Chapter 449: A Tiger Eats Its Young

Scholar Wan was so furious this time that he wrote a divorce paper to Ms. Ni while he was ill.

Unfortunately, just as he threw the divorce paper at Ms. Ni, she tore it up and threw it back at him.

Scholar Wan, who never expected Ms. Ni to dare tear up the divorce paper, trembled and pointed at her: "You, you..."

"You can shut up, and if you dare point at me again, I’ll have someone drag you out of the house, letting you have nowhere to reside," Ms. Ni, seeing Scholar Wan seriously ill and no longer tolerating, straightened her dress, sat on the Taishi Chair in the room, and glared at him: "Wan, if you dare divorce me, I’ll immediately take Ruiniang to the county government and accuse you. I’ll charge you with lack of personal virtue and inability to manage a household, and have you stripped of your Scholar title!"

Ms. Ni had also learned that the Gu Family could use legal threats against Scholar Wan, and so could she.

Scholar Wan was dumbfounded, staring at Ms. Ni, hardly recognizing her: "Why, why?"

Why threaten him like this?

Ms. Ni sneered, "You still have the cheek to ask me why? When I married you, it was because you had passed the Scholar exam, hoping that even if you weren’t remarkable, you would at least become a scholar-official. But you, you couldn’t even achieve that; in the county officials’ eyes, you are nothing. You just boast about your knowledge, pretending to be lofty without real capability, not even considering the state of your own family. Do you think by acting superior you’ll be seen as from a noble family?"

"I’ll make it clear to you today, you better concentrate on recovering, and I will be in charge of the household affairs from now on. We’ll manage somehow. If you dare divorce me, or look down on the Ni Family, I swear we will perish together!"

Ms. Ni’s words completely stunned Scholar Wan, leaving him faint.

Ms. Ni checked his breathing and seeing that he was still alive, did not call for a doctor. Currently, being extremely poor, they needed to save money—better spent on more doses of medicine for Ruiniang than on a doctor for Scholar Wan.

After remaining unconscious for half a day, Scholar Wan woke up, seemingly having accepted the situation, realizing he had no control over Ms. Ni, yet he demanded Ms. Ni immediately fetch medicine to induce abortion for Ni Ruiniang: "If we let this cursed child be born, our family will be mocked for decades."

Ms. Ni laughed, "Lord, our family is already the laughingstock of the town, whether Ruiniang’s child is aborted or not."

The child in Ruiniang’s womb is the future of both the Wan Family and the Ni Family; this child must be kept otherwise the Ni Family would lose incredibly.

"I will not abort the child in Ruiniang’s womb; at most, I can agree not to let Brother Fang marry Ruiniang as his official wife," although Ms. Ni wanted to support the Ni Family, she understood the Ni Family’s poverty and knew that for a good future, Wan Lifang must marry a lady from a wealthier family than theirs.

Upon hearing this, Scholar Wan both laughed and cried, eventually with tears pointing out to Ms. Ni: "Now the entire town knows about Brother Fang and Ni Ruiniang; if he doesn’t marry her as his official wife, his reputation will only worsen. Marrying Ni Ruiniang could turn this scandal into a beautiful romance. Preventing Brother Fang from marrying Ni Ruiniang will only make people think he’s less than an animal, irresponsible and unaccountable!"

He disliked Ni Ruiniang and wanted to abort the fetus in her womb, aiming to resolve the matter gracefully—abort the cursed child first, then formally arrange a marriage bringing Ni Ruiniang into the household. In future, let the young couple study elsewhere, hopefully earning an official position, thus eventually burying this scandal.

But Ms. Ni, this foolish woman!

Tired of dealing with Scholar Wan, Ms. Ni spoke her piece and stormed out, flinging her sleeves behind her.

Wan Lifang wasn’t so foolish; unhappy with Ms. Ni’s arrangements, he created trouble at home for several days, threatening suicide. Reluctantly, Ms. Ni had to temporarily send Ni Ruiniang back to the Ni Family.

However, Ms. Ni promised Ruiniang, "Go home for now, take good care of your pregnancy. After a few months, once the child is more developed, I’ll bring you back. This grandchild of the Wan Family must be born into the Wan Family."

Ni Ruiniang had no choice but to return to the Ni Family weeping and wailing.

Recently times have been tough for the Ni Family, the scandal involving Ni Ruiniang and Wan Lifang had spread to Xianggui Town, and now when the Ni Family members go out, they have to wear large hats to avoid people as much as possible.

After Ni Ruiniang returned, the people of Xianggui Town soon got to know, and they mocked the Ni Family even more fiercely.

Aunt Ni, hearing those mocking words about her family, cried several times at home, cursing the Wan Family for being heartless, for making her daughter pregnant and then sending her back; if they lived in the village, Ni Ruiniang would have been dragged to be drowned long ago.

Uncle Ni not only scolded the Wan Family but also cursed Ni Ruiniang for being useless, getting pregnant without securing the man.

"Useless thing, where has your past cleverness gone? You’ve completely disgraced me. I warn you, you better give birth to a boy, if it’s a loss-maker, Wan Family doesn’t want you, I’ll sell you to Jiangnan to get some silver coin for the family!"

However, Ni Ruiniang’s child was not preserved for long before it was lost.

It was Ni Ruiniang’s younger brother who accidentally pushed Ni Ruiniang, causing her to lose the child in her belly.

Ni Ruiniang was devastated by the loss of her child.

Ni Ruiniang’s younger brother was also not lightly frightened... he had taken silver coin from Wan Lifang, agreeing to push Ni Ruiniang, but he did not expect such serious consequences from just a push.

Ni Ruiniang’s younger brother was young and not too clever, and it was soon discovered by Ni Ruiniang. The Ni family dragged their little brother to Wan Family’s door, demanding Wan Lifang to take Ni Ruiniang as his official wife.

The matter of the Ni and Wan families flared up again in the town, and Wan Lifang paying his little cousin to harm his own child became known in several nearby towns, truly a subject of gossip among the villagers.

As the news spread to Da Feng Village, Gu Dafu was immensely relieved, "It’s good that this marriage was called off quickly otherwise if Sister Mei married such a beast, her life would’ve been ruined."

Gu Dagui commented, "It’s unbelievable, Wan Lifang is such a beast, even harming his own child; such a monstrous person brings bad luck to anyone who encounters him. Luckily our Sister Mei is blessed, having escaped early."

Mrs. Chen added, "Indeed, it’s like elder sister-in-law has protected us, letting our family see the true face of the Wan Family early and helping Sister Mei escape a disaster."

After the incident with the Wan Family, Gu Yumei recently became very obedient and behaved, working at the workshop frying tofu during the day, and even starting to sew at home after work. Hearing her elders speak, she didn’t say a word but kept on sewing.

Mrs. Chen glanced at her embroidery and said, "Young lady, you might as well stop embroidering; you have spoiled such good fabric."

Tears welled up in Gu Yumei’s eyes, and she said with a grievance, "I wanted to practice embroidery, to sell embroidered works in the future."

She spoke half-revealingly, but Mrs. Chen, knowing the type of person she is, naturally understood.

"Spare yourself, I’ve told you already, you don’t have any skill in embroidery."

Wasn’t it known that Mei, seeing Sister Xiu being chosen by the Shopkeeper of the Prefecture embroidery shop to become an embroidery master, envied her and also wanted to practice embroidery to become an embroidery master like Sister Xiu?