"I promise this will be the very last time. If there's a next time, I won't bother you again…"
Lin Yuwei offered a faint smile, tinged with a hint of coaxing. She was truly out of options, which was why she had the audacity to come to Feng Jin.
"Sigh…" Feng Jin sighed helplessly, her gaze falling on Lin Yuwei. She cleared her throat and continued, "Tell me, what exactly caused this whole commotion, and why are you staging this drama of running away from home again?"
Given that these two bickered constantly, fighting minor battles every other day and major ones every few, who knew what disagreement had sparked this time? Not only were they restless themselves, but they also dragged others into their turmoil.
"It's all because… it's all because he went to the pleasure house…"
Lin Yuwei grumbled indignantly, recounting the entire story to Feng Jin. As her emotions peaked, she didn't forget to slam the table forcefully.
"I knew it! Him running around all day is never for anything good. In the blink of an eye, he ends up at a pleasure house!"
The mention of the pleasure house reignited Feng Jin's temper, which had just begun to subside.
"Sister Feng Jin, isn't it infuriating? One by one, they sneak off to these pleasure houses. If you didn't know better, you'd think they had a string of lovers there…"
"Enough, stop rambling. My temper had just calmed down a little, and you're going to set it all ablaze again."
Feng Jin quickly cut off Lin Yuwei, fearing her temper would truly become uncontrollable if she continued.
"But, speaking of which, Sister Feng Jin, you are truly remarkable. The story of you catching your husband in the act at a pleasure house has spread like wildfire throughout the capital. It's truly thrilling…"
Lin Yuwei's words stunned Feng Jin. Her gaze shifted to Lin Yuwei. "You mean… it's all over the capital?"
She had never imagined it would spread so quickly. With rumors flying, she had no idea how twisted the story would become. Her hard-earned good reputation would be ruined again.
This was truly terrible. If she had known this would happen, she wouldn't have acted so impulsively. One misstep indeed led to a cascade of errors.
"Yes… Sister Feng Jin, you have no idea. You are now a role model for the women of this capital. You're the first person brave enough to go to a pleasure house and drag your husband back. So many people secretly admire you."
"Admire… More likely, many are secretly cursing me for being unvirtuous and jealous… for committing one of the 'seven grounds for divorce,' right? Such women should be divorced immediately. An unvirtuous wife will bring disaster upon her descendants."
Lin Yuwei's face was filled with surprise, and her gaze fell on Feng Jin. "How did you know these things?"
She almost suspected how Sister Feng Jin, who rarely left her chambers, knew such details. It was indeed unexpected, almost uncanny.
"I can guess. These self-important scholars, they just love to use the words of the sages to condemn others, thereby highlighting their own greatness. It's truly pathetic and laughable."
"However, those opposing voices are in the minority. Most of us admire and respect you. I've been thinking, if only I were as brave as you, I wouldn't be bullied by that scoundrel Chu Chenyi. It's just that he's a prince, and I'm merely a princess consort dependent on him for my livelihood. I'm destined to be unable to defy him and can only live by submitting to him…"
Lin Yuwei sighed helplessly. From the day she was betrothed to Chu Chenyi, her fate had been sealed. For this lifetime, she would be confined to a grand estate, revolving her existence around a man.
Living like this every day was incredibly stifling and unpleasant. If she could make her own choices, she wished to live for herself, to live according to her own desires.
"What do you mean by living dependent on a man? We are all living, breathing individuals. We have hands and feet, and we are no less capable than men. Why should we be dependent on others? Can't we live by ourselves?"
As an independent woman, she found it unbearable to hear talk of depending on men, and even more so to endure the restrictions of the 'three obediences and four virtues' for women.
Born human, why should gender dictate hierarchy? Who decreed that women must rely on men to survive?
"Live by myself… live…" Lin Yuwei murmured, Feng Jin's words echoing in her mind. Instantly, her thoughts raced. She, too, could live in this world by herself…
"Exactly, live by yourself. As women in this society, we are inherently the weaker party. We need to learn to protect ourselves. The most important thing is to firmly grasp wealth in our own hands."
"Therefore, you must learn to earn money with these hands and support yourself. This way, you won't be controlled by men. Even if you have to divorce Chu Chenyi one day, you'll have the confidence to pack your bags and leave!"
Feng Jin's words instantly ignited Lin Yuwei's passion. She felt Feng Jin's words were profoundly reasonable.
"That's right, Sister Feng Jin, you've said it perfectly. I must learn to make money with you. Then, when Chu Chenyi bullies me again, I'll divorce him outright and we'll go our separate ways, never to see each other again!"
Sometimes, just looking at Chu Chenyi's face made her feel unlucky. Things were much better now than before, but they still argued every few days.
This life of toiling for daily necessities truly exhausted her, both mentally and physically. She also had to think about earning money every day to fill Chu Chenyi's bottomless pit. At times, she felt she was out of her mind for doing such foolish things.
Now that she understood, she needed to find a way to stop the losses in time. But a marriage decreed by imperial edict wasn't something that could be easily dissolved.
Even for ordinary commoners, divorce was a convoluted ordeal, and women faced constant disdain. For a moment, Lin Yuwei's resolve wavered.
She looked at Feng Jin hesitantly, then asked in a low voice, "Sister Feng Jin, you say, after a woman divorces, will she be ridiculed by everyone… ridiculed for being unvirtuous and having committed the seven grounds for divorce… that's why she's divorced?"
She wouldn't mind enduring some ridicule herself, but she couldn't bear to implicate the entire Pingyang Marquis's manor with her. First, she couldn't assist the Marquis's manor, and she often had to rely on her mother for help. If she were to cause the entire Pingyang Marquis's manor to fall into turmoil because of her own selfish desires, it would be too much.