Chapter 218 It was an eternal convention to marry concubine
At that time, He Danggui was playing orchid grass in a bored mood. After hearing such news suddenly, He Danggui pulled apart the orchid grass and asked Ming Ri sharply, “What did you say? My mother was divorced? It’s only 10 days, including the days on the road. My mother just stayed 5 days in He’s Family in Qingzhou City. Why did they do this? What did my mother suffer? How is she now?”
He Danggui was so anxious, as if there was a fire burning in her heart. She stared fiercely at Ming Ri’s wooden face, wishing to see Luo Chuanxiong’s face. Although she didn’t want Luo Chuanxiong to marry He Fu, the 5 words “being divorced by He’s Family” were so harsh that her eardrums seemed to be perforated. Suddenly, He Danggui remembered the scene that Luo Chuanxiong was slapped hard by He Fu. The hairpins and earrings of Luo Chuanxiong fell, and her hair was scattered. “Why did He Fu slap her? Why did he divorce her?” He Danggui murmured.
Looking at the scraps of broken orchid grass, Ming Ri said in a steady tone, “I have followed Mrs. He’s carriage for 4 days to He’s Family in Qingzhou City. I don’t know whether He Fu has become rich, but the so-called ‘He’s Mansion’ is just a small quadrangle courtyard with a front and a back yard. It is merely twice the size of the ordinary people’s home. And there are only 10 servants. My Lady, I said that men are certain to cheat women, just as He Fu cheated your mother. All the 5 decent stewards that He Fu called to pick up your mother are shopkeepers of the tailor shop, dry nuts store and bathhouse on the next street. They accepted this long-distance work because of their dull business. He Fu planned to trick your mother into going to He’s Family from the beginning.”
He Danggui said with her eyes wide open, “However, Madam Luo inquired about He Fu that he indeed earned a great deal through shipping work, and he is now a millionaire! So, why did he deceive my mother into going to He’s Family? What the hell did he do?”
Ignoring what she said, Ming Ri continued, “After Mrs. He entered He’s Family, a look of shock and disappointment appeared on her face. The old mammy beside her solaced that one should live in harmony with her husband whatever the circumstances. Then Mrs. He’s face looked better somewhat. Next, she sat in the main hall for almost half a day waiting for the host’s reception. However, neither He Fu nor his family members came. Losing her patience, she walked into the internal hall. But there was an empty main room, and there was a pregnant woman who was taking a nap in the side room. Mrs. He stopped a little maid to inquire. Then Mrs. He figured out that He Fu was servicing as a civil servant in Yamen, so his whole family had moved there. And this house was an old one that he bought as he first came to Qingzhou City. And the pregnant woman was He Fu’s waiting-maid (maid in name, concubine in reality), who was forced to live outside. It was because her date of birth and eight characters of a horoscope offended Madam He’s.”
He Danggui couldn’t understand. She asked, “He Fu must be in want of a decent wife to make his family look decent. Now that he picked up my mother there, why didn’t he let her live in Yamen but in the old house? Wasn’t he afraid that my mother would go back to Yangzhou City if she was annoyed?”
Ming Ri sneered and said satirically, “My Lady, you overrated your mother. Even if she was annoyed, she didn’t comment on the treatment. She just told her maids to unpack the luggage and tidy up. Well, she lived there without any complaint. Then she gave some money reward to the administrator of the house and asked him to say something about He Fu’s recent situation. The administrator began to introduce He Fu’s concubines. As he introduced the tenth concubine, Mrs. He was on the verge of losing her temper. Then he began to introduce He Fu’s children. According to his words, He Fu has 3 daughters and 1 son. And the eldest daughter is 12 years old. Hearing these, Mrs. He suddenly rose to her feet. She shouted, ‘It’s not true. You are lying!’”
“12 years old?” He Danggui frowned. She recollected and murmured, “I’m 21 years old this year. So, He Fu’s eldest daughter was born when I was picked up from the farm village at the age of nine. And at that time, my mother was diagnosed as sterility due to the contact with a good deal of musk in her early years. It turned out that He Fu had a mistress at that time and they had a daughter. The bastard deceived my mother!”
