Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 142: Not Leaving

   Erqing raised her eyes and smiled at Fuheng. “Fuheng, what kind of joke are you playing?”

“You sold Qinglian to a private brothel,” Fuheng said, staring at her.

Erqing’s expression changed drastically. “Where is she?”

“She has already swallowed gold and taken her own life,” Fuheng replied.

What chilled Fuheng to the core was that, upon hearing this news, Erqing actually sighed of relief and broke into a smile again: “So what? You’re going to divorce me, your principal wife, over a mere maidservant?”

A human life, in her eyes, was no different from a blade of grass.

And she could still laugh!

A coldness settled in Fuheng’s heart. He spoke gravely: “The seven grounds for divorce include adultery, jealousy, and excessive talking. You have violated three of them. I can no longer tolerate this. Pack your things at once and leave the Fucha residence!”

Finally realizing he was not joking, Erqing gradually wiped the smile from her face. She gave a subtle glance to Dujuan standing nearby. Dujuan slipped silently out the door. Erqing stepped to the table, picked up the letter of divorce.

Rip, rip, rip—

The divorce document was slowly torn to pieces in her hands.

“Since I married into the Fucha family, I will never leave.” She let go, and the fragments fluttered to the floor. Erqing raised an eyebrow defiantly. “You want to divorce me? Fine — but only if I die!”

“You clearly can’t bear to die, yet you keep death on the tip of your tongue.” Fuheng’s contempt for her deepened. “You ask why I want to divorce you. I’d rather ask you — why did you go so far as to harm Qinglian?”

At the mention of the name, Erqing let out a scornful snort.

Fuheng frowned: “What are you laughing at?”

“I’m just remembering how things were back in the Forbidden City. With one word from her mistress, a servant could lose her life… no reason needed, simply because it pleased the mistress.” Erqing sighed with feeling.

Precisely because she had witnessed so many such scenes, a sense of crisis had taken root in her. No matter what she had to employ, she was determined to become a mistress herself — never again a servant.

She wanted to control other people’s fates, not have hers controlled by others!

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Erqing felt no regret over causing Qinglian’s death. When a mistress orders a servant to die, what fault could there be? She merely thought Fuheng was making a mountain out of a molehill. But since he was the head of the household, Erqing softened her tone to placate him: “Besides, Qinglian tried to harm the young master. What happened to her was simply reaping what she sowed.”

“Even now, when things have come to this, you still refuse to repent and instead sling mud at a dead woman?” Fuheng said coldly.

“Fine then — you don’t believe your own principal wife, but you believe a seductive fox instead?” Erqing clicked her tongue twice. “And you still claim there was nothing between you two? Pah! That cheap slut belonged in a secret brothel. Dying so soon was letting her off too lightly!”

Fuheng involuntarily closed his eyes.

“Enough.” He truly could no longer bear to look at this woman’s face or hear her voice. “Pack your belongings.”

Erqing was silent for a moment: “You… are really going to drive me out?”

Fuheng: “You leave today.”

“How can you be so heartless?” Erqing gritted her teeth. “No, I won’t go. I am the young madam of the Fucha residence. I’m not going anywhere!”

Fuheng didn’t even want to touch her. He called toward the door. Immediately two sturdy mamas entered. At Fuheng’s command, they seized Erqing from either side: “Young Madam, forgive the offense!”

“She is no longer the young madam,” Fuheng announced coldly. “Take her away!”

“Lord Fucha Fuheng, you’ve gone mad — you’ve truly gone mad!” Erqing struggled wildly. “I won’t go! I’ll die before I leave! Let go! How dare you servants lay hands on me — let go!”

Erqing went berserk, her sharp nails clawing toward the mamas’ eyes. One mama, caught off guard, received a bloody scratch at the corner of her eye. Furious and humiliated, she thought to herself that this woman was no longer the young madam anyway. She immediately tightened her grip, causing Erqing to cry out in pain.

“Stop this at once!”

The door opened. The Old Madam entered, supported by Dujuan’s arm. Seeing the scene, she trembled with rage: “Fuheng, what exactly are you doing to your wife?”

“Your Ladyship!” Erqing broke free from the two people and threw herself into her arms, sobbing, “Fuheng wants to divorce me because of Qinglian!”

“Mother, Qinglian is dead.” Fuheng said coldly. “She was sent by this woman into a secret brothel, suffered every kind of torment, and finally swallowed gold to end her life.”

“Fuheng! Qinglian was merely a maidservant!” The people of the Fucha household were furious beyond measure. “Moreover, you have only just entered the Grand Council—do you truly intend to throw away your official career over this?”

Qinglian might be pitiable, but the old madam cared far more about her son’s future. She did not want this incident to ruin Fuheng’s prospects.

Especially since Fuheng had entered the Grand Council at such a young age—countless eyes were already watching him, waiting for him to slip up. Divorcing a wife could be a major or minor matter, but if he really divorced his principal wife over a mere maidservant, once word got out, he would surely be impeached for failing to govern his household properly.

If a man cannot even manage his own family affairs, how can he manage affairs of state?

Fuheng clearly understood this, yet he still shook his head: “If the family tradition is not upright, how can one serve as an official? Someone, help Mother back to rest!”

