Chapter 103 Divorcing Chu Furong
By the time the news had spread across most of Luojing, Xiao Chengming had already been kneeling in front of the imperial study for half an hour. It was late autumn, and the bluestone tiles in front of the imperial study were icy cold, and his legs were numb and tingling from kneeling.
He knelt outside, and the third prince knelt inside. The emperor sat in front of the desk in his casual clothes, looking through the documents he had submitted with an expressionless face.
The light from the goose-foot lamp flickered, casting flickering shadows on the emperor's face.
The third prince Xiao Chengping didn't dare to look up and knelt in silence.
After a long while, he heard a soft sound, the sound of the emperor closing the memorial. Xiao Chengming raised his head and cried out earnestly: "Brother Crown Prince has planted people in Yuzhou, causing the bridge to collapse, disregarding the lives of the people!"
"I beg Your Majesty to make the decision for me!"
After saying that, he kowtowed heavily.
The emperor looked at him calmly, his face showing neither worry nor anger.
Xiao Chengping rested his forehead against the cold jade brick, his back tense.
"Third brother, if the Crown Prince interferes, I will punish him, but are you doing a good job of the task I gave you?"
The emperor's calm questioning made Xiao Chengping sweat profusely. His tense body relaxed instantly, and he kowtowed in resignation. "I am guilty, but please punish me, father."
He had done a terrible job in providing disaster relief and flood control in Yuzhou, and it was not good at all. He submitted a report to the emperor as soon as he returned from this trip, hoping to shift the blame to the prince.
But the emperor is the emperor after all, and his little tricks are not enough.
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That night, two pieces of news leaked out of the palace. One was that the Crown Prince had interfered with disaster relief efforts in Yuzhou, causing the collapse of a dam that held back the floodwaters. He was reprimanded by the Emperor and imprisoned in the Crown Prince's residence, barred from leaving without his permission. The other was that the Third Prince had performed poorly in Yuzhou and had been fined a year's salary and banished to the Imperial Shrine outside the capital for reflection.
As soon as these two pieces of news came out, Luojing was in an uproar.
The emperor has a total of five princes, but only the crown prince, the second prince and the third prince have reached adulthood. Two of them were punished and locked up, leaving only the second prince Xiao Chengsi.
What does this mean? Are you planning to support the second prince to ascend the throne?
The royal family members and court ministers were all very nervous, and many of them took advantage of the night to visit each other.
Since the leader of his faction has been punished, he has to think of a solution quickly.
The news also reached the Jingning Marquis's residence. The Jingning Marquis had presented the Third Prince with a flood control strategy. Now, as expected, the Third Prince was punished by His Majesty for this strategy's poor flood control performance.
Marquis Jingning had just lost such a big person during the day, and then he learned of this bolt from the blue at night. He was really shocked.
But before he could find Chu Xinrou to vent his anger, his sister Chu Furong's in-laws came to visit.
Chu Furong married far away. It took about five days' drive from her husband's home to Luojing. It was not possible for her to get there quickly. But when her mother-in-law saw her going back to her parents' home, she missed her daughter who married in Luojing. Not long after she left, she followed her family to Beijing.
As a result, when she first arrived at her son-in-law's house, she did not feel the joy of meeting her daughter. Instead, her daughter complained about what kind of daughter-in-law she had found for her youngest son.
The prince and others were present at the welcoming banquet for King Jing's youngest son. Her daughter-in-law actually fought with her own family in public, exposing each other's shortcomings, which also brought shame to her.
Old Lady Qin had never liked her daughter-in-law and she was often jealous of her. She had sent several young maids to her youngest son, but she had beaten them out and even threatened to sell them to a brothel. The two quarreled frequently.
When she suddenly learned that she had caused such a big trouble outside, Mrs. Qin could no longer sit still. She scolded her daughter-in-law for being a spendthrift and went to her house to beat her up.
