“Young Lord, today is your joyous wedding day! You can’t act recklessly at a time like this!”
“Get out of my way!”
A furious shout erupted. A man dressed in a silver-white, straight-hemmed robe pushed aside the servants and strode forward, kicking viciously at the door adorned with the double happiness symbol.
Bang!
With a loud crash, the door panel slammed against the wall. The bride, lying on the bed in a vibrant red wedding dress, was startled and struggled to lift her eyelids. Before she could see who had entered, a piece of paper was slapped onto her face.
The impact left Sang Zhixia’s face numb. When she looked down and saw herself in the unlucky, bright red attire, her expression went blank.
The handsome man who had barged in paid no mind to her dazed look. His bloodshot eyes, like axes, bored into the depths of hers. “The one this Young Lord is to marry is the first daughter of the Sang family, not some random cat or dog shoved in her place.”
“A mere daughter of a concubine dares to dream of marrying into the noble Marquis’s residence? Are you even worthy?”
“Take this Divorce Letter and get out!”
As if scared stiff, Sang Zhixia’s body went rigid. With a trembling hand, she brought the paper that had struck her face before her eyes. The large characters for “Divorce Letter” were right there.
An invisible bolt of lightning struck her from head to toe, leaving her instantly paralyzed.
She, a distinguished Ph.D. in agronomy, had slipped and fallen in an experimental field, and now she had transmigrated?
And the plot progression was just so touching.
She was forced to drink a drug in the morning, married in place of her legitimate elder sister in the afternoon, and had a Divorce Letter thrown in her face by evening…
Sang Zhixia’s emotions were a chaotic mess, like ten thousand ants crawling over her. Just as she tried to stand, her legs gave way, and she stumbled straight toward the man!
This is bad!
The drug’s effects hadn’t worn off yet!
A gasp exploded amidst a plea for mercy. Before she could fall into his arms, the man cruelly grabbed her arm. The wide sleeve of her wedding dress tore with a rip, its glaring red almost overpowering the bloodshot color in his eyes.
“Did you not understand my words? Take the Divorce Letter and get out!”
“I…”
“If you don’t get out, I’ll kill you right now!”
“I’ll go!”
Sang Zhixia mustered a sliver of strength to strike his pressure point, using the moment to break free from his grasp and stagger a few steps back.
She fell messily onto the bed, which was strewn with red dates and longans, and said angrily, “You don’t have to chase me out, I’ll leave on my own!”
So what if it was a one-day tour of marriage and divorce?
She had written a doctoral dissertation. Who was she ever afraid of?!
Hearing this, the man’s tense shoulders relaxed imperceptibly. Suddenly, terrified shouts came from the chaotic courtyard. “Young Lord!”
“Young Lord, something has happened!”
“People from the palace are here!”
The palace…
The man bit down hard on the soft flesh of his inner cheek and sneered, “Well, well, they’ve finally come…”
After speaking, he strode out with a look of grim determination. The servants who had been crowding the bridal chamber, begging for mercy, also scrambled out in a panic.
Sang Zhixia looked at the now-empty bridal chamber, her head feeling as big as a sack.
She had already pieced things together.
The original owner of this body was a pitiful concubine’s daughter from the Great General’s residence. Today, her legitimate mother had forcibly drugged her and made her marry Xu Ao, the Young Lord of the Jiaxing Marquis’s residence, in place of her pampered legitimate elder sister, to whom he had been betrothed since birth.
That’s right, Xu Ao was the bastard who had just thrown the Divorce Letter in her face.
Evidently, the bastard was extremely dissatisfied with this fraudulent bait-and-switch.
So, she had to get out, and fast.
Fine, she would get out.
Sang Zhixia bit her tongue, forcing some strength into her limp limbs. She opened a chest, found the most inconspicuous set of clothes to put on, and immediately began to swiftly gather wealth.
After this incident, there was no way she could return to her scheming maternal family.
Her ex-husband was also shameless. She would have to work hard for her own severance pay!
She rolled up the silver notes she found and tucked them into the hem of her sleeve. She plucked the longan-sized pearls from the phoenix coronet and stuffed them all into her sash, locking it tight. And that pair of exquisite jade discs, she…
A sharp scream pierced her eardrums, followed by suffocating cries and wails.
