Chapter 10: Mission Accomplished!

No one expected that the affairs of Li Shiyue's family would progress to this point!

Never mind the surrounding villages; even in the prefectural city, Li Shiyang had never heard of a woman seeking a divorce while taking her brother-in-law and mother-in-law with her!

Interrupted by Li Wangming, Li Shiyang's hand inevitably faltered, causing a drop of ink to stain a large portion of the nearly completed divorce papers.

"Wangming, you..."

Li Shiyang set his pen down helplessly. Looking at the still-excited Li Wangming, he continued, "How am I supposed to write this? There has never been such a thing."

Li Shiyang's words were grounded in common sense. Indeed, such a thing had never happened in this world. How could a woman divorce her husband and, not only take her children, but also take her mother-in-law and brother-in-law?

By that logic, wouldn't she be effectively splitting Father Li off from the family?

To put it bluntly, wasn't she just kicking Father Li out of the Li family?

"Nonsense! Wangming, you are a scholar; how can you say such... such... anyway, it's unacceptable! No woman has ever divorced while taking her mother-in-law and brother-in-law with her!"

Li Youfu loudly rebuked Li Wangming's wild idea. Turning back, he glanced at the divorce document heavily stained with ink and said softly to Li Shiyang, "Shiyang, please rewrite it."

Li Shiyang nodded to his grandfather and stood up to retrieve fresh paper from the book chest. Before he could reach it, a voice called out, "Wait."

In truth, when Li Shiyue had suggested that her second uncle and grandmother follow her mother, she had felt it was an impossible request. Not to mention this unknown feudal society, even in modern times, one rarely heard of a wife divorcing her husband and taking her mother-in-law and brother-in-law along.

She had only suggested it because of the bond between the original owner of her body and Li Wangming. Seeing Li Wangming's eyes welling with tears, she thought that since things would surely happen on this journey of fleeing the famine, there was strength in numbers—one must unite all possible forces.

Thus, she had blurted out the suggestion for Li Wangming and Grandmother Li to live with her mother and their two children.

But now, she was genuinely surprised.

Because that "Wait" had come from Grandmother Li!

"Wangguang, Mother will ask you one thing, just this one thing: when can you bring back our other donkey cart?"

Grandmother Li looked at her eldest son with eyes full of hope. This was the son into whom she had poured most of her life's devotion, and throughout this journey, he had truly broken her heart.

Other elderly people who had donkeys or mules could travel sitting in their own carts.

Only she, despite her family owning two donkey carts, was reduced to traveling with nothing but a wooden staff. If it weren't for the sheer spite keeping her going and the support of her youngest son, she truly would have lost the will to live while navigating the mountain paths earlier.

Both her feet were terribly swollen and covered in blisters, but for the sake of the children, she had endured until now.

At the start of the night, she had thought of playing the peacemaker. If she could coax Mother Li into not divorcing, the whole family could live together and pull in the same direction, perhaps finding a way to survive this famine.

But when she learned from Mother Li that her eldest son had once thought about abandoning Shitou, she could no longer deceive herself. Deep down, she had to admit that her eldest son was a selfish man who only cared for himself and ignored his family!

However, he was still her biological son, and regardless, she still wanted to ask.

And Father Li was destined to disappoint Grandmother Li.

Father Li looked at Grandmother Li with a helpless expression. "Mother, I have no choice. You know Tao-niang is pregnant, and Shigui and Chunli are still small; they need the donkey cart for transport. Mother, you have Wangming to support you. Just endure a little longer. Once we reach a town, I will definitely buy another animal specifically for your transport!"

Qin Tao had been worried that Father Li would actually take the donkey cart back, but hearing Wangguang's words, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She didn't care whether that old woman got to ride in a cart or not; her Li-jie'er and Gui-ge'er were still small—how could they walk these mountain paths?

Facing Father Li's helpless smile, which lacked even a shred of guilt, Grandmother Li's heart truly died.

She fell silent for a few breaths, then turned resolutely to look at Li Youfu and said, "Brother Youfu, write down what Wangming said. I was not young when I had Wangming, and giving birth to him was difficult. Since his birth, it was Chun-niang who raised him bit by bit. Wangming is right; Chun-niang has been kind to him. Even the clothes he is wearing now were made by her. Since Wangming and I are to live with Chun-niang, the family assets must be redistributed."

"Mother! What are you saying? How can you abandon me? How can you and Wangming really go live with Chun-niang? Mother! Have you gone senile? You..."

"Shut up!"

Startled by the sudden roar, Li Shiyue instinctively gripped her mother's hand. Although Mother Li was also startled, her first instinct was to look at Li Shiyue.

Meeting her mother's concerned gaze, Li Shiyue quickly shook her head, signaling she was fine and had merely been frightened.

Li Wangming, who always maintained a polite and gentlemanly demeanor, had actually shouted at his eldest brother!

Not only was Father Li stunned, but even Grandmother Li was completely bewildered.

"It was Eldest Brother who abandoned us first! Since Eldest Brother doesn't want us, then we don't want him either!"

Grandmother Li nearly choked up. Her youngest son saw it all! Her youngest son was grieving for her!

With this, Grandmother Li's resolve to follow Mother Li became even firmer.

"Brother Youfu, I must trouble Shiyang. The family has a total of..."

While Father Li was in a state of total confusion, Li Shiyang, following Grandmother Li's dictation, picked up his pen and completed the document—which served as both a divorce paper and a deed of family separation for Li Shiyue's household.

Indeed, Li Shiyang thought to himself, "Isn't this just a deed of family separation?"

The only difference was that it effectively separated Father Li from the rest of the family.

When it came time to sign and press thumbprints, Father Li stubbornly refused. He glanced at his grandmother, who was utterly disappointed in him, and his younger brother, who had dared to scold him in public, and finally cast a pleading look toward Li Youfu.

But how could Li Youfu indulge him?

Setting aside the fact that Father Li was just an ordinary villager, even if he had studied for a few years, his eldest grandson was a Scholar (Xiucai), while Father Li hadn't even reached the level of a Candidate (Tongsheng). Why would Li Youfu give him any face?

"Wangguang, since things have come to this and your mother and brothers all agree, just sign it. It's already this late; everyone deserves at least an hour of sleep. Don't delay the rest of us."

In a mixture of anger and helplessness, Father Li signed his name and pressed his thumbprint. At that same moment, a cheerful "ding-dong" sounded in Li Shiyue's ear: "Congratulations, Host! Novice Task One completed! You have obtained one lucky draw opportunity."