I just got divorced, and this cold, ruthless, and powerful minister is begging for a third child eve

Song Linyuan stared at Gu Mingshuang in disbelief.

"Mingshuang, I only asked you to stop making trouble about divorce and come back to the Marquis's mansion with me. Is being with me really this humiliating for you?"

Gu Mingshuang brushed the dust off her sleeves, her eyes calm yet cold.

"Young Master Song, what's the point of saying all this now? We're already divorced, there's nothing more to say."

Song Linyuan said in a hoarse voice:

"Divorce? I wasn't there, how could you divorce me? I don't recognize that document!"

Gu Mingshuang remained silent for a moment, then looked at Song Linyuan and began to persuade him:

"Even now, doesn't Your Highness understand? We can't go on like this. Only a divorce will satisfy everyone..."

"But I'm not satisfied!" Song Linyuan's eyes reddened, and the corners of his eyes were unusually moist. "I've realized my own feelings. I don't like Xie Lanyu. The person I like is you, it's always been you!"

Gu Mingshuang frowned.

"Your Highness, please return."

Song Linyuan stared intently at Gu Mingshuang.

"If Xie Lanyu remaining in the Marquis's mansion as a concubine displeases you, I will send her far away from the capital. Can you then forget all about this?"

Gu Mingshuang turned around, her back to Song Linyuan, and said in a deep voice:

"Your Highness, you don't need to be so attached to people and things from the past."

Looking at Gu Mingshuang's slender figure, Song Linyuan felt a pain in his heart for the first time.

He reached out, wanting to hug her, but the iron bars stopped him.

He then realized that the two of them had not had any close contact since arriving in Kyoto.

Another sharp pain shot through my heart.

How could he be willing to give up?

With red eyes, Song Linyuan gritted his teeth and said:

"Mingshuang, I don't want a divorce!"

Gu Mingshuang suddenly looked at him.

"If you don't divorce me, you can't be the heir of this marquis's mansion, can you?"

Song Linyuan's eyes narrowed, and the next moment he shook his head and said:

"No! Are you worried that Mother will disagree? I'm her only legitimate son now, how could she become estranged from me because of this? She's just angry for a moment!"

"Besides, she's always been kind and gentle; she won't really keep making things difficult for you!"

Gu Mingshuang curled her lips coldly.

"The Lady of the Marquis has been a widow for many years and has no children, yet she has managed to preserve the Marquis's estate. If she is kind and easy to talk to, this estate would have been swallowed up long ago before you returned."

"Young Master Song, stop being so stubborn. Live your life well and stop bothering me. We can still have a little bit of face left."

Song Linyuan swayed, and the color drained from his face instantly.

Gu Mingshuang's words were like a sharp knife, cutting through everything he thought he knew.

It turns out that ever since he returned to the Marquis's mansion, he has been unable to control his own destiny.

The glory that the Marquis's heir once bestowed upon him is now the same weight of shackles.

Song Linyuan staggered back half a step.

"I don't believe it..."

In his haste to run out, Song Linyuan bumped into a pillar, his old injuries causing him to break out in a cold sweat.

But he didn't dare stop for a moment and rushed back to the Marquis's residence as fast as he could.

Rushing to Shou'an Hall, Song Linyuan strode into the courtyard and saw Madam Meng checking the list with a dark expression.

Madam Meng was checking the accounts, and the more she looked, the more alarmed she became.

"How could we lose so much money! Are you all just freeloaders?!"

The shopkeepers were so frightened that they immediately bowed and begged for forgiveness.

"Please forgive us, Madam, we are incompetent!"

Hearing this, Meng was even more furious and gritted her teeth.

"The Marquis's mansion, once so powerful and wealthy, has fallen to this state!"

In a fit of anger, Madam Meng pointed to the tall pile of account books.

"It's only been a short time since Gu Mingshuang took charge, and it's turned out like this. What exactly happened?"

Song Linyuan stepped forward with a sullen face.

"Does Mother still doubt Mingshuang? I saw it all: she sold off all her properties in Qingzhou and how much she subsidized the Marquis's mansion after coming to the capital!"

"Why is Mother so harsh on her? She has already done everything a daughter-in-law should for the Song family!"

He only regretted that he had always turned a blind eye to Mingshuang's grievances. In fact, he was not unaware that Mingshuang was looked down upon by the Marquis's mansion. He just thought that Mingshuang was of humble origin and that these were things she could not avoid and had to endure.

He thought that as long as she gradually learned the rules, she would be able to satisfy the people in the Marquis's mansion.

But now he really regrets it!

If he had helped Ming Shuang back then, and said a few words from her perspective, even if some people looked down on her, they would have respected him!

Unfortunately, he didn't!

When Madam Meng saw Song Linyuan return, her expression paused slightly, then she said with a stern face:

"Our family's assets have run into trouble, and these were meant for you! And now they've been ruined by a woman with ulterior motives. I don't even know if she profited from it. You can swallow this insult, but I, as her mother, cannot!"

Song Linyuan looked at Madam Meng and the thick stack of account books beside her, his face grim.

"Mingshuang is already gone, Mother, do you still want her to bear such a stigma?"

"Regardless of the original condition of these shops, even if they did lose money under Ming Shuang's management, so what? She is the heir apparent's wife of the Marquis's family, and these are still her properties!"

"Does the shop losing money under Mother's management simply mean bad luck, or that she ruined it?"

"I always thought my mother was the kindest person, but now I realize that her kindness varies from person to person!"

Meng's expression changed.

