Chapter 59 Dividing The Mansion

Dividing the East and West mansions was just the first step for Guan Suyi to clear the relationship with the Marquis Mansion. If she still couldn’t live in peace this way, even if she couldn’t get reconciliationin ancient China there are different type of divorce system, all of them are harmful to women’s reputation, but the least harmful is 和离 (heli) which basically means husband and wife agree to divorce, she could find reason to live in the village estate in the future. In this life, she was not an adulterous woman who lost her chastity and dignity, but a high-powered first-rank title Madam. Who dares to neglect her? Wouldn’t it be nice to eat and drink outside, and went to travel through the landscape from time to time?

Thinking like this, she finally looked at Zhao Luli a little more favorably, and decided, “In that case, please ask Lord Marquis to invite sister-in-law, and let’s settle the matter of the dividing the mansion.”

The more Zhao Luli’s close servants listened to it, the more they felt that the future was bleak. Why should the Ye family seize their monthly silver, house, food, and clothes? Could it be that Lord Marquis was not good enough to them in the past? People can’t be such a rough to this extent! Lord Marquis was also confused, just as Madam said, why not rent a house outside for them  to live? But insisted to get them into his home, and make foul atmosphere everywhere. After a long time, they didn’t want to stay in the East Mansion, how good would it be if they could find a way to move to the West Mansion?

Not only was this old servant unhappy, but the maids and grannies who served Zhao Chunxi and Zhao Wangshu also had a gloomy face, and they were already thinking in their hearts how to transfer to the West Mansion. That’s why, when Zhao Luli wanted to send people to invite the second madam, he shouted several times before a granny came forward to accept the order.

A quarter of an hour later, a series of screams came from outside, mixed with words such as “Ghost, Demon is here”, followed by a chaotic banging, howling groan, and chanting sound, somewhat like people were in panic, and knocked down tables and chairs, causing a mess.

Thinking of Madam’s usual attitude of showing neither pity nor disgust when she saw her sister-in-law, and then looked at the embarrassing appearance of Ye’s family in panic and shouting, Zhao Luli’s face flushed with shame, and he gradually began to doubt whether he made the right decision by bringing them home for resettlement. With this kind of family education and style of handling things, afraid there would be no peaceful day in the Marquis Mansion, but he had already ridden the tiger and had no choice but to go forward with it.

After a while, Ruan shi pulled the frightened Mu Mu into the inner hall, her head hanging low, she covered her face with her hands, and murmured, “Lord Marquis, just now I’m sorry for scaring those delicate guests of your foreign family.”

Zhao Luli felt ashamed and waved his hands quickly, “It is them who are disrespectful, it should be me who apologize to sister-in-law, and I also ask sister-in-law to please forgive me.”

Ruan shi reluctantly pulled the corners of her lips, and took a few steps forward to greet her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. There was no more thorn in her voice, “Mother-in-law, sister-in-law, what are you looking for me for?” While she was talking, Mu Mu didn’t feel shy with stranger at all, actually  walked up to Guan Suyi’s side, put his two short hands on her knees, opened his mouth wide, and made an “ah” sound.

Guan Suyi’s cold face couldn’t be maintain anymore, she smiled lowly, and immediately looked at his throat, and said with relief, “It took only two days for the swelling to subside, very good. Can you eat hard things?”

Ruan shi smiled, “Actually, that evening is already so much better. The next day, he dragged me to beg for food. I think he was very hungry. It’s every hard for him to be sick for so long and still did no say a word, I usually feed him any food, but he only eat very little, and didn’t know how painful it should be to swallow those vegetables and meat.”

“This is a child who can endure, and he has a promising future. However, it is not good to endure blindly, he has to know how to fight, so let him learn how to speak. Sister-in-law doesn’t need to worry, I will teach him slowly.” Guan Suyi tentatively picked up a piece of cake and coaxed, “Mu Mu, come to mother, mother will feed you cake.”

After hesitating for a moment, Mu Mu got into his adoptive mother’s arms, but he didn’t dare to bite the cake, just stared at it with his black eyes, and Guan Suyi’s heart was melting, she handed it to his lips while holding his small chin so as not to let the cake residue fall into his lapels.

When she was sincere and good to someone, the water-like tenderness could almost overflow from her gorgeous eyebrows, as if the whole person was emitting a shimmering light, which made people unable to move their eyes and deeply attracted. Mu Mu loved this fragrant, beautiful, powerful, and very kind adoptive mother, a small short hand slowly wrapped around her arm, then take a bite of the cake.

