The moment Old Lady Qin laid eyes on the big green mule, she trembled with envy.
Look at its satin - smooth coat! Look at its perfect teeth!
"Shaor, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and help your sister - in - law lead the mule!"
She grabbed the reins with one hand and reached out to tug at Li Ying's sleeve with the other.
The big green mule was quite intelligent. Sensing that its mistress was in a bad mood, it snorted and stood still, its four hooves rooted to the ground.
Old Lady Qin couldn't move the mule and nearly fell over herself. Her face darkened.
"Eldest daughter - in - law, you should know your limits when throwing a tantrum. I, your mother - in - law, have come here in person to pick you up. I've given you a way out. Just take it. There won't be another chance!"
Li Ying rolled her eyes.
The original owner had even sacrificed her life to carry on the Qin family's lineage, but in the end, all she got was a flippant accusation of "throwing a tantrum"?
She shook off Old Lady Qin's hand. "First of all, I'm no longer your daughter - in - law. Ever since you threw me into the mass grave on the night of my difficult labor, our ties with the Qin family have been severed!"
"Secondly, the gap between me and your Qin family is not just a simple step. It's human lives! My life, my daughter's life, and the lives of countless innocent baby girls from the six - generation practice of 'washing girls'! Even if you move the Naihe Bridge on the Yellow Spring Road here, I won't take that step!"
Li Ying was furious, especially when she said the words "six - generation practice of 'washing girls'" through gritted teeth. Old Lady Qin was startled by her fierce look and unconsciously let go of the reins.
The big green mule was eye - catching, and Li Ying's outspoken words immediately attracted many curious onlookers who came over to watch the show.
Seeing this, Old Lady Qin immediately covered her chest and groaned, "Ouch, ouch..."
Qin Shao quickly asked with concern, "Mother, what's wrong with you! Brother is bedridden. If you get sick from anger, what will your son do?"
Old Lady Qin trembled, but her eyes were secretly sizing up the onlookers. "Son, my chest... it hurts so much..."
"Our Qin family has been a family of scholars for generations. How could we have married such a venomous woman? She kicked my eldest son and now wants to kill me with anger. What a sin we've committed..."
She slumped to the ground, crying and wailing, pounding her chest and stamping her feet.
Li Ying sneered. "You know exactly what sin you've committed! Since you feel so wronged, you shouldn't keep it to yourself. Come on, let's go see the magistrate and tell the whole story clearly!"
It so happened that she couldn't bear the identity of "Mrs. Qin" for a single day longer. Since the Qin family refused to let her go easily after seeing that she had earned some silver, they might as well meet in court and get a divorce as soon as possible, so that they could go their separate ways and be happy.
She grabbed Old Lady Qin, who was still pretending to be sick, and started to leave. As for Qin Shao, seeing that things were going badly, he hurriedly ran back to the Qin family to report the news.
Above the county yamen hung a plaque that read "Fairness, Integrity, and Dignity". The magistrate slapped the gavel, and the two rows of solemn yamen runners immediately shouted the court's authority.
Although the Qin family had a meager family fortune, Old Lady Qin had never seen such a grand occasion. Kneeling on the ground, her legs trembled like a sieve.
"Who are you standing below the court? What is your lawsuit about?"
Old Lady Qin shivered and stammered. Her arrogance immediately faded.
Li Ying, however, straightened her back and said loudly, "Your Honor, I'm Li Ying, and I'm suing my husband, Qin Jin, for trying to kill his wife and abandon his daughter. He has no conscience. Our relationship is over, so I'm here to sue for divorce."
Old Lady Qin came to her senses and pounded her chest and stamped her feet. "Your Honor! You mustn't believe this hussy's nonsense! It was she who injured my son and fled the Qin family on her own. Now she's accusing others first and turning things around!"
Li Ying sneered. "Fled on my own? Weren't I driven out by you? That day when I had a difficult labor and only gave birth to a daughter, you refused to spend money to save me and threw me into the mass grave in the middle of the night to fend for myself. Now you're falsely accusing me?"
"Your Honor, every word I say is true. Granny Sun from the fishing village can testify for me!"
