An Jing finally opened the box of seal paste she was holding. She had bought a small box of it when she was strolling through the county town with her husband, Xiao Changyi, having spotted it, she never expected it to come in handy today.
An Fu dipped his thumb into the seal paste, then pressed it down onto the divorce letter, leaving a bright red thumbprint on the document.
An Jing took the divorce letter back, saw that the thumbprint was pressed quite clearly, and then she walked over to Shi Xiaolan and handed her the divorce letter, "There you go."
"Thank you," Shi Xiaolan finally took the kitchen knife from her neck, accepted the divorce letter with tears in her eyes, her throat aching as she choked up. Though she could not read, she stared at the bright red thumbprint on the letter for a good while.
In the past, she had never imagined that one day she would be divorced, yet today, she had thought about it, and today, she was truly divorced.
Xiyun Kingdom also had a rule: a wife who was divorced could take her dowry with her, but Shi Xiaolan didn’t have much of a dowry, and what little there was had long been sold to support the household.
An Fu and his family were somewhat conscientious—they gave Shi Xiaolan half a tael of silver, effectively returning her dowry.
Once Shi Xiaolan had gathered her clothes, she took Yu Yu and Niuniu and left An Fu’s house.
There was no one left in Shi Xiaolan’s natal family, and though there had once been three dilapidated rooms, she had sold them to bury her deceased parents. Naturally, An Jing wouldn’t let Shi Xiaolan be without a place to stay, so she gave her the thatched cottage in Jiuping Village to live in.
Of course, before Shi Xiaolan moved in, An Jing had the thatched cottage thoroughly repaired to prevent leaking.
If this had been before, the people of Jiuping Village would have gossiped and pointed fingers at Shi Xiaolan for being divorced, but after Liu Sizi poisoned most of the villagers with arsenic, no one dared to wag their tongues anymore, nor dare harbor ill will, fearing to invoke such grave retribution.
Because she had to take care of two small children and both were so young, Shi Xiaolan literally couldn’t do any work, so it was An Jing and Xiao Changyi who bustled about the thatched cottage.
For this, Shi Xiaolan was very grateful.
An Jing and Xiao Changyi had originally planned to go to the Capital tomorrow, but given the current situation, their trip to the Capital would have to be postponed. They would set off after they had completely settled Shi Xiaolan in.
Three days later, the thatched cottage was repaired, and there were a few simple pieces of old furniture inside.
Although An Jing had intended to spend money on a new set of furniture for Shi Xiaolan, Shi Xiaolan didn’t want to owe her too much and wouldn’t let her do so. Therefore, An Jing could only take a few pieces of old furniture from her own home for Shi Xiaolan.
"You look well," An Jing said, seeing that although Shi Xiaolan had been divorced for a few days now, she showed no signs of languishing and instead looked quite spirited, as if reborn. An Jing was extremely pleased.
Shi Xiaolan joked about herself with rare levity, "I used to worry all the time about what I would do if I couldn’t bear a son. Now, I don’t have to worry anymore. The heavy stone that was on my heart has been moved aside, how could I not feel spirited?"
An Jing smiled too, "It’s good that you can take it so lightly."
Shi Xiaolan looked at her and said with deep sincerity, "An Jing, thank you."
"You’ve thanked me so many times already, no need to thank me again, my ears are getting calloused from it. Alright, this isn’t our concern anymore, we should go back, and we’ll come to see you tomorrow."
With that, An Jing waved to Shi Xiaolan and left the thatched cottage with Xiao Changyi.