My wife wants a divorce; if she ruins my life, I'll leave.

After lunch and a short rest, people began to take their leave. Once most of them had left, Meng Ruohua went up to say goodbye to Madam Zhuang.

Madam Zhuang was getting old and her spirits were failing, but she still held her hand and urged, "Come visit Furong when you have time."

"Alright, don't find me annoying when the time comes!"

"I've watched you grow up since you were a child. If I found you annoying, I wouldn't have let you come to visit!" Madam Zhuang was a kind-hearted woman who liked bright and straightforward girls like them the most. "Your mother said she's not feeling well and can't come. You should try to comfort her and tell her that relaxing is the way to take care of herself."

Meng Ruohua smiled and agreed, "Yes, I will definitely talk to my mother when I get home, and then accompany her to talk to you."

Previously, Mencius' mother was always concerned about her children's marriages and attended most of the banquets in the capital. Now that her children are married, she has become lazy and has declined all the banquets she can, spending her time at home writing and painting to cultivate her mind and body.

Lady Zhuang and the other wives of military officers thought that Mencius' mother was worried about her husband and son in the army, so they would give her a few words of advice whenever they met.

As soon as she got into the car, Meng Ruohua heard greetings from outside.

"The Second Master is here."

Lifting the carriage curtain, Song Chen'an's handsome face appeared before them.

"Brother, what's wrong? Why are you here?" Song Tian asked, leaning against the window.

Song Chen'an, who was always gentle and refined in public, suddenly felt a surge of pride when he noticed the ladies and young women waiting to go home secretly watching him at the door. He straightened his back, smiled slightly as refreshing as a spring breeze, and his long, narrow peach blossom eyes were filled with tenderness. "I've come to pick you up."

Song Chen'an couldn't help but think with regret that if it were summer, carrying a fan would have made him look even more dashing!

Seeing him so smug, like a peacock displaying its tail feathers, Meng Ruohua felt an itch to hit him.

She leaned back in the carriage and waved her hand dismissively: "Let's go home."

In the past, when she went out to banquets, Song Chen'an would pick her up at the appointed time. She always thought that Song Chen'an valued her, but she never expected that it was just Song Chen'an's performance!

All for the sake of establishing a gentle and considerate image of a good husband in front of everyone!

The autumn wind lifted the corner of the curtain, and through the gap, one could see Song Chen'an politely greeting everyone.

Meng Ruohua turned her head to the other side in disgust; she was really annoyed by looking at it for too long!

Song Tian, ​​who was in the car, did not look tired. She wanted to chat with Meng Ruohua for a while, but the other party closed her eyes to rest and seemed unwilling to talk, so she opened a small gap to look out.

She wanted to lift the curtain and chat with Song Chen'an for a bit, but with people coming and going on the street, she held back.

Next time there's a banquet like this, I should invite my second brother too. Male guests rarely enter the inner courtyard at these banquets, so even if she wanted to see him, she wouldn't be able to!

Song Tian turned her gaze to Meng Ruohua, wondering when the Wang family would hold a banquet and whether they would send an invitation to her sister-in-law. Although her sister-in-law and the second young mistress of the Wang family were very close friends, she was still a junior and couldn't make decisions.

I wish I could visit the Wang family someday.

It turned out that at the beginning of the year, during the Lantern Festival, she and Meng Ruohua went to the lantern fair together. Their rooms happened to be next to those of the women of the Wang family, so the two families joined together to have fun. Later, the two families went to see the lanterns together. Wang Yuanzhi, the seventh master of the Wang family, guessed more than ten lantern riddles in a row and composed five poems on the spot, which drew applause from everyone.

A handsome young nobleman stands gracefully under the lamp, wielding his brush and writing ink.

Song Tian felt that there was no one more handsome than him in the world!

From then on, she longed to see Wang Yuanzhi again, but unfortunately the two families had no relationship and she hadn't seen him for almost a year.

I wonder if I'll be able to travel with the Wang family again next year for the Lantern Festival?

My sister-in-law is really something. She has so many connections but doesn't keep in touch with them. All she does is stay cooped up at home all day!

Song House.

Meng Ruohua and Song Tian went to Rongxi Courtyard first, but seeing that the madam was still taking a nap, they each returned home.

The warm afternoon sun shone lazily on people, and Meng Ruohua leaned against the low couch and fell into a deep sleep.

She slept for an hour, and as it was getting dark, Linglong woke her up.

"Second Young Madam, don't sleep anymore, or you won't be able to sleep tonight."