"What did you say?!"

Song Linyuan turned his face away.

"Mother, please release Mingshuang."

Meng spat.

"Dream on! Even if it means losing all face, I'll fight this lawsuit to the bitter end!"

Song Linyuan suddenly grabbed the knife from the guard's hand.

"Mother! You disregard the reputation of the Marquis's mansion, do you not even care about your son?"

Meng's expression finally hardened, and she rushed forward, reaching out to press down on Song Linyuan's hand that was holding the knife.

"Yuan'er! What are you doing! Swords have no eyes!"

Song Linyuan gripped the knife handle tightly, and the wound on his finger immediately reopened, with blood flowing continuously.

"I don't care! I want my mother to release her! I want Mingshuang to come back safely!"

Seeing Song Linyuan act so extremely impulsively for the first time, Meng Shi turned pale with fright, her hands trembling uncontrollably as she nodded repeatedly.

"Yuan'er, don't be impulsive! Mother promises... Mother promises everything!"

Song Linyuan finally put down his knife.

Meng hurriedly called for someone to take the knife away.

Song Linyuan said in a deep voice:

"My mother agreed to let me drop the case. When should we proceed with that?"

Meng nodded repeatedly.

"Mother will go right away!"

As she spoke, she had someone help Song Linyuan up.

"Take the young master back to his room! And fetch a doctor!"

Seeing that Meng had agreed to go to the Dali Temple to drop the case, Song Linyuan allowed himself to be helped away.

Seeing Song Linyuan leave, Meng was so angry that she kicked over a flowerpot.

"Absurd! Utterly absurd! What kind of character has that damned Gu family raised in my son?!"

"Trying to force me to compromise like this? You think you can control Yuan'er and then come back to the Marquis's mansion to lord it over me again? Just you wait!"

As she spoke, Meng, her face dark, was about to walk out of the courtyard when, unexpectedly, she saw another face she didn't want to see at the gate.

Xie Lanyu bowed, as docile and obedient as ever, but a hint of ruthlessness lurked in her eyes.

"Mother, Lanyu has come to pay her respects."

Upon seeing this face, Meng's expression turned completely sour.

"What are you doing here? And why do you still call me mother?"

Now, whenever she sees Xie Lanyu, the word "ungrateful wretch" comes to mind.

Gu Mingshuang was a daughter-in-law she was not satisfied with, so it was not a pity that she was estranged from her. However, Xie Lanyu was someone she had pampered for many years and treated like a daughter.

Upon learning that her son had been found, she immediately decided to make Xie Lanyu her daughter-in-law.

But who knew that all her hard work in planning for Xie Lanyu would only earn her disgust and contempt in return?

Xie Lanyu stepped forward and helped Meng Shi up.

"Although there have been some misunderstandings between my mother and me, I am willing to stand by her side in this matter today."

"Mother should have realized that once Gu Mingshuang is released from Dali Temple prison, she will have completely controlled Cousin Linyuan."

"She is an extremely intelligent person. She knows that her mother's weakness is her cousin. Only by completely winning over her cousin can she turn the tables in the Marquis's mansion."

Meng was so angry that her hands trembled.

"I will teach her a lesson myself. Even if she returns to the Marquis's mansion, I will still be her mother-in-law. Does she dare to commit one of the seven grounds for divorce and disobey her mother-in-law?"

Xie Lanyu chuckled softly.

"Now my cousin treats her like a precious gem, so even if she really takes revenge on my mother, he'll probably just advise my mother to be more lenient with her."

"Mother should know best what my cousin will say then, since that's how he advised Gu Mingshuang when he was on her side."

Meng's face immediately turned pale.

She knew her son was capable of anything; he had just threatened her with his life, so what else wouldn't he do?

Even now, with the old lady lying there, Song Linyuan still feels that the Marquis's mansion should be lenient and forgive Gu Mingshuang!

If she were the one lying there in the future, Song Linyuan would probably think that she had to give way to Gu Mingshuang!

Thinking of this, Madam Meng clenched her fingers and said sternly:

"Then what do you suggest? Yuan'er would rather risk his life to coerce me than let Gu Mingshuang leave Dali Temple!"

After a pause, Meng said angrily:

"Are you here just to kick someone when they're down?"

Xie Lanyu whispered:

"My mother doesn't want to see Gu Mingshuang return, and I don't want to see Gu Mingshuang reappear..."

Hearing Xie Lanyu's whispered words, Madam Meng's expression changed slightly, and she exclaimed in surprise:

"What did you say? This...this won't do!"

Xie Lanyu gave a light sneer.

"Even now, Mother is still so hesitant in her actions. Then let's wait for Gu Mingshuang to come out and return to the Marquis's mansion, and then take everything from the Song family for herself."

Meng made up her mind.

"She's just an orphan from Qingzhou, she can forget about it! I won't let her leave the Dali Temple!"

She looked at Xie Lanyu and questioned her in a deep voice:

"Even if I succeed, how will I explain it to Yuan'er? He's waiting for me to release her right now. I can't let a lowly woman cause me to fall out of love with my only son."

Xie Lanyu lowered her eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll go visit my cousin in a bit and give him some sleeping pills. By the time he wakes up tomorrow, it will be too late."

Meng looked at Xie Lanyu, her eyes narrowing slightly.

She hadn't realized Xie Lanyu was such a ruthless person even after all this time.

At this moment, Madam Meng was in a hurry to deal with Gu Mingshuang, so she only glanced at Xie Lanyu before turning around and leaving.