Chapter 203: Erye is now a passerby
When the eldest wife saw that the second grandma really didn't know the Xiao family's ancestral precepts, her already depressed mood became inexplicably excited. She couldn't wait to tell her the Xiao family's ancestral precepts. As soon as she finished speaking, she stared at the second grandma. She was so eager to see the second grandma panic-stricken and at a loss.
Xiao Jun also stared at Mengxi. He was more eager to see her panic, just a little bit, at least it meant that she still had some attachment to him.
But Mengxi was destined to disappoint them. Her face remained calm. Seeing the eldest wife stop talking and look at her, Mengxi asked as if she was asking what to eat tonight:
"The Xiao family's head's legitimate wife must be a legitimate daughter. Doesn't this ancestral precept mean that my daughter-in-law, who is a concubine's daughter, cannot be the second master's legitimate wife?"
Nonsense, do you even need to ask this?
The eldest wife almost lost her breath when she heard this. She didn't know whether her daughter-in-law was really confused or just pretending to be confused. She laughed out of anger and said:
"Second Madam is right. When Jun'er takes over as the head of the family, Second Madam, as a concubine, cannot be Jun'er's legal wife."
After hearing this, Mengxi pondered for a moment, then looked up and said to the old lady:
"To reply, old lady, for the past two years, I have always thought that you have tacitly accepted my origin as a concubine's daughter. I only know that there is no provision in the Great Law that a concubine's daughter cannot become the legitimate wife of an aristocratic family. I really didn't know that the Xiao family had such an ancestral precept. When the second master was critically ill, I married into the Xiao Mansion. I personally cooked and washed my hands, and served at the sickbed. I did not dare to make any mistakes every day, and I did not dare to violate the seven reasons for divorce and bring shame to my parents."
You finally feel scared. When the eldest wife heard Second Grandma say this, her eyes lit up and she looked at her without blinking. She was more eager than anyone else to hear Second Grandma's next pleading.
Feeling that everyone's eyes were focused on him, Mengxi paused deliberately, his eyes swept across everyone in front of him one by one, and finally coughed lightly, cleared his throat, and continued:
"Although my granddaughter-in-law believes that she has done nothing wrong and should not be divorced, I have heard the Xiao family's ancestral precepts for the first time today and know that she cannot become Second Master's legal wife. I cannot bear to embarrass the old lady, and I cannot bear to let Second Master divorce his wife because of the ancestral precepts and bear the stigma of being ungrateful and being criticized by thousands of people. Considering that the old lady treats my granddaughter-in-law as her own daughter, and considering the deep love between Second Master and her husband and wife for the past two years of marriage, my granddaughter-in-law is willing to leave the marriage to fulfill the Xiao family's ancestral precepts. I only ask that the old lady consider that my granddaughter-in-law always considers the Xiao family and has done favors for the Xiao family, and give Zhixia and Zhidong to my granddaughter-in-law."
The reason why Mengxi said this was that the Li family was far less powerful than the Xiao family, and they had made the mistake first. The Xiao family had lost so much face that after she was divorced, the Xiao family would be so angry that they would destroy the Li family. Although her stepfather pushed her into the fire pit for the sake of profit and deserved to die, dozens of people in the Li family should not be buried with her marriage , so she tried her best to fight for the interests of the Li family, at least to let the old lady understand that the Xiao family would be branded as unjust for making things difficult for the Li family, and the consequences would be very serious. After weighing the pros and cons, the old lady would still choose to keep her mouth shut first and then divorce her quietly.
Secondly, it was to completely anger the Xiao family and cut off the second master's way of keeping her in the Xiao Mansion. Of course, her evil mother-in-law was too crazy and might beat her up in a rage. After all, being beaten hurts everyone! So she repeatedly argued in public that she had done nothing wrong to the Xiao family, but she wanted to be divorced to win the sympathy of everyone in the hall. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, although she hated it so much, the old lady, who was very cunning, still didn't dare to let the first wife touch her hair.
With a puff, Xiao Jun spat out all his tea and started coughing violently when he saw that Mengxi could tell a lie so righteously without changing his expression.
Seeing Mengxi still arguing in the previous sentence that she had not committed the seven reasons for divorce, and the Xiao family's ancestral precepts could not go against the great law, which made everyone speechless, the next sentence took a sudden turn and asked to leave the marriage, seemingly giving the Xiao family a great favor and fulfilling the Xiao family's wish. Although the old lady usually did not show her emotions, her face was full of colors at this time. For the first time , she realized that this granddaughter-in-law was better at turning the tide than her. She sat there and couldn't help trembling all over, and couldn't speak.
Mengxi's words were tantamount to slapping her, the ancestor of the Xiao family, in the face in public.
You are such a good second wife, you are almost cooked, and you still dare to humiliate my Xiao family like this. Even if I let you go today, I will not let you get away with it! After hearing Meng Xi's words, the first wife was furious and became ruthless in her heart. Looking at the calm Meng Xi, she said coldly:
"Since ancient times, men have three wives and four concubines, while women have been faithful to one man. Since Second Madam has married into the Xiao Mansion and consummated her marriage with Jun'er, she has been branded with the mark of the Xiao family. She is a member of the Xiao family in life and a ghost of the Xiao family in death. Even if Second Madam dies today, the Xiao Mansion still has Qingxin Temple where she can rest in peace. How can we let Second Madam easily leave the Xiao Family and wander around the streets doing illegal things and humiliating Jun'er's reputation!"
The eldest lady said, if I can’t punish you today, I’ll send you to the family nunnery first. There will be plenty of opportunities to torture you slowly in the future!