Outside the window, the setting sun painted half the sky yellow, and the clouds changed from orange to pale yellow, layering out in a beautiful display.

Meng Ruohua looked on in a daze, recalling sitting on the mountaintop watching the sunset when she was a child.

That time, she went to Guangsheng Temple with her mother to offer incense and happened to run into Princess Yangcheng and Yu Yan, who were also there to offer incense. At that time, she was at an age full of energy and never took a proper nap at noon. She secretly slipped out with Yu Ye, intending to climb to the top of the mountain to admire the maple leaves. Unexpectedly, she met Yu Yan halfway up the mountain, so the two of them climbed to the top of the mountain together.

It was late autumn, and it was sunset.

The setting sun leaned against the mountains, and the evening glow dyed half the sky red, even the distant mountains were tinged with a thin layer of red.

They watched in silence, awestruck by the magnificent scenery before them, until the sun dipped below the mountains and darkness fell, at which point they hurriedly descended the mountain.

She said she would definitely be punished if she went down the mountain, and he said he would plead for her.

As expected, she was punished by copying the Heart Sutra fifty times. That night, she secretly sent someone to ask Yu Yan, only to find out that he hadn't been punished and was even angry for half a day.

They all sneaked up the mountain, so why doesn't Yu Yan have to write anything?

They even said they'd plead for her, but they disappeared as soon as they came down the mountain!

At that time, she thought, "As expected, the princess is magnanimous and doesn't care about such trivial matters, let alone such a boring punishment as copying scriptures!"

Years have passed, and if she hadn't met Yu Yan today, she would have long forgotten about this incident.

"Second Young Mistress, please get up. It's time to go to Rongxi Courtyard," Linglong reminded her.

Meng Ruohua regained her composure and said, "Okay."

Rongxi Courtyard.

As usual, the second wife asked a few questions, and finally scolded her for not taking care of Song Tian.

“The feud between Third Sister and Qin Man has a long history, and reconciliation is unlikely. We can only try to avoid it.” Meng Ruohua paused. “I will inquire about it first, and we will not go to places where Miss Qin is.”

Why should we avoid her?

"Then what does Madam suggest we do? If we offend Miss Qin, and she goes home and complains to Lord Qin, and then makes things difficult for Master, what should we do?"

……

They forgot that their master was working under someone else!

The second wife cursed him inwardly, annoyed that he was still stuck at the fifth rank after all these years, while those younger than him had all been promoted.

They should really throw away that room full of calligraphy, paintings, poems, and strategies. They don't do anything productive all day long, all they think about is spending money!

Seeing her constantly changing expression, Meng Ruohua guessed that she was complaining about the Second Master Song Chang's lack of progress.

She sipped her tea quietly, gazing absently at the sparse sunlight outside the door.

Most members of the Meng family held military positions, and even her maternal grandparents' family didn't hold high-ranking posts. The Meng family had little influence in the imperial court, which is why, in her previous life, when her father and brothers were falsely accused, few people pleaded for them—perhaps she was unaware of this. But looking at the current situation, the Meng family relies solely on the emperor's trust. However, her father has been in the Northwest for over a decade; does the emperor still trust him as much as he did a decade ago?

Furthermore, even with sufficient trust, it cannot withstand the destruction of those with ulterior motives. The Meng family is far removed from the imperial court, and any disturbance they may cause would take half a month to reach the Northwest.

She knew that her father had deliberately severed too many ties with the imperial court in the capital in order to put the emperor at ease, but they could not be fools and helpless lambs to the slaughter, nor could they die without knowing why.

Meng Ruohua was lost in thought when the second wife beside her, having finished her anger, devised a new tactic.

"Look at Brother Chen, he even went out of his way to pick you up. You should pay a little more attention to Brother Chen. What man sleeps in his study every day? It's so cold and lonely, without even a caring servant! I wanted to arrange something for Brother Chen, but he wouldn't allow it, saying he wanted to be considerate of you." The second wife's eyes were full of criticism. "Tell me, have you been considerate of him?"

When he first entered the household, he arranged for Consort Lü to be his concubine. After Consort Lü became pregnant, she arranged for a maid named Tuanxi to be her concubine, but Consort Lü later found fault with her and dismissed her. When Consort Lü became pregnant again, she arranged for Yingge to be her concubine, but she was not liked by Song Chen'an.

“What you say is true, Madam. I will go back and pick a day to have Pearl serve the Second Master.”