Passersby on the street were startled, and many of them stopped and looked over.
At a table by the window, a man of medium height in a blue robe raised his hand and slapped a round-faced woman in her early thirties, who was wearing a green dress, hard in the face.
"Sun," the blue-robed man said to the round-faced woman with disgust, "Are you trying to burn Wu Niang's hand on purpose?!"
On the table, a white porcelain teacup fell over and the tea spilled.
"I didn't..." A red palm print appeared on Sun's left cheek. The wooden hairpin on her bun was crooked. A few strands of hair were scattered on her cheeks. Her eyes were filled with tears.
Next to the blue-robed man, a charming young woman with an oval face covered her stomach with one hand and screamed in shock: "Oh, husband, I feel a little pain in my stomach."
"Wuniang, are you okay?" The blue-robed man hugged the young woman in his arms with concern, "How is your stomach?"
The young woman bit her lower lip and said delicately, "Maybe our child was frightened and kicked me just now... He's fine now."
As she spoke, the young woman glanced at Sun indifferently, with the complacency of a winner in her expression.
The blue-robed man heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that. When he turned around and looked at Sun again, his expression was filled with disgust and anger. He scolded, "Sun, you are a hen that can't lay eggs. If you scare the baby in Wu Niang's belly, can you afford the compensation?!"
"I should divorce you, a woman who has no tolerance for others like you!"
His voice became louder and louder, almost spreading across half the street, and more and more people looked over here.
Sun covered her swollen left face, tears in her eyes could not be controlled and fell from the corners of her eyes. Her body trembled constantly, and her head lowered lower and lower...
"Huh? Isn't this Mr. Li from Baqianzhai?" The waiter remembered and clapped his hands vigorously.
"It's Li Baqian!" An old woman nearby spat on the ground with disdain, "This Li Baqian has no conscience. Back then, he was penniless, and it was with the help of his wife's craftsmanship that he saved up money and opened Baqianzhai."
"Now that his business is booming and his life is better, he is dissatisfied with his wife's infertility and has taken in a concubine."
"Humph, for a concubine, he even beat his wife. This Li guy has no conscience, really no conscience!"
Another middle-aged woman sighed and said, "Women, they still need to be able to give birth to children."
This sentence attracted the approval of many people around. They looked at Sun with sympathy and showed contempt for her husband.
Anle grew up in the palace and was very well protected. No one would tell her about the disputes between wives and concubines, so she only half understood what she heard.
"Will I be beaten for not having a child?" the little girl in the wheelchair murmured softly, "Then I'd better not look for a prince consort!"
Her voice was so soft that only Gu Yanfei and Chu Yi, who were sitting next to the wheelchair, heard it.
"Of course not." Gu Yanfei leaned over to Anle's ear and said sarcastically, "Even beasts wouldn't do that."
"An Le, when you choose a prince consort in the future, you must open your eyes and choose a prince consort who only has you in his heart."
An Le nodded obediently, half covering her mouth with her hands as she whispered to Gu Yanfei: "I will listen to my father. He said he would choose an obedient consort for me."
Gu Yanfei burst out laughing and nodded seriously, "Well, I'll be obedient."
"When the time comes, I'll check it for you." She teased the little girl jokingly.
"Yeah!" Anle became even happier, pursing her lips and nodding.
Chu Yi looked at the two people whispering, the corners of his lips slightly raised, and his thoughtful gaze fell on Gu Yanfei's face.
More and more people flocked to watch the fun, pointing and talking at the three people in the lobby, and no one was guessing the riddles.
Seeing this, Mr. Li in the lobby of the restaurant felt a little embarrassed. He threw a piece of silver on the table and said, "This is for the drinks."
He carefully helped the young woman with an oval face up, put his arm around her slender waist and said softly, "Wuniang, let's go and wait for the Lantern Festival. There will be fireworks at the Jokhang Temple tonight."
He ignored his wife, Sun, and walked out of the restaurant with his beautiful concubine in his arms. Sun covered her face, lowered her head, and followed him stiffly, looking distraught.
The three of them walked past Anle's wheelchair.
Gu Yanfei supported the wheelchair and stood up, saying, "Anle, leave it to me. Don't worry. I have a good eye. For example, this lady is destined to have a son and a daughter."
"Like Mr. Li... he is destined to have no children."
Her voice was not loud, so other people around could not hear it, but it happened to be heard clearly by Mr. Li and the other two.
Mr. Li, who was hugging his concubine, suddenly changed his expression. He turned around and glared at Gu Yanfei, his eyes spitting fire and he said angrily: "Hey, what did you just say?!"
Was she cursing him for not being able to have a son, or was she saying that he was cuckolded? ! Mr. Li's face was ashen, gloomy, and he was very angry.
He took a big step forward and waved his hand towards Gu Yanfei's face...
However, Gu Yanfei's whip was faster than his. The long whip flew out like a snake and tightly wrapped around Master Li's wrist as if it had consciousness.
"Let me go..." Master Li tried to break free from the whip on his wrist in frustration.
"Okay!" Gu Yanfei took the whip and pulled it casually, and with his skillful force, he made the grown man spin on the spot, stagger, and fall to the ground.