Zhao Wangshu was stunned, suddenly turned his head away with red eyes. It turned out that the stepmother not only has a strict side, but also a gentle side, just like the mother he imagined. It’s just that she wouldn’t treat him like that. She didn’t like him, and he could feel it from the beginning.

Zhao Luli was also full of emotion, thinking that if he hadn’t hurt madam’s heart, madam would have taken care of Wangshu and Xi’er like this. What kind of sins he had done to break a good family into pieces, and he hoped there would be a chance to make up for it in the future. At the end, he remembered the conversation between the two sister-in-laws, so he asked his mother what happened to Mu Mu, and was reprimanded again.

Guan Suyi and Ruan shi listened silently and did not interrupt, waiting for the old madam to let out a bad breath before they began to talk about the business. Ruan shi had long been fed up with the Ye family, when she heard that the West Mansion would be established in the name of her husband, and she would live alone with her sister-in-law and mother-in-law, she was naturally happy. Everyone reached an agreement, the old madam would personally pay for the construction of the wall, and immediately order the steward to go to recruit craftsmen and start work immediately, she could not wait for a moment.

Seeing his mother was so eager to get rid the Ye family, Zhao Luli could only smile bitterly. After the maid had collected the map and cleaned up the table, he poured a cup of hot tea with his own hands, knelt down and held it high, saying with guilt, “Mother, over the years, you have taken a lot of responsibility for me. If you hadn’t been in charge of the central feed, this family would not be what it was like. Not only did I not care about everything, but I often rebelled against you and making you angry. Your migraine problem is probably caused by anger towards me. This son is not filial, and I don’t know if it will be too late to make amends. Thinking about it, I really regret it! This son will enter the palace tomorrow to plead guilty, and if unable to get through unscathed, you and madam should get along well in the West Mansion, I can rest assured that she will take good care of you. This son still has some property, which is also entrusted to you to take care of it, so that you will not have to worry about your livelihood in the future.”

Is this a last word? The old madam groaned inside, her heart was broken, but she couldn’t bring her face down to reconcile with her son, and snorted coldly, “I’m stupid and I don’t have much energy, so how can I take care of it for you. Why don’t you hand it over to your wife?”

“Give it to her, is she willing to take it?” Zhao Luli smiled wryly. He wasn’t really blind, he just didn’t dare to look at everything around him. Madam had torn apart even the expense for food and clothing with the Marquis Mansion, and unlike Ruan shi, who was readily call his mother mother-in-law, she only called her the old madam. It was obvious that she never regarded herself as a Zhao family’s member. But this couldn’t be blamed on her. Thinking about the things he had done, who wouldn’t bear grudges? Who would be willing to suffer? She was the proud and unyielding Guan family’s member, and she was not an ordinary woman, who could not be slighted, could not be overlooked, and could not be insulted.

Guan Suyi pursed her lips and did not speak.

The room fell into a dead silence, and the awkward atmosphere permeated for a while, before hearing the old madam coldly said, “You put the account books and other items in the main courtyard for the time being, and take them back when you return home safely. If you can’t get through this hurdle, I don’t need you to explain, I will also hand over the property to Suyi to take care, I am rest assured that she is capable, she can hold up two of you!”

Zhao Luli finally smiled briskly and agreed, “Mother is right, Madam is really capable, we can rest assured handing over our family to her. This son will go settle the Ye Mansion’s family member, and will not let them disturb you before dividing the mansion.”

The old madam nodded indifferently, and when her son left the inner hall with the pair of son and a daughter, she sighed softly, her eyes were red and wet.

There were vague voices from outside, and there seemed to be cheers of joy, and then she heard his son admonishing, “The main courtyard, the main house, and the second house, you’d better not set foot on them. In other people’s house you must abide by other people’s rules, and if anyone has a bad heart and anything in those three houses gone, I have the right to count on that person’s head, and I will report it to the officials.” In other words – whoever disobeys will be named as a thief and sent to prison, this attitude was very strong.

There was a moment of silence outside, followed by a mixture of quarrels and frightened apologies, and then slowly faded away.

The old madam held her forehead and wept, both happy and worried. The happy thing was that her son was really awakened; the worried part was that he had already fallen into another quagmire, and she didn’t know if he could come all the way out. She didn’t hold grudges against Guan family or her daughter-in-law. Without these heavy hammers, her son would probably be confuse for a lifetime. It would be better to start all over again as he was now.

With great difficulty Zhao Luli settled the Ye family, and when he turned around, he found that his daughter was still following him, with a worried expression on her face. His eyes dimmed, and he took his daughter to the study to speak.

