Hui Niang and Xiao Cui'er couldn't bear to listen anymore, fearing they might rush up and tear this heartless woman to pieces.
Hui Niang and Xiao Cui stood up. Hui Niang said, "Brother Kong, the village certainly wouldn't dare keep such a menace. You decide what to do with her, whether you divorce her or send her back to her hometown."
"Furthermore, neither the old lady nor the princess said anything about the Li family. They were simply worried that you would be caught in the middle and that the Marquis would lose face if he found out."
"But it was your wife who made the mistake. Now that you know, you can't pretend you don't know. You should go and apologize as soon as possible."
"The old lady and the princess are both kind-hearted people. Even though everyone was angry when you didn't come back, the old lady and the princess didn't agree to kick Sister Kong out. They have done everything they could to be kind and righteous."
Kong Qinghe took a deep breath and quickly nodded in agreement.
"Okay, thank you for reminding me, my two younger siblings. I will definitely handle this properly and not cause any more trouble for the village."
Hui Niang and Xiao Cui then bid farewell and left. On their way out, they met Shui Ling, who gave them live fish, which made them very happy.
They then called on the village women for help, and soon they started stewing fish in an iron pot.
That evening, just after the Li family had finished dinner and the Marquis was talking with the old lady, Kong Qinghe and his son came to the door, knelt down, and kowtowed to apologize.
Old Mrs. Li had asked her youngest son before and knew that Kong Qinghe was a very good person.
This incident was truly his wife's doing, and had nothing to do with him.
It can only be said that good men rarely have good wives...
She didn't want to make things difficult for such a good man, so she helped him up herself and offered him a few words of comfort.
Although Sister Kong's behavior was unethical and infuriating, we shouldn't take our anger out on the whole family because of her.
The boy from the Kong family was very clever and did well in his studies. He insisted on kneeling down and kowtowing three times for his mother.
After hearing a few words and understanding the cause and effect, the Marquis frowned.
Originally, he agreed to let his guards move their families to live there so that they would have no worries about their families.
Who would have thought that a sheep dropping would suddenly appear in a pot of delicious soup!
Kong Qinghe was quick-witted and immediately said, "My lord, I would like to ask for a few days' leave to send my wife back to her hometown for a divorce. I will never let her appear in Suijintan again."
"But the child is still in school. Please, Lord Marquis and Madam, allow him to stay in the village."
The Marquis looked at Old Lady Li but said nothing.
After thinking for a moment, Old Lady Li said, "The village won't care about how you two are doing, just make sure she doesn't show up at Broken Gold Beach again."
"As for the child, there was nothing wrong with him, so he should definitely continue his studies."
"But we must teach the child well, make him understand right from wrong, and not let him harbor hatred, so as not to ruin the unity of the village in the future."
"No," Kong Qinghe quickly led his son to bow again, "Don't worry, Madam, this child is very smart and won't be unable to distinguish right from wrong."
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, the father and son took their leave.
The Marquis rose to bow, intending to apologize to Old Lady Li on behalf of his subordinate, but Old Lady Li pulled him up and scolded, "Why did you get involved? It's not your fault. I didn't tell you because I was afraid you would do this."
The Marquis let it go, but after returning home, he still gave Ye Shan a few words of advice.
From now on, all matters in the village, big or small, must be reported to him promptly. What happened today must not be repeated.
The next morning, Kong Qinghe entrusted his child to a neighbor, hired a horse-drawn carriage, and took his wife back to his hometown.
His hometown isn't too far away, just over a hundred miles.
But Sister Kong had broken her leg, and the bumpy ride made her cry out in pain before they even left Suijintan.
But while the pain was one thing, she was even more afraid of what would happen to her in the future.
Kong Qinghe was away from home most of the year. Although she had given birth to a son, she was still bullied and exploited in her husband's family.
Fortunately, Kong Qinghe felt sorry for her and the child and took them out.
She thought she would be in charge from now on, but unfortunately, she was born with a wicked nature and became arrogant as soon as she started living a good life.
Seeing that the villagers were unwilling to argue with her, and that the Li family would not stoop to her level, she repeatedly made mistakes, eventually kicking a hornet's nest and ruining her good life.
If I stay with the Kong family when I go back to my hometown this time, I'll definitely be treated like a slave in exchange for food.
