“Hmph, you still want a mutual separation? Feng Meixiang, I’m afraid you don’t know yet, but military service is about to be enforced. I’m selling this girl just to get money to pay the military service tax. If you insist on keeping her, are you prepared to send your sickly third son to serve, or have your eldest grandson Xing’an go?”
These words exploded like a heavy thunderclap, throwing the entire village into panic.
“What? Military service is actually being enforced? Going would mean it’s hard to return alive!”
“No wonder Scholar Shen is doing this. If trading a money-losing goods for a male laborer is possible, it’s worth it.”
“Worth what? She can’t even be sold! So who will go then?”
No one doubted the news, as Old Scholar Shen worked at the county office and likely received the information even earlier than the village head.
At this moment, everyone was filled with anxiety.
“Enough, everyone shut up!”
“Feng Shi, think carefully. If you two separate, you’ll become two separate households. When military service comes, each household will need to provide one person. Even if paying the fee, each household would have to come up with 20 taels. Can you afford that?”
The village head clearly already knew about this.
“Mother, let’s separate. At worst, I won’t treat my leg anymore, but we can’t let Third Brother or Xing’an go.”
Just then, Xing’an arrived carrying his father. Seeing the crowd rushing out earlier, he had feared trouble would erupt—and indeed it had.
“Fine, Shen Zhiqiu. Even if we don’t separate, would you send your eldest son to serve?”
“Don’t dream! The eldest’s family hasn’t even produced a son yet. If he goes and doesn’t return, wouldn’t that cut off the eldest branch’s lineage? How could you, this venomous woman, even think of it!”
“What about the third son? He’s not even married yet, and his health is so poor. Are you planning to send him to die on the battlefield, or have Wenxing, a half-grown child, go?”
Shen Zhiqiu wore a strange expression, thinking his old wife was either asking a question she already knew the answer to or still harboring hope that he would side with the second branch.
“You have money to treat Second Son’s illness but no money to pay their military service exemption fee? You’re the biased one, yet you blame me.”
Shen Zhiqiu looked at Feng Meixiang as if questioning whether she was ill.
“Village Head, you see? What use is a husband like this? His heart is skewed, utterly unreliable. Since there’s no difference between one household and two, let’s just separate!”
“Sigh, if that’s the case, I’ll open the ancestral hall for you and call the clan elders to resolve this matter!” The village head shook his head as he listened.
“Hmph, you venomous woman, don’t think about mutual separation—there’s no chance. Only divorce by repudiation!”
Shen Zhiqiu had just received 100 taels, so naturally he didn’t care about spending an extra 20 taels now. In fact, he began scheming: with this money, he could buy a fresh, lovely maidservant like Xiao Yan, and he’d be a master with a maidservant to serve him.
That would be far better than facing that old face every day. How he had lived these past ten years was comparable to a monk’s life. He had long been fed up with that venomous woman, Feng Meixiang.
Shen Xixi widened her eyes. The situation had developed too abruptly. Grandma Shen’s thinking was too advanced—she had probably been considering separation for a long time.
The group proceeded to the ancestral hall, though the topic of discussion shifted directly from gossip to how to raise the money.
From the village head’s meaning, this time it wouldn’t matter whether a household had able-bodied laborers or not—each household would be required to provide at least one person.
It was even said that if a family was willing to provide more people, they could receive an additional twenty taels of silver.
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“Hmph, you still want a mutual separation with me? Feng Meixiang, you probably don’t know yet, but military service is imminent. I sold this girl specifically to get money for the military service tax. Since you’re so determined to keep her, are you planning to let your sickly person of a third son go into military service, or your eldest grandson, Xing’an?”
These words were like a heavy thunderbolt, sending the villagers into a panic.
“What? There’s going to be military service? Going there is as good as never coming back!”
“Then we can’t blame Scholar Shen. If one can trade a money-losing goods for a male heir, it’s a good deal.”
“What deal? He couldn’t sell her in the end! Who’s going to go then?”
No one doubted the news. After all, Scholar Shen worked at the County Magistrate’s Office; he likely knew about this even earlier than the village head.
At this moment, everyone was in a state of alarm.
“Alright, everyone shut up!”
“Feng Shi, have you thought this through? If the two of you go through with a mutual separation, you will become two separate households. When the time comes for military service, every household must provide one person. Even if you pay the tax to avoid it, each household will have to cough up 20 taels. Can you afford that?”
The village head clearly knew this news as well.
“Mother, let’s have the mutual separation. At worst, I won’t treat my leg anymore, but we can’t let Third Brother or Xing’an go.”
At that moment, Xing’an arrived, carrying his father on his back. When the group had run out earlier, he was afraid trouble would break out, and sure enough, it had.
“Fine. Shen Zhiqiou, even if we don’t separate, would you let your eldest son go into military service?”
“What kind of pipe dream is that? The eldest branch hasn’t even produced a son yet. If he goes and doesn’t come back, wouldn’t that end the eldest branch’s lineal descendants? You spiteful woman, how could you even suggest that?”
“Then what about Old Third? He isn’t even married yet. His body is so weak—are you planning to send him to his death on the battlefield? Or are you planning to let Wenxing, who is barely even half-grown, go to the battlefield?”
Shen Zhiqiou looked at her strangely. He felt his old wife was asking what she already knew, or perhaps she still held onto the hope that he would help the Second Branch.
“You have money to treat the second son’s injuries, but no money to pay the tax to exempt them from military service? You’re the one being biased, yet you insist on blaming me.”
Shen Zhiqiou looked at Feng Meixiang with a gaze that suggested he thought she was losing her mind.
“Village head, you see this? What use is such a husband? His heart is crooked; I can’t depend on him for anything. Since staying as one family or becoming two makes no difference, then let’s proceed with the mutual separation!”
“Sigh, since it has come to this, I will open the ancestral hall for you and call the clan elders to resolve this matter!” The village head shook his head as he listened.
“Hmph, you spiteful woman! You want a mutual separation? No way! It can only be a divorce by repudiation!”
Shen Zhiqiou had just obtained 100 taels, so he naturally didn’t care about the extra 20 taels at this moment. He was even starting to plot in his mind—with this money, if he bought a supple young maidservant like Xiao Yan, he would be a master with a maidservant to serve him.
It would be much better than facing that old face every day. How had he lived these past ten years? It was no different from being a monk. He had long been disgusted with that spiteful woman, Feng Meixiang.
Shen Xixi’s eyes widened. The development of events was a bit unexpected. Grandma Shen’s thinking was far too ahead of its time; she must have been thinking about a separation for a long while.
The group headed to the ancestral hall together, though the topic of conversation among the villagers shifted directly from gossip to how they were going to raise the money.
From the village head’s words, it seemed that this time it didn’t matter whether a household had young, able-bodied laborers or not; it was calculated as at least one person per household.
There were even rumors that if a family was willing to provide extra men, they could receive an additional 20 taels of silver.