Erqing and the old madam were instantly dumbfounded.

The old madam had been brought here by Erqing as her last reinforcement. She had assumed that Fuheng, being so filial, no matter how unwilling he felt inside, would still give her some face for the old madam’s sake and let her off.

Hadn’t it been that way before? Because the old madam had spoken up, he had silently allowed her to marry Erqing out of the household!

But why wasn’t it working this time?

“No—don’t!” Erqing said in panic and confusion. “Your Ladyship, don’t go—Your Ladyship, Your ladyship, save me, save me!”

The old madam was naturally on her side, but having made one mistake already, Fuheng would not allow himself to make the same mistake twice. In his view, if he had not been so weak the last time—if he had not known it was wrong yet still obeyed the old madam—Qinglian would not have met such an end…

To prevent the same tragedy from happening again, better a short, sharp pain than prolonged suffering—he must drive this vicious woman out!

“Wah!” A child’s crying suddenly rang out.

It turned out that Fuqian had arrived, carrying little Fukang’an in his arms.

Seeing his own mother being bullied, the young Fukang’an couldn’t help but purse his lips and start crying on her behalf.

Erqing saw him as her very last lifeline. She scrambled over on hands and knees, reached out, and pulled him into her arms. Mother and son together cried toward Fuheng: “An’er cannot be separated from his mother—he needs me! Fuheng, don’t drive me away!”

Fuheng said with disgust: “Having a mother like you to teach him by word and example would be greatly detrimental to his upbringing. Someone! Take the young master away!”

Two wet-nurses came forward and pulled the last straw of hope from Erqing’s arms.

Erqing collapsed to the ground and wailed loudly. Fuqian, seeing this, could not bear it and also tried to persuade: “Third Brother, you are really going too far. How can you treat your principal wife like this?”

“You feel sorry for her?” Fuheng found it laughable. “Then have you personally witnessed the smug, hideous expression on her face when she took an innocent life? Do you know how heartbroken Qinglian’s parents must be—white-haired people burying off black-haired ones? After studying the classics of the sages for so many years, is this all you’ve learned—failure to distinguish right from wrong, inability to tell black from white?”

Fuqian was rendered speechless.

To anyone watching, it was clear that today Fuheng was dead set on divorcing his wife. Even if the gods and Buddhas on the altar spoke up, they probably could not change his mind.

But how could Erqing accept being reduced to such a state?

A flash of desperate ruthlessness passed through her eyes. She suddenly raised her head and said: “Fuheng, I told you—even if I die, I will be carried out of the Fucha family gates. You will never, ever be rid of me!”

With that, she suddenly hurled herself headfirst toward the wall!

Blood gushed like a pillar!

“Wah!” Fukang’an burst into loud sobs in the wet-nurse’s arms, reaching desperately toward her: “Mother! Mother!”

The room was in complete chaos. Someone rushed over shouting her name, someone else dashed out to call for a doctor.

Blood slowly spread across Erqing’s face from her forehead, just like the red bridal veil she had worn on her wedding day. Fuqian forcefully restrained the urge to rush forward, turned to Fuheng and said:

“Third Brother, ‘upholding righteousness over personal ties’ may feel satisfying, but are you really going to force your lawfully wedded wife to her death for the sake of a maidservant? If she actually dies in the Fucha residence today, forget whether the Xitara clan will seek revenge—aren’t you afraid of ruining the Fucha family’s reputation?”

“Erqing, wake up, wake up!” The Old Madam sat on the floor, stroking and clutching Erqing’s hand:

“Don’t worry. As long as I’m here, Fuheng will absolutely not be allowed to divorce you!”

As if she had been waiting precisely for those words, Erqing slowly opened her eyes. Her breathing faint and weak, she murmured:

“Mother… I won’t go… I won’t leave…”

Fuqian’s words had failed to move Fuheng, but they had moved the Old Madam.

Whether for the sake of her son’s official career or for the reputation of the Fucha family, she could not allow Fuheng to divorce his wife!

“Fuheng, this is the most disappointed I has ever been in you.” The Old Madam slowly turned her head, looking at Fuheng with a face full of pain. “For the sake of one woman, you have gone to such absurd extremes! Even if Erqing truly forced a maid to her death—so what? She was merely a plaything; no one would take it seriously! Erqing is your legitimate wife, carried in through the main gate in a grand red bridal sedan. No matter how many faults she has, you should forgive her!”

Seeing that he remained unmoved, the Old Madam gritted her teeth and added:

“If you force her to leave, then I will leave too! The two of us will depart this heartless house together!”

Hearing his own mother utter such harsh words, Fuheng let out a helpless sigh and slowly said:

“I can refrain from divorcing her.”

Erqing, who had been resting her head on a maidservant’s lap with a cloth pressed to her forehead, heard this and the corners of her lips involuntarily curved upward—only for his next words to follow:

“From this day forward, she will reside in the family temple, eating vegetarian meals and chanting sutras for the rest of her life, to atone for her sins!”

The smile froze on Erqing’s lips. With great difficulty she struggled to sit up, but all she saw was the back of Fuheng as he swept his sleeve and departed.

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