Chapter 162
“My son, if you truly like that Miss Fang, you can just take her as a concubine. Don’t even think about this divorce nonsense. Our family still has business dealings with the Zhai family.”
Madam Nie thought she was being earnest and persuasive, but in Nie Zhicheng’s eyes, her words were nothing but feudal thinking.
“What do you mean, concubine? That’s ancient, feudal thinking! And Mother, when did you become so materialistic? Caiyue and I are equals. Our love is one of equals. I must marry her!”
Nie Zhicheng was dead set on divorcing Zhai Jiayue and marrying Fang Caiyue. Since his family wouldn’t agree, he refused to come home, spending all his days with Fang Caiyue, enjoying romantic pastimes and sharing their philosophies on life.
Make no mistake, they were truly just pure philosophies on life.
And Madam Nie, naturally, blamed all of this on Zhai Jiayue. She felt Zhai Jiayue was useless, unable to hold on to her own husband.
Zhai Jiayue still hadn’t recovered from Nie Zhicheng’s words. After two years of torment in the Nie household, she had placed considerable hope in him. Now that this hope was shattered in an instant, she didn’t know how to sort through her feelings.
As for Nie Yaya?
Nie Zhicheng’s return had opened the door to a new world for her. She wanted to be a new-era woman. She got along quite well with Fang Caiyue and felt that a modern woman like her was the only one fit to be her sister-in-law.
The matter of Zhai Jiayue and Nie Zhicheng’s divorce was, in fact, a foregone conclusion.
Nie Zhicheng was the Nie family’s only son, which was why Madam Nie held such a high status despite the presence of concubines in the household.
Now, Nie Zhicheng was in his twenties with no heir, and he was adamant about the divorce. If the family didn’t agree, he wouldn’t return. In the end, the Nie family had to compromise.
Zhai Jiayue and Nie Zhicheng were divorced.
But in this vast world, she no longer had a home.
The situation in the Zhai family was unlike that of the Nies. Zhai Jiayue’s status in her own family was rather ordinary. The Zhai family had many sons and, consequently, much strife.
When Zhai Jiayue returned to the Zhai residence after the divorce, the gates were not opened for her.
Only her mother’s personal maid came out with a little money for her, relaying her mother’s message: “It is difficult for the Madam as well. The Master already dotes on the Third Concubine, and now that you’ve been divorced by the Nie family, seeing you will only make him angrier…”
The words were tactful, but the meaning was clear.
The Zhai family couldn’t afford the shame you bring. It’s better if you don’t come back. Just pretend we never had this daughter.
Zhai Jiayue had some money of her own, so survival wasn’t an issue.
However, the greatest blow to her was not the question of survival, but the attitudes of Nie Zhicheng and her own family.
Even though she had long known what the Zhai family was like, when the moment truly came, she couldn’t help but feel a chill in her heart.
Zhai Jiayue was all alone. Even with money, she wasn’t safe, not to mention her exceptional beauty.
Just as she was targeted by someone who wanted to rob her of both her money and her virtue, Zhai Jiayue was saved.
The man who saved her was just an ordinary person trying to make a living in the city. He wasn't a wealthy young master like Nie Zhicheng, who could attend school, study abroad, and call himself a new-era youth.
But he made Zhai Jiayue feel safe and reliable.
They became friends, with Zhai Jiayue mustering the courage to take the initiative.
The time she spent with him was the most peaceful and comfortable period of her life.
But the era would not allow them to live in peace and comfort.
War broke out, and a group of warlords arrived in the city. They were nothing more than bandits in military uniform.
They didn’t burn and pillage directly, but they demanded that the city’s business families, like the Nies and the Zhais, hand over two-thirds of their assets.
As for those who were not wealthy, they were forcibly conscripted.
Zhai Jiayue’s savior was on the conscription list.
The wealthy families were unwilling to part with so much of their fortune. They inevitably thought of other ideas, like sending the beautiful girls of their families over to persuade the warlords to ask for less, or to go and empty someone else’s coffers instead.
Originally, this had nothing to do with Zhai Jiayue. After all, she was divorced from Nie Zhicheng and had no ties to the Zhai family.
But both families, in their depravity, simultaneously set their sights on Zhai Jiayue.
For no other reason than her extraordinary beauty.
Zhai Jiayue seemed to have inherited only the best genes from her parents. The Zhai family had many daughters, but none were as beautiful as she was.
The same was true for the Nie family.
Naturally, Zhai Jiayue was unwilling, but they used her savior to threaten her.
She pretended to compromise, saying she wanted to say goodbye to her savior. The Zhai family, who had approached her first, agreed.
During their farewell, Zhai Jiayue gave all the money she had to her savior.
And she told him, “If you don’t want to go to the front lines, I can help you…”
Her savior paused for a moment, then smiled. He said, “It’s not that I don’t want to go. I do. Even if they hadn’t come, I would have gone. I want to contribute my small part. After I leave, you must take good care of yourself. Don’t always be so kind…”
Zhai Jiayue hadn’t expected this answer. She was a little confused. “But they… they aren’t good people, are they?”
By “they,” she meant the warlords.
But her savior shook his head. “They are indeed a bit domineering, but if it’s for the country, there’s nothing wrong with it. If the country is lost, how can there be a home? They are going to the front lines.”
This was something Zhai Jiayue didn’t know. Her perspective was still too narrow.
His words were a revelation to her.
But still, they had to part.
Zhai Jiayue was presented to the warlord’s commander by the Zhai family.
However, she did not do as they had expected—whisper sweet nothings in the commander’s ear and plead on the Zhai family’s behalf.
She said, “You are going to the front lines, to protect our home and defend our country. For such a dangerous task, you will certainly need money. Two-thirds is too little. After all, without you protecting the country, how could they live such comfortable lives?”
“Money lost can be earned again, but if a person is gone, everything is gone. The Zhai and Nie families are long-established. They must have substantial assets. Don’t listen to them crying about their hardships…”
Zhai Jiayue was retaliating, but at the same time, she genuinely wanted them to have more money, much more. That way, would the young man going to the front lines have a chance to survive?
But he didn’t.
The young man still died on the front lines.
A man returning from the front brought back his belongings, which included a letter for Zhai Jiayue.
In the letter, he told her to live well. He wrote that the war would be over soon, and that after learning to read and write, the very first letter he wrote was to her…
The letter did not mention his feelings for her, nor did it speak of love, but every word, every line, was filled with it.
By the time she finished the letter, Zhai Jiayue’s face was streaked with tears.
Her savior, her light, was dead. She no longer had any reason to remain in this world.
Even though he said he wanted her to live well and see the beauty that would come after the war, she only wanted to see it with him.
The road to the underworld, the Bridge of Helplessness—she wanted to walk them with him.
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