Peach Blossom.

The next morning, Yu'er took Wang Jing to the ferry she had mentioned to Tao Ye in the name of taking a walk.

She didn't dare tell Wang Jing the real purpose of her visit because she was afraid Tao Ye would not keep the appointment, which would disappoint Wang Jing.

She thought that if Tao Ye was willing to come, it would be a surprise she had carefully prepared for her father.

As she expected, Tao Ye appeared at noon.

Taoye, like Yu'er, also wore a veil. This was because Taoye had many regular guests at Meixiangxie, all of whom were children of aristocrats. She did not want to be recognized outside to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Yu'er saw Tao Ye coming from afar, and she was filled with joy. She quickly grabbed Wang Jing's arm and shouted, "Father, look who's coming?"

After she finished speaking, Yu'er remembered that Wang Jing might not be able to see clearly who was coming towards him.

"Is it Tao Ye?" Wang Jing looked at the direction where Tao Ye was coming from. He couldn't see clearly, but he could feel it.

Yu'er was even happier to see her father could identify peach leaves, but... she soon noticed Wang Jing's expression...

The "surprise" she imagined giving her father seemed to be a surprise without joy.

Wang Jing didn't even smile, his face was filled with astonishment.

Tao Ye's three thousand black hair were combed into a simple cloud-like bun, with a hairpin inserted diagonally on her head. She wore a pink robe-sleeved top and a emerald green gauze long skirt. She had a graceful, fresh and pleasant figure.

However, Wang Jing couldn't see any of this.

She strolled up to Wang Jing and asked softly, "Second brother, are you okay?"

"Very good." Wang Jing finally smiled, but it seemed just a polite smile.

Tao Ye looked at Wang Jing in front of her and suddenly felt so strange. She didn't know if it was because they hadn't seen each other for a long time or because the relationship between them was no longer the same as before.

Wang Jing looked at Tao Ye, and she seemed to be much more distant. He could vaguely feel that Tao Ye in front of him was graceful and elegant, and was no longer the chattering beauty in Yongchang.

"Father, Mother, you guys chat, I'll go keep watch for you." Yu'er tactfully let go of Wang Jing's arm and ran to a distance to watch quietly.

Wang Jing led Tao Ye forward a few steps, then stood by the railing with his hand on it: "Did Yu'er ask you to come?"

Tao Ye nodded.

Under the stone railing in front of them was the surging Qinhuai River. The surroundings were very quiet. Occasionally, someone would come here to call for a boatman to cross the river to somewhere else.

"Do you know where this place is?" Wang Jing asked, his face still expressionless.

Tao Ye shook her head. Her expression and tone were normal. "This is my first time here. I only know this is a ferry."

"This is where Gillian and I first met."

Tao Ye frowned. For some reason, she was more resistant to hearing the name "Ah Jiao" than before, but she said nothing.

Wang Jing seemed to enjoy this nostalgia and talked more with relish: "That year, Gillian was only five years old. Our fathers met here and allowed us to meet. My father and father-in-law saw that we got along well and immediately decided to arrange a marriage for us. She officially married me at the age of fifteen and soon became pregnant. On her birthday, we visited here again and agreed to come back to see it on her twenty-fifth birthday."

Tao Ye still didn't say anything, but in her heart she didn't want to listen any more.

"Unfortunately, she only lived to the age of 23. She broke her promise..." Wang Jing said this again and there was no further words.

Tao Ye glanced at Wang Jing and saw the same sadness in his eyes as before.

However, she could no longer empathize like before: "Why are you telling me this?"

Wang Jing turned to Tao Ye again and said solemnly: "I should apologize to you. I hid something from you."

"What's the matter?" Tao Ye was curious.

"In Yongchang, I will marry you, but it's actually just to gain the trust of the King of Yongchang. Because Chen Ji presented the map of the treasury before us, the King of Yongchang would inevitably suspect that my father and I are not sincere in our surrender, but are forced to do so. So my father advocated our marriage to express his determination to fight against the Meng family."

Tao Ye's head seemed to be hit all of a sudden, and her mind went blank for a moment: "What...what do you mean?"

Wang Jing was solemn and explained further: "In my heart, Gillian is unique and irreplaceable. No matter how similar we are, I never want anyone to take her place, let alone marry someone else. So our four years of marriage was a fake marriage from the beginning."

Tao Ye suddenly felt very confused. She thought for a long time and finally seemed to figure it out: "You mean to say that you were just using me from the beginning to the end?"

"Yes. First, I used your magic to help me get rid of the princess easily and find my father quickly. Then I used you to gain the trust of King Yongchang to ensure the safety of my father and me in Yongchang." Wang Jing answered directly.

"And I... was so stupid as to be your free driver and also be your and your daughter's free babysitter for four years?" Tao Ye was infatuated, but suddenly she realized and felt very disappointed.

Wang Jing didn't quite understand what Tao Ye said, but he roughly understood the meaning. He just continued his speech: "Now that we have left Yongchang, I no longer need you. I am very grateful that you took the initiative to give me the "divorce letter" so that I don't have to bear the bad reputation of abandoning you."

Tao Ye raised her head and stared at Wang Jing's face. In all the years past, she had never imagined that the man in front of her could one day speak so cruelly and selfishly.

Unexpectedly, Wang Jing's next words were even more harsh: "Since you have divorced your husband, we have nothing to do with each other. Miss Tao should be reserved and respect herself, and don't bother me."

Tao Ye no longer wanted to continue this conversation. She was not only deceived and used, but what he said today was simply a trampling on her self-esteem!

