At night, Marquis Zhongyi and his son Jiang Chengzong sat facing each other, with wine and various dishes laid out on the table.
The charcoal fire burned quietly, making the room warm and cozy, so comfortable that it made one drowsy, but both father and son looked worried and distressed.
Marquis Zhongyi was clearly drunk, and he slurred, "Your mother is getting more and more outrageous with age. How old is she? She still wants a divorce. Who can she marry after she leaves me? She'll be the laughingstock of everyone when she goes out the door!"
"Also, tell your wife to stay away from her. She's corrupting her. Your mother was the most gentle and virtuous woman when she was young. She never hit anyone; a gentleman uses words, not fists. Now, influenced by Li Chunlan, she scratches and bites all the time. Even your old man has to wear a scarf when he goes out!"
"These things are all worn by women and those weak and frail civil officials. I've practiced martial arts since I was a child, and I'm as strong as an ox, with my own little stove, so I don't need them at all! But to cover up these scratches on my neck, I have to wear them too. When I go to court, I can't even lift my head up!"
As he spoke, the Marquis of Loyalty ripped off his scarf and threw it on the ground, revealing crisscrossing scratches on his neck, two of which even reached his chin. No wonder the Marquis of Loyalty had to keep his head down; if he raised his head even slightly, the scratches would be exposed.
Jiang Chengzong was initially willing to offer some advice, but upon hearing the rest, he realized that Jiang Chengzong was blaming his wife for the whole thing, and Jiang Chengzong immediately became upset.
"Father, you can't blame Chunlan for this. It's Mother who was too angry."
"If it's not her fault, who else is to blame? No matter how angry your mother was, she never laid a hand on her. She comes from a respectable family, is well-read, and has etiquette and manners ingrained in her bones. She would never do something so vulgar. It was all passed down to her by your wife!" Marquis Zhongyi was clearly a little drunk and slurred his words.
Jiang Chengzong opened his mouth to refute, but seeing his father's drunken appearance, he swallowed his words back.
Forget it, why bother arguing with a drunkard?
But when he stopped caring, the drunkard wouldn't stop, continuing to ramble on and on, listing his eldest daughter-in-law's faults.
“Your wife has four sins. First, she beats and scolds her husband constantly, not only using foul language but also physically abusing him. Second, she corrupted your mother, turning her from a dignified and virtuous lady into a shrewish and violent woman. Third, she can’t even control Pan Ge’er, making it impossible for you to stay at home in the army and forcing you to take leave to deal with these matters.”
"Fourth, and most importantly, she, as a daughter-in-law, actually mocked me, her father-in-law! It's utterly unreasonable! You married her—"
Marquis Zhongyi began to count Li Chunlan's crimes on his fingers, making Jiang Chengzong's eyelids twitch.
Before he could say anything more outrageous, Jiang Chengzong interrupted him.
"Dad, you're drunk."
"I'm not drunk, I'm perfectly sober! What did I say about your wife that made you unhappy? Go back and discipline her properly—" He continued to spout nonsense.
This time, Jiang Chengzong didn't indulge him. He said coldly, "Father, Chunlan doesn't have the ability to corrupt Mother. When she gets angry, she does scratch and bite me, but she never leaves scars. A few days ago at Qingxi Pavilion, I almost beat Pan Ge'er to death, and she got angry on the spot. My face was covered in blood from being scratched that day."
Marquis Zhongyi immediately nodded and said confidently, "Yes, I remember that. She was even worse than your mother! Even if your mother was angry, she would never scratch my face."
"Really? But look, only a few days have passed, and there's not a single mark on my face. But you, you were captured for several days, and your scars are still as clear as yesterday!"
Jiang Chengzong spoke slowly and deliberately, his tone calm and unhurried, but his words were full of sarcasm.
The Marquis of Loyalty and Righteousness, who was drinking, choked on his wine and immediately slammed his wine cup on the table.
"I don't believe it. Li Chunlan scratched him so hard, how could there be no wound? Let me see!" He grabbed Jiang Chengzong by the collar, roughly lifted him up, and stared at his face carefully.
Jiang Chengzong's slightly dark face was completely smooth, without a single wound.
"How could that be? Did you go back and apply the ointment?" Marquis Zhongyi was completely incredulous.
“Father, your ointment didn’t help either, did it? The injury on my face was caused on the same day you were arrested,” Jiang Chengzong retorted.
"That's different. Many of the wounds on my neck are emotional wounds. These past few days, I've been arguing with your mother whenever I see her, and when we argue, she scratches me. Before she scratches me, she always says I'm a great hero. Damn it, I can't even fight back; I can only get beaten!" Marquis Zhongyi said angrily, blurting out the truth in his desperation.
It turns out that the wounds on his neck weren't just from that one day; over the next few days, old wounds were compounded with new ones, so they just wouldn't heal, and even applying ointment was useless.
Jiang Chengzong's face showed a look of sudden realization, and he sighed helplessly, "Father, I told you, Mother isn't someone Chunlan can corrupt. Chunlan is very easy to coax. The first day she caught me, she regretted it that very night, personally applied medicine to me, and never caught me again. Besides, she cares about me and can't bear to hurt me too badly. Our relationship is very strong now—"
He was clearly showing off, which instantly pierced the heart of the Marquis of Loyalty.
With a loud "bang," the Marquis of Loyalty slammed his hand on the table, splashing wine everywhere.
"That Cen Ying! I knew your mother was the most vicious woman! She doesn't care about me at all, all she does is beat me. I've spoiled her rotten. So what if we get a divorce? Who's afraid of who's a coward!"
"I'm going to find him right now and have him write a divorce agreement. If anyone refuses to sign it, I'll break his fingers!"
He was so angry that he started cursing, and in his extreme agitation, he even spat out his own saliva.
After saying those words, he rushed out, clearly unable to wait even a moment longer, his defenses completely breached.
Jiang Chengzong's eyelids twitched, and he immediately stopped him.
"Father, it's already night, Mother must be asleep. Please wait until dawn!"
"Wait my ass! I've never been treated like this in my life! Everyone says Li Chunlan is a merchant's daughter, very vulgar, while Cen Ying comes from a noble family and is the most caring. Damn it, how did she treat me like this? She scratched my neck until it bled, is that all the care she did?"
"This kind of woman must be divorced, otherwise she'll think I'm afraid of her and she'll start causing trouble!" The Marquis of Loyalty's face was flushed, whether from anger or from drinking too much alcohol, it was hard to tell.
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