To divorce his wife, the top scholar preferred being cuckolded to wearing a red hat.

“I understand my husband’s desire to buy that courtyard. I wonder which courtyard it is, and whether my husband has inquired about the price. Although we have 100,000 taels of silver in the bank, if we use it to buy the courtyard, there will be very little left. If my husband needs money for his official career in the future, we will not be able to come up with it.”

“I know this is a difficult matter. If I don’t send the courtyard, I can’t refuse Miss Su. I can’t very well marry Miss Su, that would be really unfair to you.”

“What’s a little grievance for my husband’s future? If Miss Su can’t tolerate me, my husband can just give me a divorce and let me leave. I won’t say a word.”

“You are my wife, how could I do this? Mingyue, don’t say such things anymore. If outsiders hear this, they’ll think I’ve wasted my education.”

Su Mingyue sneered inwardly: So you knew.

"What does my husband want?" Su Mingyue thought he would let her leave easily, but she didn't expect him to be so stubborn and unwilling to divorce her.

He doesn't want a divorce, he wants to divorce his wife, he wants to kill her?

“Mingyue, I know I’ve always believed you were sincere towards me. Since you’re so sincere, how could I bear to hurt you? I’ve said before that once I become an official, you’ll be an official’s wife, and I’ll make sure you enjoy a life of luxury. You should go back now. I’ll handle this matter. If I can’t handle it, then we’ll talk again.” Fu Jingsheng looked so devoted to her, and Su Mingyue could only laugh.

Is he reluctant to divorce her now?

It was because she couldn't bear to part with the 100,000 taels of silver she had.

Without that 100,000 taels of silver, the Fu family would be nothing but an empty shell.

With those 100,000 taels of silver in hand, Fu Jingsheng felt somewhat more confident in front of the Su family or Su Ziyu.

It's just acting, she can do it.

"Don't worry too much. If all else fails, we can explain the situation to Lord Su and say that you were married in the countryside before. I believe Lord Su is a reasonable man. You are already married, so he can't possibly marry his daughter to you as a concubine."

“No way.” Fu Jingsheng refused immediately upon hearing this: “We still need to maintain a good relationship with Lord Su and cannot offend him. If we tell him the truth, we will offend Lord Su, and then I will never be able to gain influence in the capital. Understand, this matter absolutely cannot be done. To outsiders, we are just cousins. You must remember, and you must remember even more, that I have never been married or betrothed in the countryside.”

"If Lord Su investigates carefully, he will find out that you have been married before. Lord Su is in such a high position, he would definitely be serious about marrying a woman."

"I have my own way of handling this. If you really care, just pretend you don't know anything."

"I understand." Su Mingyue's expression was dejected. "Lord Su is the head of all officials. It's our good fortune to be favored by his daughter. Don't worry, I won't do anything for your career."

Fu Jingsheng's mind raced, but he was also quite satisfied: "I've made you suffer these past few days. Go out and inquire about the courtyard. Since I promised Miss Su that I would give her a courtyard, I must keep my word and not break my promise."

"Are you free tomorrow? Why don't you take me there? Maybe I can get them to agree."

Upon hearing that Su Mingyue had a solution, Fu Jingsheng immediately agreed to take her to see it the next day.

Su Mingyue returned to her Mingyue Courtyard, and Xingchun quickly poured her a glass of water.

She waved her hand: "Why drink water? I'm about to throw up."

"Madam, you're not really planning to buy a courtyard for the young master, are you?"

“Buy, of course I’ll buy.” A cool smile appeared on Su Mingyue’s face: “They won’t let me leave unless they spend all the money I have. I’ll take advantage of this to buy the courtyard and spend all the money.”

Xingchun's eyes lit up: "Madam really has a way."

The courtyard originally belonged to the lady of the house; buying it with her money is perfect.

"But if that courtyard is bought, it will be under Young Master Fu's name."

"Don't worry, I have a way to handle this." Su Mingyue waved her hand: "Prepare some water, I want to take a bath."

She had just finished showering when Madam Qian brought Fu Jingying over.

Her courtyard was simple, filled with things from before.

Fu Jingsheng came over and frowned: "Su Mingyue, where are all your jewelry? Didn't you bring them with you?"

“I thought those pieces of jewelry were too old-fashioned and definitely not fashionable in the capital. Bringing them here would only make Jingsheng lose face, so I bought them all.” Su Mingyue looked up at a hairpin in Fu Jingying’s hair: “Jingying’s hairpin is so beautiful. It must be the most fashionable style in the capital.”

The hairpin was, of course, a gift from Su Ziyu, and it wasn't cheap; it cost a hundred taels of silver. "Those previous ones were indeed not presentable enough. How about this, I know a few jewelry stores in the capital with nice designs. Let's go take a look tomorrow."

If I go there, Su Mingyue will send me a few items.

"Tomorrow probably won't work. I've already arranged with Jingsheng to go see a courtyard tomorrow. If you have time, you can come along too. Jingsheng said that the courtyard is very beautiful, and it's warm in winter and cool in summer."

"I heard that only wealthy families own estates. My brother has good foresight; he's already thinking about buying one so quickly. Mom, let's go take a look together tomorrow. In the future, when we have free time, we can learn from others and stay at the estate whenever we want. Wouldn't that be great?"

Madam Qian had no knowledge of these things, but upon hearing what her daughter said, she was naturally pleased: "Alright, let's go take a look together tomorrow."

Looking at Su Mingyue, he said sternly, "Su Mingyue, you'd better behave yourself. Buy whatever my son wants. If you don't behave, just wait for my son to divorce you."

"Aunt, now that you mention it, I'm really scared. I love Jingsheng so much, I'll naturally give my all for him."

"It's good that you know. The fact that we, Jing Sheng, are keeping you in the manor now is out of kindness. Remember, you are just a cousin in the manor now. Speak less and do more. If you cause trouble, the Fu family will not keep you."

Madam Qian reprimanded Su Mingyue and told her to avoid going to the front yard unless necessary before leaving.

Xingchun was furious: "What a family of heartless bastards, I spit on them."

"That's human nature, what's there to be angry about? People strive for better things, that's normal." Su Mingyue tossed her hair, her face full of charm: "It's better to see through this family than to be schemed against by them."

“I just feel sorry for you. You treated them with your sincerity, and they treated you like this. Don’t they remember that even if Young Master Fu had extraordinary talent back then, he wouldn’t have been able to go to the capital to take the imperial examination without money? Now that he’s in power, he’s forgotten all that and now he thinks you’re in his way, Madam.”

“If we talk about what happened before now, it would just mean we were being unreasonable.” Su Mingyue picked up the account book from the side: “You can go now, you don’t need to serve me anymore, I’ll look at the account book for a while and then go to sleep.”