The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 217: The Letter of Divorce

Chapter 217: Chapter 217: The Letter of Divorce

Lady Lin panicked, both panicked and filled with hatred. She couldn’t understand how the old granny could have told Wang Yongfu about this matter. She dared not meet the eyes of the Wang family, especially her own sons, filled with disappointment.

Upon hearing this, Old Granny Zhang felt like her lungs were about to explode with anger!

So there was this twist in the tale, that wretched old hag had played such a trick!

When the old hag was drawing her last breaths, she and the head of the household were kneeling before her bed, listening to her last words. The head of the household even asked whether the ancestral bracelets should be passed on to his wife.

What did the old hag say? She said those items had been pawned for silver coins during the tough years, and the money had all been spent.

What could the head of the household say? She did not believe it and murmured a few words to the head of the household in private, only to be criticized for being unfilial, saying the old hag was dead, and if she had these items before her death, wouldn’t she have left them instead of taking them to the grave with her?

Because of this, they had a silent altercation, and later, it was only after she swallowed her pride that the matter was laid to rest.

It turned out that the old hag had secretly given the bracelets to Lady Lin behind both her and the head of the household’s backs.

The eldest brother knew, Lady Lin knew! This might mean that the head of the household knew as well, just keeping her in the dark!

If it weren’t for Lady Lin’s falling out with the eldest brother, she might never have known until her death!

With this thought, Old Granny Zhang could no longer restrain herself. She lunged forward and grabbed at Lady Lin’s clothes, "You shameless whore! You’re about to divorce our Eldest Brother, yet you still covet the Wang family’s property! A shameless scoundrel! Hand over the bracelets—"

Lady Lin was strong too and refused to just let Old Granny Zhang search her.

She reached out to scratch Old Granny Zhang’s face, but before she could complete the gesture, her wrist was suddenly gripped as if in iron tongs, causing her excruciating pain, as if it were about to break.

"My hand—" she cried out loud and turning her head, she saw Wang Yongzhu standing behind her, holding her wrist, staring at her coldly.

"Let go, I didn’t take any bracelets—" Lady Lin still refused to admit any wrongdoing.

"Whether you took it or not doesn’t really matter, because if this wrist were to break, I suppose you wouldn’t be able to wear the bracelets either way, would you?" Wang Yongzhu said with a slight smile, tightening her grip a bit more.

In unbearable pain, tears and snot covered Lady Lin’s face, "I’ll give them, I’ll give them back, just let me go—"

Only then did Wang Yongzhu let go, but not without adding regretfully, "Actually, if you had held on a little longer, I might have believed you didn’t take them!"

Lady Lin rolled and crawled to one side, her eyes filled with fear and resentment when looking at Wang Yongzhu.

Ever since she had the bracelets, she never let them out of her sight. Even Eldest Uncle Lin didn’t know about them. She had thought of the bracelets as her little bit of security, valuable property that was rightfully hers; she hadn’t expected that today, when she had come to collect the letter of divorce, it would be reclaimed by the Wang family.

With Wang Yongzhu’s forceful suppression, despite her reluctance, she had no choice but to hand them over.

After a long while, she shakily fumbled inside her clothes and finally pulled out the silver bracelets wrapped in a handkerchief, which were snatched away by Old Granny Zhang as soon as they appeared.

Upon unwrapping the cloth and inspecting the bracelets, they lay there, serene in their wrapping due to their age. The bracelets, unworn, had dulled a bit. They were the most common type of dragon and phoenix bracelets, heavy in her hand, weighing a good two taels.

As Old Granny Zhang put the bracelets into her bosom, she cursed, "Shameless wench! To keep such precious things for yourself, you’ve got some nerve! Just wait until you get married—I’ll make sure to tell all about your stealing ways at your new husband’s! You like getting married so much, right? I’ll grant your wish. Every time you marry a man, I’ll make a scene at your mother-in-law’s. You’ll see how many men will want you after that!"

