CH 25.3

Chapter 25: Divorce (3)

However, the fatigue was still there, as if driving her to lie down as soon as possible, and take a rest and sleep, she could not help but relax and stretch a little.

But her mind was running fast, and her thoughts were extremely clear.

Writing a divorce letter is only the first step, the subsequent division of affairs will be necessary, my father did not care about this for most of his life, my brother is young and impetuous, so she needs to sort it out by herself.

Her younger sister-in-law, Hong, has a good eye, taking the opportunity to remove the dishes, and pulling her husband to leave politely, leaving a message asking her elder sister-in-law to rest for a while, without mentioning about the Gu Mansion or the eldest brother-in-law.

Tao Xinhe put on an unmarried maiden’s old-fashioned clothes, and straightened her sideburns in the mirror. She put on a  “Victory” Head dress, and then stepped on the slippery road after the rain. She was walking step-by-step very carefully and Steadily, just like her thoughts. She went to the study to see her father Tao Cheng for a discussion.

Unexpectedly and within reason, Tao Muxian waited here for his sister, he wanted to listen to what his sister had to say.

Tao Xinhe did not think it was annoying, there were their father and son in the room. She gently patted Tao Muxian’s shoulder, beforehand and urged him, “Then don’t interrupt, listen to me carefully.”

Then she sat opposite Tao Cheng. She straightened her shoulders, looked down solemnly, staring at the fragmented pieces of wood and iron on her father’s desk. She then lightly said,

“Father, Muxian, I want to file a divorce. If he does not want to, then I want to file in the court.”

Tao Cheng was twirling his beard, while closing his eyes. He was distracted about how to continue to assemble the newly designed gadgets after his eldest daughter left, then heard her words, and was immediately surprised. He opened his eyes wide in open, and accidentally pulled his beard off with great strength. He “hissed” in pain and asked her,

“Daughter, are you serious? Are you going home?”

Tao Muxian directly slammed the table and got up, “Sister, I’ll back you up! Tell me, what’s wrong.” The tone of his voice was sharp and harsh from anger.

Tao Xinhe had known her family’s temperament and had already guessed that they would react in this way, but she still felt warm because of this support.

“Don’t worry, I’ll start from the beginning.” She grinned, her eyebrows arched, and soothingly waved her hands at the two men, then turned it back in front of her abdomen and held them together in a graceful gesture, showing that, as she said, “The sea is wide and the Sky is clear” and “The clouds can clear the rain.”

After hearing the whole story, Tao Cheng frowned.

“Gu Ningxi is really outrageous. Raising a concubine is very troublesome. This is what I regret most in my life, and have admonished him for it, but how can he still commit this? It’s a good idea to divorce, He Niang has handled it properly.”

Tao Xinhe grew up, gradually knowing that her parents had a lot of entanglements because of her Aunt and second sister. At this time, she still looked unhappy when her father mentioned “Raising a concubine”, but she didn’t comment about it.

It is not up to the children to criticize the old affairs of the elders, but Tao Xinhe does not understand what her mother did back then. When she was three years old, her mother had not yet conceived a second child. She was afraid that the Tao family will have no heirs, so she insisted on becoming a model of righteousness and virtue, and made plans to give Tao Cheng a concubine.

Her father is not a romantic person, and dealing with his mother’s delicate thoughts gave him a headache. He didn’t want the backyard affairs to hinder his research, so he told her, “I would rather adopt a successor if I have no heir or let He Niang grow up and inherit the family”.

However, He was set up by the person sleeping next to his pillow, to sleep with an innocent girl from a good family. She conceived a child and so he had no choice but to take in a concubine. However, it was against his heart, and he didn’t speak to his mother for almost a year.

Until her second sister Tao Xinrong was born, her mother didn’t know whether it was because of joy or sorrow, she conceded to her father in every possible way, and they finally reconciled. She eventually gave birth to her son Tao Muxian.

Her mother took her second sister to her side and raised her together with her brother. Tao Xinhe was born with early intelligence and saw her mother in tears every night. She finally took the initiative to help take care of her younger siblings. At that time, she still complained about her father’s indifference.

Since her father finally got a son, He finally felt relieved. He basically stopped entering the backyard, and completely failed his virtuous wife and beautiful concubine. The third sister Tao Xinqiang was simply accidental.

