Chapter 10 Lawsuit with her husband

At noon, the weather cleared up. He Danggui fiddled with the grass they picked yesterday, while Zhen Jing held a flower porcelain bowl and smiled joyfully, “Xiaoyi, this is the chicken soup from Biddy Pang. She works in the kitchen. The Master specially ordered this for nourishing your body.”

Pigs might fly. Was it true that Tai Shan sent the chicken soup? He Danggui grinned with a banter and said, “Amitabha Buddha! Bless you! Master Tai Shan is so kind.” Then she removed the lid of the bowl, laughing again, “She really thought highly of me for putting ginseng in the soup.” Indeed, the ingredients used in the ginseng chicken soup were excellent, only the real good soup was not delivered to her.

The soup sent to her was composed of little original soup and a lot of water. There were several eye-catching ginseng tails on the soup, which showed that this was a bowl of “Ginseng Chicken Soup”. He Danggui stirred it with a spoon. This time she laughed out loud. Head, neck, butt, rib and skin of the chicken… There was no trace of a piece of good chicken in the soup. Whoever served such a bowl of soup could be considered as a talented person. He would definitely be diligent and thrifty in running the household if he were a cashier.

Seeing He Danggui staring the soup thoughtfully without drinking, Zhen Jing couldn’t help wondering, “You only ate a few in the past two days. The chicken soup is quite nutritive and unique. Why don’t you drink it quickly?”

He Danggui beckoned to Zhen Jing and pushed the chicken soup towards her smilingly, “My dear Zhen Jing, drink the soup for me.” Zhen Jing was shocked. She moved backward as she waved her hands. He Danggui caught her and pressed her on the stool, “Drink it while it is still hot! Although I can’t drink the chicken soup, you can drink it.”

Zhen Jing was surprised, “Why? This is a superior tonic.”

He Danggui smiled slightly, “With a few traumas, I’m too weak to bear such nutrition. Now not to mention the chicken soup, even a drop of oil is too tonic for me. This soup is appropriate and suitable for you to drink on an empty stomach.” Seeing Zhen Jing gazing at the hot chicken soup blankly, she patted on her back and continued, “Didn’t you also suffer from hanger for two days? Here is the soup. What are you waiting for now? Anyway, you will not be a Taoist nun for life. I will take you with me when I leave here. Just consider it as your breaking the precept in advance.”

“Hum, Miss He, you not only instigate Zhen Jing to break the precept, but also plan to cajole her into leaving with you!”

A voice came from outside at this moment. Zhen Jing was so shocked that she coughed immediately by her violent saliva.

He Danggui turned around and saw a thirty-year-old long-haired Taoist nun standing at the door. The nun, with a white and round face like the full moon and natural dignity, was looking at her fixedly. He Danggui also looked back at the arrival calmly, guessing in her mind that she should be Sister Zhen Zhu who was always mentioned by Zhen Jing whenever in previous life and this life. Regarding Zhen Zhu, He Danggui knew part of her story.

Zhen Zhu, former name as Qiu Ping, was originally the daughter of a rice merchant. In the early years, there was a plague in the south. Qiu Ping’s parents, elder brother and sister-in-law, and sisters were all infected and died. Since Qiu Ping was the only one survived, she pawned the rice shops and a few acres of farmland, planning to bring the memorial tablets of her family to the north to live in her hometown. Since it was not safe for her to go alone, she entrusted an armed escort from Peaceful Escort.

The armed escort gradually developed a certain affection for her on their way to the north, and finally revealed his feelings and proposed a marriage to her when they arrived. Qiu Ping was touched by his carefulness and thoughtfulness along the way. Also, she was already an orphan girl and her parents got no chance to arrange her marriage, so she promised to marry him.

Since the armed escort was the eldest son in his poor family and he had many siblings. Qiu Ping not only didn’t ask for a penny as the bride-price, but also brought her own dowry of 300 liang silver. They made a vow that they would spend their life together as husband and wife. The armed escort would not take any concubine no matter if he was rich or poor in the future. The armed escort agreed.

