The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 148 Everyone Has Their Own Secrets

"What? You want a divorce?"

Jia She was extremely surprised when he saw Jia Lian and his wife coming together.

Although his daughter-in-law Wang Xifeng is always cunning and selfish, and is on better terms with the first wife because of her aunt, Jia She is not really dissatisfied with this daughter-in-law.

Who knows how to live without being thrifty?

But he couldn't understand why the two of them wanted to divorce for no reason.

Although Jia She usually never interfered in other people's affairs and only cared about his family's happiness, he had to ask about it when his son was getting a divorce.

"This couple fights at the head of the bed and makes up at the foot of the bed. If there is any conflict, just talk it out. If it doesn't work, just beat her up to vent your anger, and that's it!"

"Divorce is no joke. Once you divorce, it will be very difficult to get back together in the future."

After Jia Lian heard this, he rolled his eyes and said angrily:

"I beat her, Master, are you saying the opposite?"

"When was there a conflict where I wasn't scratched all over my face with bloody marks?"

"Master, please don't worry about us. This divorce is not my idea alone. We discussed it together and it has been agreed upon."

"The reason for the divorce is that she used the name of the mansion to lend money outside, which seriously damaged the family's reputation."

"As for the dowry, she didn't take any gold or silver with her. She took half of the shops and land that she brought as a dowry."

Jia She originally wanted to give him some more advice, but after hearing what he said, he gave up the idea of ​​continuing to dissuade him and nodded instead:

"Well, since you have already discussed it, I have nothing to say."

"I agree here. You go and explain the situation to the old lady. If she agrees, then you can get a divorce!"

After he finished speaking, he turned his gaze to Wang Xifeng and said sanctimoniously:
"Lending money at high interest rates has indeed had a very bad impact on the reputation of the mansion. Feng'er, have someone send all the receipts for the high interest rates to me. I will have someone settle them and restore the reputation of the mansion."

When the father and son were talking before, Wang Xifeng had been listening beside them without interrupting. Now, when she suddenly heard Master She speak like this, she couldn't help feeling strange.

When has this master ever been so kind?

She glanced at Jia She's face with surprise, and saw a hint of greed in his eyes. She immediately understood that he did not want to restore the family's reputation. This master was clearly eyeing those accounts that had not yet been collected, and wanted to continue the usury business!
But she was leaving now, and she couldn't continue to lend money anyway, so it didn't matter who she gave the money to, so she might as well just give it to Master She.

"Don't worry, Master. All the accounts are clear and I will have someone send them to you later."

After hearing this, Jia She immediately smiled happily and no longer cared whether the two should divorce or not.

Originally, the two of them were inseparable, so it didn't affect him much.

After the divorce, the dowry that Wang Xifeng took away belonged to her son's small family and would not affect his income.

Only this usury business, if it falls into his hands, can give him extra income out of thin air.

And if the two of them did not divorce in the end and continued to live together, then maybe Wang Xifeng could continue to work, and then he would lose out!
So unless he is sick, he would not stop the two from getting divorced!

Seeing that the master had been persuaded, the couple said goodbye and ran towards the old lady's courtyard.

During this period, various problems occurred frequently in the Jia Mansion. Old Mrs. Jia fell ill several times and her body has not recovered yet. She usually doesn't take care of things and just concentrates on recuperating in the courtyard.

The weather was nice today, and Lady Jia was in good health, sitting in the yard basking in the sun. Lady Wang and Aunt Xue were by her side, chatting and laughing, trying to make her happy.

Hearing that Jia Lian and his wife had arrived, Grandmother Jia let them in and asked with a smile:

"Why did you two come here together this time? Is there anything wrong?"

The old lady had never liked Jia Lian, so Wang Xifeng stepped forward to pay her respects and report.

"Madam, Mr. Lian and I have discussed this and we are planning to divorce."

"What?" Grandmother Jia was so shocked that the walking stick in her hand fell down and she kept gasping for breath.

Yuanyang hurried over to pick it up, returned it to Grandmother Jia, and quickly put it on her chest to comfort her, "Don't be angry, old lady, your health is the most important."

Mrs. Wang and Aunt Xue also hurried over to help pat her back and massage her temples. After a long while, Lady Jia finally recovered.

Seeing that Lady Jia was so angry, Mrs. Wang turned her head to look at Jia Lian and his wife with a complicated look.

