Chapter 377: Chapter 377: I Want to Divorce My Wife
It all started when Mrs. Zhu and Ji the Third went to the city to collect a debt. They inadvertently caused a scene in front of the Academic Administrator and County Magistrate Pan, which ended with Mr. Tan and his elder brother being thrown in jail.
Perhaps feeling it was better to let sleeping dogs lie, Mr. Tan didn’t bring up the Chunyi Building while in jail. Therefore, the most serious charge against Ji the Fourth was that he had spent ten taels of silver on a bribe to become an auditor at the county school.
His conduct was indeed improper, but it was ultimately in the pursuit of his studies, and the amount was not large.
As for being thrown out in front of the county school by thugs from the Chunyi Building... plenty of people went mad after failing the academy exam. Going out to get drunk, while unbefitting of a scholar, was only human.
Thus, the new teacher, out of pity for his perceived talent, did not punish him severely. He merely summoned Ji Liantang for a personal scolding and then expelled him from the county school.
Even if he hadn’t been expelled, Ji Liantang could never have returned to the county school anyway.
At the time, Ji Qingshan was so disheartened that he was ready to stop his son’s education altogether.
But people have short memories. Just as Ji Huan had expected, Ji Qingshan’s cooled heart was soon rekindled.
He saw all the glory Song Jing enjoyed after becoming a Scholar, how the entire village fawned over him and tripped over themselves to sing his praises. He watched him curry favor with the powerful, soaring to new heights, his future set for a meteoric rise through the ranks.
Who wouldn’t be envious?
Ji Liantang had been so close! If he had just taken that final step, he could have been just like Song Jing...
Ji Qingshan’s ambitions had never been fully extinguished. After repeated persuasion from Aunt Kang and Ji the Fourth, he finally gave in and nodded.
The county school was no longer an option, and he had lost too much face to go to the town’s academy. Even if Ji Liantang had the nerve, the family’s finances wouldn’t allow it.
The only option left was to study for the exams at home.
And all of this came with one prerequisite: he had to marry Du Caizhu.
Though Ji Liantang was completely unwilling, he gritted his teeth and welcomed her into the family.
But there wasn’t a single thing about Du Caizhu that pleased him. On their very first night as a married couple, his heart had already flown to Linghua, far away in the Chunyi Building.
After the wedding, Ji Qingshan began to pressure him to study hard. If he didn’t, he would have to work in the fields like Ji Lianhuai.
In the past, Ji Liantang wasn’t someone who lacked patience. But with a Yaksha in his room and the lovely Linghua on his mind, how could he possibly sit still? He grew restless and spent his days itching to run off to Yeyang.
But he couldn’t go empty-handed!
He couldn’t squeeze any more money out of Aunt Kang. After much thought, he had no choice but to suppress his disgust and start being pleasant to Du Caizhu.
Ever since she had married into the Ji Family, Ji Liantang had never given her a single kind look. How could she not be overjoyed by this sudden change?
When Aunt Kang and Mrs. Zhu had schemed for her dowry, she hadn’t let them take the slightest advantage. But when faced with Ji Liantang’s handsome face, her brain turned to mush.
And so, with a bit of coaxing and trickery from Ji Liantang, Du Caizhu’s purse ended up more than ten taels lighter.
After toughing it out for half a month, Ji Liantang finally found an excuse, saying he needed to go to the bookstore in town to see if any new contemporary essays for the exams had been published this year.
Ji Qingshan had seen him shut himself in to study hard and act attentively toward Du Caizhu during this period. Thinking his son had turned over a new leaf, he didn’t stop him.
But the trip ended in disaster. Ji Liantang did not return that night.
Du Caizhu grew worried and asked her in-laws if they should go to town to look for him.
Ji Qingshan’s expression was as ugly as could be.
Aunt Kang knew exactly what was going on but still lied to cover for her son. She claimed she had asked Ji the Fourth to run an errand in the city and that he would be back the next day. After much persuading, she finally convinced Du Caizhu to go back and rest.
Ji Liantang only returned today after noon had already passed.
He had indeed bought books, but his face was grim.
Du Caizhu thought he was just tired and wanted him to go into their room to lie down.
But Ji Liantang just flung his sleeve, pointed at her nose, and told her to get out—get out of the Ji Family and go back to the Du Family.
Then he stormed toward the main hall, shouting that he wanted a divorce.
Du Caizhu was stunned. She wanted him to explain himself clearly.