“So, what if he marries a concubine blatantly?” Ming Ri sneered again and said, “Concubine He, my Lady, why are you so angry? If a wife is unable to conceive, she should help her husband marry a concubine, which is an eternal convention. If she can’t do this, she is not eligible to be a wife. The Lord never stays with Princess Xie in our mansion overnight, for she can’t conceive. However, she doesn’t dare to complain. It is because women are just like hens. And if the hens are unable to conceive, they are useless.” When founding that He Danggui was black in the face, Ming Ri nudged the subject, “Don’t worry, My Lady. I’m not insinuating that you’re useless. My Lord often praises you as a useful woman.”
He Danggui was confused. She frowned and asked, “My Lord said I’m a useful woman, didn’t he?”
Ming Ri nodded and said, “Yes. He likes your acupuncture skill very much. He said that he felt so comfortable after the treatment, and it was more effective than the bone massage of Master Zhang Daxue. So, My Lady, don’t feel self-abased and guilty. There are so many ‘hens’ in the mansion, so it doesn’t matter to raise one or two that cannot ‘lay eggs’.”
He Danggui was so irritated by his irreverent words that she trembled and even wanted to give him a slap, but she couldn’t offend him because he was the sole man that could tell her the news about her mother. She breathed deeply and asked, “Did my mother and He Fu divorce with agreement after she became indignant?”
He Danggui remembered that there was an old folk convention. If a husband concealed from his wife that he had a concubine living outside or even had a child with the concubine, not only could the wife require a divorce with agreement, but she could take away the equivalent of her dowry before their marriage. He Danggui also remembered that when Luo Chuanxiong married He Fu, she brought a 10,000 liang dowry. Now that He Fu had a mistress and never cared for Luo Chuanxiong, and it was reasonable for Luo Chuanxiong to claim 10,000 liang silver from He Fu as the compensation for her being alone for years. Even though Luo Chuanxiong was too cowardly to ask for that, she should at least claim the 3,000 liang silver that He Fu borrowed with the receipt. Luo Chuanxiong had already lost her husband, so she couldn’t lack money.
Ming Ri smiled and said, “People always say there is a connection of mind between mother and daughter, but it seems that you don’t know your mother well. Divorce with agreement? Your mother didn’t want to divorce even after 10 years. Now she went thousands of miles to seek for her husband and hasn’t meet him. How was she willing to divorce with agreement? Even though she heard that He Fu has concubines, waiting-maids, sons and daughters, she thought that he had a conscience. After all, he still kept the wife position for her and picked up her regardless of the long distance. And they were already an old couple, so it didn’t make sense to fuss about that. So, she chose to live in the old house. She embroidered a pair of mandarin ducks during daytime and made Zhuluo (a kind of head wear) at night. And sometimes she chatted with the pregnant waiting-maid. She was waiting for her husband to pick up her to Yamen, since the administrator had told her that He Fu was too busy to spare time.”
He Danggui twisted the plum blossom pattern on her sleeve nervously and asked, “Then why did He’s Family abandon my mother? Did my mother suffer?”
Ming Ri replied slowly and unperturbed, “Mrs. He has lived in the old house for 3 days. And I investigated He Fu’s wrongdoings and collected many evidences on your instructions. As the nephew of the wife of Senior Governor in Qingzhou City, he bullied many people there. I told your mother that I was employed by you to safeguard her and I saw He Fu’s heinous deeds. And I said to her that I could escort her if she wanted to go back to Yangzhou City. Hearing this, Mrs. He became sullen. She said that you were so fussy and you should focus on caring for Lord Ning but not break their harmonious husband-and-wife relationship. Then she drove me away. I found a place on the roof for sleeping and planned to return to Daning on the next day. However, something bad happened that night.”
