Chapter 2: Divorce 1

2. Divorce (1)

In the ninth year of Yanqing in the Great Rong Kingdom, the first ten days of June in Pingcheng were scorched by a sun as fierce as fire with no rain. After the fifteenth, dark clouds suddenly rolled in, bringing three consecutive days of torrential downpours!

The heavy rain relieved the drought and also caused the sweltering heat to subside significantly.

On the twentieth of June, in the study of Master Ren in the outer courtyard of the Ren family's grand estate southeast of Pingcheng, things were in a state of heated turmoil, and the inner courtyard was far from peaceful either.

Duan Yuran sat in her own room doing needlework, remaining completely indifferent to the noise outside!

Xiaoyue Residence was a two-entry courtyard within the Ren estate, with small side courtyards on both the east and west sides. Duan Yuran lived in the main room of the primary courtyard; the east side courtyard was occupied by the concubines and bedchamber maids of her husband, Ren Feiteng, while the west side courtyard was currently vacant.

It was now approaching noon. The sky after the rain was as blue as if it had been washed, and although the torrential rain meant the weather was no longer unbearably hot, standing outside for too long at this hour would still cause one to sweat profusely!

"Young Mistress, please show some mercy!" The sound of a woman's tearful, blood-curdling pleas drifted from the courtyard again. "Even if you refuse to forgive Cousin, please, for the sake of how Master and Madam cherish you, please ask your in-laws and your uncle not to cause any more trouble!"

Inside the room, Duan Yuran stopped her needlework. She raised her hand to smooth the piece of bright red satin on her embroidery frame, upon which a crane with a single wing had been stitched. Her brows furrowed slightly, as if a few stitches had been pulled too tight.

The two maidservants standing by her side simultaneously glanced toward the outer curtain, their expressions darkening slightly due to the woman's pleading.

The woman continued to cry and plead with several other sorrowful remarks, all of them "kind words" advising the mistress of the house to "be magnanimous" and "prioritize the husband's family."

"Bah! She's playing the saint at a time like this!" Bi Zhu, Duan Yuran's dowry maid, couldn't help but curse under her breath. She then looked at her composed mistress and said indignantly, "Young Mistress, let me go and drive her away! So she stops disturbing your peace!"

Duan Yuran stopped her needlework once more and set the embroidery frame aside.

"Bi Zhu, go brew me a cup of hot tea. While you're at it, advise Concubine Cai to stop putting on an act by kneeling in the courtyard to show her 'magnanimity.' It rained last night and the ground is still damp; if she kneels until she falls ill or injures the child in her womb, it will be a loss greater than the gain." Duan Yuran smoothed her dress and spoke in a calm voice. "In any case, I will be leaving the Ren family very soon."

In the letters she had written to her father and brother, she had already made it clear: she swore to divorce Ren Feiteng! There was no other choice!

The letters had been sent nearly half a month ago. Just when Duan Yuran thought her father and brother would ultimately prioritize family reputation and refuse to stand up for her—leaving her to tearfully break ties with the Ren family and perhaps even have to beg for a letter of divorce to leave this wretched place—her father and brother had come knocking on the door today!

When the servants who came with her dowry quietly arrived at Xiaoyue Residence to deliver the news, Duan Yuran had been truly excited and agitated for a long time! Then, she had slowly calmed her heart to wait for the result.

Bi Zhu took the order and went out, repeating Duan Yuran's "concern" to Concubine Cai, and ordered the little maid serving Concubine Cai to help her mistress up.

"Miss Bi Zhu! Please, I beg you to persuade the Young Mistress!" Concubine Cai forcefully shook off the hands of the two little maids. Tears hung from her beautiful, delicate face, making anyone who looked at her feel a sense of pity! "It was my fault for becoming pregnant before the Young Mistress! I am willing to take medicine to abort the child! I only beg the Young Mistress not to divorce Cousin! And please, ask the in-laws and the uncle not to cause any more trouble! Master and Madam are both in poor health; I fear they cannot withstand this kind of turmoil! It is all my fault, all my fault..."

"Concubine Cai is right!" Bi Zhu looked coldly at Concubine Cai, whose every word and thought seemed to be for the sake of the Ren family, and said disdainfully, "If anything were to happen to Master and Madam, it would be because of the Concubine's failure to follow the rules; what does that have to do with my Young Mistress? You want to abort? What were you doing earlier? Didn't you secretly stop taking the contraceptive soup just so you could get pregnant? Putting on this act of righteousness now is truly disgusting!"