Chapter 5: Husband and wife as one
Xia Xing'er looked at him with cold eyes and said that she could do it, but not her Changxin Marquis Mansion.
"It's not your place to question the upbringing of the Marquis of Changxin. At least in our Marquisate, there's no such thing as treating concubines and wives equally."
Helian Zhi felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze, but he still said coldly: "Xia Xing'er, I have done my best for you. This marriage was granted by my military merits, and it cannot be stopped by your will. If His Majesty does not grant the marriage because of your interference, it will chill the hearts of the soldiers. I will not hold it against you for today's matter."
"As long as you stay in the inner house and don't cause any trouble, I will give you the dignity of a legitimate wife. After I marry Qingyu and have children, I will adopt one for you. If you want a child of your own, I will also consider it. Don't expect anything else."
Xia Xing'er was successfully shocked by his words.
They even want to raise their children by themselves. What kind of good things are they thinking? It's outrageous. It's outrageous to the extreme. I have seen shameless people but I have never seen anyone as shameless as this.
He even acts like he's giving alms, I don't know who he's showing it to, it's really giving him face.
Xia Xing'er stood up, staring at him with her eyes fixed, and asked word by word, "Helian Zhi, in your eyes, am I, Xia Xing'er, the only way to survive is by relying on the offspring of your Helian family? Don't I have things I want to do and a life I want to live? Do I deserve to be your foil and waste my life in this backyard? Who do you think of me, Xia Xing'er?"
"Let's get a divorce. Let's not talk about anything else. Let's part ways amicably."
Helian Zhi didn't expect her to say that. He was shocked at first, but then he figured it out. She wanted to retreat in order to advance.
"Are you trying to threaten me with divorce? Do you think I will be threatened by you?" His face was full of disdain.
"If you want to make a scene, go ahead and make a scene. Let's see whether the bigger the scene is, the more it affects you or me."
He knew how much the women in Beijing valued their reputation, especially those from a marquisate like theirs.
"Xia Xing'er, I will not agree to divorce you. I am doing this for your own good."
Xia Xing'er said coldly, "You don't have to be like this. The reason you don't agree to divorce me is because you're afraid of being called heartless and fickle. You keep saying you're doing good for me, but your hypocrisy is so disgusting that I want to vomit."
Helian Zhi sneered and shook his head. "I was genuinely thinking about you, but I didn't expect you to misunderstand me. After the divorce, you'll be abandoned. Even if the Marquis of Changxin's Mansion is willing to accept you back, life might not be as easy as it is at the General's Mansion. Why would you make things so difficult for yourself just to bet against me?"
Xia Xing'er shook her head, finding it funny. "Go away. There's really no point in having this kind of conversation, and I don't want to say anything bad to you."
Her upbringing prevented her from saying anything unpleasant, and she didn't want to get too entangled with him.
"Chunliu, see the guest off."
No one saw the coldness in her lowered eyes.
Chun Liu couldn't stand it any longer. When he heard his young lady speak, he immediately stepped forward and said coldly: "General, please come in."
When Helian Zhi saw that Xia Xing'er had already ordered them to leave, he snorted coldly and turned away.
Chunliu made a "Pooh" sound, walked over and closed the door, then walked back to Xia Xing'er.
"Miss, this guy is so disgusting. Why didn't I notice it before? Fortunately, you want to divorce."
Xia Xing'er looked at her with a smile. She wondered when the Empress Dowager's decree for divorce would arrive today.
Helian Zhi left Zhaixing Garden and came to the old lady's yard.
Although the imperial decree granting the marriage had not yet come down, the old lady was already busy preparing the betrothal gifts for Ye Qingyu.
Looking at the list of betrothal gifts brought by Helian Zhi, her brows couldn't help but frown.
The general's mansion had long been in deficit, and had relied on Xia Xing'er's dowry for the past three years. Now she was asked to take out 12,000 taels of silver, which she really couldn't come up with. She set her sights on Xia Xing'er again, and asked Aunt Hua beside her to go to Zhaixing Garden to call for help.
"Miss, why did the old lady call you over again? Didn't we make it clear today that you will no longer be involved in the affairs of the mansion?" Chun Liu didn't understand what they were planning, but Xia Xing'er did know. She was still the daughter-in-law of the Helian family. Since the old lady summoned her, she had to go over and see how shameless they were.
"Let's go, we'll know what's going on when we get there."
When the old lady saw Xia Xing'er coming, she smiled and asked her to sit in front of her, as if the unpleasantness of the morning had never happened.
"Xing'er, you're here. Come and sit here with your mother."
Xia Xing'er didn't want to continue playing along with them, so she said directly, "I wonder what the old lady wants me to do?"
The old lady was not unhappy with her attitude. She took out a list and handed it to her, and continued with a smile: "Xing'er, look, this is the list for proposing marriage to Qingyu."
Xia Xing'er looked at the old lady with a sarcastic expression, and did not reach out to take it. "Old lady, I remember I said this morning that I would no longer interfere in the affairs of the mansion. Could it be that you are old and your memory is not good?"
The old lady then realized that Xia Xing'er was addressing her as "old lady" instead of "mother."
Although I feel uncomfortable, I don't want to care about such a small matter.
"Xing'er, you are Zhi'er's wife, so it's your responsibility to take care of his concubines. After all, it's His Majesty who has granted us this marriage, so we can't neglect her. It's not that the General's Mansion can't provide this money, but we're asking you to pay it. We're just asking you to prove your ability as the wife so that you can set the rules when she enters the house."
She took the list with interest and took a look at it: "Ten thousand taels of silver, two pairs of jasper bracelets, a pair of mutton-fat jade bracelets, a set of pure gold head ornaments, two pairs of gold bracelets, fifty pieces of silk and satin..."
It was just like the previous life. Thinking about it now, it was really ridiculous. Back then, they were considerate of the difficulties faced by the General's Mansion and only gave her a betrothal gift of 5,000 taels. However, her dowry was as much as 100,000 taels, and she also had many more farms and shops. Now she was just a concubine...
She looked at Helian Zhi standing beside her and asked, "General, do you think I should be the one to pay for this?"
If he had any shame, he would not ask her to use her dowry to take a concubine for him!
Before Helian Zhi could speak, the old lady beside him became anxious. "Xing'er, you and Zhi'er are one and the same. His business is also your business. What's yours is also his. What's the difference between you and me?"
Helian Rong also interjected, "Sister-in-law, you have always been virtuous and considerate, you will definitely come up with these."
She really wanted to slap her in the face for talking while standing.
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