A helpless male voice came from inside. “Lian-niang, though I still have some feelings for you, you speak too much and have angered my parents. They’ve told me to divorce you, and I dare not disobey their orders.”
Zhou Cuilian cried even harder. “So our bond as husband and wife is really that shallow?” She dropped to her knees. “Father, Mother, since marrying into the Zhu family, I have mended and embroidered, lit fires and cooked, chopped wood and carried water—what task have I failed at? And just because I’ve said a few more words, you want to cast me off? I am truly too wronged!”
An elderly man stormed out, pointing at her and cursing. “A woman must speak calmly, with few words and careful conduct—that is a daughter-in-law’s duty. Who’s ever seen one as garrulous as you? In the future, you’ll ruin our family’s name and disgrace our ancestors! My Zhu family will not tolerate a daughter-in-law like you—go back to your maiden home!”
Zhou Cuilian kowtowed repeatedly. “Father, please, I beg you! My parents are both gone, my grandmother is old, my uncle and aunt are cruel—if I’m sent back, I’ll have no place to stay. Going back is a road to death! I beg you, have mercy! I won’t talk too much again—no, I won’t talk at all!”
Zhu’s father barked, “And now you say you won’t talk, but haven’t you just said a whole string already? And what niece in the world speaks ill of her own uncle? A woman like you is truly repellent!”
“She’s telling the truth—her uncle is cruel. Which part of what she said was wrong?”
A sudden, ringing female voice cut in, drawing the attention of the Zhu family and all the neighbors watching in the alley. Zhou Cuilian turned her head, and Granny Zhou, eyes brimming with tears, called, “Cuilian girl!” Zhou Cuilian could hardly believe her eyes—how could her grandmother be here?
Elder Madam Zhu and Scholar Zhu both came out, seeing Qian Jiaoniang and Granny Zhou, and behind them attendants carrying betrothal gifts, and were struck speechless. Zhou Cuilian scrambled to her feet, running to her grandmother’s side, crying and calling “Grandmother” over and over, just like when she’d been a little girl wronged and seeking comfort from the one who loved her most. Granny Zhou’s eyes were wet too—she had come all eager to see whether her granddaughter was living well, never expecting to find her being thrown out by the Zhu family.
“Grandmother, why have you come? In this freezing weather, how did you get here? Didn’t Uncle and Aunt come with you? Why come all this way in such cold weather?” Zhou Cuilian asked through her tears.
“I came with Jiaoniang. Girl, what’s happened to you, hmm?”
Zhou Cuilian hastily wiped her tears, trying to raise a smile but failing, only managing to choke and shake her head. She looked at Qian Jiaoniang, and suddenly remembered. “You’re Sister Qian… and Chou’er—you’ve grown so big and tall!”
Xing Pingchun called her “Sister Cuilian” — he still remembered her laugh, so loud and clear. But now she just looked pitiful.
“Glad you remember. What’s happened to you—why does the Zhu family want to divorce you?” Qian Jiaoniang asked.
Zhou Cuilian gave a wan smile. “My in-laws dislike that I talk too much, so they want to send me away.”
Qian Jiaoniang asked again, “And what did you say? Did you say something unpleasant?”
Zhou Cuilian shook her head, sniffling. “I didn’t say anything unpleasant, only that I talked more than usual…”
Scholar Zhu had met Granny Zhou when fetching his bride, so he came forward to pay respects. Granny Zhou was fuming inside, but didn’t dare vent on her grandson-in-law; she only asked, “Son-in-law Zhu, our Cuilian is praised by all the neighbors—a good girl in looks and in skill. You couldn’t find one like her within a hundred miles. Why must you divorce her?”
Scholar Zhu said awkwardly, “Grandmother Zhou, you’re right, Lian-niang is indeed capable. But she can’t control her tongue, and my parents dislike her chattering, so they want me to set her aside.”
Granny Zhou glared. “Our Cuilian may be quick-tongued and fond of talking, but it’s hardly worth going this far. You’d cast her off over such a thing?”
Zhu’s father stepped forward, flicking his sleeves. “So you’re the Zhou family’s grandmother. Good—you’ve come just in time to take your granddaughter away. My Zhu family likes daughters-in-law who are quiet and composed, not ones who chatter all day and bring shame to the family name!”
“If you like quiet girls so much, why didn’t you marry a mute in the first place?” Qian Jiaoniang asked with a smile.
Zhu’s father was left speechless by her mild but cutting remark.
Granny Zhou feared that Qian Jiaoniang might further anger Old Master Zhu, making the matter completely irreparable. If her granddaughter Cuilian were cast off, how would she live in the future? Granny Zhou hurried to speak in a gentle, conciliatory tone: “In-law, the child’s tongue is indeed quick, and it’s my fault for not teaching her well. Now that you’ve pointed it out, she can change—this is all just small matters! Even the opera says, ‘Ten years’ cultivation to share a ferry, a hundred years’ cultivation to share a pillow.’ For the son-in-law and Cuilian to be joined as a loving couple was no easy thing—don’t you agree?”