Granny Sun had already heard the news. She quickly put on a tattered shirt, picked up Mianmian, and rushed to the yamen. Now hearing Li Ying mention her, she hurriedly squeezed out of the onlookers and knelt on the ground with a thud.
"Your Honor, I can testify! A Ying and her daughter have suffered a lot! If I tell a single lie, let the thunder strike me dead!"
The yamen runners had already brought Qin Jin and Qin Shao over. Now hearing Granny Sun's words, Qin Jin showed a look of disdain and bowed to the magistrate.
"Your Honor, my wife and I just had a minor quarrel. After my wife injured me, she left in a fit of anger. She has always been a bit willful. In a fit of rage, it's possible for her to distort the truth. This old lady has been deceived by her one - sided story, so her testimony is not valid."
He was already thin and weak. Li Ying's kick that day had been quite hard. Now his face was pale, looking like a weak scholar enduring humiliation.
Among the onlookers were many scholars. Having heard so much about the three cardinal guides and five constant virtues, they immediately became agitated.
"What a willful woman! The husband is the guide of the wife. How dare she ride roughshod over her husband? It's simply outrageous!"
The magistrate's face looked a bit ugly. The two leading yamen runners, however, banged their water - and - fire sticks hard and shouted sternly, "In the court, how dare you commoners talk nonsense!"
The scholars were intimidated and fell silent.
The two yamen runners casually glanced at Li Ying and then reported to the magistrate, "Your Honor, we've investigated. Li Ying is a law - abiding and honest merchant. She's not a bad person."
Li Ying was overjoyed.
The prior arrangement had really worked!
Perhaps because she had brought the little lucky star Mianmian, the two yamen runners on duty today were exactly the ones who had eaten her food and drinks!
These two seemed to be the magistrate's confidants. Hearing their words, the magistrate's face softened a bit. He slapped the gavel again and said, "Li Ying, what else do you have to say?"
Li Ying stood up and looked down at the three members of the Qin family.
"Qin Shao, when I was giving birth, as my younger brother - in - law, you blatantly barged in, showing no respect for the rules of propriety. You also encouraged our mother to use the money for my life - saving medicine to redeem your mistress from the brothel and incited your elder brother to marry another woman. You're morally corrupt."
"Old Lady Qin, you indulged your unfilial son and treated human lives as nothing. I wasn't even dead yet, but you threw me and my daughter into the mass grave. The next day, you even had the nerve to come and ask for my placenta. You're shameless."
Finally, she turned to Qin Jin, her eyes as sharp as blades, seeing through his hypocrisy.
"Qin Jin, as a husband, in order to achieve success, you actually believed in the so - called 'washing girls' technique and strangled your own baby daughter with your own hands. Even a tiger doesn't eat its cubs. You claim to have read the classics, but in fact, you're full of filth. You're a beast in human clothing!"
She took Mianmian from Granny Sun's arms. As if understanding her mother's intention, the little baby immediately wailed loudly.
This heart - rending cry was deafening, making all the onlookers and yamen runners in the court tremble involuntarily!
Li Ying walked up to Qin Jin with Mianmian in her arms and sneered, "Husband, you've been eyeing the moon fruits I sold to Feiyane and refused to give me a divorce letter. Fine, I can go back and live with you with our daughter. But are you really brave enough to let us in?"
Qin Jin frowned. Mianmian's crying made her little face turn red, which was heart - wrenching.
"You're not! You see your own daughter as a scourge, afraid that she'll ruin your illusory fame and fortune! You're afraid that the feng shui situation built on the lives of countless baby girls from the six - generation practice of 'washing girls' in the Qin family will be destroyed by you. You've lost all sense of father - daughter relationship!"
Every word she said was full of pain and determination. She solemnly knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the magistrate.
"Your Honor! I don't ask for great wealth and honor. I only want my daughter to be safe. I'd rather die than go back to that inhumane Qin family. My relationship with Qin Jin is already over. Please grant me a divorce!"
The sky was overcast. A thunderclap roared in the sky, and a sudden rain was about to fall.