Lu Yunxiao frowned, cast a cold glance at her, and let out a snort before hurrying away. It seemed he did not want to entangle himself with her any further. Xia Qingyu walked out of the Marquis's Estate in two or three strides. Looking at the bright red sun in the sky, she stretched her arms comfortably, then looked back to see that Bai Kou and Bai Wei had also exited through the West Corner Gate, standing behind her with expectant looks.
"From now on, this home has nothing to do with us." Xia Qingyu smiled lightly, took a deep breath, and beckoned to Bai Kou and Bai Wei: "Let's go. We need to find a place to stay first. Oh my, this package is truly heavy. If I had known, I wouldn't have taken those two copper basins."
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"Master, are you really just letting the Eldest Madam leave like this? Look at the large package they are carrying on their backs. I wonder if they took things from our manor..." Seeing Xia Qingyu and the others walking west outside the West Corner Gate, a servant boy finally could not help but approach and whisper his concerns to Lu Yunxiao. Before he could finish, he heard his Master say coldly: "If she wants to take them, let her. Do you think I have the heart to care about that right now? I wonder how the Old Madam is doing."
The servant boy dared not speak further and followed closely behind Lu Yunxiao. They soon arrived outside Old Madam Yu's courtyard. Before they could even enter, they heard Madam Ye's stern voice: "What? She's gone? How could she be gone? And the things in the room are all gone too? What kind of explanation is this?"
"Mother, what happened?"
Lu Yunxiao stepped into the courtyard, while the servant boys stood solemnly outside. Unless they had important matters to report, they were not allowed to enter this courtyard.
Seeing Lu Yunxiao, Madam Ye finally breathed a sigh of relief and said hurriedly: "Your wife doesn't know where she ran off to. Shuying had a maidservant go look for her, but the maid came back and said the room was in a mess, many things were missing, and the Eldest Madam was nowhere to be found. Why don't you send someone to look for her? Honestly, what kind of act is she putting on at a time like this?"
Lu Yunxiao was surprised, not understanding why his mother, who had always disliked Xia Qingyu, was looking for her now. However, he remained calm on the surface and said in a deep voice: "Didn't I tell you about what she did yesterday, Mother? I wanted to divorce her. Before dawn today, I sent the Letter of Divorce over. Afterward, she packed her dowry and has already left the manor. Why? You suddenly want to find her? Is there something the matter? Although Xing Yuan is ill, Sister Ying has always been capable; it would be the same to entrust it to her."
If Lu Yunxiao had said this under normal circumstances, Qin Shuying would have been very proud. However, hearing this now, she could not help but blush. Madam Ye also changed her expression, exclaiming: "What did you say? You... you have already divorced Qingyu? You... you child, how could you be so quick? You didn't even come to tell me."
Lu Yunxiao looked at her strangely: "How could I not have told you? Didn't I tell you yesterday evening?"
"But you didn't say you were going to divorce her today." Madam Ye was furious: This scoundrel, how could he be so decisive?
Lu Yunxiao was confused, when suddenly Qin Shuying stepped forward and said: "Eldest Brother doesn't know, but this morning, the Old Madam ate the goose meat offered by the Bailuo Kingdom and suddenly couldn't catch her breath. It just so happened that Imperial Physician Zhang was there to check Concubine Zhen's pulse, so we hurriedly invited him over, but the old physician said it was hopeless. Fortunately... *cough cough*, fortunately, the Eldest Madam took action. I don't know how, but she used two needles and saved the Old Madam. The Old Ancestor is looking for her right now, but who knew she had already been divorced by Eldest Brother."
"So that's how it is." Lu Yunxiao nodded, but felt it was quite strange. He secretly thought, what is wrong with that woman Xia Qingyu today? If it were usual, wouldn't she be proudly showing off such a great credit? Even if I divorced her, she would likely be waiting here for me to take back the Letter of Divorce. But when I just entered the corner gate, she had clearly packed her bags. Once she leaves, she probably won't come back. Why did she... suddenly change her temperament?
While feeling doubtful, he walked into the main room. The two maidservants in the inner chamber saw the Young Marquis coming and hurriedly lifted the curtain for him. Lu Yunxiao walked into the inner room and saw Old Madam Yu leaning on a soft cushion. Seeing him enter, she smiled kindly: "In the end, you were alarmed."
"Yes, I was originally at the Yamen and rushed back upon hearing the news. Father has likely gone to the Marquis's Estate, so it will be a while before he returns." Lu Yunxiao came before Old Madam Yu and carefully looked at her complexion. Seeing there was no major issue, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Your father can never sit still at home, I don't expect him to return so quickly." Old Madam Yu smiled: "Instead, hurry and find your wife. She saved this old woman's life, and I haven't even thanked her yet."
Lu Yunxiao felt his scalp tingle. He smiled reluctantly and said: "We are all family, this is what she should have done. Why would the Old Ancestor mention thanks? Wouldn't that be too distant?"
Old Madam Yu was no ordinary person. Seeing her grandson's expression and hearing these words, she sensed something was wrong. She withdrew the smile from her face and said in a deep voice: "Since we are family, why did she leave after saving me? Why didn't she wait for me to wake up? Qingyu has always been concerned about me, but today is quite strange. Did you scold or punish her because of what happened yesterday? What? Is your grandmother's life not worth as much as your decree as Young Marquis Lu?"