She had scolded Wang Xifeng once before, thinking that it would be enough to keep Wang Xifeng away from her precious son in the future. She had never thought of sending Wang Xifeng back to her parents' home, nor did she intend to destroy Jia Lian's relationship with his wife.

But now it seems like this matter is going to become a big deal!
Could it be that... Jia Lian knows about what happened between Baoyu and Feng Yatou?
Otherwise, why would you have to get a divorce for no reason?
However, when her eyes met Jia Lian's in mid-air, she did not see any dissatisfaction or hatred towards her on Jia Lian's part, so she felt a little relieved.

She had no idea what was going on. She just thought that everything was caused by what she had said before. She was afraid that the old lady would be angry with her after knowing it, so she put on a kind expression and gently advised:

"There are no obstacles in life between husband and wife. Even if there are some disagreements, they can just make concessions. Why make such a big fuss?"

"Marriage is a serious matter, and it's no joke. Go back and think about it carefully."

Seeing that the happy days of being single were about to arrive, Jia Lian could no longer bear it. He immediately raised his head with a proud look, his eyebrows raised high, and answered the questions without any hesitation.

"So that the second wife would know that she used the name of the mansion to lend money at high interest rates, and everyone in the city would know about it, which would seriously damage the family's reputation. If we divorce now, outsiders will definitely praise our family for its strict traditions when they know about it."

When Mrs. Wang heard the word "interest", she immediately frowned.

This thing has a really bad reputation!
Because the Jia family rescued the hostages very decisively this time, those gossiping women who had no scandals to gossip about had to change the subject of their gossip. Therefore, the matter of Wang Xifeng lending money at high interest became the subject of gossip and despise by everyone.

It just so happened that the Jia family is now the relative of the imperial concubine, and the imperial concubine's visit is imminent, and everyone is paying attention. When these two pieces of news were put together, all kinds of rumors spread out.

As the Imperial Concubine's biological mother, she hated anything that would affect her daughter's future in the palace.

Combined with Baoyu's affairs, it seems that Mrs. Wang is truly fed up with Wang Xifeng at this time.

But she had never thought of asking Jia Lian to divorce his wife before. After all, divorce was not a decent thing in those days, and she had no control over Jia Lian's decision.

Many ideas actually just lacked a trigger. Now that Jia Lian reminded her of this, she suddenly felt that it was actually a good idea for the two of them to get divorced.

And once this idea started, I couldn't stop it.

She thought again of the "seizing of the title" that her master had been planning, but there had not been much progress. The attitude of the four kings and eight dukes was that the Jia family must take action first, and then they would help.

Before, she had been struggling to find a suitable major crime for the court to discuss and remove her title, so she had to pile up many minor crimes. She had already laid out many minor issues such as unfilial piety, adultery, stealing one's mother, etc. However, these were all rumors without any real evidence. Even if the censors could speak out based on hearsay, the court might not necessarily accept them.

It's all right now. It's a real fact that Wang Xifeng lent money at high interest rates. There are witnesses and evidences, and everyone in the capital knows about it. It's just right to take advantage of it and use it.

With this true news, she could let the censor combine it with the several false news she had spread long ago and report them together. The court would most likely believe it.

OK!

The more Mrs. Wang thought about it, the more she felt it was appropriate, so she kept silent and expressed her tacit agreement.

Seeing Mrs. Wang behave like this and her clear position, Wang Xifeng couldn't help but feel even more shocked. Second Madam actually hates me so much now. Fortunately, she has decided to divorce, otherwise the poisoned wine would fall on her head sooner or later.

Over there, Lady Jia was lying in Yuanyang's arms, listening to the conversation between Lady Wang and Wang Xifeng with her eyes closed. Suddenly, she heard Lady Wang stop talking, and she opened her eyes in surprise and looked over.

She was also a cunning woman. When she saw Mrs. Wang's tacit expression and combined it with Jia Lian's previous words, her thoughts turned slightly, and she immediately guessed that the news that her daughter-in-law did not like usury had ruined the imperial concubine's visit, so she sighed secretly in her heart.

Things like usury really made her very angry. Of course, she was not angry that Wang Xifeng dared to do this, but she was angry that it was exposed.

As the person in charge of the Jia household, Grandmother Jia knew all the goings-on in the house. It was impossible for her to say that she didn't know that Wang Xifeng was lending money at high interest rates in private. However, since she was ignorant, she just turned a blind eye to these things.

It was expected that Wang Xifeng was usually cautious in her work, so the matter of usury would not be exposed. But who would have thought that suddenly a bandit who could not survive would commit such a big crime in the suburbs of Beijing, and there was no chance to cover it up.

