As soon as Ye Zhizhou walked out of the courtyard gate, he was chased down by a middle-aged man. The man glared at him and hurled unpleasant words at him repeatedly, but Ye Zhizhou ignored him, engrossed in reviewing the plot through the system data.
Fifteen minutes later, the two of them arrived at the courtyard where Madam Shen resided. The middle-aged man stopped at the courtyard gate, and a delicate-looking maid replaced him as Ye Zhizhou's guide. Perhaps because of his rather unconventional attire, the maid kept stealing glances at him.
"Um..." Ye Zhizhou shifted his gaze away from the screen and looked at the hesitant maid.
The maid averted her eyes, hesitated for a moment, and whispered, "Madam has guests in her room. Are you... Are you in need of a new robe?" She gestured towards his clothes, her voice growing even softer. "Shall I fetch one for you?"
This maid seemed kind-hearted. Ye Zhizhou smiled at her and then retrieved a small pearl from his spatial storage, offering it to her while speaking warmly, "Thank you, but there's no need. Regardless of how I dress, Madam Shen won't mind."
The maid's eyes filled with sympathy as she pushed the offered pearl back and shook her head. "You're a pitiable person... Actually, Young Master is quite nice, but..."
Young Master is quite nice? Ye Zhizhou raised an eyebrow, pocketing the pearl after noting the maid's appearance. He then turned his attention to the main building, which was now within close proximity.
Inside the main building, there was a lively scene. Apart from Madam Shen at the head, there were several well-dressed ladies, as well as refined young ladies and gentlemen seated below.
After entering the room, Ye Zhizhou glanced at them, noticing that they were all engrossed in their conversations, seemingly ignoring his presence. He sneered inwardly and addressed Madam Shen directly, "Madam, where is the divorce letter? I'll take it and leave. There's no need for all this show; it's futile."
Madam Shen, who had been planning to give him a good scolding and perhaps intimidate him, froze for a moment. Her face then darkened, and she glared at him in anger, saying, "What kind of manners have you learned? You've been tutored by maids for almost a year, yet your speech is still so rude! And look at your hair and clothes! Others might think I mistreat my 'precious' daughter-in-law like keeping her locked in the attic, feeding her three meals a day like a pet, removing the ladder, and having a bad-tempered servant guard her? As for my hair and clothes, they're not from your Shen family, so what's there to nitpick?"
Madam Shen didn't expect Ye Zhizhou to retort. She was so angry that she slammed the table and ordered, "Impudent! Du Mama, restrain him and slap him!"
Another round of slaps? Ye Zhizhou scoffed and, using his sleeve as cover, withdrew a toy sword from his spatial storage. He raised it to the neck of a nearby lady and declared, "Let's see who dares to touch me today!" In the year since the original host had married into the Shen family, Madam Shen had summoned him only three times, each time causing him to fall seriously ill. In modern terms, that was a case of physical and psychological abuse. Now, she wanted to repeat the same tactics, but he wouldn't allow it!
The room erupted into screams, and Madam Shen was so frightened that she fell into her chair, shouting, "Guards! Guards! Someone, subdue this audacious wretch and beat him to death with sticks!"
Some of the maids with courage began to move towards him, so Ye Zhizhou scattered a powder into the air from a pouch in his spatial storage. He then put away the toy sword and smiled, "I just sprinkled poison powder. If you want to die, continue approaching. Now... has anyone who came into contact with the powder felt a cooling sensation in their bodies and a sudden burst of energy?"
The two ladies closest to him and three maids quickly brushed the powder off their bodies, their faces turning pale as they felt the chilling sensation on their skin. One or two with weak psychological endurance even rolled their eyes and fainted.
"You'd better stay calm. The more agitated you are, the faster the poison acts," Ye Zhizhou warned as he sat down in a chair. He took out another pouch of powder and shook it, then looked at Madam Shen, saying, "Madam, I don't want to trouble you. Give me the divorce letter, and I'll give you the antidote. Isn't this a fair deal? If you insist on tormenting me to please your guests, then fine, we can all die together. After all, I'm just a lowly son-in-law who was married into the Shen family, not as precious as you ladies and young masters."
Madam Shen was both furious and afraid, and she didn't want to be threatened by a junior she could usually manipulate at will. She firmly refused his request, saying, "You want the divorce letter? Impossible! As long as Tingwei [Tingwei: the eldest son] is not well, you will remain my daughter-in-law!"