Stunned, Sang Zhixia turned her head. Peeking through the crack in the door, she saw that the courtyard was, at some point, filled with people kneeling neatly on the ground.
A eunuch held up an imperial edict and announced, “The Jiaxing Marquis’s crime of colluding with the enemy and betraying the nation is unpardonable. However, considering he has already died on the battlefield, his merits and demerits cancel each other out. By His Majesty’s immense grace, the execution of his family is spared. The punishment shall be the confiscation of all family assets and exile to the Northwest as a minor punishment and a stern warning!”
“From this day forward, for nine generations, no descendant of the Xu family may enter officialdom, nor shall they ever set foot in the capital again for the rest of their lives!”
“Xu Ao, do you accept this?”
Xu Ao knelt on the ground, his face deathly pale. His voice was as hoarse as if he had swallowed iron filings. “Xu Ao accepts the decree and gives thanks for His Majesty’s grace.”
The eunuch smiled, smug and triumphant. “In that case, we won’t be polite with you, Young Lord.”
“Men, begin!”
“All servants of the Xu family are to be resold. All assets are to be confiscated and turned over to the national treasury. Not only must the accounts be checked, but everything on every person must also be left behind! Not a single coin may be taken!”
Hearing the murderous intent in the word “confiscated,” Sang Zhixia cursed viciously in her heart.
What kind of rotten luck was this?
Divorced on her wedding day, and now caught up in an estate confiscation and exile while trying to scrape together some severance pay!
This was going to be the death of her!
Her mind in turmoil, she moved with lightning speed. She raised a hand and stuffed the pair of very expensive-looking jade discs into her hair bun. Just before the main doors were broken down, she hastily grabbed the scattered gold and silver pouches and hung them all over herself.
The moment she had secured the pouches embroidered with gold thread and pearls, the door was violently smashed open.
The door panel, having been brutally kicked twice, finally gave way and crashed to the ground. Sang Zhixia, clutching the crumpled Divorce Letter, stood with the air of someone holding a death-exemption plaque. “This is a Divorce Letter! I have nothing to do with the Xu family anymore!”
“I can’t be considered a member of the Xu family!”
The Divorce Letter in her hand was personally written by Xu Ao, a fact confirmed by Xu Ao himself.
Under countless venomous glares, he snorted and said coldly, “The one with whom I have a marriage contract is the first daughter of the Sang family. What is she?”
“Take your Divorce Letter and get out. Don’t dirty the Xu family’s doorway!”
This was exactly what Sang Zhixia had been hoping for.
Without waiting for anyone to come and search her, she consciously removed the gaudy, ornate decorations from her body, throwing them on the ground, and prepared to leave unadorned.
“You all carry on, I’ll just…”
“Wait!”
The eunuch squinted at her, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “Just married today, and already divorced?”
“Bring that Divorce Letter here for us to see.”
Might makes right.
Sang Zhixia was forced to stop, but in the next second, her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
“Hey, hey, hey, why did you tear it?!”
What kind of grudge was this?!
The eunuch sneered and casually tossed the paper scraps in his hand. “It’s not something to be taken seriously. Why keep it if not to tear it?”
“Young Lady Consort, kneel with the Young Lord and give thanks for His Majesty’s grace. Otherwise, we can only assume you intend to defy the imperial edict.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the guards holding long sabers menacingly drew their weapons. The cold glint of the blades seared Sang Zhixia’s eyes.
The air was thick with killing intent.
Without the Divorce Letter, she might die during the exile.
If she defied the edict, she would die on the spot, fresh.
Sang Zhixia’s face turned purple with suppressed rage. As she was forced to her knees, she turned her head and met Xu Ao’s tense, cold profile.
She gritted her teeth in anger. “What were you doing earlier?!”
Even a moment sooner would have been fine!
Hearing her words, Xu Ao’s fingers, curled inside his sleeve, trembled violently. His already cold face took on an even more dejected look.
He said, almost inaudibly, “I’m sorry…”
His voice was too soft. Sang Zhixia only caught the beginning and missed the end. Startled, she asked blankly, “What did you say?”
“Silence! No private conversations are permitted!”
The eunuch’s sharp warning rang out. Sang Zhixia’s head drooped in despair.
It’s over.
It’s completely over.