Upon hearing Li Wangzhou finally utter the word "divorce," Old Madame Li anxiously reached out to cover her grandson's mouth.
"My precious grandson, you mustn't say such things."
Still consumed by rage, Li Wangzhou declared,
"A wife like that is not worth keeping."
Old Madame Li looked in the direction where Shen Yiru had walked away. She blinked repeatedly, signaling Li Wangzhou with her eyes to stop provoking Shen Yiru any further.
"Grandmother, why must you fear her? If she dares to defy you, it is simply unfilial. Just throwing the charge of unfilial conduct at her will be enough to ruin her reputation," Li Wangzhou said indignantly.
Waiting until Shen Yiru was completely out of earshot, Old Madame Li gestured for all the servants in the room to withdraw. Once they had all retreated, she pulled Li Wangzhou down to sit beside her and earnestly persuaded him:
"You don't understand. It is only because Yiru has managed the household these past two years that our General's Manor has begun to look respectable. Your grandfather and father passed away early, leaving us, a helpless widow and orphan, with nothing more than the grand, empty shell of the General's Manor. For so many years, our household has lived in great straitened circumstances—until Yiru came into the family. Ever since she took charge, she has continuously used her own dowry to subsidize the manor, and only because of that have your mother and I lived comfortably for the past two years. Furthermore, my chronic cough has grown increasingly severe over these last two years. If not for Yiru's dedicated and painstaking medical care for me, I daresay I would have closed my eyes and gone to meet your grandfather long ago."
Listening to Old Madame Li's words, Li Wangzhou merely sat with a dark expression and remained silent.
"Sigh!" Old Madame Li let out a sigh. "In short, you must not divorce her. Not only must you not divorce her, but you must also go and coax Yiru properly. We must make her willing to continue pouring her heart and soul into our General's Manor."
Frowning deeply, Li Wangzhou thought for a long while before finally speaking:
"In consideration of our childhood sweet-heart bond, I can refrain from divorcing her. However, Grandmother, you saw her attitude toward me today—she holds me, her husband, in absolute contempt. Since she refuses to respect me as her husband, she can forget about receiving any affection from me. As for asking me to coax her, that is completely out of the question."
Hearing Li Wangzhou's resolute tone, Old Madame Li choked back her words. Her grandson had been stubborn since childhood; going head-to-head with him would only yield the opposite of her intended result.
Shifting her approach, Old Madame Li asked,
"Tell me, what is the background of this Sun Jingyou you brought back? If her origins are humble, we might as well just take her as a concubine first. After all, you are the one who took in a mistress behind Yiru's back and even got her pregnant. You brought her back without any prior warning and directly pressured Yiru into agreeing to let you take her as an equal wife. If word of this gets out, it will ruin your reputation as well. At any rate, if we first make Sun Jingyou a concubine, Yiru's emotions probably won't be so volatile. Taking her as a concubine can serve as a transitional step..."
Despite Old Madame Li's heartfelt and earnest persuasion, Li Wangzhou abruptly stood up.
"No, Jingyou cannot be a concubine. Given her status, even making her an equal wife alongside Shen Yiru is doing her a grave injustice."
Old Madame Li was completely bewildered. She truly could not fathom what extraordinary background an ordinary woman her grandson had brought back from the frontier could possibly possess. Lowering her gaze in thought for a moment, she asked,
"Grandmother knows that Sun Jingyou is your savior. Moreover, because she is carrying your child, you naturally cherish her all the more. But after all, Yiru entered the family first, and you did harbor genuine affection for her in the past. If you feel that making Sun Jingyou a concubine is unfair to her, you can simply shower her with more favor in the future. A mere title isn't all that important."
Shaking his head, Li Wangzhou lowered his voice and said,
"Jingyou is the long-lost daughter of the Grand Princess."
Hearing this, Old Madame Li's eyes widened in shock as she raised her voice and pressed,
"Are you saying that Sun Jingyou is Princess Luoqi, whom the Grand Princess has been searching for over a dozen years?"
"Grandmother, keep your voice down. Don't let anyone overhear us," Li Wangzhou said, glancing toward the doorway before leaning back in to sit beside Old Madame Li. He whispered,
"I still need to verify this matter to be certain. However, I inspected the jade pendant Jingyou wears close to her body, and it matches the token the Grand Princess left behind with Princess Luoqi all those years ago. In short, there is little doubt about Jingyou's identity as the princess. Right now, even Jingyou herself does not know her true identity, so Grandmother must be careful not to let anything slip."
Upon hearing this, Old Madame Li was overcome with excitement. She covered her mouth with a handkerchief and began to laugh, though her excitement inevitably triggered another bout of coughing.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Hasting to her side, Li Wangzhou reached out to pat her back.
"I'll go fetch the estate physician."
As he moved to stand up, Old Madame Li grabbed hold of him and shook her head repeatedly.
"Cough, cough... Grandmother is fine... Cough, cough... I am merely overjoyed."
She had been drinking the herbal decoction newly prescribed by Shen Yiru to recuperate these past few days, and the results were remarkably good. Occasional coughing fits were easily quelled by a sip of water to moisten her throat. Stopping her grandson from calling the physician, she picked up her teacup and took a sip of tea, gradually subduing her cough.
Setting the cup down, she looked at Li Wangzhou with a sharp gleam in her eyes.
"I heard that the Grand Princess gave birth to Princess Luoqi while following Consort Wu to the frontier to fight the Nanman. The circumstances were extraordinary; on the very day she gave birth to the princess, the child was misplaced. Because of giving birth to Princess Luoqi and the agonizing grief of losing her daughter, the Grand Princess severely damaged her health and was never able to conceive again. The Grand Princess has searched for Princess Luoqi for a full eighteen years. You can well imagine how immensely important this Princess Luoqi is in the heart of the Grand Princess."
Nodding in agreement as he listened to Old Madame Li, Li Wangzhou said,
"Therefore, if I take Jingyou as my wife, our General's Manor will be firmly and securely bound to the Grand Princess."
"Yes, precisely. Jingyou is someone who can bring boundless blessings to our General's Manor; she must never be made a concubine. If Yiru attempts to obstruct this, I, as her grandmother, will be the first to refuse," Old Madame Li said, rubbing her hands together in excitement.
"Although Yiru entered the family first and holds some wealth of her own, so what? Compared to the Grand Princess, what are a few coins? Furthermore, if she dares to commit any of the seven grounds for divorce, we can simply cast her out. A wife driven out of the house takes none of her dowry with her."
As Old Madame Li spoke, her eyes gradually grew dark and cold.
Nodding in agreement, Li Wangzhou said,
"Allowing Shen Yiru and Jingyou to share the position of my equal wives is already the utmost I can do to honor my childhood bond with her. If she refuses to acquiesce, I will simply divorce her and be done with it."
"Quite right. If she refuses to obey, we will divorce her. Anyone who wishes to be a wife in our General's Manor must be respectful to her elders and broad-minded enough to tolerate others. Otherwise, Shen Yiru is simply unfilial and fiercely jealous. We will have more than enough justification to cast her aside."
Li Wangzhou nodded, though a complicated and indescribable feeling stirred within his heart. In truth, divorcing his wife was not his absolute intention; the childhood bond between him and Shen Yiru could not simply be erased overnight. However, Shen Yiru's unyielding and rebellious attitude made him feel he had lost all face. Moreover, with Jingyou present, it was impossible for him to humble himself before Shen Yiru. Otherwise, if Jingyou grew angry, the loss would far outweigh any gain.
For the sake of the General's Manor's future, he had to coax Sun Jingyou into a happy state of mind. By comparison, Shen Yiru mattered very little.