Chapter 513: Mutual Divorce (2)
Senior Servant Qiao had taken all the blame onto herself through her confession and she had painted a very pitiful picture.
However, He Changdi and He Changqi remained unmoved. If this had happened in the past before the relationship between Dalang and his wife had become strained, then perhaps Senior Servant Qiao would have gotten some understanding and sympathy from He Changqi. However, after experiencing major disappointment from the last incident, he no longer believed in Madam Zou.
If Madam Zou could treat their very own daughters that way, then there was no limit to what she wouldn’t do!
It was even less likely for He Changdi to believe in Senior Servant Qiao’s words.
The one who had been framed earlier was his wife! If they could take pity on Madam Zou right now, then why hadn’t anyone taken pity on his wife earlier?!
There was still a pool of rage seething in his belly that he hadn’t been able to vent. Senior Servant Qiao and the others were standing in the line of a volcano!
He Changqi kicked Senior Servant Qiao away. He had a strong and burly figure, tanned skin and a square jaw, so he looked even more frightening when he kept a grim expression on his face.
“Tell that Madam Zou to come out. Don’t make me go in myself to get her!”
He Changqi’s voice was piercingly cold.
Senior Servant Qiao understood that there was absolutely no way to save this situation now.
She laid prone on the floor for a long while before stumbling into the inner room.
Two hours later, in the study of the main branch’s courtyard.
The brothers, He Changdi and He Changqi, sat across from each other.
They each had extremely terrible expressions on their face.
He Changdi turned to look at his eldest brother, who was resting his eyes, “Eldest Brother, what are you planning to do?”
He Changqi’s eyes slowly slid open. He let out a mocking bark of laughter, “I thought that we would be able to spend a lifetime together. I never thought that we would end up like this. Third Brother, I’ve already decided. We’re getting a divorce! It’s better for everyone involved.”
The current dynasty was more open-minded, so while there weren’t many divorced couples, they did exist. Moreover, there were many who remarried after a divorce.
In actual fact, for cases like He Changqi’s, the husband could choose to forcefully divorce his wife. However, he didn’t want to do that. A mutual divorce and a one-sided divorce initiated by the husband had two completely different outcomes.
After a mutual divorce, the woman could remarry. However, a woman forcefully divorced by her husband would essentially become a social pariah. There were only two choices for wives who were kicked out from noble houses: become a nun or commit suicide.
In the end, He Changqi had still thought of their many years together as spouses and he had given her some leeway.
Actually, the main reason He Changqi wanted to divorce Madam Zou was due to her abuse of their children.
They didn’t have a son, but He Changqi had never insisted on having one. He had simply thought that he would wait until a suitable age to take a concubine, and if the concubine gave birth to any sons, he would have registered the son under Madam Zou’s name and let her raise him as her own. They could just think of him as their own child. However, if Madam Zou disagreed with that, then he could have considered adopting a son from Second Brother or Third Brother’s families. Anyway, there were so many solutions they could have considered. Unfortunately, Madam Zou had chosen the most extreme one.
He could have let it go if it was only their relationship which had suffered from her actions, but Madam Zou had turned her grudge against him towards their two young daughters instead. She constantly blamed their daughters for not being boys on a daily basis. He Changqi had only found this out after noticing that something was off with his daughters and making secret inquiries into the cause.
How could he let his children be raised under a mother like this? It would be better to get a divorce sooner.
He Changdi hadn’t expected his eldest brother to have thought it through so quickly.
He nodded, “Since you’ve already made your decision, then I don’t need to say anything else, Eldest Brother. You should inform the Zou Family as soon as possible.”
He Changqi sighed and stared at the desk in a daze.
He Sanlang stood up, “Eldest Brother, make sure you have a good rest. I’m going back first.”
He Changqi waved at his brother.
He Changdi stood at the entrance of the study and turned back to observe his eldest brother. He Changqi’s back was against the light. From this angle, the messy stubble covering his chin and the exhaustion on his pale face made him look ten years older. It was clear that his eldest brother had aged after this whole incident.
He pursed his lips, opened the door, and strode out.
Sunlight shone down on He Changdi’s body. It should have been warm and cosy, but he couldn’t feel any traces of warmth.
His gaze was icy as he looked at the closed wooden door of the study.
He knew that there was someone else directing this incident from behind the scenes. Madam Zou was only a chess piece in the hands of that mastermind.
He will definitely find that hidden culprit!
He Changdi lifted his head and looked towards the bright sunshine in the sky. When the sunlight pierced his eyes, he lowered his head and turned towards the direction of Songtao Court.
The grim line of his lips suddenly lifted. His sunshine was right over there. The only place he could feel genuine warmth was right beside Chu Lian.
He immediately cast away all the aimless thoughts in his mind and quickly made his way towards Songtao Court.
In the Imperial Palace, Qinzheng Hall.
Eunuch Wei was in the midst of serving tea to the emperor.
“Your Majesty, you’ve already been reading the imperial memorials for two hours. It might be good to take a break.”
The Chengping Emperor set down the document in his hand in exchange for the cup of freshly brewed tea.
After taking a sip, he set down the teacup and abruptly asked, “Is it time to let He Yanwen return?”
He Yanwen, the Defender General of the South, also known as Count Jing’an.
TL Note: There are two specific terms for divorce used in ancient China, which are a little hard to translate into an exact term in English.
Firstly, there’s a ‘mutual divorce’, where husband and wife agree to separate. The wife is looked upon more favourably by society in this option.
Secondly, there’s a ‘forced divorce’ or ‘one-sided divorce‘ which is only ever initiated by the husband and is specified in the Chinese term itself: ‘retiring wife’. The forced divorce is only used in extreme cases where the wife breaks major family rules, but may also be used to shame/get rid of legal wives to marry a concubine, as you might have seen in some dramas. This is also why women divorced in this manner are essentially social outcasts.
As for the ‘imperial memorials’ the Emperor is looking at, they’re like long reports from his subjects, usually his ministers, about various matters in his kingdom. You can read more about it on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_to_the_throne