Thrown out of the house, the wet nurse enters the noble household and becomes a person of high statu

The flame on the candlestick flickered precariously in the night wind.

Upon hearing this, Pei Dingxuan said, "Jingshu, are you doubting me?"

Wen Jingshu stood up and walked up to him.

She only reached his shoulder, and when she looked up at him, her gaze was clear and bright.

"I don't want to doubt it, but your reaction doesn't lie."

Pei Dingxuan's eyes flickered slightly, but he remained silent.

"I've been married into the Pei family for five years and I know you're not one to show your emotions, but I can tell when you're troubled."

"Wenying holds too much weight in your heart, so much so that if she were to truly disappear, you would never be so calm."

These days you often use being busy with official duties as an excuse, which seems plausible, but Zeyu and the others will eventually realize it; it just takes time.

Pei Dingxuan remained silent for a long time before finally asking, "What do you want to say?"

Wen Jingshu looked directly at him. "Let Wenying go. She doesn't want to."

Pei Dingxuan smiled, stubbornly asking, "How do you know she's unwilling?"

"If she's willing, why would you hide her away in such an unspeakable way?"

The smile on Pei Dingxuan's face slowly faded.

He turned his head, his expression somber, before speaking, and said, "You don't understand."

"Yes, I don't understand. I don't understand why you insist on forcing Wenying, and I don't understand why you would rather break a gentleman's bones than not build a golden cage."

The words were too sharp and incisive, and Pei Dingxuan turned to leave.

The moment the door opened, Wen Jingshu called out to him.

"Let's get a divorce."

Pei Dingxuan turned around, seemingly not having heard clearly, and asked with surprise, "What did you say?"

Wen Jingshu walked to the dressing table, opened the bottom drawer, and took out a divorce agreement that she had prepared long ago.

I said, let's get a divorce.

Wen Jingshu handed over the divorce papers, saying, "I, Wen Jingshu, hereby declare that I, Pei Dingxuan, am divorcing you."

"Do you know what you're saying? You are now the Duchess of Yu, you are..."

"so what?"

Wen Jingshu interrupted him.

"Pei Dingxuan, you and I are bound together by our families. We have treated each other with respect for many years. I respect your family's integrity, and you have given me the dignity of a proper wife."

She walked up to him, and the words that had been weighing on her heart finally found an outlet.

She used to think of it as Pei Dingxuan's longing for Wenying, and after Wenying left Tinglan Courtyard, she could still suppress and restrain herself.

She lived her life as a good mistress, managing the household and raising their son.

But after several conversations tonight, she realized that he was obsessed and needed to put an end to it.

"You've gone so far as to confine her to a corner, abandoning all gentlemanly principles. Pei Dingxuan, you're too obsessive."

After five years of marriage, this was the first time she had said this to him.

Pei Dingxuan was stunned. He thought she would question him and accuse him of being secretive and despicable, but he never expected her to propose a divorce.

"In my life, I have done enough by marrying into the Pei family, fulfilling my duties as the mistress of the house, and protecting Ye'er's safety."

Wen Jingshu distanced herself from him and placed the divorce papers on the table.

"Now, I set you free, and I set myself free too."

Pei Dingxuan respected her, but he never thought he would push her to this point.

"Jing Shu..."

"You don't need to persuade me, I've already thought it through."

Pei Dingxuan slowly took the divorce papers. The handwriting was neat and the terms were clearly written, indicating that it was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

The divorce agreement clearly outlined the return of the dowry, the division of land, the retention or dismissal of servants, and so on.

The last one, however, has larger characters: "The legitimate son, Pei Yexuan, was raised by his mother."

"Only Ye'er belongs to me, and I will not back down on this matter."

The night breeze rushed in through the window, ruffling Wen Jingshu's hair.

After much deliberation, she realized that she had her own plans. Even if she and Ye'er left the Duke's Mansion and did not return to the Wen family, they could still have a peaceful life.

Especially after she was released from prison, the time she spent in the village allowed her to see many things clearly.

It turns out that women don't have to spend their whole lives confined to the inner quarters, nor do they have to wait for their husbands to return every day.

"In the past, the Wen family made me feel that a woman's life should be about becoming a wife of a noble family, getting married, having children, and managing the household. But now I want to try a different path."

"Pei Dingxuan, I don't blame you. You have indeed treated me well over the years, giving me the dignity that a mistress should have. But I don't want to live like this anymore."

She was going to find the days she loved, days with wind and freedom.

"You've signed the divorce papers. From now on, we'll have nothing to do with each other's weddings, funerals, or any other events."

Life offers many possibilities and experiences, and it's worth seeing and exploring them for yourself.

She wanted to live for herself for once in her lifetime.

After saying that, Wen Jingshu opened the door, stepped out of the threshold, and left the house first.

Once, she was the one who kept watch by the lonely lamp, waiting for him to return home.

Now, the solitary lamp remains the same, but she no longer waits and leaves first.

Pei Dingxuan looked down at the paper. At the end of the last line, she wrote in neat handwriting: Wen Jingshu.

After a while, Pei Dingxuan put the letter back on the table, but added three more words at the end: Pei Dingxuan.

……

Morning light filtered through the window curtains, casting hazy checkered shadows on the bed curtains.

Liu Wenying opened her eyes and stared blankly at the lotus vines embroidered on the ceiling.

The vines meandered and coiled, like the broken threads in her dream, impossible to unravel.

She sat up, and the brocade quilt slipped off.

When Zhu'er pushed open the door carrying the copper basin, she saw her looking like this.

A look of concern flashed across her face: "Madam, what's wrong?"

Before the last time the lady fainted, she was sitting in a daze like this, her eyes blank, as if she had lost her soul.

Liu Wenying gently shook her head: "I'm fine."

Zhu'er put down the copper basin, wrung out a hot cloth, and handed it over.

Liu Wenying took it, and the warm, moist sensation on her face made her feel clearer-headed.

No one knew the turmoil churning within her heart.

Last night, countless fragmented images broke through the chaos and flooded into my mind.

In my dream, light and shadow intertwine, and fragments overlap.

She saw herself dressed in plain clothes, taking care of children in a grand mansion.

Then she saw herself, having shed her maidservant attire, standing in the countryside, tending the fields and managing the estate.

The scene shifts, and in the final part of her dream, she sees five figures under a tree, waving at her.

"Wenying, come here quickly!"

Just as she was about to walk over, someone suddenly hugged her from behind and whispered anxiously, "Yingniang, don't go."

Then she woke up.

"Madam?" Pearl called out again.

Liu Wenying put down her handkerchief.

Zhu'er was muttering about the dishes for breakfast, but Liu Wenying interrupted her.

"Zhu'er, I'm tired of those breakfasts. I want to eat the pastries from Li Ji in the south of the city."

Last night, during the Harvest Festival, she saw that pastry shop on the street, with a long queue that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see.

Zhu'er was taken aback: "Now? We'd have to go to the capital, and it would take quite a while to go there and back."

Liu Wenying gave her no chance to refuse. "Yes, now. Bring me some extra silver and buy me some embroidery thread. I need lake blue, pale yellow, and rouge red. It's stuffy in the house, and I want to embroider something to pass the time."

She spoke so naturally, as if it were just a spur-of-the-moment thing.

Pearl hesitated. The master had instructed that the lady should not be left alone in the courtyard.

Liu Wenying walked to the dressing table and picked up a comb.

"I'll just stay inside and read. I won't go anywhere. You go quickly and be back before noon."

Zhu'er bit her lip and finally agreed, "Then this servant will go and come back quickly. Madam, please don't leave the courtyard..."

"understood."

…………