Her aunt felt lonely in her boudoir, her daughter was not raised by her, and she had no sustenance at all. One day she suddenly gave up everything and ran away from the manor. It wasn’t until two years later that a government official far away quietly notified Tao Cheng, a fellow official from the capital, that he had found the body of his concubine, who had been killed by her lover.

Her father ran to collect her body. He can hardly recognize the remains of the runaway concubine. She was tortured beyond recognition. After returning to the mansion, he blamed his wife for causing trouble back then, and as the mistress of the house, she did not take care of the delicate concubine, and took a human life for nothing.

Her mother was so angry that she fell ill and never recovered until she passed away, when Tao Xinhe was only fourteen. Before she died, she still shouted, “I didn’t do anything wrong. Taking concubines is something most virtuous wife would do.”

As she grew older, Tao Xinhe learned to understand her father more. Taking a concubine is to insert a third person in your relationship. No matter what the reason is, the relationship between a husband and wife will be destroyed, and there is only a degree of difference.

She originally thought that Gu Ningxi was influenced by his parents’ love and he voluntarily promised her not to take concubines. The two of them have a common understanding, different from the vulgar customs of this world, and that they were a match made in heaven.

Unexpectedly, she made a huge mistake.

Tao Xinhe thought of her parents’ old affairs, after hearing her father’s words, and also thought of Gu Ningxi’s change of heart. She gently shook her head, trying to get rid of this melancholy

Tao Muxian, who hadn’t spoken for a long time, saw her sister was silent for a while and then shook his head. He couldn’t understand why, so he opened his mouth and asked, “Sister, do you disagree with what father said? Or do you have any other concerns?

Tao Xinhe could not directly say that she thought of Gu Ningxi’s words in the past, “Father I’m sorry to trouble you, but I think I also have to deal with the Gu Mansion division of assets, and explain the changes to relatives and friends. I felt that it was really cumbersome, so I had a headache.”

Tao Muxian slapped the table, he wanted to take things over to share the worry for his sister. But after thinking about it, in terms of meticulousness and thoughtfulness, he is definitely inferior to her. The words was then stuck inside his mouth.

“I’ll help my sister, just tell me what to do, I can run errands to help you with the divorce.”

Tao Xinhe tapped the corner of her forehead, pulling away a smile, and lightly said a “Hmm”, as she accepted her younger brother’s affection.

At this moment, in this cluttered study, facing her beloved relatives, she was finally relieved. Her shoulders were much lighter, and the exhaustion swept over. She eventually blurted out a small yawn.

The servant who was guarding the door of the study seemed to have answered someone a couple of times, and it sounded as if there was the word “Third Girl”.

Tao Xinhe’s thoughts suddenly went away, and she took advantage of the situation and asked, “I wasn’t paying attention earlier, but I heard my sister-in-law said that Qiangniang had gone out of the house to play with her friends. Which family did she go with?”

She turned her head to look out of the window, the golden sun had finally set, and dusk had arrived. The light dimmed, and the servants coming and going in the distance became floating unclear silhouettes.

“It’s already late. How come this girl still hadn’t come back to the Manor. The road is wet and slippery and the day is cold, shouldn’t we go pick her up?” Tao Xinhe’s worried temperament pops up from time to time.

The first thing I heard was my father’s puzzled response, “Where did she go? It’s really time to pick up Qiangniang, Muxian?” She followed and turned her face back to see Tao Muxian’s face showing a hint of nervousness as he replied in a low voice, “Qiangniang was invited to play her brother-in-law’s, ah, no, Gu Sicheng’s second uncle’s house.”

He used the old name out of habit, but after glancing at his sister’s expression, he quickly changed his mouth and used that person’s official position as a substitute, fearing that he would be reckless and touch his sister’s emotional wound.

Tao Xinhe sensed her brother’s caution, and for some reason, she found it quite funny, and she laughed out loud, “It’s inevitable that you can’t change your habit for a while. Muxian does not need to be too concerned.”

Gu Runing must have invited Qiangniang to her house. The two of them have known each other for less than half a year, and they really like each other. Tao Xinhe hope that her separation with Gu Ningxi will not affect the friendship between the two young girls.

Tao Cheng’s servants knew that the masters were having a secret discussion about important matters, but now they had to bite the bullet and interrupt them.