Just as he expected, Ye Zhizhou sneered inwardly. Madam Shen was superstitious and domineering; it was indeed difficult to obtain the divorce letter from her.
"A daughter-in-law of the Shen family?" He opened the powder pouch and dabbed a bit on his fingertip, then flicked it lightly. "I haven't paid respects to the heavens, haven't been recorded in the family tree, and I haven't even met Shen Tingwei in person. What kind of daughter-in-law am I?" Initially, due to concerns over an inauspicious wedding and a rushed timeline, the marriage between the Shen and Zou families had been kept very low-key. After the revelation of the proxy marriage, the Shen family had become even more reluctant to discuss the matter, expending significant effort to suppress external information. Almost a year had passed since then, and those who knew the truth dared not speak out of fear of the Shen family's influence, while the general public remained unaware, deceived by the smoke-screen of misinformation spread by the Shen family.
Madam Shen acted as if she were about to faint, clutching her chest.
Ye Zhizhou had been scanning with the system's capabilities since entering, and he knew she was in robust health, unlikely to be affected by such a minor incident. He watched her theatrical performance with a calm demeanor and casually released a bit of "poison" into the air, saying, "Is everyone feeling a bit drowsy now? Sleep, and you won't feel a thing."
Some of the more timid young ladies and gentlemen were already in tears, while the braver ones cursed him, and a few even threatened to attack him. Ye Zhizhou rested his longsword in front of him and silently sipped his tea. He had no intention of returning to the attic that was like a cage, nor did he want to stay in the Shen residence any longer. He could only bear with these young people for a while. After this commotion, he planned to pay a visit to the Zou residence. The protagonist wanted to continue living a carefree life under Zou Qing's identity? Dream on!
Inside the room, the wailing and cursing continued, and outside, the guards were rushing over.
Madam Shen was well aware of how long it would take for her guards to arrive. She quickly regained her composure and issued a counter-threat, saying, "Zou Qing, I advise you to be sensible, kneel down, and hand over the antidote. Otherwise, if we really resort to violence, you, a young man, won't gain anything."
"I have no intention of gaining anything," Ye Zhizhou replied with a sinister smile. "At most, it's just a life. Instead of being tortured to death by you, I'd rather take a few companions with me to the afterlife. You wanted to keep my life for the sake of your grandson's wedding, right? Well, if I die first, do you think your grandson will live a long life? I heard that when the fates of people with compatible birth years are entangled, they can affect each other's lifespans."
"Shut your mouth!" As soon as he mentioned her grandson, Madam Shen's anger flared up again. "Don't compare your wretched life to Tingwei's! You're not worthy!"
Ye Zhizhou's attitude grew colder. "Is it that the lives of all your daughters-in-law are worthless, and only the lives of your sons and grandsons are precious? So, torturing your daughter-in-law to death is not enough, and you want to torture me, someone with just a title of a granddaughter-in-law?"
In the original plot, Madam Shen had done many unethical things, and it was this elderly lady who had tormented Shen Tingwei's father to death in the cold. General Shen and Shen Tingwei couldn't do anything to her due to their obligations as obedient sons, so they had chosen to go to the border, staying away for three to five years until summoned by the emperor. Forcing the daughter-in-law to death was a forbidden area for Madam Shen, and if you touched that area, it would explode. Just at this moment, when the guards arrived with their weapons, she immediately screamed, "Seize this wretch for me! Gouge out his eyes, break his legs, and send him to the hook courtyard! Kill him!"
The guards hurriedly approached to apprehend him, but Ye Zhizhou casually took out a pill, then enveloped them in his psychic energy, saying slowly, "You're feeling very tired now. Sleep." The scent of the pill diffused in the air, carried by his psychic energy, and within a breath's time, the previously imposing guards fell one by one, collapsing and fainting. To avoid scaring the innocent young ladies and gentlemen, he "thoughtfully" sent a few pills over to lull them to sleep as well.
Madam Shen was frightened by this sudden change, shouting in shock, "Monster! Monster! What kind of sorcery have you used?! Someone, come quickly, drag this monster away! Drag him away!"
Ye Zhizhou patted the residue left by the crushed pill from his hands and smiled at her, "Madam, about this divorce letter, will you write it or not?"
