The Splendid Brocade of the Painting Physician – Chapter 119

Chapter 119: Helping Yuan Rujing Get a Divorce

After Xiao Jinyu returned to the residence, Fenghuang immediately reported to her a matter concerning the Sunyang Fan Clan. So, the two of them, along with Yuan Rujing, went to a rather remote temple.

The temple was filled with falling petals, and through the courtyard wall, one could actually hear the joyful laughter of children.

“Husband, our child is already six or seven years old, when will Husband marry me?”

A woman’s voice, soft and seductive, coquettishly complained.

“Soon. This time I made a contribution to Prince of Shixing, and the Prince promised to give me a proper official position. Besides, that woman Yuan went to Prince of Shixing, I’m afraid she will never have the face to return to my Fan family. Maybe she will commit suicide out of shame, and then I will grandly welcome you into the family. You can even have the status of a legitimate wife.”

Hearing this, Yuan Rujing’s face turned pale.

“Husband, but what if Yuan doesn’t commit suicide and comes back?” The woman’s voice seemed not quite satisfied with this answer and asked again in a sweet voice.

“Impossible. That woman Yuan comes from a prestigious family and values face the most. After such a thing, even if she doesn’t want to die, her paternal family wouldn’t have the face to let her live on… A’rou, just wait a little longer. You’ve waited for so many years, why worry about waiting a few more days?”

“I can wait, but what about our son? We can’t let our Lang’er be called a bastard all the time, can we?”

Silence fell upon the courtyard for a long time. After Yuan Rujing waited with extreme disappointment, the man spoke, almost in an extremely gloomy voice: “If she doesn’t commit suicide, then I will ask Prince of Shixing to give her a quick death! Anyway, most of the women who enter Prince of Shixing’s residence end up being given away or dead!”

“Hmph, back then, my father made me marry that woman just because she had an aunt who married into the Lanling Xiao Clan and her close relationship with that Xiao Luan. I thought this woman, being friends with Xiao Luan, must have something special about her. Who knew that after so many years, this bitch has been of no help to me at all. I couldn’t even get any information about Xiao Luan from her.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t be in this situation today, still unable to get an official position, and having to do those dirty things for Prince of Shixing…”

As he spoke, there was a bang, and the courtyard door suddenly opened.

Fenghuang covered his face and rushed in aggressively, scaring the children in the courtyard into crying. The woman was even more frightened and hurriedly ran into the house with the children to hide.

The man wanted to escape, but Fenghuang hooked his foot, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

“Who are you? What do you want?”

“The Prince sent me to take your life!”

“The Prince?” The man seemed incredulous and confirmed again, “Prince of Shixing?”

“Yes!”

“No, impossible. I work for the Prince, I am so loyal to him, why would he want to take my life?”

“Then tell me, what have you done for the Prince, which task have you not done well?”

The man thought for a moment, and in his panic, he spoke like beans spilling out of a bag:

“The Prince asked me to deliver messages to High Monk Hui Wei. I always passed them on to Hui Wei under the pretense of giving alms. I even lost a lot of money myself for this!”

“And helping the Prince gather information about farmers who fled to Buddhist temples. I have also been actively working on this, registering and documenting those people. There are more than a thousand people in total, enough to train an army!”

“And… and helping the Prince search for beautiful young ladies in the common people to send to the residence… including my wife and daughter…”

As he spoke, a sharp light flashed before his eyes, and with a “slap”, there was a burning pain on his face.

The man’s face was slapped sideways. When he looked up again, he saw Yuan Rujing’s pale face.

At this moment, the woman’s eyes flickered with a cold light of utter disappointment and heartache, a stark contrast to her usual dignified gentleness!

“You actually helped Prince of Shixing do so many unconscionable things? You always talk about sages and morality, Fan Yong, are you worthy?”

“You… why are you here?”

The man was horrified, his mind in chaos. It wasn’t until Xiao Jinyu walked into the courtyard and Fenghuang pulled down the cloth covering his face that he seemed to realize.

He seemed to understand.

“You were deliberately setting me up just now? Who are you?”

Fenghuang sneered: “Who am I? I’m the one who made Prince of Shixing, Chen Shuling, lose his manhood. Do you want to try it too?”

