Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 453 - 444: Revoking the Imperial Edict

Chapter 453: Chapter 444: Revoking the Imperial Edict

Once Granny Chen was ready, two maids lifted her onto a sedan chair and carried her out.

Outside, she saw everyone, aside from Mr. Chen, standing in the courtyard with stern faces, glaring at her. Even her son was among them, his face dark with displeasure.

Granny Chen felt an inexplicable guilt, but when she remembered that her son was a high-ranking official and these clansmen were merely country peasants, she regained her composure. She straightened her solid gold phoenix hairpin encrusted with pearls and addressed a few elders, "I apologize for the wait. My old age has rendered me slow. Why stand outside? Come in for some tea, let’s chat. Is there another problem in the clan? Rest assured, I will ask my son to..."

"Shut up! You wicked woman!" Mr. Chen reprimanded. "You’ve even brought your own son to ruin, and yet you dare flaunt the airs of a lady?"

Granny Chen snorted in disdain, "I am, after all, a Lady of Imperial Decree. I do not need to put on an act. How have I harmed my son? He still holds a significant office."

Uncle Chen, not wanting to enter into a protracted argument, waved a dismissive hand at her, "Madame Zhao, save your boasts for later..." He then publicly disclosed the evil deeds she committed and sentenced her to make amends at the nunnery until her dying day.

At first, Granny Chen felt a touch of fear, but the sight of Chen Shiying standing among them, his poised demeanor and distinguished air compared to the rustic clan members, was a far cry from his surroundings. With such a son, what did she have to fear?

With renewed confidence, she spat at them and yelled, "What do you lot amount to? Just a few out-of-town relatives. If we acknowledge you, you’re just relatives. If we don’t, you’re not even that. Do you think you have the right to dictate where I live?" Turning to Chen Shiying, she said, "Shiying, they’re being disrespectful to your old mother. Chase them back to where they came from, even Dingzhou isn’t fit for them."

Even though Granny Chen’s words were incomprehensible, and her voice was loud, everyone understood clearly.

Grief overcame Chen Shiying, who went over to whisper, "Mother, that’s enough. If you keep pushing and they decide to go back home and petition for a separation, there will be no way for your son to protect you." He then knelt down and said, "Mother, I have done what I can. If you retreat to the nunnery, you’ll still be a woman of the Chen clan, still my father’s widow. If you break ties, you’ll have lost everything."

Both Mrs. Jiang and Chen Yulan knelt in agreement.

"What, you agree with my going to a nunnery?" Granny Chen first found it incredulous, then her eyes welled up with tears, and she accused Chen Shiying of ingratitude. She raised him single-handedly as a widow, nearly went blind from embroidery work to send him to school, and allowed him to become a high-ranking official while enduring the scorn of the clan. Why should he let them disparage his mother? He held a high official rank, so he should just order those clansmen into prison and stop their meddling in affairs that do not concern them. She adamantly refused to go to the nunnery. There, the life would be too austere — no delicacies to eat, no silk robes to wear — it would be even worse than her previous life in Zhao’s Village...

Meanwhile, a servant came to report that the Imperial Decree had arrived and prompted Granny Chen to meet it in the front courtyard.

An Imperial Decree for Granny Chen? Not just Chen Shiying found it shocking, even Chu Lingxuan, who was present to watch the scene unfold, was taken aback.

Chu Lingxuan quickly left to welcome the officer delivering the Imperial Decree in the front courtyard, whereas Chen Shiying changed into his official attire, and Granny Chen together with Mrs. Jiang put on their phoenix crowns and wedding cloaks before joining him.

The officer with the Imperial Decree looked Granny Chen over and said, "You must be Granny Chen? Accept the decree."

Hearing how the imperial officer addressed his mother, Chen Shiying’s heart sank, but he mustered his strength to assist Granny Chen in kneeling on the ground. She almost collapsed, and it took two maids to keep her upright on both sides.

