Ning Zhengqing stepped forward and spoke. “I’m sorry to have everyone witness this. It’s truly a disgrace to our family. My wife attacked a small child over a trivial matter and nearly smothered my eldest brother’s newborn daughter, Pan Di, to death. Then she assaulted both me and my mother. Since the village head and Doctor Li happen to be here today, let everyone bear witness. First, Jiang has failed to bear a child for all these years and is childless. Second, she beat her mother-in-law and has failed to show filial respect. Therefore, I am writing her a divorce letter today. From this day forward, Jiang and I will have nothing to do with each other.”
Jiang Yutong said nothing after hearing this. Instead, she turned around and walked into the house.
Everyone looked at one another in confusion.
Before long, Jiang Yutong came back out and spat in Ning Zhengqing’s direction.
“Everyone, my fellow villagers, I have been wronged! As for me being childless, that’s because my mother-in-law was afraid I would interfere with my husband’s studies. All these years, my husband has been sleeping with my mother-in-law!”
The crowd erupted in an uproar.
An adult son still sleeping with his mother? It was simply ridiculous.
Ning Zhengqing and Ning Yaoshi turned bright red with embarrassment.
“You’re lying! Jiang Yutong, you shameless woman! I truly misjudged you!”
With that, Ning Yaoshi tried to rush forward and hit her again.
The village head shouted angrily, “Enough!”
Only then did Ning Yaoshi reluctantly stop.
Seeing that everyone had quieted down, Jiang Yutong took out a piece of paper and handed it to Doctor Li.
“Doctor Li, please read this aloud for everyone.”
When Ning Zhengqing saw the letter in Jiang Yutong’s hands, his heart jolted. He instinctively reached out to take it back.
How could Jiang Yutong let him have his way?
She stepped sideways and blocked his hand.
Doctor Li began reading aloud.
“Dear Zheng, I think of you day and night. I have already told my parents about my feelings for you, and I hope you will come to my family soon to ask for my hand in marriage. —Xiuyun.”
The villagers immediately began discussing among themselves.
“I never thought Ning Zhengqing would abandon his wife as soon as he passed the Scholar examination. Yutong really is pitiful.”
“That’s normal. If it were you or me, wouldn’t we choose someone better?”
“Bullshit! That’s you, not me. Everyone has seen how much Jiang Yutong has sacrificed for the Ning family all these years. This is downright disgraceful for a scholar!”
Amid the heated discussion, Ning Zhengqing’s face kept changing colors.
He had no idea how Jiang Yutong had obtained the letter. It was his own carelessness. He had assumed that Jiang Yutong was illiterate, so he had let his guard down.
Then Jiang Yutong took out another letter.
Doctor Li continued reading.
“Xiuyun, I too can neither eat nor sleep because I miss you. I am already planning to divorce my wife. I have no feelings for her. Wait for me.”
Upon hearing this, tears streamed down Jiang Yutong’s face.
“Everyone heard that, right? This was all a scheme between Ning Zhengqing and Ning Yaoshi. I worked tirelessly for this family for all these years, giving everything I had, and what did I get in return? A divorce letter. My mother-in-law, Ning Yaoshi, has always beaten and cursed both me and my sister-in-law.”
As she spoke, Jiang Yutong rolled up her sleeves.
Her arms were covered in scars.
Then she exposed her neck, revealing a conspicuous red mark around it. It was obvious that someone had strangled her.
The crowd erupted in shock.
“I never knew Ning Yaoshi could be so vicious behind closed doors.”
“Poor girl. There are already so many injuries just on her arms. Who knows how badly she was hurt elsewhere?”
Ning Yaoshi immediately protested.
“She did all that to herself by falling!”
A woman in the crowd scoffed, “Do you think we’re idiots? How could falling cause injuries like that?”
“Exactly! Exactly!”
Jiang Yutong continued, “All these years, we did all the housework. I embroidered every day to support his studies. I never imagined this would be the end I got. I ask the village head to uphold justice for me and clear my name.”
The village head, Tao, had originally wanted to show Ning Zhengqing some consideration.
But now, seeing the letters and the injuries on Jiang Yutong’s body, he could no longer take Ning Zhengqing’s side. Everyone was watching.
He cleared his throat.
“Ning Yaoshi, do you have anything else to say?”
How had Ning Yaoshi ever suffered such humiliation?
She was about to start arguing and making a scene when Ning Zhengqing grabbed her.
