Madam Yue the First Wife

"You wanted to ask everyone to leave the mansion?" Gregory asked, his eyes full of questions. "All of them? Including the madam?"

"All of them." Li Qiang languidly leaned against his chair, his eyes closed.

"That- the first madam… she—" Gregory stuttered. How could the Duke abandon the Duchess? He had heard of the womanizing Duke's habit of picking up women left and right, but he had never heard of someone sending their main wives away.

"She is not my main wife." Li Qiang opened his eyes and stared at the bookshelves to his left. "I don't have a Duchess. You seem to have forgotten that?"

"Duke Li… The — Madam Yue had been with you since you were in your teens. Sending her away like this would not only make people think you are a womanizing person who is ungrateful to your wife. They will also think that you are going against his majesty's orders. He was the one who declared—"

"Yue is not my wife." The name immediately made him frown. Liang Yue — Jiang Yue — Is the heavens trying to make fun of him? Jiang Yue was the reason why he had to die in his past life.

How could they have similar names? He gritted his teeth as Jiang Yue's face flashed in his mind. He involuntarily clutched his chest. "The king betrothed because he owed a lot to Liang Yue's father. Her father asked the king to have her daughter marry me to give his daughter a good future. It was not because of love or anything else. All she wanted is a good future."

"But—"

"But what?"

"I would suggest that you ask his majesty to divorce her. If you are planning to pick up more women—"

"Haven't you heard?" Li Qiang interrupted him. "The brothel caught on fire. Everyone died. Where do you expect me to pick up some women?"

Gregory nodded and lowered his head. That was true. The brothel caught on fire the other day, and unfortunately, everyone died. Not even the customers who were visiting the brothel survived. This alone is not something worthy to be talked about. However, every brothel in the towns surrounding them was destroyed, as well.

Everyone knew that someone deliberately did it. However, they could not figure out who. In the end, they concluded that the owner of the brothels must have offended someone really powerful. Gregory lifted his head and stared at Li Qiang's languid posture. He wondered…

"Pay the mistresses and ask them not to show their faces to me again. Send each madam to some of the property away from me. I don't want to see any of those women again." Li Qiang said. "You can go now."

Gregory bowed and left the room, his head lowered as he continued to think about Li Qiang's actions lately. He couldn't help but wonder what had gone wrong. Did the Duke hit his head?

"I want you to send a letter to the king. Inform him that everything is fine. Tell him he need not worry about the Duke. He is doing fine." He uttered towards the knight who was escorting him. Li Qiang's changes were unexpected, but he needed time to observe him before he will report to the king.

After Gregory went to see Li Qiang, he immediately went to Madam Yue's quarters.

"He wanted me to leave the mansion?" the woman in front of him was the exact opposite of the woman who was crying beside Li Qiang when he woke up. The previous kind and gentle demeanor that she had when she was watching over Li Qiang were gone. The woman before Gregory had poise worthy of being the first madam of the mansion. Her lips were red, and her hair was in the perfect bun. "He- The Duke wanted me and everyone else to leave?"

Liang Yue was not the main wife but everyone in this place was treating her like one.

"Yes, Madam," Gregory said and watched as the beautiful Madam Yue frowned. Sending away such a beautiful woman was unfortunate. However, he does not have any sympathy for people who only wanted money and power. He only wanted to keep his job and follow Li Qiang's orders while reporting everything that he is doing to the king.

"Does the king know this? The Duke promise my father…"

"Madam, the king does not have any say in the Duke's household. Once you marry the Duke, you are already his property." Gregory explained. Just like every woman in the Duke's household, Yue was someone who was using the Duke's name to live a luxurious lifestyle.

"Does he have a new wife? Is he planning to marry another one?" Yue's eyes reddened. "Butler Gregory you have to help me. I am the first wife. He cannot just send me away."

"First is not the main," Gregory said. He suspected that Li Qiang might try to find a new wife or another woman. And that is the reason why he had been adamant about asking all of his women to leave his property. But who could it be? "I suggest that we all follow the Duke's orders. We don't want him to throw another tantrum like what happened a few days ago."

His words immediately made Madam Yue pale, her lower lip trembled. The mention of what Li Qiang did could easily make everyone uncomfortable. Yue gritted her teeth and lowered her head. "I want to send a letter to the king." She uttered.

"Madam please refrain yourself. I think the Duke is serious about this matter. However, let's wait for him to change his mind. We all know how he constantly changes his mind now and then. It would be best if we give him whatever he wanted for now. I am sure he will miss everyone soon enough."

Yue stayed silent. She bit her lower lip and nodded. Gregory indeed had a point. Li Qiang had been known to change his mind every now and then. She would not be surprised if he will change his mind tomorrow or the next day. "When does he want us to leave?"

"Tomorrow. I will prepare everything. Including your new residence and some money allowance. We will also send you money every month to make sure that you will still live comfortably even without the Duke by your side."

When Gregory saw Madam Yue nod, he heaved a sigh of relief. The only thing that he felt sad about was the fact that all of them could no longer give birth. The king does not want Duke Li to have offspring, so he secretly poisoned all these women, preventing them from getting pregnant.