Old Madam Zhu had not spoken, only watching suspiciously the train of maidservants and guards behind them. She remembered the Zhou family as nothing more than a very ordinary household; it was only because Zhou Cuilian was good-looking that her son wanted to marry her. But why had such an entourage suddenly appeared? And who was that noble-looking young woman in brocade and fur standing beside Granny Zhou?
Qian Jiaoniang, however, fixed her gaze directly on the sulking Scholar Zhu.
“Son-in-law, what do you think? Do you also despise your wife?”
Scholar Zhu’s eyes flickered, a trace of longing and reluctance in them, but he gave a long sigh and said: “A son must obey his parents’ will; I dare not go against them.”
Zhou Cuilian stared at the husband who had whispered tenderly to her just the night before, unable to believe he could be so heartless Yes, elders come first—but was all their affection false, outweighed by a single word of disapproval from his parents? He knew full well that being repudiated would be a death sentence for her, yet he would not utter even one word in her defense! Her face turned deathly pale; despair chilled her to the bone.
“Oh, what sin has my Zhou family committed! My poor granddaughter’s life is bitter indeed!”
Granny Zhou’s grief overcame her, and she burst into loud sobs.
The onlookers whispered among themselves. Some said Cuilian’s tongue was too quick, but most thought she was a good wife and pitied her for being cast aside. Still, this was family business—whether a wife was good or not was for her in-laws and husband to decide; outsiders had no place to interfere. It seemed the Zhu family’s daughter-in-law was simply born to a bitter fate.
Qian Jiaoniang sighed. For a woman, life was never easy—whether marrying or being divorced, she could never decide her own fate. She had a way to make the Zhu family take Cuilian back, but with in-laws who disliked her and a cowardly husband, what good would it do for her to stay?
Old Madam Zhu came forward and secretly jabbed Old Master Zhu with her elbow, motioning for him to look at the people behind Qian Jiaoniang. He had already seen them and thought: What kind of wealthy relatives could the Zhou family have? At most, some vulgar merchant’s wife. His was the family of a scholar! Thinking this, he curled his lip and ignored it.
Qian Jiaoniang turned to Zhou Cuilian.
“Do you still wish to stay in the Zhu household?”
Cuilian didn’t know Qian Jiaoniang’s status now, only remembered how hard her life had been back then. She feared Qian would confront the Zhu family on her behalf—her second uncle-in-law worked in the yamen, and she didn’t want her grandmother or “Sister Qian” to suffer losses.
Shaking her head through her sobs, she said: “My husband—Scholar Zhu—has already given me the divorce letter. I am no longer a Zhu family woman. I… I want to leave.”
Qian Jiaoniang nodded. “Then get in the carriage and go with your grandmother.”
Granny Zhou, seeing the situation was hopeless, was still weeping bitterly. Cuilian gritted her teeth, nodded firmly, and helped her grandmother up.
“Grandmother, let’s go.”
Cuilian helped Granny Zhou into the carriage. As she was about to climb in, Scholar Zhu suddenly called out: “Lianniang!”
Cuilian turned sharply. She saw Scholar Zhu run to pick up her bundle, bring it to her, and press it into her hands, his eyes full of deep affection.
“Don’t forget your things. I put ten taels of silver inside—keep it well. Your husband… your husband can only do this much for you. Do not forget me in the future!”
Cuilian stared at him in a daze, then suddenly laughed wildly—loud enough for the entire alley to hear. It was a laugh of such desolation that it wrung the heart. Several young wives nearby wiped away tears in secret. Old Master Zhu, frowning, shook his sleeve and muttered that she was behaving improperly.
Cuilian pulled the ten taels from the bundle and flung them hard at Scholar Zhu, then leapt into the carriage without a backward glance, clutching her bundle.
Scholar Zhu was stunned by the blow. Was this his once-delicate, charming wife? How had she become so crude and unseemly?
“See? See? She even dares to strike her husband! How could such a wife be kept?”
Old Madam Zhu immediately shouted.
Some echoed her—being repudiated was one thing, but striking a husband was beyond the pale!
Qian Jiaoniang’s heart ached from Cuilian’s earlier laugh. Sweeping her gaze over the crowd, she raised her voice: “Who among us has no flaws? I, for one, think the entire Zhu family is foolish! Zhou Cuilian is a good girl, and only because the Zhu family has been unreasonably harsh is she cast out. When the day comes that she returns in glory, you’ll find her far above your reach! I, Qian Jiaoniang, say this here and now!”
Inside the carriage, Cuilian had been weeping in her grandmother’s arms, but at these words she suddenly trembled.
After speaking, Qian Jiaoniang gave a cold snort, boarded the carriage, and the group left without looking back.
Scholar Zhu picked up the silver from the ground and stood staring after the receding carriage, his heart feeling strangely empty.
When Qian Jiaoniang returned, there was one more person in the carriage—a young woman with swollen, red eyes. Xing Muzheng acted as though he hadn’t noticed, asking nothing, simply ordering preparations to resume their journey.
A day later, they reached Zhangzhou. It was already the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth month.
