However, Yun Wanqing felt that her eyesight was not far enough, so she extended her spiritual power outward.
Her spiritual power swept through the streets and alleys, taking the place of her physical body to stroll around, having a great time.
[Oh, after breaking through my spiritual power, although it canât see as far as in my past life, it can see much farther now. I can stroll far without tiring my legs, so satisfying.]
On hearing this, Yun Wanyao knew the little one had extended her spiritual power, and her eyes were instantly filled with envy.
If only she had such a magical powerâ
With such power, she would no longer fear being secretly watched by bad people, and she could shop from home. That feeling must be awesome, right?
As the carriage moved, Yun Wanqingâs spiritual power also moved slowly.
Suddenly, she saw a bustling and lively street corner where many people were gathered, and her eyes lit up immediately.
[Wow, so many people, is there something interesting to see? Allow me to go and check it out.]
Yun Wanyao: "..."
Little sister really loves drama, never wanting to miss even half an event.
But what kind of excitement is it, actually?
Little sister, quickly share it with her.
Yun Wanyaoâs ears unknowingly perked up.
[Tsk, yet another bloody case of a love-addled mind being abandoned.]
After a moment of her spiritual power drifting into the crowd, Yun Wanqing soon understood the gossip clearly.
The involved parties were a man and a woman from the same village, the man was a scholar, and the woman was the daughter of a wealthy family in the village.
Because the womanâs parents initially looked down on the manâs poor family, and the love-addled woman was deceived by sweet words and insisted on this man, they eloped.
During their elopement, the woman took a large sum of money from her family, and they traveled all the way to Haojing, rented a house, and settled down.
After that, the man devoted himself to studying, while the woman used the money taken from home to support him and also took on many embroidery jobs to earn money.
They also had a period of sweet, harmonious life, but unfortunately, the good times didnât last long.
The man passed an autumn examination and was noticed by a fellow studentâs younger sister. Itâs easy to guess the end; the man abandoned the woman and got together with the fellow studentâs younger sister.
After eloping, they didnât register any marriage document or report to the Government, which means they werenât legally married. Simply put, no marriage contract.
Therefore, when the man abandoned the woman, he didnât even need to go through the process of divorce or dismissal.
He took advantage of the womanâs absence to pack his things and leave.
The woman naturally wouldnât accept it, and went to the academy several times to pester him, but the man avoided seeing her.
It dragged on until today, and unexpectedly, the two met on the street, and the woman immediately grabbed the man, crying and accusing him.
"Wu Xing, I loved you so much, eloped with you without status, endured so much hardship on the way, my hands were full of needle marks earning tuition for you, yet after you passed the exam, you turned and abandoned me. Has your conscience been eaten by dogs?"
The woman held the manâs arm tightly, crying her heart out, tears and snot everywhere.
The onlookers who were watching the drama were all pointing at the man, his face flushed red, and he covered it with his sleeve, blocking his face from their view, staring at the woman in shame and anger.
"You crazy woman, stop spouting nonsense and ruining my reputation, I donât even know you, let go of me at once..."
Should this get out, how could he continue with his imperial examinations?
The man was anxious, wishing the woman would disappear immediately, while the womanâs anger was provoked by his words. She wiped away her tears forcefully and glared at him with clenched teeth.
"Iâm mad? Speaking nonsense? Ha, do you dare swear to heaven that you donât know me?"
"Swear, if you know me, may you be struck by lightning, torn apart, die horribly, and fail every exam in this life."
"As long as you swear, I wonât bother you again, how about it?"
Upon hearing this, the onlookers immediately started jeering.
"Yes, yes, swear, quickly swear!!!"
"If you donât swear, it means youâre feeling guilty."
"Exactly, arenât you the one who doesnât know her? If youâre a man, then swear quickly."
People of this era were mostly superstitious, and the man naturally didnât dare to swear.
He gritted his teeth, blushing, and forcefully pushed the woman away in anger and shame, "Youâre simply a madwomanâ"
"Eloping was your idea in the first place, as for earning tuition for me, that was voluntary, and what you should have done. You tricked me here, so you should be responsible for me."
"And, I wasnât the only one who suffered along the way, I also endured a lot of hardship, and nearly died several times. Why donât you mention it?"
"We werenât married, why canât I leave you? Are you a robber wanting to bind me for life?"
"People aim high, water flows low, I fell for a better girl, whatâs wrong with that?"
"Ask everyone, who would really want to marry a woman who eloped with someone?"
