At the end, Shen Yihuan added one more question.
“So… are you really not willing to consider a divorce?”
The probing look in her eyes made it seem as though she were staring at a heartless man who had betrayed her.
Jiang Changfeng’s face darkened.
Suppressing his irritation, he explained,
“Ye Qinghe and I aren’t close. I’m only friends with her elder brother.”
“I’ve never called her ‘Qinghe,’ and I don’t even like peach blossom cakes.”
“And one more thing.”
“Marriage isn’t child’s play.”
“I don’t like hearing you talk about divorce all the time.”
Seeing that he was genuinely upset, Shen Yihuan took one look at the obvious difference in their physiques and wisely decided not to push any further.
“All right. I understand.”
Looks like I’ll have to take the divorce matter slowly.
That afternoon, before heading to the fields, Jiang Changfeng deliberately left early to find Ye Mingchuan, Ye Qinghe’s elder brother.
Like Jiang Changfeng, Ye Mingchuan was an exceptional hunter.
Having grown up together since childhood, the two shared a deep brotherly bond.
Seeing Jiang Changfeng approach, Ye Mingchuan chuckled.
“What is it? Looking for me to go hunting again so you can get something nourishing for your wife?”
Jiang Changfeng didn’t return the joke.
Instead, he wore an unusually serious expression.
“This morning, your sister went to my house.”
“She said some things to my wife that could easily lead to misunderstandings.”
“Did you know about that?”
The smile vanished from Ye Mingchuan’s face.
“I didn’t.”
He knew a little about his sister’s feelings for Jiang Changfeng.
What he hadn’t known was that even after Jiang Changfeng had gotten married…
She would still do something so shameless.
As her elder brother, he had failed to guide her properly.
“I’m sorry, Changfeng.”
“I promise I’ll teach her a proper lesson.”
“It won’t happen again.”
Jiang Changfeng nodded.
“All right.”
“I trust you.”
“I’m leaving.”
Watching Jiang Changfeng hurry toward the fields, Ye Mingchuan turned around and went straight home to find Ye Qinghe.
Ye Qinghe was in her room embroidering a sachet.
On the dark teal fabric was a pair of mandarin ducks nestled affectionately together.
Ye Mingchuan’s temper flared.
He snatched the sachet away.
“Who is this embroidered for?”
Ye Qinghe’s face instantly turned pale.
Her eyes darted away.
“It’s… an order from a customer at the embroidery workshop.”
“A customer?”
Ye Mingchuan let out two cold laughs.
“You went to Changfeng’s house this morning, didn’t you?”
“Have you still not given up?”
Having her feelings exposed by her own brother, Ye Qinghe was mortified.
But she believed there was nothing wrong with loving someone.
Stubbornly lifting her chin, she argued,
“I haven’t given up.”
“I like Brother Changfeng.”
“‘Brother Changfeng, Brother Changfeng’—have you no shame?”
“He’s already married!”
Ye Mingchuan wished he could pry open her head just to see what on earth she was thinking.
Tears welled in Ye Qinghe’s eyes.
She choked back sobs, unable to say a word.
Seeing her like that, Ye Mingchuan’s heart softened.
“Forget about Changfeng.”
“I’ll ask a matchmaker to find you a good husband.”
He knew that if this matter wasn’t handled properly, his decades-long friendship with Jiang Changfeng might come to an end.
More importantly, if a young woman’s reputation were ruined because she refused to behave with propriety and became the target of public criticism…
How could he ever face their late parents?
“Brother…”
Ye Qinghe stared at him in disbelief.
“I don’t want to get married.”
Ye Mingchuan’s face immediately hardened.
“I’m your elder brother.”
“I make that decision.”
“And this sachet…”
“I’m confiscating it.”
Without giving her a chance to protest, he turned and left with the embroidered sachet in hand.
Ye Qinghe was left alone in the room, crying softly.
Clutching the handkerchief in her hands, resentment filled her eyes.
I only wanted to stay close to the man I love.
Why did Shen Yihuan have to be so heartless?
…
After two exhausting days of farm work, it was finally time for the bride’s return visit to her natal family.
Before dawn had fully broken, Liu Guiying was already awake.
She prepared the best return gifts the Jiang family could possibly afford.
Two slabs of cured pork.
Two boxes of pastries.
Two bolts of fine cotton-silk fabric.
And two pheasants along with two wild rabbits.
The pheasants and rabbits had been hunted by Jiang Changfeng the previous afternoon and were still lively and kicking.
Liu Guiying apologized repeatedly, ashamed that she could only prepare such modest gifts.