Seeing that the eldest wife was going to forcibly send her to the family nunnery, and the old lady sitting there nodded, Mengxi knew that today would not end peacefully no matter what. She looked around the hall. There were only her and Zhixia here. Zhixia was looking at her with a pale face. No matter how powerful Yichuntang was, distant water could not quench immediate thirst. Moreover, unless it was absolutely necessary, she did not want to use Yichuntang to compete with the Xiao family. Not to mention that she wanted to live a leisurely life in the second half of her life, just the fact that the prince had been very kind to her in the past two years, Yichuntang could not turn against the Xiao family, who was also in the prince's camp, when the battle for the throne was in turmoil.
After all, it was Mengxi who understood the principle of judging the situation and not being reckless when it was time to protect oneself. After a long silence, and ignoring the eldest lady, Mengxi kowtowed to the old lady and said:
"Old Madam, since ancient times, it is true that men have three wives and four concubines, while women are faithful to one man for life. However, Mengxi's parents are still alive. She is divorced today and should return to her mother's home. The Daqi law does not stipulate that a divorced wife must stay at her husband's home. How can she stay in her husband's home if she is divorced without any fault? Mengxi will leave the Xiao family today, and the Second Master will be a stranger from now on! Since the First Madam is afraid that Mengxi will marry someone else and humiliate the Second Master's reputation, for the sake of the old madam, Mengxi swears today that she will never marry anyone else in her life!"
When talking to the old lady, Mengxi no longer called herself the granddaughter-in-law, which showed how determined she was to leave. Especially the sentence "Second Master is just a passerby from now on", which made Xiao Jun's body tremble uncontrollably. The teacup in his hand almost fell to the ground. He sat there staring at her with a pale face.
The legitimate wife of the Xiao family, she doesn’t want it! Just when everyone in the hall was shocked by this information and couldn’t digest it, Meng Xi knelt there, raised his right hand again, and swore:
"I, Li Mengxi, swear that after I leave the Xiao Mansion today, I will never marry anyone else and live my life alone. If I break my oath, I will be struck by lightning !"
After Mengxi finished speaking, she pulled out the silver hairpin on her head with her left hand, and her black hair fell down like a waterfall. With her right hand, she took out a pair of scissors from her sleeve, lifted up a strand of hair, and cut it.
No one in the hall had expected that Mengxi would swear such a vicious oath in order to leave the Xiao Mansion. They were all stunned for a moment. Xiao Junteng jumped in front of Mengxi and reached out to grab the scissors in her hand. However, Mengxi was too determined and the scissors moved too fast. The scissors were inserted into the palm of the Second Master, carrying a strand of hair.
"Second Master..."
"cousin……"
"Jun'er..."
The people in the hall screamed immediately. Xiu'er, Shihua and others also came to their senses and ran over, but were forced back by the second master's cold eyes. They stood aside and dared not go forward. They watched the second master and the second wife in a stalemate, and blood dripped down the second master's fingers, staining the light blue lily on Mengxi's body red.
Looking directly into Mengxi's eyes, Xiao Jun said word by word:
"Li Mengxi, listen to me. You are my legitimate wife, Xiao Jun, who married me in a sedan chair carried by eight people. We have been married and consummated our marriage. The Yuanpa we shared on our wedding night is proof of this. You have been branded by me, Xiao Jun, in this life. You are my person in life and my ghost in death. In this life, you will never leave me or the Xiao family!"
The two of them were in a stalemate. Meeting the Second Master's determined gaze, Mengxi felt a little flustered and a little painful in her heart. She didn't know why he had to tie two people with no future together and torture each other, knowing that the ancestral precepts would not allow it. Why couldn't they just part ways amicably? Just because she had invested her feelings in him, she had to force him to stay so domineeringly. But how could that little bit of feelings go against the entire family!
She really wanted to tell him that in the Xiao Mansion where family interests were paramount, his true feelings would ultimately be buried with the family interests and he would become cannon fodder. She didn't want to witness that moment with her own eyes, so she had to leave.
His lips moved but no sound came out. Dazzled by the increasing amount of blood, Mengxi's hands gradually softened.
Seeing that Mengxi's hand finally loosened, Xiao Jun snatched the scissors from her hand and handed them to Shishu beside him. Shihua had already brought the medicine box and stepped forward to bandage the Second Master. The Second Master waved his hand to push her aside, reached out to take a piece of cloth, and wrapped it tightly around his right hand.
After the bleeding stopped, Erye picked up the bloody hair that Mengxi had cut off before he could stop her, carefully rolled it into a ball, and put it in his arms. Then he gently straightened Mengxi's messy hair and put it behind her head.
After finishing all this slowly, Xiao Jun knelt down beside Mengxi, kowtowed to the old lady, the eldest master, and the eldest lady respectively, and said:
"Grandma, father, mother, two years ago, Jun'er was critically ill and had almost no hope of survival. It was Xi'er who saved Jun'er's life. That year, Li tried to murder Jun'er's own flesh and blood, and it was Xi'er who saved the lives of her two daughters with the medicine given by the monk. Without Xi'er, Jun'er would have been a pile of dust, separated from his family forever. Not to mention the love and affection we have had for each other over the past two years, a love that Jun'er could not give up. Just the kindness Xi'er has shown to our Xiao family also prevents Jun'er from being ungrateful and divorcing her, which would be condemned by thousands of people."
"Jun'er is confused. The Xiao family will repay Xi'er for her kindness to the Xiao family, but the ancestral precepts cannot be violated. Jun'er, don't say anything more. Mengxi must leave the family today!"
How could Mengxi dare to despise the Xiao family and trample on the dignity of the family? How could she stay in the Xiao Mansion? Seeing that Xiao Jun did not agree to divorce his wife, the old lady interrupted him without waiting for him to finish.