After their marriage, Qiu Ping rented a restaurant with her dowry. At the same time, she took care of her husband’s parents and siblings. She made a good balance between business and home affairs. Not only her parents-in-law praised her highly, but also her sister-in-law liked her. Her sister-in-law often chased after her to learn needlework and cooking skills. With their life getting better and better, the family was filled with laughter all day long and members were more intimate with each other.

7 years later, the restaurant expanded from 1 to 4, and the whole family also moved into a single-family mansion. However, her mother-in-law started to become deliberately ambiguous. She often either showed unpleasant expressions to Qiu Ping or blamed her for nothing. After several times of this condition, Qiu Ping guessed that her mother-in-law might want to have a grandson.

In fact, Qiu Ping had applied a folk prescription for contraception in the past few years after marriage. She intended to get pregnant when their economic condition got better and the business improved. Now all her wishes were fulfilled. They had enough farmland, mansion and wealth to live comfortably. Qiu Ping even stooped using the prescription, looking forward to having a child soon. In this way, the elders could enjoy a peaceful and happy life with no cares. She went to famous doctors who specialize in gynecology, took a few months of invigorator for assisted pregnancy, and worshipped Songzi Guanyin (also known as Goddess of Mercy, who was worshiped to help women be pregnant in China). But it took two to make a quarrel. Qiu Ping told her husband several times about having a child, but he wasn’t very enthusiastic. Only she was anxious about this.

After a period of time, when the whole family had dinner together, her husband suddenly said that he had an announcement to make. Therefore, the whole family looked at him, but he made it clear after mincing matters.

Half a year ago, he rescued a village girl when he was on duty. To save the girl from the brigand, he not only saw her body, but also shared the ride with her for two days. After being rescued, the girl called Kong Hongli was very grateful to him and wanted to follow him wholeheartedly. He refused resolutely, indicating that he had made an agreement with his wife for taking no concubine for life. Hongli replied that she didn’t ask for status or marrying him. All she needed was a small courtyard for her to see him occasionally. If he refused to accept her, she would immediately hit and kill herself on the steps. He had to promise her requirements.

Qiu Ping’s husband paused and then continued. When he went to visit Hongli a few days ago, Hongli wept and wailed endlessly as she locked herself in the room. After several conversations, he learned that she was pregnant. He thought that if Hongli had an unmarried child, the child would be illegitimate and not be respected by others for a lifetime. He couldn’t bear it, so he wanted to bring Hongli home, giving her status and being a father.

After Qiu Ping listened to his speech expressionlessly, she said slowly that husband and wife were integrated. The child of her husband was hers, too. She was willing to raise the child after the child was born, and would treat it as her own blood. However, when she married him that year, it was clearly written in black and white on the marriage contract that her husband could not take any concubine. Therefore, Hongli could not be their family member.

Her husband glanced at his mother immediately, so the latter echoed. First, Hongli was a kind and righteous woman according to the description. Second, she’s going to deliver a child for the family. How could they leave her destitute? What’s more, mother should be with the child. If her child was carried off, wouldn’t that mean a death curse to her? Their family was of kindness, and they couldn’t bear separating Hongli and her child like this. After all, every man in the world was allowed to have concubines. Although her son was now compelled to accept a concubine, it was unfair to accuse him of breaking his promise. Moreover, Qiu Ping was always busy with the restaurant business every day. If she accepted Hongli, the latter, as an intimate younger sister, would be able to help her with household chores, filial piety to the in-laws, care for the husband and fertility. Qiu Ping should be happy for that. And it would be unwise for Qiu Ping to learn from others to threaten her husband with the marriage contract.

Qiu Ping suddenly realized that her husband had already formed a line with her mother-in-law, and now showed their hand to her.

Looking at the expressions of other people at the dinner table, she could tell that she was the only audience. Suddenly she felt as if her heart fell into an ice cave. These were her parents-in-law who used to love her dearly, and her siblings who used to highly respect her. They pretended to be close to her before. But once it came to divergences, they would be on the same side with her husband immediately without any forethought.

Qiu Ping was a strong-willed woman. She insisted on reiterating the terms of her marriage contract, and entirely refused their proposal. The stalemate lasted for half a month. Finally, the whole family of her husband lost their patience. When they saw her at home every day, they always turned a blind eye to her like she didn’t even exist.