In truth, Shen Yihuan didn’t want to bring a single thing.
Given the personalities of the original Shen Yihuan’s father and stepmother…
She didn’t even want to give them a single feather.
However, Liu Guiying naturally refused to let her return empty-handed.
The more generous the return gifts, the more they represented the husband’s family’s regard for their new daughter-in-law.
Liu Guiying was very satisfied with Shen Yihuan.
No matter what, she couldn’t allow her daughter-in-law to lose face.
Carrying the gifts, Jiang Changfeng and Shen Yihuan boarded the village’s ox cart bound for the town.
From there, they would hire a horse carriage to travel to the Shen residence.
After all, Xinghua Village was quite a distance from Songshan County.
Without a carriage, they wouldn’t arrive until around noon.
After spending two or three days together, Shen Yihuan had already gained a basic understanding of the Jiang family.
The Jiangs were a family that valued both farming and education.
They had once been fairly prosperous, though their fortunes had gradually declined.
Jiang Chunsheng had earned the rank of Tongsheng—a licentiate who had passed the county-level qualifying examination—at the age of thirteen.
Back then, he had been ambitious and full of confidence.
Yet over the following decade, whether because of bad luck or because his learning never quite reached the required standard, he failed again and again to pass the provincial examination and become a Xiucai.
Eventually, discouraged, he abandoned the imperial examination system altogether.
Later, he married Liu Guiying.
Liu Guiying came from a farming family.
She couldn’t read or write, but she was hardworking, cheerful, and kind-hearted.
Together they had three sons and one daughter.
The eldest son, Jiang Changfeng, possessed extraordinary natural strength and remarkable agility.
When he wasn’t farming, he hunted to supplement the family’s income.
The second son, Jiang Yunfan, was clever and inventive.
He loved tinkering with things but had little interest in studying.
The youngest son, Jiang Canghai, lacked the sturdy physique of his older brothers.
He was more of a scholarly type—slender but exceptionally intelligent.
At only fourteen years old, he had already passed the Tongsheng examination and was diligently preparing to sit for the Xiucai examination the following year.
Their daughter, Jiang Lanxin, was innocent and carefree.
To put it plainly, she was naïve and easily fooled.
The thing she feared most was reading and writing.
The Jiang family enjoyed a warm and harmonious atmosphere.
There were none of the scheming plots and hidden agendas common in many households.
Over the past few days, Shen Yihuan had felt quite comfortable living with them.
She had also become far less wary of Jiang Changfeng.
After all, they had shared the same room—and even the same bed—for three nights.
Yet Jiang Changfeng had never once crossed the line.
That convinced Shen Yihuan that he was someone who listened to reason.
He was someone she could get along with.
The Shen residence was located in the southern part of Songshan County.
Neither Shen Yihuan nor Jiang Changfeng received a warm welcome upon their arrival.
Shen Yihuan’s father was still away on business.
Madam Li glanced at the return gifts Jiang Changfeng presented.
A trace of disdain flashed across her eyes.
She exaggeratedly covered her nose and mouth with a handkerchief before speaking in an affected tone.
“Since you’ve come back, take your husband to your own courtyard.”
“Your father isn’t home.”
“As a woman alone, it’s not convenient for me to entertain you.”
“We won’t be keeping you for lunch.”
Her tone practically screamed:
You’ve shown your faces. Now hurry up and leave. Don’t stand here getting in my way.
Shen Yihuan paid no attention whatsoever to her cold attitude.
After all, Madam Li was just a stranger to her.
Jiang Changfeng silently walked beside his wife.
As he witnessed the Shen family’s complete indifference toward Shen Yihuan, a dull ache spread through his heart.
His wife was clearly a daughter of this household.
Yet from the moment they entered, not a single maid or servant had greeted them.
Everyone simply walked past as if the two of them were invisible.
There wasn’t even the most basic courtesy.
It was utterly disgraceful.
Only now did he fully understand why Shen Yihuan had so strongly opposed bringing the return gifts in the first place.
If he were in her position…
He wouldn’t have wanted to bring so much as a single copper coin back to this family either.
He couldn’t help wondering…
Just what kind of life had his wife endured in this house all these years?
Looking at Shen Yihuan’s calm, fair profile, his heart overflowed with sympathy.
My wife is so beautiful… so gentle…
Don’t these people have even the slightest bit of conscience?
Unaware of the thoughts running through Jiang Changfeng’s mind, Shen Yihuan couldn’t care less about the servants’ attitudes.
She had only one purpose for coming back today.
To empty out the Shen family’s estate.