Chapter 450: Ex-wife

It was almost New Year’s Eve. Because there were more people in the residence, it was extremely lively.

Ruyi had never lived in a house of this size, which even came with such a spacious courtyard. Feeling inspired to decorate the space, she spent her days dragging Xiao Zhu and Yu Ling to the market to shop with her. At the same time, Shu Botong, Qin Anming, and Li Shouji would follow behind them to help carry their shopping bags.

Xiaoyi knew that Zhuang Zhuang and Xiaoguo had come to the capital, so he went to visit them that evening. When he left, he brought Zhuang Zhuang along with him to the palace, saying that they were going there to play. But they had been gone for several days now, and there was no sign of him sending Zhuang Zhuang back.

Xiaoguo wanted to go out with Ruyi and the others, but unfortunately she couldn’t get away because Jiang Danhe was being very clingy.

Apart from the time when he was out working, he spent most of his free time with Xiaoguo, hanging beside her all day long. No one was so insensitive as to disturb their couple’s time.

Moreover, he had to see her when he reached home. Otherwise he would throw a tantrum and only stop after Xiaoguo tried to cheer him up.

Therefore, she could only hang out with Ruyi and the others when Jiang Danhe was not around.

…..

“Sister Xiaoguo, is it okay for you to come out?”

Ruyi asked as she ate the candied hawthorn in her hand.

“No problem.”

If she continued to stay at home, she would fall into depression very soon. Xiaoguo handed the baked sweet potatoes to the people behind her and said happily, “I heard that he will come back very late today.”

Jiang Danhe knew that he had gone too far, so he took the initiative to tell her that he would be returning late before leaving for work in the morning.

Ruyi’s face puckered up as she tasted the sourish candied hawthorn. With difficulty, she said, “They seem quite busy recently. Li Shouji had gone out with him too.”

Ruyi was about the same age as Li Shouji, so they addressed each other by their names. Just a few days ago, he still had time to go out with the group, but in the past two days, he suddenly got busy. With one less person to help carry her shopping bags, Ruyi had to limit her purchases.

“Sister Ruyi, you should just eat roasted sweet potatoes like us. They’re very sweet.”

Upon seeing Ruyi frown while tasting the candied hawthorn, Yu Ling deliberately waved the sweet potato in her hand, letting the fragrance waft to the other party’s nose. Tears of regret instantly flowed from Ruyi’s mouth.

She had thought that the candied hawthorns in the capital would be sweeter than those in Yonghai County. She didn’t expect them to taste worse.

Qin Anming smiled and split open the sweet potato in his hand. He handed her the half which he had yet to take a bite. “I am full. You can have this.”

Seeing this, Ruyi quickly stuffed the last hawthorn into her mouth. Then, she took the sweet potato shyly and said, “Thank you, Brother Anming…”

After taking it, she even showed off to Yu Ling before nibbling on it happily. Brother Anming had given her the sweet potato, so even the skin was too precious to be thrown away..

Xiaoguo smiled and looked behind her. She was about to tease her brother when she saw the distracted-looking Shu Botong. He seemed to be looking for something.

“Are we still going by this route today?”

Xiao Zhu turned around and asked.

“Yes, yes. Let’s go. This is the faster route to the market,”

Shu Botong said immediately when he heard her question.

The others had no objections. In any case, it didn’t matter which route they picked. As long as the endpoint was the same.

Xiaoguo retracted her gaze and took a bite of the cold sweet potato. There was something strange about Shu Botong’s behavior. She had a feeling that he had some secret agenda for coming to the capital. She couldn’t find time to ask him over the past few days and she was almost dying of curiosity.

They passed by many big houses along the way. It was obvious that the people living in them were not lacking in wealth.

It was true that this was a shorter route to get to the city, but it was not the only way to get there. Xiaoguo heard that Shu Botong had proposed to take this route.

Just as the few of them were walking leisurely, a sedan chair that was carried by a few men came approaching from the opposite direction.

In this day and age, it was rare to see sedans carried by bearers. Moreover, this was one that was carried by eight people.

This was Xiaoguo’s first time seeing a man-powered sedan, so she couldn’t help but steal a few more glances.

When the sedan passed by them, a gust of wind suddenly blew past, lifting the curtain of the sedan. Immediately a burst of fragrance was detected in the air, almost making the few of them sneeze.

