Chapter 248

Jia Rong asked impatiently, "Uncle Cong, you've come to see me! Did the Old Lady send you to save me?"

Jia Cong smiled coldly, "After your father and son committed those acts, the Three Judicial Offices held a joint trial, and His Majesty issued an imperial decree; everything is already a dead end, and no one can save you!"

Jia Rong had originally seen Jia Cong come to see him like a drowning man about to die, suddenly grabbing a straw, but he did not expect it to be a bucket of cold water after all.

He muttered neurotically, "It can't be, I can still be saved, I can still be saved..."

Jia Cong said indifferently, "The journey to Qiongzhou is nearly ten thousand miles away, passing through eleven provinces and thirty-eight prefectures of the Great Zhou; it will take five months on the road.

The bailiffs escorting you will spend nearly a year going back and forth; getting stuck with such a bitter task is truly the height of bad luck, and I imagine they must be in a very bad mood.

Along the way, they probably won't be too polite to you, and the soil, climate, and diet of the prefectures you pass through will all be different.

Even a strong man cannot guarantee he won't fall ill.

And you are a pampered young master whose body has long been hollowed out by wine and lust; with such a long journey and bailiffs as fierce as wolves, you are doomed."

"However, I won't save you for nothing; you must do one thing to trade for your life!"

He suddenly seemed to realize something and asked with a faltering voice, "So you have taken a fancy to my woman, or did she seduce you behind my back while I was in trouble!"

As for whether Jia Cong truly had this ability, he did not doubt it; not to mention that Jia Cong now held an official position and was valued by the current Emperor.

But even so, he did not want to die; even if he lived a base life, he would count every extra day he lived.

"Write a letter of separation for Qin Keqing, and I will ensure you live to reach Qiongzhou!"

Jia Cong's voice was cold, without a trace of warmth, like a death curse from hell, evoking the deepest fear in Jia Rong's heart.

A look of terror appeared on Jia Rong's face; very few people knew about this, and he had covered it up very carefully, so how did Jia Cong know?

Jia Rong was completely stunned upon hearing this, and only after a long while did he ask with a trembling voice, "Why do you want me to write her a letter of separation? What does this have to do with you?"

"Back then, at Chunhua Tower, you were crippled by Chen Xiong; for the sake of your own face, you actually dared to marry Qin Keqing, not hesitating to ruin her whole life—you should have died long ago!"

That Jia Cong could ensure he reached Qiongzhou alive already made him breathe a sigh of relief; at least he wouldn't have to die immediately.

Just throwing silver would be enough to ensure he reached Qiongzhou alive.

Jia Rong felt a little disappointed upon hearing this, but he also understood that expecting Jia Cong to ensure he survived thirty years in Qiongzhou was wishful thinking.

After being imprisoned, he had already heard that the Xiuniang Silk Shop his father and he had plotted to seize was actually the private property of this Uncle Cong's concubine; how much silver must he have in his hands?

"If you want to reach Qiongzhou alive, it will be extremely difficult; you will likely die on the road without exception. In fact, when you were exiled to such a place, there was never any intention for you to survive!"

Jia Cong watched Jia Rong quietly, his gaze like sharp needles, seemingly able to pierce through Jia Rong's heart; that gaze made Jia Rong tremble uncontrollably, giving rise to an indescribable panic.

"As long as Uncle Cong can save my life, I will do whatever you ask; please just give your orders, Uncle Cong."

"Without this letter of separation, I still have many ways to make Qin Keqing live well, but as for how many days you have left to live, only Heaven knows."

Jia Rong was trembling all over, begging incessantly, "It can't be, I don't want to die, I don't want to die!"

"The escort departs the day after tomorrow; Uncle Cong, I beg you, save me..."

Jia Cong sneered, "Now that you have reached this point, what meaning does figuring these things out have for you?"

"I can find a way to let you reach Qiongzhou alive; as for how long you can live in Qiongzhou, that will depend on your own fate."

Although he knew that even if he reached Qiongzhou alive, could he really survive thirty years in such a hellish place and return to the Love Shenjing? Even he himself did not believe it.

This one sentence shattered Jia Rong's last bit of pride and restraint.

Measuring with his own mind, if he did not agree to Jia Cong, if the other party used some methods, let alone reaching Qiongzhou alive, whether he could walk out of the Love Shenjing alive was a question.

The Ningguo Prefecture no longer existed; would they care about his lowly life?

Although his wife was as beautiful as a fairy, to him, she was just a display piece that looked good but was useless.

