When Li Wanming and the others returned to the Li Mansion, it was already twilight.
Before they even reached the main gate, they saw a young servant looking around anxiously.
When he saw them coming back, his face immediately lit up with joy. He turned on his heels and ran inside shouting, "They're back! They're back! General, Madam, all three young ladies are back!"
Li Rusong and Yuan Jinqiu were anxiously waiting inside the house. Hearing the servant's report, they rushed out like a gust of wind.
"They're all back... They're all back..."
Li Rusong's eyes instantly welled up with tears.
However, Li Wanming didn't step forward. Instead, she slowly bowed towards her parents and said, "Your unfilial daughter, Wanming, pays respects to Father and Mother..."
This Chinese New Year had been anything but peaceful for her.
On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, she was falsely accused and thrown into prison. On New Year's Eve, she was cornered at the entrance of Pingkangfang. Then, she received an imperial edict making her the Crown Prince's Consort. And on the first day of the New Year, all her shops were raided...
These past few days, her parents must have been on tenterhooks, never able to relax for a moment.
She was truly unfilial, making her parents worry so much during such a festive occasion.
Moreover, if Eunuch An hadn't brought the imperial edict of enfeoffment in time on New Year's Eve, she might have squandered all the Li family's savings...
Li Rusong didn't care about all this. With teary eyes, he pulled her into his arms.
"It's good that you're back! I don't care about filial piety or not. All your mother and I want is for you sisters to be safe..."
"Dad! Mom!"
Wanmo, beaming with joy, cried out crisply, "There's also great news to tell you today. Our eldest sister has divorced!"
"What!"
Li Rusong and Yuan Jinqiu, who had just managed to calm their nerves, were shocked all over again.
Wanxin, full of guilt, knelt down in front of them with her head lowered and said, "Your unfilial daughter, Wanxin, pays respects..."
"Pay what respects!"
Yuan Jinqiu grabbed her arm and pulled her up impatiently. "Quickly tell me what on earth happened?"
Over the past few years, she had been trying every means to facilitate the divorce between the two parties, but to no avail.
At first, it was because the Chen family was a prominent and powerful clan, making it difficult to handle. Later, it was because Wanxin herself was reluctant... She had even been angry at her daughter for being so spineless. But how could there be such a complete about-face after just going out for a day?
The people of the Chen family were not easy to deal with. With Wanxin's gentle and timid nature, had she been bullied?
This morning, when Wanxin and Wanmo were about to go out, they said that since the Imperial Academy and the Ministry of Rites would surely be present during the raid of the academy, they must go to support their younger sister and see the expressions of the Chen family after they learned that their little sister had become the Crown Prince's Consort.
Yuan Jinqiu had wanted to go with them, but as the general's wife, if she showed up and things got out of hand, it would mean an open feud between the Li and Chen families. At this critical juncture, it was better not to cause any trouble.
Wanxin also tried to persuade her, saying that now that their little sister had become the Crown Prince's Consort bestowed by the emperor, neither the Imperial Academy nor the Ministry of Rites would dare to make things difficult for them. She and Wanmo were just going to look after their little sister and bring her back. There surely wouldn't be any problems...
"I never thought that Chen Lin didn't know a thing about our little sister being made the Crown Prince's Consort!"
Wanmo drained the tea in her bowl in one gulp and said excitedly, gesturing with her hands, "All the officials from the Imperial Academy and the Ministry of Rites were there, but none of them told him. They just watched with glee as he divorced our eldest sister!"
"Haha, I could tell they didn't want to stop it at all. They just stood there with their hands folded, eager to see the Chen family make a fool of themselves."
"That Chen Lin thought that since our little sister's shops were raided, our Li family had fallen out of favor. He had no idea that the reason the empress dowager raided the shops was to make our little sister the legitimate Crown Prince's Consort!"
"Hahaha, after he found out the truth, his face turned green on the spot. He almost knelt down and begged our eldest sister not to leave him!"
"And then?" Yuan Jinqiu asked anxiously. "Our eldest sister didn't soften her heart, did she?"
She knew her eldest daughter too well. She was kind-hearted and gentle, and couldn't bear to see others in trouble, especially someone who had been her husband for four years...
"No!"
Wanmo slapped the table and said happily, "Mom, you don't know. Our eldest sister really didn't let us down this time. She was simply amazing!"
"After Chen Lin found out that our little sister had become the Crown Prince's Consort, all the things he had said before were just like hot air. He shamelessly came up and tried to pester her... Humph, he even signed the divorce papers in front of the officials from the Ministry of Revenue, and he still had the nerve to stay? In the end, our eldest sister picked up the long hoe for making fertilizer by the wall and beat him up mercilessly. She kicked him out without any mercy!"
Saying this, she patted Wanxin on the shoulder and said proudly, "You're really my protégée. Well done! Li Wanxin, I never knew you had such a heroic side!"
"Don't be so disrespectful!" Li Rusong angrily swatted her hand away. "What do you mean by your protégée? You make it sound like you're a great general. You've never even served a single day in the army, and you still have the nerve to teach others?"
Wanmo said indifferently, "It's because your military camp doesn't recruit women. It's not that I couldn't pass the exam!"
"Okay, okay, you're the best..." Li Rusong could only smile helplessly.
Over there, Yuan Jinqiu had already led Wanxin into the inner chamber and wanted to take a look at the divorce papers.
Seeing this, Li Rusong quickly followed in.
Over the past few years, he and Yuan Jinqiu had been trying to facilitate the divorce between the two parties, but they had never succeeded. Hearing that their long-cherished wish had finally come true today, both of them were overjoyed.
However, amidst the joy, there was also deep anxiety.
The Chen family's head was the Director of the Imperial Academy, and Wanxin was his lawfully wedded wife.
A wife divorcing was no small matter. They had to find out the details.
If they handled it carelessly and left any loopholes... It would be difficult for Wanxin to remarry in the future.
When Yuan Jinqiu saw her husband come in, she didn't say anything. She just lowered her head and looked at the divorce papers, carefully pondering over every single word.
Li Rusong walked in awkwardly. He glanced at his wife's expression and slowly leaned over to take a look.
Yuan Jinqiu frowned slightly but didn't push him away.
Since the imperial edict making Li Wanming the Crown Prince's Consort was issued yesterday, the two of them had tacitly agreed not to mention the divorce anymore.
Their youngest daughter was about to marry into the Prince Ning's Mansion. As her parents, they couldn't do much to help, but they mustn't hold her back. It would be a disgrace if their daughter was about to get married, but her parents were about to divorce.
If this got out, it would surely make all the nobles in the capital laugh their heads off.
Li Wanming would become the laughingstock of all the aristocratic families before even setting foot in the prince's mansion. How could she ever get along in the circle of noble ladies in the future?
And now, Wanxin had brought back a set of divorce papers...
It was even more impossible for them to divorce.
Otherwise, if their eldest daughter had just divorced and then their parents followed suit, the Li family would really become the laughingstock of the entire capital.
"Forget it..."
Yuan Jinqiu thought.
As long as her daughters were happy, she didn't care about anything else.