“We have nothing to say. I’ll write the divorce-by-mutual-consent agreement right now.”
Jiang Yutong inexplicably felt a wave of relief.
Ning Yaoshi glared viciously at Jiang Yutong.
For the moment, she swallowed her anger. She wanted to see how Jiang Yutong, a helpless woman, would survive in these troubled times after leaving the Ning family.
Doctor Li, who had remained silent until then, finally spoke.
“Yutong, have you really thought this through? In these chaotic times, where will a divorced woman like you go?”
Doctor Li had seen too many people reduced to mere insects struggling to survive during times of chaos.
Jiang Yutong had no reliable family to return to and was now completely alone in this world. How would she survive?
Jiang Yutong knew that Doctor Li was only looking out for her.
She bowed deeply to him.
“Thank you, Uncle Li, for thinking of me. But the Ning family is like a den of wolves. If I don’t leave, I’ll eventually die there anyway.”
She then turned to the village head.
“I only ask that you allow me to settle here in Shangyuan Village and give me somewhere I can live and make a living.”
Seeing how pitiful Jiang Yutong looked, the village head said, “Since you married into Shangyuan Village, you are a member of Shangyuan Village. It’s just that…”
What he left unsaid was obvious.
Jiang Yutong had neither land nor a house in Shangyuan Village. How would she survive?
Jiang Yutong had already thought of this.
“Village Head, there’s an old abandoned house at the edge of the village. I hope you can let me stay there temporarily. Once I have some spare money, I’ll build a new house.”
The village head thought of the house at the end of the village.
“You’re sure?”
Everyone was surprised when they heard that Jiang Yutong wanted to live there.
“That house is haunted!”
From the original owner’s memories, Jiang Yutong knew that the house at the edge of the village had once belonged to a wealthy family.
Because that family had committed an offense, the entire household had been executed, and the house had remained abandoned ever since.
Whenever villagers passed by the place, they could hear faint sobbing coming from inside. From then on, no one dared to enter.
Jiang Yutong helplessly said, “People in this world are more frightening than ghosts. I’m already all alone, so there’s nothing left for me to be afraid of.”
The village head could not help sighing.
“All right. If anything happens, come to me.”
Before long, Ning Zhengqing finished writing the divorce-by-mutual-consent agreement.
All that remained was for both parties to sign and affix their fingerprints, and the marriage would officially be dissolved.
Jiang Yutong held the agreement and bowed to everyone.
“Thank you, everyone.”
She then prepared to enter the Ning household to retrieve her belongings.
But Ning Yaoshi had already thrown her clothes outside.
“Take your things and get out!”
Jiang Yutong looked at the clothes scattered across the ground.
Not a single piece was in good condition. Every one of them was covered in patches.
She thought for a moment.
“Where is my bow?”
It was the only thing the original owner’s brother had ever given her, and the original Jiang Yutong had treasured it dearly.
Ning Yaoshi turned around, went back into the room, and came out with a bow, which she threw onto the ground.
“Take your worthless junk and get out!”
Ning Yaoshi truly showed no mercy.
She did not even give Jiang Yutong a single grain of rice.
But Jiang Yutong had no intention of letting the Ning family off that easily.
“Everyone, you’ve all witnessed this. For the past five years, I earned quite a lot of money for the Ning family. Now that we’re separating, all they’ve given me are a few worn-out clothes. They haven’t even given me a single grain of rice. Are they trying to starve me to death?”
The villagers had already been disgusted when Ning Yaoshi threw Jiang Yutong’s belongings outside.
Jiang Yutong was a helpless woman with no place to live, no money, and no food.
Wasn’t this basically sending her off to die?
Someone could no longer stand by and watch.
“Ning Yaoshi, Yutong has earned quite a lot of money for your family through embroidery all these years. At the very least, you should give her some food and money to take with her.”
Ning Yaoshi’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Jiang Yutong was someone I bought with my own money! I’m already being generous by not asking her to repay the money I spent on her. And now she has the nerve to ask me for money? Did she not eat or drink all these years? Wasn’t all of that money too? You want money? No way!”
Jiang Yutong held the divorce agreement in her hand, with only the signatures and fingerprints left to complete it.
“All right. Then let’s settle the accounts.”
She looked at Ning Zhengqing with a faint smile and waved the agreement in her hand.
“In that case, I’m not getting divorced anymore. Being a Scholar’s wife is pretty good. Any other woman who wants to enter this family can only become a concubine—and she’ll still have to call me Sister.”