All this happened in the blink of an eye, and Sun and concubine Wu Niang beside her didn't react at all.
Other people on the street were also staring at this scene in amazement.
Gu Yanfei put away the whip, looked at Sun with a smiling face, and said seriously: "Divorce."
"After the divorce, I guarantee that your next marriage will be better, with both sons and daughters, and a harmonious marriage."
Sun raised her head and stared at Gu Yanfei blankly, a little dumbfounded, and even forgot to cover the shocking palm print on her face.
Mr. Li, who was lying on the ground, had his mouth full of dust. He got up in a panic and pointed at Gu Yanfei angrily, yelling, "How dare you hit me?!"
"Haven't you heard that it's better to demolish a temple than to ruin a marriage?"
"I'm going to sue the authorities, sue you..."
"Ah!" An excited female voice interrupted the furious Mr. Li, "Goddess, it's the Goddess!"
The old woman next to her rushed to Gu Yanfei like a gust of wind, looking at her devoutly, her eyes seemed to be glowing.
Mr. Li was completely confused. His brows were deeply furrowed and veins on his forehead were throbbing.
The old woman pointed at Gu Yanfei and excitedly pulled Sun's sleeve, saying, "Sister, this is the celestial maiden, the celestial maiden who displayed her magical powers at the palace gate a few days ago!"
"The goddess of heaven has great powers. She is the goddess of the nine heavens who has come down to earth and has the power to call the wind and rain. What she said is correct!"
The old woman's voice became more and more excited, and she was almost about to break her voice.
“…” Sun blinked, and blinked again, remembering it bit by bit.
On the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, she heard that the Dengwen drum was being struck, so she went to Chengtian Gate to watch the excitement. However, she was standing far away at the time and could not see the face of the "goddess" clearly.
Now, after hearing what the old woman said, Sun finally connected the girl in front of her with the "celestial maiden" of Chengtian Gate.
"Yes, it's the goddess." Sun murmured foolishly, with a scorching gaze.
The goddess just said that she should get a divorce?
She said that she would have both sons and daughters, and live happily with her husband in the future?! Mr. Li, whose face was covered with dust, widened his eyes, turned pale with fear, and the words of the goddess echoed in his mind. She said that he had no children?
"Sun, what are you still standing there for? Let's go home!" Master Li called his first wife in a domineering manner. The concubine beside him named Wu Niang had a look of surprise and doubt.
"Divorce!" Sun met Mr. Li's eyes, which looked strong but weak, and said firmly, "I want to divorce you!"
What the goddess said was right! She had had enough of this miserable life! "I saw the goddess!"
There were already some people gathered around the restaurant. When they heard the noisy shouting of "divorce" and "goddess", more people gathered around, shooting their burning eyes at Gu Yanfei.
Gu Yanfei saw that the situation was not good, so he quickly pulled Chu Yi's sleeve and said to him and An Le: "Let's go!"
Chu Yi nodded with a sullen smile: "Let's go!"
Before the people around could react, the two men pushed Anle's wheelchair and left quickly.
Chu Yi calmly gestured in a certain direction. Xiao Shi and Si Hai and others behind him flowed into the crowd and stopped some passers-by who were chasing them without leaving a trace.
When passing through a dark and narrow alley, a middle-aged man with a fair face and no beard, dressed in green, poked his head out of the alley and waved to Gu Yanfei, Chu Yi and the others.
Gu Yanfei and the other two quickly walked into the alley. Anle, who was sitting in a wheelchair, covered his mouth and waited patiently for the noise around him to fade away.
“Puff.”
The three of them looked at each other and smiled.
Gu Yanfei couldn't help laughing, and Anle was also laughing happily. He looked at the other person in the alley with sparkling eyes: "Father, why are you here?"
The emperor, wearing a black cloak embroidered with colorful clouds and made of silver mouse skin, walked over from the depths of the alley, with a gentle smile on his gaunt face.
The emperor slowly walked towards Anle and said with a smile, "Father, can't you come and see the lanterns?"
Zhao Rang, who was wearing an ordinary green robe, pursed his lips and tried to hold back his smile.
He was the only one who knew that the emperor had not originally planned to leave the palace in disguise. However, after the eldest prince and princess left, the emperor thought more and more that something was wrong, and on a whim he decided to come to the lantern festival.
"Of course!" Anle happily handed the jar of wine on his knees to the emperor, "Father, this is the 'Gladiolus Spring' we won from the lantern riddle guessing."
After receiving the wine from his daughter, the emperor smiled so much that his eyes narrowed, and he repeatedly praised his beloved daughter for her filial piety.
The emperor handed the wine jar back to Zhao Rang and suggested nonchalantly, "The fireworks at the Jokhang Temple should be on soon. Let's go over there quickly."
"There are too many of us, and we'll attract too much attention. Anle, can you come with father?"
Anle was a good child. When the emperor asked her if she was okay, her first reaction was yes, and she nodded obediently.
As for Chu Yi and Gu Yanfei, they didn't even have a chance to speak. The emperor and Zhao Rang had already pushed An Le's wheelchair away, leaving behind a sentence: "You two stay hidden for a while."
(End of this chapter)
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