“Ming Ri, tell me straight what happened to my mother. How is she now?” He Danggui asked anxiously.
Ming Ri replied leisurely, “On that night, the waiting-maid miscarried suddenly. The administrator looked for He Fu quickly. And He Fu came in time. While crying, the waiting-maid complained that she had a stomachache after having the sweet soup your mother gave her. He Fu became wrathful. Then he fiercely beat your mother and wrote a divorce letter. He threw it to your mother’s face. In the divorce letter, he wrote that your mother disobeyed some of the principles of Seven Reasons for Divorcing the Wife – irreverence to parents, having no child and jealousy. He also wrote that your mother should leave immediately and take away nothing. He would never meet her again.”
“Beat fiercely…” He Danggui repeated the 2 words as if it was the first time that she had heard them and didn’t know what they meant.
Suddenly, He Danggui sprang to her feet and gave a slap to Ming Ri. She yelled, “Shangguan Ming Ri, why didn’t you help my mother? You just watch that? How was my mother? How did he beat her?”
Ming Ri stood stock-still. He didn’t dodge the slap, which broke his lips. Blood streamed down from his lips to his chin and dropped onto his purple garment, which was covered with dust and moss. Ming Ri, who seemed like a viper at that point, glared at He Danggui and said one word after another, “I will remember this slap, My Lady, and you should also remember it.”
Then Ming Ri became expressionless again before He Danggui could react. He said in a flat tone, “My Lady, the first thing you let me do was to escort your mother to Qingzhou City. The second was to investigate He Fu. And if he is indeed a vile man, I should meet your mother and take her back to Yangzhou City. I did well in the 2 assignments. Even My Lord will judge I’m not wrong. But you didn’t let me protect your mother, Concubine He, my Lady.”
He Danggui’s expression was very formidable as if she was going to swallow Ming Ri. Then Ming Ri added, “Don’t worry, My Lady. Your mother is the legitimate daughter of Luo’s Mansion. Therefore, He Fu dared not to go too far, anyway. He just gave your mother some slaps and pulled her hair. When your mother fell on the ground, he kicked in her abdomen, not too slightly and not too heavily. He also abused your mother, ‘Hussy. You’re unable to conceive, but you even harm others’ child.’ Then, your mother was driven out of the house and lay on the dark street motionlessly. The maids that she brought from Luo’s Mansion were all frightened away, and the only loyal old mammy was sent to prison.”
Ming Ri licked his injured lips and put his hand on He Danggui’s violently trembled shoulder. Then he moved his face close to hers, which was full of trails of tears. He asked her in a brisk tone, “Does your mother have a treasure box? Is that her pension money?”
Covering her mouth, He Danggui sobbed and asked, “Was my mother hurt badly? Has she returned to Luo’s Mansion?”
Ming Ri smiled, which was a rare sight, and murmured, “The convention of our dynasty is that if a woman offends the Seven Reasons for Divorcing the Wife and gets divorced, the dowry of her should be subject to the husband’s family, and a part of which can be given to her according to the situation. And if the abandoned woman offends three of it, the husband’s family will have the right to withhold all her dowry. On your mother’s divorce letter, there are irreverence to parents, having no child and jealousy. I remember that ‘having no child’ refers to ‘having no child after 50 years old’. But the case of your mother is a special one, so it’s reasonable to say that she offends this item. And it’s also reasonable for He Fu to withhold her treasure box.”
He Danggui looked at Ming Ri and pleaded, “Please tell me. Is my mother hurt badly? Has she returned to Luo’s Mansion?”
Ming Ri shook his head and sighed, “Your mother takes things too hard. She has an obedient and competent daughter who is willing to subsidize her with the mansion’s money, but she still tried to claim the treasure box from He’s Family which doesn’t belong to her. What’s worse, she was splashed with fecal sewage. She is a decent woman. If her daughter can sleep with My Lord several times, she can have a lot of wealth. Alas, why did she do this? She not only didn’t get the treasure box, but also got her clothes wet, which even froze with wind.”
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