“No—”

The man let out a shrill scream, then turned his gaze to Yuan Rujing and crawled towards her like a dog, tugging at the corner of her clothes and pleading:

“A’jing, we’re husband and wife, stop messing around. Who are these people you brought? They’re scary. Let’s stop this and go home, okay?”

“Is there still a place for me in that home? Or rather, when you sent me and A’yuan to Prince of Shixing, did you consider A’yuan as your daughter?”

“I… I had no choice, A’jing. You know, I’ve been seeking an official position for so many years, but my Fan family is being suppressed everywhere. I can’t even hold my head up in front of those young masters from prestigious families. Only Prince of Shixing… he said he was willing to promote me and give me a chance…”

“So you helped him commit evil deeds and do these unconscionable things?”

✿✿✿

Yuan Rujing shouted angrily and sneered, “If you want to be an official, then rely on your own ability to participate in the Nine-Rank System Assessment of the eight major prefectures. Now, even commoners can enter officialdom through the examination system. You, as a descendant of a noble family, don’t strive to improve yourself but only think about gaining fame through recommendations or buying official positions.

To achieve your goals, you even go so far as to associate with evil people and collude with them!”

At this point, Yuan Rujing closed her eyes, as if she had made up her mind.

“Fan Yong, let’s get a divorce!”

“What did you say?” The man looked up, incredulous.

“Let’s get a divorce! It just so happens that you can also take your concubine and illegitimate son back and give them a formal status. Since you have wronged me, don’t wrong another one!”

As soon as Yuan Rujing finished speaking, the woman hiding in the house ran out with the child in ecstatic joy and kowtowed to Yuan Rujing in gratitude: “Thank you, Madam, for your kindness! Thank you, Madam, for your kindness!”

“What nonsense are you talking about? You, a woman of slave status, how can you be a principal wife? I’m already being generous enough to give you the status of a respectable concubine!” The man said, then looked at Yuan Rujing ingratiatingly, “A’jing, stop messing around, she’s just a servant, I bought her out of kindness because she was pitiful. If you don’t mind, just give her the status of a respectable concubine, you’re still the mistress, okay?”

As soon as these words were spoken, Yuan Rujing’s eyes widened in disbelief, staring at the man in utter disappointment, as if she had never seen him clearly in the past twenty years.

The woman beside the man turned pale, her heart filled with despair.

At this time, Xiao Jinyu walked in and said to Yuan Rujing:

“Aunt Rujing, have you finally seen through such a man?”

The man’s gaze turned to Xiao Jinyu. Seeing her face, which resembled Xiao Luan’s, a hint of flattering and lewd light appeared in his eyes.

“Xiao Luan? You’re back? Back then, I only saw you from afar, but you’ve been engraved in my heart for sixteen years. I never thought you would actually return to the Chen State…”

As he spoke, he tried to get up, but Fenghuang punched him hard, knocking him back down.

Blood gushed from the man’s nose. He reached out to wipe it, and when he looked closely, he let out a scream in fright, almost fainting from fear.

“Fenghuang, stop wasting time with him, take out those Zuo Bo papers and make him write down his testimony and press his fingerprints!”

“Yes!”

Fenghuang took out a stack of Zuo Bo papers and placed them in front of the man:

Two of them were divorce papers for Yuan Rujing and Fan Yong!

The rest were confessions of the evil deeds he had done for the Prince of Shixing!

“Let him write this confession himself, write it clearly, and write down everything he has done for the Prince of Shixing!” Xiao Jinyu said.

“No, I can’t write, if I write it, the Prince of Shixing will definitely exterminate my whole family, I can’t write this confession!”

“If you don’t write it, I’ll exterminate you now!”

Fenghuang took out his knife and made a gesture to chop down. The man was so scared that he quickly covered his head and immediately cowered.

“I’ll write, I’ll write right away!”

Seeing several Zuo Bo papers laid out on the ground, Fan Yong was puzzled.

“Why do I have to write so many?”

“Just write when you’re told!”

“Yes, yes!”

“The divorce papers, sign them too!”

Fenghuang gestured with the knife again.

“I’ll sign, I’ll sign!”

With that, he no longer hesitated and signed his name on the divorce papers. After signing, he respectfully handed them to Fenghuang.

Seeing the man’s spinelessness, the melancholy and coldness in Yuan Rujing’s eyes grew stronger and stronger, until finally, it turned into a desolate and relieved smile.