One day, she was busy in the restaurant for a whole day. When she came back, she saw a woman with a big belly sitting next to her parents-in-law in the living room.

Her mother-in-law told Qiu Ping routinely that the marriage contract only stated that her son would not take a concubine, but not mentioned that he could not marry two wives. She thought Hongli was a filial and sensible woman with nice personality. Hence, she decided to ask her son to marry Hongli as his junior wife, and the upcoming son would be the legitimate son. Now as Hongli was pregnant, it was inconvenient for her to live outside. So, she took her home to live with the family, and the wedding and celebration would be held after her delivery.

According to the reprimand of Qiu Ping’s mother-in-law, women should obey their husbands’ orders and be home-based. Qiu Ping should not go to the restaurant to make a public appearance from now on. She also required Qiu Ping to hand over the business to the two younger brothers-in-law and pay more attention on Hongli for miscarriage prevention later. Qiu Ping was speechless for the blame. Why didn’t she censure her when the family was too poor to have enough food to eat?

Then, the woman who sat with her mother-in-law stood up, gracefully prostrated herself in front of Qiu Ping, and said with two lines of tears, begging Qiu Ping to accept her. Before Qiu Ping spoke, her mother-in-law scolded her for not supporting Hongli in time.

3 months later, Hongli miscarried. She cried and said it was because she drank the sweet soup sent by Qiu Ping. The husband was furious and beat Qiu Ping badly. He even wrote a divorce letter and threw it on Qiu Ping’s face. The divorce letter stated that Qiu Ping had committed “Disobedient to parents, Childlessness, and Jealousy” in the “Seven Reasons for Divorcing the Wife”. He asked her to leave without taking anything away, and claimed that since then, they would be completely isolated from each other all their lives.

Holding the letter well, Qiu Ping neither cried nor made any troubles. She walked out the door directly without looking back. The whole family, the in-laws who used to treat her as their own daughter and the three siblings raised by her, did not say a word to keep her stay. Instead, they looked at her limping away with loose long hair coldly.

The next day, Qiu Ping did something surprising. She accused her husband to the County Yamun in Zhenjiang Prefecture with the marriage contract signed seven years ago, the newly received divorce letter, and an indictment. It was said that the case made a great flutter that year.

According to the convention of the current dynasty, if a woman was abandoned by her husband due to her faults of the “Seven Reasons for Divorcing the Wife”, the woman’s dowry would be handled by her husband. He could give it to the abandoned woman in whole or in part as appropriate. If the abandoned woman committed more than two of the “Seven Reasons for Divorcing the Wife”, her husband had the right to detain all of her dowry. However, if the husband and wife were in an inharmonious relationship and one party proposed to divorce after mutual agreement, the woman’s dowry and the profit from the dowry were all owned by the woman.

5 days later, the court opened. The county magistrate Master Lu, who was also the Second Place at Palace Examinations, personally heard the trial. Qiu Ping’s husband spent a lot of money in calling in Zhenjiang’s best lawyer, while Qiu Ping defended by herself.

During trial, the lawyer spoke with fervor and assurance that Qiu Ping not only had committed disobedient to parents, childlessness, and jealousy in the “Seven Reasons for Divorcing the Wife”, but also was a suspect of murdering her husband’s unborn child. It was reasonable for her husband to divorce her and also legal to detain her dowry.

When it was Qiu Ping’s turn, she knelt straight on the ground and narrated calmly. There were “Seven Reasons for Divorcing the Wife” since ancient times, but also “Three Reasons for not Divorcing the Wife”. That meant homeless women could not be divorced; women who were in filial piety with her husband for three-year mourning period could not be divorced; if the family of a woman’s husband was poor before their marriage but rich ever since, the woman could not be divorced. Now she met two of the of them, which meant she could not be divorced.

Regardless of other changes, when she married her husband, his family only had two cottages. The whole family of 6, ranging from her father-in-law of 60 years old to her younger sister-in-law of 9 years old, relied on her husband to live. Working as an armed escort, her husband only earned 5 or 6 strings of 1,000 qian per month. Half of the time, they only had gruel and bran cake to eat. They pawned winter clothes in summer and summer clothes in winter. Without any food to store, the whole family was so poor that her parents-in-law and younger sister-in-law needed to dress up as beggars when there were about to starve to death.

