Li Shi had just pointed her finger at practically everyone in the Song family and cursed them thoroughly. Old Master Song had already decided not to tolerate her any longer. Upon hearing this, he immediately made his decision: “Open the ancestral hall! Write a letter telling Second Son to write a divorce document!”
This woman could not be kept any longer. Even if it wasn’t for her hiring assassins to kill, even if they weren’t investigating her past misdeeds, the Song family could not keep such a daughter-in-law who harbored malicious intentions.
Old Madam Song immediately instructed First Madam and Nanny Huang: “You lead people to sort through Second Madam’s dowry. Have the Li family come and verify the inventory. If there are no errors, have it all carried back to them.”
First Madam accepted the order. She nodded slightly at Nanny Huang and went straight to the second branch’s quarters.
Li Shi already looked completely deranged. Her fingernails had embedded into her own mother’s flesh without her even realizing it. She simply kept crying and laughing alternately, laughing then crying again.
Over all these years, she had devoted herself wholeheartedly to Song Yi, even going so far as to murder Cui Shi. Yet in the end, she had fallen into the hands of Cui Shi’s daughter. She felt both unwilling and desperate, and suddenly began to resent her own mother.
When she had first married into the family, she had wanted to strike at Song Chuyi and her siblings immediately. But her mother had insisted she first put on a good show on the surface, saying not to provoke Song Yi’s or Old Master Song’s disgust and suspicion.
But waiting and waiting, she never managed to dispel Old Master Song and Old Madam Song’s suspicions. By the time she was done waiting, Song Chuyi had already become a force to be reckoned with.
Being divorced and sent back—what would happen to Song Chuning then?! What did her first half of life’s suffering and devotion count for?! Song Yi could remarry another pretty young girl as his second wife in the future. In just two or three years, he would forget her completely. But she would have to go home and hang herself with a white silk sash to end her life? How could she be willing to accept this?!
How could she accept that Cui Shi’s daughter would oppress her own daughter for a lifetime? How could she accept that her daughter would become the child of a divorced wife?
Old Madam Li felt the painful grip, and just as she was about to speak, she saw her daughter staring straight at a pillar in the flower hall. Her heart immediately skipped a beat.
Before she could reach out to pull her back, Li Shi was already rushing toward the round pillar in the flower hall.
Old Madam Li’s eyes immediately rolled back in shock as she screamed and lunged forward.
But it was already too late. Li Shi had clearly decided to die. She threw herself against the pillar with all her strength. Blood immediately gushed forth like a fountain. Before long, even her eyeballs stopped moving. She was breathing out more than breathing in.
Madam Cui almost simultaneously covered Song Chuyi’s eyes, repeatedly instructing Nanny Niu to cover Song Chuyi’s eyes and take her out.
Li Shi was dead. The situation had taken another turn. Old Master Li looked at Old Master Song with reddened eyes: “A life for a life. This can be considered her repayment for Cui Shi’s life.”
Since the person was dead, naturally there was no reason to divorce a dead person.
Old Master Song and Old Madam Song exchanged glances, suddenly feeling somewhat stifled in their hearts.
Li Shi was truly causing trouble for others even in death. She had managed to die before the ancestral hall was opened and before the divorce document was written. But now Song Chuyi and Song Yan would have to observe mourning for her for three years.
“For her to die so easily like this truly makes me regret not reporting this to the Emperor, so she could have died more miserably,” Madam Cui said coldly, without a trace of expression on her face. She seemed to be talking to herself: “If another one dies by ramming their head, what should we do then?”
Both Old Master Li and Old Madam Li stiffened.
Li Shi’s death could not placate the Cui family’s anger in the slightest. If Old Madam Li was not punished, from Madam Cui’s tone, she truly intended to report this matter to the Emperor.
But now he already held the position of Chancellor of the Imperial Academy—he was the teacher of all the scholars in the land. If the Emperor discovered that his household was in disorder and his wife and daughter had harmed others, not only would his official reputation be ruined, he would likely be ridiculed by everyone under heaven.
Elder Master Li hurriedly walked to the lower seat and knelt on the ground, his expression grief-stricken: “I am willing to accept punishment on behalf of my mother!”
First Madam Li couldn’t pull him back in time. Both angry and anxious, she walked down the platform and knelt beside Elder Master Li: “This daughter-in-law is also willing to take the blame for mother-in-law.”
“These words make no sense at all,” Madam Cui was unwilling to speak further with the Li family members. She pressed them for an explanation: “The killers weren’t you two. What use would we have for your atonement? Whoever killed should pay with their life. It has always been thus since ancient times!”
Elder Master Li was about to be promoted to fourth-rank Weaving Commissioner. If he were tainted by these matters now, he wouldn’t be able to serve as an official in the future. Weighing the two evils and choosing the lesser, Old Master Li immediately declared solemnly: “No need to say more! Madam Cui speaks reasonably. My wife committed such beastly acts—I dare not indulge her any longer. In the future, I will send her to the family temple to take the tonsure and become a nun, to chant scriptures and pray for the departed Second Madam.”
He couldn’t just let Old Madam Li die like this either. If both his wife and daughter died at once, it would be difficult for outsiders not to have wild speculations. Moreover, if Old Madam Li died, Elder Master Li would have to observe mourning for three years. After three years, who knew if he would still be in his position?
Madam Cui didn’t want Old Madam Li to die so easily either. This old woman had been living in luxury ever since she struggled out of the farm fields. She should be made to suffer some torment to satisfy the hatred in people’s hearts.
Therefore, her eyes turned slightly, and she smiled: “I’ve heard that there’s a Cuiyun Nunnery in the outskirts of the capital that’s quite good. Many noble ladies practice and convert there, which shows it truly has its merits. If Old Master Li is sincere in admitting his wrongs, how about sending your honorable wife there?”
Everyone’s expressions changed. Cuiyun Nunnery had always been where girls or madams from wealthy families who had committed wrongs were sent. The nuns there were more harsh than the next, and the vegetables they used were all self-sufficient. Everyone had to draw water and farm the fields, laboring arduously.
Old Madam Li was still holding her daughter’s body, temporarily having lost her senses. She was simply wailing loudly.
In her life, only this one son and one daughter were important. Other people didn’t matter much to her. Even Old Master Li—she only regarded him as someone who shared her pillow, without much affection.
Now that her extraordinarily precious daughter was gone, she immediately felt her head splitting and her heart aching unbearably. Whatever the people outside were saying, she no longer had the energy to listen.
Old Master Li had no qualifications left to haggle. Furthermore, he truly resented Old Madam Li for being disrespectful, for being unreliable in her actions, causing the Li family to face their current difficult position. After thinking it over, he agreed. In any case, the one suffering wouldn’t be him, so he felt nothing.
“During festivals and holidays—” Old Master Li had just begun to speak when he saw both Cui Yingshu and Madam Cui looking toward him. He couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh: “Never mind. Let her reflect properly on her errors there.”
Old Master Li then began to worry about his granddaughter. His eyes looked earnestly at Old Master Song: “Although Jingju deserved her punishment, A-Ning is innocent after all. She’s still so young—”
Now that Li Shi was dead and Old Madam Li had thoroughly offended the Song family, the only remaining connection between the Li family and the Song family was Song Chuning. She absolutely could not have anything else happen to her.