Mrs. Feng was dumbfounded.
She didn’t expect Xu Zhiyong to really be so indifferent towards their marriage; he divorced her on the spot.
She didn’t take the divorce letter, instead, she grabbed Xu Zhiyong’s legs and started crying, "Husband, I won’t leave, I won’t leave. What will happen to the children if I leave? I don’t want my children to have a stepmother. Husband, I’ve been married to you for so many years, bearing sons and daughters for you, serving your parents. Was it easy for ? You say divorce and just divorce ; you are too heartless."
Anning sneered coldly, "What you say sounds nicer than it sings. Serving the parents? It’s good that you haven’t angered them to death; having you as a daughter-in-law could shorten their lives. They would live happier without you. Speaking of bearing children? Which woman doesn’t give birth? Why do you act as if it’s a great deed when it cos to you? It’s simply laughable."
Mrs. Feng glared at Anning, angrily lost for words: "Mrs. Wen, I know that you are upset without a man, and can’t stand seeing cherished by one. You instigate discord between my husband and , what good does it bring you? A widow, unemployed, not knowing to stay quiet, instead jumping up and down, it’s only right that your man died early..."
Before she could finish her sentence, she received a hard slap from Xu Zhiyong.
Xu Zhiyong had a pained expression, but his eyes were filled with rage: "Get out, just get out."
Mrs. Feng was truly frantic and spoke rashly, but her words hit a sore spot for Xu Zhiyong.
The early death of Xu Zhiwen was a thorn in the hearts of the Xu family; every ntion of it caused prolonged pain, yet this thorn could not be removed, only continuing to cause pain from ti to ti.
Now that Mrs. Feng brought it up again, how could Xu Zhiyong forgive her?
Xu Zhiyong’s eyes reddened, furiously glaring at Mrs. Feng: "I have no wife like you in my Xu family; get out at once."
Mrs. Feng was terrified. As Xu Zhiyong moved to hit her again, she quickly got up and ran away.
Xu Zhiyong took a deep breath and turned back to apologize to Anning: "Elder sister-in-law, I’m sorry, it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have kept this woman."
"It’s okay."
Anning’s expression also had a bit of distress; she turned pale the mont Mrs. Feng ntioned Xu Zhiwen. Now she seed utterly weak.
She weakly waved her hand: "Second brother, check on Mrs. Feng and make sure she doesn’t take anything valuable. I’m tired, I’ll go rest."
As she returned to her room, Old Madam noticed her unusual deanor and asked with concern, "Eldest Son’s Wife, what’s wrong with you?"
Anning forced a smile: "It’s nothing, maybe I just caught a chill. Mother, I will go rest for a bit in the room."
"Go ahead."
After Anning left, Old Madam turned to the grandfather: "What’s wrong with the Eldest Son’s Wife? Watching her complexion, do you think she overheard so gossip outside?"
The grandfather remained silent; after a while, Xu Zhiqin also ca back inside.
He sat down and softly said to the grandfather, "Father, elder sister-in-law must be feeling terrible. Just now, Mrs. Feng cursed elder brother outside and said that elder sister-in-law deserved to be a widow."
Old Madam and the grandfather were infuriated by these words.
Old Madam, both angry and resentful: "This evil woman! It seems our Xu family has been too good to her, and she dares to dean others like this. No, we can’t just let this go."
Thinking of Anning, Old Madam felt another wave of heartache.
She stood up and said, "I need to check on the Eldest Son’s Wife. It’s pitiful, what Mrs. Feng said; it must have been hard for her to hear. We can’t let her fall into despair."
"Go, try to comfort her."
The grandfather was also worried about Anning, but as an Old Madam, there were things he couldn’t express easily.
Old Madam sighed and said, "I knew we shouldn’t have married Mrs. Feng into the family; it’s like inviting a troublemaker instead of a daughter-in-law."
She went towards the east wing where Anning resided.
Old Madam pushed the room door but couldn’t open it. She peeked inside—the room was pitch-dark, without a single light.
Old Madam was puzzled and thought, "It’s not even dinner ti yet, could Anning have already gone to sleep?"