Tao Ye slapped Wang Jing in the face without knowing why, and said in a sharp tone: "If your daughter hadn't cried and knelt down to beg me to come to visit you as a "friend", who do you think would be interested in seeing you again?"

Yu'er was shocked when she saw Taoye making a move from a distance. She didn't know what the two of them were talking about, so she ran over in a panic and shouted at Taoye angrily: "You...how could you hit my dad?"

Tao Ye ignored Yu'er.

Wang Jing ignored Yu'er and continued to look at Tao Ye. He responded to the previous words lightly, with a little more sarcasm: "With a relationship like ours, it is impossible for us to become "friends". If you really don't want to see me again, you shouldn't continue to stay in this place that doesn't belong to you. Go back to your hometown, and my daughter will naturally have no chance to "beg" you."

Tao Ye nodded, with hatred in her eyes, but she didn't want to cry, because it would be too embarrassing to cry in front of this person at this moment.

Even though she had cried in front of him countless times, today she couldn't cry, which was the saddest thing.

"I really shouldn't have come today." Tao Ye turned around and walked away quickly without any hesitation, let alone looking back.

Looking at Tao Ye's back as she walked away, Yu'er seemed to understand something.

She stared at Wang Jing speechlessly: "Father, why can't you just speak properly? Do you know how much money I spent and how much I traveled just to meet her this time?"

"From now on, you are not allowed to interfere in my affairs." Wang Jing reprimanded Yu'er sternly. He leaned on his cane and started walking towards home.

Seeing Wang Jing's attitude, Yu'er became even angrier: "Isn't it all for the sake of making you happier?"

"If you don't listen to me and continue to act on your own, I will no longer acknowledge you as my daughter." Wang Jing said this casually, without even looking at Yu'er, and walked away.

Tao Ye ran all the way back to Meixiang Pavilion and entered through the back door. She ran into a few dancers who all asked, "Where did Sister Tao go just now? Someone has been looking for you in front."

Tao Ye forced herself to speak but didn't want to talk. She went up the stairs behind the house to the second floor and went straight to her room.

As soon as she entered, she immediately closed the door, threw herself on the bed and started crying.

Last night, she almost couldn't sleep the whole night, just because she was repeatedly struggling with whether or not to keep the appointment today. She tossed and turned countless times. Yu'er's helpless tears and Wang Jing's illness reappeared in her mind over and over again.

Finally, she couldn't control her feet and appeared in front of Wang Jing.

She didn't know whether it was her pity for the Wang father and daughter, or her own restless heart, that prompted her to make that decision.

Fuxuan called Taoye to come downstairs to meet the guests in the corridor, but no matter how she called, Taoye just didn't respond. She just lay on the bed and cried for a long time, but she still couldn't vent the depression in her heart.

Caiwei heard Fuxuan's shouting and knocked on the door several times. She heard Taoye's crying and kept asking Taoye what was wrong through the door, but Taoye ignored her.

Until noon, Tao Ye not only did not go downstairs to meet the guests, but also did not eat lunch.

Tao Ye was tired of crying in her room, so she sat there in a daze. She was thinking about many things, and she was increasingly confused about what she was doing now and what was the meaning of it?

As the sun was setting, Shen Hui knocked on Tao Ye's door in person and asked, "You are so closed off that you don't see anyone. Do you want me to close down?"

Tao Ye recognized it as Shen Hui's voice, then she slowly stood up and opened the door.

After the door opened, Shen Hui was surprised when she saw Tao Ye.

Tao Ye's eyes were red and swollen because she cried for too long, and even the makeup on her face was smudged. The indigo on her eyebrows and the rouge on her cheeks were smudged all over her face, which looked really scary.

Shen Hui looked at her for a while, then chuckled and asked, "You look like this, have you been abandoned by your lover?"

"No, I divorced him!" Tao Ye pretended to be nonchalant, arrogant and confident.

Shen Hui smiled again, as if to comfort him: "Actually... a woman doesn't necessarily need a man to live a good life. Look at me, I live a comfortable life without a man around me."

Tao Ye couldn't help but sneer after hearing this, and couldn't help but sneer what she had always wanted to say but didn't dare to say: "You are rich, so of course you can live comfortably. I owe you a lot of debt, it would be strange if I can live well!"

Shen Hui just smiled and didn't care.

This is indeed the fact. Since Tao Ye came to Meixiangxie, in order to meet Shen Hui's requirements, she has had to learn various musical instruments and dances day and night. She is exhausted every day. How can she live a good life?

In fact, when Tao Ye was a child, she loved music, singing and dancing very much. However, she had to give up because her mother was too poor and the fees for art classes were very expensive.

When she first arrived at Meixiangxie, she was filled with joy, thinking that those wishes that she had never dared to think about as a child could finally come true.

Who knew that this was such a devilish training and profitable business? It didn’t take long before she developed calluses on her hands and blisters on the soles of her feet. She endured the pain every day, and now she doesn’t even know what the point of her efforts is.

"Do you know what your lover has been busy with recently?" Shen Hui's words brought Tao Ye back from her wild thoughts.

Tao Ye shook her head.

Shen Hui smiled and said, "He wants Meng to allow the son of Prince Yongchang to come to the capital to marry his daughter."

"Did Meng agree?"

"If Meng doesn't agree, the Wang family will not be able to forgive Director Si Yao for harming her mother-in-law. For the princess to keep her husband, she has to agree."

Taoye nodded.

"But... agreeing is just a superficial thing..." At this point, Shen Hui's smile became a little mysterious, and even her voice became smaller: "Meng secretly accepted the advice of Grand Marshal Chen Xi without telling Prince Consort Wang, and secretly set up two ambushes inside and outside the city to prevent the wedding from being fake and the rebellion from being real..."