The onlookers surrounding the scene were, in reality, mostly servants from various households.
Hearing Xu Lingzhi kneel and beg me to help her get a divorce, the focal point of the gossip instantly shifted back to her.
Although the Li Kingdom had been established for nearly two hundred years, laws allowing women to hold official posts and participate in the imperial examinations had been promulgated many years ago.
Yet, apart from the era of the Female Emperor, when the number of female officials in the imperial court was relatively high,
the number of women still serving as officials in the court now could be said to be countable on one's fingers.
With aristocratic families possessing abundant resources in this state, how much more so for the resource-starved common folk?
For ancient commoners, eating white rice for three square meals a day was enough for them to boast that it was a fairy-tale life.
If you ran up to someone and told them to hurry up and send their daughter to school,
it would be a miracle if they even deigned to acknowledge you!
The people around her successively advised Xu Lingzhi to quit while she was ahead and not do something she would regret.
Others said that if she got a divorce this time, no one would want her in the future.
In this day and age, who would be willing to marry a woman who openly flaunted herself outside all day long?
If you married one like that, why not just marry a girl from a brothel directly?
The things they knew how to do were even more numerous than what she could do!
"Shut your mouths, every last one of you!"
Wenren Luoshui wore a cold expression, her voice imbued with a trace of spiritual energy. Although it wasn't loud, it carried plenty of deterrent force for the crowd.
The onlookers surrounding the area shut their mouths one after another.
She walked up to Xu Lingzhi and helped her up.
"The laws of our dynasty stipulate that if a husband and wife are emotionally incompatible, both parties have the right to request a divorce."
Having said that, she swept a blade-like gaze across the surrounding crowd.
"If this Commandery Princess remembers correctly, this law was even established by Founding Emperor."
The crowd: ! ! ! !
Among these people, a portion of them served their masters closely and were somewhat literate.
Upon hearing the two words "Founding Emperor," their complexions turned pale in unison.
If this matter blew up, this was enough to pin a crime of disrespecting imperial authority upon them.
The atmosphere at the scene instantly turned exceptionally scorching. They had originally just wanted to come out and watch some drama, but who could have known they would get dragged into trouble?
Realizing what was happening, the crowd knelt in unison.
The sweat on their foreheads emerged continuously like falling rain.
They only hoped this Little Commandery Princess was easy to talk to, otherwise they could only hope for a good rebirth in the next life.
Such a good opportunity-could I let it go?
Divorces for women in this era were already not easy, yet there was always a group of onlookers who thought the spectacle wasn't big enough and loved to point fingers at other people's affairs.
In the clear blue sky, several bolts of lightning suddenly struck down, impartial and dead-on, shattering the plaques hanging in front of the front doors of those people in the crowd who had run out to watch the drama.
Some plaques that had been used for a long time or were made of poor material smashed onto the ground and broke into two halves.
Two families relatively close to us gave the people at the scene a live broadcast.
The originally hundreds of onlookers were half-frightened into fainting by the sudden heavenly thunder.
Of the remaining half, upon seeing the plaques crashing down, another half fainted.
Wenren Luoshui put her hands behind her back and sighed with simulated helplessness.
"They always say men act and heaven watches. Since you all are subjects of our Li Kingdom, you must abide by the laws of our country, otherwise..."
She didn't finish her sentence, leaving the rest of the words for them to imagine on their own.
Shifting our gaze back to Zhu Jiangqu, to my surprise, the scumbag Zhu Jiangqu wasn't actually scared!
As expected of someone daring enough to be a scumbag, he still possessed a bit of guts.
Actually, Zhu Jiangqu wasn't un-scared; he was simply scared stiff and unable to move.
"Young Master Zhu, you said that you and Madam Xu..."
"I... I... I, I choose divorce!"
Called by name, Zhu Jiangqu only then recovered his speech function. Terrified that the next bolt of thunder would strike him, he hurriedly stated his position that he was willing to divorce Xu Lingzhi.
Beside them, Xu Lingzhi wore a trace of sorrow on her face.
Having loved this man for ten years, she couldn't say she had no regrets upon reaching this step.
It was just that an arrow drawn from a bow could not be turned back; she had already caused Lianxin's death, and if she still chose to forgive this villain Zhu Jiangqu, was she even human?