Only Shu Botong was staring straight at the sedan chair. To be precise, he was looking at the person inside.

Xiaoguo waved her hand to disperse some of the fragrance and she saw the man staring at the sedan chair in a daze.

Following his gaze, she saw the sedan chair stop at the door of a house. A group of servants rushed forward eagerly. Some of them were leaning over as footstools, and some were standing at the side with bent backs, to welcome the person in the sedan chair.

It was really an eye-opener for Xiaoguo. Even the emperor didn’t have so many servants fawning over him. Who was this person inside?

Out of curiosity, she stood rooted to the ground and looked in the same direction as Shu Botong, but they were watching for different reasons.

When the curtain of the sedan was lifted, a pair of slender and well-manicured hands extended from inside the sedan and gently held on to the servant’s hand. On one of the slender wrists was a jade bracelet. Just by looking at her hands, one could tell that this lady was definitely a beauty.

As expected, when Xiaoguo saw her face, she nodded in silence. “What a pure and charming beauty.”

Shu Botong frowned immediately when he saw the woman get out of the sedan.

Looking at him, one could not help but wonder about their relationship.

Xiaoguo was wondering the same thing. She looked at the beauty and then at Shu Botong, just like a curious onlooker.

When the beauty had disappeared from their sight, Shu Botong heaved a sigh of relief.

“What’s the situation?”

Looking slightly stunned, Shu Botong did not speak. An aura of silence was emanating from his entire body.

“I knew it. You came here for a reason. Do you know her?”

Xiaoguo ignored him and continued asking.

This time, Shu Botong didn’t pretend not to hear her question again. He nodded slightly and explained, “She’s my previous… wife.”

When he mentioned the word “wife,” there was a hint of sarcasm in his tone and a disdainful smile on his lips. He looked like he had a strong aversion to this person.

Xiaoguo nodded in sudden realization. It all made sense now. She had been wondering why his expression looked so complicated earlier. It turned out that the woman in question was his ex-wife who had abandoned him.

“Did you know that she was living here?”

Shu Botong was the one who kept insisting that everyone should go this way.

“No, I didn’t know.” Shu Botong shook his head honestly before saying with a disdainful look on his face, “I only know that she had become the concubine of a senior minister named Chang. It was only after asking about her whereabouts from Brother Shouji that I know that she lives in the vicinity.”

Xiaoguo nodded and looked at the sign of the mansion, feeling puzzled. “Why does this surname look so familiar?’

“Chang? Chang? Chang…”

“Minister Chang is already so old. She had become his concubine?’

Suddenly, Xiaoguo remembered who Minister Chang was. Wasn’t he the lecherous old man who had several young women hanging around him at the banquet on the island?

“How could it be him… ?’

Thinking of that man who had been hollowed out by wine and lust, and who was approaching 50, Xiaoguo couldn’t help but shudder with disgust. She couldn’t understand why such a beautiful woman would choose to be with him.

“Hmph, for the sake of fame and fortune, she doesn’t care about anything else. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have clung to me so desperately back then.”

Shu Botong’s disdain for her was almost overflowing.

Xiaoguo watched his expression carefully. From what he was saying, there seemed to be more to this.

She probed, “Then what do you think?”

“I was just curious to find out how she’s doing. Heh, it seems like she’s doing well.”

Shu Botong had to admit that this woman was indeed very “capable”.

She had a clear goal, knew what she wanted, and was ruthless enough to abandon her own parents in order to pursue wealth and power on her own in the capital.

In terms of ruthlessness, if she was ranked first, no one would dare to claim second.

Back then, if she had not clung onto him so desperately, putting on a facade of modesty and gentleness, he wouldn’t have been forced into a marriage by his parents who were eager for grandchildren. He definitely wouldn’t have married someone who was shallow and unscrupulous.

Although she claimed that she loved him, she was just eying his fame and wealth.

As expected, when he came into trouble, that woman’s true colors were immediately exposed. She had also quietly embezzled a lot of money from his family. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to make it safely to the capital.

One had to know that her family was in dire straits. Otherwise, her parents would not have starved to death eventually.

God was indeed unfair. Good people were always doomed, but bad people always had the last laugh..