This kind of thing is bad luck in itself and is not Wang Xifeng's fault.

So after this incident, she never wanted to really deal with Wang Xifeng. After all, the daily expenses of this mansion were too high, and money was always needed to maintain it.

If someone else were to do the loan sharking, his methods might not be as good as Wang Xifeng's and it would be easier for him to be exposed, so she would still not be at ease!

In addition, after Wang Xifeng was kidnapped, she planned to give up redeeming her and wanted Wang Xifeng to die outside. She felt a little guilty towards Wang Xifeng in her heart. Now that Wang Xifeng has returned, she might as well cancel each other out and pretend that this incident had never happened.

But she never thought that although she did not pursue the responsibility, Wang Xifeng and the other person actually took the initiative to take responsibility. What's wrong with that?
Grandmother Jia thought about it for a while but couldn't figure it out, so she just beat Jia Lian with her cane and glared at him, saying:
"It is the best thing to correct one's mistakes. Your wife shouldn't have lent money at high interest, but don't you have any responsibility for this?"

"If you had mastered martial arts earlier and made contributions to become an official, would you still need Feng to lend money to supplement the family income?"

"You will definitely not be allowed to lend money from usury in the future, but there is no need to mention the divorce anymore!"

Seeing that the old lady was actually going to deny this matter, Jia Lian hurriedly said:

"Old lady, I'm not the only one who wants a divorce. She and I have both agreed to divorce."

Seeing that Grandmother Jia actually refused to allow a divorce, Wang Xifeng could not help but have some doubts. Could it be that the old lady had never wanted to eliminate me as a hidden danger? Or... a divorce would not satisfy her, and she insisted that I die in the Jia Mansion?

She was not sure what the old lady was thinking, and could not tell from her wrinkled face, so she stepped forward and saluted:
"Old lady, I will always remember your love for Feng'er, but many things in this world are destined."

"Miss Lin had dreamed before that Mr. Lian would divorce his wife and marry another one in the future."

"I tried to send Ping'er away, but after Ping'er left, Qiu Tong came, which caused a rift between me and Mr. Lian."

"Since this is my fate, there is no need to force anything. Let's just let it be!"

After hearing this, Jia's mother's brows immediately frowned.

Now, thanks to Mr. Zhan's repeated secret operations, Lin Daiyu's "precognitive dream" has made everyone's results basically consistent with the content of the dream, so that everyone is convinced and the credibility is extremely strong.

But as an old lady, Jia's mother really didn't like divorce, so she continued to persuade:

"Although Lin's dream is accurate, it does not mean that there is no room for changing the future."

"Let's not talk about anything else. The whole family of Master Xue was originally going to be executed, but didn't everything change later?"

Wang Xifeng smiled bitterly and said:
"It is not something that ordinary people can do to change one's fate. Even if one does, there will be endless hidden dangers and even more disasters." "The old lady said that the fate of Mr. Xue's family has changed, but now it seems that Mr. Xue is seriously ill and bedridden. He may die any day."

"And sister Baoqin was originally going to marry into our family, but now she was sent to Master Zhan's house by Xue Ke and became Master Zhan's concubine? The only difference is that she was exiled to the Jiaofangsi."

"His family's fate was indeed changed, but it was not changed completely!"

"Just like when I sent Ping'er away, I also changed her fate, but it made Second Master Lian even more disgusted. If I hadn't changed her fate, who knows if there would be another result?"

"Now that I have changed from divorce to amicable divorce, I have gained some benefits. If I continue to be greedy, I am afraid that greater disasters will inevitably befall me."

After she said this, Grandmother Jia immediately hesitated.

She really hated divorce, but she was more selfish and superstitious. She was afraid that if she really refused to agree to the divorce, what would she do if another disaster really befell her?
After hesitating again and again, her selfishness finally prevailed over everything. Grandmother Jia sighed, closed her eyes in pain, leaned on her crutches and slammed them heavily on the ground, and said slowly:
"That's it!"

"Since you two have thought everything through, what else can an old woman like me say?"

"This is your own business, go and discuss it among yourselves, I have no objection!"

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian was overjoyed. He immediately bowed and thanked the old lady. He took out the divorce letter that had been written long ago from his sleeve and handed it to Wang Xifeng, asking her to sign it.

Although Wang Xifeng was not very literate, she had no problem understanding the contents. After checking it carefully, she signed her name and put her fingerprint on it.

