Chapter 56 Zhi Ning was divorced, are you happy?
The censor and his wife have left.
Qingling was still standing in the same spot, her hand still feeling the fleshy touch of the Imperial Censor's wife.
Generous and warm.
In this cold and suffocating world, it gave her a touch of tenderness and a bit of comfort.
After Taoye returned from seeing Madam Ma off, she quietly stayed with Qingling.
After calming down for a while, Qingling returned to her bedroom in the backyard.
She told Taoye to lock the courtyard gate.
In the front courtyard, servants were busy dismantling the mourning hall, with white banners, paper money, lanterns, mourning clothes, and many other items piled up in one place; in the west courtyard, Zhan Xingzhuo accompanied Zhou Zhining, who was crying incessantly, and her child, speaking to her gently and patiently.
Qingling's backyard, ironically, became the quietest corner in the eye of the storm.
Tao Ye helped Qing Ling take off her clothes, and she was a little worried: "Why was Zhou Zhining suddenly divorced by the Wang family? They don't even want Xiao'er anymore."
Regardless of whether they were commoners or wealthy families, people valued offspring. Although Wang Xuan was a son born out of wedlock, his son was born to the principal wife, so his status in the Wang family was not low.
"Miss, what did Changping mean by that?"
Changping was the servant who came to deliver the message tonight; he was Wang Xuan's confidant.
Yao Qingling took off her coat and sat in front of the dressing table to remove her makeup.
She wore few hairpins and her makeup was simple, except for her red and swollen eyes.
Taoye wrung out a damp cloth and wiped her face.
Qingling held a cold handkerchief to her eyes, thought for a moment, and said, "When Changping mentioned the imperial court, he must have been discussing the two incidents of the refugees attacking Yongning Temple and Mao'er Lane."
Actually, it can be considered a matter of fact.
All these misfortunes were caused by the fact that the displaced people were not properly resettled.
But such a major event was bound to cause a huge uproar in the imperial court.
First, the cause of the displaced people was the disaster caused by the breach of the Yellow River dikes. The cause of the disaster was that officials at all levels who were responsible for repairing the dikes embezzled funds. Looking back, after the Yellow River breached its dikes, the imperial court allocated disaster relief funds and issued a series of relief measures.
However, it is clear that the disaster relief funds were also embezzled by corrupt officials; they did not properly resettle the disaster victims, leaving them displaced and becoming vagrants.
When the peasants rebelled, the court needed to find someone who could take responsibility, quell the emperor's anger, and appease the people's grievances.
—The Imperial Censor from the Wang family, through his machinations, cleaned Zhou Zhining up completely, leaving her only with the label of "daughter of a disgraced official"; she transformed herself into the official wife of the young master.
Several years have passed, and things should have been peaceful, but then a nursery rhyme came out, and Zhou Zhining went from being the daughter of a disgraced official to a remnant of the criminals.
At this very moment, a major incident of a riot by displaced people occurred, and it seemed the case would be reopened.
Having spent many years in officialdom, the Left Censor-in-Chief was a cunning old fox who keenly sensed that Zhou Zhining could no longer be allowed to stay.
He was worried that the fire would spread to his own home.
Wang Zheng felt the same way, so he stopped stopping Wang Xuan from divorcing his wife.
Even if he offends Zhan Xingzhuo, he doesn't need to worry about it anymore.
After such a major incident, Zhan Xingzhuo's continued protection of Zhou Zhining would only put him at a disadvantage. The fact that he is still unharmed can only be attributed to his good fortune, as the Grand Princess Deyang is his birth mother.
Yao Qingling thought about it carefully from the Wang family's perspective for a while, and then she understood.
"...As for Xiao'er, Zhou Zhining is a remnant of the criminals, so her son is also a descendant of a sinner. The Wang family is afraid that they will be implicated in this reinvestigation, so they simply don't want him anymore."
Powerful and wealthy families value the birth mother of their offspring, requiring not only that the families be of equal social standing but also that the mother's family background be impeccable.
One reason Zhou Zhining was able to marry Wang Xuan was that Wang Xuan was infatuated with her at the time, but more importantly, it was because the late Madam Wang suppressed her concubine, Aunt Zhao, that she made the decision for Wang Xuan to marry her.
The Wang family has many descendants, but Zhou Zhining's son is not that important; she prefers to keep the family clean.
