She remarried a cold-faced, powerful man, and the scumbag regretted it and cried his heart out.

Chu Xiangling was temporarily imprisoned in the Duweisi (Commandery Bureau). When she was being escorted to the Duweisi dungeon, her gold-embroidered shoes stepped over the bloodstains.

Chu Xiangling's fingertips, stained with nail polish, barely touched Shen Jingshu's brocade sleeve before being forcefully deflected by a ring-pommel scabbard. Her hand paused, but she still gripped Shen Jingshu's sleeve.

“I’ve already prepared the antidote for Drunken Flower Shade in a hidden compartment of Sanchunxiao’s dressing table.” She looked up into Shen Jingshu’s clear, bright eyes. “Miss Shen…”

"Insolence!" Shen Jingshu flicked her wide sleeves, the Shu brocade brushing against Chu Xiangling's palm. "How dare you speak such nonsense before the wife of the Commandant?"

The light in Chu Xiangli's eyes went out.

Lin Yu had prepared a carriage in front of the Duweisi Gate. The moment he lifted the carriage curtain, Lady Lü staggered and knelt down on the steps, her cries heart-wrenching.

A few strands of white hair were tangled around her temples, and tears soaked the hem of her dress embroidered with large peonies: "Jing Shu! Yin Yin is going to cut her hair and become a nun at Shanyuan Temple!"

With the sound of a clapper, Shen Jingshu felt dizzy and collapsed into Jiang Jin'an's arms, which were filled with the fragrance of agarwood.

……

At dawn, a sudden downpour resumed.

When Shen Jingshu woke up, the pillow was still warm, and the mirror reflected her disheveled hair.

The news that Minister Wen's eldest daughter had gone to Shanyuan Temple to become a nun spread throughout the capital city before dawn. She had no time to think it through; she got out of bed and headed to the Duke of Dingguo's mansion to find Gu Changyi.

Jinse quickly helped her up: "Madam, don't worry, Young Master Gu is in the west wing and has been waiting for half the night."

Shen Jingshu stepped barefoot onto the brocade carpet and suddenly noticed seven broken stems with their flower crowns cut off at the base in a white porcelain vase on the table.

On the mahogany tray held by Yaoqin, a broken hairpin with gilded intertwined branches was inlaid with dark red blood streaks: "Young Master Gu braved the rain to find the West Corner Gate, only to find that the peony had been cut off at the root, and this was stuck in the broken stem..."

Shen Jingshu put on her embroidered shoes and ran to the side room.

The room reeked of alcohol. Jiang Jin'an tapped his fingers on the armrest of the armchair as he looked at Gu Changyi, who was covered in alcohol, on the soft couch.

Gu Changyi leaned back on the soft couch, holding a wine pot. His moon-white brocade robe was covered in mud, and he was drinking wine with half-melted locust flower candy in his hand.

The door opened, and sunlight dazzled his eyes. Upon seeing Shen Jingshu, Gu Changyi sprang to his feet, his eyes bloodshot, and snatched the hairpin from her hand, slamming it hard onto the rosewood table. "Sister-in-law, look! Isn't this the hairpin she wore?"

Shen Jingshu thought of Lu Shi's crying words, her throat tightened, and she swallowed the words she wanted to say.

"The Second Young Master is drunk." She tucked the hairpin into her sleeve and gestured for Yaoqin to bring over some hangover soup. "Sister Wenyin is currently at Shanyuan Temple..."

Shen Jingshu's nose turned red, and she choked up, unable to utter the words "shave her head and become a nun".

Gu Changyi snatched the celadon wine pot from Jinse's hand, which she was about to put away, tilted her head back and drank most of it down, the wine dripping down her chin and into her collar.

"That hypocrite Wen Huaiqing!" He wiped the remaining wine from his lips, grabbed the wine jug, and rushed into the rain. "Sikong! Prepare my horse!"

Sikong grabbed him tightly: "Young Master, please reconsider! The Jing Prince's residence is heavily guarded now—"

"Heavy troops?" Gu Changyi smashed the wine pot on the ground, shards of porcelain mixed with mud splashing onto his clothes. "I'd like to see if he dares to touch the Duke of Dingguo's knife!"

The seemingly frail young master suddenly found strength from nowhere and pushed Sikong to the ground.

"Stop him!" Jiang Jin'an shouted sharply, and Lin Yu leaped forward but missed.

Gu Changyi leaped onto the wall, the jade pendant at her waist shattering in two upon hitting the glazed tiles. "If the Duke of Dingguo's knife doesn't draw blood today, I'll tear down the plaque of the Prince of Jing's mansion and burn it as firewood!"

