Divorced by her husband's family and rejected by her own! She defiantly turned her life around

Village Chief Liu saw that Wei Yuanguang had verbally agreed, but he didn't know how he would perform later. He was determined not to let him fool him.

"Okay, let's go over there now. Lu Yunzhou should be home today."

When the group arrived at the Lu family's house, the villagers knew there was going to be some excitement, and they immediately surrounded the entrance to the Lu family's house.

"Village Chief, what brings you to my house today?" Before Granny Liu could finish speaking, she saw several people following behind her, including Liu Siyue.

She glared at Liu Siyue. What did this bitch want by coming with the village chief? Did she want to go back to the Lu family or ask for medical expenses? Dream on.

She followed the village chief and the others inside, saying, "Master, the village chief is here."

Lu Decai then came out of his house. "The village chief is here. Come and sit in the main room."

"De Cai, I've come to you today because I have something to tell you. Your Yun Zhou should be on leave today, so please have him come over. Well, Si Yue and the people from her hometown village have come to tell you again about your divorce."

Before Lu Decai could speak, Granny Liu quickly interjected, "Village chief, what else is there to say? Liu Siyue has already been divorced by my son. Whether she lives or dies has nothing to do with our Lu family. She didn't jump off the cliff because our Lu family pushed her. It's impossible for her to get medical expenses."

"The Lu family isn't here to ask for medical expenses; they're here to discuss other matters. We'll talk about it when Yunzhou arrives."

"Could it be that she still wants to go back to the Lu family? Even if Yunzhou came, I would not agree to her going back to the Lu family. Our Yunzhou is a literary star descended to earth. He is destined to become a scholar and a high-ranking official. He should marry a daughter of an official, not a lowly peasant."

Liu Siyue didn't want to waste her breath on someone like Granny Liu, so she decided to wait until Lu Yunzhou arrived.

A soft cough came from outside the door, and Lu Yunzhou walked in slowly. "Uncle Village Chief, and all the uncles and aunts of Liu Family Village, this junior Yunzhou greets you."

Lu Yunzhou's manners were impeccable, and Wei Yuanguang couldn't help but think to himself, "Good job, he's a true scholar, unlike that old woman Liu who just knows how to make trouble. And Lu Decai is a coward who has no opinions of his own."

Village Chief Wei spoke first, "Yunzhou, we already know about your affair with Siyue. The elders from Liujia Village came today to ask you why you divorced your wife. Although Siyue has already told us, I would like you to say it again yourself. Our Great Sheng Dynasty has laws that clearly stipulate that a wife cannot be divorced without cause."

Lu Yunzhou didn't know how to begin. She couldn't speak nonsense and lose her scholarly dignity. After pondering for a while, she said, "To be honest, village chief, Liu Shi hasn't committed any major offenses." She wanted to continue, but was interrupted by Granny Liu, "How can she not have committed any offenses? She disrespects her parents-in-law, insults and beats her mother-in-law, which is extremely unfilial. Based on this alone, our family can divorce her."

"Auntie, you say I disrespect my parents-in-law, insult and beat you, and that I am extremely unfilial. Then I want to ask, when did I insult and beat you? Who saw it? You need to provide evidence. If you can't produce evidence, then it's slander. Even the county magistrate judges cases based on evidence, not on your random fabrications."

"Lu Tongsheng, don't you think so?"

"Who says I have no witnesses? Go and call the eldest son's wife."

Soon after, Zhou Xiangxing was brought in by Lu Yunping. Granny Liu asked, "Zhou, tell me, did Liu disrespect me as her mother-in-law and even insult and beat me?"

Village Chief Wei also said, "Zhou, just tell the truth."

"Village chief, I have never heard my sister-in-law verbally abuse my mother-in-law, nor have I ever seen her beat her. On the contrary, it is my mother-in-law who often makes things difficult for her."

"Zhou, you shameless hussy, you're siding with outsiders! Just wait and see how I deal with you later."

Seeing that Zhou Xiangxing didn't help him, Lu Yunzhou became somewhat annoyed: "Mother, don't say anymore, I'll make my own decision."

Zhou Xiangxing didn't leave either, wanting to see how this matter could be resolved.

Lu Yunzhou composed himself and said, "Village chief, Liu Siyue has not done anything wrong. But as you know, she is a child bride that my family bought. Everyone in the village knows why we bought her. I have never treated her as a wife, nor have I ever liked her. I have always treated her as a servant."

A husband and wife are meant to spend their whole lives together. How can I spend my whole life with someone I don't like? That would be extremely painful and make me wish I were dead. I had no choice but to buy her and marry her back then. If she were still in the Lu family, it would do me no good and would only bring me trouble.

Although she bought it, we were still married and legally husband and wife. Giving her a divorce and letting her go was already quite kind of me. Besides, I let her take the child with her. What more could she possibly want?

"Lu Yunzhou, you call yourself a scholar? Listen to what you're saying! No matter how I came to be here, or whether I'm a legitimate wife or not, you have no right to divorce me if I haven't done anything wrong. And the child—you're the ones who don't want her, yet you claim it's me who wants to take her away. Don't you have a conscience?"

"I've served diligently in your Lu family for seven years. Divorce is out of the question. You're just trying to shift all the blame onto me. You're just a hypocrite, a bookish gentleman who only knows the classics. How utterly deceitful!"

"So what do you want?"

"Since you have no feelings for me, let's part amicably and get a divorce."

"Okay, I agree to a divorce."

"If you don't want your daughter, then write a letter severing ties with her."

"I agree."

Granny Liu remarked, "A lowly girl, who cares? When my son passes the imperial examination, plenty of women will bear him sons."

"Mother, just say less," Granny Liu said, falling silent and looking at the people of Liu Family Village with disdain.

"There's one last thing: you have to compensate me 19 taels of silver, and then we'll be even."

Lu Yunzhou frowned upon hearing this, and Granny Liu immediately became furious. The other members of the Lu family were also somewhat surprised. They had no objection to the first two conditions, but they absolutely refused to accept money.

"Liu, are you out of your mind for money? You're trying to extort money from us? Dream on!"

"Whether I dreamt or not is not for you to decide. I can do the math for you. I've been with the Lu family for over seven years. Let's say it's been seven years. The landlord pays a farmhand 600 coins a month, which is 7200 coins a year. Although I'm young, I've done a lot of work. I serve Lu Yunzhou day and night, taking care of everything, big or small. I don't miss a single household chore, and I've also done plenty of farm work. I've been diligent and hardworking all these years and have never dared to be lazy."

I know I'm young and can't compare to adults, so I only need half the wages. That'll be 3600 cash a year, which will be 25 taels and 2 mace of silver over seven years. Subtract the 6 taels you gave to the Liu family, and you'll have 19 taels and 2 mace left. You gave me 1 tael before, so let's round it up. I'll be generous this time and give you 18 taels.

The Lu family was dumbfounded by the calculations. The most surprised was Lu Yunzhou. Liu Shi seemed very different from before. She was never so eloquent before, and her math skills were even better than his. What was going on? She looked at Liu Siyue and felt that there was nothing different. A scream broke the silence.

"Don't even mention 18 taels, we won't give you a single coin. Get out of the Lu family right now. If you want a divorce agreement or a letter of severance, forget about it. You lowly thing, you're not worth 19 taels of silver."

Village Chief Wei shouted, "Lu Decai, aren't you going to do anything about Liu Shi?"

Lu Decai remained silent, his mouth twitching. Liu had done nothing wrong; why should he care?