Witnessed by Lady Jia and others, the two were no longer husband and wife from then on.

Under everyone's selfish desires, the marriage between Wang Xifeng and Jia Lian became a common victim of everyone.

Wang Xifeng took her copy of the divorce letter, put it away carefully, then bowed to Lady Jia and the others again, then stood up and left.

Originally, she had planned everything in her mind, but reason is reason, and emotion is emotion. Now that everything has settled, she inexplicably felt reluctant and tears flowed all the way.

After returning to the courtyard, Wang Xifeng simply packed up her things, hugged her daughter for the last time, and cried bitterly.

Although Qiaojie is not a son, his surname is Jia after all. After the divorce, she naturally has to stay in the Jia family.

If there was anything in this mansion that Wang Xifeng was most worried about, it would be this piece of flesh that had fallen from her body.

If she was not in danger of losing her life, even if she and Jia Lian had a complete falling out and never had any contact with each other again, she would not be willing to abandon her child and run back to her parents' home. But in the current situation, there was really no way out. Mrs. Wang's attitude was very clear and her hostility was obvious. If she did not escape early, she would be killed sooner or later.

Poor Qiaojie was still young and not very sensible. When she was hugged by the mother and cried like that, she became scared and started crying too.

The mother and daughter hugged each other and cried bitterly. Wang Xifeng gave them many careful instructions. She had no idea how many times she had said these things before. But when she said them again, she still felt that there was something missing.

There are no secrets in the Jia family. When the couple was preparing to divorce, the news had already begun to spread. After they reached an agreement in Jia's grandmother's courtyard, this explosive news began to spread everywhere.

Soon, the stewards and servants who had received the news came running to Wang Xifeng, surrounded the yard, and came to verify the truth.

They were all the people who came as a dowry with Wang Xifeng. Over the years, they relied on Wang Xifeng's status as the housekeeper to abuse their power and occupy some lucrative positions in the mansion.

Now that Wang Xifeng is leaving, in principle they all have to go with her. After all, the reason they were chosen as dowry is that most of them are family children and their indentures are still in Wang Xifeng's hands.

But everyone is selfish, and the people in the Jia family are even more so.

After leaving the Wang family for so many years, it is basically certain that there will be no place for them if they return to the Wang family now. Even if they are arranged reluctantly, the position will not be better than when they were in the Jia Mansion.

Then can you not leave?

In fact, it is not impossible.

They have lived in the mansion for so many years and have long been integrated into the Jia family. As long as they find a master in the mansion and ask for them to come over, they will naturally be able to stay.

But the problem is that their prosperity in the mansion is entirely dependent on Second Madam Lian’s status as the housekeeper. If they change their master, can they still continue to enjoy such prosperity?

I am afraid that by then most of the lucrative positions will still be given to others.

After the glory, you fall back to the bottom and have to fawn on others every day. That feeling is definitely not pleasant. It’s better not to stay!
Therefore, none of the servants who were doing a little better off wanted Wang Xifeng to leave the Jia Mansion.

A group of people gathered in the yard, talking and shouting incessantly.

"Grandma, what are you talking about? Why are we getting a divorce?"

"Of course, if there is anything, can't we sit down and talk it out slowly? Is there any need for divorce?"

"Grandma, if the Second Master bullies you, we from the Wang family can't just stand by and watch. I'll take people to the old lady and beg for mercy!"

"That's right, grandma. We in the Wang family can't let the Jia family bully us. If you want to divorce, you have to ask our Wang family for permission first!"

"I'll send a message to my mother's family right away, and ask them to come and settle accounts with the Jia family!"

A group of people looked loyal, with thick necks and glaring eyes, and kept shouting, which made Wang Xifeng, who was holding her daughter in the house and reluctant to let her go, burst into anger.

Wang Xifeng knew exactly what these guys were planning.

Normally, for the sake of managing the household, she had to be patient and use all kinds of tactics to resolve conflicts. But now she was going back to her parents' home, so how could she care about these dogs and slaves? She immediately held the child in one hand, went out of the door, stood on the steps, and glanced down. Under her years of accumulated power, everyone immediately fell silent.

After everyone was quiet, Wang Xifeng raised her eyebrows and shouted:

"What's the fuss about?"

"The divorce has been signed and cannot be changed!"

"I did this on my own free will. No one is bullying me. Even if someone is, it is not your turn to interfere!"

"This time, I will take back two shops and thirty hectares of land. Nothing will change for the people involved. The shopkeeper will remain the shopkeeper, and the village head will remain the village head."