“Daddy, what will happen to you when you enter the palace tomorrow?” Will you go to jail? But in the end, she dared not ask.

“Daddy doesn’t know what will happen, it depends on the emperor’s decision.” Zhao Luli thoughtfully said, “Xi’er, while no one is here, daddy will explain a few words to you. I hope you will grow up quickly, and stop indulging in wild imagination and going astray. I have always known about your relationship with your mother. When you first met, she saved you in the bitter cold, and when you were helpless and not have anything to depend on, you thought she fit your imagination of a mother, crying and shouting for her to come to the Marquis Mansion. After I asked for the imperial decree of marriage, you found that she was outspoken and rigid, which was very unsatisfactory, so you didn’t show it on the surface, but always make things difficult behind her back. Xi’er, Daddy knew all these things, and I can understand how you feel. But you have to understand that not everyone in the world has to revolve around you, and not everything is to your liking. If you continue to act like you used to, your mother will not tolerate you, and daddy will not indulge you any longer. Have you seen your grandfather? He’s the perfect example.”

Zhao Chunxi’s face was pale, and she was speechless for a long time.

Zhao Luli sighed and said, “Don’t resent your mother, everything has nothing to do with her, let alone the Guan family. The Emperor Teacher’s new appointment as the censor must set some prestige. The Ye family is only a springboard in his eyes, and the emperor is the real stepping stone. How much risk and pressure do you think he needs to endure to impeach the emperor? The emperor uses him for the time being, precisely because he is the Emperor Teacher, if one day he is no longer needed, every time he impeaches, every time he gets angry, every big officials he offended will become his death spell in the future. But he has to do it, and he has to do it well, just because the Holy Order is hard to violate, because the world belongs to the emperor, and all of us have to listen to him. The Guan family is very remarkable, they do not think of hardship, but take pride in it. They are willing to sacrifice their lives for righteousness, striving to the utmost, in the future they’re bound to leave their names on annals of history, and be passed on for hundreds of generations. Your mother come from such a family, and her character was unsullied and untainted, benevolent and righteous. If I can’t come back alive, you will take Wangshu to beg her, listen to her carefully, honor her with sincerity, with the Guan family’s reputation outside, and her beauty inside, she certainly will never leave you alone.”

“Daddy, don’t say it!” Zhao Chunxi threw herself into her father’s arms and burst into tears.

However, Zhao Luli couldn’t help but explain clearly, “If I don’t say it how you can understand, affairs of life will always happened. Guan family is right, it’s your maternal family that is wrong. I can’t tell you what your grandfather did, you just need to know, he confessed his guilt and was executed, and his death was not because he wrongly accused. You don’t need to hold grudges against your mother, or even hatred, because of his tragic death. You must know that family has family’s rules and the country has country’s laws, even the emperor has to bear the punishment for violating the law of the country, so what about other people? Under the imperial power we all are ants. You should stay away from the court and live in peace. Don’t imitate the Ye family’s love of vanity and clinging to the powerful. Your brother is spoiled, like to done things without thinking, neither your grandmother nor I can control him, but he listen to you the most. You said that your mother is good, he expected me to marry her; you said that your mother is not good, he immediately avoided her and turned against her. You must not mislead him in the future, and say more  kind words about your mother, teach him to get close to her. If your mother is happy and willing to cultivate him wholeheartedly, in the future his prospect will not be bad. The Guan family’s method of tuning and teaching people, you as the family’s daughter may not know, but you may look at the court, those who can speak now, except for the senior minister’s lineage, are the Emperor Teacher and his disciples. With such a strong backer, you will definitely have no worries in your life.”

When the words fell, he burst into tears, and sighed, “Don’t blame daddy for being incompetent, daddy used to be in the battlefield, going up and down, but the will of Heaven often mess with people… You just need to know, your daddy is not really confused, nor am I really cowardly, but I just have to put on this attitude to protect our family. Daddy is gone, and you are a little confused when things happen, don’t be competitive, and don’t set your mind to climb up. Going to the top is not a good journey, your mom…”

He couldn’t speak any longer, and cried bitterly while holding his daughter.

Zhao Chunxi was dazed and desperate for a while, but there were no tears left. What exactly did my mom do back then? Why her scenery is beautiful and infinite, but only leaving others with endless pain and bleakness?

T/N: I will use the word reconciliation for a type of divorce where both husband and wife agree to separate, it’s just to differentiate from other type of divorce where husband basically discard the wife.

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