The old lady of the Marquis of Jingning's mansion had been suffering from a headache ever since the incident with Doctor Yun. She was recuperating in her own courtyard. When she heard her daughter's mother-in-law coming to scold her, she hurriedly asked someone to help her out.
"I say, Madam Chu, what kind of daughter are you teaching? Not only have you not given birth to a child for our Qin family in three years, but you've also been violently fighting with your sister-in-law and aunt."
"I thought that she was the daughter of the Marquis of Luojing, and perhaps she had been spoiled. Not only did her sisters-in-law have to put up with her, but even I, her mother-in-law, didn't dare to raise my voice to her."
"As a result, I went to Luojing to visit my children, but my son-in-law almost kicked me out. He said my daughter-in-law had a fight with her own sister-in-law at the banquet, and that my daughter had lost face as well."
"Question me, what kind of daughter-in-law did the Qin family marry?"
Old Lady Qin looked at the old lady and said sarcastically.
"I'm putting this out there. Our Qin family doesn't dare take this daughter-in-law anymore. It just so happens that she's back home this time. Why don't you stay at your house and don't go back? I'll have my youngest son send over a divorce letter."
Upon hearing the divorce letter, everyone in the Jingning Marquis Mansion was dumbfounded.
Chu Furong was silent at first, but now she couldn't sit still any longer. "What do you Qin family mean? You want to divorce me? I'm telling you, it's impossible!"
"Qin Chongshan, you coward, are you just standing there and watching? Your mother wants to divorce your wife and you don't even do anything!" Chu Furong pointed at the honest man standing next to Old Lady Qin and cursed.
"I've been married to you for three years, managing your inner house. Even if I haven't done anything for you, I've worked hard. And this is how you are—"
Seeing that she was so arrogant in front of her mother-in-law, and dared to point at her son's nose and scold him, Mrs. Qin snorted coldly, "Look, she is so arrogant in front of me, Mrs. Chu, please watch carefully, don't accuse me of wronging anyone."
"Shut up!" The old lady slammed the table and shouted when she saw this.
As soon as she finished scolding, she began to have a headache. She could only force herself to look at Chu Furong, "Today's incident was originally the fault of you and Ji Jinglan. Why don't you go back and sit down?"
Seeing Chu Furong shut up and sit back, the old lady looked at Old Lady Qin in a flattering manner. If the Qin family really divorced her daughter, where would the face of their Jingning Marquis Mansion be?
"Mrs. Qin, today's incident cannot be entirely blamed on my Furong. Her sister-in-law also has her reasons."
"It's just a quarrel between a sister and a sister-in-law, why does it lead to divorce?"
The old lady cleverly brought up Ji Jinglan, hoping to split the matter between the two of them.
Seeing the old lady putting the blame on herself, Ji Jinglan sneered, "She's a married sister-in-law who goes back to her parents' home every now and then, asking for some money from time to time, and now she's even meddling in her eldest brother's affairs. How can I, as his sister-in-law, say anything?"
"Ji Jinglan, you!" The old lady never expected that her usually taciturn daughter-in-law would have the audacity to challenge her. She was immediately furious and tugged at the Marquis of Jingning's sleeve with trembling hands, scolding, "Why don't you go and take care of your wife!"
The Marquis of Jingning hurried forward to pull Ji Jinglan, but Ji Jinglan waved her hand away. She stood up and looked at Old Lady Qin opposite, and said sarcastically: "Old Lady Qin, don't say that your family doesn't want this daughter-in-law. Even I, as a sister-in-law, can't stand this sister-in-law."
After saying that, Ji Jinglan walked out the door without caring about the attitude of the people behind her.
The old lady nearly fainted from anger, and Marquis Jingning's face turned completely black.
The old lady of the Qin family watched the lively atmosphere of the Marquis of Jingning's mansion and curled her lips sarcastically, "I was so blind back then that I married my youngest son off to a troublemaker."
"Chongshan, just tell me today, are you going to divorce your wife or not?"
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