But now, her husband’s family had become a wealthy and influential family, well-respected by the people in Zhenjiang Prefecture. With its members enjoying delicacies of every kind, wearing clothes made by silks and brocades and dressing up with treasures and agates, the family was extremely rich for holding more than 2,000 liang silver. These narrations were completely in line with “Poor before the woman married but rich after marriage”, so they could not abandon her.

7 years ago, she brought the inheritance of 300 liang silver left by her parents and brothers to her husband as her dowry. She agreed with him that “Loyalty to each other for the whole life”, and stated in the marriage contract that “The husband could not take any concubine for life”. After marriage, she was dutiful and industrious to serve her parents-in-law and raise her siblings at home while running restaurants outside. It was ridiculous to say that she disobeyed her parents-in-law.

Over the past 7 years, her parents-in-law were in good health and ate abundantly. Both of her younger brothers-in-law had been sent to school for 5 years. Now they were both skilled at composing and performing martial arts. Each of them managed 2 restaurants and had a settled marriage. Being in 16, her younger sister-in-law was proficient in needlework, cooking skills, Chinese zither and Weiqi. People who wanted to engage with her were in an endless stream. When it came to the residence, the two cottages of her husband were changed into a quadrangle courtyard 5 years ago and then a larger courtyard with 5 entrances and 3 exits (referred to a courtyard with 5 lines of houses and 8 doors) 3 years ago. A single-family mansion which occupied an entire alley was their residence this year. Unlike the old times, even the threshold was changed from a flooded loess ditch into a red lacquer-painted pearwood, which was almost 11-centimeter high.

As for “Disobedient to her parents-in-law”, it would be better to summon all the neighbors living along the whole street to confront them. Although there were a lot of ungrateful and unfaithful people in the world, the public always had a sense of natural justice. She didn’t believe that no one in the neighborhood was unwilling to be fair.

Furthermore, “Childlessness” in the regulation of the “Seven Reasons for Divorcing the Wife” referred to the fact that the wife had no children after the age of 50. She was only 24 years old this year, so this one could be excluded. When they were poor and lowly, Qiu Ping and her husband, her siblings slept in one room; when rich, her husband ran to sleep with another woman. Why was it her fault for “Childlessness”?

Finally, when it came to “Jealousy”-

3 months ago, her husband seized a flaw in the text of their marriage contract and married a junior wife instead of accepting a concubine. The new wife moved into the mansion with pregnancy of 4 months. Qiu Ping’s mother-in-law asked her to help the new wife to prevent miscarriage, and she obeyed the instructions. She handed over the restaurant business to the younger brothers-in-law, and inquired after the new wife’s health to deliver food, tonic and cubilose every day.

The weird thing was the new wife’s belly looked pointed in the morning but round at noon, big as a watermelon yesterday but much smaller the next day.

Qiu Ping was worried about the new wife’s health, so she asked Dr. Zhang to feel the pulse for her. But the new wife closed her door and didn’t accept anyone’s visit, saying that she only trusted Dr. Li for diagnosing. The next day, Qiu Ping invited Dr. Li, Dr. Zhang, and Dr. Ma to have a diagnosis for the new wife, but the latter temporarily went to a temple to pray with pregnancy of 7 months. A few days later, it was said that the new wife was miscarried.

Qiu Ping sneered, since it was said that she had “murdered her husband’s unborn child”, wasn’t that a felony of murder? Was it too simple and easy to divorce her? If so, maybe she deserved to be beheaded for that?

However, before the decapitation, could she take a look at the dead body of the unborn baby boy who had been “murdered” by her? Could the magistrate summon Dr. Li, who was dedicated to preventing miscarriage of the new wife, to ask the reason why she miscarried? Could the magistrate call in the midwife to touch the flat and smooth lower abdomen of the new wife after her miscarriage?

Hearing this, the onlookers were in an uproar. The expressions of her husband’s family changed a lot at this time.

