Great Xia, the spring of the fifteenth year of Emperor Gao’s reign, the Annan Marquis Manor in the capital.
“An imperial decree has arrived!”
Everyone in the Xiao family, young and old, had already gathered at the main gate. From the Old Madame and Xiao Rang’s long-widowed mother, Lady Yang, down to all the servants, they knelt in a neat row, waiting for the inner official to read the decree.
However, Cui Anru, dressed in plain white mourning clothes, looked starkly out of place among the brilliantly dressed women of the Xiao family who were waiting for their rewards and titles.
Cui Anru was the only legitimate daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo.
Both the Duke and his son had achieved great military glory and won the hearts of the people, but just recently, both had fallen in battle. The Emperor had specially authorized state funeral rites that lasted for nine days. Including the time spent on the road, the thirty-fifth day of mourning had just passed yesterday.
“By the Grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Xiao Rang, formerly the Baron of Annan, fought the enemy bravely in the Battle of Hulao Pass, crushing the enemy forces and relieving the crisis in our southern borders. He is hereby promoted to the rank of Marquis of Annan and appointed as the Associate Commander of the Capital Defense Force…”
“Lin Zhiyin, the daughter of an Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Revenue, volunteered her services at the border and achieved great merit through her medical skills. Now, she and the Marquis of Annan are deeply in love. The Marquis of Annan is willing to exchange his entire military merit for the status of an Equal Wife for her. After much consideration, We are willing to set a precedent for this dynasty and hereby grant this marriage. The wedding shall be held on an auspicious day. Receive the decree and give thanks for Our grace.”
The air around Cui Anru seemed to be suddenly sucked dry; all sounds began to feel surreal.
The first thing her husband, Xiao Rang, did after returning with the coffins of her kin was to use his military merit to request an Equal Wife.
A buzzing sound surged in her head, and the heartstrings she had kept tightly wound during these past days snapped with a sharp crack.
The Xiao family had truly gone too far.
“Anru, it’s all because Xiao Rang is so thoughtless. I already advised him to discuss this matter later…”
Seeing Cui Anru’s exceptionally cold expression, Lady Yang hurried forward to speak.
Cui Anru pulled her hand away, ignoring Lady Yang’s momentary shock. She asked in a low voice, “So, Mother-in-law is only worried that I might feel wronged? You yourself are actually very happy to accept the Lin girl?”
This counter-question left Lady Yang stammering and speechless.
The Old Madame glanced at her daughter-in-law with disdain and said slowly, “The matter is settled. If you are dissatisfied, why not go to the palace, seek the Emperor, and ask him to rescind the decree?”
“Grandmother, watch your words!”
Accompanied by a gust of wind that carried the cold, metallic scent of armor, Cui Anru’s so-called husband, Xiao Rang, appeared.
The war and desert sands had made Xiao Rang’s face more heroic and his physique more robust. Wrapped in armor, he seemed to radiate a sense of security, but he was no longer the man who had trained himself years ago just to protect her.
Beside him stood another gentle woman.
Lin Zhiyin was dressed in green. Her appearance was not particularly outstanding, and two years of life at the border had left her skin slightly coarse. However, she was in high spirits due to the happy occasion, and her eyes shone exceptionally bright.
“Sister, please forgive me for calling you that. After all, I am a year older than you. Since we will be living under the same roof in the future, calling you sister feels more intimate.”
Cui Anru let out a cold laugh, looking at the “white lotus” that was Lin Zhiyin.
“Miss Lin, please show some self-respect. My parents only had two children, a son and a daughter. I truly do not know where a ‘sister’ who specializes in stealing other people’s husbands crawled out from.”
“Wife!” Xiao Rang’s expression was stern, yet his eyes remained fixed on Cui Anru. “This matter has nothing to do with Zhiyin. I survived a narrow brush with death on the battlefield, and it was Zhiyin who saved me at any cost. It was because she saved me that we had skin-to-skin contact. Naturally, I must give her an explanation!”
“As the Mistress of the house, you should have the magnanimity to tolerate others! Furthermore, Zhiyin’s ambitions do not lie within the inner chambers; she will not compete with you. Why must you cause such unrest in the household?”
Cui Anru looked at the triumphant Xiao Rang and thought of her deceased father and brother. She felt a profound sense of tragedy.