"Old Ancestor, please don't say that, you are shaming your grandson." Seeing the Old Madam getting angry and knowing he could not hide it anymore, Lu Yunxiao said awkwardly: "Old Ancestor, you know what she has done in the manor over the past two years. Coupled with the incident with Xing Yuan yesterday, I... in a fit of anger, I have already divorced her."
"What?"
Old Madam Yu let out a cry of surprise and, in her anger, slapped Lu Yunxiao on the head: "You scoundrel! Such a big matter, you... you actually dared to hide it from me? You... you say you divorce your wife, so you divorce her? Do you... do you still have me, your grandmother, in your eyes?"
Lu Yunxiao hurriedly knelt down and said in a deep voice: "All the faults are mine, Old Ancestor, please do not get angry. My mother and I had discussed this matter with you before. Although you did not quite agree at the time, you had nothing to say. Think about it, she has been married into the Marquis's Estate for five years without bearing children, she is arrogant, extravagant, and jealous, and she harmed my concubine and my unborn child. With these reasons, shouldn't I be able to divorce her?"
"But she just saved your grandmother, and in the future, my old life might still need her to save it." Old Madam Yu sighed. Seeing Lu Yunxiao's firm expression, the Old Madam waved her hand: "Forget it, forget it. What you say also makes sense. Since things have already come to this... *sigh*!"
"Xiao'er, no matter what, go and chase her back. Whether you divorce her or not, we can talk about it later." Seeing her mother-in-law's dejected look, Madam Ye hurriedly pulled Lu Yunxiao up and forced him to go bring Xia Qingyu back.
"Mother, I saw the three of them at the gate just now, and she looked very determined to leave..." Lu Yunxiao made a final struggle, but before he could finish, he heard Madam Ye snort coldly: "Since she is leaving, should she be crying and wailing? Your wife has never had a weak temperament. Go chase her! I don't believe it; what woman would be willing to be divorced by her husband and become an abandoned woman?"
Hearing his mother say this, his grandmother on the side remained silent. Under helplessness, Lu Yunxiao had to turn and go out. He came to the courtyard, looked at the servant boys standing there, and asked with a dark face: "Did any of you see where that woman went?"
That woman? The servant boys and several servants looked at each other, then realized this woman must refer to Xia Qingyu. The servant boy who had spoken to Lu Yunxiao earlier stepped forward and said: "Master, I saw her walking west. If you go straight west from our Marquis's Estate, the end is Hongguang Street. I think the Eldest Madam... she must be on Hongguang Street. If we hurry, we should be able to catch up."
Hongguang Street leads north to the Imperial Palace, so Xia Qingyu could only go south. Lu Yunxiao nodded and took long strides back the way he came. The servant boys looked at each other again and hurriedly followed, secretly thinking, I wonder what that woman took that made the Master chase after her? *Tsk tsk*, isn't this just courting death? She's already been divorced, yet she's still so bold. No wonder the Master is this angry.
Lu Yunxiao was not very willing to chase after Xia Qingyu. When he first married her, they had sweet times as a loving couple, but unfortunately, it did not last long. Xia Qingyu was too strong-willed, arrogant, extravagant, and jealous. Less than three months later, she sold a concubine-maid of his. Since then, Lu Yunxiao did not treat her coldly on the surface, but he was ultimately unhappy in his heart. Later, when she remained childless, Madam Ye took two concubines for him. In her anger, Xia Qingyu would make a scene every day, forcing and demanding things. How could Lu Yunxiao stand that? The couple almost became enemies. In the end, Concubine Zhen finally became pregnant, but the child was harmed by her. For Lu Yunxiao, who desperately longed for the birth of that infant, it was like cutting the flesh from his heart. As a result, he immediately decided to divorce his wife. Even when he heard that the woman had hit her head against a wall, he did not have a shred of compassion. He could not even wait to return from court to report to his elders; before attending court, he had thrown the Letter of Divorce at Xia Qingyu's feet.
He had originally thought that he would never have to see this snake-hearted woman again in his life. Lu Yunxiao absolutely hated Xia Qingyu to the bone. Who knew that fate would play a trick on him? It just so happened that the Old Madam had such an incident this morning, and it just so happened that he could not defy the orders of his grandmother and mother, forcing him to bring that woman back. Thinking that they would have to live under the same roof as husband and wife from now on, Lu Yunxiao had the urge to kill someone.
When did that woman learn medical skills? She had never shown this ability before; she even had to hire people to treat her when she caught a cold. That's right, her father was the Director of the Imperial Hospital, so what is there to be surprised about if his daughter has good medical skills? But she probably felt later that this was not a profession a young lady should handle, so she hid it. *Heh*, yes, being a young madam and still seeing patients for others, how low-status that is. As it turned out, today, at a critical moment, she came out to show off her skills. She was indeed impressive. *Tsk tsk*, what a deep-scheming woman.
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Today, an author friend asked me how to pronounce the character 'Xiao' in Lu Yunxiao. It really surprised me. I told her it was the 'Xiao' from 'Xiaoyao' (carefree), and she was also shocked because it was a character she definitely should have known. It turned out that because the word is so familiar in phrases, it felt strange when taken out individually. *Ho ho ho*, does everyone have this situation?
Tomorrow, the Young Marquis will have to go through the humiliation of chasing back the wife he divorced, but everyone knows the result, right? *Heh heh heh*! Continuing to ask for recommendations and collections to hit the new book list. Please support and help, *Ao wu*!
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