Only when they were all kneeling did the imperial officer unravel the Imperial Decree and read aloud, "By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor Decrees: Madame Zhao, mother of Dingzhou governor, Chen Shiying, has failed in her wifely and motherly duties. Her disgraceful actions are unbefitting of her station. Hence, her title, Fourth-rank Honored Lady, is hereby revoked as a form of punishment. She may hope for leniency if she repents sincerely. This is the decree!"

Once the imperial officer had finished reading, two men went forward to take from Granny Chen the phoenix crown on her head and the wedding cloak from her body.

Other women had their titles revoked because their husbands or sons were dismissed from office. However, Granny Chen, Madame Zhao, had the dubious honor of being the first woman in the Dashun Dynasty, whose child remained in his post, to have her title revoked due to her own wrongdoing.

Granny Chen immediately lost consciousness, and Chen Shiying, equally drained, could hardly stand. Chu Lingxuan quickly handed a wallet to the imperial officer, bidding them farewell.

Mr. Chen cried with frustration and said to Chen Shiying, "Shiying, Madame Zhao must not stay. If such a woman remains with the Chens, how will our daughters find a decent family to marry into? Heed my advice. If you continue to protect her, I will have no choice but to let those unmarried daughters of the Chens commit suicide at your doorstep."

Other clan members also persuaded him, "Mr. Chen, Madame Zhao cannot stay any longer, she has tarnished the moral reputation of our Chen clan."

At that moment, Chen Shiying felt hollow and despairing, a state much worse than his previous confinement. Looking at his unconscious mother and the distressed clansmen, he knew he could not protect his mother any longer.

With difficulty, he said, "Fine, I will heed the advice of our ancestors, let’s... let’s separate."

Chu Lingxuan observed Madame Zhao, still unconscious as she was carried away. He felt it was inappropriate to continue observing the spectacle. After offering a few words of comfort to Chen Shiying, he excused himself to return home.

Chen Afu listened to Chu Lingxuan’s words, grinning from ear to ear. That wicked old woman had finally met her comeuppance. Thinking about how the son of County Lieutenant Ding, who had driven the original Chen Afu to her death, was also put behind bars because of Manager Luo’s means last year, it felt like the grievance of the original Chen Afu could finally rest in peace.

Three days later, in the late afternoon, Chen Afu took Chu Hanyan, Li Xuan, Yu, and Ming in a spacious sedan to the Chens’ Mansion.

The following day, the clan elders were set to return home. She, under Mrs. Jiang’s company, went to the courtyard where the elders resided and presented them with 100 taels of silver as a farewell gift.

Mrs. Jiang looked bright and high-spirited.

She informed Afu Chen that Chen Shiying had sent someone to the Zhaos’ Village to explain the situation. The clansmen in Zhao’s Village dared not take in Madame Zhao. The current head of the Zhao’s clan was not Madame Zhao’s clan brother - who was at the time imprisoned for similar crimes of encroachment.

Not only did the clan leader refuse to accept her, even the head of the Zhao’s Village did not wish to have her. The Zhao’s daughters were already having difficulty getting married. If Madame Zhao returned, would that not worsen their daughters’ situation? They stated that Madame Zhao’s male relatives were all dead, and that Madame Zhao fell into the "three non-obligations" category.

The "three non-obligations" for wives state that there are three circumstances under which a woman does not return to her natal family: she marries into a family where she is ill-treated and is a widow with no children to depend on; her husband passes away and after three years, has not remarried; or, her family was poor before her marriage and became wealthy afterwards.

Madame Zhao fell under all three categories.

The elders of the Chen family deliberated for a moment, finally deciding, "If the Zhao family won’t receive her, and the Chen family can’t keep her, Madame Zhao has only two paths left, either she officially becomes a nun, or she ’falls ill and dies’."

Chen Shiying was left with no choice, but after much pleading, the elders still adhered to the separation. Yet they did not send her back to the Zhao family. Instead, they arranged for her to be placed in a small farmhouse on the outskirts of Dingzhou city, bought purposely for her, and assigned a maid to care for her.