Chapter 218: Divorce Papers
Ji Zhangshu didn’t try to interrogate her any further. He’d already been convinced of everything by Bai Xiangxiu and Long Heng. Thus, the journey back to the capital was filled with silence. Lin Qianzi found the situation very strange. He would normally be begging for some action between the sheets by now. She even took the initiative and tried to seduce him in an attempt to rea.s.sure him on the way home, but her attempts all failed. He didn’t even want to touch her and acted very coldly towards her. That woman must’ve told him something. I’m sure of it! She tried asking if that was the case, to which Ji Zhangshu replied, “She only told me the truth. There’s no need to worry if you’ve done nothing wrong.”
Lin Qianzi’s face turned ashen almost immediately. She grabbed Ji Zhangshu’s arm, “No… No! I’ve done nothing wrong! Please don’t listen to their lies!”
Ji Zhangshu yanked his arm away and left the room without saying anything. The husband and wife slept in different rooms for the rest of the journey back. Upon arriving, Ji Zhangshu brought Miss Lin back to the Lin Manor instead of his home. Much to everyone’s surprise, he brought divorce papers with him, and personally handed them over to Minister Lin.
Minister Lin was extremely furious. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Miss Lin came into contact with enemy soldiers and even gave birth to an enemy spy’s child. The Ji family no longer wants to accept her into our family. I’ve come to sever our relations.h.i.+p and bring an end to our marriage.” Ji Zhangshu was in a lot of agony. After all, he’d been in love with his cousin ever since childhood.
Lin Qianzi received a heavy blow. “Don’t speak nonsense! Duan Yunying isn’t the father of that child. Commander Lu only suspected that he was the father and wanted to take him away from me. Didn’t you say you didn’t mind who the father of the child was? And that you’d treat him as if your own?”
Ji Zhangshu was enraged. “If it wasn’t for the fact that you’d slept with Commander Lu’s younger brother, why would he even… Some things are better left unspoken. Minister Lin, I’d rather die than bring her home to the Ji family.
Minister Lin had always felt a little guilty for bringing Ji Zhangshu into this. He was very aware of his daughter’s shortcomings. There was nothing he could do now that Ji Zhangshu had said such things, but how was his daughter supposed to stand her ground in the future if someone divorced her? “Dear son-in-law, why don’t we talk about this later? Go home and give yourself some time to calm down first.”
“There’s no need. I’ve already handed the divorce papers to you. I will send someone to return the dowry tomorrow.”
“Ji Zhangshu, how can you do this to me? You were the one who agreed to this marriage in the first place. Why are you backing out now? It’s not as if you didn’t know that I was abducted by that scoundrel. He…”
“That is true, yes. But is that the reason why you decided to climb into the bed of your teacher?”
Slap! Miss Lin lost her temper, and slapped Ji Zhangshu hard. His entire cheek started to swell but he didn’t take it to heart, walking out with a disheartened look on his face. Minister Lin had never expected that he’d talk to his daughter like that either. He yelled angrily, “I don’t want a son-in-law like you either! Throw him out with a thras.h.i.+ng!”
And so, a rumor began to spread around the capital, saying that Ji Zhangshu had been beaten up in Minister Lin’s manor. He had to walk home with all sorts of bruises and swelling on his face, and even fell severely ill after returning home. All sorts of rumors began to swirl around the capital, and refused to die down.
Bai Xiangxiu had no idea that such things were happening in the capital. Long Heng had already sent a letter back to the Prince Li Manor, explaining that Bai Xiangxiu had come to Tranquil City to aid him in the war effort. He also mentioned that Prince Rong had accepted Bai Xiangxiu as his G.o.dsister, on account of her wits and kindness. Bai Xiangxiu would go back to the capital after she was done recuperating from her illness in Tranquil City.
Yes, Prince Rong had indeed accepted Bai Xiangxiu as his G.o.dsister. It was how he’d thought to help her. Bai Xiangxiu didn’t really think too much of it, but Long Heng knew very well that Prince Rong was very fond of her. That position made it possible for the emperor bestow the position of Princess Consort on Bai Xiangxiu. Moreover, her family background was actually somewhat decent and she had a very talented brother too.
Long Heng hadn’t wanted Bai Xiangxiu to stay in Tranquil City ,but something unimaginable happened. Commander Lu suddenly started using some sort of strange weapon. None of the soldiers knew how he’d managed to come up with such a weapon. It was an explosive thing that could knock out a lot of people when detonated in a crowd.
Bai Xiangxiu immediately identified the weapon as dynamite. When they interrogated some of the enemy soldiers, they admitted that it was indeed dynamite. She was somewhat speechless. Was she supposed to face off against a transmigrator, now that Yaya the reincarnator was gone? She understood that dynamite wasn’t something that could be found in this world, and deduced that a transmigrator must be on the enemy’s side.
Many of the captives were interrogated, but none of them knew the ident.i.ty of the person who had invented the dynamite. And because they had such a lethal weapon on their hands, their army was gradually becoming stronger and stronger. In fact, they were planning to retake Tranquil City.
Your mother. They actually brought such a terrifying weapon to the battlefield? It’s a good thing that the other side isn’t too well-versed in weapon making. This particular one isn’t too successful. It only maims and doesn’t cause death, so it’s probably more scary than it is lethal. However, it was still something that could scare horses and disrupt Long Heng’s troop formations.
“Do you know how to deal with this weapon?” Long Heng looked at Bai Xiangxiu. Even if she knows what it is, it doesn’t mean that she knows how to deal with it right? Moreover, this was something that was much more complicated than just a formation. It would be incredibly easy to take over the entire country if the weapon was just a little more powerful, let alone just Tranquil City.
Bai Xiangxiu waved her hands. “I need some sleep. I have to get some sleep.” She was going to contact Huo’er in her sleep. She’d realized that it wasn’t impossible to return to the modern world after she’d lost consciousness when she gave birth. She’d only decided to stay here because she couldn’t let go of her loved ones. Huo’er had powers that could connect her with all the cacti in the world throughout history. The cactus might be able to help her find the recipe to make dynamite.
Prince Rong was shocked when he saw the look on Bai Xiangxiu’s face when she left the room. “It seems like she might really have a clue on how to defeat this weapon. Have I really read too few books?”
Everyone in the room looked at Prince Rong after he spoke those words, likely because everyone had the same exact thought as him. They’d perused books for almost all their lives, but they still weren’t as smart as a girl as young as her. They probably all needed to read more books.
Bai Xiangxiu took out her fragrance sachet when she arrived in her room. Inside lay a small paper package. She carefully unwrapped it layer by layer to reveal some cactus spines. She’d brought them with her in case of an emergency. She’d never thought that she would actually need to use them.
She poured all the spines from the sachet into her hand so she could form a connection with Huo’er. She even went as far as to p.r.i.c.k herself with one. Since she’d arrived in this world after p.r.i.c.king herself on a cactus, she might be able to quickly contact Huo’er by doing that. However, she found it very difficult to fall asleep due to her anxiety.
She scooted over to the other side when Long Heng returned so that he could sleep beside her. No one questioned her presence now that Prince Rong had become her G.o.dbrother. And since everyone knew that she was recuperating from an illness, no one really cared if Long Heng was sleeping in the same room as her either.