The Marquis doesn't support his beloved wife's ambitions, so I'll take the imperial e

He had never thought about these things.

In his deeply ingrained belief, women are appendages, embellishments, pets he can tease when he's bored, and treasures he can admire when he's in a good mood.

When he's happy, he can pile all the best things in the world in front of her; when he's unhappy, she should stay quietly and not disobey him in any way.

But now she tells him she's tired.

What gives her the right?

He provided her with the best food and drink, the finest delicacies, and the finest silks and satins. Whenever she made a request, he would immediately fulfill it, as long as he was in a good mood.

Now that she's living such a good life, all she thinks about is escaping. Does he really disgust her so much?

Was all this acting just a prelude to this day?

This made him feel an unprecedented sense of irritation and confusion. He couldn't even understand what he had done wrong to her.

He bestowed upon her a level of favor that others could only envy, tolerated her countless tantrums, and even after she ran away, he never considered actually taking her life.

He just wanted her back. Back to him.

Is there anything wrong with that?

Just as he was struggling with his inner conflict, Jiang Zhenxue had already bypassed him and walked straight to the recliner in the outer room. Her demeanor was just like that of an ordinary shopkeeper who was in dire need of rest after a busy day.

"Stop right there!" Xiao Qingyan snapped out of his daze and grabbed her arm.

"My lord, what are you trying to do now?" Jiang Zhenxue turned around, her face full of barely suppressed impatience. "If you have so much energy you don't know what to do with, you can go to the courtyard and practice some martial arts. Can't you stop torturing a weak woman like me here?"

"We're not done talking yet!"

"What are we talking about?" Jiang Zhenxue looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Haven't we said everything we needed to say? You don't want me to leave, and I don't want to go back with you. Neither of us can convince the other. What's the point of arguing any further besides wasting our breath?"

Her unyielding attitude completely enraged Xiao Qingyan.

He abruptly pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly, and glared at her with eyes burning with anger: "What you're saying is all nonsense! A wife should obey the three obediences and four virtues, and be obedient to her husband at home—this is the law of nature!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhenxue suddenly smiled.

The laughter was crisp and clear, yet it carried an indescribable irony and sorrow.

"A wife?" She raised her head, meeting his handsome face so close to hers, and asked clearly, word by word, "Xiao Qingyan, I'm asking you, am I your 'wife'?"

"Will you marry me?"

"A grand wedding procession, a proper marriage, the three letters and six rites—which of these did you ever give me?"

"In your manor, is there a memorial tablet for me, Jiang Zhenxue? Is my name, Jiang Zhenxue, on your family genealogy?"

"I don't even have a proper title as a concubine. What have I been to you for so many years? Just a thing? A canary you kept in a gilded cage?"

The barrage of questions, each word like a poisoned knife, pierced Xiao Qingyan's heart.

He froze completely.

marry her?

He had considered this idea before. But given his identity, his situation, and the deeply entrenched forces behind him, he couldn't, and was unwilling to, do it.

But how could he explain the reasons to her? And why should he need to explain to anyone?

Seeing him speechless, Jiang Zhenxue's mockery deepened.

"See, you can't answer." She forcefully broke free from his grip, took a step back, and distanced herself from him. "Because in your heart, you've never intended to marry me. I'm not your wife, just your property. Since that's the case, what right do you have to demand things of me based on the principles of being a wife?"

"I am not a runaway wife who abandoned her husband and children; I am just a plaything who no longer wants to be kept as a pet, nothing more."

"You..." Xiao Qingyan's face turned pale and then red. He was speechless, utterly dumbfounded by her thorough and detailed analysis.

He wanted to argue, but found that every word he said was met with sharper logic from her.

In his anger and embarrassment, he could only resort to his last, and only, argument: "In this world, men are superior to women; men are heaven, women are earth! A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent; her proper path is to be a good wife and mother!"

"It's the same old story again." Jiang Zhenxue rubbed her temples wearily. "My lord, I'm educated, I know what you're saying. But the books also say, 'The people are the most important, the state is next, and the ruler is the least important.' I can disregard even the ruler, so why should I treat you, a man who isn't even my husband, as my god?"

"I don't want to be a stay-at-home wife or a mother; I just want to earn money and live a peaceful life. Who does this bother?"

She looked at him, her eyes calm and honest. "Xiao Qingyan, let me translate what I just said for you, in a way you can understand."

"I don't want to be in a romantic relationship with you; I just want to work together on our careers."

"Love?" Xiao Qingyan frowned; it was yet another word he didn't understand.

"That's right." Jiang Zhenxue nodded and began to talk nonsense in a serious tone, "Love is when two people are sticking together every day, guessing each other, you get jealous and I get angry, and in the end we both get hurt and we get nothing. Even if we do get something, so what? Get married and live together for a lifetime? Even a life sentence isn't that long, and you expect me to spend my whole life with a stranger? That's too much of a loss, I won't do it."

"It's different when you're building a business." Her eyes lit up, like a greedy person who had spotted a gold ingot. "You provide the power, I provide the labor. You help me handle those shady problems, and I'll help you expand your business all over the country. We split the profits 70/30. I get the money, you get the leisure, and you can keep an eye on me to prevent me from going astray. That's called mutual benefit, a win-win situation. See? Isn't this deal much more worthwhile than some lousy 'romance'?"

As Xiao Qingyan listened to her absurd "business acumen," he felt his temples throbbing.

He chased after her from afar, using both threats and inducements, but she, on the other hand, treated him as a business partner and even proposed a 70/30 split.

What on earth is going on in this woman's head?!

He didn't want to argue with her anymore, feeling that every word she said was challenging the worldview he had built up over the past twenty years.

Too lazy to waste any more words, he stretched out his long arm, pulled her into his arms again, picked her up horizontally, and strode towards the sandalwood bed that belonged to her in the inner room.

"Xiao Qingyan! What are you doing again! Put me down!" Jiang Zhenxue struggled in his arms.

"sleep."

Xiao Qingyan uttered two words, concise and to the point.

He threw her onto the bed, then covered her with his own body, his tall figure completely enveloping her.

"Aren't you tired?" He pinched her chin, looking into her eyes filled with shock and anger, a wicked smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"I am tired too."

He didn't want to argue with her anymore.

You can't win an argument.

But he had other ways to shut her up.

He bowed his head, silencing all her unfinished protests with his actions.

Jiang Zhenxue sighed inwardly.

Forget it, let's just drag it out for as long as possible. Anyway, she's not losing out.