She could not fail Lianxin!
"Young Master Zhu, it's agreed-a divorce, not an abandonment, oh~"
Yunjian was terrified he might go back on his word later and confirmed it with him once more.
Her deep eyes were stained with a half-smiling flavor.
When dealing with scumbags like this, the thing they excelled at most was changing their tune.
"How about Young Master Zhu swears an oath first? If you ever claim to outsiders in the future that Madam Xu was abandoned by you, you shall be struck by heavenly thunder!"
Zhu Jiangqu: ...
Weren't these two noble ladies a bit too idle?
They actually even wanted to manage what he said in the future?
Zhu Jiangqu was a hundred times unwilling in his heart, but meeting those two pairs of half-smiling eyes, he felt a chill run down his spine and hurriedly followed Yunjian's intent, solemnly swearing an oath to the heavens.
With them around, the divorce proceedings were handled very quickly.
Xu Lingzhi's dowry brought from home was also quite substantial. Over the years, the money she earned from practicing medicine had basically been used up by the Zhu family.
However, a dowry was a woman's private property; she couldn't take back the money she earned over the years, but she could take away all of her dowry.
The servants brought by Wenren Luoshui from the estate moved Xu Lingzhi's dowry out of the storehouse according to the dowry inventory.
During this period, Zhu Jiangqu's old mother, along with his son and daughter, got the news and ran over.
Madam Zhu pointed at Xu Lingzhi and cursed. This old woman was quite formidable at scolding people, almost dragging Xu Lingzhi's ancestors eighteen generations back into it.
Xu Lingzhi watched with cold detachment; aside from impotent fury, they had no other methods left now.
This old woman's hands also carried quite a few human lives, basically concubines' children she had murdered back in her youth.
Wenren Luoshui summoned the ghosts of those children over, letting them keep this old woman company for a while.
Very quickly, Madam Zhu, who had been cursing loudly just moments before, was frightened into scurrying away while holding her head, repeatedly shouting that it had nothing to do with her.
Zhu Jiangqu couldn't bear to watch any longer and hurriedly had the two children pull their grandmother back.
However, the two children stared at Xu Lingzhi as if looking at an enemy.
"What right do you have to take away our family's money! These all belong to us! You are simply a magpie nesting in a dove's tree, a promiscuous woman! Daring to divorce my father, you should strip off all your clothes and walk out just like this, stark naked!"
The eldest son, Zhu Wei, revealed a displeased expression, his eyes filled with nothing but malignance.
Where did his words sound like something said to a biological mother?
Even girls in brothels wouldn't be cursed at like that by anyone.
Xu Lingzhi looked at these two children she had given birth to, a trace of pity flashing through the depths of her eyes.
These two kids had already been ruined by the Zhu family; she could already imagine what their future would be like.
"I indeed am not worthy of being your mother, so from this day forward, you needn't come looking for me ever again. Birth, old age, sickness, or death-in this lifetime, we shall never meet again!"
She had no interest in playing the game of using love to reform these two ungrateful wolves.
Once warped, it was warped; no matter how one tried to bend it back, it couldn't be straightened.
Terrified that he would be struck by lightning again, Zhu Jiangqu hurriedly dragged the two children away.
Once Xu Lingzhi's dowry was fully inventoried, our group of people left in grand procession.
"Many thanks, Commandery Princess Luoshui and Little Lord Yun."
Out of the Zhu Residence, Xu Lingzhi expressed her gratitude to us. She had also opened her mind, her eyes harboring a yearning for her new life.
"What are Madam Xu's plans for the future?"
Yunjian couldn't help asking. She truly wanted to know what kind of path she wished to take; people who could wake up from delusion and extricate themselves within such a short time were exceedingly rare indeed.
"I'll change to a different place, open a medical clinic, and continue treating people's illnesses."
Xu Lingzhi didn't conceal it from us either, stating her thoughts with utter openness and ease.
"If Madam Xu doesn't mind, you can come to the Begonia Garden we opened."
Wenren Luoshui and Yunjian briefly introduced the layout of the Begonia Garden to Xu Lingzhi. Upon hearing it, she agreed on the spot.
With this, their Begonia Garden had taken another step closer to perfection.