Chapter 88 Divorce
"Lord Shen, we can talk about this later. Right now, I have family matters to attend to."
“There’s nothing wrong with meeting outsiders. Since Lord Shen is here, he can stay and be a witness,” Wang suddenly said.
"Moon!"
"Sister?"
The Earl of Rong'an and the Duke of Rong spoke in unison.
Duke Rongguo did not want Shen Zhao to see his sister make a fool of herself.
Madam Wang gently patted the hand that Duke Rong was holding, "It's alright, elder sister knows what she's doing."
"Moon, let me explain. She... she and her child were an accident."
"I didn't want to hurt you, that's why I kept it from you."
Wang scoffed, "An accident?" Pointing at the little girl, she said, "This child is about ten years old, isn't she?"
"If she were a son, would I have known about this accident sooner?"
"Or rather, I'll lose my life even sooner!"
"Moon, what nonsense are you talking about?!" Marquis Rong An said anxiously, "What do you mean by your life?!"
"She was indeed an accident, and I'm just taking care of her, but you're the only one in my heart."
“If it were just about raising them, how could they have produced a son?” Madam Wang closed her eyes, not wanting to look at Rong Anbo again.
"Wang, it has always been perfectly normal for men to have three wives and four concubines."
"The Lord only kept her as a mistress to keep you from being heartbroken. You have already committed one of the seven grounds for divorce. Do you want to be accused of jealousy as well?"
As the old lady spoke, seeing that the Duke of Rongguo's expression was not good, she softened her voice, "Now that this child is not even a hundred days old, transfer him to your name."
"Wouldn't that be better, as it would also relieve your suffering of having no children?"
Duke Rong clenched his fist, about to speak, when Madam Wang spoke first: "Very well, then Mother, what do you think this woman and her daughter should do?"
The old lady thought that Wang had given in and said bluntly, "She has at least given birth to two children for the Earl, so why not take her as a concubine?"
"Your daughter will also be adopted by you. She'll get married in a couple of years anyway, so she won't be in your way."
Upon hearing this, Wang suddenly burst into laughter.
"What are you laughing at?" the old lady asked.
"I laugh at Mother, she's not even pretending anymore." Madam Wang's voice suddenly turned cold. "Wasn't she adopted into my family because legitimate children have an easier time finding husbands?"
"Nonsense!" the old lady retorted angrily. "Have we ever said anything about you not bearing any children for the Earl's family all these years?"
"Do you really want the Earl's family line to end?"
“If you really had a son or daughter, I wouldn’t have said that.”
“Having a child isn’t just a woman’s responsibility. Maybe it’s the Earl’s fault. Why is the old lady blaming everything on the lady?”
A woman's disdainful voice came from outside.
Shen Zhao frowned slightly as Shen Ruzhi led Jiang Wan Ning in.
He didn't even perform the proper etiquette, but instead stood directly beside Madam Wang.
"Who are you? How dare you trespass into the Earl's mansion? Where are the guards? Are they all dead?" the old lady said.
"Please don't be angry. I knocked the security guard unconscious. I just came to call my dad home for dinner."
Shen Ruzhi grinned, "But for now, I think we should watch the show first; there's no rush to eat."
"Lord Shen, is this the good daughter you raised?" Marquis Rong'an said angrily.
“They are the ones I invited; they are my guests.”
Before Shen Zhao could speak, Madam Wang spoke first.
He hadn't felt confident before, but when he saw Jiang Wan Ning, he suddenly felt very confident.
"Madam! Do you really intend to make a scene with me in front of others over these matters?"
“I won’t make a scene. Since you have someone else in your heart, then please let us divorce.”
"What did you say?" Marquis Rong'an didn't expect Madam Wang to take the initiative to propose a divorce. "Madam, please stop making trouble."
"What woman in the world would take the initiative to propose a divorce?" the old lady said. "If you insist on this, then I have no choice but to divorce you!"
Divorce would also damage the Earl's reputation, not to mention that the other party would take all the dowry back with them.
With only a letter of divorce, the party being divorced is naturally entirely at fault.
When the old lady saw her grandson in her arms, she simply stopped pretending.
"Mother, please stop causing trouble!" Rong Anbo was at his wit's end.
Even though the Duke of Rongguo had served as an official in the court for many years and had seen many ghosts and monsters.
I never expected the old lady to change her attitude so quickly.
"Although I have not borne any children for the Earl's family, I have served them wholeheartedly all these years. Are you really going to divorce me?"
Wang looked at her mother-in-law, whom she regarded as her own mother, with a heavy heart.
The old lady said unhappily, "It was you who was ignorant first, joining forces with a group of outsiders to deal with the Earl's Mansion."
“Madam, it’s not entirely your fault that you haven’t given birth. Didn’t I just say that it could also be the Earl’s fault?” Shen Ruzhi said.
"What a joke! The Earl already has children, how could it be the Earl's fault?"
"How does the old lady know that this child is definitely the Earl's? Otherwise, why is it that Madam, who is in good health, has not conceived, while she is the only one who is pregnant?"
“This child doesn’t look like the Earl to me, I’m afraid he might not be…” Shen Ruzhi deliberately left her sentence unfinished.
"Madam, this child is definitely the Earl's. I would swear on my life," the woman kneeling on the ground hurriedly explained.
Shen Ruzhi pouted.
"Zhizhi, don't be silly," Shen Zhao scolded in a low voice.
Shen Ruzhi pursed her lips and remained silent.
Wang clutched her chest, looking at Rong Anbo with a sorrowful expression, "Lord Rong, do you wish to divorce me or dismiss me?"
“Moon…” Rong Anbo’s eyes were filled with tears, “I don’t want to leave you.”
"I was wrong about this, this is the last time, please forgive me."
"Considering our more than ten years of marriage, we will divorce, and I will take half of my dowry with me."
The Earl's mansion is gradually declining, and in recent years it has only maintained its dignity by relying on her dowry and the money her younger brother occasionally sends her.
At present, Madam Wang only wants to get a divorce as soon as possible, so she proposed to divide the dowry.
"Don't even think about it!" The old lady immediately disagreed when she heard that the dowry was to be divided. "You have violated two of the seven grounds for divorce."
"You won't be taking a single piece of your dowry back with you!"
A woman who has been divorced by her husband's family has no face to continue living. Even if she does live on, she will only live under the scrutiny and gossip of others for the rest of her life.
The old lady concluded that Wang was merely threatening and throwing a tantrum.
Marquis Rong An thought so too.
"If you insist on leaving, I will have no choice but to divorce you."
"Pah! Shameless!" Shen Ruzhi muttered.
After he finished cursing, he deliberately avoided looking at Shen Zhao's face.
"Very well, very well indeed." Madam Wang said with a wry smile, "Since that's the case, then I don't need to give you any final dignity."
"Ning girl, thank you for making this trip."
Jiang Wan Ning gently shook her head and took out the dregs of medicine from her sleeve pocket.
Since Wang had no one she could trust, the dregs of the medicine were kept by Jiang Wan Ning.
"What is this?" asked Rongguo Gong.
“Duke, this is the dregs of the tonic that Madam Wang has been drinking for many years. It contains a lot of safflower.”
"Safflower is cold in nature. If women take it for a long time, it can easily cause infertility, and in severe cases, it can even be fatal."
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