Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Marrying Her Was Not My Intention

Lu Residence.

At the door of Li Apothecary, Ji Ru Zhen was scared by Chun Zhi waving a kitchen knife, then street vendors pointed at her nose and cursed her, and she lost all face.

If not for the maids shielding her and running fast, she might have been pelted with rotten eggs and wilted vegetable leaves.

A rich miss like Ji Ru Zhen had never suffered this kind of insult. Back at the Lu Clan, she cried to Old Madam Lu and said: “Mother-in-law, the maid you drove out yesterday is spreading rumors everywhere that I stole her man, and she even stirred up the street vendors to curse me!”

Two maids chimed in: “They said horrible things!”

Another said: “The pig butcher even raised his slaughter knife to chop our miss. Good thing we ran fast!”

Old Madam Lu had been pretending to be sick so the new daughter-in-law would show her filial piety. Hearing this, her head truly started to ache as she snapped: “Outrageous, truly outrageous. When Jing Yun comes back, he must take people and teach those lowly commoners a harsh lesson!”

Old Madam Lu felt that, as the mother of the top scholar, she stood a class above ordinary folk.

Without Chun Zhi and with a chancellor’s daughter as a daughter-in-law, anyone could see this was a great bargain.

Old Madam Lu soothed Ji Ru Zhen a few words, then used “heartache” as an excuse and went back to rest.

Before long, Lu Jing Yun returned.

Clinging to him, Ji Ru Zhen wept and said: “Husband, I went out today to fetch a physician for Mother-in-law, but…”

She broke off, tears falling nonstop, too aggrieved to go on.

“Who upset my lady?” Lu Jing Yun hurried to hold and comfort her, using his handkerchief to wipe her tears as he said: “Tell me, and I will get justice for you.”

Hearing that, Ji Ru Zhen cried even harder.

Lu Jing Yun helped her sit and asked the two maids: “What happened while madam was out?”

The maids repeated the story they had just told Old Madam Lu, with extra spice added. They said Chun Zhi not only grabbed a kitchen knife to chop Ji Ru Zhen, she also incited the street vendors to insult her.

Lu Jing Yun’s face darkened.

“Husband,” Ji Ru Zhen tugged his hand and said, “I ran into your old maid at the apothecary. I pitied her poor lot. Without the Lu Clan to rely on, she might not survive. I thought that if she would behave, I could let her return as your concubine. But the moment she heard that, she went mad, grabbed a knife to swing at me, and scared me half to death.”

Lu Jing Yun gently patted her back and soothed her: “My lady is kind. This is not the Capital. In a little town like Linshui, not everyone is taught the rites. From now on, if I am not with you, please do not go out alone.”

She looked up and glared at him: “Do you mean it is my fault?”

“Of course it is not your fault.”

Lu Jing Yun knew Chun Zhi was not a shrew who swung knives for no reason. Ji Ru Zhen must have done something first. But even if he knew, right now he could only speak softly to calm Ji Ru Zhen so she would stop crying and not hurt her eyes.

After a long time coaxing, he said: “I will have her come and apologize to you. All right?”

Ji Ru Zhen said: “Then I want her to kneel.”

Lu Jing Yun’s brows tightened so slightly it was almost unseen, and he said in a low voice: “All right.”

Only then did Ji Ru Zhen stop crying.

Lu Jing Yun told the maids to look after madam well, then went to the tofu workshop to find Chun Zhi.

After he left, a maid asked Ji Ru Zhen: “Miss, do you really only want that lowly maid to kneel to you?”

Wiping her tears dry, Ji Ru Zhen said: “Of course not.”

She had never lost face this badly in her life. How could she swallow it.

She remembered that the Prefect of Jiangzhou, Lord Li, was her father’s protégé. She immediately sent someone to the Prefect’s Yamen with orders: no matter what he had to do, he must vent her anger for her.

“Yes, miss,” the servant answered, then set off for Prefect Li’s residence at once.

In the north of the city, on Peach Blossom Lane, inside the tofu workshop, Chun Zhi had been sewing clothes for the man all afternoon, working until evening.

As the sky glowed with sunset, someone knocked on the courtyard gate.

Huo Zheng did not want to be seen, so he pushed his wheelchair into the small room.

“Who is it?” Chun Zhi glanced his way as she walked to open the gate.

The moment the gate swung wide, she saw Lu Jing Yun standing there.

Chun Zhi froze, then came to her senses and moved to shut the door.

“Chun Zhi,” Lu Jing Yun called her name and caught the door before it could close.

“Why are you here?” Since she could not shut him out, Chun Zhi turned and walked back inside.

Lu Jing Yun pushed the door open and came in.

He had come alone.

Two servants from Ji Manor had wanted to follow him, but Lu Jing Yun had sent them off to buy things for Ji Ru Zhen.

He came by himself to the tofu workshop to find Chun Zhi.

In the past, every time Chun Zhi saw him, her eyes shone and she smiled, as if just seeing him filled her with joy.

Now she would not even spare him another look.

Following after her, Lu Jing Yun said softly: “Chun Zhi, marrying Ji Ru Zhen was not my intention. It was an imperial order I could not refuse.”

“An imperial order you could not refuse?” Chun Zhi stopped and turned to look at him as she said: “Was it truly an imperial order, or did you just want to cling to the powerful?”

Lu Jing Yun was silent a moment, then said: “Chun Zhi, you have not been to the Capital. You do not know what that place is like. To survive there and live with dignity, you have to give up everything.”

“So you married Ji Ru Zhen and betrayed me.”

Chun Zhi’s voice was calm, but her heart was full of bitterness.

She had once believed that Lu Jing Yun was her home.

She thought she would spend her life with him, sharing hardship and sharing blessings.

But the truth was, she could only share hardship with him, not share wealth.

Because the one who would share his wealth was someone else. If not Ji Ru Zhen, it would have been some other high official’s daughter, another rich miss.

Lu Jing Yun took a step closer and reached out to take her hand, but she slipped away. Copying Huo Qi’s stern look, she said with a cold face: “Men and women should keep their distance. You are a married man. You should not come looking for me alone, and you should not be pulling at me.”

“Men and women should keep their distance?” Lu Jing Yun could not believe it as he said: “Chun Zhi, you are saying this to me?”

Chun Zhi had been his child bride for ten years, washing his clothes and cooking his meals, even bathing and washing his hair. Except for not formally performing the Rites of Zhou, they had long since passed beyond any idea of “not close.”

Now Chun Zhi was treating him like a stranger.

She turned her head away, unwilling to look at him, and said: “Since you married Ji Ru Zhen, you should not have come to me.”

If you cut it off, cut it off cleanly. Do not drag it out.

Chun Zhi looked gentle, but her nature was tough.

Growing up with her, Lu Jing Yun knew her best. He could feel clearly that she had truly decided to leave him.

He moved half a step forward and said in a low voice: “If I said I had bitter reasons I cannot tell, that I never meant to abandon you and marry another, would you believe me?”