As they struggled, something fell out of Ji Liantang’s sleeve.
Ji Liantang came to his senses and tried to snatch it back, but he wasn’t as fast as Du Caizhu.
Du Caizhu unfolded the object and saw that it was a silver-red dudou.
Furious and embarrassed, Ji Liantang snatched the dudou back, folded it carefully, and stuffed it into his front lapel as if it were a precious treasure. He showed not the slightest guilt at his affair being discovered.
He had never liked Du Caizhu, so of course he didn’t care about her feelings. Moreover, he now believed he had discovered her true colors, and his original disgust had intensified a hundredfold.
After a moment of shock, Du Caizhu’s expression became frightening, as if she’d been provoked. In a chilling voice, she demanded to know whose dudou it was.
Ji Liantang couldn’t even be bothered to answer her.
When they first married, he had been a little intimidated by Du Caizhu. After all, with her physique, she could flatten him in the blink of an eye.
Later, he discovered that while Du Caizhu had a thousand faults, she had one good quality: she had a gentle temperament.
She was quiet and didn’t cause trouble. She usually stayed in her room, never visiting others or wandering around aimlessly. Of course, she couldn’t fit through the doors of most houses anyway; it wasn’t like people could widen their doors for her.
Most importantly, she was completely obedient to him.
Ji Liantang’s repeatedly bruised ego gradually began to inflate again under her admiring and appreciative gaze, and he slowly forgot the potential threat she posed.
In truth, if he had only bothered to look at Du Caizhu, he would have seen that her emotions were on the verge of spiraling out of control. Her eyes were already issuing a dangerous warning.
But unfortunately, he couldn’t be bothered to look. He turned and swaggered toward the main hall, still fantasizing about escaping his sea of suffering, when he was suddenly grabbed by the back of the neck.
Du Caizhu lifted him by the back of his collar and dragged him all the way back to the east wing as if he were a chick.
Ji Liantang was thrown onto the kang bed with a THUD. He watched in horror as the door was shut and a massive mountain of flesh advanced toward him. He couldn’t stop himself from trembling.
On that quiet afternoon, a bloodcurdling scream echoed over the Ji family’s home, followed by a series of more screams.
Ji Qingshan, Aunt Kang, and the family from the third branch were all startled and rushed out.
Aunt Kang was the first to realize—that scream, like a pig being slaughtered, belonged to her son!
She tottered forward on her small, bound feet and pounded on the door, screeching for Du Caizhu to open it.
Du Caizhu didn’t answer. The only reply she received was the sound of Ji the Fourth’s screams, which went from high-pitched to gradually weaker.
Aunt Kang shouted endless curses, pacing back and forth in worry.
Ji Qingshan was calmer. He ordered Ji the Third to fetch a knife from the kitchen. Finally, with a combination of kicking and prying, they managed to get the door open.
The crowd rushed into the east wing and was stunned by the scene inside.
Du Caizhu was straddling Ji Liantang, one hand gripping his neck while the other slapped his face again and again without pause.
Just hearing the crisp SMACKS made Mrs. Zhu’s own face ache in sympathy.
Aunt Kang lunged forward like a madwoman, trying to push Du Caizhu off. She used all her might, but Du Caizhu didn’t budge an inch.
Seeing his son lying motionless, Ji Qingshan trembled with rage. He pounded his walking stick on the ground, ordering Du Caizhu to stop, and told Ji the Third and Mrs. Zhu to pull her away.
But how could the couple dare? They’d be no match for a single swing of her arm.
In the end, Du Caizhu stopped on her own when she grew tired of hitting him.
Ji Liantang’s face had been slapped into a swollen mess, and his eyes were shut tight. He didn’t respond no matter how they called his name.
Aunt Kang, thinking her precious fourth son had been beaten to death, snatched the kitchen knife from Ji the Third’s hand and prepared to fight Du Caizhu to the death.
But Du Caizhu easily snatched the knife away from her. Immediately after, Aunt Kang’s eyes rolled back in her head, and she fainted.
It was unclear whether she fainted from excessive grief or from the terror of seeing the knife’s blade pointed right at her.
Fortunately, it was a false alarm. Ji the Fourth had only been beaten unconscious, not to death.
Ji Liantang, having been forged in the crucible of a thousand trials, felt only a brief moment of guilt under Ji Qingshan’s disappointed gaze before his defiance returned.
"I want a divorce! Du Caizhu committed marriage fraud!"