Binding Spring Love

"Miss, Aunt Lin is still waiting outside the courtyard."

Green Bamboo looked at the ticket in her hand over and over again, her almond-shaped eyes wide with anger.

Song Wan tidied her hair and asked Hengzhi to accompany her outside.

Two maids accompanied Lin Jiayue. When they saw Song Wan, they bowed in unison. Lin Jiayue smiled, and her demeanor and actions gave off a very refined and elegant air.

"I just gave your maid the receipt with the abbreviation, and now I'm here to collect the money."

Song Wan said, "Since your husband has written the receipt for you, you can go directly to the household affairs office to collect the money. There's no need to come here."

After having a second-class maid bring tea, Song Wan waited for Lin Jiayue to speak.

Since Jiang Xingjian had bypassed her and given the money to Lin Jiayue, it meant that he knew this action was unreasonable and would never have let Lin Jiayue come to him. Now that she had come to his door, he didn't know if she wanted to show off or was preparing to swagger around.

Sure enough, Song Wan only remained silent for a moment after picking up her tea before Lin Jiayue lost her composure.

"Jiang Xingjian gave me money to open a shop, aren't you angry?"

"You really haven't learned the rules very well."

Upon hearing the word "rules," Lin Jiayue's expression darkened: "He likes my personality; it's not too boring."

Song Wan tightened her grip on the teacup, chuckled softly, and prepared to leave, but then heard Lin Jiayue say, "Is this really meaningful? Holding onto the status of a legitimate wife while living like a widow, deceiving yourself every day—can you really be happy?"

"How dare you! How can you be so disrespectful in front of Madam?"

Song Wan waved her hand, and Hengzhi stepped back without saying another word.

"Then, according to Aunt Lin's opinion, what should I do?"

Lin Jiayue looked at Song Wan, her eyes resolute: "I have no hostility towards you. I just don't understand why you insist on staying in the Marquis's mansion if Xingjian doesn't like you. You've already wasted six years; why continue to squander them?"

"..."

Song Wan sat back down in the main seat and said calmly, "I really don't understand what you mean."

"What's there to not understand? Xingjian and I are in love. He once said he would marry me when he returned to the capital. But who could have imagined that there would be such a foolish woman in this world who would marry into the family with a memorial tablet in hand and remain a widow?"

Lin Jiayue looked at Song Wan, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

She was the one who fell in love with Jiang Xingjian first, so why does it seem like she's the one who interfered in someone else's relationship? Although she's confident in herself, she can't help but worry when Jiang Xingjian is with Song Wan.

She was his nominal legal wife. Every morning and evening, they would go to Fuhe Hall together to pay their respects to the old lady. Everything in their courtyard was in pairs. When Jiang Xingjian mentioned Song Wan, his eyes were full of unspoken praise.

Although the two of them had never done anything intimate, Lin Jiayue couldn't help but feel jealous.

Clearly, Jiang Xingjian is her lover.

Have you ever considered that your irresponsible behavior might also cause trouble for others?

Song Wan blinked, trying to understand what Lin Jiayue meant by "causing trouble for others".

She used to pride herself on being smart, but she couldn't understand a single word Lin Jiayue said.

Looking up at the girl in front of her, Song Wan still couldn't understand what Jiang Xingjian loved about her.

If we're talking about looks, she feels she has the upper hand. If we're talking about family background, she wouldn't be considered to be marrying up to Jiang Xingjian. Could it be that, as Lin Jiayue said, she's just too boring?

But she was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, needlework, and even had some knowledge of the various schools of thought, poetry, and songs since childhood. How could she be boring?

"With your good family background and high social standing, even if you leave Jiang Xingjian, you can easily find someone else you like, right?"

Song Wan was still wondering if she was being boring when she heard this and her brows furrowed tightly.

Hengzhi was furious and grabbed the hot tea in front of her, splashing it all over Lin Jiayue's face: "You enjoy making a fool of yourself, and you're always trying to seduce me with your cheap and shameless attitude. Now you want to tarnish our young lady's reputation? You're a heartless and rotten woman, you deserve to die."

"Hengzhi".

Seeing that she was about to go forward, Song Wan stopped her.

Although the hot tea wasn't scalding, having it splashed all over her face was still incredibly humiliating. Lin Jiayue, furious, shouted, "I'm doing this for your own good! What's wrong with you all?!"

Two young maids stepped forward to help Lin Jiayue wipe her face, but Song Wan stared at her intently.

After a long while, she realized that apart from an air of arrogance that disdained her, the person in front of her truly meant no harm.

Lin Jiayue truly believed that what she said was for her own good.

Song Wan suddenly became curious.

"Noble families have ever had wives who divorced. The separation you speak of is simply impossible. And don't you know that our laws stipulate that a concubine cannot be made a wife, and anyone who makes a concubine or a guest woman his wife shall be sentenced to one and a half years of penal servitude?"

"If it were a commoner or merchant, that would be one thing, but for a noble family like the Marquis's mansion, even if I were to die in the future, I would still choose a new wife. I would never do something like taking a concubine as a wife, which is against the moral order."

If Lin Jiayue were not a concubine, or even just an outer wife not listed in the family genealogy, there might still be room for maneuver. But now, it's all just empty talk.

"impossible."

Lin Jiayue's face turned deathly pale: "I don't believe that aristocratic families can't divorce. Does that mean that even if we're a pair of estranged lovers, we have to be bound together to the death?"

Song Wan lowered her eyes and said calmly, "You're so certain about the divorce, but... what did your husband promise you?"

"he……"

Did Jiang Xingjian promise that he would definitely marry her and make her the mistress of the Marquis's mansion?

Lin Jiayue thought back carefully and suddenly realized that since returning to the Marquis's mansion, Jiang Xingjian had never said such words again. Even on the day he moved to Xiuyan Pavilion, he only said one sentence: "Trust me."

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Lin Jiayue's face, and she suddenly felt a little apprehensive.

Seeing this, Song Wan said, "Noble families have ever had a divorced woman because divorce is a major clan matter. It requires the two families or the two clans to burn incense and open the ancestral hall. The clan leaders of both families must worship their ancestors and heaven and earth, and seek the consent of the ancestors before a divorce can be made."

"Although divorce is rare, abandonment is common. If a man is dissatisfied with his wife, he can either divorce her out of the seven grounds or sever all ties with her out of loyalty."

Lin Jiayue suddenly looked up, a glimmer of hope rising in her heart.

Song Wan curled her lips, finding Lin Jiayue's idea increasingly ridiculous.

Not to mention that she has the support of the Song family and her aunt, so the Marquis's family wouldn't dare to divorce her. Just considering that she has been a widow for six years because of Jiang Xingjian, even the Emperor wouldn't allow the Marquis's family to divorce her and remarry.

"Why did your husband allocate two thousand taels of silver for you to open a shop?"

Lin Jiayue said with a pale face, "I've found a way to make ice in the summer and earn money for the Marquis's mansion."

"You asked me before if I was angry that my husband gave you money to open a shop, and now I'll answer you."

Song Wan's gaze was calm and unwavering. She looked at Lin Jiayue and said, "For a girl, only her dowry is private property. Now that the Marquis's mansion has not been divided, all income and expenses are accounted for in the public accounts. As for the others, even the uncles and elders in the same mansion as my husband, they do not have private property. At least on the surface, they do not and cannot have it."

"As a concubine, you were not entitled to a dowry. Even if your husband doted on you, he would only give you a small amount of money as a personal allowance. So, when you ask me if I'm angry, it's really..."

"It's somewhat ridiculous."