Moreover, Xiao'er has been personally cared for by Zhou Zhining since birth, and the mother and son have a deep bond; the Wang family is raising her son, but they can't really tame him, and they have to worry about Zhou Zhining manipulating the child.
After listening to Yao Qingling's analysis, Tao Ye understood.
She said with a sigh, "Everyone says that being born into the right family is important... but some people, even if they are born into a powerful family, are worse off than ordinary people once the political climate changes."
She glanced at Qingling, as if she had just thought of something.
The young lady was actually born into a good family, but unfortunately...
She thought that the Zhou family deserved to be exiled, and their deaths were not a pity; Zhou Zhining and her son were not worthy of sympathy either. But the general's family was different; they sacrificed themselves for their country.
The young lady is clearly from a family of meritorious officials and generals, yet she is forced to serve the daughter of a disgraced official—it's outrageous! It's humiliating! It's hateful!
Tao Ye then realized how much her young mistress had suffered over the past two years, and said bitterly, "Good riddance! She deserves it! Let's see how she tries to cause trouble in the future!"
She stomped on the ground several times as if trampling on a little person.
Yao Qingling gave a wry smile, got up, and walked back to the bed.
"Alright, our good days will begin after the divorce."
She no longer thinks about how hard it was in the past, how she humbly loved someone, or how she endured those two years of grievances.
Zhan Xingzhuo was merely her superior; he was the head of the family, and she was simply in charge, following orders.
Now, she is no longer in charge of the household; she has simply been relieved of a heavy burden.
From now on, all the days will be good...
After the lights were turned off, it was pitch black inside the curtains. Qingling opened her eyes and stared at the embroidery that she couldn't make out clearly.
Actually, Qingling originally thought that Zhou Zhining had instigated Zhan Xingzhuo to confront her and question her whereabouts over the past few days.
Zhou Zhining would probably say... that she was taken away by refugees, that she was insulted, that her body was unclean, and so on.
This is a devastating blow to women.
But, to my surprise, she said that she had other men on the side and had been meeting with them secretly these past few days?
Although it would be a fatal blow to a woman as well, why for such a ridiculous reason?
It's not necessarily true that Zhou Zhining was jealous of Zhan Xingzhuo's feelings for her and fabricated a story about an outsider to make Zhan Xingzhuo suspect her, be angry, and hate her.
However, with Zhou Zhining being divorced and Xiao'er being abandoned by the Wang family, the outside world will surely be abuzz with rumors. There may be rumors that she was unfaithful and that Xiao'er might be Zhou Zhining and Zhan Xingzhuo's child.
Unfaithful to her husband's virtues... this boomerang will pierce Zhou Zhining herself.
Qingling thought for a while, then closed her eyes and went to sleep.
She dreamed of the good life she longed for.
I just hope the divorce can go smoothly.
Even the Grand Princess of Deyang couldn't stop her from leaving.
...
Zhan Xingzhuo spent the night with Zhou Zhining and had neither the time nor the inclination to kick Yao Qingling's courtyard gate.
In the middle of the night, Xiao'er suddenly developed a high fever, and Zhan Xingzhuo urgently summoned Doctor Li.
In the early hours of the morning, Zhou Zhining fainted from crying. Fortunately, Doctor Li was still at the mansion and provided emergency treatment.
Zhan Xingzhuo was so busy that he was dizzy and exhausted.
Only after Zhou Zhining and her son had settled down did he have time to come and find Yao Qingling, only to discover that the courtyard gate was locked.
"Who locked it?" Zhan Xingzhuo roared in fury. He tugged at the gate, but couldn't budge it. He then lifted the corner of his robe and kicked the gate open.
A loud bang.
Tao Ye was sleeping in the side room when she heard the noise and jumped out of bed in fright. She hurriedly dressed and came out, only to see several old women who were serving in the courtyard kneeling on the ground, and Zhan Xingzhuo walking in aggressively.
"Young Master, what are you doing!" Tao Ye raised her voice, spreading her arms to block the doorway, reminding Qing Ling who was sleeping inside.
Startled awake, Qingling quickly dressed, opened the door, and coldly said to Zhan Xingzhuo, "Doctor Zhan, we are getting a divorce. Isn't it inappropriate for you to barge into my courtyard like this?"
Seeing that she looked refreshed and had slept well all night, Zhan Xingzhuo's anger burned even brighter.
He and Zhi Ning didn't sleep a wink all night, so why should she be able to rest easy?
He narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "Are you happy that Zhi Ning was divorced?"
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