Master Lu enjoined to summon Kong Hongli, Dr. Li and the midwife instantly. Soon after, the yamen runner came to report that Kong Hongli disappeared, and he only found Dr. Li and the midwife. Dr. Li knelt down with a shiver. After a while of interrogation by Master Lu, Dr. Li confessed that he received 60 liang silver from Kong Hongli as a bribe and helped her cheating with a false pregnancy.

The onlookers were in an uproar again. When Master Lu banged the gavel, he pronounced on the court that given that the woman Qiu Ping did not commit any of the “Seven Reasons for Divorcing the Wife”, it was unnecessary for her to accept the divorce letter from her husband. However, Qiu Ping’s husband was ungrateful and violated his marriage contract. Not only did he marry another woman, he tortured his wife. He was sentenced to hit 50 times with the plank (specially made for punishment). Dr. Li was fined 60 liang silver and should be hit 20 times for helping others to deceive and violating medical ethics. He was not allowed to practice medicine ever since.

After Qiu Ping knelt and thanked Master Lu, she chillily required to divorce her husband.

Therefore, Master Lu also sentenced Qiu Ping and her husband to divorce. Their assets, 4 restaurants, 1 mansion, and 100 acres of farmland were all purchased with the profits of Qiu Ping’s dowry. Therefore, they were all owned by Qiu Ping. All the members of her husband’s family should leave the mansion immediately, and they were not allowed to take away anything in the mansion. The case was carried out by the supervision of yamen runners in the county. Since then, Qiu Ping and her husband were irrelevant, and her husband was forbidden to harass or abuse Qiu Ping, etc.

After the case, Qiu Ping pawned all the restaurants and the mansion, planning to become a nun. She originally yearned for Buddha, but she couldn’t abandon her long hair. Hence, she changed her appearance and named herself Xiang Ye, then she went to Shui Shang Temple to be a Taoist nun with a religious name Zhen Zhu.

In the previous life, since He Danggui heard Zhen Zhu’s story from Zhen Jing, she had admired her decisiveness and resolution and decided to treat her as an idol. But it was deeply regrettable that she didn’t get the chance to see Zhen Zhu herself. Zhen Zhu left the temple before He Danggui came in the previous life.

It was said that Master Lu fell in love with Zhen Zhu after the case. Following Zhen Zhu all the way to the Temple and trying to persuade her to resume secular life, he was willing to marry her as his wife through official marriage procedures (Sanmei Liupin: also known as Sanshu Liuli, a traditional marriage custom etiquette in China).

Other Taoist nuns overheard their conversation, so Zhen Zhu’s secular identity was revealed. The news spread like wind in the temple. It was like within a blink that everyone knew Zhen Zhu was the well-known Qiu Ping who had a lawsuit with her husband and also the one who boasted 100 acres of farmland and 1,000 liang silver.

Since the quiet place was no longer quiet, Zhen Zhu who suffered a lot left a letter to Master Lu, saying, “People I had met were not the right person, and I was so regretful I was not single when I met you. If I had known these affairs haunting me, it would be better for us to miss each other. Now that my past means nothing but a dream for me, everything would be faded with the passage of time.” Then she left Shui Shang Temple overnight for the practice in a Buddhism temple called Pu Ti Nunnery. She cut her long hair, showing her determination not to reenter secular life. In the end, Master Lu was desperate for the result and left.

In this life, for some reason, the later story did not happen at all. Master Lu never visited the temple, and Zhen Zhu did not cut her hair to be a Buddhist nun.

Yesterday when He Danggui heard that this “Legendary figure” Zhen Zhu was also in the temple, she asked Zhen Jing a few questions. But she found that Zhen Jing knew nothing about the true identity of Zhen Zhu. Zhen Jing also introduced to her that Sister Zhen Zhu’s real name was Xiang Ye. She came from Jinan, Shandong. She was abandoned due to the ungratefulness of her husband and intolerance of her parents-in-law. Then she came here to become a Taoist nun.

At present, the “Idol” Sister Zhen Zhu was standing outside the door, staring at her unpleasantly. Zhen Zhu questioned He Danggui directly, “Miss He, why are you leading my sister to begin a meat diet? You are bringing harm to her.”

A myriad of thoughts crowded into He Danggui’s mind fleetly. She laughed, “The wind outside is strong. Master Zhen Zhu, please come in. Let’s have a talk inside.”