This dog of a man actually had the gall to hook up with this wretched woman, Lin Zhiyin, right under the noses of his father-in-law and brother-in-law at the border. Now, ignoring the eyes of the world, he insisted on giving Lin Zhiyin the position of an Equal Wife at this sensitive time?
Thinking of this, she inconspicuously glanced at Lin Zhiyin’s stomach.
Could it be… they really were disgusting.
“The Marquis speaks so lightly, using military merit that could have earned a noble title for his wife just to petition for an Equal Wife for Miss Lin.”
Cui Anru changed the subject and suddenly gave a sincere smile. “Why don’t I just vacate the position for her? How about we divorce?”
Upon hearing this, everyone’s faces darkened.
For the past two years, the Xiao family had been spending Cui Anru’s money. If they divorced, wouldn’t they have to return that “ten miles of red makeup” dowry?
The two elders of the Xiao family hadn’t thought about the noble title earlier; now, their gazes toward Lin Zhiyin became less than friendly.
Lin Zhiyin noticed this and gritted her teeth.
“Sister, a thousand wrongs, ten thousand wrongs—it is all my fault…”
As she spoke, she moved to kneel before Cui Anru.
Cui Anru reached out and grabbed her hand. She had said those words precisely to provoke this reaction. At that moment, she pressed her fingers against Lin Zhiyin’s pulse point.
A Pregnancy Pulse, just a month old.
This child was conceived while they were escorting the bodies of her father and brother back!
In an instant, Cui Anru violently threw off Lin Zhiyin’s hand!
“This kneel of yours, I cannot afford to accept!”
Lin Zhiyin had already begun to cry weakly. “Sister, I never thought about taking Brother Xiao away from you. It’s just that while I was practicing medicine at the border, I accidentally had skin-to-skin contact with him.”
“Brother Xiao only agreed to marry me to preserve my reputation.”
Cui Anru scoffed. “Did you only have skin-to-skin contact with Xiao Rang at the border? If you had to marry everyone you touched, would your body even be able to handle it?”
Xiao Rang roared, “Enough!”
“Zhiyin was practicing medicine and saving lives at the border! Even the Emperor knows she has great merit. What does a woman confined to the inner chambers like you know? How dare you slander her so!”
A woman confined to the inner chambers!
Cui Anru was jolted awake by this roar.
Why was she even entangling herself with these filthy things?
She was originally a noble daughter of a military family and a disciple of the Medical Immortal.
It was only because she never cared for empty fame that she had followed her parents’ wishes to be cautious and keep a low profile.
Yet, all it had earned her was the tragic death of her entire family and an imperial decree for an Equal Wife!
Cui Anru was now completely clear-headed.
“I won’t give you an inch, and I won’t let you take a foot. I will retreat to the maximum extent of my ability—I will simply give up the position of the Marquis’s wife!”
“Xiao Rang, even though I no longer have parents or a brother, with no path of retreat and no one to rely on, I still insist on divorcing you. I, Cui Anru, will never suffer the insult of this house full of filthy, petty people.”
“Danqing, Danzhu, let’s go!”
Cui Anru led her people away, her aura so overwhelming that the members of the Xiao family were actually suppressed by it.
For a long while, no one spoke, and no one had the spare thought to wonder where Cui Anru was going if she wasn’t going back into the manor.
It was Lin Zhiyin who first feigned compassion.
“Grandmother, Aunt, I really didn’t mean to drive Sister Cui away. Now that the Duke of Zhenguo and his son have died in battle, she is a lonely orphan. If she insists on leaving the Xiao family because of me and ruins the family’s reputation, that would truly be my sin…”
Xiao Xueling stepped forward and held the new sister-in-law’s hand affectionately. “Sister-in-law, don’t blame yourself. You and my brother are a match made in heaven. She’s just a talentless hack who forced her way into our Xiao family by relying on her family background. What right does she have to be dissatisfied?”
The Old Madame agreed. “Quite right. Her father and brother are both dead. Our Xiao family allowing a lonely orphan like her to keep the position of the main wife is already the height of benevolence. Divorce? I’d like to see if she dares!”
As soon as her voice fell, a servant came running over in a panic.
“Marquis, this is bad! The Madam has taken her maids and gone to the palace…”