If they divorce, she will be sent back to her parents' home.
Since her parents died early, her greedy brother and sister-in-law would definitely sell her to a bachelor or thug for the sake of the dowry.
But no matter how scared she was, no matter how much she cried, she had chosen this path herself, and she would walk it even if she had to crawl on her knees...
The villagers of Ercun were discussing this matter extensively.
Of course, no one said anything bad about the host family; they all lamented that Sister Kong was too troublesome and had ruined their good life.
The men in each family would grab their wives by the ears and scare them again and again, for fear that they would do something stupid and ruin their perfectly good family!
Before noon, three more carriages arrived on the official road. But they were none other than Li Laosan and his wife, bringing Wu Sanshen and others back to celebrate the New Year!
When the villagers heard this, they all came out to greet him, and the village immediately became lively.
The Li family was also happy, as they hadn't seen the third son and his wife for a long time.
Aunt Wu and the others were in a hurry to go home and tidy up their house, which hadn't been lived in for a long time. The villagers went with them to help and chatted for a while.
Li Laosan and Zhao Yuru were also welcomed into the house.
Jiayin was in the greenhouse when she heard the news and rushed back. She hugged her third uncle and aunt, beaming with joy.
Zhao Yuru ruffled her niece's hair and anxiously asked about what had happened before, scolding, "What exactly is going on with that Chen family? Who gave them the audacity to drive us away and cause trouble!"
"Everyone outside is saying how amazing Fu Niu'er is, which makes me so angry I want to kill someone."
"Whose family can't fight back when someone bullies them at their doorstep? A bunch of idiots who talk big without understanding the situation!"
Li Laosan also looked unwell and even said, "Mother, if the children stop studying at the academy, we won't run the canteen anymore."
"When something happens at home, we're never there to help..."
Grandma Li quickly comforted her son and daughter-in-law, laughing and saying, "There are so many people in the family, we're not missing just the two of you."
"Besides, our family isn't easy to bully. We scared the Chen family half to death this time, and everyone knows that. They won't dare to cause trouble again in the future."
"You should focus on your business. If you're free, just come back a couple more times."
Li Laosan and Zhao Yuru then stopped talking and instead asked about the details.
They had heard a few things from outsiders before, and they were very anxious. Seeing that the academy still had three to five days before the holiday, they went to ask Dean Zhou for leave.
Their original intention was to return early so that the students of the academy could eat on the streets outside for a few days.
As a result, Dean Zhou also had to go out to attend a flower-viewing and poetry gathering with an old friend, so he decided to be generous and give the students a winter break, with classes resuming on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month after the New Year.
The nearly month-long holiday made the students extremely happy.
Li Laosan quickly packed his things and went home in a hurry.
Grandma Li was overjoyed when her children and grandchildren gathered at home. She couldn't help but say, "I wonder where your eldest brother has taken the children. It's almost the Little New Year. The earlier they come back, the more lively it will be."
Everyone nodded in agreement, and Li Laosi said, "I've been taking a stroll around the dock these past few days to welcome the fleet."
Li Laosan quickly chimed in, "Okay, take me with you, let's go together."
Leaving aside the worries back home, let's talk about a dock 200 miles from Xindu where the Li family's fleet is moored, loading food and water.
Jiaren and his brothers, along with Lu Zong and Jia Xu, were all wearing thick coats and trousers. Their cheeks were chapped and rough from the cold wind, but they were all in good spirits.
I worked as a boatman along the way, doing a lot of chores and gaining a lot of experience.
Naturally, they became more familiar with each other.
Cat was so excited that he jumped around and shouted, "When I get home, the first meal I want is hot pot!"
"Take a bite of mutton, dip it in sesame sauce, and stuff your mouth full."
"Waaah, this is so wonderful! I'm so hungry, I want to eat two plates of mutton!"
Everyone laughed upon hearing this.
Lu Zong said, "So, we have to swallow our pride and go to Suijintan to try what this hot pot tastes like, no matter what."
“You’ve brought it up at least a dozen times along the way.”
Everyone laughed. Just as Jiaren was about to extend an invitation, a man who looked like a steward came to the side of the boat, and Lu Zong's servant quickly went to greet him...
Served at midnight~~
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