The next day, Wang Xipei woke up from a good sleep and looked around the house carefully. There were three courtyards, and maids and servants were available. Washing water, hot tea, meals, snacks, soup, and clean clothes were all provided.
Wang Xipei was thinking about the buns from that family, so she told the maid in the house that she would not be back at noon, and went out with four maids.
When she found the bun shop, she found a line already forming. The buns Wang Xipei had eaten before were all small and delicate, but this place's buns were huge. But with so many people lining up, she had to get one anyway.
The four girls took turns queuing up, and Wang Xipei listened to the people next to them chatting.
Someone said, "Is this the wife of the county magistrate no longer in office and is now selling buns?"
Another person said: "How can it be? The people have been taken home."
"It's common to have one wife and one concubine."
"They are so stubborn that they would rather sell their own buns."
"She used to be very good-looking, but now she's thick-shouldered and fat. If I don't look at her features, I really wouldn't know it's the same person just by looking at her figure."
"All this lifting and moving requires strength. If you don't have strong arms and waist, you won't be able to do it."
Another person said, "That's not true. The county magistrate's wife has been through a lot, and she worked a lot in the past. The reason she's like this now is because after the divorce, she became depressed and out of balance, which is why she gained weight. My brother is a doctor at Huichun Hall. Back then, this lady didn't eat much and was so fat that her youngest son was worried, so he brought her to Huichun Hall for treatment."
Wang Xipei listened to most of it. It would have been fine if she hadn't listened, but since she had only listened to half of it, she had to listen to the whole thing. She asked a few more questions and finally understood.
Back then, there were three people, two men and one woman, from the same village, who grew up together. Two of the men even swore brotherhood, one practicing martial arts and the other studying literature.
The man who studied literature had already been engaged to this woman, but this woman also had feelings for the man who practiced martial arts.
The two men were both successful, having passed the imperial examinations for both civil and military degrees. The woman was discovered by the scholar while she was with the martial arts man.
The two separated, and the woman started dating the martial artist. But within three months, they had a huge fight. The woman came to the man again to cry, and the two reconciled.
The wedding date was set, and the bride and groom went through the entire process of wedding ceremony and marriage, and were then taken to the bridal chamber. The woman waited for the gentle man to lift her veil, but the martial man climbed over the wall and entered the house.
The two of them expressed their feelings to each other again, and the woman followed Wu Nan again.
Wen Nan discovered that Wu Nan had kidnapped his wife and took his men to chase after him. Unexpectedly, his wife admitted in front of everyone that she had followed someone else away.
On his wedding night, Wen Nan watched his former brother and his wife leave.
Later, the results of the civil and military imperial examinations were announced. Wen Nan saw that Wu Nan was happily waiting for double happiness. Regardless of his own embarrassment, he wrote a petition, bitterly accusing Wu Nan of kidnapping his wife on their wedding night.
Because the matchmaking ceremony had already been completed and both parties had already married, it was a fact that Wu Nan climbed over the wall and took away someone else's wife. Moreover, having an affair with his brother's wife also ruined his reputation. Many people called for the cancellation of Wu Nan's status as a military Jinshi, and for him to return to being a commoner and not be allowed to take the imperial examinations again.
This means that Wu Nan's path to fame and fortune is cut off.
Some people think that this is the correct way to deal with it. But others think that this is just avoiding the main issue. According to the law, if someone climbs over the wall to go to someone else's house and takes someone else's wife away, he must return the wife and be beaten with a stick, and his crime must be recorded in the book.
If he were dealt with according to the law, Wu Nan would actually have little chance of taking the imperial examination again, and he would be beaten with a stick. He would also have to be separated from the woman because he had to send her back.
Not dealing with them according to the law, but only cancelling their honors and titles, is already a light sentence, and the two people who are having an affair can continue to be together.
At the end of the argument, it was Wen who said, let it be, let them be together, and that if she came back it was just for me to deal with it and vent my anger, but in fact, she could no longer be my wife.
Both Wu Nan and the woman had lost their reputations, and it was impossible for Wu Nan to take part in the imperial examinations. Although they were together, they lived a very hard life and could only rely on Wu Nan to find some physical work to do.
Wen Nan received a job after the Jinshi results were announced. He rose from a minor clerk to a county magistrate. Many years ago, he married a virtuous wife and had two sons and a daughter. Although his life was hard at first, he lived a much better life than Wu Nan later on.
If the story ended here, it would seem like a story of reward and punishment for good and punishment for evil.
But there is a sequel. Wu Nan suffers from depression and frustration all his life, relying on hard labor to make a living. His "true love" wife despises his incompetence and mocks him every day at home.
Many years later, Wu Nan divorced his wife.
After the divorce, the ex-wife immediately tried to seduce Wen Nan. They had shared memories of their youth and were seeking love after years of hard life. I don't know what Wen Nan was thinking, but he really got back together with her.
Later, this man, now the county magistrate, brought the woman home and wanted to take her as a concubine.
When the wife saw that it was this woman, she immediately asked for a divorce.
The county magistrate was a little panicked, and he told the woman how difficult it had been over the years. His wife asked, "I've been with you all these years, climbing from humble beginnings. How easy has it been for me? We've endured so much hardship, lived a frugal life, cared for the elderly and raised the children. Now you're the county magistrate, thinking your life will be easier? You tell me how difficult it has been for other women over the years."
The wife was determined to divorce, so the county magistrate panicked and decided not to take a concubine. He went to talk to the woman, but the woman instead encouraged him to divorce his wife and even divorce her. However, he did not give his wife a single penny. Since she had no money and could not make a living, she had no choice but to obey and let her husband take a concubine, and a noble concubine at that.
The county magistrate was persuaded again and proceeded with the decision, saying that his wife's dowry had been spent and that if she wanted a divorce she had to leave on her own without a penny, and not even her jewelry or hairpins could be taken away.
The wife was shocked: "When things were tough, I spent my dowry to help support the family. You were moved to tears and said you would compensate me when things got better. I sold all my jewelry to support my ailing parents-in-law. They lived dignified lives until their final days. And now you're leaving me penniless. What should I do? Throw myself into the river?"
The eldest son persuaded his mother to stop making a fuss, apologize to his father, behave like a mistress, and take a concubine for his father.
The wife sneered, "What's so great about it? You're two-faced, eating in one place and sleeping in another?"
The younger son came out and said to his mother, "If you leave, I will follow you. I will find a job as a sailor and support you."
The county magistrate was furious: "You don't want your job as a county magistrate and chief clerk, which is respectable? Then you are no longer my son and you will never enter this house again!"
The wife looked at her little son and burst into tears: "Okay, okay, let's go together." The wife took off the only two hairpins and one earring on her head, and a pair of bracelets on her hands, wrote a divorce letter, and both parties signed it.
He left the county magistrate's residence with his youngest son, wearing plain clothes and cloth shoes, penniless.
There was no roof over his head to protect him from the wind and rain, and no place to sleep on. That night he could only stay in a dilapidated temple covered with thatch.
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