He stood about five feet away from the room and shouted, “A guest has arrived!” In this way, the masters could hear his report, and they didn’t have to worry about him eavesdropping on any information.

The siblings pushed open the study door together and asked who the visitor was. Tao Cheng hoped that it was not an important person, so that it would be enough for his children to entertain them.

It turned out that it was Second Uncle Gu and Cheng Jia who came together, supposedly for Third Miss Tao’s Affairs.

Although she was worried about his sister and didn’t know what was going on, Tao Xinhe hesitated for a moment, and didn’t show up, and went back to her courtyard to listen to the news.

It didn’t take long for Tao Mu Xian to come over and relay their reason.

It turned out that the two girls were quietly chatting and having fun, when Cheng Jia as Gu Ru-ning’s fiancé visited the house, the three young people did not shy away from each other, and had lunch together in the second house of the Gu family.

Tao Xinhe then understood why the prospective bridegroom, Cheng Jia did not show up when she went to the Ji Changbo’s house in the morning. She even suspected that Jichang Bo was doing it on purpose, but at this point she was a little ashamed, it seems to be her own villainous heart, indeed, What reason did does Sir Cheng have to be alone with her on purpose?

She took advantage of the situation and thought that she was no longer suitable to be the representative of the woman’s side in this marriage. After separating with Gu Ningxi, she had to go to the door to apologize to Second Aunt Gu and resign from the important role.

Tao Xinhe continued to listen, the changes that occurred in the afternoon. Somehow they started talking about the martial arts of the generals, the two girls had persistently asked Cheng Jia to teach them some simple fist and foot work, but Qiangniang sprained her right foot due to improper practice.

The doctor had already seen it, bandaged her up, prescribed medicine, and advised not to move the patient for three to five days.

Therefore, the family’s second uncle Gu and the perpetrator of the incident Cheng Jia, came together to explain plus plead guilty. It is said that Gu Ruining looked at his best friend’s pain to the point of baring her teeth, and cried into tears.

The matter has come to this point, there is no other way, but to let Qiangniang live in the second house of the Gu family for a few days. Tao Muxian and his wife will soon go over to visit, send some necessary supplies and hand-made gifts for the girl’s house. She can not eat and drink in other people’s homes for nothing.

Tao Xinhe was worried and wanted to go together to see her third sister, but at that moment, Qingfang finally came over.

Qingfang came back to the Gu’s Mansion after leaving the small courtyard of the Mo family, and when she found out that the lady was staying in the Tao Manor, and left behind a divorce letter. She hurriedly rushed to the Tao Manor in earnest.

Tao Xinhe had already thought about it, after remarrying, she would not take any of the original servants from the Gu’s mansion with her, and the servants who came as her dowry from the Tao Manor would be treated on a case-by-case basis.

Qingfang looked a bit tired. She knelt on the ground and said that she had something to report to the lady. Tao Xinhe knew that she must have worked hard all day, and she felt the same way. She asked her to take a break and eat something before talking.

As for herself, she had no choice but to give up the idea of going out and send Tao Muxian to visit Qiangniang.

Then, Tao Xinhe waited for a while for Qingfang can finally talk about, the story between Gu Ningxi and Mo Qiqi, with the ambivalence of wanting to hear and fearing to hear it.

The author has something to say:

The seventh day of the first month is called “Human day” or “Human’s Victory Festival”, legend has it that after Pangu created the sky and the earth, Nuwa created chickens, dogs, pigs, sheep, cows, horses and other animals in turn, until the seventh day the humans were created, so this day is basically the birthday of all human beings, The festival custom is to wear a “Head Dress”, eat “Seven kinds of soups”, and write poems on the mountain ( from Sogou Encyclopedia.)

Seven kinds of soup, also known as “Seven Treasures Soup“, eaten during the “Human Day” to take as an auspicious feast. The products are different in different places, and the fruits and vegetables used are different. In this article, the author referred to the Baidu encyclopedia, and then dared to let He Niang drink the river fish caper soup.

Today, the nineteenth day of the lunar month, and all things are appropriate, With the help of the river fish and mustard vegetable soup, the little author comes, “I wish all my angels, readers, and friends, to have more than a year of peace~ and to receive wealth, and receive the blessings of happiness and smile often~”