"Don't come any closer!" Madam Shen couldn't help but shrink back, gritting her teeth. Finally, she compromised, "I'll write it!"
Ye Zhizhou was very satisfied with this response. He approached and considerately spread out paper and a pen for her, reminding, "After writing, remember to stamp it with the Shen family's seal. Otherwise, the divorce letter won't be valid." In this world, there were only two valid types of divorce letters: one with the husband's signature and seal, and the other with the family seal of the husband. Any other form of divorce letter without these two seals was considered invalid. In the original plot, Madam Shen had given the original host the second type. In reality, he preferred a divorce letter with both signatures, but in the current circumstances, he had to reluctantly give up on that.
After writing the divorce letter and affixing the Shen family's seal, he watched attentively. Satisfied, he pocketed the divorce letter and then opened a pouch of powder, releasing it into the air. "Here's the antidote for you. Now, I have no further business with the Shen residence. Farewell."
Madam Shen clenched her fists and refused to look at him. She clearly wanted to avoid acknowledging him. The other servants who were still conscious, even if they had "recovered from the poison," didn't dare to stop him again. They all cautiously made way for him.
He walked past the fallen guards, in high spirits, and pushed aside the curtain hanging over the main door. However, he collided head-on with a tall man who had just entered through the curtain. Due to the height difference, Ye Zhizhou's nose was precisely aligned with the newcomer's clavicle, where hard bone met soft cartilage, and the outcome was evident.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch..." Tears immediately welled up in his eyes, and his psychic energy inadvertently activated in attack mode. He took a step back, covering his nose, hissing as he breathed. His anger was directly punctured. Couldn't he just finish this charade happily? Did his nose break from the pain? Moreover, he didn't even sense someone entering. This wasn't logical! Wait, not sensing someone entering?
His anger dissipated instantly. He quickly raised his head and saw a shadow rushing toward him. Then, his waist tightened, his vision went black, and his face was pushed into a dark embrace.
"Who are you?" A deep, cold voice sounded in his ear. Then, his earlobe was pinched, and warm breath brushed against it. "I like your scent... Your hair isn't loose; you're already married?"
...These were familiar lines he had heard for several lifetimes! Completely confirming the identity of the newcomer, he felt both angry and amused. He lifted his knee and managed to escape from the embrace when the other person tried to avoid it. He then looked up to see the appearance of his lover in this lifetime.
Hmm, quite tall, a bit dark, well-built, handsome, not bad.
He couldn't help but smile, then he put on a reserved expression and said angrily, "Don't you know you should knock before entering a room? Moreover, you can't just grab a stranger and drag him into your arms casually. Have you no shame? Shameless! Beast!"
The man, with a cold expression, let him scold without interruption. His gaze swept over his hair, then his attire, and he asked in a deep voice, "Who is the one who married you?"
Madam Shen, inside the house, noticed the commotion at the door. She looked up and, upon seeing the person opposite Ye Zhizhou, her eyes lit up. She hurriedly stumbled to her feet and rushed down, exclaiming urgently, "Tingwei, quickly! Seize this rebellious servant! He just tried to poison me!"
"Rebellious servant?" Shen Tingwei's eyebrows twitched imperceptibly. He moved aside to avoid her touch, and the servant behind him supported her. Then, he looked at Ye Zhizhou with an unclear tone and asked, "Did you poison my grandmother? Why?"
Ye Zhizhou looked at him, then at Madam Shen, suddenly feeling a bit choked up. He rolled his eyes and replied, "Yes, I wanted to poison her. Now, I want to poison you too! You wanted to know who married me, right? Well, I'll tell you. That person is surnamed Shen, named Tingwei. And just now, I was divorced. Now, you're my ex-husband. We have nothing to do with each other. Goodbye!" After saying this, he took out the divorce letter and shook it, then turned and left. His lover's identity turned out to be Shen Tingwei... He really needed to calm down right now.
"You still want to poison Tingwei?" Madam Shen exploded upon hearing this. She grabbed Shen Tingwei and said, "Tingwei, don't listen to his nonsense. You never married him. He's just an illegitimate child brought in for a propitious occasion! Quickly go upstairs and catch him; I want to put an end to his arrogance!"
"Propitious occasion?" Shen Tingwei repeated these two words, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "So, the one who married him is really me?"