue was hit on the head by a vase, resulting in a concussion, and afterwards developed a physiological fear of Lin Shuqing. Even after she recovered, she could not stop trembling every time she saw Lin Shuqing.

Unable to take up her post, her family specially pleaded with the Lady of Chang'an Marquis to arrange for her to be married off.

Now, Lin Shuqing only has Ruizhi left who is still somewhat loyal. It is Ruizhi who has been drugged into being mute and sold off.

Two days ago, the people in the manor received another message saying that Ruizhi had developed a fever on the very night she was sold. She had only just left the capital when she became delirious with fever. The slave trader rushed to give her medicine, which did help her take the medicine and bring down her fever, but she developed a fever again that night. When she was found the next morning, her head was badly burned.

None of the four "Rui" (瑞) ended up well. Logically speaking, those who are now assigned to serve her in the mansion should take this as a lesson, be careful with their words and deeds, and do their jobs honestly, seeking no merit but avoiding mistakes.

But in this world, there are always a couple of fools who think they're clever.

Even though the newly selected servants of Lin Shuqing had been repeatedly warned by the Lady of Chang'an Marquis to keep their mouths shut and not say or do anything they shouldn't, some of them were still eager to make a name for themselves, wanted to climb the ranks, and wanted to become the most favored person by their master's side. So they told Lin Shuqing some things that they shouldn't have said.

So Lin Shuqing, who was originally resting quietly in her room during her pregnancy, found out that Chen Yanzhou was being incredibly unruly and had actually taken a beautiful woman on a trip today!

Since they were already divorced, Lin Shuqing naturally didn't care whether Chen Yanzhou lived or died.

But his every move makes people think of her.

His triumph made her appear defeated, listless, and dejected. It made her seem like an unwanted, resentful woman, subject to pointing fingers, ridicule, and mockery.

How could Lin Shuqing, a proud and arrogant person, tolerate such a disparity?

She was immediately enraged and decided to find the gossiping scholar to find out if the matter was true.

Her impulsive actions terrified the gossipy maid.

The little maid only wanted to become her master's confidante; she didn't want to become cannon fodder.

If the girl were to run away now, the madam would surely find out the reason, and then what good would that do to her?

The young maid was terrified and racked her brains to comfort Lin Shuqing. She told Lin Shuqing that the young master's heart belonged only to the young lady, and that the woman he was traveling with was definitely a vixen who seduced men. She added that the young master must be feeling very uneasy right now, probably because he was deeply worried about the young lady.

This maid knows nothing, yet she dares to say anything.

Many of these remarks made Lin Shuqing laugh.

Chen Yanzhou was filled with resentment.

Is Chen Yanzhou worried about her?

If this gets out, people will probably laugh their heads off.

Lin Shuqing also smiled. With that smile, she became less impulsive, and her rationality returned.

At this point, she no longer thought about settling scores with Chen Yanzhou.

She began to wonder, if Chen Yanzhou was traveling with a beautiful woman, who could that "beauty" be?
Who dares to get involved with Chen Yanzhou at this critical juncture?
That person certainly wasn't a noblewoman from the capital.

Among the noble ladies of the capital, none of them cherished their reputation more than the others. Even if they favored Chen Yanzhou as their son-in-law, they would only extend an olive branch to the Duke of Rongguo after the matter of divorce had settled down.

Right now, they're in the spotlight, and if any of them were rational, they wouldn't do anything to ruin their future.

Since she's not a noblewoman from the capital, who could it be that Chen Yanzhou would willingly accompany her?

A sudden thought flashed through her mind. Even though it was highly unlikely, Lin Shuqing instantly clenched her handkerchief and her gaze turned fierce.

Her intuition told her that the woman was probably not Yunying.

But will it?
Not to mention that Lingnan Prefecture is a thousand miles away from the capital, Chen Yanzhou would definitely not be willing to travel with that woman in the dead of winter. Even if that woman were to come back to the capital with him, Chen Yanzhou would definitely take her with him.

But she did not find any trace of female relatives around Chen Yanzhou.

Lin Shuqing thought and thought, but couldn't come up with a solution.

Finally, driven by her resentment, she summoned people to inquire about the whereabouts of the two men and to confirm the woman's identity.

Watching the servants quietly leave and disappear from sight once they left the courtyard, Lin Shuqing slowly sat back down in her original seat.

Her eyes were deep as she looked at the box not far away.

The box contains the servants' indentures; whether they'll come in handy, we'll find out soon enough.