Chapter 63

Chapter 63: Not a Word of It Do I Believe

“I would never despise you!” Qi Shu Xian declared with fierce certainty. It was only that he found it difficult to accept—nothing more.

And he would never cast his wife aside.

Sheng Zhi Wan was his wife, and so she would remain, his and only his, for all his days.

“Heir Apparent Qi is truly a man of deep feeling and honor!” came a chorus of praise from the crowd.

But to Sheng Zhi Wan, those words sounded only like bitter mockery.

[Qi Shu Xian, perhaps even you have fooled yourself.]

“Enough, Zhi Wan. Since you do not wish to speak of last night, then let us not. As long as you follow Madam Dong’s example and accept the chaste punishment, we can pretend this whole thing never happened!” Madam Cui interjected quickly.

At such a time, her son could not afford to divorce his wife. If he did, Sheng Zhi Wan would be within her rights to take back her dowry. So she must be made to stay.

“Follow Madam Dong’s example? Accept the chaste punishment—or is it that you want me to surrender my dowry to the husband’s household?” Sheng Zhi Wan looked straight at Madam Cui, surprised she would stoop so low as to summon the tale of some long-dead figure from the Former Court, all for the sake of her dowry.

To mimic Madam Dong? She even had the gall to suggest it.

Madam Dong had been the wife of Dong Qi, a man of the peasant class. When he earned distinction in the military, his bravery and striking looks caught the eye of the Right Prime Minister’s daughter, who proposed marriage.

Dong Qi refused her offer without a second thought.

When he received his first estate, the first thing he did was bring Madam Dong to live there. Though she was often mistreated, Dong Qi stood firm beside her each time.

When Madam Dong was captured, Dong Qi fought alone to rescue her from the bandits.

Afterward, the Right Prime Minister petitioned the Emperor, claiming Madam Dong was no longer chaste and urging that she be cast aside by imperial edict.

Rather than accept that fate, Dong Qi and his wife devised the punishment of chastity to silence the gossip.

And as for Madam Dong’s dowry? She’d been a farm girl—her entire dowry was a slab of pork and two bolts of coarse cloth.

Now Madam Cui dared suggest that Sheng Zhi Wan should follow in those footsteps? She had no interest in any chastity punishment. It was the dowry Madam Cui truly had her eyes on.

“What are you implying?” Madam Cui’s eyes flickered, her secret pierced. But she quickly composed herself with a face full of feigned anguish. “Mother only wants what’s best for you. How can you think so poorly of me?”

“What Mother calls ‘for my good’ means agreeing to the Heir Apparent taking a concubine, placing another woman’s child under my name, and handing over my dowry without complaint? Such kindness is truly hard to bear,” Sheng Zhi Wan replied without yielding.

“What? Heir Apparent Qi already has a child?”

“Didn’t the old Duke Qi leave a family rule that all the men in Duke Qi Manor must respect and honor their wives? I recall the Duke Madam herself once declared they wouldn’t consider concubines just because the heir had no child—and even refused a noble lady who offered herself publicly!”

That was why Duke Qi Manor and Madam Cui had always enjoyed a good reputation.

Sheng Zhi Wan, for her part, had never spoken of using her own silver to support the Duke Manor, lest others think less of Qi Shu Xian.

“Could it be… Lady Meng?”

“To have the Princess raise the Heir Apparent’s child by another woman? They want to record the child under Princess Ning’s name?”

The onlookers included many servants from the nearby mansions of court officials. Though those lords and ladies could not come watch openly, their household staff mingled easily with the crowd. And now, they were looking toward the people of Duke Qi Manor with eyes full of scorn and speculation.

A Princess raising the child of a farm girl?

If that child were truly written under Princess Ning’s name, they would carry the weight of both legitimacy and birthright. Did they truly think Princess Ning so easy to control?

Countless curious gazes pressed down on him, and Qi Shu Xian felt his shame swell until it nearly choked him.

He stepped forward. “Enough! Have you not made enough of a spectacle already?” he snapped, reaching out to seize Sheng Zhi Wan’s arm.

“Well, well—looks like we arrived just in time for the show.”

A long, lazy voice echoed from the back of the crowd.

Ye Rong and his companions hadn’t expected Shang Hang Yu’s prediction to come true—but sure enough, Duke Qi Manor was truly trying to disgrace Princess Ning! They had heard it all just now—how the Duke Madam dared demand that Princess Ning undergo a chastity punishment like Madam Dong!

Seeing the five young men, Qi Shu Xian’s eyes turned icy.

“You were rescued yesterday by my Madam. No one expected you to charge into battle with the bandits, but you could have at least sent word so the Duke Manor might go to her aid! Yet you did nothing. Have you no conscience?”

“Who says we did nothing?” Ye Rong snapped back. “Didn’t you see the bandits we killed when you came up the mountain?”

Those were their victories!

Qi Shu Xian frowned deeply. “Ye Rong, it’s no surprise you’re undisciplined. But do you know the punishment for falsely claiming military merit?”

“Falsely? What falsehood?” Ye Rong puffed out his chest. “It was us! Don’t believe me? Ask them yourself!”

Behind him, Pei Yu An and the others all nodded.

“Hah! Impossible. If not for Zhi Wan offering herself as hostage, you would have all been dragged off by the bandits. How could you possibly still be standing here?”

Such pampered young wastrels—they could never be a match for those ruthless outlaws!

Qi Shu Xian did not believe a single word.