"All those involved in the Jia family will stay, and their positions will be replaced by the elders of the Wang family."

"If there are those who don't want to go back to the Wang family with me, then go find Master Lian, or go find another master. As long as someone wants to take you in, I will leave your indenture with you and will not make it difficult for you."

"As for those who are not wanted, they will all follow me back to the Wang family. Anyone who dares to mess around will be punished according to the family rules!"

"If you have any dissatisfaction, just go and cry to the Second Madam and see if she will pay any attention to you!"

After giving the instructions, Wang Xifeng turned around and went back into the house with the child in her arms, leaving the group of people outside looking at each other in bewilderment.

Seeing Wang Xifeng's attitude, everyone knew that they could not encourage her to lead the team to cause trouble.

And with the bone thrown out by Wang Xifeng, many people working in shops or farms immediately began to disperse.

It doesn't matter who you work for. As long as you don't lose your position, everything will be fine.

Some smart ones also turned around and went to find Master Lian, ready to flatter him and coax this idiot into staying in the Jia Mansion.

After all, my grandmother only brought back half of the property this time, and the other half was left in the mansion!
From now on, the decision on this half of the property will be made by Mr. Lian.

Those who had ways to deal with the problem left one after another. The rest all realized that they could not maintain their current status. They wanted to continue making trouble, but no one was willing to be the first to do so. When their eyes met, they started to nominate the Wang couple.

"Uncle Wang, grandma has been bewildered. We can't just watch her continue to be so confused!"

"You are the person that grandma trusts the most. You have to step forward and at least convince grandma to change her mind!"

Lai Wang had a blank expression. He turned his head to look at the person who had spoken. His lips twitched slightly, as if he had smiled. He spoke in a tone that was hard to tell whether he was happy or angry:

"Grandma has made her decision, and as a servant, I just have to follow it. What else can I do?"

"We are both old now, so it's a good opportunity for us to return to the Wang family to retire. We won't get involved in your affairs anymore."

The man raised his eyebrows and realized that Lai Wang and his wife were his grandmother's confidants. Even if he couldn't arrange for everyone, it would be no problem to arrange for the couple.

Especially, Lai Shun died because of the loan sharking issue, so his grandmother had to settle their family down, and the Wang family would not object.

Seeing Lai Wang looking uninterested, everyone couldn't help but curse him in their hearts, but there was nothing they could do about it.

The group of people dispersed and discussed countermeasures. Suddenly, one person quietly came to Lai Wang, bowed and smiled, and said:

"Master Wang, the Second Madam just said that all the people in the shop and farm who are related to the Jia family should stay and we will take their place. So, please take a look at me, what do you think?"

Whether now or in the future, the biggest trouble with divorce is the division of property.

Although it was agreed that the shops and fields were to be handed over, so many years had passed and the people in the shops and fields had long been intertwined, not just those who had come from the Wang family at the beginning.

Many of these people were servants in the Jia family. Now that Wang Xifeng is going to take the property back, the original staff in the Jia family must be replaced.

Many of the things involved are very complicated, and it is definitely impossible for Wang Xifeng to do them personally. Most likely, the people who are truly responsible for this matter in the end will be the calm and composed Lai Wang and his wife.

After this man's reminder, everyone suddenly realized what was going on and hurriedly gathered around Lai Wang and his wife. They all put on an apologetic smile, tried to get close to him, and said nice things, completely forgetting that they hated this man to the core.

Lai Wang had long been accustomed to this kind of flattery and didn't care much about it.

As a man who had just lost his son, what he wanted most now was to have another son with his wife as soon as possible. He didn't care about anything else.

He randomly selected a person and said:

"You take care of this first, and then make a list for me. I'll show it to grandma. If grandma has no objection, then we can finalize it."

The person who was chosen was overjoyed and bowed repeatedly, saying:
"Don't worry, Master Wang. I will definitely do everything beautifully for you."

Lai Wang waved his hand casually and left, leaving the group of people there to continue making noise.

Divorce is easier said than done.

After a few more days, everything was finally settled. After bidding farewell to Lady Jia and others, Wang Xifeng cried as she parted with her daughter and got on the carriage back to the Wang family.

After receiving the news, Mr. Zhan, who had been paying close attention to this matter, immediately called the housekeeper Yang Yougong and instructed:
"Hurry up and take my name card and go to the Wang family to invite Master Wang Ren to a banquet tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)