Lady Lin was both ashamed and afraid; having completely fallen out with the Wang Family, she didn’t care about anything else but to get her letter of divorce as soon as possible.

As long as she had the letter of divorce in hand, she could return to the Lin Family and marry off to some distant household, where she assumed everything would be fine afterward.

Therefore, she ignored whatever Old Granny Zhang was scolding at and only looked at Wang Yongfu, "I’ve already handed over the bracelet, where is the letter of divorce?"

Wang Yongfu looked at Lady Lin coldly, his eyes no longer had the gentleness of the past days and were filled with disdain and disgust, along with deep disappointment.

Hearing Lady Lin urging him, Wang Yongfu glanced at the letter of divorce in his hand, put it into his mouth, and bit down hard, blood flowing from his fingers. Without even looking, he pressed his thumbprint on the letter and tossed it toward Lady Lin’s face, "Take it! From now on, we have nothing to do with each other; our kindness and obligations have ended, with no further ties! If you live well, Jindou and the others won’t come to beg you for anything. If you live poorly, don’t even think of coming back! If you have the slightest bit of conscience, a tiny bit of a caring mother’s heart, then live your life well after remarrying and never come back, not even in death!"

Along with the letter of divorce that hit Lady Lin’s face were a few warm drops of blood.

Lady Lin picked up the letter of divorce that had fallen to the ground and wiped the blood off her face, gritting her teeth, "Rest assured, even if I have to beg for a living in the future, I won’t return to Qilidun!"

Saying so, she got up and was about to leave.

The people of the Wang Family just silently watched her, not a single one spoke.

Lady Lin walked to the gate of the courtyard and in the end couldn’t help but look back, only to be met by the cold faces of the Wang Family members. Even Jinguan, whom she loved dearly, lowered her head when she saw Lady Lin turn around.

Lifting her head, Lady Lin stepped out of the Wang Family’s courtyard.

She was now free! She had finally escaped the pit of fire that was the Wang Family.

But instead of the joy and relief she expected, she felt heavy, as if she had permanently lost something important and felt a deep sense of loss.

On the way there, her steps were quick; going back, however, Lady Lin felt as if each step weighed a thousand pounds, making walking extremely difficult.

She hadn’t gone far from the Wang Family when a few women surrounded her, "Oh, isn’t this Yongfu’s wife? Why have you just come back? Where are you heading?"

"She’s not the Wang Family’s daughter-in-law anymore. She came back specially for the letter of divorce; she’s looking to remarry!"

"Shameless! At her age still wanting to remarry, she’s so eager to become someone’s stepmother? Pah!"

"Right, normally she seems so clever, Lin Xinghua, but I didn’t expect her to be so foolish. Instead of being a mother to her own children, she wants to be a stepmother! Is being a stepmother that easy? She really is heartless. With Yongfu disabled, for the sake of their three children, she shouldn’t have caused this divorce—"

"She’s not foolish at all. She saw the Wang Family’s ruin; no land left, the old sick, and the household a bottomless pit—she doesn’t want to endure hardship at the Wang Family anymore! Pah, back then she didn’t even look at what kind of family the Lin Family was. It was her ancestors’ good fortune that let her marry Wang Yongfu and live good days for so many years. Now that the Wang Family is in trouble, she runs faster than anyone else. A heartless and worthless wretch!" The one who said this was a relative of the Wang Family.

The people around immediately echoed in agreement, looking at Lady Lin with contempt.

Lady Lin felt a burning shame on her face and wished she could crawl into a crack in the ground.

Before, who in the whole of Qilidun dared to speak to her like this? Weren’t they all calling her "Eldest Brother Yongfu’s wife" or "Lady Eldest Niece-in-Law"?

These women, they were simply mocking her now that she was divorced!

Lady Lin gritted her teeth, pushed through the women before her, and ran towards the outskirts of the village...