Chapter 46: Then Let Us Wait and See

Zhao Shenxing picked up the letter of divorce and looked at it for a moment, then pursed his lips and tore the document in half with a furious glare.

His chilling gaze seemed to spark with hidden flames as he stared fixedly at Ning Junruo.

"Those poems circulating outside are your doing, aren't they? Do not think that by pulling this stunt, this Prince cannot deal with you!"

Zhao Shenxing viciously crumpled the torn pieces of the letter into a ball and hurled them hard at her feet.

"You think you can just leave the Estate so easily? Ning Junruo, keep dreaming!"

Ning Junruo glared back and retorted sharply, "It was Your Highness who wanted to divorce me in the first place. For the dignified Prince Liang to go back on his word like this will become the laughingstock of the town!"

Word was already spreading everywhere that the Prince's Estate intended to cast off the wife. Now that those poems had filled every street and alley, divorcing her at this moment would surely provoke public outrage.

Weighing the pros and cons, Zhao Shenxing had to grit his teeth and ask, "When did this Prince ever say he wanted to divorce you?"

He paid no heed to Ning Junruo's contemptuous look and continued shamelessly, "Look at yourself now! You neither serve your husband nor respect the Dowager Consort. Where is there even a shred of the virtue the rumors speak of?"

"Isn't a lack of virtue precisely what fulfills Your Highness's heart's desire?"

With a sharp and fearless gaze, Ning Junruo met his eyes directly. "My ears are not deaf; I clearly heard Your Highness say just now that staying out overnight was enough grounds to divorce me. Has Your Highness forgotten already?"

The Dowager Consort beside them furrowed her brow, pondered for a moment, and finally let out a soft sigh.

"Shenxing, even if Junruo has misbehaved, this concerns the dignity of the Imperial family, and the matter should not be blown out of proportion. It is best to resolve matters between husband and wife privately, rather than causing another city-wide scandal as before."

Hearing this, Zhao Shenxing's gaze grew even sharper. He stepped closer to Ning Junruo, his voice low and dangerous, "You had better give me a reasonable explanation regarding those poems."

Ning Junruo lifted her chin, her clear, water-like eyes flashing with stubbornness and unyielding pride.

"Does Your Highness truly believe this concubine needs to go to such lengths just to leave the Estate? If I genuinely wished to leave, I have countless ways of doing so; why would I ever need to borrow outside force?"

"Countless ways?"

Zhao Shenxing demanded harshly, "Do tell, what ways might those be?"

Ning Junruo's sharp gaze suddenly turned fierce. "Weren't you planning to write a letter of divorce and drive me away penniless? Previously, I truly thought that as long as I could leave the Estate, material possessions like my dowry were forfeit if you wanted them. But now..."

Consort Dowager Xu hurriedly laughed to smooth things over. "Everything said earlier was just angry talk; how could it be taken seriously? You've been busy with the shops all day and must be exhausted—hurry and sit down to rest a while."

Ning Junruo stood on ceremony, sitting down directly in the seat below the Dowager.

"This concubine has finally seen the light. Those shops and my dowry are the blood, sweat, and tears of generations of the Ning family; why should I hand them over to others on a silver platter? Since Your Highness refuses to write the letter of divorce, let us wait and see what the future holds!"

Seeing her demeanor, which bore no trace of a joke, Zhao Shenxing refused to back down.

"Then, as the Princess Consort says, let us wait and see!"

With those words, just as he was about to flick his sleeves and storm off, Yuzhu rushed over anxiously and dropped to her knees on the floor.

"This maid pays her respects to the Dowager Consort and Your Highness. The little young master... he has no milk to drink and is wailing with hunger. Mistress asks the Dowager Consort to come and take a look immediately."

Consort Dowager Xu instantly lost her composure. "Didn't the wet nurse say everything was fine this morning? Why has the milk suddenly dried up?"

Yuzhu raised her head, cast a stealthy glance at Ning Junruo, and then spoke in a low voice, "The wet nurse says the provisions in the Estate are far too meager, and since the little young master has such a large appetite, there... there simply isn't enough."

"Didn't I instruct the head cook to provide the wet nurse with meals matching Madam Chang's standard?" Consort Dowager Xu snapped harshly. "Flustered and incompetent, failing to manage even such a trivial matter and forcing this Consort to go over personally! Just how is Yunmeng Pavilion serving its masters?"

"It is not that this maid and the others are not trying our best, it is truly..." Yuzhu trailed off, shrinking her head and whispering.

"Truly what?" The Dowager Consort stared at her intently.

"The wet nurse wished to eat some pig trotters to help stimulate milk production and asked the kitchen to prepare them, but the kitchen claimed there was not a single coin left in the accounts and they were powerless to help."

Recalling the silver notes Xiao Yunji had given him that morning, Zhao Shenxing's gaze hardened. "Aren't they just pig trotters! Go on back first, I will have someone buy them immediately."

Just as Yuzhu was about to rise and leave, Consort Dowager Xu called out to stop her.

"How many days has the young master been born? How could he possibly have such a large appetite already? To my mind, the problem still lies with the wet nurse. Come, let us go take a look!"

Zhao Shenxing, however, cupped his hands in a bow and said, "Mother, I still need to check on the shops, so I will not accompany you."

Watching the mother and son bustling about in a flurry, Ning Junruo let out a cold laugh and departed with her maids.

No sooner had she returned to Yilan Residence than Xiao Yunji arrived uninvited.

"Oh, Sister has finally returned!"

Before even taking a seat, she blurted out anxiously, "I heard that if Sister hadn't personally taken charge, Chang Yuniang's child might not even have been successfully delivered?"

Remembering her past life, that child had indeed seemed to be born prematurely, yet had still arrived safely into the world.

Ning Junruo smiled faintly. "That child is blessed by heaven; even without this concubine presiding over the birth, he likely would have survived. Sister has not come here today merely to discuss this, surely?"

"Take them outside for a moment," Xiao Yunji said, glancing toward Zisu. "That Madam Chang treated you so abominably before, and yet you aren't angry? If it were me..."

Once the maids had all retreated, she lowered her voice and continued, "I certainly would have found a chance when no one was looking to have the midwife quietly get rid of that child."

Get rid of the child? How could that ever be more satisfying than keeping him alive?

Knowing that Xiao Yunji could never understand, Ning Junruo had no desire to explain.

"I heard you produced a thousand taels of silver out of your own pocket to subsidize the Prince's Estate?"

The Princess Consort had only just returned, and yet she already knew of this?

Xiao Yunji smiled awkwardly. "Seeing that the Estate was scraping the bottom of the barrel and the Prince was pressing me for a solution, Yunji had no choice but to resort to such a desperate measure."

"Even if desperate, the rules cannot be discarded."

Ning Junruo put on a stern and severe expression. "I know not how much silver the Xiao family gave you to squander like this, but you know the Prince's temperament as well as I do. Once he receives aid this time, there will undoubtedly be a next time. When he asks you for silver again next time, will you give it or not?"

"I—!"

The smile froze on Xiao Yunji's face.

"The Prince will not come asking me. Besides, I do not have much silver left in my hands either; even if he truly asked, I certainly would not give it again."

Xiao Yunji's voice grew fainter and fainter, clearly lacking conviction.

Instead, Ning Junruo chuckled. "I fear even you do not believe your own words. How many days can a mere thousand taels last? Are you truly so certain he will not come asking again?"

"Forget it, forget it, let us speak no more of this!"

Xiao Yunji waved her hand in irritation. "The Dowager Consort has ordered me to thoroughly investigate the person spreading these rumors. Who do you suppose is behind it?"