Since Jia Cong wanted her, he would give her to him; what was more important than his own survival?

"I beg Uncle Cong to save my life; I will write, I will write..."

Jia Cong beckoned to Jiang Liu, who was standing far outside the cell; Jiang Liu took out the prepared paper and pen and placed them in front of Jia Rong.

"I will dictate, you write; not a single character is allowed to be wrong!"

"Jia Rong, Heir of Ningguo, because of committing a capital crime, is exiled to Qiongzhou for thirty years; life and death are uncertain after departure. My wife, Qin Qin Keqing, is young, and I do not wish to ruin her life."

"I willingly establish this letter of separation, allowing her to leave the household and remarry, with no future disputes. This is done of my own free will, not under coercion. Fearing no future proof, I establish this written agreement as evidence."

……

The official road in the southern suburbs of the Love Shenjing.

A carriage bearing the mark of the Lady Rongguo Prefecture was parked at a rest pavilion by the side of the road.

Today, Jia Zhen and his son were to be escorted to Qiongzhou.

No one from the eight branches of the Jia family in the Love Shenjing would come to see them off, and many descendants of the Ningguo line even wished for Jia Zhen and his son to die sooner.

If it weren't for the excessive sins committed by the father and son, how could the Ningguo line have been stripped of its title and mansion, losing the wealth and power they had relied on for generations in a single day?

These people seemed to have forgotten how they had tried every possible way to curry favor with Jia Zhen and his son, just to get a larger share of benefits from the Ningguo Prefecture so they could live in comfort.

The fickleness of the world and the heartlessness of the wealthy—it was nothing more than this.

At this juncture, only the two ladies of the Ningguo Prefecture had the moral duty to see them off, and Jia Zhen and his son were destined never to return.

Zhang Zhang Youshi had been the second wife of the Ningguo Prefecture for over a decade; Jia Zhen had engaged in lewd pleasures and mixed with concubines in the mansion right in front of her face every day—when had he ever taken this legitimate wife of humble origin seriously?

The couple had been childless for over a decade and had always treated each other with cold indifference, merely putting on a show in front of outsiders.

Now that Ningguo had been stripped of its title and raided, Zhang Zhang Youshi lived in Lady Rongguo with her dowry and private funds; her wealth remained unchanged, and it seemed she didn't live any worse than she did in the Ningguo Prefecture—in fact, her ears were even quieter.

Zhang Zhang Youshi coming to see Jia Zhen off was just the same as usual, bringing a few sets of clothes and putting on a show for outsiders; anyway, they would never see each other again.

And since Jia Rong's incident, many people in the Lady Rongguo Prefecture had noticed the coldness Qin Keqing had displayed.

But even people like Jia Mu did not blame her for this, because it was understandable.

Qin Keqing had been married to Jia Rong for only a few months, and it was rumored in both mansions that Jia Rong had treated her very coldly; now that this had happened, Qin Keqing was destined to live as a widow for the rest of her life at such a young age.

For a woman, there was nothing more tragic than this; it was no wonder she felt resentment.

In the eyes of Jia Mu and the others, Jia Rong was destined never to return, so why blame a pitiful woman?

Treating her well would mean the Jia family had one more virtuous widow, which would add a sense of dignity and honor to the family.

……

According to Qin Keqing's original intention, she would never have come to see Jia Rong off; not only did she despise this man for his dissoluteness and lack of virtue, but she also felt an indescribable disgust for the Ningguo Prefecture.

She resented her father for currying favor with the powerful, and even more, she hated this marriage for ruining her life, preventing her from being with the one she loved in a legitimate way.

However, the words Baozhu brought back from Jia Cong yesterday made Qin Keqing have to come today.

When she learned what Jia Cong had done for her, she was immersed in great agitation and joy.

……

She could not forget how she had endured these days in the Ningguo Prefecture.

She had to spend the rest of her life in the Lady Rongguo Prefecture; in terms of seniority, Jia Cong was her clan uncle, and they could never be together openly.

For the rest of her life, she would have to watch him settle down, marry, and have children in the mansion, while she could only ever be a bystander.

This was a hundred times more cruel than letting her live as a widow for the rest of her life!

And now was the best time for her to escape and break free from her shackles; she would never let herself miss it.

By then, she would no longer be the eldest daughter-in-law of the Ningguo Jia family, and nothing would be able to block them; perhaps in the future, they would have a chance to be together.

(End of chapter)