She walked a few steps back, feeling uneasy, as if a bad premonition lood over her.
Old Madam quickly returned to the main hall, grabbed Xu Zhiqin and started walking: "Third, your elder sister-in-law has her door closed and won’t open it. There’s no light inside. I’m really uneasy; you, find a way to open the door and let’s check. We can’t let anything happen."
"Okay."
Xu Zhiqin arrived at the east wing, pushed the door but couldn’t open it; he let Old Madam call out a few tis but no one responded.
Xu Zhiqin felt an ominous feeling, disregarding any reservations, he kicked the door open.
Old Madam hurriedly entered the room, and the mont she got inside, she was so frightened that her legs went weak and she fell to the ground.
Xu Zhiqin glanced inside and was nearly terrified: "Elder sister-in-law..."
He rushed forward a few steps, forcefully took Anning down from the hanging beam, and then called Old Madam: "Mother, quickly co and see if elder sister-in-law is still breathing."
Old Madam scrambled over, checking Anning’s nose: "She, she is still breathing."
She pinched the philtrum and rubbed Anning’s chest, after a long while, she managed to revive her.
"Eldest Son’s Wife, you want to kill with worry."
Old Madam cried and shouted: "If sothing happens to you, what am I supposed to do? What about the two children? How am I supposed to explain to Eldest?"
Anning opened her eyes, looked at Old Madam, and after a long while, she dully began to speak: "Perhaps Mrs. Feng is right, I deserve it, I... I’m harsh and unfriendly, and I’ve been a burden to husband. At first, I kept pushing through because our family was struggling, the children already lost their father, they can’t lose their mother too, but now I’ve saved up so money, the days of my second and third brothers have also improved, I know their character, they won’t neglect their own nephews, I... I just thought it might be better to join my husband."
"You foolish thing."
Old Madam slapped Anning several tis: "You believe Mrs. Feng’s nonsense? Could Eldest’s issues really be blad on you? Neither your father nor I have ever blad you, what right does Mrs. Feng have to criticize you? Eldest Son’s Wife, you can’t be foolish again, if you really were to pass away, how could I go on living? All these years us mothers and daughters have depended on each other, you’ve been the most filial to and your father, far better than a real daughter, if you..."
Old Madam was crying so hard she couldn’t continue.
Anning, suddenly awakening, hugged Old Madam and wept: "Mother, I feel wronged, my heart aches..."
Xu Zhiqin watched this scene and turned away to wipe his tears.
He felt it improper to stay longer and went to the main hall.
The old master also knew sothing had happened, but it wasn’t appropriate for him to go to his daughter-in-law’s bedroom. Seeing Xu Zhiqin co in, he asked: "Is your elder sister-in-law alright?"
Xu Zhiqin shook his head: "She’s fine, thankfully we got there in ti, or it would have been disastrous."
The old master sighed deeply: "As long as she’s alright."
Then, the old master glared at Xu Zhiqin and said: "Your sister-in-law hasn’t had an easy ti these past years, she’s wholeheartedly raised you all, you must not forget her kindness, from now on you must treat your sister-in-law well, don’t allow others to gossip about her, do you hear?"
"Dad, I understand."
Xu Zhiqin was sowhat clever but wasn’t a bad person.
He also rembered Anning’s kindness.
When he got married, his family was facing hard tis, the Li family wanted a bride price that they couldn’t afford, it was Anning who secretly gave him so of her dowry money, allowing him to marry his wife.
Later when his elder brother was still alive, his elder sister-in-law had treated him well too.
Not to ntion the money Anning gave for Xu Zhiyong’s dical treatnt, and the soap formula, Xu Zhiqin rembered all these things.
Thinking of how Anning nearly died, he extrely despised Mrs. Feng.
In front of the old master, Xu Zhiqin gritted his teeth and said: "Mrs. Feng, this troublemaker, must be driven away imdiately, she can’t spend another night in our house."
"Go, drive her away right away."
The old master pointed outside.
Xu Zhiqin agreed and walked out.
Just as he was leaving, he bumped into Lan.
Lan stopped Xu Zhiqin: "Uncle Three, I’ll go with you."
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