"Since ancient times, itâs been said that a wife marries, a mistress elopes. Of course, if youâre willing to be my concubine, I could discuss it with Jiaojiao. Jiaojiao is kind and generous, she might agree."
Everyone was left speechless by his words, even Yun Wanqing was stunned by his audacious statement.
[Damn, this scumbag man really isnât holding back, heâs not planning to keep any face at all.]
[But, why does his shameless statement seem to make some sense?]
[Ahhh, my worldview is shattered, I canât believe I think his words make sense!!!!]
[Sigh, women, I hope you can be less naive in love, eloping with someone is such a gamble, how can you be sure youâll win it?]
[In this era, if you make the wrong bet, youâre facing eternal damnation.]
While Yun Wanqing was shocked by the manâs speech, the onlookers turned their attention to the woman, some expressed their opinions, while others tried to mediate.
"This gentlemanâs words have some truth, married as wife, eloped as concubine, since you were willing initially, and now heâs willing to take you as a concubine, thereâs nothing much to say."
"Yes, anyway I wouldnât want to marry a woman who eloped with someone as my wife, if I make it big someday, if this gets out, how shameful would that be."
"Exactly, people aim higher, water flows lower, if it were me, I would also prefer better women."
"Just obediently become his concubine and it will be over, since youâre like this now, you wonât be able to marry well in the future."
"..."
The woman was stunned by the crowdâs remarks, staring blankly at everyone, and after a long time, covered her face and burst into tears.
She didnât understand, clearly she was the victim, but why was everyone speaking for that heartless man.
Some even advised her to become a concubine, didnât they know itâs better to be a poor manâs wife than a wealthy manâs concubine?
The more she thought, the more despair she felt, the more she cried, the more heartbreaking it became.
"Married as wife, eloped as concubine, ha, making me a concubine..."
Meanwhile, the man saw everyone speaking for him, he couldnât help but become more smug, dropping his sleeves, without even covering his face.
"Letting you become my concubine is me being kind, I am a scholar, while you are but a woman who eloped, not adhering to feminine virtues, except for me, no one else would want you as a concubine."
Yun Wanqing was once again shocked by his shameless speech.
[Damn, turns out the shameless speech earlier wasnât your limit, given a chance, you can be even more shameless.]
[Wasnât she the one who eloped with you? Why are you only talking about her, are you any better yourself?]
[Why is it that both eloped but sheâs the one labeled as not adhering to feminine virtues, while youâre squeaky clean?]
[Arenât you also luring underage girls, being a shameless scoundrel?]
[No way, no way, even if heavens and earth can endure this, I canât, if I donât teach you a lesson for being shameless today, I wonât enjoy my drink.]
These thoughts settled, she closed her eyes and began to channel her spiritual power.
"Boom!!!"
The spiritual power transformed into lightning, striking straight down at the manâs head.
The force of the lightning was controlled very well, causing his hair to stand on end and his face to be covered in soot, but aside from paralyzing pain, he wasnât harmed much.
The man convulsed continuously, while the crowd who had been watching scattered in panic at the sight of the lightning, fearing being caught up.
"Oh my god, is this the heavens being angry?"
"Itâs freezing winter, how could there be lightning out of nowhere? It must be the heavens wanting to punish this heartless scoundrel."
"Winter lightning is not a good omen, oh heavens, if you have any displeasure, take it out on that heartless scoundrel, please donât punish the rest of us."
"Seems like this scoundrel is too wicked, even the heavens canât tolerate it..."
The sudden winter lightning changed everyoneâs perspective on the matter.
The woman, with reddened eyes, looked up at the sky in a daze.
[Strike this heartless scumbag to death!]
Yun Wanqing cursed after being amused by the crowdâs superstitious comments.
[Hahaha, these people are so funny, they actually think itâs the heavens being angry, heavens wouldnât bother with such things.]
[But folk belief does say winter lightning is a bad omen, oh dear, I was reckless, will this cause any panic?]
[Knowing this, I should have just slapped that scumbag a few times, why bother with the lightning...]
The more Yun Wanqing thought, the more she regretted it, and her spiritual power was suddenly pulled away from the vicinity.
[Oh dear, Iâve been distracted by the excitement, the carriage has traveled seven or eight miles, shouldnât it be close to the Princess Mansion? I need to hurry back to the carriage, or my sister might notice something.]
Yun Wanyao: "..."
She had long noticed, she just chose not to say anything.
Following the young girlâs thoughts throughout, Yun Wanyao understood everything, including her striking the heartless man with lightning.
In her heart, she couldnât help but yearn for and envy the mysterious power of spiritual power...