The Prince Jing's residence was guarded by the Imperial Guards sent by Emperor Hui, and Gu Changyi could not force her way in. The captain of the Imperial Guards looked at Gu Changyi, who seemed to have gone mad, and felt helpless. He could not afford to offend either the Prince Jing or the Duke of Dingguo, so he had no choice but to send someone to the Duke of Dingguo's residence to report the news.

Wen Huaiqing, however, slowly walked out with a twenty-four-ribbed oil-paper umbrella and stopped under the eaves inside the mansion gate: "Young Master Gu has quite the spirit. It's a pity that Miss Wen is copying the 'Precepts for Women' in the Buddhist hall right now."

Gu Changyi's pupils contracted sharply, and the tip of the gilded hairpin pressed against her palm: "You even monitor young ladies in their boudoirs, you're more diligent than the pimps in the brothels!"

"Insolence!" Mo Yun drew her sword.

Wen Huaiqing raised his hand to stop him, his fingertips stroking the jade thumb ring: "Minister Wen went to the palace yesterday to apologize, saying that his daughter was unruly and unfit for the royal family." He deliberately dragged out his words, "This morning he donated five thousand taels of incense money to Shanyuan Temple, saying that he wanted to pray for his daughter to be free from worldly desires and sever her ties to the imperial family."

Gu Changyi suddenly snatched the Imperial Guard's sword and roared, "You dare mention her again?!"

The blade grazed past his ear, severing a strand of hair.

Wen Huaiqing shook his head and laughed: "Gu Er, Gu Er, you can't even protect the seven peonies by the courtyard wall, how can you protect Wen Yin?"

Gu Changyi's sword slashed through the rain curtain, pointing straight into the doorway. "If she cuts off her hair, I'll shave your head and offer it to Buddha!"

"Insolence!" Duke Gu Zhong of Dingguo spurred his horse at full speed, his whip lashing Gu Changyi's back. "You unfilial son! Why don't you apologize to Prince Jing!"

Gu Changyi staggered and knelt down, the half of the gold hairpin in her bosom falling into the mud, the splashing water wetting Wen Huaiqing's brocade boots.

……

The candlelight flickered in the ancestral hall. Gu Changyi knelt before the ancestral tablets, the bloodstains on his brocade robe a shocking sight.

Gu Zhong's whip cracked through the air, startling the crows under the eaves: "You dare to trespass into Prince Jing's mansion today? Are you going to assassinate the emperor tomorrow?!"

Gu Changfeng was still kneeling on the prayer mat: "Second brother, you have quite the temper, all for a woman..."

Before he could finish speaking, Gu Zhong retorted, "You have no right to speak here!"

Another lash struck, the tip of the military whip cracking against Gu Changyi's back, drawing blood and tearing his brocade robe.

Jiang clutched her Buddhist prayer beads, her voice trembling: "Quickly admit your mistake!"

"Admit your mistake?" Gu Changyi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, then simply took off his clothes, revealing the old whip marks on his back. "Two years ago, this whip couldn't break my spine, but it can today?"

The candlelight illuminated the hideous old scars on Gu Changyi's back. Suddenly, the Buddhist prayer beads in Jiang's hand snapped, and the sandalwood beads rolled under the altar.

Gu Zhong roared in fury, whipping his whip: "You bastard! If we had let you practice martial arts back then, you would have been a ghost under Prince Jing's blade by now!"

"That's better than being a living dead!" Gu Changyi suddenly snatched the whip and broke it in two. "Father, do you know why Wen Yin would rather cut her hair? She said the peonies of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion—"

He grabbed the broken hairpin from the confession table and stabbed it fiercely into his palm, saying, "Only when stained with human blood can it bloom beautifully!"

Jiang exclaimed in surprise, "I remember you so much!"

Thunder roared outside the ancestral hall, and torrential rain poured down.

As the tenth lash fell, Jiang Jin'an, his black cloak billowing in the pouring rain, rushed in, his scabbard blocking the whip: "Uncle, if you want to punish me, you might as well punish me for this crime of condoning."

Gu Zhong was furious.

When Jiang saw him, she forgot about the injury on her youngest son's back; her mind was only on Gu Changfeng. "Jin'an, Changfeng is your cousin. We are family!"

Hurried footsteps came from outside the ancestral hall. A servant knelt down, holding a gilded visiting card: "The Prince Jing's mansion sent a message saying... saying that in five days, they will carry Miss Wen to their home. Even if Miss Wen is nothing but ashes, the red sedan chair will still pass in front of the Duke Dingguo's mansion!"